[Clinicopathological characteristics and immune microenvironment of breast squamous cell carcinoma]

Objective: To investigate the clinicopathological characteristics of breast squamous cell carcinoma and to analyze the relationship between its immune microenvironment tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) and prognosis. Methods: Forty-four cases of primary squamous cell carcinoma of the breast diagnosed and treated in the First Affiliated Hospital of Air Force Medical University, Xi'an, China from January 2006 to July 2022 were selected. Their clinicopathological characteristics were analyzed. The cell composition of TILs was evaluated using immunohistochemistry (Mainly markers of B lymphocytes, T lymphocytes and plasma cells). The relationship between TILs and prognosis was also analyzed. Results: The 44 patients of breast squamous cell carcinoma were all female and all were invasive carcinoma. Eight cases (8/44, 18.2%) were squamous cell carcinoma, while 36 cases (36/44, 81.8%) were mixed squamous cell carcinoma. The mixed components included non-specific carcinoma and spindle cell metaplastic carcinoma (17 cases each). One case contained ductal carcinoma in situ of the breast and 1 case contained tubular carcinoma. The proportion of squamous cell carcinoma was 10% to 90%. The cases with pure squamous cell carcinoma often had a large cystic cavity, which was lined by atypical squamous epithelium, while infiltrating squamous cell carcinoma nests were seen in the breast tissue around the cystic cavity. Immunohistochemical staining showed that p63 and CK5/6 were expressed in the squamous cell carcinoma component, but ER, PR and HER2 were not, except for one case of HER2 1+. The positive rates of TRPS1 and PDL-1 were 76% and less than 1%, respectively. Fifteen cases were in the high TILs group (TILs≥30%) and 29 cases were in the low TILs group (TILs<30%). Twenty-three patients were followed up for 5 to 118 months. Among them, 12 died within 3 years and 9 were alive at the end of the follow up. There was no significant difference in TNM stage, TILs and prognosis between simple squamous cell carcinoma and mixed squamous cell carcinoma. Conclusions: Breast squamous cell carcinoma can be divided into simple squamous cell carcinoma and mixed squamous cell carcinoma. There are differences in gross findings and histology between the simple and mixed squamous cell carcinoma of the breast. Sufficient samples should be taken to avoid missing the diagnosis of a minor squamous component. The prognosis of patients with high TILs is significantly better than that of patients with low TILs. The expression rate of TRPS1 in primary squamous cell carcinoma of breast is high and helpful to the differential diagnosis from metastatic squamous cell carcinoma.

Histopathology Image Classification with Noisy Labels via The Ranking Margins

Clinically, histopathology images always offer a golden standard for disease diagnosis. With the development of artificial intelligence, digital histopathology significantly improves the efficiency of diagnosis. Nevertheless, noisy labels are inevitable in histopathology images, which lead to poor algorithm efficiency. Curriculum learning is one of the typical methods to solve such problems. However, existing curriculum learning methods either fail to measure the training priority between difficult samples and noisy ones or need an extra clean dataset to establish a valid curriculum scheme. Therefore, a new curriculum learning paradigm is designed based on a proposed ranking function, which is named The Ranking Margins (TRM). The ranking function measures the 'distances' between samples and decision boundaries, which helps distinguish difficult samples and noisy ones. The proposed method includes three stages: the warm-up stage, the main training stage and the fine-tuning stage. In the warm-up stage, the margin of each sample is obtained through the ranking function. In the main training stage, samples are progressively fed into the networks for training, starting from those with larger margins to those with smaller ones. Label correction is also performed in this stage. In the fine-tuning stage, the networks are retrained on the samples with corrected labels. In addition, we provide theoretical analysis to guarantee the feasibility of TRM. The experiments on two representative histopathologies image datasets show that the proposed method achieves substantial improvements over the latest Label Noise Learning (LNL) methods.

[Clinicopathological and molecular genetic characteristics of ELOC mutated renal cell carcinoma]

Objective: To investigate the clinicopathological features, molecular genetic features, differential diagnosis and prognosis of ELOC mutated renal cell carcinoma. Methods: From January 2015 to June 2022, 11 cases of renal cell carcinoma with clear-cell morphology, expression of CAⅨ and CK7 and no 3p deletion were collected. Two cases of ELOC mutant renal cell carcinoma were diagnosed using whole exome sequencing (WES). The clinical features, morphology, immunophenotype, FISH and WES results were analyzed. The relevant literature was reviewed. Results: The two patients were both male, aged 29 and 51 years, respectively. They were both found to have a renal mass by physical examination. The maximum diameters of the tumors were 3.5 cm and 2.0 cm, respectively. At the low magnification, the tumors were well-defined. The tumor cells showed a pushing border and were separated by thick fibrous bands, forming nodules. The tumor cells were arranged in a variety of patterns, including tubular, papillary, solid nest or alveolar. At high magnification, the tumor cells were large, with well-defined cell borders and clear cytoplasm or fine eosinophilic granules. CAⅨ was diffusely box-like positive in both cases. Case 1 was partially and moderately positive for CK7, strongly positive for CD10, diffusely and moderately positive for P504S, and weakly positive for 34βE12. In case 2, CK7 and CD10 were both partially, moderately positive and P504s were diffusely positive, but 34βE12 was negative. FISH results showed that both cases had no 3p deletion. ELOC c.235T>A (p.Y79N) mutation was identified using WES in case 1, while ELOC c.236_237inv (p.Y79C) mutation was identified in case 2. Conclusions: As a new clinical entity, ELOC mutated renal cell carcinoma may be underdiagnosed due to its overlap with clear cell renal cell carcinoma in morphology and immunophenotype. The diagnosis of renal cell carcinoma with ELOC mutation should be confirmed by morphology, immunohistochemistry, FISH and gene mutation detection. However, more additional cases are needed to explain its biological behavior and prognosis.

CT-based radiomics for prediction of pulmonary haemorrhage after percutaneous CT-guided transthoracic lung biopsy of pulmonary nodules

AIM

To evaluate the feasibility of intranodular and perinodular computed tomography (CT) radiomics features for predicting the occurrence of pulmonary haemorrhage after percutaneous CT-guided transthoracic lung biopsy (PCTLB) in pulmonary nodules.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The data for 332 patients with pulmonary nodules who underwent PCTLB were reviewed retrospectively. Pulmonary haemorrhage after PCTLB was evaluated using CT (144 cases occurred). Radiomics features based on gross nodular (GNV) and perinodular volumes (PNV) were extracted from pre-biopsy CT images and features selection using least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) regression, and three radiomics scores (rad-scores) were built. Rad-scores, clinical, and clinical-radiomic models were developed and evaluated to predict the occurrence of pulmonary haemorrhage.

RESULTS

Five, five, and six significant features were selected for prediction of pulmonary haemorrhage based on GNV, PNV, and GNV + PNV, respectively. Lesion depth was the only clinical characteristics related to pulmonary haemorrhage. Lesion depth and rad-score based on GNV, PNV, and GNV + PNV for predicting the pulmonary haemorrhage achieved areas under the curves (AUCs) of 0.656, 0.645, 0.651, and 0.635 in the validation group, respectively. Three clinical-radiomic models improved the AUCs to 0.743, 0.723, and 0.748. The performance of rad-score_GNV + PNV combined with lesion depth outperformed the clinical model (p=0.024) and the radiomics signature (p=0.038). In addition, the radiomics signatures were significantly associated with higher-grade pulmonary haemorrhage (p<0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

Radiomics features from intranodular and perinodular regions of pulmonary nodules have good predictive ability for pulmonary haemorrhage after PCTLB, which may provide additional predictive value for clinical practice.

Proton Based Stereotactic Radiotherapy for Skull Base Patients: Dosimetric Comparison to 4 Modern Radiation Treatment Modalities

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVE(S)

Re-irradiation with ablative doses to a smaller target volume and strict critical structure constraint is a challenge for modern radiation planning and delivery systems. Several advanced radiation treatment techniques can be used for fractionated stereotactic ablative radiosurgery (FSRS) in select patients with unresectable recurrent head and neck tumors. In this study, in order to better understand the dosimetry advantage of each technique, we compare the stereotactic treatment plans of our new small spot size Hitachi proton treatment unit to those of CyberKnife stereotactic radiosurgery (CK), Gamma Knife radiosurgery (GK), volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT), and MR Linac radiotherapy (MRL).

MATERIALS/METHODS

Ten FSRS skull base patients treated at our institution using VMAT (n = 5) or GK (n = 5) techniques. Intensity-modulated proton therapy (IMPT) plans were created in Raystation using Monte Carlo dose calculation algorithm. VMAT, CK, GK and MRL plans were generated in RayStation, Accuray Precision, Leksell Gamma Plan, and Monaco treatment planning systems, separately. Planning goals were to achieve the best target coverage of prescribed dose without compromising the critical organs at risk dose volume constraints of the clinical treatment plans. Plans were compared based on percent CTV coverage, Paddick conformity index (PCI), gradient index (GI, V50/V100), dose homogeneity index (HI, (D2-D98)/D50), low dose bath volume (LDBV, ratio of total volume irradiated between 20% and 50% prescription dose and the target volume), beam-on-time (BOT), and mean/maximum doses to brainstems.

RESULTS

The median target volume was 15.5 cm3 (range 1.0 - 36.23 cm3). The prescription was 45 Gy in 5 fractions for VMAT patients, and 21 - 27 Gy in 3 fractions for GK patients. The comparison of the treatment plans of these 5 delivery modalities was shown in table. All techniques achieved comparable CTV coverage. GI was superior for GK plans and outstanding in CK and IMPT plans. IMPT plans were also outstanding in regard to BOT and PCI. Significantly improved HI, LDBV and brainstem mean doses were achieved in IMPT plans. For adjacent brainstem and other OARs, maximum doses were comparable among all techniques.

CONCLUSION

In these five advanced radiation therapy modalities, proton therapy SBRT showed dosimetric advantage over other modalities to spare nearby OARs without sacrifice of target coverage. Further studies are needed to utilize this clinical benefit and investigate plan robustness.

Fixed-Field IMRT for Cervix Carcinoma Patients on an MR-LINAC Platform: Dosimetric Feasibility and Challenges

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVE(S)

To investigate the impact of MR-LINAC performance characteristics and inverse planning implementation on the feasibility of fixed-field IMRT for cervix carcinoma patients by benchmarking MR-LINAC plans against clinically used VMAT plans in a single institution study and multi-institutional treatment planning challenge.

MATERIALS/METHODS

For 10 cervix cancer patients who had previously received Linac-based VMAT, new treatment plans were optimized for MR-LINAC IMRT using 6X FFF fixed fields with maximum available field size of 27.4 x 24.1 cm2. Dose optimization was performed on the clinically used planning CT and structure set. Prescribed dose was 48.6 Gy in 27 fractions for all patients with 6 patients receiving an additional integrated boost for a total of 58.05 Gy to involved nodes. Constraints were based on our institutional protocol as per Table 1. IMRT delivery time was limited to 20 min. Original clinically used VMAT plans were generated on Eclipse (Varian Medical System) using 3 to 4 arcs. For the multi-institutional planning challenge, the data set from a single patient was anonymized and shared to participants. Participants used a single MR-based Linac planning platform to generate a plan based on our institutional constraints, with maximum treatment time limited to 20 min. For all analyses, a paired samples t-test was used to compare the significance defined at p < 0.05.

RESULTS

For MR-LINAC plans, the mean number of fields used was 23, mean number of segments 229, and the average estimated treatment delivery time was 17.3 minutes. MR-LINAC plans showed a significantly higher heterogeneity and dose to organs at risk compared to VMAT plans (Table 1). For the planning challenge, a total of 30 participants registered interest. Of this, seven plans were submitted to the challenge. On average, participants generated a plan that would be acceptable based on our institutional constraints (Table 1). However, the volumetric dose to bowel and pelvic bones were higher on MR-LINAC plans compared to the reference VMAT plan.

CONCLUSION

MR-LINAC fixed-field IMRT for cervix cancer patients is feasible but system constraints and optimization implementation result in greater dose heterogeneity and worse organ-at-risk sparing compared to Linac based VMAT. Further research is needed to determine if potential reduction of treatment margins, allowed by better MRI soft-tissue visualization, will result in MR-LINAC IMRT superior to Linac VMAT.

Decoupled learning for brain image registration

Image registration is one of the important parts in medical image processing and intelligent analysis. The accuracy of image registration will greatly affect the subsequent image processing and analysis. This paper focuses on the problem of brain image registration based on deep learning, and proposes the unsupervised deep learning methods based on model decoupling and regularization learning. Specifically, we first decompose the highly ill-conditioned inverse problem of brain image registration into two simpler sub-problems, to reduce the model complexity. Further, two light neural networks are constructed to approximate the solution of the two sub-problems and the training strategy of alternating iteration is used to solve the problem. The performance of algorithms utilizing model decoupling is evaluated through experiments conducted on brain MRI images from the LPBA40 dataset. The obtained experimental results demonstrate the superiority of the proposed algorithm over conventional learning methods in the context of brain image registration tasks.

Oral delivery of porous starch-loaded bilayer microgels for controlled drug delivery and treatment of ulcerative colitis

We prepared one type of bilayer microgels for oral administration with three effects: pH responsiveness, time lag, and colon enzyme degradation. Combined with the dual biological effects of curcumin (Cur) for reducing inflammation and promoting repair of colonic mucosal injury, targeted colonic localization and release of Cur according to the colonic microenvironment were enhanced. The inner core, derived from guar gum and low-methoxyl pectin, afforded colonic adhesion and degradation behavior; the outer layer, modified by alginate and chitosan via polyelectrolyte interaction, achieved colonic localization. The porous starch (PS)-mediated strong adsorption allowed Cur loading in inner core to achieve a multifunctional delivery system. In vitro, the formulations exhibited good bioresponses at different pH conditions, potentially delaying Cur release in the upper gastrointestinal tract. In vivo, dextran sulfate sodium-induced ulcerative colitis (UC) symptoms were significantly alleviated after oral administration, accompanied by reduced levels of inflammatory factors. The formulations facilitated colonic delivery, allowing Cur accumulation in colonic tissue. Moreover, the formulations could alter gut microbiota composition in mice. During Cur delivery, each formulation increased species richness, decreased pathogenic bacterial content, and afforded synergistic effects against UC. These PS-loaded bilayer microgels, exhibiting excellent biocompatibility, multi-bioresponsiveness, and colon targeting, could be beneficial in UC therapy, allowing development into a novel oral formulation.

[Prediction of 1p/19q codeletion status in diffuse lower-grade glioma using multimodal MRI radiomics]

OBJECTIVE

To develop a noninvasive method for prediction of 1p/19q codeletion in diffuse lower-grade glioma (DLGG) based on multimodal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) radiomics.

METHODS

We collected MRI data from 104 patients with pathologically confirmed DLGG between October, 2015 and September, 2022. A total of 535 radiomics features were extracted from T₂WI, T₁WI, FLAIR, CE-T₁WI and DWI, including 70 morphological features, 90 first order features, and 375 texture features. We constructed logistic regression (LR), logistic regression least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LRlasso), support vector machine (SVM) and Linear Discriminant Analysis (LDA) radiomics models and compared their predictive performance after 10-fold cross validation. The MRI images were reviewed by two radiologists independently for predicting the 1p/19q status. Receiver operating characteristic curves were used to evaluate classification performance of the radiomics models and the radiologists.

RESULTS

The 4 radiomics models (LR, LRlasso, SVM and LDA) achieved similar area under the curve (AUC) in the validation dataset (0.833, 0.819, 0.824 and 0.819, respectively; P>0.1), and their predictive performance was all superior to that of resident physicians of radiology (AUC=0.645, P=0.011, 0.022, 0.016, 0.030, respectively) and similar to that of attending physicians of radiology (AUC=0.838, P>0.05).

CONCLUSION

Multiparametric MRI radiomics models show good performance for noninvasive prediction of 1p/19q codeletion status in patients with in diffuse lower-grade glioma.

Construction of redox-sensitive liposomes modified by glycyrrhetinic acid and evaluation of anti-hepatocellular carcinoma activity

The aim of this study was to construct a bifunctional liposome with hepatic-targeting capacity by modifying with a targeting ligand and an intracellular tumor reduction response functional group to deliver drugs precisely to focal liver tissues and release them in large quantities in hepatocellular carcinoma cells. This could improve drug efficacy and reduce toxic side effects at the same time. First, the bifunctional ligand for liposome was successfully obtained by chemically synthesizing it from the hepatic-targeting glycyrrhetinic acid (GA) molecule, cystamine, and the membrane component cholesterol. Then the ligand was used to modify the liposomes. The particle size, PDI and zeta potential of the liposomes were determined with a nanoparticle sizer, and the morphology was observed by transmission electron microscopy. The encapsulation efficiency and drug release behavior were also determined. Further, the stability in vitro of the liposomes and the changes in the simulated reducing environment were determined. Finally, the antitumor activity in vitro and cellular uptake efficiency of the drug-loaded liposomes were investigated by performing cellular assays. The results showed that the prepared liposomes had a uniform particle size of 143.6 ± 2.86 nm with good stability and an encapsulation rate of 84.3 ± 2.1 %. Moreover, the particle size of the liposomes significantly increased and the structure was destroyed in a DTT reducing environment. Cellular experiments showed that the modified liposoes had better cytotoxic effects on hepatocarcinoma cells than both normal liposomes and free drugs. This study has great potential for tumor therapy and provides novel ideas for the clinical use of oncology drugs in dosage forms.

Activation cross sections for reactions induced by 14 MeV neutrons on natural titanium

Cross sections for the neutrons around 14 MeV interaction with natural titanium were precisely measured by neutron activation and off-line measurement technique. The fast neutrons were produced by ³H(d,n)⁴He reaction and the neutron energy was obtained by using the cross section ratio method of ⁹⁰Zr(n,2n)⁸⁹Zr to ⁹³Nb(n,2n)^92mNb reactions. Experimental cross sections have been acquired for ^natTi(n,x)⁴⁶Sc, ^natTi(n,x)⁴⁷Sc, ⁵⁰Ti(n,x)⁴⁷Ca and ⁴⁸Ti(n,x)⁴⁸Sc reactions. The measured cross section data are compared with the experimental data available in the previous literature and evaluated nuclear data from the ENDF/B-VIII.0, JEFF-3.3, JENDL-5, BROND-3.1, CENDL-3.2 and FENDL-3.2b libraries. Furthermore, excitation functions for these reactions were calculated by using the theoretical model based on Talys-1.96 code with default and adjusted parameters. Within experimental error, evaluated nuclear data are mostly consistent with experimental data. The excitation function with adjusted parameters can roughly reproduce the experimental data.

Intervention effect of Potentilla discolor-Euonymus alatus on intestinal flora of type 2 diabetes mellitus rats

OBJECTIVE

With this study, we aimed at exploring the regulation mechanism of Potentilla discolor-Euonymus alatus on intestinal flora of T2DM (Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus) rats induced by high-fat diet combined with streptozotocin.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

T2DM rats were induced by high-fat diet combined with streptozotocin. There were normal control group, model group, metformin group, high-dose Chinese medicine group and low-dose Chinese medicine group. Each group included 10 rats. Normal control group: normal feeding, no modeling, ordinary feed, and gavage of 0.9% normal saline. Model group: T2DM rats, high-fat diet, and gavage of 0.9% normal saline. Metformin group: T2DM rats, high-fat diet and fed with metformin solution. High-dose Chinese medicine group: T2DM rats, high-fat diet, and gavage of concentrated Chinese medicine at a dose of 6 times the clinical dose. Low-dose Chinese medicine group: T2DM rats, high-fat diet, and gavage of concentrated Chinese medicine at a dose twice the clinical dose. The general situation of T2DM rats was observed, and the changes of intestinal flora were observed with 16SrDNA sequencing.

RESULTS

The T2DM rats induced by high-fat diet combined with streptozotocin were molded. After intervention, at the class level, the ratio of γ-proteobacteria was 22.30% in the model group, 11.97% in the metformin group, 3.24% in the high-dose Chinese herbs group and 1.72% in the low-dose Chinese herbs group; the ratio of Erysipelothrix insidiosa was 4.73% in the model group, 4.68% in the metformin group, 3.93% in the high-dose Chinese herbsgroup and 2.92% in the low dose group; the ratio of Lactinobacillus was 2.30% in the model group, 0.01% in the metformin group, 0.00% in the high-dose Chinese herbs group, and 0.00% low-dose Chinese herbs group; at the portal level, the Firmicutes/Bacteroides was 0.88 in the normal control group, 3.40 in the model group, 1.71 in the metformin group, 2.74 in high-dose Chinese medicine group, and 1.34 in low-dose Chinese medicine group; at the genus level, the relative abundance of Lactobacillus in the model group was 3.28%, that of Akkermansia was 1.99%, that of Shigella coli was 22.08%, and that of Vibrio phaseus was 7.67%. All of them were improved after the intervention of metformin and traditional Chinese medicine.

CONCLUSIONS

Potentilla discolor-Euonymus Alatus could improve the composition and structure of intestinal flora in T2DM rats and regulate the diversity of intestinal flora. The ratio of Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes was adjusted, mainly to increase the number of Bacteroides; the flora related to intestinal barrier was adjusted, mainly to increase the number of Lactobacillus and Akkermansia bacteria.

The mitochondrial RNA granule modulates manganese-dependent cell toxicity

Prolonged manganese exposure causes manganism, a neurodegenerative movement disorder. The identity of adaptive and nonadaptive cellular processes targeted by manganese remains mostly unexplored. Here we study mechanisms engaged by manganese in genetic cellular models known to increase susceptibility to manganese exposure, the plasma membrane manganese efflux transporter SLC30A10 and the mitochondrial Parkinson's gene PARK2. We found that SLC30A10 and PARK2 mutations as well as manganese exposure compromised the mitochondrial RNA granule composition and function, resulting in disruption of mitochondrial transcript processing. These RNA granule defects led to impaired assembly and function of the mitochondrial respiratory chain. Notably, cells that survived a cytotoxic manganese challenge had impaired RNA granule function, thus suggesting that this granule phenotype was adaptive. CRISPR gene editing of subunits of the mitochondrial RNA granule, FASTKD2 or DHX30, as well as pharmacological inhibition of mitochondrial transcription-translation, were protective rather than deleterious for survival of cells acutely exposed to manganese. Similarly, adult Drosophila mutants with defects in the mitochondrial RNA granule component scully were safeguarded from manganese-induced mortality. We conclude that impairment of the mitochondrial RNA granule function is a protective mechanism for acute manganese toxicity.

Mechanical and Acoustic Emission Characteristics of Coal-like Rock Specimens under Static Direct Shear and Dynamic Normal Load

In underground engineering, shear failure is a common failure type in coal-rock mass under medium and low strain-rate disturbance loads. Analyzing the shear failure mechanical properties of coal-rock mass under dynamic normal load is significant. In order to reveal the influence of disturbance load on the shear mechanical properties of coal rock, a dynamic and static load coupling electro-hydraulic servo testing machine was used to conduct the shear tests of coal-like rock materials under dynamic and constant normal load. The amplitude of dynamic load is 10 kN and the frequency is 5 Hz. The damage process of the specimens was detected by the acoustic emission (AE) detection system. The results imply that the shear failure process of coal-like rock materials under constant normal load can be divided into four stages. The normal disturbance decreased the shear strength of the specimens and increased the shear modulus of the specimens. With the increase in normal load, the influence of disturbance on the shear strength of the specimen decreased. By analyzing the AE parameters, it was found that the dynamic load made the internal damage of the specimen more severe during the shear failure process. The damage variable was calculated by AE cumulative energy, and the damage evolution was divided into three stages. The shear failure mechanism of the specimen was judged by RA (rise time/amplitude) and AF (average frequency). It was found that from the elastic deformation stage to the unstable development fracture stage, the proportion of shear fracture increased. When the dynamic normal load was 10 kN and 30 kN, the fracture was mainly shear fracture; When the dynamic normal load was 50 kN, the fracture was mainly tensile or mixed fracture. The dynamic normal load affects the shear strength and failure mechanism. Therefore, the influence of disturbance load on coal-rock mass strength cannot be ignored in underground engineering.

Oral delivery of curcumin via multi-bioresponsive polyvinyl alcohol and guar gum based double-membrane microgels for ulcerative colitis therapy

Anti-inflammatory drugs for ulcerative colitis (UC) treatment should specifically penetrate and accumulate in the colon tissue. Herein, a multi-bioresponsive anti-inflammatory drug (curcumin, CUR)-loaded heterogeneous double-membrane microgels (CUR@microgels) for oral administration was fabricated in this study, in which the inner core was derived from polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and guar gum (GG) and the outer gel was decoration with alginate and chitosan by polyelectrolyte interactions. The structure and morphology of microgels were characterized. In vitro, the formulation exhibited good bio-responses at different pH conditions and sustained-release properties in simulated colon fluid with a drug-release rate of 84.6 % over 34 h. With the assistance of the outlayer gels, the microgels effectively delayed the premature drug release of CUR in the upper gastrointestinal tract. In vivo studies revealed that CUR@microgels specifically accumulated in the colon tissue for 24 h, which suggest that the interlayer gels were apt to reach colon lesion. As expected, the oral administration of microgels remarkably alleviated the symptoms of UC and protected the colon tissue in DSS-induced UC mice. The above results indicated that these facilely fabricated microgels which exhibited excellent biocompatibility and multi-bioresponsive drug release, had an apparent effect on the treatment of UC, which represents a promising drug delivery strategy for CUR in a clinical application.

AB0334 EFFICACY AND SAFETY OF ABATACEPT IN CHINESE PATIENTS WITH ACTIVE RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS: REAL-WORLD DATA

Background

Abatacept (ABA) has demonstrated efficacy and safety in active rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients in Europe and the United States as one of bDMARDs [1]. However, the clinical activity of Abatacept (ABA) has not been sufficiently investigated in patients with RA from a real-world clinical setting in China.

Objectives

This study was designed to investigate the efficacy and safety of Abatacept in the RA patients in Chinese population who were refractory to csDMARDs, aiming to provide further reference for clinical rational drug use.

Methods

Clinical data of 55 patients with active RA who were admitted in the Affiliated Hospital of North Sichuan Medical College from June 2020 to June 2021 and did not respond to csDMARDs was retrospectively analyzed. Patients in this study were treated with Abatacept (125 mg by subcutaneous injection once weekly combined with csDMARDs. Changes in clinical manifestations, including DAS28-ESR, CDAI, ACR 20/50/70 at week 12 and 24 from baseline and AEs during 24 weeks were observed and recorded.

Results

55 patients (46 women and 9 men) were included in this study with a mean age 50.80 ± 12.46 and a mean disease duration of 6.29 ± 6.22 years. The ACR 20 response at week 12 and 24 was 50.91% (28/55) and 87.27% (48/55), respectively. Besides, DAS 28-ESR score were significantly lower at week 12 and 24 compared to baseline (P <0.05) with 19 patients (34.55%) achieving clinical remission or low disease activity. Changes in CDAI scores revealed that 80% patients achieved clinical remission or low disease activity at week 24. DAS28-ESR score was significantly lower in previously untreated patients (Biologic-naive) (n=36) (3.40 ± 0.81) than in the previously treated patients (Biologic non-naive) (n=19) (3.83 ± 0.68) (P = 0.02) (Figure 1). RF, CCP antibody and GLOB levels were significantlyreduced in RA patients after 24-week ABA treatment compared to baseline (P﹤0.05) (Table 1). Two hepatitis B virus (HBV) carriers, two patients with active tuberculosis and one patient with latent tuberculosis status showed no reactivation of HBV and no new active tuberculosis lesions 24 weeks after treatment with ABA. AEs were reported in 9.1% (5/55), but no serious infections occurred.

Table 1.

Analysis of clinical and serological parameters at baseline and after treatment with Abatacept.

IndexesBaseline12 weeks24 weeksTJC6 (4，10)3 (2，4)*2 (1，3) **SJC2 (1，4)1 (0，2)*0 (0，1)**PtGA-VAS（0-10cm）8 (7，10)5 (3，6)*2（2，3）**HAQ2 (0，4)1 (0，2)*0 (0，1)**ESR （mm/h）51 (41，89)37 (28，51)*23 (17，37)**HsCRP（mg/L）14.08 (3.7，35.0)5，77 (2.27，20.78) *4.12 (1.34，9.37) **GLOB34.47±5.69-30.33±3.81*RF-IgM (IU/mL)408.55 (68.8,566.5)-167.41 (34.9, 171.25) *RF-IgG (U/mL)8.63 (4.55, 11.1)-7.94 (3.13, 6.23) *RF-IgA (U/mL)90.18 (25.63, 99.12)-58.20 (16.81, 59.09) *CCP (RU/mL)1095.45 (66.79, 1033.28)-782.0 (58.49, 857.5) *

*p﹤0.05,TJC=Tender joint count, SJC=Swollen joint count, GLOB= immunoglobulin.

Conclusion

In the Chinese patients with active RA refractory to csDMARDs, the combination of ABA and csDMARDs showed great clinical efficacy and a favorable safety profile. Moreover, ABA resulted in better efficacy in patients previously untreated with biologics than previously treated with biologics.

References

[1]Weinblatt ME, Schiff M, Valente R,et al. Head-to-head comparison of subcutaneous abatacept versus adalimumab for rheumatoid arthritis: findings of a phase IIIb, multinational, prospective, randomized study. Arthritis Rheum 2013; 65:28-38.

Disclosure of Interests

None declared

Diagnostic panel of serum miR-125b-5p, miR-182-5p, and miR-200c-3p as non-invasive biomarkers for urothelial bladder cancer

PURPOSE

This study aimed to identify a diagnostic panel of serum microRNAs (miRNAs) for the early detection of bladder cancer (BC).

METHODS

Serum samples were collected from 112 BC patients and 112 normal controls (NCs). A three-stage selection was conducted to identify differentially expressed miRNAs as candidates to construct the diagnostic panel. Further, to explore their potential roles in urothelial BC, bioinformatics analyses, including target genes prediction and functional annotation, were used.

RESULTS

Six downregulated miRNAs (miR-1-3p, miR-30a-5p, miR-100-5p, miR-125b-5p, miR-143-3p, and miR-200c-3p) and one upregulated, miR-182-5p, in BC patients' serum were detected compared to NCs and were selected to establish the diagnostic panel. Based on a backward stepwise logistic regression analysis, miR-125b-5p, miR-182-5p, and miR-200c-3p comprehended the diagnostic panel [area under the curve (AUC) = 0.959, sensitivity = 91.67%, specificity = 92.5%].

CONCLUSION

The panel of three miRNAs had an excellent diagnostic capability, representing a potential non-invasive method for early BC detection.

MicroRNA-29a-3p regulates chemosensitivity in hypopharyngeal carcinoma via targeting Cdc42

INTRODUCTION

Hypopharyngeal carcinoma is one kind of high malignant tumour followed by poor prognosis in head and neck carcinomas. This study aimed to detect miR-29a-3p and Cdc42 in patients with hypopharyngeal carcinoma.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The expression of miR-29a-3p and Cdc42 mRNA were detected, and the correlation between miR-29a-3p/Cdc42 and clinical stages was investigated.

RESULTS

The relative expression of miR-29a-3p in stage II, III and IV hypopharyngeal carcinoma tissues was significantly lower than that of stage I (P< 0.05). The relative expression of Cdc42 mRNA in stage I, III and IV tissues was significantly higher than that of stage I (P< 0.05). The expression of miR-29a-3p in hypopharyngeal carcinoma with lymph node metastasis was significantly lower than that without lymph node metastasis (P = 0.045).

CONCLUSION

MiR-29a-3p and Cdc42 mRNA could be potential diagnostic biomarkers of hypopharyngeal carcinoma.

Evaluation of white sandstone mechanical behaviour and the energy evolution of prepeak unloading damage

Deep high-stress roadway excavation under unloading disturbance inevitably leads to damage deterioration of the surrounding rock, which poses a serious threat to its stability. To explore the energy characteristics of white sandstone damaged by peak front unloading, uniaxial compression tests were conducted on damaged rock samples. The results show that the peak strength and modulus of elasticity of the rock sample gradually decrease with increasing damage degrees. The external work input energy, releasable elastic strain energy and dissipation energy all decreased with increasing damage. Damage evolution curves and equations of the rock samples were obtained based on the damage instantiation model established by the principle of energy dissipation and release. The effects of unloading damage on the fracture characteristics of the rock samples were analysed from both macro and microscopic viewpoints, and the results showed that a micro fracture in the rock is transformed from brittle-ductile damage, while macroscopic damage occurs in the form of a "shear"-"splitting"-"mixed shear-splitting" damage process. This paper has certain research and reference value for understanding the damage evolution characteristics of rocks with peak front unloading damage.

Promoting the mechanism of OMS-2 for gas adsorption in different K+ concentrations

Adsorption performances between the OMS-2 catalyst and CH4 and O2 molecules are enhanced with increasing tunnel K+ concentration.

[Expression of nicotinamide-N-methyltransferase in gastric cancer and its biological and clinicopathological significance]

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the expression of nicotinamide-N-methyltransferase (NNMT) in gastric cancer (GC) and explore its biological and clinicopathological significance.

OBJECTIVE

We screened the candidate genes associated with the classification and prognosis of gastric cancer by analyzing GEO, Oncomine and TCGA datasets. The molecular pathways and protein interaction network involving these candidate genes were analyzed using STRING, GSEA, David and Cytoscape software. The expressions of the candidate genes in 28 pairs of gastric cancer and adjacent tissues were detected with qRTPCR, and CCK-8 assay, clone formation assay, wound healing assay and Transwell assay were carried out to analyze the effects of modulation of NNMT expression on proliferation, invasion and migration of different gastric cancer cell lines.

OBJECTIVE

NNMT was highly expressed in gastric cancer tissues and was negatively correlated with the prognosis of patients with gastric cancer. Pathway analysis showed that the high expression of NNMT was associated with adhesion-related pathway molecules such as extracellular matrix receptors, cell adhesion molecules, and cytokine receptors, while its low expression was associated with base mismatch repair and riboflavin metabolism. Protein interaction analysis showed that NNMT interacted with 16 differentially expressed proteins such as AURKA and was co-expressed with TAGLN, PTRF, AKAP12 and IGF2BP2. In clinical tissue specimens, qRT-PCR results showed that the expression of NNMT mRNA was significantly higher in gastric cancer tissues than in the adjacent tissues (P < 0.05). In gastric cancer cell lines, overexpression of NNMT was found to significantly promote cell proliferation, invasion and migration, while NNMT knockdown produced obvious inhibitory effects on cell proliferation, invasion and migration.

OBJECTIVE

NNMT is highly expressed in gastric cancer and negatively correlated with the prognosis of gastric cancer patients. The high expression of NNMT promotes the proliferation, invasion and metastasis of gastric cancer cells, suggesting the potential of NNMT as prognostic marker of gastric cancer.

GCSBA-Net: Gabor-Based and Cascade Squeeze Bi-Attention Network for Gland Segmentation

Colorectal cancer is the second and the third most common cancer in women and men, respectively. Pathological diagnosis is the "gold standard" for tumor diagnosis. Accurate segmentation of glands from tissue images is a crucial step in assisting pathologists in their diagnosis. The typical methods for gland segmentation form a dense image representation, ignoring its texture and multi-scale attention information. Therefore, we utilize a Gabor-based module to extract texture information at different scales and directions in histopathology images. This paper also designs a Cascade Squeeze Bi-Attention (CSBA) module. Specifically, we add Atrous Cascade Spatial Pyramid (ACSP), Squeeze Position Attention (SPA) module and Squeeze Channel Attention module (SCA) to model semantic correlation and maintain the multi-level aggregation on the spatial pyramid with different dilations. Besides, to solve the imbalance of data distribution and boundary blur, we propose a hybrid loss function to response the object boudary better. The experimental results show that the proposed method achieves state-of-the-art performance on the GlaS challenge dataset and CRAG colorectal adenocarcinoma dataset, respectively.

Experimental Study on Flammability and Flame Spread Characteristics of Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) Cable

Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) is widely applied in cables as insulation materials, which are vital for operation and control of industrial processes. However, PVC cables fires frequently occur, arousing public concern. Therefore, experimental methods are used to study flammability and flame-spread characteristics of PVC cable in this paper. Influences of cable structure and number are investigated, which is scanty in previous works. As cable core number of single cable or cable number of multiple cables rises, average flame height and width increase while the increment decreases. Formulas concerning dimensionless flame height and single cable diameter (or total width of multiple cables) are obtained. The former is negatively correlated with the latter. For single cable, convective heat transfer is dominant, and flame-spread rate decreases as cable core number increases. Cable maximum temperature, which drops first and then rises as cable core number increases, is observed in the cable core area. For multiple cable, the flame-spread rate increases as cable number increases. As the cable number rises, the length of pyrolysis and combustion zone increases while the maximum temperature of cable surface decreases. This work is beneficial to fire hazard evaluation and safety design of PVC cables.

Environmental impacts of nitrogen emissions in China and the role of policies in emission reduction

Atmospheric reactive nitrogen (N_r) has been a cause of serious environmental pollution in China. Historically, China used too little N_r in its agriculture to feed its population. However, with the rapid increase in N fertilizer use for food production and fossil fuel consumption for energy supply over the last four decades, increasing gaseous N_r species (e.g. NH₃ and NO_x) have been emitted to the atmosphere and then deposited as wet and dry deposition, with adverse impacts on air, water and soil quality as well as plant biodiversity and human health. This paper reviews the issues associated with this in a holistic way. The emissions, deposition, impacts, actions and regulations for the mitigation of atmospheric N_r are discussed systematically. Both NH₃ and NO_x make major contributions to environmental pollution but especially to the formation of secondary fine particulate matter (PM_2.5), which impacts human health and light scattering (haze). In addition, atmospheric deposition of NH₃ and NO_x causes adverse impacts on terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems due to acidification and eutrophication. Regulations and practices introduced by China that meet the urgent need to reduce N_r emissions are explained and resulting effects on emissions are discussed. Recommendations for improving future N management for achieving 'win-win' outcomes for Chinese agricultural production and food supply, and human and environmental health, are described. This article is part of a discussion meeting issue 'Air quality, past present and future'.

Cryptotanshinone ameliorates the pathogenicity of Streptococcus suis by targeting suilysin and inflammation

AIMS

Streptococcus suis is a highly zoonotic pathogen that is a serious threat to human health and the development of the pig industry worldwide. The virulence factors produced during S. suis infection play an important role, and the pore-forming activity of suilysin is considered an important virulence-related factor, especially in meningitis. Treatment of S. suis infection with traditional antibiotics is becoming increasingly challenging due to bacterial resistance. The purpose of this study is to verify the role of cryptotanshinone in the process of S. suis infection and provide a new drug precursor for the treatment of S. suis infection.

METHODS AND RESULTS

In this study, we used circular dichroism spectroscopy to demonstrate that cryptotanshinone alters the secondary structure of suilysin. The results of the antibacterial activity and haemolysis assays showed cryptotanshinone could inhibit the pore-forming activity of suilysin without affecting bacterial growth or its expression. We also showed that cryptotanshinone reduces bacterial damage and penetration in vitro, reduce the S. suis-induced inflammatory response and provide protection against bacterial infections in vivo and in vitro.

CONCLUSIONS

Cryptotanshinone is a potential compound precursor for treating S. suis infection.

SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY

Cryptotanshinone may be a promising leading compound for S. suis infection and related diseases.

[Research progress in the application of intralymphatic allergen immunotherapy in allergic diseases]

SummaryAlthough subcutaneous immunotherapy （SCIT） and sublingual immunotherapy （SLIT） have a positive effect, there are drawbacks such as long treatment time period, frequent treatment times, and risk of adverse reactions. Peripheral superficial lymph node injection of allergen immunotherapy （ILIT） as an emerging specific immunotherapy method has the advantages of high safety, less adverse reactions, short treatment time, less treatment times, less patient pain, and exact curative effect. In recent years, more and more scholars have conducted extensive research on intra-lymphatic injection of immunotherapy for allergic diseases. This paper systematically summarizes the theoretical basis, method, safety, effectiveness and possible immune mechanism of ILIT.

Enantioconvergent hydrolysis of m-nitrostyrene oxide at an elevated concentration by Phaseolus vulgaris epoxide hydrolase in the organic/aqueous two-phase system

(R)-m-Nitrophenyl-1,2-ethanediol (m-NPED) is a versatile and highly value-added chiral building block for the synthesis of some bioactive compounds, such as (R)-Nifenalol. To efficiently produce (R)-m-NPED through the enantioconvergent hydrolysis of racemic (rac-) m-nitrostyrene oxide (m-NSO) using the whole resting cells of Escherichia coli/pCold-pveh2 intracellularly expressing PvEH2, an epoxide hydrolase from Phaseolus vulgaris, two reaction systems were investigated. In the Na₂ HPO₄ -NaH₂ PO₄ buffer (50 mmol l^-1 , pH 7·0) system, merely 15 mmol l^-1 rac-m-NSO was successfully subjected to enantioconvergent hydrolysis, producing (R)-m-NPED with 86·0% enantiomeric excess (ee_p ) and 177·6 mg l^-1  h^-1 space-time yield (STY). The experimental result indicated that there is inhibitory effect of rac-m-NSO at high concentration on PvEH2. To efficiently increase the concentration of rac-m-NSO and the STY of (R)-m-NPED, petroleum ether was first selected to construct an organic/aqueous two-phase system. Then, both the volume ratio (v_o /v_b ) of petroleum ether to phosphate buffer and the weight ratio (w_c /w_s ) of E. coli/pCold-pveh2 dry cells to rac-m-NSO were optimized as 2 : 8 and 5 : 1, respectively. In the optimized petroleum ether/phosphate buffer two-phase system, the enantioconvergent hydrolysis of rac-m-NSO at 40 mmol l^-1 (6·6 mg ml^-1 ) was carried out at 25°C for 12 h using 33·0 mg ml^-1 vacuum freeze-dried cells of E. coli/pCold-pveh2, producing (R)-m-NPED with 87·4% ee_p , 82·3% yield and 502·4 mg l^-1  h^-1 STY. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY: Epoxide hydrolases play a crucial role in producing enantiopure epoxides and/or vicinal diols. However, numerous biocatalytic reactions of organic compounds, such as epoxides, in aqueous phase suffered various restrictions. Herein, the enantioconvergent hydrolysis of rac-m-NSO in two reaction systems was investigated using the whole cells of Escherichia coli/pCold-pveh2. As a result, the concentration of rac-m-NSO and the space-time yield of (R)-m-NPED in organic/aqueous two-phase system were significantly increased, when compared with those in aqueous phase. To our knowledge, this is the first report about the production of (R)-m-NPED from rac-m-NSO at an elevated concentration by PvEH2 in the two-phase system.

Applicability of Yielding-Resisting Sand Column and Three-Dimensional Coordination Support in Stopes

In view of the existing problems of stope roadways, which are difficult to maintain under the influence of high ground and mining-induced stresses, the structural characteristics and movement regularities of stopes surrounding rocks were analysed. Through the construction of a three-dimensional mechanical model of the coordination support of a stope, the adaptability index of the support in stope is presented, and its mechanism of operation is expounded. Yielding–resisting sand column (YRSC) sidewall-support technology with satisfactory compressibility and supporting strength was developed. The structure and actual mechanical properties of the YRSC were investigated through laboratory experiments, and the optimum ratio of filling materials was obtained. The good applicability of the load and deformation adaptability index of the three-dimensional coordination support in the stope and YRSC sidewall-support technology were demonstrated in practice at the No. 12306 working face of the Dongda coal mine. It was shown that the designed carrying capacity and compression of the sand columns satisfied the site requirements. The actual stress and deformation of the YRSC exhibited three stages: Slow growth at the initial stage, a large increase in the medium term, and a stable trend at the end. The adaptability index of the three-dimensional coordination support in the stope considers all bearing structure units of the stope as an interconnected whole, and the stability conditions of the stope roadway can be quantitatively described. The supporting effect of the YRSC is remarkable and can be applied to the construction of tunnels, bridge systems and other engineering fields.

A heterologous 'prime-boost' anti-PEDV immunization for pregnant sows protects neonatal piglets through lactogenic immunity against PEDV

Abstract

Porcine epidemic diarrhoea virus (PEDV) causes severe diarrhoea in neonatal suckling piglets with a high mortality. Maternal vaccines that can induce lactogenic immunity to protect suckling piglets via colostrums and milk are pivotal for the prevention and control of PEDV infection in neonatal suckling piglets. In this study, a group of pregnant sows were first orally immunized with coated PEDV‐loaded microspheres and boosted with killed PEDV vaccines (heterologous prime‐boost). It has been detected that the levels of PEDV‐specific antibodies (IgG and IgA) in their sera and milks were higher than other negative groups (P < 0·001 or P < 0·05). Furthermore, it has been proved by the neutralization assay that the induced antibodies could significantly inhibit virus infection as compared to other negative groups (P < 0·01 or P < 0·05). Importantly, after PEDV challenge, more than 90% of the suckling piglets delivered by the sows in the heterologous prime‐boost group were completely protected. Overall, the results show that ‘heterologous prime‐boost’ form is an efficient and effective way to provide protection for suckling piglets against PEDV through lactogenic immunity.

Significance and Impact of the Study

As a widespread swine pathogen, PEDV affects the swine industry enormously. It causes enteritis in swine of all ages and is often fatal in neonatal piglets. Our data show that pregnant sows were immunized with ‘coated PEDV‐loaded microspheres + killed PEDV vaccines’ (heterologous prime‐boost immunization) could protect more than 90% suckling piglets delivered by the sows against the virus. These findings provide a new model of developing safe and effective immunizations for newborn animals against established and emerging enteric infections.

Investigation of TLD and EBT3 performance under the presence of 1.5T, 0.35T, and 0T magnetic field strengths in MR/CT visible materials

PURPOSE

The aim of this study was to investigate thermoluminescent dosimeters (TLD) and radiochromic EBT3 film inside MR/CT visible geometric head and thorax phantoms in the presence of: 0, 0.35, and 1.5 T magnetic fields.

METHODS

Thermoluminescent Dosimeters reproducibility studies were examined by irradiating IROC-Houston's TLD acrylic block five times under 0 and 1.5 T configurations of Elekta's Unity system and three times under 0 and 0.35 T configurations of ViewRay's MRIdian Cobalt-60 (⁶⁰ Co) system. Both systems were irradiated with an equivalent 10 × 10 cm² field size, and a prescribed dose of 3 Gy to the maximum depth deposition (dmax). EBT3 film and TLDs were investigated using two geometrical Magnetic Resonance (MR)-guided Radiation Therapy (MRgRT) head and thorax phantoms. Each geometrical phantom had eight quadrants that combined to create a centrally located rectangular tumor (3 × 3 × 5 cm³ ) surrounded by tissue to form a 15 × 15 × 15 cm³ cubic phantom. Liquid polyvinyl chloride plastic and Superflab were used to simulate the tumor and surrounding tissue in the head phantom, respectively. Synthetic ballistic gel and a heterogeneous in-house mixture were used to construct the tumor and surrounding tissue in the thorax phantom, respectively. EBT3 and double-loaded TLDs were used in the phantoms to compare beam profiles and point dose measurements with and without magnetic fields. GEANT4 Monte Carlo simulations were performed to validate the detectors for both Unity 0 T/1.5 T and MRIdian 0 T/0.35 T configurations.

RESULTS

Average TLD block measurements which, compared the magnetic field effects (magnetic field vs 0 T) on the Unity and MRIdian systems, were 0.5% and 0.6%, respectively. The average ratios between magnetic field effects for the geometric thorax and head phantoms under the Unity system were -0.2% and 1.6% and for the MRIdian system were 0.2% and -0.3%, respectively. Beam profiles generated with both systems agreed with Monte Carlo measurements and previous literature findings.

CONCLUSIONS

TLDs and EBT3 film dosimeters could potentially be used in MR/CT visible tissue equivalent phantoms that will experience a magnetic field environment.

Understanding electro-catalysis by using density functional theory

DFT calculations are indispensable for understanding the electro-catalysis through explanation of the experimental phenomena, prediction of experimental results, and guiding of the experimental investigation.

[The relationship between the key nasal symptoms and the level of histamineand leukotriene D4 in serum and nasal secretions in allergic rhinitis]

Objective:To investigate the relationship between main nasal symptoms and the levels of histamine and leukotriene D4(LTD4) in serum and nasal secretions in allergic rhinitis(AR),and provide a preliminary guidance for individualized treatment in AR.Method:One hundred and eight cases of AR were divided into two groups,i.e.sneezing group and nasal congestion group,according to 2014 clinical guidelines for allergic rhinitis from January 2014 to June 2015.The levels of histamine and LTD4 in serum and nasal secretions were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA) and the relationship was explored between the clinical main nasal symptoms score and the levels of histamine and LTD4.Result:The scores of sneezing(5.58±2.59)for AR were obviously related to the levels of histamine in serum(8.39±4.07)ng/ml and nasal secretion(5.06±2.47)ng/ml,(r=0.79,0.78,all P<0.05).The scores of nasal congestion(5.34±2.36) for AR were also related to the levels of LTD4 in serum(0.356±0.155 ng/ml) and nasal secretion(0.215±0.092)ng/ml,(r=0.74,0.72,all P<0.05).And the levels of histamine(8.39±4.07)ng/ml and LTD4(0.356±0.155) ng/ml in serum for AR patients were positively correlated with the levels in nasal secretions(r=0.99,P<0.01;r=0.98,P<0.01).Conclusion:In AR patients,the high levels of histamine and LTD4 in serum and nasal secretions are closely related to the sneezing symptoms and nasal obstruction symptoms,respectively.

[Extranodal NK/T-cell lymphoma, nasal type: a clinical analysis]

Objective:To explore the clinical diagnosis and treatment characteristics and clinical factors of extranodal NK/T-cell lymphoma, nasal type and provide the basis for clinical individual therapy and experience.Method:The 25 cases personal data of ENKTL received from December in 2009 to July in 2016 by our department including clinical manifestation, the serum EBV-DNA detection, imaging examination, Ann-Arbor staging, histological grade, treatment, and prognosis, etc. were retrospectively analyzed. All of the patients were pathological diagnosis and received standard, specification and system treatment. Single factor survival analysis was performed by Kaplan-Meier method and Log-rank test, and multivariate analysis was carried out using Coxproportional hazard model in the risk assessment about the factors affecting the prognosis of clinical.Result:Of the 25 patients, 15 cases(60%) were in stage ⅠE-ⅡE, which 1 year and 3 years (overall survival) OS were 100%, 100% respectively and 10 cases(40%) were in stage ⅢE-ⅣE, which 1 year and 3 years OS were respectively 40.0%, 26.7%. It had significant statistical difference (P= 0.000). Radiotherapy alone in 3 cases which 1 year and 3 years OS were respectively 100%, 100%;Chemotherapy alone in 6 cases, which 1 year and 3 years OS were 53.6% and 53.6%, respectively; 16 cases of comprehensive treatment combined radiation and chemotherapy which 1 year and 3 years OS are 84.6% and 84.6% respectively. There were significant difference between three kinds of treatment model (P= 0.027), and chemotherapy alone had the worst prognosis. Further multivariate analysis using Coxproportional hazard model showed that the course of the disease, B symptoms, EBV-DNA copy number positive, treatment mode closely associated with the prognosis (P were 0.006, 0.003, 0.010, 0.040 respectively).Conclusion:Extranodal NK/T-cell lymphoma, nasal type invasive is strong, the overall prognosis is poor. For early Ann Arbor staging, low risk and limited to the nasal cavity cases, radiotherapy alone curative effect is better. While for strong attack range or terminal patients, chemotherapy combined with radiotherapy is the first selection. In addition, this result shows that Ann Arbor staging, treatment pattern, the course of the disease, B symptoms, EBV-DNA copy number positive are independent prognostic factors.

Manifold Preserving: An Intrinsic Approach for Semisupervised Distance Metric Learning

In this paper, we address the semisupervised distance metric learning problem and its applications in classification and image retrieval. First, we formulate a semisupervised distance metric learning model by considering the metric information of inner classes and interclasses. In this model, an adaptive parameter is designed to balance the inner metrics and intermetrics by using data structure. Second, we convert the model to a minimization problem whose variable is symmetric positive-definite matrix. Third, in implementation, we deduce an intrinsic steepest descent method, which assures that the metric matrix is strictly symmetric positive-definite at each iteration, with the manifold structure of the symmetric positive-definite matrix manifold. Finally, we test the proposed algorithm on conventional data sets, and compare it with other four representative methods. The numerical results validate that the proposed method significantly improves the classification with the same computational efficiency.

Effect of Magnetic Field Strength on Plastic Scintillation Detector Response

Purpose

To characterize the response of plastic scintillation detectors (PSDs) to high-energy photon radiation as a function of magnetic field strength.

Materials and Methods

PSDs were placed inside a plastic phantom held at the center point between 2 magnets and irradiated using a 6-MV photon beam from a linear accelerator. The magnetic field was varied from 0 T to 1.5 T by 0.3-T increments. The light emission and stem-effect-corrected response as a function of magnetic field strength were obtained for both a commercial PSD (Exradin W1, Standard Imaging) and an in-house hyperspectral PSD. Spectral signatures were obtained for the in-house PSD, and light emission from a bare fiber was also measured.

Results

Light emission increased as magnetic field strength increased for all detectors tested. The tested PSDs exhibited an increase in light intensity of 10% to 20%, mostly owing to the increase in Cerenkov light produced within and transmitted along the optical fiber. When corrected for stem effects, the increase in PSD response went down to 2.4% for both detectors. This most likely represents the change in the inherent dose deposition within the phantom.

Conclusion

PSDs with a suitable stem-effect removal approach were less dependent on magnetic field strength and had better water equivalence than did ion chambers tested in previous studies. PSDs therefore show great promise for use in both quality assurance and in-vivo dosimetry applications in a magnetic field environment.

Genetic epidemiology of porcine epidemic diarrhoea virus circulating in China in 2012-2017 based on spike gene

A porcine epidemic diarrhoea outbreak first occurred in southern China at the end of 2010 and afterwards the disease spread throughout the country. Spike gene is divergent and important for understanding the genetic relations of porcine epidemic diarrhoea virus field strains, the epidemiological status of the virus and vaccine development. In this study, S1 regions of spike gene of 1,235 selected strains collected from 2012 to 2017 in China were clustered along with 25 references of spike sequences mainly from China. The phylogenetic analysis demonstrates that these sequences of S1 regions were genetically more diverse with time. In all strains, G1a, G1b, G2a and G2b clusters accounted for 1.9%, 9.6%, 32.2% and 56.3%, respectively, namely G2a and G2b were the two most prevalent clusters in China. Furthermore, we made a more detailed classification for G2 group based on phylogenetic tree, in which G2a was divided into two subgroups, and G2b was separated into four subgroups.

[Diagnosis and surgical reconstruction results for 14 cases of patients with congenital ossicular chain malformation]

Objective:To investigate the diagnosis of common congenital ossicular chain malformation and the efficacy of ossicular chain reconstruction. Method:Fourteen cases with 15 ears of congenital ossicular chain malformation were included, consisting of 10 cases unilateral conductive hearing loss(10 ears), 1 case bilateral conductive hearing loss (2 ears) and 3 cases unilateral mixed hearing loss with significant conductive hearing loss(3 ears). Tympanoplasty was proceed on all 15 ears, 1 ear was proceed by loosen the cartilage fixation of ossicular chain and tympanic cavity wall. Fourteen ears were proceed with ossicular chain reconstruction, including 3 ears with TORP,10 ears with PORP and 1 ear with artificial stapes operation. The efficacy was measured by comparing the values of air bone gap(ABG) before and after the operation. Result:The average ABG of pre-operation was 39.9 dB, the ABG for 3 week and 6 to 8 months after operation were 22.3 dB and 19.6 dB, which were 17.6 dB and 20.3 dB improve respectively(t=22.10, P<0.01 and t=12.813，P<0.01). Conclusion:Operation is the first choice for those conductive hearing loss causing by simple congenital ossicular chain malformation, relevant ossicular chain reconstruction due to particular situation of the surgery can significantly improve hearing.