[Clinical analysis of 9 children with refractory N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor antibody encephalitis children treated with tocilizumab]

Objective: To analyze the clinical features of children with refractory N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antibody encephalitis treated with tocilizumab. Methods: Demographic and clinical manifeatations, immunotherapy and prognosis data of 9 children with refractory NMDA receptor antibody encephalitis who received tocilizumab in the Department of Pediatrics Neurology, XiangYa Hospital of Central South University from August 2021 to September 2023 were collected retrospectively. Prognosis was evaluated using the modified Rankin scale at initial diagnosis, at the initiation of tocilizumab treatment, and at the last follow-up. Treatment related complications, neuroimaging, and electroencephalography data were analyzed. Results: Among the 9 children, 6 were male and 3 were female, with an onset age of 4.2 (2.8, 8.7) years. At the onset of the disease, 9 children had a modified Rankin scale score of 5. When tocilizumab treatment was initiated, 7 children had a score of 5, and 2 children had a score of 4. The interval between the onset and initiation of tocilizumab treatment was 12 (5, 27) months, and the treatment frequency was 8 (5, 13) times. The follow-up time was 2.8 (1.5, 3.7) years. At the last follow-up, the symptoms of 9 children, including movement disorder, sleep disorder, consciousness disorder, silence and autonomic dysfunction, were improved to varying degrees, and none of them had seizures. At the last follow-up, 4 cases with a modified Rankin scale score of 0, 1 case with a score of 1, 2 cases with a score of 3, 1 case with a score of 4 and 1 case with a score of 5. The modified Rankin scale at the last follow-up was significantly different from that at the start of tocilizumab (Z=-2.56, P=0.014). All children had no serious adverse reactions during the treatment. Conclusions: After treatment with tocilizumab, the symptoms in patievts with refractory NMDA receptor antibody encephalitis, including movement disorder, sleep disorder, consciousness disorder, silence and autonomic dysfunction were improved, and none of them had seizures. The modified Rankin scale were improved, and the safety was good.

The COSPAR planetary protection policy for missions to Icy Worlds: A review of history, current scientific knowledge, and future directions

Recent discoveries related to the habitability and astrobiological relevance of the outer Solar System have expanded our understanding of where and how life may have originated. As a result, the Icy Worlds of the outer Solar System have become among the highest priority targets for future spacecraft missions dedicated to astrobiology-focused and/or direct life detection objectives. This, in turn, has led to a renewed interest in planetary protection concerns and policies for the exploration of these worlds and has been a topic of discussion within the COSPAR (Committee on Space Research) Panel on Planetary Protection. This paper summarizes the results of those discussions, reviewing the current knowledge and the history of planetary protection considerations for Icy Worlds as well as suggesting ways forward. Based on those discussions, we therefore suggest to (1) Establish a new definition for Icy Worlds for Planetary Protection that captures the outer Solar System moons and dwarf planets like Pluto, but excludes more primitive bodies such as comets, centaurs, and asteroids: Icy Worlds in our Solar System are defined as all bodies with an outermost layer that is believed to be greater than 50 % water ice by volume and have enough mass to assume a nearly round shape. (2) Establish indices for the lower limits of Earth life with regards to water activity (LLAw) and temperature (LLT) and apply them into all areas of the COSPAR Planetary Protection Policy. These values are currently set at 0.5 and -28 °C and were originally established for defining Mars Special Regions; (3) Establish LLT as a parameter to assign categorization for Icy Worlds missions. The suggested categorization will have a 1000-year period of biological exploration, to be applied to all Icy Worlds and not just Europa and Enceladus as is currently the case. (4) Have all missions consider the possibility of impact. Transient thermal anomalies caused by impact would be acceptable so long as there is less than 10-4 probability of a single microbe reaching deeper environments where temperature is >LLT in the period of biological exploration. (5) Restructure or remove Category II* from the policy as it becomes largely redundant with this new approach, (6) Establish that any sample return from an Icy World should be Category V restricted Earth return.

Sudomotor dysfunction is associated with impaired left ventricular diastolic function in persons with type 2 diabetes: a cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND

The incidence of preserved ejection fraction heart failure has significantly increased in persons with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Left ventricular (LV) diastolic dysfunction is an early and important manifestation of preserved ejection fraction heart failure. The onset of heart failure in persons with diabetes is associated with diabetic neuropathy. However, the relationship among sudomotor function, which is an early manifestation of small fiber neuropathy, and LV diastolic function remains unclear. This study aimed to explore the association between sudomotor function and LV diastolic function in persons with T2DM.

METHODS

In total, 699 persons with T2DM were enrolled and divided into three groups according to electrochemical skin conductance (ESC) assessed using the SUDOSCAN device: "no dysfunction" group (NSF), "moderate dysfunction" group (MDF), and "severe dysfunction" group (SDF). LV diastolic function was assessed using Doppler echocardiography. To evaluate the relationship between ESC and echocardiographic parameters, Pearson's correlation analysis was performed. Additionally, logistic regression analysis was used to determine the association between LV diastolic function and ESC. A receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was constructed to evaluate the performance of sudomotor function indicators in detecting impaired cardiac diastolic function.

RESULTS

There were 301 persons (43.06%) in the NSF group, 232 (33.19%) in the MDF group, and 166 (23.75%) in the SDF group. Compared to the NSF group, the MDF and SDF groups had higher A and E/e' and lower e' values (all p < 0.05). Pearson's correlation analysis showed that A and E/e' were negatively associated with foot ESC (FESC) and hand ESC (HESC), whereas e' was positively associated with FESC and HESC (all p < 0.05). After adjusting for confounding factors, binary logistic regression analysis showed that ESC was independently associated with impaired LV diastolic function (p = 0.003). The area under the ROC curve values for FESC and HESC were 0.621 and 0.635, respectively (both p < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

Deteriorating sudomotor function was associated with reduced diastolic function indicators. ESC can be used as a biomarker for detecting LV diastolic impairment.

Highly efficient Cu(II) capture by salicylaldoxime functionalized magnetic polydopamine core-shell hybrids: Behavior and mechanism

Functionalized magnetic nanocomposites were considered as promising adsorbents owing to their abundant functional groups and ease of separation properties. Herein, we combined the solvothermal method with molecular copolymerization to synthesize a salicylaldoxime-grafted magnetic polydopamine (SMP) core-shell hybrid and exploited it for Cu(II) adsorption. The physicochemical properties of SMP were comprehensively studied by SEM, TEM, XRD, FT-IR, TGA, XPS, and VSM measurements. The results manifested that polydopamine acts as a bridge connecting magnetic iron oxide and salicylaldoxime to fabricated core-shell hybrids with rich functional groups. The batch experimental results showed that the Cu(II) adsorption was consumingly pH-reliant behavior, while adsorption data fitted the pseudo-second-order kinetic model and Langmuir isothermal model well, and the adsorption process achieved equilibrium within 60 min. Moreover, SMP exhibited remarkable anti-interference and can be recycled for 5 times with an inconspicuous decrease in adsorption performance. Importantly, salicylaldoxime functionalization endowed SMP with maximum Cu(II) adsorption capacity of 141.24 mg/g at pH 6.0 and 25 °C as compared with pure MP. Based on FT-IR and XPS study, the main adsorption mechanisms were proposed with a synergistic effect including a strong chemical chelation and partial Cu(II) reduction. Importantly, this strategy can be extended to multifunctional magnetic composites for Cu-contaminated wastewater cleanup.

Diagnostic and prognostic value of parameters of erector spinae in patients with uremic sarcopenia

AIM

This study aimed to investigate whether computed tomography (CT)-measured erector spinae parameters (ESPs) have diagnostic, severity assessment, and prognostic predictive value in uremic sarcopenia (US).

MATERIALS AND METHODS

A total of 202 uremic patients were enrolled and divided into two groups: a control group and a sarcopenia group. Sarcopenia was classified into two types: severe and nonsevere. The area, volume, and density of the erector spinae (ES) were measured using chest CT images, and the relevant ESP, including the erector spinae index (ESI), total erector spinae volume (TESV), erector spinae density (ESD), and erector spinae gauge (ESG) were calculated. The occurrence of adverse events was followed-up for 36 months. The diagnostic value and severity of US were determined using the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve. Survival curves diagnosed using CT were plotted and compared with the curve drawn using the gold standard. Cox regression analysis was used to identify independent risk factors associated with survival in US.

RESULTS

With an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.840 and 0.739, the combined ESP has diagnostic value and the ability to assess the severity of US. There was no significant difference in the survival curve between the combined ESP for the diagnosis of US and the gold standard (P > 0.05). ESI is a standalone predictor of survival in patients with US.

CONCLUSION

ESP measured by CT has diagnostic values for US and its severity, as well as being a predictive value for the prognosis of US.

Responses of a polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon-degrading bacterium, Paraburkholderia fungorum JT-M8, to Cd (II) under P-limited oligotrophic conditions

For the bioremediation of mixed-contamination sites, studies on polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) degradation or Cd (II) tolerance in bacteria are commonly implemented in nutrient-rich media. In contrast, in the field, inocula usually encounter harsh oligotrophic habitats. In this study, the environmental strain Paraburkholderia fungorum JT-M8 was used to explore the overlooked Cd (II) defense mechanism during PAH dissipation under P-limited oligotrophic condition. The results showed that the growth and PAH degradation ability of JT-M8 under Cd (II) stress were correlated with phosphate contents and exhibited self-regulating properties. Phosphates mainly affected the Cd (II) content in solution, while the cellular distribution of Cd (II) depended on Cd (II) levels; Cd (II) was mainly located in the cytoplasm when exposed to less Cd (II), and vice versa. The unique Cd (II) detoxification pathways could be classified into three aspects: (i) Cd (II) ionic equilibrium and dose-response effects regulated by environmental matrices (phosphate contents); (ii) bacterial physiological self-regulation, e.g., cell surface-binding, protein secretion and active transport systems; and (iii) specific adaptive responses (flagellum aggregation). This study emphasizes the importance of considering culture conditions when assessing the metal tolerance and provides new insight into the bacterial detoxification process of complex PAH-Cd (II) pollutants.

Enhanced CO oxidation performance over hierarchical flower-like Co3O4 based nanosheets via optimizing oxygen activation and CO chemisorption

Enhancing low-temperature activity is a focus for carbon monoxide (CO) elimination by catalytic oxidation. In this work, the hierarchical flower-like silver (Ag) modified cobalt oxides (Co3O4) nanosheets were prepared by solvothermal method and applied into catalytic CO oxidation. The doped Ag species in the form of AgCoO2 induced the prolongated surface Co-O bond and weaker bond intensity. Consequently, the oxygen activation/migration ability and redox capacity of Ag0.02Co were enhanced with more oxygen vacancies. The chemisorbed CO was preferentially converted to CO2 but not carbonates. The inhibited carbonates accumulation could avoid the coverage of active sites. According to Density functional theory (DFT) calculations, the electron transfer from AgCoO2 to Co3O4 promote electron donation ability of Co3O4 layer, benefiting for oxygen activation. Moreover, the longer Co-C and C-O bond length suggest the weakened chemisorption strength and higher active of CO molecule. The Ag modified Co3O4 exhibited more satisfactory activity at lower temperature. Typically, it realized 100% CO conversion at 90 °C, and displayed 6.3-fold higher reaction rate than pristine Co3O4 at 40 °C. Moreover, the Ag0.02Co exhibited outstanding long-term stability and water resistance. In summary, the optimized oxygen activation, CO chemisorption and interfacial electron transfer synergistically boosted the CO oxidation activity on Ag modified Co3O4.

Photo-induced adsorption-desorption behavior of methylene blue on CA-BMO under visible light irradiation

In this work, the modification of Bi2MoO6 with critic acid (CA-BMO) to achieve enhanced adsorption of methylene blue (MB) solution in dark and desorption under visible light irradiation was reported. The as-prepared materials were synthesized by a hydrothermal method and characterized via SEM, FT-IR, XRD, and XPS techniques. Only 16.5% of 10 mg L-1 MB was removed within 10 min by using 0.5 g L-1 Bi2MoO6, while 92.9% removal of MB could be achieved by using 0.5 g L-1 CA-BMO, which enhanced the adsorption removal by a factor of 4.6. The adsorption capacity for MB was 18.9 mg g-1. Desorption efficiency of MB was only observed in CA-BMO system, and it depends on the wavelength of the light source, pH, and the presence of metal ions. Characterization results suggested that carboxyl groups, which were modified onto the surface of Bi2MoO6, could serve as adsorption sites for MB, and the connections were damaged under light, thus leading to the desorption of MB from the surface of the CA-BMO. This study provides a novel reagent-free desorption strategy for dye recovery without secondary pollution, which facilitates the development and application of Bi-based adsorbent for dye-containing wastewater treatment.

Deep Learning and GAN-Synthesis for Auto-Segmentation of Pancreatic Cancer by Non-Enhanced CT for Adaptive Radiotherapy

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVE(S)

In conventional adaptive radiotherapy (ART) for pancreatic cancer, contrast-enhanced CT (CECT) helps to more precisely delineate primary gross tumor volume (GTV) than non-enhanced CT (NECT). However, frequent use of contrast medium can damage kidneys and prolong treatment time. Moreover, traditional manual delineation is labor-intensive and highly dependent on the experience of oncologists. Currently, automatic delineation based on deep learning with Generative Adversarial Networks (GAN)-based CT synthesis is one of the most feasible solutions to these problems.

MATERIALS/METHODS

A dataset of 35 pancreatic cancer patients was retrospectively collected from May 2021 to December 2022. All patients consist of a pair of NECT and CECT. We designed and developed an automatic delineation framework (Proposed) for GTV of pancreatic cancer based on Trans-cycleGAN and a modified 3D U-Net. TranscycleGAN can not only synthesize CECT from NECT, but can also augment the amount of CT images; then all real and synthesized CT images were used to train the modified 3D U-Net for automatic delineation of GTV; finally, our framework was able to automatically delineate GTV by NECT, but not only by CECT. Our framework was evaluated by dice similarity coefficient (DSC), 95% Harsdorff distance (95HD) and average surface distance (ASD) with oncologists' manual delineation ("gold standard").

RESULTS

The evaluation results were summarized in Table 1. The proposed framework achieved the best automatic delineation results by NECT, which was superior to that of CECT: 0.917 & 0.903 of DSC, 2.498mm & 3.029mm of HD95, 0.481mm & 0.534mm of ASD, p < 0.05 for DSC and HD95. Specifically, it is significantly superior to the automatic delineation results using U-Net by CECT 0.917 & 0.818 of DSC, 2.498mm & 13.228mm of HD95, 0.481mm & 3.633mm of ASD, p < 0.05 for DSC.

CONCLUSION

We proposed an automatic delineation framework for contouring GTV in ART of pancreatic cancer based on deep learning and Trans-cycleGAN network. This framework could automatically delineate GTV and achieve better performance with NECT compared to CECT. Our method could not only reduce the use of contrast medium, but also increase the precision and effectiveness of tumor delineation, which could have a positive impact on precision radiotherapy.

Efficacy and Safety of High-Dose Vitamin C Combined with Total Neoadjuvant Chemoradiotherapy in Locally Advanced Rectal Cancer (HCCSC R02 Study)

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVE(S)

Forpatients with locally advanced rectal cancer (LARC), the standard treatment is fluoropyrimidine (FU) -based neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (NCRT) combined with curative surgery. The CAO/ARO/AIO-04 trial and FORWARC trial reported that the addition of oxaliplatin to FU -based NCRT contributed to improve pathologic complete response (pCR), nevertheless, increased the acute therapeutic toxicity. Some studies showed that vitamin C (VitC) had potential benefits on anti-tumor therapy and anti-inflammatory response. Therefore, we conducted this HCCSC R02 study to explore the efficacy and safety of adding a high-dose intravenous VitC to mFOLFOX6/XELOX -based NCRT in LARC.

MATERIALS/METHODS

HCCSCR02 study was designed as a prospective, single-center phase II trial, which including pts aged 18-75 years with stage II/III rectal adenocarcinoma, distance from anus ≤12cm. The enrollment criteria included: staged with MRI as cT3/cT4 or cN1/2, or mesorectal fascia involvement (MRF+), or difficult to preserve the anus. Patients with glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase enzyme(G6PD) deficiency were excluded. Pelvic intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) was given in 45-50.4Gy/25-28 fractions. Concurrently, two cycles of chemotherapy (mFOLFOX6 or XELOX) were administered during IMRT, as well as intravenous VitC (24g) delivered daily after the end of each radiation therapy. Additional 2-3 cycles of mFOLFOX6 / XELOX were adopted between the completion of radiotherapy and surgery. The primary endpoint was pCR rate. The secondary endpoints included radiation-related toxicities, overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS). This study is still recruiting.

RESULTS

From May 15, 2021 to Feb 8, 2023, 19 pts were recruited and finished all the scheduled NCRT, of which the proportion of cT4, cT3, cN2, cN1 were 31.6%, 63.2%, 52.6%, 36.8%, respectively. In addition, 10 pts (52.6%) were diagnosed as MRF+ initially, and 8 pts (42.1%) had a lower primary tumor(≤5cm) who were considered difficult for anal preservation before NCRT. All subjects enrolled were confirmed to be proficient mismatch repair (pMMR). As a result, 18 pts underwent a total mesorectal excision (TME) all with R0-resection, and 8 pts were evaluated as pCR (44.4%, 8/18, confidence interval: 0.246-0.663), 11 as major pathological response rate (MPR) (61.6%, 11/18), respectively. The anus preservation rate in patients with lower diseases was 87.5% (7/8). One case accepted a watch-and-wait strategy because of clinical complete response (cCR). Overall, grade 3 toxicities were observed in 4 pts, including 3 leucopenia (15.8%, 3/19), 2 neutropenia (10.5%, 2/19) and 1 diarrhea (5.3%, 1/19). No grade 4 adverse event was observed.

CONCLUSION

The addition of high-dose VitC to the mFOLFOX6/XELOX-based NCRT in LARC showed a promising pCR, well tolerance, particularly low rate of diarrhea, thus warrants further investigation.

CLINICAL TRIAL INFORMATION

NCT04801511.

PD-L1 Inhibitors Combined with Thoracic Radiotherapy in First-Line Treatment of Extensive Stage Small Cell Lung Cancer: A Propensity Score-Matched, Real-World Study

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVE(S)

The CREST study showed that the addition of thoracic radiotherapy (TRT) could improve the survival of extensive stage small cell lung cancer (ES-SCLC), but whether TRT can bring survival benefit in the era of immunotherapy is controversial. This study aims to explore the efficacy and safety of adding TRT to the combination of PD-L1 inhibitors and chemotherapy.

MATERIALS/METHODS

Thepatients who received PD-L1 inhibitors combined with platinum-based chemotherapy as the first-line treatment of ES-SCLC from January 2019 to December 2021 were retrospectively collected. According to whether they received TRT, they were divided into two groups, and the follow-up analysis was performed. Propensity score matching (PSM) in with a 1:1 ratio was performed to balance the baseline characteristics of the two cohorts. The endpoints were progression-free survival (PFS) and OS.

RESULTS

A total of 211 patients with ES-SCLC were enrolled, of whom 70 (33.2%) patients received standard therapy plus TRT as first-line treatment, and 141 (66.8%) patients in the control group received PD-L1 inhibitors plus chemotherapy. After PSM, a total of 65 pairs of patients were enrolled in the analysis. There were no significant differences in baseline characteristics between the two groups of patients who received TRT and those who did not. In all patients, the median PFS (mPFS) in the TRT group and the non-TRT groupwere 9.5 months and 7.2 months, respectively, with HR = 0.60 (95% CI 0.41-0.87, p = 0.007). The median OS (mOS) in the TRT group was also significantly longer than that in the non-TRT group (24.1 months vs. 18.5 months, HR = 0.53, 95% CI 0.32-0.85, p = 0.009). Multivariable analysis showed that baseline liver metastasis and bone metastasis were independent prognostic factors for OS. In terms of safety, immunotherapy combined with thoracic radiotherapy increased the incidence of treatment-related pneumonia (p<0.001), most of which were grade 1-2.

CONCLUSION

This real-world study shows that adding TRT to durvalumab or atezolizumab plus chemotherapy significantly improves survival in ES-SCLC. It leads to more treatment-related pneumonia, but most of them can be relieved after symptomatic treatment. This treatment model deserves to be explored in prospective clinical trials.

HISMD: A Novel Immune Subtyping System for HNSCC

Immune subtyping is an important way to reveal immune heterogeneity, which may contribute to the diversity of the progression and treatment in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). However, reported immune subtypes mainly focus on levels of immune infiltration and are mostly based on a mono-omics profile. This study aimed to identify a comprehensive immune subtype for HNSCC via multi-omics clustering and build a novel subtype prediction system for clinical application. Data were obtained from The Cancer Genome Atlas database and our independent multicenter cohort. Multi-omics clustering was performed to identify 3 clusters of 499 patients in The Cancer Genome Atlas based on immune-related gene expression and somatic mutations. The immune characteristics and biological features of the obtained clusters were revealed by bioinformatics, and 3 immune subtypes were identified: 1) adaptive immune activation subtype predominantly enriched in T cells, 2) innate immune activation subtype predominantly enriched in macrophages, and 3) immune desert subtype. Subsequently, the clinical implications of each subtype were analyzed per clinical epidemiology. We found that adaptive immune activation showed better survival outcomes and had a similar response to chemotherapy with innate immune activation, whereas immune desert might be relatively resistant to chemotherapy. Moreover, a subtype prediction system was developed by deep learning with whole slide images and named HISMD: HNSCC Immune Subtypes via Multi-omics and Deep Learning. We endowed HISMD with interpretability through image-based key feature extraction. The clinical implications, biological significances, and predictive stability of HISMD were successfully verified by using our independent multicenter cohort data set. In summary, this study revealed the immune heterogeneity of HNSCC and obtained a novel, highly accurate, and interpretable immune subtyping prediction system. For clinical implementation in the future, additional validation and utility studies are warranted.

The impact of the metabolic score for insulin resistance on cardiovascular disease: a 10-year follow-up cohort study

PURPOSE

To investigate whether the metabolic score for insulin resistance (METS-IR) is associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD).

METHODS

A total of 6489 participants aged 35-70 years without a history of CVD were included in this prospective cohort study. The median follow-up time was 10.6 years. The METS-IR was calculated as ln [2 × FPG (mg/dL) + fasting TG (mg/dL)] × BMI (kg/m²)/ln [HDL-C (mg/dL)]. The primary outcome was CVD, defined as the composite of coronary heart disease (CHD) and stroke.

RESULTS

During follow-up, 396 individuals developed CVD. Kaplan-Meier survival curves by quintiles of METS-IR showed statistically significant differences (log-rank test, P < 0.001). Multivariate Cox regression analysis showed that the hazard ratio [95% confidence interval (95% CI)] of CVD was 1.80 (1.24-2.61) in quintile 5 and 1.17 (1.05-1.31) for per standard deviation (SD) increase in METS-IR. In subgroup analysis, the significant association between METS-IR and CVD was mainly observed among females and subjects without diabetes mellitus. A significant interaction was found between gender and METS-IR (P-interaction = 0.001). Moreover, adding METS-IR to models with traditional risk factors yielded a significant improvement in discrimination and reclassification of incident CVD.

CONCLUSION

The elevated METS-IR was independently associated with incident CVD, suggesting that the METS-IR might be a valuable indicator for risk stratification and early intervention of CVD.

Dosimetric comparison of different intensity-modulated radiotherapy techniques for whole-breast irradiation of right-breast cancer

PURPOSE

This study compared the dosimetric parameters of field-in-field forward intensity-modulated radiotherapy (FIF-IMRT) and fixed-field inversely optimized intensity-modulated radiotherapy (FFIO-IMRT) for the whole-breast irradiation of patients undergoing right-breast lumpectomy.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

A total of 30 patients with pT1-2N0M0 right-breast invasive ductal carcinoma were enrolled in this study. Two different treatment plans, i.e., FIF-IMRT and FFIO-IMRT, were designed for each patient. The dosimetric parameters of the two treatment plans were compared including ipsilateral lung and heart, conformity index (CI), and the homogeneity index (HI) of the planning target volume (PTV).

RESULTS

Fixed-field inversely optimized intensity-modulated radiotherapy was found to significantly improve CI (83.302% vs. 60.146%) and HI (11.837% vs. 19.280%), and significantly reduced V₂₅ (18.038% vs. 19.653%) and V₃₀ (15.790% vs. 18.492%) of the ipsilateral lung. It also significantly increased V₅ (69.791% vs. 32.615%) of the ipsilateral lung and V₅ (61.579% vs. 3.829%), V₁₀ (14.130% vs. 0.381%), V₂₀ (1.843% vs. 0.051%), and D_mean (5.211Gy vs. 1.870Gy) of the heart.

CONCLUSION

Regardless of improving the conformity and homogeneity of PTV and reducing the ipsilateral lung irradiation volume at high doses, FFIO-IMRT significantly raised the ipsilateral lung irradiated volume at low doses, as well as the irradiation volume and mean radiation doses to the heart. This limits its use in patients with early-stage right breast cancer.

Adaptations to water stress and pastoralism in the Turkana of northwest Kenya

The Turkana people inhabit arid regions of east Africa-where temperatures are high and water is scarce-and they practice subsistence pastoralism, such that their diet is primarily composed of animal products. Working with Turkana communities, we sequenced 367 genomes and identified 8 regions putatively involved in adaptation to water stress and pastoralism. One of these regions includes a putative enhancer for STC1-a kidney-expressed gene involved in the response to dehydration and the metabolism of purine-rich foods such as red meat. We show that STC1 is induced by antidiuretic hormone in humans, is associated with urea levels in the Turkana themselves, and is under strong selection in this population (s∼0.041). This work highlights that partnerships with subsistence-level groups can lead to new models of human physiology with biomedical relevance.

Lattice distortions and the metal-insulator transition in pure and Ti-substituted Ca3Ru2O7

We report pair distribution function studies on the relationship between the metal-insulator transition (MIT) and lattice distortions in pure and Ti-substituted bilayer Ca₃Ru₂O₇. Structural refinements performed as a function of temperature, magnetic field and length scale reveal the presence of lattice distortions not only within but also orthogonal to the bilayers. Because of the distortions, the local and average crystal structure differ across a broad temperature region extending from room temperature to temperatures below the MIT. The coexistence of distinct lattice distortions is likely to be behind the marked structural flexibility of Ca₃Ru₂O₇under external stimuli. This observation highlights the ubiquity of lattice distortions in an archetypal Mott system and calls for similar studies on other families of strongly correlated materials.

Dye recovery with photoresponsive citric acid-modified BiOCOOH smart material: Simple synthesis, adsorption-desorption properties, and mechanisms

Dye recovery is of great significance for a circular economy and sustainable development. However, green recovery strategies without secondary pollution remain a significant challenge. To resolve this issue, a light-responsive smart material (citric acid-modified BiOCOOH (m-BOCH)) was synthesized and applied for dye recovery through adsorption in the dark, and desorption under visible light. With the modification of citric acid, the adsorption level of methylene blue (MB) on m-BOCH (43.4%) was more than six times that of pure BiOCOOH (7.1%). The desorption rate was ∼90% in 120 min under 420 nm light irradiation (there was no desorption for pure BOCH). Further, the adsorption rate was improved to 83.9% and the desorption rate remained stable at an optimal pH of 10.09. Characterization results indicated that carboxyl groups were modified onto the surface of BiOCOOH and served as adsorption sites for MB. Under visible light exposure, the connections between the carboxyl groups and BiOCOOH were damaged, which led to the desorption of MB from the surface of the m-BOCH. The recovered MB exhibited a good staining effect on hepatic stellate cells (HSC) as a fresh dye. The regeneration of m-BOCH was achieved through a moderate hydrothermal process, and the adsorption and desorption capacities were restored to 80.8% and 85.7%, respectively. This research provides a novel environmentally compatible strategy for dye recovery without secondary pollution. This is a very promising treatment technique for dye effluents, which highlights the application of smart materials resource recycling for environmental remediation.

Preparing Pd/Sn modified nickel foam electrode for nitrate removal from aqueous solutions

Nitrate pollution in ground water and surface water has been becoming a worldwide problem that poses a great challenge to steady water ecosystem and human health. Electrochemical reduction is a promising way to remove nitrate from water because of advantages. We prepared Pd/Sn modified nickel foam (NF) electrode according to a two-step electrodeposition method. The prepared NF-Pd/Sn electrode showed a micromorphology like "Karst Fengcong" with peaks, saddles and nadirs intertwined with each other. Pd⁰ and Sn⁰ were detected on the NF-Pd/Sn electrode and the mass ratio of Pd/Sn was 4.3/1. The NF-Pd/Sn electrode showed the highest reaction rate (k_obs: 0.543 h^-1) and removal efficiency (94%) under the condition of 100 mg N/L, 0.05 mol/L Na₂SO₄ and -1.6 V vs. Ag/AgCl sat. KCl. The highest N₂-selectivity (100%) was reached under the condition of 100 mg N/L, 0.05 mol/L NaCl and -1.6 V vs. Ag/AgCl sat. KCl. The microstructure of NF-Pd/Sn electrode like "Karst Fengcong" could provide large specific surface area and more active sites for nitrate adsorption and electrocatalytic reduction in aqueous solution. The adsorption and the reduction reaction of nitrate on the surface of NF-Pd/Sn could increase the electric current response in the test system.

[Thirty-year changes in disability adjusted life years for colorectal cancer in China: a screening perspective analysis]

Objective: From a screening-focused perspective, to analyze the 30-year changes in disability adjusted life years (DALYs) caused by colorectal cancer (CRC) in China and in some other selected populations, to inform extent of burden of CRC and future related prevention and control in populations in China. Methods: Based on the data of Global Burden of Disease 2019 (GBD 2019), the DALYs, world standardized DALY rate, and the composition of different subgroups in China were collected. Joinpoint regression model was used to analyze the trend during 1990-2019, and comparison was made with the international data and population screening situation. The trend of DALY burden caused by CRC in China was predicted. Results: In 2019, the DALYs due to CRC in China was 6.395 million person-years, accounting for 26.3% of the global burden and 9.5% of all cancers burden in China; the DALYs in men accounted for 65.2%, in those aged ≥65 years old accounted for 44.8%, in the age group recommended by local screening guidelines (40-75 years) accounted for 73.7%. The years lived with disability accounted for 4.8%. Compared with 1990, the CRC-caused DALYs in China increased by 181.5% in 2019. Factors with the largest increase in the attributable percentage were high Body Mass Index (151.1%), diet high in red meat (86.4%) and diet high in processed meat (78.8%), etc. For DALY rate, it was 245.6/100 000 in 1990 and 320.6/100 000 in 2019, an increase of 30.5%. For reference, Australia (began in 2006), the UK (2006), and Japan (1992), where CRC population-wide screening has been conducted, had decreases in DALY rate of 36.0%, 28.6%, and 17.8%, respectively. The predication of DALYs suggested that without continued expansion of population-based screening, the DALYs in China would reach 7.7 million person-year-9.1 million person-year by 2030, an increase of 19.9%-41.8% compared with 2019. Conclusions: The burden of CRC-caused DALYs in China increased over the past 30 years, and would become more serious because of population aging and the concomitant disability problem. The age range recommended by the current local screening guideline could theoretically include 70% of the population from which the DALYs burden originates, however, the real-world population screening coverage is still limited. The observed decline in CRC-related DALY rate in selected countries was substantially due to the implementation of mass screening, indicating the importance of speedily expanding the population coverage of CRC screening in China.

Pollution, Ecological Risk and Source Identification of Heavy Metals in Sediments from the Huafei River in the Eastern Suburbs of Kaifeng, China

Rivers in urban environments are significant components of their ecosystems but remain under threat of pollution from unchecked discharges of industrial sewage and domestic wastewater. Such river pollution, particularly over the longer term involving heavy metals, is an issue of worldwide concern regarding risks to the ecological environment and human health. In this study, we investigate the long-term pollution characteristics of the Huafei River, an important urban river in Kaifeng, China. River sedimentary samples were analyzed, assessing the degree and ecological risk of heavy metal pollution using the geo-accumulation index and potential ecological risk index methods, whilst Pearson's correlation, principal component and cluster analyses were used to identify the sources of pollution. The results show that heavy metal concentrations are significantly higher than their corresponding fluvo-aquic soil background values in China, and the geo-accumulation indexes indicate that of the eight heavy metals identified, Hg is most prevalent, followed in sequence by Cd > Zn > Cu > Pb > Ni > As > Cr. The potential ecological risk index of the Huafei River is very high, with the potential ecological risk intensity highest in the midstream and downstream sections, where it is recommended that pollution control is carried out, especially concerning Hg and Cd. Long-term sequence analysis indicates that Cu and Pb dropped sharply from 1998 to 2017, but rebounded in 2019, and that Zn shows a continuous decreasing trend. Four main sources for the heavy metal contaminants were identified: Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, Zn and Hg derived mainly from industrial activities, traffic sources and natural sources; Cd originated mainly from industrial and agricultural activities; whilst As was mainly associated with industrial activities. Thus, special attention should be paid to Hg and Cd, and measures must be taken to prevent further anthropogenic influence on heavy metal pollution.

Diagnostic accuracy of ultrasonography for detecting gastric tube placement: an updated meta-analysis

OBJECTIVE

This study aimed at reviewing the diagnostic accuracy of ultrasonography for detecting correct nasogastric tube placement compared with X-ray imaging as the reference standard.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

This was a systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies published between 1961 and 2022. We included studies that compared the diagnostic accuracy of ultrasound detection for nasogastric tube placement with that of X-ray imaging in adult patients who were undergoing nasogastric tube placement for any reason. We searched for published studies in the following electronic databases: Cochrane Library, PubMed, EMBASE, and Web of Science. The risk of bias was assessed using a standard procedure according to the Quality Assessment of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies-2 criteria. The results were analyzed using RevMan or Meta-Disc software to determine the adequacy and conclusiveness of the available evidence.

RESULTS

Fourteen studies met our inclusion criteria. Overall, 1,812 patients were included in these studies. The results included a pooled sensitivity of 0.96 (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.94-0.97), specificity of 0.91 (95% CI 0.85-0.96), positive likelihood ratio of 5.08 (95% CI 1.49-17.39), and negative likelihood ratio of 0.08 (95% CI 0.06-0.10). This was confirmed through a summary receiver operating characteristic curve, which showed that the area under the curve was 0.96.

CONCLUSIONS

We found evidence about validity of ultrasound as an efficient method for verifying nasogastric tube placement, although there is insufficient evidence to suggest that it can be used as a diagnostic tool for incorrect gastric tube placement.

Removal of Zn2+ from Aqueous Solution Using Biomass Ash and Its Modified Product as Biosorbent

To study the removal effect of bottom ash of biomass power plants and its modified products on zinc (Zn²⁺) in aqueous solution, a series of indoor experiments is carried out. The aim of this work is to explore a method to improve the ability of biomass ash to remove Zn²⁺ from aqueous solution and obtain its adsorption characteristics of Zn²⁺ in aqueous solution; on this basis, the feasibility of its application in the treatment of Zn²⁺-contaminated wastewater is analyzed. The mesoporous siliceous material is used to modify the biomass, and the modified material is functionalized with 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane. The results show that the specific surface area of modified biomass ash is nine times that of the material before modification. The adsorption capacity of Zn²⁺ on the material increases with the increase of pH, and pH 6 is the optimum pH to remove Zn²⁺ from the aqueous solution. The Langmuir model and Freundlich model can show better fits for biomass ash and the modified material, respectively. Thermodynamic analysis results show that the adsorption of Zn²⁺ is spontaneous and endothermic in nature. The adsorption of Zn²⁺ onto biomass and modified biomass ash follow pseudo-first-order and pseudo-second-order kinetics, respectively.

[China guideline for the screening, early detection and early treatment of gastric cancer (2022, Beijing)]

Gastric cancer (GC) is a major digestive tract malignancy in China, which seriously threatens the health of Chinese population. A large number of researches have demons-trated that screening, early detection and early treatment are effective in reducing the incidence and mortality of GC. The development of the guideline for GC screening, early detection and early treatment in line with epidemic characteristics of GC in China will greatly promote the homogeneity and standardization, and improve the effect of GC screening. This guideline was commissioned by the Bureau of Disease Control and Prevention of the National Health Commission. The National Cancer Center of China initiated and convened a working group comprising multidisciplinary experts. Following the World Health Organization Handbook for Guideline Development, this guideline combined the most up-to-date evidence of GC screening, China's national conditions, and practical experience in cancer screening. This guideline provided evidence-based recommendations with respect to the screening population, technology and procedure management, aiming to improve the effect of GC screening and provide scientific evidence for the GC prevention and control in China.

Two-step aggregation of gold nanoparticles based on charge neutralization for detection of melamine by colorimetric and surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy platform

A colorimetric and surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) signal amplification platform based on 2-step aggregation of gold nanoparticles (AuNP) was constructed for the sensitive detection of melamine. In this study, the positively charged SYBR Green I was used for the first step of aggregation of AuNP, via charge neutralization, to obtain small-sized AuNP aggregates. The positively charged SYBR Green I decreased the negative charges of the surface of AuNP, which was beneficial to the aggregation of AuNP. In addition, the melamine could aggregate AuNP by decreasing the negative charges of the surface of AuNP and self-assemble with each other on the surface of AuNP by hydrogen bonds. Therefore, the second efficient aggregation of small-sized AuNP aggregates could be achieved with melamine at low concentration, resulting in significant signal changes of color and SERS. The sensitivity of a colorimetric (0.60 mg/L) and SERS (0.089 mg/L) platform, based on 2-step aggregation of AuNP, was 15 and 2.2 times higher than that based on 1-step aggregation of AuNP for detecting melamine.

[China guideline for the screening, early detection and early treatment of esophageal cancer (2022, Beijing)]

Esophageal cancer (EC) is a major digestive tract malignancy in China, which seriously threatens the health of Chinese population. A large number of researches have demonstrated that screening and early detection are effective in reducing the incidence and mortality of EC. The development of the guideline for EC screening and early detection in line with epidemic characteristics of EC in China will greatly promote the homogeneity and standardization, and improve the effect of EC screening. This guideline was commissioned by the Bureau of Disease Control and Prevention of the National Health Commission. The National Cancer Center of China initiated and convened a working group comprising multidisciplinary experts. Following the World Health Organization Handbook for Guideline Development, this guideline combined the most up-to-date evidence of EC screening, China's national conditions, and practical experience in cancer screening. This guideline provided evidence-based recommendations with respect to the screening population, technology and procedure management, aiming to improve the effect of EC screening and provide scientific evidence for the EC prevention and control in China.

POS1368 DIVERSITY OF HEMODYNAMIC TYPES IN CONNECTIVE TISSUE DISEASE ASSOCIATED PULMONARY HYPERTENSION: MORE THAN A SUBGROUP OF PULMONARY ARTERIAL HYPERTENSION

Background

Connective tissue disease (CTD) associated pulmonary hypertension (PH) is classified as a subgroup of WHO group 1 PH, also called pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). However, not all CTD-PH fit the hemodynamic definition of PAH. This study investigates the diversity of hemodynamical types of CTD-PH, their different clinical characteristics and outcomes.

Objectives

This study investigates the diversity of hemodynamical types of CTD-PH, their different clinical characteristics and outcomes.

Methods

We performed a retrospective cohort study. CTD-PH patients underwent right heart catheterization (RHC) were enrolled and divided into WHO group1 PH, WHO group 2 PH and high output PH (PVR<3WU and PAWP<15mmHg) according to hemodynamic features. Patients with obvious lung diseases, left heart disease and pulmonary embolism were excluded. Baseline characteristics, inflammatory markers, autoantibodies, cardiac function status, echocardiogram parameters, hemodynamics and survival rates were compared.

Results

207 CTD-PH patients were included, including 139 in WHO group 1 PH, 36 in WHO group 2 PH and 32 in high output PH. Incidence of anti-ribonucleoprotein antibody was lower in WHO Group 2 PH. High output PH is less severe, presenting lower NT-proBNP level, better WHO functional class, lower mPAP and PVR, higher cardiac output, and less cardiac remodeling. Among patients with elevated PAWP, combine pre& post-capillary PH had higher mPAP and larger right ventricle diameter. Association of mild to moderate interstitial lung disease didn’t show significant difference in disease characteristics. Short-term survival was significantly worse in WHO group 2 PH, yet 5-year survival rates didn’t differ between groups.

Conclusion

Pre-capillary PH is not the only hemodynamic type of CTD-PH. Different types of CTD-PH present different clinical phenotypes and outcome. Carefully phenotyping PH in CTD-PH patients is important.

Disclosure of Interests

None declared

POS0453 EXPLORATORY IMMUNOPHENOTYPE OF THE RARE DISEASE JUVENILE SJÖGREN’S SYNDROME REVEALS A DYSREGULATION OF B AND T MEMORY CELL FREQUENCIES

Background

Sjögren’s syndrome (SS) is an autoimmune rheumatic disease characterised by dryness resulting from chronic lymphocytic infiltration of the exocrine glands. Patients also present with other extraglandular manifestations such as arthritis, anemia and fatigue or various organ and systems involvement. The disease is more frequent in women aged 30-50. However, in rare cases, the disease starts in childhood and is known as juvenile SS (JSS) or childhood SS. Children have different clinical manifestations compared to adults, with dryness being less common, making the diagnosis very challenging1.

Objectives

To investigate in depth the immune cell profile of patients with JSS for better understanding of disease pathogenesis.

Methods

Peripheral blood was collected from a cohort of patients with JSS while attending appointments at UCLH clinics. None had received B-cell depletion therapy. Immune-phenotyping of 29 immune-cell subsets, including B and T cells, in peripheral blood from patients with JSS (n=10) and age and sex-matched healthy controls (n=10) was performed using flow cytometry as we have performed previously for patients with adult onset SS2. Data were analysed using multiple t-tests and compared with the adult SS immune phenotype.

Results

Patients with JSS had an average age of 18 years (range 16-21) with an average age of disease onset at 14 years (range 12-18). Up to 60% of patients presented Anti-Ro autoantibodies while 50% presented Anti-La autoantibodies.

Patients with JSS had an altered immune profile compared to age matched healthy controls (average of 18 years, range 15-25). In the B cell compartment, JSS patients had higher frequencies of Total CD19+ B cells (p=0.0044), Naïve B cells (CD19+IgD+CD27-) (p=0.0183) and bm2 (CD19+IgD+CD38+) (p=0.0490) whereas memory B cell subsets such as early bm5 (CD19+IgD-CD38+) and late bm5 (CD19+IgD-CD38-) were significantly reduced (p=0.0249, and p=0.0117 respectively), similar to the profile seen in patients with adult-SS. Interestingly, in the CD4+ T cell compartment, central memory (CD4+CD27+CD45RA-) T cells were significantly reduced (p=<0,0001) but effector memory (CD4+CD27-CD45-) and effector memory-re-expressing-CD45RA (EMRA, CD4+CD27-CD45RA+) T-cell subsets were significantly elevated (p=0.0171 and p=0.0002 respectively). These changes were not identified in adult-SS patients. Finally, unlike our observations in patients with adult-onset SS there was no widespread deregulation of CD8+ T cell subsets in JSS patients; only a significant increase in CD8+CD25-CD127+ responders T cells (p=0.0392) was observed in JSS patients versus healthy.

Conclusion

This is the first pilot study investigating the immunophenotype profile of patients with JSS. Our preliminary findings suggest altered immune phenotypes in both B-cell and T cell compartments and for B cells are in concordance with previous immunophenotyping studies in adult SS (predominance of naïve and lower frequencies of memory B cells), suggesting an immunological rationale for the use of similar therapies. Further studies, comparing the adult with the juvenile phenotype could help stratify patients for targetted therapies and improve treatment in this rare disease in children for which no evidence-based recommnedations exist.

References

[1]Ciurtin C et al. Barriers to translational research in Sjögren’s syndrome with childhood onset: challenges of recognising and diagnosing an orphan rheumatic disease. Lancet Rheumatology. 2021; https://doi.org/10.1016/S2665-9913(20)30393-3.

[2]Martin-Gutierrez L, Peng J, et al. Stratification of Patients with Sjogren’s Syndrome and Patients With Systemic Lupus Erythematosus According to Two Shared Immune Cell Signatures, With Potential Therapeutic Implications. Arthritis Rheumatol. 2021;73(9):1626-37.

Disclosure of Interests

None declared.

Mechanism of ALDH2 improves the neuronal damage caused by hypoxia/reoxygenation

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the protective effect and mechanism of ALDH2 on PC12 cells and brain nerve tissue injury under hypoxia.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The hypoxia model of PC12 cells with low ALDH2 expression was established and screened. The eukaryotic expression vector of wild type pEGFP-N1-ALDH2 and blank plasmid pEGFP-N1 were constructed and transfected into PC12 hypoxia cells respectively. After reoxygenation culture, the morphology, quantity, ALDH2 expression level and apoptosis rate of the two groups were observed, and the role of ALDH2 in cell hypoxia injury was analyzed. Eighty SD rats were randomly divided into model group (ischemia-reperfusion injury group), Alda-1 group (intraperitoneal injection of alda-1 12 hours before and after modeling), DMSO group (intraperitoneal injection of dimethyl sulfoxide) and sham operation group, with 20 rats in each group. The neurobehavioral score, apoptosis rate of nerve cells, the content and activity of ALDH2 in active cerebral cortex and hippocampal CA1 area were compared.

RESULTS

The number of PC12 cells in hypoxia group was lower than that in control group. The expression level of ALDH2 protein in PC12 cells after 4 hours of hypoxia was lower than that in normal culture group. The number of PC12 cells transfected with wild-type recombinant plasmid was significantly more than that of blank plasmid group. Compared with the hypoxia group, the pre apoptotic and post apoptotic cells in wild type transfection group decreased after hypoxia treatment. Compared with sham operation group, nerve injury and apoptosis were increased in group M and DMSO, while ALDH2 activity and expression did not change significantly. Compared with M group and DMSO group, the nerve injury and apoptosis in Alda-1 group were improved, ALDH2 activity was increased, and ALDH2 expression was not significantly changed in Alda-1 group.

CONCLUSIONS

Increasing the expression of ALDH2 or enhancing the activity of ALDH2 can improve the injury of neurons induced by hypoxia/reoxygenation.

Amlodipine removal via peroxymonosulfate activated by carbon nanotubes/cobalt oxide (CNTs/Co3O4) in water

Amlodipine (AML) is an effective drug that has been widely used for hypertension and angina. However, AML is frequently detected in aqueous environments, posing potential risks to human and ecological health. In this study, the degradation of AML via peroxymonosulfate (PMS) activated by CNTs/Co₃O₄ was investigated. CNTs/Co₃O₄ was prepared via a facile method, and multiple characterizations suggested that Co₃O₄ were uniformly dispersed on the surface of MWCNTs-COOH. Experimental results indicated that complete removal of 10 μM AML was achieved within 30 min by using 2 mg/L CNTs/Co₃O₄ and 4 μM PMS at 25 °C in PBS buffered solution (pH 7.0). The observed pseudo-first-order rate constant was calculated to be 0.1369 min^-1. Interestingly, the presence of 100 mM Cl^- resulted in a slight enhancement of AML removal rate from 0.0528 to 0.0642 min^-1. The addition of 100 mM HCO₃^-, 5 mg/L Pony Lake fulvic acid (PLFA), or Suwannee River humic acid (SRHA) retarded AML degradation by 15.5, 0.7, and 1.6 times, respectively. As per the quenching experiments, SO₄^⦁- rather than ⦁OH were verified to be the dominant reactive oxygen species (ROS). Additionally, ten major intermediates were identified using TOF-LC-MS and three associated reaction pathways including ether bond broken, H-abstraction, and hydroxylation were proposed. We outlook these findings to advance the feasibility of organic contaminants removal via CNTs/Co₃O₄ + PMS systems that have extremely low-level PMS.

[China guideline for the screening and early detection of prostate cancer (2022, Beijing)]

Prostate cancer (PC) is one of the malignant tumors of the genitourinary system that occurs more often in elderly men. Screening, early diagnosis, and treatment of the PC high risk population are essential to improve the cure rate of PC. The development of the guideline for PC screening and early detection in line with epidemic characteristics of PC in China will greatly promote the homogeneity and quality of PC screening. This guideline was commissioned by the Bureau of Disease Control and Prevention of the National Health Commission. The National Cancer Center of China initiated and convened a working group comprising multidisciplinary experts. This guideline strictly followed the World Health Organization Handbook for Guideline Development and combined the most up-to-date evidence of PC screening, China's national conditions, and practical experience in cancer screening. A total of fifteen detailed evidence-based recommendations were provided with respect to the screening population, technology, procedure management, and quality control in the process of PC screening. This guideline aimed to standardize the practice of PC screening and improve the effectiveness and efficiency of PC prevention and control in China.

Bioactive triple peptide inhibits inflammasome activation to alleviate Salmonella-induced intestinal inflammation in mice via modulation of host defense and bacterial virulence

Over the past long period, Salmonella Typhimurium has been an important pathogen that causes intestinal diseases and spells enormous economic shock to animal husbandry all over the world. Pyroptosis and...

[DALYs for breast cancer in China, 2000-2050: trend analysis and prediction based on GBD 2019]

Objective: Based on the data of Global Burden of Disease 2019 data, to analyze the past, current, and future burden of disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) in China and compare with the international status. Methods: The total number of DALYs, age-standardized DALY rate, and the composition of different subgroups were extracted and described to analyze the time trend in 2000-2019 and the current situation in 2019 for Chinese female breast cancer. The burden of DALYs in 2050 was predicted by Joinpoint using average annual percent change (AAPC). Results: In 2000-2019, the ranking of DALYs caused by female breast cancer in China rose from the fourth to the second in all female cancers. The total DALYs increased by 48.4%, of which the years lived with disability increased from 4.8% to 8.8%. The age-standardized DALY rate only slightly decreased (AAPC=-0.3%; which increased during 2016-2019, AAPC=1.6%). In 2019, the age-standardized DALY rate for breast cancer in China was 278.0/100 000. The DALYs were 2.88 million (accounting for 14.2% of the global burden and 12.1% of all female cancers burden in China), 26.5% of which attributed known risk factors (overweight and obesity were the largest: 0.34 million DALYs, but some common breast cancer risk factors were not available on the platform, such as menstruation and fertility). In 2050, the prediction suggests that the total DALYs caused by female breast cancer in China will reach 3.80 million person-years-5.16 million person-years, increasing 32.1%-79.4% over 2019. From 2000 to 2019, the peak age of DALYs and DALY rate became older, and the DALYs among females aged 65 years and above increased faster than those younger than 65 years (AAPC were 4.8% and 1.3%, respectively). In 2019, females aged 45-74 (the starting age recommended by local guidelines for breast cancer screening) contributed 74.3% of the total DALYs. Conclusions: Over the past 20 years, the age-standardized DALY rate for breast cancer in female populations in China has not changed obviously. Without the continuous expansion of effective intervention and population aging, the burden of DALYs for female breast cancer in China will increase. DALYs for breast cancer attributed leading risk factors were still limited.

Toward Clinically Applicable 3-Dimensional Tooth Segmentation via Deep Learning

Digital dentistry plays a pivotal role in dental health care. A critical step in many digital dental systems is to accurately delineate individual teeth and the gingiva in the 3-dimension intraoral scanned mesh data. However, previous state-of-the-art methods are either time-consuming or error prone, hence hindering their clinical applicability. This article presents an accurate, efficient, and fully automated deep learning model trained on a data set of 4,000 intraoral scanned data annotated by experienced human experts. On a holdout data set of 200 scans, our model achieves a per-face accuracy, average-area accuracy, and area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 96.94%, 98.26%, and 0.9991, respectively, significantly outperforming the state-of-the-art baselines. In addition, our model takes only about 24 s to generate segmentation outputs, as opposed to >5 min by the baseline and 15 min by human experts. A clinical performance test of 500 patients with malocclusion and/or abnormal teeth shows that 96.9% of the segmentations are satisfactory for clinical applications, 2.9% automatically trigger alarms for human improvement, and only 0.2% of them need rework. Our research demonstrates the potential for deep learning to improve the efficacy and efficiency of dental treatment and digital dentistry.

Effects of Different Particle Sizes of Hydroxyapatite on the Distribution and Migration of Trace Elements (Copper and Cadmium) in a Smelter-Impacted Soil

To study the remediation effect of hydroxyapatite with different particle sizes, a field in situ experiment was carried out by adding conventional hydroxyapatite (0.25 mm) and microhydroxyapatite (3 μm) and nanohydroxyapatite (40 nm) to the contaminated soil and planting Elsholtzia splendens. The distribution and migration of copper (Cu) and cadmium (Cd) in soil were investigated after 4 years. The results show that the application of three different particle sizes of hydroxyapatite significantly raise the soil pH, total phosphorus, and soil organic carbon. Moreover, the addition of hydroxyapatite can reduce the EXC fraction of Cu and Cd by 73.7%-80.1% and 20.8%-35.2%, respectively. In addition, the concentrations of Cu and Cd in >2 mm, 0.25-2 mm, 0.053-0.25 mm, and <0.053 mm aggregate are significantly increased. This improvement indicates that there are risks which may cause the increasing of total Cu and Cd in the soil where the pollution sources still exist. Furthermore, the content of soil colloid is significantly increased, and the colloidal Cu and Cd distribution percentage have been significantly increased by 49.9%-120% and 30.3%-181%. This result illustrates that the application of hydroxyapatite may greatly increase the possibility of colloid and dust migration of Cu and Cd.