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BACKGROUND Conventional clinical guidelines recommend that at least 12 lymph nodes should be removed during radical rectal cancer surgery to achieve accurate staging. The current application of neoadjuvant therapy has changed the number of lymph node dissection. AIM To investigate factors affecting the number of lymph nodes dissected after neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy in locally advanced rectal cancer and to evaluate the relationship of the total number of retrieved lymph nodes (TLN) with disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS). METHODS A total of 231 patients with locally advanced rectal cancer from 2015 to 2017 were included in this study. According to the American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC)/Union for International Cancer Control (UICC) tumor-node-metastasis (TNM) classification system and the NCCN guidelines for rectal cancer, the patients were divided into two groups: group A (TLN ≥ 12, n = 177) and group B (TLN < 12, n = 54). Factors influencing lymph node retrieval were analyzed by univariate and binary logistic regression analysis. DFS and OS were evaluated by Kaplan-Meier curves and Cox regression models. RESULTS The median number of lymph nodes dissected was 18 (range, 12-45) in group A and 8 (range, 2-11) in group B. The lymph node ratio (number of positive lymph nodes/total number of lymph nodes) (P = 0.039) and the interval between neoadjuvant therapy and radical surgery (P = 0.002) were independent factors of the TLN. However,TLN was not associated with sex, age, ASA score, clinical T or N stage, pathological T stage, tumor response grade (Dworak), downstaging, pathological complete response, radiotherapy dose, preoperative concurrent chemotherapy regimen, tumor distance from anal verge, multivisceral resection, preoperative carcinoembryonic antigen level, perineural invasion, intravascular tumor embolus or degree of differentiation. The pathological T stage (P < 0.001) and TLN (P < 0.001) were independent factors of DFS, and pathological T stage (P = 0.011) and perineural invasion (P = 0.002) were independent factors of OS. In addition, the risk of distant recurrence was greater for TLN < 12 (P = 0.009). CONCLUSION A shorter interval to surgery after neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy for rectal cancer under indications may cause increased number of lymph nodes harvested. Tumor shrinkage and more extensive lymph node retrieval may lead to a more favorable prognosis.

BACKGROUND Colorectal cancer is a common digestive cancer worldwide. As a comprehensive treatment for locally advanced rectal cancer (LARC), neoadjuvant therapy (NT) has been increasingly used as the standard treatment for clinical stage II/III rectal cancer. However, few patients achieve a complete pathological response, and most patients require surgical resection and adjuvant therapy. Therefore, identifying risk factors and developing accurate models to predict the prognosis of LARC patients are of great clinical significance. AIM To establish effective prognostic nomograms and risk score prediction models to predict overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) for LARC treated with NT. METHODS Nomograms and risk factor score prediction models were based on patients who received NT at the Cancer Hospital from 2015 to 2017. The least absolute shrinkage and selection operator regression model were utilized to screen for prognostic risk factors, which were validated by the Cox regression method. Assessment of the performance of the two prediction models was conducted using receiver operating characteristic curves, and that of the two nomograms was conducted by calculating the concordance index (C-index) and calibration curves. The results were validated in a cohort of 65 patients from 2015 to 2017. RESULTS Seven features were significantly associated with OS and were included in the OS prediction nomogram and prediction model: Vascular_tumors_bolt, cancer nodules, yN, body mass index, matchmouth distance from the edge, nerve aggression and postoperative carcinoembryonic antigen. The nomogram showed good predictive value for OS, with a C-index of 0.91 (95%CI: 0.85, 0.97) and good calibration. In the validation cohort, the C-index was 0.69 (95%CI: 0.53, 0.84). The risk factor prediction model showed good predictive value. The areas under the curve for 3- and 5-year survival were 0.811 and 0.782. The nomogram for predicting DFS included ypTNM and nerve aggression and showed good calibration and a C-index of 0.77 (95%CI: 0.69, 0.85). In the validation cohort, the C-index was 0.71 (95%CI: 0.61, 0.81). The prediction model for DFS also had good predictive value, with an AUC for 3-year survival of 0.784 and an AUC for 5-year survival of 0.754. CONCLUSION We established accurate nomograms and prediction models for predicting OS and DFS in patients with LARC after undergoing NT.

Background For laparoscopic rectal cancer surgery, the inferior mesenteric artery (IMA) can be ligated at its origin from the aorta [high ligation (HL)] or distally to the origin of the left colic artery [low ligation (LL)]. Whether different ligation levels are related to different postoperative complications, operation time, and lymph node yield remains controversial. Therefore, we designed this study to determine the effects of different ligation levels in rectal cancer surgery. Aim To investigate the operative results following HL and LL of the IMA in rectal cancer patients. Methods From January 2017 to July 2019, this retrospective cohort study collected information from 462 consecutive rectal cancer patients. According to the ligation level, 235 patients were assigned to the HL group while 227 patients were assigned to the LL group. Data regarding the clinical characteristics, surgical characteristics and complications, pathological outcomes and postoperative recovery were obtained and compared between the two groups. A multivariate logistic regression analysis was performed to evaluate the possible risk factors for anastomotic leakage (AL). Results Compared to the HL group, the LL group had a significantly lower AL rate, with 6 (2.8%) cases in the LL group and 24 (11.0%) cases in the HL group (P = 0.001). The HL group also had a higher diverting stoma rate (16.5% vs 7.5%, P = 0.003). A multivariate logistic regression analysis was subsequently performed to adjust for the confounding factors and confirmed that HL (OR = 3.599; 95%CI: 1.374-9.425; P = 0.009), tumor located below the peritoneal reflection (OR = 2.751; 95%CI: 0.772-3.985; P = 0.031) and age (≥ 65 years) (OR = 2.494; 95%CI: 1.080-5.760; P = 0.032) were risk factors for AL. There were no differences in terms of patient demographics, pathological outcomes, lymph nodes harvested, blood loss, hospital stay and urinary function (P > 0.05). Conclusion In rectal cancer surgery, LL should be the preferred method, as it has a lower AL and diverting stoma rate.

BackgroundThe ε4 allele of the apolipoprotein E (APOE) gene is a strong genetic risk factor for aging-related cognitive decline. However, the causal connection between ε4 alleles and cognition is not well understood. The objective of this study was to identify the roles of cerebral blood flow (CBF) in cognitive-related brain areas in mediating the associations of APOE with cognition.MethodsThe multiple linear regression analyses were conducted on 369 subjects (mean age of 68.8 years; 62.9% of women; 29.3% of APOE ε4 allele carriers). Causal mediation analyses with 5,000 bootstrapped iterations were conducted to explore the mediation effects.ResultAPOE ε4 allele was negatively associated with cognition (P < 0.05) and CBF in the amygdala, hippocampus, middle temporal gyrus, posterior cingulate, and precuneus (all P < 0.05). The effect of the APOE genotype on cognition was partly mediated by the above CBF (all P < 0.05).ConclusionCBF partially mediates the potential links between APOE genotype and cognition. Overall, the APOE ε4 allele may lead to a dysregulation of the vascular structure and function with reduced cerebral perfusion, which in turn leads to cognitive impairment.

Additional file 1: Figure S1. The expression of H3K9 and H3K4 correlated with HASMC proliferation and neointima formation.

Additional file 2: Figure S2. JIB-04 treatment regulated the methylation level of H3K9 rather than H3K4 in HASMCs.

Additional file 3: Table S1. Primers for Real-Time PCR detection.

Thoracic aortic aneurysm (TAA) is a life-threatening cardiovascular disease whose formation is reported to be associated with massive vascular inflammatory responses. To elucidate the roles of immune cell infiltration in the pathogenesis underlying TAA, we utilized multiple TAA datasets (microarray data and scRNA-seq data) and various immune-related algorithms (ssGSEA, CIBERSORT, and Seurat) to reveal the landscapes of the immune microenvironment in TAA. The results exhibited a significant increase in the infiltration of macrophages and T cells, which were mainly responsible for TAA formation among the immune cells. To further reveal the roles of immunocytes in TAA, we inferred the intercellular communications among the identified cells of aortic tissues. Notably, we found that in both normal aortic tissue and TAA tissue, the cells that interact most frequently are macrophages, endothelial cells (ECs), fibroblasts, and vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs). Among the cells, macrophages were the most prominent signal senders and receivers in TAA and normal aortic tissue. These findings suggest that macrophages play an important role in both the physiological and pathological conditions of the aorta. The present study provides a comprehensive evaluation of the immune cell composition and reveals the intercellular communication among aortic cells in human TAA tissues. These findings improve our understanding of TAA formation and progression and facilitate the development of effective medications to treat these conditions.

The potential correlation between patent foramen ovale (PFO) and migraine has been previously reported, but whether PFO closure plays a role in reducing migraine burden has not reached an agreement.We searched PubMed, Embase, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), Wanfang Database, VIP Science Technology Periodical Database and China Biology Medicine Database (CBM) through September 30, 2021 to identify associations between PFO closure and outcome of migraine burden. The control groups consisted of drug treatment or sham procedure.Three randomized clinical trials (RCT) and 9 case-control studies were eligible for inclusion (1754 participants), of which 7 reported nonrecurrence of migraine, 4 reported reduced migraine-frequency and migraine-days, and 5 reported HIT-6 score and 4 reported MIDAS score. The mean (SD) age of participants was 40.68 (3.81) years and 1340 (76.39%) were women. PFO closure was significantly associated with a reduced risk of migraine-recurrence by 4.47 (95% CI, 2.94-6.80; ITranscatheter PFO closure is significantly associated with burden reduction of migraine headache.

Colony-stimulating factor-1 receptor-microglial encephalopathy is a rare rapidly progressive dementia resulting from colony-stimulating factor-1 receptor (CSF1R) mutations, also named pigmentary orthochromatic leukodystrophy (POLD), hereditary diffuse leukoencephalopathy with spheroids (HDLS), adult-onset leukoencephalopathy with axonal spheroids, and pigmented glia (ALSP) and CSF1R-related leukoencephalopathy. CSF1R is primarily expressed in microglia and mutations normally directly lead to changes in microglial number and function. Many animal models have been constructed to explore pathogenic mechanisms and potential therapeutic strategies, including zebrafish, mice, and rat models which are with CSF1R monogenic mutation, biallelic or tri-allelic deletion, or CSF1R-null. Although there is no cure for patients with CSF1R-microglial encephalopathy, microglial replacement therapy has become a topical research area. This review summarizes CSF1R-related pathogenetic mutation sites and mechanisms, especially the feasibility of the microglia-original immunotherapy.

Background: Plasma-based biomarkers would be potential biomarkers for early diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease (AD) because they are more available and cost-effective than cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) or neuroimaging. Therefore, we aimed to evaluate whether phosphorylated tau181 (p-tau181) in plasma could be an accurate AD predictor.Methods: Participants from the ADNI database included 185 cognitively unimpaired subjects with negative Aβ (CU–), 66 subjects with pre-clinical AD (CU with positive Aβ), 164 subjects with mild cognitive impairment with negative Aβ (MCI–), 254 subjects with prodromal AD (MCI with positive Aβ), and 98 subjects with dementia. Multiple linear regression models, linear mixed-effects models, and local regression were used to explore cross-sectional and longitudinal associations of plasma p-tau181 with cognition, neuroimaging, or CSF biomarkers adjusted for age, sex, education, and APOE genotype. Besides, Kaplan–Meier and adjusted Cox-regression model were performed to predict the risk of progression to dementia. Receiver operating characteristic analyses were performed to evaluate the predictive value of p-tau181.Results: Plasma p-tau181 level was highest in AD dementia, followed by prodromal AD and pre-clinical AD. In pre-clinical AD, plasma p-tau181 was negatively associated with hippocampal volume (β = −0.031, p-value = 0.017). In prodromal AD, plasma p-tau181 was associated with decreased global cognition, executive function, memory, language, and visuospatial functioning (β range −0.119 to −0.273, p-value < 0.05) and correlated with hippocampal volume (β = −0.028, p-value < 0.005) and white matter hyperintensity volume (WMH) volume (β = 0.02, p-value = 0.01). In AD dementia, increased plasma p-tau181 was associated with worse memory. In the whole group, baseline plasma p-tau181 was significantly associated with longitudinal increases in multiple neuropsychological test z-scores and correlated with AD-related CSF biomarkers and hippocampal volume (p-value < 0.05). Meanwhile, CU or MCI with high plasma p-tau181 carried a higher risk of progression to dementia. The area under the curve (AUC) of the adjusted model (age, sex, education, APOE genotype, and plasma p-tau181) was 0.78; that of additionally included CSF biomarkers was 0.84.Conclusions: Plasma p-tau181 level is related to multiple AD-associated cognitive domains and AD-related CSF biomarkers at the clinical stages of AD. Moreover, plasma p-tau181 level is related to the change rates of cognitive decline and hippocampal atrophy. Thus, this study confirms the utility of plasma p-tau181 as a non-invasive biomarker for early detection and prediction of AD.

Cynomorium songaricum Rupr is a very important traditional Chinese medicine for tonifying the kidney, which has a significant effect on improving estrogen level on the long term. In many studies, it can improve the learning and memory function of ovariectomized (OVX) model animals. 10 of the 50 rats received only bilateral back surgery and were harvested with the same amount of fat as the ovaries without removing the ovaries as sham group; remains underwent bilateral ovariectomy and equally randomized into five groups: sham group, with OVX as model group, estradiol valerate (EV, 0.2 mg/kg) as positive control, with 3.3 and 33 mg/kg body weight/day of ethyl acetate extract of Cynomorium songaricum extract (CSE) as low and high dosage groups, respectively. The orally administered CSE to ovariectomized rats exerted an ameliorative effect on learning and memory in the Morris water maze tests. All rats were sacrificed after 8 weeks of treatment, and tissue was analyzed using histopathology and electron microscopy. To comprehensively examine the mechanism, brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), p-p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (p-p38MAPK), extracellular regulated protein kinases (ERK), p-extracellular regulated protein kinases (p-ERK), and p-cAMP-response element binding protein (p-CREB) were detected by Western blotting. Using histopathology and electron microscopy, it was clearly observed that the pyramidal neurons of the hippocampal CA1 area were reduced in the OVX groups, indicating that CSE could attenuate the loss of pyramidal neurons in hippocampal CA1 and revert the synaptic morphological variations produced by ovariectomy. Mechanistically, the expressions of p-p38MAPK and p-ERK levels were significantly downregulated by CSE intervention, whereas the BDNF and p-CREB were significantly upregulated by CSE as compared to the control. Concisely, Cynomorium songaricum Rupr exhibited potential therapeutic effect on Neuroprotection of ovariectomized rats, and its effect was possibly exerted by p-CREB/BDNF mediated down regulation of ERK/p38MAPK.

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a common digestive tract tumor worldwide. In recent years, neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (CRT) has been the most comprehensive treatment for locally advanced rectal cancer (LARC). In this study, we explored immune infiltration in rectal cancer (RC) and identified immune-related differentially expressed genes (IRDEGs). Then, we identified response markers in datasets in GEO databases by principal component analysis (PCA). We also utilized three GEO datasets to identify the up- and downregulated response-related genes simultaneously and then identified genes shared between the PCA markers and three GEO datasets. Based on the hub IRDEGs, we identified target mRNAs and constructed a ceRNA network. Based on the ceRNA network, we explored prognostic biomarkers to develop a prognostic model for RC through Cox regression. We utilized the specimen to validate the expression of the two biomarkers. We also utilized LASSO regression to screen hub IRDEGs and built a nomogram to predict the response of LARC patients to CRT. All of the results show that the nomogram and prognostic model offer good prognostic value and that the ceRNA network can effectively highlight the regulatory relationship. hsa-mir-107 and WDFY3-AS2 may be prognostic biomarkers for RC.

Background Locally advanced rectal neuroendocrine neoplasms (NENs) are rare, and the therapeutic effects of surgery in improving the prognosis have been questioned in previous reports. Materials and methods The research included 58 consecutive patients with locally advanced rectal NENs from three Chinese medical centers between 2000 and 2020. All have received radical surgical treatment. The clinicopathological and survival data were collected. Kaplan-Meier methods and a Cox proportional hazards regression model were used to evaluate the prognosis and identify independent prognostic factors. Results All patients were followed up for a median period of 36 (2–125) months. Of the 58 patients, 13 (22.4%) had G1 neuroendocrine tumors (NETs), 15 (25.9%) had G2 NETs, 6 (10.3%) had G3 NETs, and the remaining 24 (41.4%) patients had G3 neuroendocrine carcinomas (NECs). The 1-year and 3-year disease-free survival (DFS) rates were 64.5% and 48.8%, respectively. The 1-year and 3-year overall survival (OS) rates were 90.5% and 75.4%, respectively. Univariate analysis demonstrated that tumor differentiation (p = 0.002), gross morphology (p = 0.009), T stage (p = 0.024), and extramural vascular invasion (p = 0.009) were associated with the OS. The subsequent multivariate analysis confirmed that tumor differentiation [hazard ratio (HR) = 6.002, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.210–29.767, p = 0.028] and gross morphology (HR = 3.438, 95% CI: 1.038–11.382, p = 0.043) were independent prognostic factors affecting the clinical outcomes. Conclusions Rectal NENs are a heterogeneous group of diseases. The survival benefits obtained from surgery vary widely based on the tumor clinicopathological features. Patients with G3 NECs and ulcerative mass are at high risks of poor prognosis.

BACKGROUND Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most malignant gastrointestinal cancers worldwide. The liver is the most important metastatic target organ, and liver metastasis is the leading cause of death in patients with CRC. Owing to the lack of sensitive biomarkers and unclear molecular mechanism, the occurrence of liver metastases cannot be predicted and the clinical outcomes are bad for liver metastases. Therefore, it is very important to identify the diagnostic or prognostic markers for liver metastases of CRC. AIM To investigate the highly differentially expressed genes (HDEGs) and prognostic marker for liver metastases of CRC. METHODS Data from three NCBI Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) datasets were used to show HDEGs between liver metastases of CRC and tumour or normal samples. These significantly HDEGs of the three GEO datasets take the interactions. And these genes were screened through an online tool to explore the prognostic value. Then, TIMER and R package were utilized to investigate the immunity functions of the HDEGs and gene set enrichment analysis was used to explore their potential functions. RESULTS Based on the selection criteria, three CRC datasets for exploration (GSE14297, GSE41258, and GSE49355) were chosen. Venn diagrams were used to show HDEGs common to the six groups and 47 HDEGs were obtained. The HDEGs were shown by using STRING and Cytoscape software. Based on the TCGA database, APOC1 showed significantly different expression between N2 and N0, and N2 and N1. And there was also a significant difference in expression between T2 and T4, and between T2 and T3. In 20 paired CRC and normal tissues, quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction illustrated that the APOC1 mRNA was strongly upregulated in CRC tissues (P = 0.014). PrognoScan and GEPIA2 revealed the prognostic value of APOC1 for overall survival and disease-free survival in CRC (P < 0.05). TIMER showed that APOC1 has a close relationship with immune infiltration (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION APOC1 is a biomarker that is associated with both the diagnosis and prognosis of liver metastases of CRC.

Sr(Ti1−xFex)O3−δ (STF) is an alternative to Ni-based cermet fuel electrodes for solid oxide electrochemical cells (SOCs) that can provide an improved tolerance to redox cycling, fuel impurities, and hydrocarbon fuels. Sr(Ti0.3Fe0.7)O3−δ electrodes were recently found to exhibit an excellent performance, but lower Fe contents have not been studied. In this work, the electrochemical performance of STF-based fuel electrodes with 0.4 ≤ x ≤ 0.7 are explored in both full cells and symmetric cells at different fuel conditions. The electrode performance in the fuel cell mode (3% H2O humidified hydrogen) became slightly worse as x decreased from 0.7 to 0.5; however, it was much worse at x = 0.4. In the steam electrolysis mode from 50% H2O to 50% H2, the change in the electrode performance showed a similar trend, and a more significant degradation in the performance was found at x = 0.4. The worse electrochemical performance in a high-steam-concentration atmosphere is due to the higher electrode polarization and increased ohmic resistance. These results indicate that STF electrodes with x = 0.5 have a reasonable electrochemical performance for SOC applications.

Based on the characters of coastal saline-alkali soil in Yellow River Delta, four kinds of soil with the total salt content of 0.13%, 0.24%, 0.86%, 2.07% respectively, were used as the research objects in this study. Leaching experiment of soil improvement were operated by using flue gas desulfurization gypsum and humic acid as the soil amendments through single or combined application. After leaching, the pH values, EC and the total salt content including Na+, Ca2+ and Mg2+ of four times leachate were analyzed. Meanwhile, the sodium adsorption ratio (SAR) was also calculated in order to evaluate the amendment efficiency. The results showed that: the pH values of the leachate of flue gas desulfurization gypsum without (treat A) or with humic acid (treat C) were significantly lower than that of control group (treatment CK) and humic acid (treatment B), while the EC values were significantly higher. For the saline-alkali soil, all of treatment A, B and C could decrease soil pH, exchangeable Na+ and soil SAR. Treatment B could decrease the total salt content insignificantly, while treatment A and C could increase the total salt content significantly. By analyzing the results, it was found that treatment C had the most significant improvement effect, comparing with the treatment CK. PH was decreased respectively 0.26%, 0.83%, 1.05% and 1.83%, Na+ was decreased respectively 82.4%, 92.6%, 89.1% and 78.6%, SAR was decreased respectively 97.4%, 98.5%, 97.7% and 94.7%. The experimental results demonstrate that a combined application of flue gas desulfurization gypsum and humic acid is a potential method to improve coastal saline alkali soil in Yellow River Delta on the basis of ensuring the irrigation amount.

In this study, a facile synthetic pathway was proposed to fabricate silver nanoparticles by using tea extract as reducing agent and stabilizer to reduce silver nitrate, which was further evaluated for the antimicrobial activity against bacterium (Escherichia coli) and pathogenic fungus of tea (Pseudopestalotiopsis theae). The average particle size of silver nanoparticles is 15.41 nm by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Scherrer equation, the morphology is relatively regular and well dispersed by scanning electron microscope (SEM) and transmission electron microscope (TEM), the zeta potential is −13.91 ± 0.89 mV and the aggregate particle size distribution in water is around 773.49 nm. In addition, the synthesized nano silver had good antimicrobial effect on Pseudopestalotiopsis theae (P. theae) and Escherichia coli (E. coli), and the inhibition ratio was 96.05% and 61.87%, respectively. And the reaction of silver nanoparticles with bacteria and fungi could not be driven by the electrostatic interactions, but might by intermolecular forces. This study provides a facile and effective method for the preparation of nano silver, and broadens the application of nano silver in antimicrobial agent.

The HLLS (high liquid limit soil) has the characteristics of high moisture content, low bearing capacity and poor water stability. Most of the existing treatment methods focus on the improvement with a single curing agent, and the research on the improvement of HLLS with various curing agents is still insufficient. This paper presents the characteristics of two kinds of compound improved HLLS based on unconfined compressive strength test. The results show that the unconfined compressive strength of CSIS (Cement / SAP Improved Soil) and CLIS (Cement / Renolith Improved Soil) are greatly improved than those of CIS (Cement Improved Soil) when the curing age is 28d, respectively. The maximum increments of unconfined compressive strength are 0.31MPa and 0.22MPa, respectively. When the cement content is less (more) than 3%, the unconfined compressive strength of CSIS decreases (increases) with the increase of SAP content. When the cement content is constant, the unconfined compressive strength of CLIS increases first and then decreases with the increase of the Renolith content. The optimum mix amount of SAP (Renolith) and cement in CSIS (CLIS) are 0.06% (0.2%) and 5% (3%), respectively. The strength and crack resistance of the two kinds of compound improved soil are better than the one with single curing agent. SAP and Renolith exert the properties of self-curing after water absorption and hydrophobicity, respectively.

Background Colorectal high-grade neuroendocrine neoplasms (HGNENs) are rare and constitute less than 1% of all colorectal malignancies. Based on their morphological differentiation and proliferation identity, these neoplasms present heterogeneous clinicopathologic features. Opinions regarding treatment strategies for and improvement of the clinical outcomes of these patients remain controversial. Aim To delineate the clinicopathologic features of and explore the prognostic factors for this rare malignancy. Methods This observational study reviewed the data of 72 consecutive patients with colorectal HGNENs from three Chinese hospitals between 2000 and 2019. The clinicopathologic characteristics and follow-up data were carefully collected from their medical records, outpatient reexaminations, and telephone interviews. A survival analysis was conducted to evaluate their outcomes and to identify the prognostic factors for this disease. Results According to the latest recommendations for the classification and nomenclature of colorectal HGNENs, 61 (84.7%) patients in our cohort had poorly differentiated neoplasms, which were categorized as high-grade neuroendocrine carcinomas (HGNECs), and the remaining 11 (15.3%) patients had well differentiated neoplasms, which were categorized as high-grade neuroendocrine tumors (HGNETs). Most of the neoplasms (63.9%) were located at the rectum. More than half of the patients (51.4%) presented with distant metastasis at the date of diagnosis. All patients were followed for a median duration of 15.5 mo. In the entire cohort, the median survival time was 31 mo, and the 3-year and 5-year survival rates were 44.3% and 36.3%, respectively. Both the univariate and multivariate analyses demonstrated that increasing age, HGNEC type, and distant metastasis were risk factors for poor clinical outcomes. Conclusion Colorectal HGNENs are rare and aggressive malignancies with poor clinical outcomes. However, patients with younger age, good morphological differentiation, and without metastatic disease can have a relatively favorable prognosis.

Table S1. Primers for ChIP-PCR of H3K23ac. (DOCX 14 kb)

Quantitative study on effects of roads on suitable breeding habitats of wildlife is one of topics that need in-depth research in road ecology. Crested ibis (Nipponia nippon), a first class nationally protected bird species, is the species of interest in this research. Using the Maximum Entropy Models (MaxEnt) in the Species Distribution Model (SDM) toolbox of ArcGIS, autocorrelation of environmental variables were analyzed and environmental variables with r0.8 were removed. Ten environmental variables were chosen as impact factors for the breeding habitat of crested ibis, including mean temperature of coldest quarter, landscape type, normalized difference vegetation index(NDVI), slope, aspect, distance to waters, distance to paddy field, distance to high-grade roads (expressway, national way, provincial way), and distance to low-grade roads (country road). By analyzing the contribution rate of each environmental variable, the results showed that the mean temperature of coldest quarter, landscape type, distance to paddy field, and distance to high-grade roads were the main factors determining breeding habitat of crested ibis. The suitable distribution of crested ibis' nesting area was under the following scenarios: variable road present (scenario1), high-grade road absent (scenario2), and low-grade road absent (scenario 3). The results showed that the presence of roads affected suitable nesting areas of crested ibis with high-grade roads showing a larger influence than low-grade roads. The presence of high-grade roads and low-grade roads decreased the suitable nesting areas of crested ibis by 66.23 and 35.69 km道路对野生动物适宜繁殖地影响的定量研究是目前道路生态学领域有待深入的内容之一.本文以国家一级保护动物朱鹮为研究对象,利用物种分布模型(SDM)中MaxEnt模型,通过对影响朱鹮繁殖地的环境变量进行自相关分析,剔除自相关系数大于0.8的环境变量,最终选择了10个环境变量为朱鹮繁殖地的影响因子,分别为最冷季度平均气温、景观类型、归一化植被指数、坡度、坡向、距水体距离、距水田距离、距高等级公路(县级及以上道路)距离、距低等级公路(乡镇和林间道路)距离、距居住地距离.通过对环境变量的贡献率进行分析表明: 最冷季度平均气温、景观类型以及距水田距离、距高等级公路距离是影响朱鹮筑巢的主要因子.分别研究了含道路变量(情景Ⅰ)、不含高等级公路(情景Ⅱ)以及不含低等级公路(情景Ⅲ)3种情景下朱鹮繁殖地适宜区分布.结果表明:道路对朱鹮繁殖地干扰影响显著,高等级公路的影响比低等级公路大,高等级公路和低等级公路的存在分别使朱鹮繁殖地适宜区的面积减小了66.23和35.69 km

To explore the protective effect of Tongjingling (TJL) against sperm DNA damage and oxidative stress in the rat model of experimental varicocele (EVC).We randomly divided 75 Wistar male rats into five groups of equal number: sham operation, EVC model, high-dose TJL, mid-dose TJL, and low-dose TJL. The EVC model was established in the rats by partial ligation of the left renal vein, followed by 8 weeks of medication from the 4th week after modeling. Then we observed the general status of the rats, detected the sperm DNA fragmentation index (DFI) in the epididymis by sperm chromatin structure assay (SCSA), and measured the content of hydroperoxide (H2O2) and the activities of catalase (CAT) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) in the testis by colorimetry.Compared with the sham operation group, the EVC models showed significantly increased sperm DFI in the epididymis (P0.01) and elevated level of H2O2 and activities of CAT and SOD in the testis (P0.01). In comparison with the EVC models, the rats of the TJL groups exhibited remarkably reduced sperm DFI and H2O2 content, but increased activities of SOD and CAT.TJL can improve sperm DNA integrity by increasing the activities of SOD and CAT and reducing the H2O2 level and hence oxidative stress in the testis tissue.目的： 探讨通精灵对实验性精索精索静脉曲张大鼠精子DNA完整性与睾丸组织氧化应激的影响。方法： 雄性Wistar大鼠75只随机分为假手术组、模型组、高剂量组、中剂量组、低剂量组，每组15只。参照文献制备大鼠精索静脉曲张模型，“夹尾激怒法”建立合并中医肝气郁结证模型。造模完成后4周开始给药，持续8周。观察大鼠的一般情况，精子染色质结构分析法（SCSA）检测附睾精子DFI。化学比色法测睾丸过氧化氢（H2O2）含量、过氧化氢酶（CAT）和超氧化物歧化酶（SOD）活性。结果： 与假手术组相比较，模型组大鼠附睾精子DFI［(8.36±2.49)%］显著升高（P0.01），睾丸组织H2O2含量［(431.22±97.01) mmol/g prot］显著升高（P0.01）， CAT［(10.53±2.69) U/ml］、SOD［(87.30±25.33) U/ml］活性显著升高（P0.01）。与模型组相比较，通精灵各组附睾精子DFI显著降低，睾丸组织H2O2的含量显著降低。结论： 精索静脉曲张模型大鼠附睾精子DNA完整性降低，睾丸组织呈氧化应激状态，精子DNA完整性与氧化应激有相关性，通精灵可能通过增加CAT、SOD活性，降低H2O2含量减轻了睾丸组织氧化应激状态，从而提高精子DNA完整性。.

Aiming at the phenomenon that a large amount of friction heat produced during braking process has important influence on the contact surface of heavy vehicle, according to the actual size of the friction plate and the static slice, a three-dimensional transient thermal stress field calculation model has established, using multi-physics coupled method of ANSYS in Workbench, after the numerical simulation of disk brake, the transient thermal stress field distribution has revealed in the process of braking friction piece, the results showed that the stress field and temperature field has a significant influence on each other, indicated that between them there is a clear relationship between the couple.

Underwater mooring platforms which anchored by the anchor and cable have a certain function of the platform mooring at a certain depth. In this paper, the motion model of underwater mooring system was built through analyseing the motion characteristics of the cable geometry and the force of the cable. And the motion simulation of underwater mooring platform with ocean current was done. The results show that the motion of underwater mooring platform is stable.

When the AUV is executing detection, reconnaissance and other job tasks, AUV will moving in the near-seabed. And the flow field due to the seabed boundary effects become extraordinarily complex when the AUV moving in the near-seabed. In this paper, we will carry out some research about hydrodynamics simulation and analysis when the AUV is moving in the near-seabed.The model of flow field when AUV moving in the near-seabed was introduced and the dividing grid process was presented. At last the AUV’s hydrodynamics were simulated.

In the North China plain, serious Non-point-source (NPS) pollution and drought are two great concerns in agricultural production. In our studies, two typical chemical agents ( SAP and FA ) were selected to control drought and pollution in a cheery orchard. Soil water content, nutrient transport in soil profile have been researched. The results showed that the soil water content of treatments with chemical agents increased maximally by 19.4% relative to treatment without chemical agents, and increased by 35.2% for Ammonium-N in 20-60 cm soil layer ( main root zone ). However, in 60-120 cm deeper soil layer, the water leakage of treatments with chemical agents decreased averagely by 15.1% relative to treatment without chemical agents, and increased by 43.8% for Nitrate-N. The chemical agents hold water and nutrient in root zone and thus reducing the risk of pollutant leaching into the underground water. It can be found that treatment ( 150kg/h㎡ SAP + 300 times FA ) is the optimal combination group in all treatments. The chemical prevention technology provided a new guide for controlling drought and reducing NPS pollution in cherry planting in the North China plain.

Amorphous Er2O3 films are deposited on Si (001) substrates by using reactive evaporation. This paper reports the evolution of the structure, morphology and electrical characteristics with annealing temperatures in an oxygen ambience. X-ray diffraction and high resolution transimission electron microscopy measurement show that the films remain amorphous even after annealing at 700 °C. The capacitance in the accumulation region of Er2O3 films annealed at 450 °C is higher than that of as-deposited films and films annealed at other temperatures. An Er2O3/ErOx/SiOx/Si structure model is proposed to explain the results. The annealed films also exhibit a low leakage current density (around 1.38 × 10−4 A/cm2 at a bias of −1 V) due to the evolution of morphology and composition of the films after they are annealed.

Tb-doped Zinc oxide (ZnO:Tb) films were prepared by RF reactive magnetron sputtering of a Zn target with some Tb-chips attached. The results show that the appropriate Tb ions incorporated into ZnO films can improve the structural and electrical properties of ZnO films. Photoluminescence (PL) measurements show that the characteristic emission lines correspond to the intra-4fn-shell transitions in Tb3+ ions at room temperature. Under the optimal conditions, the ZnO:Tb films were prepared with the lowest resistivity (ρ) of 9.34 × 10−4Ωcm, transmittance over 80% at the visible region and the strong blue emission.

The performance of speaker verification systems is often compromised under real-world environments. For example, variations in handset characteristics could cause severe performance degradation. This paper presents a novel method to overcome this problem by using a non-linear handset mapper. Under this method, a mapper is constructed by training an elliptical basis function network using distorted speech features as inputs and the corresponding clean features as the desired outputs. During feature recuperation, clean features are recovered by feeding the distorted features to the feature mapper. The recovered features are then presented to a speaker model as if they were derived from clean speech. Experimental evaluations based on 258 speakers of the TIMIT and NTIMIT corpuses suggest that the feature mappers improve the verification performance remarkably.

The methanol extract of the root cortex of Paeonia suffruticosa afforded two new monoterpene glycosides, paeoniside A (1) and paeoniside B (2), and three known monoterpene glycosides, paeoniflorin (3), benzoylpaeoniflorin (4) and 4-O-methyl-paeoniflorin (5). Their structures were elucidated on the basis of spectroscopic means including 1D and 2D NMR experiments. Compounds 1–5 were found to be active against cyclooxygenase-1 and cyclooxygenase-2 enzymes.

Solar thermophotovoltaic (STPV) generator is a popular energy converter due to providing low noise, low thermal mechanical stress and portability. It has the ability to exceed the efficiency of pure solar photovoltaic system. An idealized STPV generator is a reversible heat-engine, offering a theoretical efficiency of over 80%, but the actual conversion efficiency of STPV generator is still low due to the mistuned spectral property between the thermal selective emitter and the TPV cell. One key issue in developing the STPV generator with high performance is the spectral matching between the thermal radiation spectrum of radiator and the spectral response of photovoltaic cell in visible and near-infrared region, which usually lies between the visible and the near-infrared region. High-temperature spectral emissivity of rare earth oxide is of special interest, because the radiation has a narrow band of wavelengths in the near infrared and infrared region from 900 to 3000 nm. In this work, the thermal-selective film Er2O3 emitter is fabricated by post-oxidation of Er film deposited on Si substrate through using electron-beam gun evaporation. Based on the X-ray diffraction results, the Er2O3 film is of cubic phase structure and well-crystallized when the oxidation temperature is 700℃, and the Si substrate has no obvious influence on the crystal structure of Er2O3 film. According to the X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy results of the Er2O3 film after thermal oxidation at 700℃, the atomic ratio of Er/O is stoichiometric. In order to obtain the selective emission characteristic of the Er2O3 film, a measurement system is designed. The system consists of two major portions, i.e., one is a near infrared spectrometer purchased from Ocean Optics, the other is a high-temperature emission characteristic tester which can provide oxyhydrogen flame to heat the sample by using an electronic impulse ignition to torch the hydrogen-oxygen mixture. The oxyhydrogen flame passes through the nozzle and sprays vertically on the surface of the thermal-selective emitter sample. The facula of the oxyhydrogen flame convergence is very small (facula diameter:~0.8 cm), and the highest temperature achieved is about 2500℃. The measurement condition of selective emission performance of the Er2O3 film emitter coincides with the application characteristic of STPV generator. The emission performance result of the film emitter at 700℃ shows a typical gray-body emission characteristic. The measurements carried out at 900 and 1100℃ show that the Er2O3 film has a distinct emittance spectrum at 1550 nm corresponding to Er3+, and the intensity of the selective emission peak strengthens with the measuring temperature or film thickness increasing. The thermal-selective film Er2O3 emitter is found to have emission spectrum suitable for efficient matching with the infrared response of GaSb photovoltaic cell.

HfGdO high-k gate dielectric thin films were deposited on Ge substrates by radio-frequency magnetron sputtering. The current transport properties of Al(Pt)/HfGdO/Ge MOS structures were investigated at room temperature. The results show that the leakage currents are mainly induced by Frenkel-Poole emissions at a low electric field. At a high electric field, Fowler Nordheim tunneling dominates the current. The energy barriers were obtained by analyzing the Fowler Nordheim tunneling characteristics, which are 1.62 eV and 2.77 eV for Al/HfGdO and Pt/HfGdO, respectively. The energy band alignments for metal/HfGdO/Ge capacitors are summarized together with the results of current-voltage and the x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy.

To determine the effects of disease activity and other risk factors on bone mineral density (BMD) in untreated systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE).Lumbar and hip BMD were determined by dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) in 50 healthy controls and 120 premenopausal SLE females from Department of RheumatologyImmunology, Third Hospital of Medical College of Jilin University during the period of 2010 - 2012. The SLE patients were divided into 2 groups, i.e. untreated and treated with glucocorticoid and immunosuppressives. Simple and multiple linear regression analyses were performed to determine the associations between BMD and disease-related variables. To completely eliminate the influences of glucocorticoid treatment on the results, the untreated SLE patients were chosen to investigate the risk factors with regression analysis.In femoral neck, greater trochanter and total hip, both the treated and untreated SLE patients had significantly lower BMD than the healthy controls (P0.01). In greater trochanter, the treated SLE group had significantly lower BMD than the untreated group. The BMD of left and right femoral neck of the former were botj -0.06 while that of the later -0.11 and -0.12 respectively (P0.05). Regression analysis showed that long disease duration and high (SLE disease activity index) SLEDAI were the risk factors of low BMD (P0.05), especially high SLEDAI.SLE itself may result in low BMD, especially in patients with high SLEDAI. Hip joints are predominantly affected. Long disease duration is also closely associated with low BMD in SLE.

To evaluate the clinical effect of combination of acupuncture, cupping and medicine for treatment of fibromyalgia syndrome.By using multi-central randomized controlled method, 186 cases were randomly divided into an acupuncture combined with cupping and western medicine group (group A), an acupuncture combined with cupping group (group B) and a western medicine group (group C) and treated continuously for 4 weeks. The treatment of acupuncture combined with cupping was produced by acupuncture at five mental points and moving cupping on the Hechelu of the back, once evrey other day, thrice each week, and the western medicine therapy by oral administration of Amitriptyline, once each day. The scores of McGill Pain Questionnaire (MPQ), the amount of tenderness point and the time of producing effect were compared and the therapeutic effects were assessed with the Hamilton Depression Scale (HAMD).The cured and markedly effective rate was 65.0% (39/60) in the group A, which was superior to 15.9% (10/63) in the group B and 16.1% (9/56) in the group C (both P0.001). After treatment, the scores of MPQ and HAMD and the amount of tenderness point all decreased in the three groups, group A being significantly better than group B and group C, and the time of producing effect in the group A was more earlier than those in the group B and the group C.The therapeutic effect of combination of acupuncture, cupping and medicine on fibromyalgia syndrome is superior to that of the simple acupuncture combined with cupping or the simple medicine.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the homing capabilities of hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells (HSPCs) derived from human placenta tissues (PT). Single cell suspension of human PT was prepared by mechanical method. The expression levels of homing-related adhesion molecules (HRAM) including CD11a, CD49d, CD44, CD49e, CD62L and CD54 on CD34(+) cells and the percentages of CD34(+) cells and their subpopulations in nucleated cells (NC) from fresh human PT, umbilical cord arterial blood (UCAB) and umbilical cord venous blood (UCVB) were detected by using flow cytometry. The results showed that the percentage of CD34(+) cells and CD34(+)CD38(-) cells in placenta were higher than those in UCAB and UCVB. There were no significant difference in percentage of HSPC between UCAB and UCVB. Placenta-derived CD34(+) cells strongly expressed CD11a, CD49d, CD44, CD49e and CD54, among which expression levels of CD49e and CD54 on placenta-derived CD34(+) cells were significantly higher than those on UCAB and UCVB-derived CD34(+) cells. While the percentage of CD34(+)CD62L(+) cells in placenta was only lower than that in UCVB. It is concluded that human placenta is rich in HSPC. Moreover, the expression levels of most HRAM in CD34(+) cells from PT are higher than those from UCAB and UCVB or are close to them. It suggested that HSPCs derived from PT might have stronger homing capabilities than those from UCB.

To explore the relationship between genetic polymorphisms of glutathione S-transferase (GST) M1, T1 and susceptibility to mountain sickness.Forty-three soldiers with acute mountain sickness and 80 healthy soldiers matching with sex/age and training under the same condition were divided into case group and control group. A multiple polymerase chain reaction method was used to detect GSTM1 and GSTT1 genes in genomic DNA isolated from peripheral blood cells from both cases and controls.The frequency of the GSTT1 positive genotype was significantly higher in cases (69.8%) than in controls (42.5%) (P = 0.004, OR = 3.12, 95% CI 1.42 approximately 6.86). The frequency of GSTM1 negative genotype was also higher in cases (72.1%) than in controls (52.5%) (P = 0.03, OR = 2.34, 95% CI 1.05 approximately 5.02). Persons with both GSTM1 and GSTT1 negative genotypes had 5-fold more risk than those with GSTT1 negative and GSTM1 positive genotypes in developing mountain sickness (OR = 5.04, 95% CI: 1.00 approximately 25.3).Genetic polymorphisms of glutathione S-transferase M1, T1 may be the risk factors in the development of mountain sickness.

To investigate the relationship between heat stress proteins 70 (HSPs70) gene polymorphism and the risk of acute mountain sickness.Fifty-six soldiers with acute mountain sickness and 173 soldiers without that were chosen as cases and controls. HSP70-1, HSP70-2 genotypes were analyzed by using the polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) technique.The HSP70-1 polymorphism was similar in two groups. The genotype frequency of HSP70-2 B/B in acute mountain sickness group (23.2%) was significantly higher than that in the control (6.9%, P0.05, OR = 4.02).There is a significantly increased association of HSP70-2 B/B genotype with the risk of acute mountain sickness. Individuals with HSP70-2 B/B genotype may have weaker adaptive ability than those without this genotype under altitude stress. The results contribute to provide scientific bases for finding these individuals in specified occupational people, ensuring their health and enhancing work efficiency.

By using 0.25 μm high-voltage CMOS technology, we have designed and fabricated a structure of single-photon detectors. The new single-photon avalanche diode (SPAD) has (to our knowledge) the lowest dark count rate per unit area at room temperature without any technology customization. Our design is promising for realizing low-cost and high-performance SPAD arrays for imaging applications.