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Xianguang Bai,1,* Ming Yi,2,* Xichao Xia,1 Shengnan Yu,2 Xinhua Zheng,1 Kongming Wu2 1Medical School of Pingdingshan University, Pingdingshan, Henan, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of Oncology, Tongji Hospital of Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, People’s Republic of China *These authors contributed equally to this work Purpose: Epithelial cell transforming sequence 2 (ECT2) is a guanine nucleotide exchange factor, which is involved in cell division regulation and cell cycle modulation. Recent evidence indicates that ECT2 is overexpressed in many human cancers. However, the exact prognostic value of ECT2 in lung cancer has not been elucidated.Patients and methods: In the current study, we performed correlation and prognosis analyses using public databases and conducted immunohistochemical staining in tissue microarrays, using samples from 204 lung cancer patients with survival data.Results: We found that the expression of ECT2 was markedly increased in lung cancer tissues compared with normal tissues. Moreover, we demonstrated that the expression of ECT2 was related to tumor cell differentiation degree, TNM stage, lymph node metastasis, and prognosis in non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). A correlation analysis indicated that ECT2 levels were significantly correlated with proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) levels in NSCLC. Furthermore, Kaplan–Meier analyses revealed that high ECT2 expression was associated with unfavorable overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) in NSCLC patients.Conclusion: Taken together, these results indicate that the overexpression of ECT2 contributes to tumor invasion and progression, suggesting that ECT2 is a potential prognostic marker for NSCLC patients. Keywords: epithelial cell transforming sequence 2, ECT2, non-small cell lung cancer, progression, prognosis, proliferating cell nuclear antigen, PCNA

Kevin Wu, Hyunjoo J Lee, Manishi A Desai Department of Ophthalmology, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston Medical Center, Boston, MA, USA Purpose: In this study, we aimed to identify the risk factors for early postoperative elevation of intraocular pressure (IOP) after pterygium surgery.Patients and methods: All patients in this retrospective cohort study were evaluated for inclusion from a single tertiary care center at Boston Medical Center. Their pre- and postoperative IOP measurements (day 1, week 1, month 1, month 3, and when clinically necessary) were compared. Patients with postoperative IOP measurement of >22 mmHg or with an increase in IOP by ≥10 mmHg compared with the preoperative measurement value were grouped as “Ocular Hypertension” group; otherwise, patients were grouped in the “No Ocular Hypertension” group. Age, sex, race, baseline IOP, cup-to-disc (C/D) ratio, history of glaucoma, and frequency of use of postoperative steroid drops in all patients were compared. Chi square test was performed to compare the categorical variables, whereas Student’s t-test was performed to compare continuous variables. We performed a multivariate logistic regression analysis of categorical data with a significance level of p < 0.05.Results: In total, 240 patient charts were reviewed for inclusion in this study. Twenty-six patients required pterygium surgery on both eyes; for these patients, the eye with higher IOP was analyzed. Two patients were discontinued from this study because of elevated IOP in the contralateral, nonsurgical eye. Forty-eight out of 212 eyes (22.64%) developed postsurgical elevation of IOP within the first 3 months of operation. No significant differences were found between age, sex, baseline IOP, C/D ratio, history of glaucoma diagnoses, and frequency of use of postoperative steroid drops. However, Hispanic/Latino race (p = 0.036) and lack of application of steroid ointment (p = 0.001) were found to be the significant risk factors for the development of “Ocular Hypertension” in multivariate analysis.Conclusion: Early elevation of IOP is a risk of pterygium surgery. One nonmodifiable risk factor, Hispanic/Latino race, and one modifiable risk factor, lack of application of steroid ointments, were identified as potential causes of early postoperative IOP elevation. Keywords: race, ocular hypertension, postoperative care, steroid, intraocular pressure

Fang Bai,1–3,* You Yin,4,* Ting Chen,1,* Jihui Chen,1 Meixin Ge,2 Yunshu Lu,2 Fangyuan Xie,5 Jian Zhang,1 Kejin Wu,3 Yan Liu1,6 1Department of Pharmacy, Xinhua Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, 2Department of General Surgery, Xinhua Hospital, Affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University, School of Medicine, Shanghai, 3Department of Breast Surgery, Obstetrics and Gynaecology Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, 4Department of Neurology, Changzheng Hospital Affiliated to Second Military Medical University, Shanghai, 5Department of Pharmacy, Shanghai Eastern Hepatobiliary Surgery Hospital, Shanghai, 6Department of Pharmacy, Changzheng Hospital Affiliated to Second Military Medical University, Shanghai, People’s Republic of China *These authors contributed equally to this work Purpose: Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women. Pemetrexed, a new generation antifolate drug, is one of the primary treatments for breast cancer. However, multidrug resistance (MDR) in breast cancer greatly hampers the therapeutic efficacy of chemotherapies such as pemetrexed. Nanomedicine is emerging as a promising alternative technique to overcome cancer MDR. Thus, pemetrexed-loaded d-alpha tocopheryl polyethylene glycol 1000 succinate (vitamin E TPGS) liposomes (liposomal pemetrexed) were developed as a strategy to overcome MDR to pemetrexed in breast cancer. Materials and methods: Liposomal pemetrexed was developed using the calcium acetate gradient method. The cytotoxic effects, apoptosis-inducing activity, in vivo distribution, and antitumor activity of liposomal pemetrexed were investigated. Results: Liposomal pemetrexed was small in size (160.77 nm), with a small polydispersity of

Hong-Lei Guo,1 Ling He,2 Yan-Cui Zhu,3 Kun Wu,4 Feng Yuan1 1Department of Medical Imaging, The First Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University, Kunming, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of Radiology, Yunnan Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Kunming, People’s Republic of China; 3Intensive Care Unit, The First Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University, Kunming, People’s Republic of China; 4Department of Hematology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University, Kunming, People’s Republic of China Abstract: The advent of disease evaluation by means of multi-slice spiral computed tomography (MSCT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) represents a continually emerging role in the evaluation of various diseases; however, its role is yet to be adequately defined. Thus, the aim of the study was to compare the diagnostic value of MSCT and MRI in the diagnosis of peritoneal metastasis in primary ovarian carcinoma. Between January 2013 and December 2015, MSCT or MRI data were collected from 42 patients who had been previously diagnosed with peritoneal metastasis of ovarian carcinoma at the First Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University. The tumor location, size, edge, and shape were all evaluated independently by three qualified imaging physicians using a double-blind method to confirm whether the patients were indeed suffering from peritoneal metastasis, as well as to rank the metastatic lesions recorded on a five-point scale. It was hypothesized that MRI and MSCT were comparable in the evaluation of ovarian carcinoma. Therefore, a receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curve was used to analyze the results and also to directly compare the respective diagnostic values of MSCT and MRI. In total, 165 metastatic lesions were confirmed by means of surgical operation. MSCT revealed 131 metastatic lesions, while MRI confirmed 154 metastatic lesions. The metastatic sites were primarily located on the subphrenic, epiploon, and gastrocolic ligaments and were further confirmed by either MRI or CT. In regard to MSCT, the most common site of underdiagnoses was in the vicinity of the uterus–rectum–fossa. MRI displayed a high detection rate in every site. The omission diagnostic rate of MSCT and MRI were 20.61% and 6.67%, respectively, while the accuracy rates were 79.39% and 93.33%, respectively. The obtained results revealed that the MSCT value of area under the ROC curve was smaller than that for MRI. Our findings provided evidence asserting that MRI, in comparison to MSCT, was more accurate in diagnosing peritoneal metastasis in patients with ovarian carcinoma. Keywords: multi-slice spiral computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, ovarian carcinoma, peritoneal metastasis, accuracy, omission diagnostic rate, ROC curves

Kongju Wu,1,* Shengnan Yu,2,* Qian Liu,2 Xianguang Bai,1 Xinhua Zheng,1 Kongming Wu2 1Medical School of Pingdingshan University, Pingdingshan, Henan, 2Department of Oncology, Tongji Hospital of Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, People’s Republic of China *These authors contributed equally to this work Abstract: As a CXC-type chemokine, ENA78/CXCL5 is an important attractant for granulocytes by binding to its receptor CXCR2. Recent studies proved that CXCL5/CXCR2 axis plays an oncogenic role in many human cancers. However, the exact clinical significance of CXCL5 in lung cancer has not been well defined. Here, we found that the serum protein expression of CXCL5 was significantly increased in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) compared with that in healthy volunteers. Immunohistochemistry staining revealed that CXCL5 protein was higher in various lung cancer tissues compared with normal tissues. Moreover, CXCL5 expression correlated with histological grade, tumor size, and TNM stage in NSCLC. Elevated CXCL5 protein abundance predicted poor overall survival in adenocarcinoma patients. Further meta-analysis demonstrated that CXCL5 mRNA expression was also positively associated with tumor stage, lymph node metastasis, and worse survival. Kaplan–Meier plot analyses indicated high CXCL5 was associated with short overall survival and progression-free survival. Together, these results indicated that CXCL5 may be a potential biomarker for NSCLC. Keywords: non-small cell lung cancer, chemokine, CXCL5, migration, prognosis

Pulsating ultraluminous X-ray sources are thought to be X-ray bright, accreting, magnetized neutron stars. Their measured soft (<20 keV) X-ray luminosity can exceed the Eddington luminosity for a neutron star by a few orders of magnitude. Although several scenarios have been proposed to explain the different components observed in the X-ray spectrum and the characteristics of the X-ray pulse profile of these systems, detailed quantitative calculations are still missing. In particular, the observed soft X-ray pulse profiles are almost sinusoidal and show an increase in the pulsed fraction (from 8 up to even 30 per cent) with increasing energy. In this work, we discuss how emission originating from an optically thick envelope, expected to be formed during super-Eddington accretion, can match the observed spectra and pulse profiles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tian Xiao,1,* Xianfeng Zhou,2,* Yun He,1 Yue Chen,3 Hua Qiu,2 Sheng Zhang,1 Xianglin Wei,1 Kang Wu,2 Xiaonan Ruan,2 Na Wang,1 Chaowei Fu1 1Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Key Laboratory of Public Health Safety, Pudong Institute of Preventive Medicine, Fudan University, 2Department of Chronic Disease, Pudong New Area Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Shanghai, China; 3School of Epidemiology and Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada *These authors contributed equally to this work. Background: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a great public health burden worldwide. Few studies have focused on pain problems in patients with mild and moderate COPD in Chinese community settings. Methods: A cross-sectional study of 283 patients with mild and moderate COPD was conducted in six communities that were randomly sampled in Pudong New Area of Shanghai, China, in 2016. A face-to-face interview was conducted to collect data on personal characteristics and health conditions. The short form McGill Pain Questionnaire and the COPD assessment test (CAT) were applied to evaluate pain problems and health status, respectively. Results: Among 283 subjects, more than one third (37%) had pain problems indicated by the present pain intensity (PPI) scale. COPD patients aged

Yanhong Huang,1 Shaoxiong Zheng,1 Chongtao Xu,1 Kun Lin,2 Kusheng Wu,2 Maochun Zheng,1 Jie Zhang,1 Haiyun Xu1 1Mental Health Center, 2Department of Preventive Medicine, Shantou University Medical College, Shantou, China Abstract: Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a frequent childhood-onset psychiatric condition and categorized into three subtypes of predominantly inattentive (ADHD-I), hyperactive impulsive (ADHD-H), and combined (ADHD-C). The prevalence and subtypes of ADHD vary considerably. The primary aim of this study was to provide a prevalence estimate of ADHD in elementary school students living in Shantou, a district of China, and in addition to examine the influence of informants, age, and gender on the prevalence. A total of 3,497 students aged 7–12 years were enrolled by random and stratified sampling. In stage I, teachers and parents of all participating students in randomly selected schools were asked to complete Chinese versions of the Conners’ 10-item scale. In stage II, students with high scores (.15) were interviewed by a psychiatrist for a diagnosis with or without ADHD. Parents rated many more students with high scores than teachers did in stage I. The prevalence of ADHD determined by Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fifth edition (DSM-5) was 5.91% (5.27%–6.55%), which is comparable to the rates reported in previous studies with Chinese children. This hits the low border of the ADHD prevalence range from 5.9 to 7.1% worldwide, and is lower than that of Chinese children living in Hong Kong, suggesting an important influence of Chinese culture on the diagnosis of ADHD. The constituent ratios of ADHD-I, ADHD-C, and ADHD-H subtypes were 67.43, 24.57, and 8.00%, respectively. The rate of ADHD-H decreased with age, whereas that of ADHD-I remained at the highest levels in all age groups, suggesting that symptoms in the inattention domain are the most persistent and refractory. Keywords: adolescents, ADHD, prevalence, Chinese culture, informants

This paper provides a rapid method coupled with chemometrics to visualise PEL quality of eight regions. The contents of mineral elements, Vitamin C (Vc), and colour parameters were measured using spectrophotometric methods. The volatile substances were determined by electronic nose (E-nose) and headspace solid phase micro-extraction with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (HS-SPME/GC-MS). Chemometric analyses were employed to visualise the sample distribution according to the geographical origin. The colour parameters, Vc, and mineral contents of PEL from diverse origins were significantly different (P < 0.05). A total of 25 volatile organic compounds (VOCs) were identified from PELs, with the highest percentage of components being ethyl acetate. The combination of HS-SPME/GC-MS and E-nose can properly characterise PEL samples. Therefore, the results of this exploratory work highlight the possibility of discriminating PEL from different regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main work of this paper focuses on the simulation of binary alloy solidification using the phase field model and adaptive octree grids. Ni-Cu binary alloy is used as an example in this paper to do research on the numerical simulation of isothermal solidification of binary alloy. Firstly, the WBM model, numerical issues and adaptive octree grids have been explained. Secondary, the numerical simulation results of three dimensional morphology of the equiaxed grain and concentration variations are given, taking the efficiency advantage of the adaptive octree grids. The microsegregation of binary alloy has been analysed emphatically. Then, numerical simulation results of the influence of thermophysical parameters on the growth of the equiaxed grain are also given. At last, a simulation experiment of large scale and long-time has been carried out. It is found that increases of initial temperature and initial concentration will make grain grow along certain directions and adaptive octree grids can effectively be used in simulations of microstructure.

Gang Tan,1,2,* Xin Huang,1,3,* Ying Zhang,1 An-Hua Wu,2 Yu-Lin Zhong,1 Kai Wu,2 Fu-Qing Zhou,4 Yi Shao1 1Department of Ophthalmology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University, Jiangxi Province Clinical Ophthalmology Institute and Oculopathy Research Centre, Nanchang, Jiangxi, 2Department of Ophthalmology, The First Affiliated Hospital of University of South China, Hengyang, Hunan, 3Department of Ophthalmology, The First People’s Hospital of Jiujiang City, Jiujiang, 4Department of Radiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University, Jiangxi Province Medical Imaging Research Institute, Nanchang, Jiangxi, People’s Republic of China *These authors contributed equally to this work Objective: The aim of this study was to use amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (ALFF) to investigate local features of spontaneous brain activity in patients with congenital comitant strabismus and clarify their relationship with emotional and psychosocial problems. Methods: A total of 20 patients with congenital comitant strabismus (ten males and ten females), and 20 healthy controls (ten males and ten females) closely matched in age, sex, and education underwent resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging scans. The ALFF method was used to assess local features of spontaneous brain activity. Congenital comitant strabismus patients were distinguished from healthy controls by receiver operating characteristic curve. Correlation analysis was performed to explore the relationships between the observed mean ALFF signal values of the different areas and the Chinese version of the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale. Results: Compared with healthy controls, patients with congenital comitant strabismus had significantly lower ALFF in the bilateral medialfrontal gyrus and higher values in the bilateral cerebellum posterior lobe and left angular gyrus. In the congenital comitant strabismus group, the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale-depression score showed a negative correlation with the ALFF signal values of the bilateral medial frontal gyrus (r=-0.550, P=0.012) and a negative correlation was noted between the mean ALFF signal values of the left angular gyrus and strabismus duration (r=-0.515, P=0.020). Conclusion: Congenital comitant strabismus mainly involves dysfunction in the bilateral medial frontal gyrus, bilateral cerebellum posterior lobe, and left angular gyrus, which may reflect the underlying pathologic mechanism of congenital strabismus. Keywords: ALFF, congenital comitant strabismus, resting state, spontaneous activity, anxiety and depression

Xun Yuan,1,* Wenxiang Ji,2,* Si Chen,1 Yuling Bao,3 Songwei Tan,3 Shun Lu,2 Kongming Wu,1 Qian Chu11Department of Oncology, Tongji Hospital of Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 2Lung Tumor Clinical Medical Center, Shanghai Chest Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, 3School of Pharmacy, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, People’s Republic of China*These authors contributed equally to this workAbstract: Drug resistance has become a main obstacle for the effective treatment of lung cancer. To address this problem, a novel biocompatible nanoscale package, poly(D,L-lactide-co-glycolide)-Tween 80, was designed and synthesized to overcome paclitaxel (PTX) resistance in a PTX-resistant human lung cancer cell line. The poly(D,L-lactide-co-glycolide) (PLGA)-Tween 80 nanoparticles (NPs) could efficiently load PTX and release the drug gradually. There was an increased level of uptake of PLGA-Tween 80 in PTX-resistant lung cancer cell line A549/T, which achieved a significantly higher level of cytotoxicity than both PLGA NP formulation and Taxol®. The in vivo antitumor efficacy also showed that PLGA-Tween 80 NP was more effective than Taxol®, indicating that PLGA-Tween 80 copolymer was a promising carrier for PTX in resistant lung cancer. Keywords: poly(D,L-lactide-co-glycolide), Tween 80, nanoparticle, drug resistance, lung cancer

Jia Zhao,1,2 Xiangnan Li,1,2 Yang Yang,1,2 Dengyan Zhu,1,2 Chunyang Zhang,1,2 Donglei Liu,1,2 Kai Wu,1,2 Song Zhao1,2 1Department of Thoracic Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital, Zhengzhou University, 2Key Thoracic Tumour Experimental Laboratory of Zhengzhou, Zhengzhou, Henan, People’s Republic of China Background: YAP1, the nuclear effector of the Hippo pathway, has become an attractive target for treatment of malignancies and is a candidate oncogene in esophageal cancer (EC). We hypothesized that knockdown of YAP1 could suppress EC and could be used for targeted therapy. However, there are few reports of the effect of YAP1 knockdown in EC. Materials and methods: Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction and Western blot assays were performed to determine the expression levels of YAP1 mRNA and protein in primary EC tissue samples, EC cell lines, and controls. Immunohistochemistry was also performed to detect YAP1 protein expression in primary EC tumor and matched nontumor control tissues. YAP1-knockdown cell lines were constructed using short-hairpin RNA, and MTT, flow cytometry, and transwell chamber assays were used to analyze the effect of YAP1 knockdown on EC cell proliferation, apoptosis, and invasion. In vivo tumor formation assays were used to investigate the antitumor effect of YAP1 knockdown. Results: We found that YAP1 mRNA and protein were upregulated in EC and that YAP1 expression correlated significantly with metastasis and tumor stage. We also found that YAP1 knockdown repressed cell proliferation and invasion and promoted apoptosis of EC cell lines. In addition, animal experiments revealed that YAP1 knockdown suppressed the growth of esophageal tumors in vivo. Conclusion: Collectively, these data confirm our hypothesis that YAP1 knockdown suppresses EC and suggest that YAP1 knockdown could be exploited in the targeted gene therapy of EC in the future. Keywords: esophageal cancer, Hippo, YAP1 knockdown, animal experiments

Ke Wu,1 Yun Yang,2,3 Yanmei Zhang,2,3 Jiexi Deng,1 Changjian Lin2,31Department of Cardiology, The Affiliated Dongnan Hospital of Xiamen University, Zhangzhou, 2Department of Medical Materials, Beijing Medical Implant Engineering Research Center, Beijing Naton Technology Group, Beijing, 3State Key Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of Solid Surfaces, Department of Chemistry, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Xiamen University, Xiamen, People’s Republic of ChinaAbstract: Catheter-related bloodstream infections are a significant problem in the clinic and may result in a serious infection. Here, we developed a facile and green procedure for buildup of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) on the central venous catheters (CVCs) surface. Inspired by mussel adhesive proteins, dopamine was used to form a thin polydopamine layer and induce AgNPs formation without additional reductants or stabilizers. The chemical and physicochemical properties of AgNPs coated CVCs were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, and water contact angle. The Staphylococcus aureus culture experiment was used to study the antibacterial properties. The cytocompatibility was assessed by water soluble tetrazolium salts (WST-1) assay, fluorescence staining, and scanning electron microscopy analysis. The results indicated that the CVCs surface was successfully coated with compact AgNPs. AgNPs were significantly well separated and spherical with a size of 30–50 nm. The density of AgNPs could be modulated by the concentration of silver nitrate solution. The antibacterial activity was dependent on the AgNPs dose. The high dose of AgNPs showed excellent antibacterial activity while associated with increased cytotoxicity. The appropriate density of AgNPs coated CVCs could exhibit improved biocompatibility and maintained evident sterilization effect. It is promising to design mussel-inspired silver releasing CVCs with both significant antimicrobial efficacy and appropriate biological safety.Keywords: surface modification, central venous catheter, antibacterial activity, bio­compatibility