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Qi-Yong Zhang,* Xiao-Qin Chen,* Xiong-Chang Liu, De-Ming Wu Department of Gastroenterology, The First People’s Hospital of Lanzhou, Lanzhou City, Gansu 730050, People’s Republic of China*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Xiao-Qin Chen Department of GastroenterologyThe First People’s Hospital of Lanzhou City, Number 1 Wu Jia Yuan West Road, Lanzhou, Gansu 730050, People’s Republic of ChinaTel +86 931 233 7286Email cxq1967@163.comBackground: Abnormal expression of protein kinase membrane associated tyrosine/threonine 1 (PKMYT1) is closely associated with multiple types of cancers. In the present study, we examined the roles of PKMYT1 in gastric cancer (GC) progression.Methods: We examined the expression status of PKMYT1 in GC tissues and cell lines. Meanwhile, short hairpin RNA (shRNA) was used to inhibit the endogenous expression of PKMYT1 in GC cells. Then we analyzed the effect of PKMYT1 on the malignant biological behavior of GC cells by in vitro and in vivo experiments.Results: The findings showed high PKMYT1 expressions in GC tissues as well as a positive correlation between PKMYT1 expression and prognosis of patients with GC. Additional findings also revealed that PKMYT1 silencing significantly enhanced apoptosis and inhibited GC cell proliferation. In vivo, the silence of PKMYT1 inhibits tumor growth. Further analysis showed that the increase in PKMYT1 expressions led to malignant biological behavior through activation of the MAPK signaling pathway.Conclusion: Our data suggested that PKMYT1 promotes cell proliferation and apoptosis resistance in GC cells by activating the MAPK signaling pathway, making it a potential therapeutic target for GC.Keywords: gastric cancer, PKMYT1, prognosis, proliferation, apoptosis, MAPK pathway

K Matthew McKay,1,* Filippos Vingopoulos,1,* Jay C Wang,1 Thanos D Papakostas,1,2 Rebecca F Silverman,1 Anna Marmalidou,1 Inês Lains,1 Dean Eliott,1 Demetrios G Vavvas,1 Leo A Kim,1 David M Wu,1 John B Miller1 1Retina Service, Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Department of Ophthalmology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA; 2Retina Service, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, NY, USA*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: John B MillerRetina Service, Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Harvard Medical School, 243 Charles St, Boston, MA 02114 Tel +1 (617) 573-3750Fax +1 (617) 573-3698Email john_miller@meei.harvard.eduObjective: To characterize the microvascular retinal changes after repair of macula-off rhegmatogenous retinal detachment (RRD) using optical coherence tomography angiography (OCT-A).Patients and Methods: A retrospective review of patients who underwent repair of macula-off RRD. Fellow unaffected eyes were used as controls. Post-operative OCT-A allowed comparison of vessel density (VD) and foveal avascular zone (FAZ) area in the superficial and deep retinal capillary plexus (DCP) as well as VD in the choriocapillaris layer.Results: Seventeen eyes of 17 RRD patients were included in the final analysis. There was a reduction in VD of the deep retinal capillary plexus in affected eyes compared to fellow eyes (p = 0.046). RRD eyes with reduced VD in DCP compared with their fellow control eyes had worse visual acuity after repair compared to those without (p = 0.032). No significant microvasculature changes were detected in the FAZ area and VD in the superficial capillary plexus and choriocapillaris compared to fellow eyes.Conclusion: In macula-off RRD eyes, significant microvascular changes were detected in the DCP using OCT-A even after successful anatomical repair. Decreased VD in the DCP compared to the fellow healthy eyes was correlated with worse visual acuity.Keywords: microvascular changes, OCT-angiography, macula-off retinal detachment

Dietary exposure to aflatoxins is one of the major risk factors for hepatocellular carcinoma. Individual susceptibility to aflatoxin-induced hepatocarcinogenesis may be modulated by both genetic and environmental factors affecting metabolism. A cross-sectional study was performed to evaluate determinants of the formation of aflatoxin covalently bound to albumin (AFB1-albumin adducts). A total of 474 subjects who were free of liver cancer and cirrhosis and were initially selected as controls for previous case–control studies of aflatoxin-induced hepatocarcinogenesis in Taiwan, were employed in this study. Aflatoxin-albumin adducts were determined by competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, hepatitis B surface antigen and antibodies to hepatitis C virus by enzyme immunoassay, as well as genotypes of glutathione S-transferase M1-1 and T1-1 by polymerase chain reaction. The detection rate of AFB1-albumin adducts was significantly higher in males (42.5%) than in females (21.6%) (multivariate-adjusted odds ratio=2.6, 95% confidence interval=1.4–5.0). The formation of detectable albumin adducts was moderately higher in hepatitis B surface antigen carriers (42.8%) than in non-carriers (36.6%) (multivariate-adjusted odds ratio=1.4, 95% confidence interval=1.0–2.1). In addition, the detection rate of AFB1-albumin adducts tended to increase with the increasing number of null genotypes of glutathione S-transferase M1-1 and glutathione S-transferase T1-1. In conclusion, this cross-sectional study has assessed the relative contributions of environmental exposure and host susceptibility factors in the formation of AFB1-albumin adducts in a well characterised Chinese adult population. This study further emphasises the necessity to reduce aflatoxin exposure in people living in an area endemic for chronic hepatitis B virus infection. British Journal of Cancer (2002) 87, 966–970. doi:10.1038/sj.bjc.6600584 www.bjcancer.com © 2002 Cancer Research UK

To determine the accuracy of direct digital radiography (DDR) in the study of the root canal type. A sub aim was to assess intraexaminer and interexaminer agreement for this feature using DDR system.100 recently extracted permanent maxillary first premolars from Chinese population were used. Standardized periapical DDR images were taken from a buccolingual and mesiodistal direction. Then the specimens were accessed, injected with dye, demineralized, dehydrated and finally were cleared. The DDR images were evaluated based on the root canal type by two independent trained post-graduate students (examiner A and B) twice at an interval of 2 weeks. The cleared teeth were examined under 5 x magnification using a dental operating microscope by another experienced endodontist, and the data of root canal type were collected.The Kappa values for the agreement between the examiner A and the clearing technique were 0.3793 and 0.329, between the examiner B and the clearing technique were 0.2481 and 0.2184. While the Kappa values between the two observations of each examiner were 0.7704 and 0.7725, between the two examiners they were 0.537 and 0.4793, respectively.The intraexaminer agreement was good, and the interexaminer agreement was moderate, but the agreement between either DDR examiner and the clearing technique was poor, indicating the limited value of DDR alone when studying root canal type.