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Because of its widespread distribution in the environment, bisphenol A (BPA) has become a global concern as an endocrine disruptor and a threat to human health through the food chain. Thus an efficient determination method is urgently needed for monitoring the levels of BPA. Herein, a novel electrochemical technique for the detection of BPA was performed by synchronous extraction and pre-concentration of BPA onto magnetic molecularly imprinted polymer (BMMIP), with subsequent readout on a magneto-actuated glassy carbon electrode (MGCE) by differential pulse voltammetry. Compared to the current methods of BPA determination, this BMMIP-based electrochemical sensor (BMMIPs@MGCE) not only simplifies the sample handling procedures substantially, without filtration, centrifugation, or other complex operations, but also can be easily renewed by a controllable magnetic field. As a sensor component, the core–shell BMMIPs exhibited excellent binding capacity (Qe = 82.5 mg g−1), short adsorption equilibrium time (30 s), and outstanding selectivity (k′ = 7.239) towards BPA, as well as stability and recyclability. Importantly, the BMMIPs@MGCE sensor was successfully applied for the on-site monitoring and rapid detection of BPA in complicated real-world specimens, with good recoveries (81.31–119.77%) and a low limit of detection (0.133 μmol L−1). Therefore, the stable and low-cost BMMIPs@MGCE sensor provides a new approach for the rapid determination of BPA in the field of environmental control and food safety. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Triclosan (TCS) is a broad-spectrum antimicrobial agent that is broadly used in personal care products. It has been shown to cause the contamination of a variety of aquatic environments. Since algae has been the primary producers of aquatic ecosystems, understanding the toxicological mechanisms and the metabolic fate of TCS is vital for assessing its risk in an aquatic environment. In our study, 0.5–4 mg L−1 TCS treatments for 72 h in a culture of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii (C. reinhardtii) showed progressive inhibition of cell growth and reduced the chlorophyll content. The EC50 value of C. reinhardtii after 72 h was 1.637 mg L−1, which showed its higher level of resistance to TCS in comparison with other algal species. The exposure to TCS led to oxidative injuries of algae in relation to the increment of malonaldehyde content, cell membrane permeability, and H2O2 levels. Furthermore, the oxidative stress from TCS stimulated a series of antioxidant enzyme activities and their gene expressions. Simultaneously, the accumulated TCS in C. reinhardtii arouses the detoxification/degradation-related enzymes and related gene transcriptions. In the medium, approximately 82% of TCS was removed by C. reinhardtii. Importantly, eight TCS metabolites were identified by ultra-performance liquid chromatography-high-resolution mass spectrometry and their relative abundances were measured in a time-course experiment. Six of these metabolites are reported here for the first time. The metabolic pathways of triclosan via C. reinhardtii including reductive dechlorination, hydroxylation, sulfhydrylation, and binding with thiol/cysteine/GSH/glycosyl were manifested to broaden our understanding of the environmental fate of TCS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigated the effects of enzymatic hydrolysate of cottonseed protein (EHCP) supplementation on the growth performance and intestinal health of nursery pigs in Thailand. A total of 180 newly weaned piglets were randomly allocated to 3 groups with 6 replicates in each group and 10 piglets per replicate. Nursery pigs were fed three diets containing 0, 1%, and 1.5% EHCP for 28–63 days of age. The results indicated that 1% EHCP supplementation increased average daily feed intake (ADFI) and average daily gain (ADG) and decreased feed conversion rate (FCR) in the numerical, suggesting that appropriate EHCP supplementation could numerically improve growth performance of nursery pigs in Thailand. Moreover, 1% EHCP supplementation significantly decreased intestinal crypt depth and diarrhea incidence and increased intestinal villus height to crypt depth ratio and fecal consistency, suggesting that optimum EHCP supplementation could improve intestinal morphology and decreased diarrhea incidence of nursery pigs in Thailand. Furthermore, 1% EHCP supplementation significantly improved intestinal glutathione (GSH) level and superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity and indicated that optimal EHCP supplementation could improve intestinal antioxidant capacity of nursery pigs in Thailand. Optimum EHCP supplementation numerically increased growth, significantly decreased diarrhea incidence, significantly improved intestinal morphology and antioxidant capacity of nursery pig in Thailand. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To investigate the association between fluorine-2-deoxy- d-glucose positron emission tomography-computed tomography (F-FDG PET/CT) parameters, serum carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), and tumor response in patients with rectal cancer receiving neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (nCRT). Methods: Sixty-four patients with T3-4 and/or node-positive rectal cancer receiving nCRT followed by surgery were prospectively studied. PET/CT was performed before, and in 28 patients, both before and after nCRT. The pre-/post-nCRT maximum standardized uptake (SUVmax) values, differences between pre-/post-nCRT SUVmax (∆SUVmax), response index of SUVmax (RI-SUVmax), mean standardized uptake value (SUVmean), metabolic tumor volume (MTV), total lesion glycolysis (TLG), and CEA were measured. The ability of PET/CT parameters and CEA to predict Mandard's tumor regression grade (TRG) and pathological complete remission (pCR) were evaluated. Results: 31 patients were identified as responders (TRG 1-2), and 19 exhibited pCR. For responders, significant differences were found for ΔSUVmax (24.88 vs. 15.39 g/ml, p = 0.037), RI-SUVmax (0.76 vs. 0.63, p = 0.025), ΔSUVmean (14.43 vs. 8.65 g/ml, p = 0.029), RI-SUVmean (0.77 vs. 0.63, p = 0.011), CEA-pre (6.30 vs. 27.86 μg/L, p < 0.001), CEA-post (2.22 vs. 5.49 μg/L, p = 0.002), ΔCEA (4.08 vs. 23.13 μg/L, p < 0.001), and RI-CEA (0.25 vs. 0.55, p = 0.002). Differences between pCR and non-pCR patients were noted as RI-SUVmean (0.77 vs. 0.65, p = 0.043), MTV-pre (9.87 vs. 14.62 cm, p = 0.045), CEA-pre (5.62 vs. 22.27 μg/L, p = 0.002), CEA-post (1.95 vs. 4.72 μg/L, p = 0.001), and ΔCEA (3.68 vs. 17.99 μg/L, p = 0.013). Receiver operating characteristic analysis revealed that RI-SUVmean exhibited the greatest accuracy in predicting responders, whereas CEA-post and ΔCEA exhibited the greatest accuracy in predicting pCR. Conclusions: F-FDG PET/CT parameters and CEA are accurate tools for predicting tumor response to nCRT in rectal cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this study is to identify the risk factors and construct a prediction-score model for distant metastasis (DM) in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) patients treated with intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT). A total of 520 nonmetastatic NPC patients were analysed retrospectively. The independent risk factors for DM were tested by multivariate Cox regression analysis. The prediction-score model was established according to the regression coefficient. The median follow-up was 88.4 months. The 5-year DM rate was 15.1 %. N2-3, primary tumour volume of nasopharynx (GTVnx) >24.56 cm, haemoglobin change after treatment (ΔHGB) >25.8 g/L, albumin-globulin ratio (AGR) ≤1.34, pretreatment neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) >2.81 and pretreatment serum lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) >245 U/L were significantly adverse independent predictive factors for DM. Three subgroups were defined based on the prediction-score model: low risk (0-2), intermediate risk (3-4) and high risk (5-8). The 5-year DM rates were 4.6, 21.8 and 50.8 %, respectively ( P < 0.001). The areas under the curve for DM in the prediction-score model and the UICC/AJCC staging system seventh edition were 0.748 and 0.627, respectively ( P < 0.001). The scoring model is useful in evaluating the risk of DM in IMRT-treated NPC patients and guiding future therapeutic trials. Further prospective study is needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The optimal interval between neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (CRT) and surgery has yet to be established. Additionally, it is unknown whether patients with different pathologic stages or chemoradiation responses should undergo different intervals between CRT and surgery. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to evaluate whether this interval has a differential effect on the oncologic outcome of patients with different chemoradiation responses or pathologic stages. Methods: We performed a retrospective study of 291 rectal cancer patients who were treated with preoperative chemoradiation and surgery between March 2004 and November 2012. All patients were separated into two groups according to a 7-week treatment interval. Overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) were compared between patients undergoing intervals that were shorter and longer than 7 weeks in the entire group and in subgroups of ypT0-2N0, ypT3-4N0 and ypT0-4N+. The recurrence patterns were also analysed in all of the subgroups. Multivariate analysis was performed to explore the clinical factors that were significantly associated with DFS, local recurrence-free survival (LRFS) and distant metastasis-free survival among patients exhibiting ypT3-4N0 and ypT0-4N+. Results: For the ypT0-2N0 patients, the 5-year OS and DFS and the rates of local and distant recurrence were similar between the short and long interval groups. For the patients exhibiting ypT3-4N0, although no significant difference was found in OS or DFS between the short and long interval groups, the rate of local recurrence was higher in the long interval group, which was further confirmed by multivariate analysis. In the patients exhibiting ypT0-4N+, both OS and DFS were lower in the long interval group than in the short interval group. Furthermore, multivariate analysis indicated that the interval was significantly associated with DFS, especially LRFS. Conclusions: The interval between CRT and surgery may exert a differential effect on the prognosis of patients exhibiting different pathologic stages or chemoradiation responses. Therefore, we strongly suggest tailoring the interval between CRT and surgery in locally advanced rectal cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The administration of adjuvant chemotherapy for rectal cancer patients with ypN0 is controversial. The purposes of this study were to evaluate the role of adjuvant chemotherapy in ypN0 patients and to optimize its use for these patients. Methods: We performed a retrospective study of 160 rectal cancer patients who had the final pathology of ypN0 between March 2003 and November 2010. Overall survival (OS), disease-free survival (DFS), local recurrence-free survival (LRFS), and distant metastasis-free survival (DMFS) were compared between patients who did and did not receive adjuvant chemotherapy. Multivariate analysis was performed to explore clinical factors significantly associated with DFS, LRFS, and DMFS. Results: For ypT0-2N0 patients, the 5-year OS, DFS, LRFS, and DMFS were similar between patients who did and did not receive adjuvant chemotherapy ( P > 0.05). For patients with ypT3-4N0, those who were given adjuvant chemotherapy exhibited a higher 5-year OS than those who were not ( P = 0.026), with also an extended 5-year DFS ( P = 0.050). Further analysis indicated that adjuvant chemotherapy could decrease the rates of distant metastases for ypT3-4N0 patients with no impact on local control. In multivariable analysis, both the final pathological stage and adjuvant chemotherapy were independent predictors of DMFS for the whole group. When stratified by pathological stage, adjuvant chemotherapy was still significantly associated with DMFS in the ypT3-4 stratum. Conclusions: Adjuvant chemotherapy may not improve survival for ypT0-2N0 patients. However, it may be clinically meaningful for ypT3-4N0 patients by decreasing rates of distant metastases. Further randomized controlled clinical trials are needed to address this problem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To determine the effect of artesunate (ART) on the rat pituitary adenoma GH3 cell line to evaluate its potential as a novel agent in growth hormone (GH) adenoma and to investigate its underlying mechanisms of action. The MTT assay was used to assess cell proliferation. DAPI staining was used to visualise apoptotic changes in the nucleus. We also analyzed cell apoptosis and cell cycle stage by flow cytometry, semi-quantitative RT-PCR analysis for the expression of GH mRNA and apoptosis-induced factor (AIF) mRNA, analysis of GH protein by western blot, ELISA detection of secreted GH, and the caspase inhibition assay. We found that ART inhibited the proliferation of GH3 cells in a dose- and time-dependent manner, with an IC50 of 9.53 ± 4.12 μM. The IC50s of ART against of two normal cell lines (mouse embryonic fibroblasts, and rat bone mesenchymal cells) were much higher than the IC50 recorded for the GH3 cells. ART induced apoptosis and blocked GH3 at G2/M arrest. The pan caspase inhibitor V-ZAD-FMK partly attenuated the inhibitory effect of ART. ART increased the expression of AIF mRNA and reduced GH mRNA levels, GH synthesis and the secretion of GH level in GH3 cells. ART can inhibit proliferation and induce apoptosis in GH3 cells by caspase-dependent pathways. Additionally, ART can inhibit GH synthesis and secretion. Thus, we propose ART as a probably anti-tumour candidate drug in the treatment of GH adenoma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The presence of wrinkles in the membrane is the main factor to induce the reflector surface inaccuracy of the space inflatable antenna. Based on the commercial finite element package ABAQUS, a numerical procedure for membrane wrinkle analysis was set up and used to analyze a space inflatable antenna which was under inner pressure to evaluate its wrinkle characteristics. First, the inner pressure effect on the reflector's wrinkle pattern was studied thoroughly. As inner pressure increases, both the number and the amplitude of the wrinkles decrease, but the total deformation of the whole reflector surface increases much. Second, the influence of the interactions between antenna's parts was investigated comprehensively. Any kind of unwanted interaction deteriorates reflector's wrinkle characteristics. The works are valuable to the development and research of the space inflatable antenna. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The presence of wrinkles in a membrane is the main factor that induces surface errors on space planar film reflectarrays. Based on the commercial finite element (FE) package ABAQUS, a numerical procedure for membrane wrinkle analysis was set up, and used to analyze a square planar film reflect-array under pure shear force to evaluate its induced wrinkle characteristics. First, the effect of shear force on the wrinkle pattern of the array was studied and validated by experiment. Second, the effect of prestress was studied. When the prestress increases, the quantity of the wrinkles increases, and the amplitude of the wrinkles decreases. Third, the influence of the boundary conditions was investigated. A frame side edge structure has a relatively smooth surface, but also relatively high stress. Finally, the behavior of a joint seam was analyzed. The results indicate that a joint band has a significant influence on the wrinkle pattern of the membrane. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the originally published article, the sentence "It was prepared from carefully selected soybean meal and was processed by enzymatic hydrolysis into small peptide." in the section Materials and methods was incorrect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The most optimal management for postoperative locoregional recurrence of oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma is still controversial. Several studies have reported the feasibility and efficacy of concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CCRT), mostly with three-weekly or four-weekly schedule of chemotherapy. However, treatment compliance was not quite satisfactory, probably due to treatment-related toxicities. Since CCRT with weekly chemotherapy regimens have demonstrated a favorable toxicity profile as well as promising survival in certain types of cancer, we aimed to evaluate the efficacy and toxicity of radiotherapy concurrently with weekly chemotherapy with 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) and platinum agents for patients with postoperative locoregional recurrence of oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma in our center. Twenty-seven consecutive patients who were diagnosed with postoperative locoregional recurrence of oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma and received CCRT with weekly chemotherapy of 5-FU and platinum agents were retrospectively analyzed. Our data showed that the present protocol of radiotherapy combined concurrently with weekly chemotherapy of 5-FU and platinum agents was a safe and effective salvage treatment for postoperative locoregional recurrence of oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]