Acknowledgements: None. months of uninterrupted radiation oncology clinical operation through the worst of the Wuhan outbreak, no known COVID-19 infection occurred at our radiotherapy center to our patients or employees. This report may provide valuable information for other radiation oncology departments during this unprecedented public health crisis.
Germline sexual fate has long been believed to be determined by the somatic environment, but this idea is challenged by recent studies of foxl3 mutants in medaka. Here we demonstrate that the sexual fate of tilapia germline is determined by the antagonistic interaction of dmrt1 and foxl3, which are transcriptionally repressed in male and female germ cells, respectively. Loss of dmrt1 rescued the germ cell sex reversal in foxl3Δ7/Δ7 XX fish, and loss of foxl3 partially rescued germ cell sex reversal but not somatic cell fate in dmrt1Δ5/Δ5 XY fish. Interestingly, germ cells lost sexual plasticity in dmrt1Δ5/Δ5 XY and foxl3Δ7/Δ7 XX single mutants, as aromatase inhibitor and estrogen treatment failed to rescue the respective phenotypes. However, recovery of germ cell sexual plasticity was observed in dmrt1/foxl3 double mutants. Importantly, mutation of somatic cell specific foxl2 resulted in testicular development in foxl3Δ7/Δ7 or dmrt1Δ5/Δ5 mutants. Our findings demonstrate that sexual plasticity of germ cells relies on the presence of both dmrt1 and foxl3. The existence of dmrt1 and foxl3 allows environmental factors to influence the sex fate decision in vertebrates.
Lung adenocarcinomas are more commonly associated with brain metastases (BM). Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutations have been demonstrated to be both predictive and prognostic for patients with lung adenocarcinoma. We aimed to explore the potential association between EGFR mutation and the risk of BM in pulmonary adenocarcinoma patients. Data of 234 patients from 2007 to 2014 were retrospectively reviewed. A total of 108 patients had EGFR mutations in the entire cohort. Among them, 76 patients developed BM during their disease course. The incidence of BM was statistically higher in patients with EGFR mutations both at initial diagnosis (P=0.014) and at last follow-up (P<0.001). Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that EGFR mutation significantly increased the risk of BM at initial diagnosis (OR=2.515, P=0.022). In patients without BM at initial diagnosis, the accumulative rate of subsequent BM was significantly higher with EGFR mutations (P=0.001). Multivariate Cox regression analysis identified EGFR mutation as the only independent risk factor for subsequent BM (HR=3.036, P=0.001). Patients with EGFR mutations demonstrated longer overall survival (OS) after BM diagnosis than patients with wild-type EGFR (P=0.028). Our data suggest that EGFR mutation is an independent predictive and prognostic risk factor for BM and a positive predictive factor for OS in patients with BM.
Research on the effects of entrepreneurial stressors is limited, especially regarding its relation to the burnout that frequently occurs in the process of starting and growing a venture. The effect of the role of entrepreneurial stressors (workload, competitive comparison, demands-of-knowledge, managing responsibility, and resource requirements) on burnout (emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and reduced personal accomplishment) was examined in a Chinese sample of entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurial stressors emerged as a significant predictor of burnout in the process of entrepreneurship in a sample of 289 entrepreneurs (63.8% men; M age = 26.2 yr.; 39.6% of their parents have been self-employed). The findings clarify the functional relationship between entrepreneurial stressors and burnout. Entrepreneurial stressors played multiple roles. Managing responsibility was an active contributor to the sense of achievement and to emotional exhaustion. Workload was an active contributor to emotional exhaustion. Demands-of-knowledge negatively affected three of the dimensions of burnout. Theoretical and practical implications for management of the effect of these relationships are discussed.
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