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Fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) composites have a promising potential to be utilized to extend the lifespan of geostructures in harsh environments due to their high durability, satisfactory strength and cost-effectiveness. The FRP-soil interaction is critical to model soil-structure interaction problems and assess the performance of foundation systems where composites are used. In this paper, the contact behavior of sand-FRP interfaces at the fundamental level of the grain-scale was investigated with a custom-built micromechanical testing apparatus, with an emphasis on the normal contact response, the tangential load – displacement relationship as well as creep and relaxation behavior. Leighton Buzzard sand (LBS), a typical silica sand, and custom manufactured glass fiber reinforced laminated FRP plates were used in the study. It was shown that the surface texture, thickness, and fiber orientation of the FRP composite plates have important influences on the tribological behavior of the sand-FRP interfaces, and plowing damage was observed to be a dominant mechanism from the shearing tests, particularly at higher normal loads. The results also suggested that creep and relaxation had a significant influence on the interface behavior of sand-FRP and these phenomena should be considered in the long-term design of FRP included composite geostructures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A novel transducer based on FBG technology is designed for trees monitoring. • The transducers are tested and optimized to accurately measure the strain of trees. • The performance of the novel transducer has been verified under a typhoon. • Monitoring systems can be established to assess the resilience of urban ecosystems. In recent decades, conventional electric instruments have been widely adopted to monitor rupture failure of trees by measuring the longitudinal strains of tree trunks. However, the good measurement accuracy is compromised by the significant difference in stiffness of the sensing element and tree trunks. Besides, the reliability of electric instruments under harsh environments, especially extreme weathers, such as thunderstorms and typhoons, is also doubtful. In this study, a novel strain gauge based on fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensing technology was developed specifically for measuring the strain distribution of tree trunks under static or dynamic loading. The main principle of the design of the strain gauges is presented in detail. The laboratory calibration proves that the FBG-based strain gauges in polyoxymethylene (POM) and polylactic acid (PLA) backings show a better performance than those made of metal. To test the performance of this novel FBG-based strain gauge, a set of transducers were installed at different heights of a Celtis sinensis. Firstly, a pull test on this tree trunk was conducted to validate the good performance of the novel strain gauge when the tree is subjected to static loading. Secondly, the good dynamic performance of the novel strain gauge is proved by successfully recording the dynamic motion of a tree trunk during a typhoon. Furthermore, a monitor system relied on the FBG-based strain gauges is conceived to assess the resilience of urban ecosystems formed by trees to extreme weather events. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Deep cement mixing (DCM) method is a widely used geotechnical technique for increasing ground stabilization before construction works. However, the environmental influence of stabilized ground on the surrounding area remains a concern. A physical model experiment of DCM-treated sediment column was conducted to investigate both geotechnical and environmental effects on the surrounding sediment. The DCM column contained the cement-stabilized contaminated sediment and surrounded by uncontaminated sediment. The physical behaviour, including settlement, pore water pressure, and total pressure were measured under different loadings. Simultaneously, the migration of the major ions into seawater, and leaching of potentially toxic elements into the surrounding sediment were evaluated. The results revealed that the leaching of major ions from the DCM column followed the dissipation of excess pore water and migrated to the seawater above the sediment surface. Nevertheless, the leaching behaviour of potentially toxic elements into the surrounding sediment and variation of pH value after the DCM treatment were within an acceptable level. Therefore, the contaminated marine sediment could be effectively stabilized and solidified by in-situ remediation with minimal secondary pollution to the surrounding environment. Image 1 • Deep cement mixing (DCM) treatment of contaminated sediment was evaluated. • Major cations were found to migrate into the seawater. • Potentially toxic elements in the surrounding sediment remained stable. • The risk of secondary pollution in the surrounding environment was low after DCM treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The dynamic responses of granular materials subjected to cyclic loading under partially drained condition were seldom investigated, though the partially drained condition is commonly existing for the granular materials that locate nearby the drainage boundaries. Besides, the prevalent studies mainly focus on the liquefaction behaviour of granular materials under high stress levels. In this study, a granular fill material was chosen as testing material. A series of partially drained cyclic triaxial tests was conducted with low level of cyclic loading and high cycle number that are commonly experienced in the geostructures of transportation projects. Note that the cyclic triaxial test under partially drained condition is a model test rather than an element test since the distribution of excess pore water pressure is not homogeneous inside the specimen. The test results show that cyclic loading induces the reconstruction effect on the microstructure of the specimen, thereby changing the trend between permeability and void ratio. Under partially drained condition, the granular fill material normally experiences a sudden decrease of stiffness and a quick increase in deformation during the first cycles of loading, followed by gradually decreasing excess pore water pressure and stabilizing deformation. Importantly, the deformation response of the material can be contributed by two items: (a) that caused by densification effect of applied cyclic loading and (b) that due to the dissipation of excess pore water pressure. Two linear relationships were established to correlate the deformations with excess pore water pressure and applied cyclic loading. • Partially drained cyclic tests with low stress and high cycle number was performed. • Effect of microstructure reconstruction on permeability of soil was revealed. • Resilient and permanent strain behaviour were investigated. • Permanent strain was correlated with stress states by simple approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Nine physical model tests were conducted for the deformation and ultimate bearing capacity of the retaining wall. • The combination of geogrid and waste tire reinforcement is recommended for retaining wall. • Wu and Pham's model is suitable for different reinforcement materials in physical model tests. • Fly ash is suitable to be used as the fill materials of retaining wall in geotechnical engineering. Fly ash is a sustainable fill material used in retaining structures. Physical model tests were conducted to investigate the deformation characteristics and ultimate bearing capacity of a retaining wall consisting of a fly ash-sand mixture backfill and geosynthetic reinforcements. Different types, layers, and combinations of geogrid materials including the waste tires were considered in the physical model tests. The vertical earth pressure and displacements of the retaining wall were monitored for various surcharge loads. The results indicated that a reinforced layer effectively increases the bearing capacity of the retaining wall and decreases vertical settlement and deflection. Furthermore, waste tires exhibited greater deformation resistance and bearing capacity compared to other materials. Waste tire and geogrid combinations help to uniformly distribute the surcharge load and improve retaining wall performance. Finally, two analytical models were compared to the experimental results to access their feasibility for various reinforcement materials and combinations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Submillimetric hollow fiber (HOF-) attenuated total reflection (ATR-) Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIRS) technique is very suitable for in situ detection of biological samples. HOF-ATR-FTIRS analysis discloses that the significant changes in collagen fiber and proteoglycan between healthy and osteoarthritic (OA) canine specimens. The technique combined with principal component analysis (PCA) and Fisher's discriminant analysis (FDA) was used to further identify in situ healthy and OA cartilage specimens. The sensitivity of 100% and specificity of 93.6% were obtained for prediction group after all the cases were correctly identified for initial sample, and cross validation was identified with 100% accuracy. The HOF-ATR-FTIRS technique is convenient for operation and suitable for micro-area in situ diagnosis, while the FDA method is fast and accurate. The combination of HOF-ATR-FTIR technique and FDA method can fast realize the micro-area detection and classification of in situ samples with good accuracy, which has potential ability to provide a practical clinical diagnosis of OA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• An effective stress cell is proposed for directly measuring effective stress in saturated soils. • This new cell provides more reliable measurement in saturated soils under complex loadings. • Its good performance indicates the great potential of applications in geotechnical engineering. Generally, effective stresses of saturated soils are determined by subtracting the measured pore-water pressure from the total earth pressure. In this paper, a novel FBG-based effective stress cell (FBG-ESC) for directly measuring effective stress in saturated soils is fabricated. Because of the counteraction of pore-water pressures acting on the front and back surface, the deflection of sensing plate is induced by the average pressure of soil particles only and thus the effective stress is directly measured. The good performance of FBG-ESC in saturated CDG soil under a multi-stage loading has been validated by comparison with the calculated results. Moreover, the FBG-ESC has been applied in a physical model to monitor the evolution of effective stress in saturated clayey soil subjected to complex loadings. The results demonstrate that the FBG-ESC can be also utilized in marine environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Use of a sophisticated model to conduct simulation analysis of both contractive and dilative behaviours in unsaturated soils during the shear stage remains challenging. This paper presents an elasto-plastic model having two plastic deformation mechanisms—compression and shear sliding—for unsaturated soils, using the average soil skeleton stress σ' ij as a stress variable and void ratio e and effective degree of saturation S re as state variables. With a view to well describing dilative behaviour for unsaturated soils, unlike in previous studies, S re -dependence of a critical state line in the e –log p ' plane is explicitly implemented by means of a formula that accounts for the influence of pore pressures and additional "bonding" relating to water menisci under an unsaturated state. The new model's ability to reproduce the shear strength and dilative and contractive behaviour of unsaturated soil are evidenced through simulation of triaxial tests on silty sand, Speswhite kaolin and Jossigny silty clay. • A novel model with double mechanisms for unsaturated soils has been developed. • An S re -dependence of critical state line is proposed and explicitly implemented. • An additional "bonding" relating to inter-particle water menisci is proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC) is a malignant liver tumor that is challenging to treat and manage and current prognostic models for the disease are inefficient or ineffective. Tumor-associated immune cells are critical for tumor development and progression. The main goal of this study was to establish models based on tumor-associated immune cells for predicting the overall survival of patients undergoing surgery for ICC., Aim: To establish 1-year and 3-year prognostic models for ICC after surgical resection., Methods: Immunohistochemical staining was performed for CD4, CD8, CD20, pan-cytokeratin (CK), and CD68 in tumors and paired adjacent tissues from 141 patients with ICC who underwent curative surgery. Selection of variables was based on regression diagnostic procedures and goodness-of-fit tests (PH assumption). Clinical parameters and pathological diagnoses, combined with the distribution of immune cells in tumors and paired adjacent tissues, were utilized to establish 1- and 3-year prognostic models., Results: This is an important application of immune cells in the tumor microenvironment. CD4, CD8, CD20, and CK were included in the establishment of our prognostic model by stepwise selection, whereas CD68 was not significantly associated with the prognosis of ICC. By integrating clinical data associated with ICC, distinct prognostic models were derived for 1- and 3-year survival outcomes using variable selection. The 1-year prediction model yielded a C-index of 0.76 95% confidence interval (95%CI): 0.65-0.87 and the 3-year prediction model produced a C-index of 0.69 (95%CI: 0.65-0.73). Internal validation yielded a C-index of 0.761 (95%CI: 0.669-0.853) for the 1-year model and 0.693 (95%CI: 0.642-0.744) for the 3-year model., Conclusion: We developed Cox regression models for 1-year and 3-year survival predictions of patients with ICC who underwent resection, which has positive implications for establishing a more comprehensive prognostic model for ICC based on tumor immune microenvironment and immune cell changes in the future., Competing Interests: Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors have nothing to disclose., (©The Author(s) 2024. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.)

Gemcitabine plus cisplatin (GP) chemotherapy is the standard of care for nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). However, the mechanisms underpinning its clinical activity are unclear. Here, using single-cell RNA sequencing and T cell and B cell receptor sequencing of matched, treatment-naive and post-GP chemotherapy NPC samples (n = 15 pairs), we show that GP chemotherapy activated an innate-like B cell (ILB)-dominant antitumor immune response. DNA fragments induced by chemotherapy activated the STING type-I-interferon-dependent pathway to increase major histocompatibility complex class I expression in cancer cells, and simultaneously induced ILB via Toll-like receptor 9 signaling. ILB further expanded follicular helper and helper type 1 T cells via the ICOSL-ICOS axis and subsequently enhanced cytotoxic T cells in tertiary lymphoid organ-like structures after chemotherapy that were deficient for germinal centers. ILB frequency was positively associated with overall and disease-free survival in a phase 3 trial of patients with NPC receiving GP chemotherapy ( NCT01872962 , n = 139). It also served as a predictor for favorable outcomes in patients with NPC treated with GP and immunotherapy combined treatment (n = 380). Collectively, our study provides a high-resolution map of the tumor immune microenvironment after GP chemotherapy and uncovers a role for B cell-centered antitumor immunity. We also identify and validate ILB as a potential biomarker for GP-based treatment in NPC, which could improve patient management., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature America, Inc.)

Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is an aggressive malignancy with extremely skewed ethnic and geographic distributions. Increasing evidence indicates that targeting the tumor microenvironment (TME) represents a promising therapeutic approach in NPC, highlighting an urgent need to deepen the understanding of the complex NPC TME. Here, we generated single-cell transcriptome profiles for 7581 malignant cells and 40,285 immune cells from fifteen primary NPC tumors and one normal sample. We revealed malignant signatures capturing intratumoral transcriptional heterogeneity and predicting aggressiveness of malignant cells. Diverse immune cell subtypes were identified, including novel subtypes such as CLEC9A + dendritic cells (DCs). We further revealed transcriptional regulators underlying immune cell diversity, and cell-cell interaction analyses highlighted promising immunotherapeutic targets in NPC. Moreover, we established the immune subtype-specific signatures, and demonstrated that the signatures of macrophages, plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDCs), CLEC9A + DCs, natural killer (NK) cells, and plasma cells were significantly associated with improved survival outcomes in NPC. Taken together, our findings represent a unique resource providing in-depth insights into the cellular heterogeneity of NPC TME and highlight potential biomarkers for anticancer treatment and risk stratification, laying a new foundation for precision therapies in NPC.

Deep learning is usually combined with a single detection technique in the field of disease diagnosis. This study focused on simultaneously combining deep learning with multiple detection technologies, fluorescence imaging and Raman spectroscopy, for breast cancer diagnosis. A number of fluorescence images and Raman spectra were collected from breast tissue sections of 14 patients. Pseudo-color enhancement algorithm and a convolutional neural network were applied to the fluorescence image processing, so that the discriminant accuracy of test sets, 88.61%, was obtained. Two different BP-neural networks were applied to the Raman spectra that mainly comprised collagen and lipid, so that the discriminant accuracy of 95.33% and 98.67% of test sets were gotten, respectively. Then the discriminant results of fluorescence images and Raman spectra were counted and arranged into a characteristic variable matrix to predict the breast tissue samples with partial least squares (PLS) algorithm. As a result, the predictions of all samples are correct, with minor error of predictive value. This study proves that deep learning algorithms can be applied into multiple diagnostic optics/spectroscopy techniques simultaneously to improve the accuracy in disease diagnosis., Competing Interests: The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest related to this article., (© 2020 Optical Society of America under the terms of the OSA Open Access Publishing Agreement.)

Background: Primary lacrimal sac melanoma is an extremely rare condition with fewer than 50 cases reported so far. Clinically, its symptoms resemble those of dacryocystitis, leading to frequent misdiagnosis. During diagnosis, imaging examination is often performed to differentiate tumors from inflammation. In this report, we present a case of primary lacrimal sac melanoma and summarize the CT and MRI characteristics of lacrimal sac melanoma., Case Presentation: We report a 50-year-old female patient who had undergone a dacryocystectomy for the left lacrimal sac mass. Postoperative pathological examination confirmed the presence of primary malignant melanoma. Three months later, a lump in the lacrimal sac area was found. The patient underwent CT and MR examinations. CT scan demonstrated a partially well-defined soft mass in the fossa of left lacrimal sac extending into the nasolacrimal duct and anterior ethmoid sinus. MRI revealed an intermediate signal intensity on T1 and iso-or hyper-signal on T2 weighted images. Histopathological examination on biopsy confirmed recurrence of primary lacrimal sac melanoma., Discussion and Conclusions: None has described the CT and MR findings of primary lacrimal sac melanoma so far. Typically, MR images show hyperintensity signal on T1-weighted images and hypointense signal on T2-weighted images owing to the paramagnetic properties of melanin. In contrast to previous reports and the present case, most cases do not present these typical signals. Thus, reporting such radiological findings is important to create awareness on variant images of primary lacrimal sac melanoma. This will reduce misdiagnosis and mistreatment.

Background: Chronic diseases cause a tremendous burden to the military medical system. However, the prevalence rates of major chronic diseases among military officers remain unclear in China., Methods: China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), Wanfang Database, VIP Database for Chinese Technical Periodicals (VIP), PubMed and Web of Science were searched for studies (from 2000 to 2016) concerning 6 major chronic diseases: hypertension, hyperlipidemia, diabetes mellitus, heart diseases, cerebrovascular diseases, and chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases (COPD) in Chinese military officers following strict inclusion and exclusion criteria. Three researchers independently extracted data from the included studies, and a fourth researcher reviewed and solved every disagreement. Statistical analysis was performed with STATA 14.0 and R 3.3.2. Heterogeneity was evaluated by the I 2 value. A random effect model was performed to combine the heterogeneous data. The Egger test was performed to test the publication bias., Results: A total of 90,758 military officers derived from 75 articles were pooled together. Publication bias was only observed in 37 studies reporting heart disease (P Egger test  = 0.01). The overall prevalence rates of hypertension, hyperlipidemia, diabetes mellitus, heart diseases, cerebrovascular diseases, and COPD were 46.6% (95% CI 41.8-51.5%), 30.9% (26.4-35.7%), 20.7% (16.5-25.7%), 48.2% (41.7-54.9%), 20.2% (14.8-26.9%) and 16.6% (12.9-21.0%), respectively. The prevalence rates of hypertension, diabetes, heart disease, cerebrovascular disease, and COPD, rather than hyperlipidemia, increased with age in Chinese military officers. Heart diseases (P Q-test  < 0.001) and hypertension (P Q-test  < 0.001) increased sharply in retired officers compared with officers in service. Cerebrovascular disease was more frequent in Northern Theater Command than in any other theater command (P Q-test  < 0.001)., Conclusions: Major chronic diseases heavily affect Chinese military officers, especially retirees. Medical intervention should be enforced on the prevention of cerebrovascular diseases in those working in cold areas in the north, as well as hypertension and heart diseases in retirees.

Formalin solution has been widely used to solidify the organization of articular cartilage and prevent tissue decomposition in long-time measurement. However, it was rarely investigated that the structural anisotropy changes of collagen fiber (fixation) of articular cartilage when it was immersed in formalin. In this paper, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopic imaging with polarization technique was used to investigate the anisotropic structure change of collagen fiber of articular cartilage fixed in formalin through the absorbance change of Amide I and Amide II with immersing time and polarization direction. The degree of anisotropy of collagen fiber in cartilage was characterized with fitting related coefficient of absorbance. The anisotropy of Amide I and Amide II became stronger with immersing extension of articular cartilage in formalin, and the amide I showed more remarkable anisotropy. It was concluded that the formalin solution induced new crosslinks of collagen, which gradually strengthened the collagen fiber anisotropy and was helpful for the structural analysis of the articular cartilage. The study will be significant for the preparation, preservation and anisotropy research of cartilage specimen.

Unlabelled: Systemic analyses using large-scale genomic profiles have successfully identified cancer-driving somatic copy number variations (SCNVs) loci. However, functions of vast focal SCNVs in "protein-coding gene desert" regions are largely unknown. The integrative analysis of long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) expression profiles with SCNVs in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) led us to identify the recurrent deletion of lncRNA-PRAL (p53 regulation-associated lncRNA) on chromosome 17p13.1, whose genomic alterations were significantly associated with reduced survival of HCC patients. We found that lncRNA-PRAL could inhibit HCC growth and induce apoptosis in vivo and in vitro through p53. Subsequent investigations indicated that the three stem-loop motifs at the 5' end of lncRNA-PRAL facilitated the combination of HSP90 and p53 and thus competitively inhibited MDM2-dependent p53 ubiquitination, resulting in enhanced p53 stability. Additionally, in vivo lncRNA-PRAL delivery efficiently reduced intrinsic tumors, indicating its potential therapeutic application., Conclusions: lncRNA-PRAL, one of the key cancer-driving SCNVs, is a crucial stimulus for HCC growth and may serve as a potential target for antitumor therapy., (© 2015 by the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases.)

Fourier transform infrared imaging (FTIRI) combined with chemometrics algorithm has strong potential to obtain complex chemical information from biology tissues. FTIRI and partial least squares-discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) were used to differentiate healthy and osteoarthritic (OA) cartilages for the first time. A PLS model was built on the calibration matrix of spectra that was randomly selected from the FTIRI spectral datasets of healthy and lesioned cartilage. Leave-one-out cross-validation was performed in the PLS model, and the fitting coefficient between actual and predicted categorical values of the calibration matrix reached 0.95. In the calibration and prediction matrices, the successful identifying percentages of healthy and lesioned cartilage spectra were 100% and 90.24%, respectively. These results demonstrated that FTIRI combined with PLS-DA could provide a promising approach for the categorical identification of healthy and OA cartilage specimens.

Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIRS) and microimaging technique have been integrated together to evolve into Fourier transform infrared spectroscopic imaging (FTIRI) system. This system can provide not only the morphological information of the sample by visible image and FTIR image, but also the abundant information on the spectral, component and structure of specimen by FTIRS, especially of the heterogeneous solid mixture. The richer and more visualized information obtained by FTIRI greatly raised the research efficiency and usability of the spectral technique in biomedicine, pharmacology, forensic medicine, material science and chemistry, etc. The present paper depicts FTIRI development process, system structure, imaging principle and mode selection; and then introduces that FTIRI opened a new area of investigation for biomedicine, namely, research on bone disease by FTIRI. Then the paper illustrates the related research findings and progress in FTIRI use for osteopetrosis, osteogenesis imperfecta, osteoporosis and osteomalacia, as well as a couple of limitations. The prospective study for FTIRI in biomedical research field is also addressed.

Objective: To clone the Noxa gene and to observe the apoptosis of A549 cells transfected with the recombinant plasmid of pcDNA-Noxa., Methods: The Noxa gene was obtained by PCR, and was cloned into pcDNA3. 1(-). A549 cells were transfected with the recombinant plasmid of pcDNA-Noxa. Western blot analysis was performed to determine the overexpression of Noxa. A549 cells were stained with Hoechst 33258 to observe the apoptosis., Results: The recombinant plasmid of pcDNA-Noxa was successfully constructed evidenced by endonuclease digestion and sequence analysis. The overexpression of Noxa was identified using Western blot analysis. The recombinant plasmid of pcDNA-Noxa induced apoptosis of A549 cells., Conclusion: Nora has exhibited potential pro-apoptotic activity against A549 cells. This study is a foundation for further research into pro-apoptotic activity of Noxa gene.

Objective: To elucidate the association of genetic polymorphisms of key molecules in JAK/STAT signaling pathway with susceptibility of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC)., Methods: A total of 367 HCC patients and 367 healthy controls were recruited in this sex- and age-matched case-control study. Genetic polymorphisms of IL-6 (rs1800796, -572C > G), STAT3 (rs744166, +26312T > C; rs3816769, +42240T > C; rs6503695, +40980T > C), EGFR (rs11543848, +142530A > G), and mTOR (rs7211818, +170278A > G; rs9674559, +196983A > G; rs11653499, +65678G > A) were genotyped using a mass spectrometry method. Odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) were calculated., Results: Genotype frequency of the 8 polymorphisms of IL-6, STAT3, EGFR, and mTOR were not significantly different between the patients with HCC and the controls. When stratified by sex, the female subjects who carried STAT3 +26312CC, +42240CC, or +40980CC had a decreased risk of HCC when compared to those who carried TT allele (OR = 0.192, 95%CI: 0.047 - 0.784; OR = 0.180, 95%CI: 0.045 - 0.725; OR = 0.198, 95%CI: 0.049 - 0.806, respectively). When compared with AA genotype on the site of EGFR +142530, the (AG + GG) genotype reduced the risk of HCC in women (OR = 0.422, 95%CI: 0.179 - 0.994)., Conclusion: The polymorphisms of IL-6 (rs1800796) and mTOR (rs7211818, rs9674559, and rs11653499) were not associated with the HCC susceptibility. Those carrying CC allele in three loci (rs744166, rs3816769, and rs6503695) of STAT3 and (AG + GG) in rs11543848 of EGFR had a decreased risk of HCC in women. However, these results need to be validated using larger sample size.

Objective: To evaluate the values of whole body diffusion weighted imaging (DWI) in screening primary unknown tumor in patients with metastases., Methods: Totally, 34 patients with metastases of primary unknown tumors were scanned with whole body DWI, and conventional magnetic resonance (MR) imaging was performed if suspected lesions were detected. All the metastases including 27 cases of osseous metastases, 2 brain metastases, 2 liver metastases, 1 pulmonary multiple metastasis, 1 neck metastasis and 1 malignant ascites, were diagnosed by computed tomography, single photon emission computed tomography, or MR imaging. For the proven primary tumors diagnosed by biopsy or pathology of surgical specimens, apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) values of the primary and metastatic lesions were measured respectively. The sensitivity and specificity of this technique for screening primary tumors were evaluated., Results: We found 24 cases with suspected primary lesions, in which 23 lesions were proved to be primary tumors, and 1 was proved to be benign lesion. And no definite primary lesion was found in 10 cases on whole body DWI, but in which 1 case was diagnosed with primary tumor by biopsy later, and the other 9 cases remained unknown within follow-up of over half a year. The difference was not significant in ADC values between primary and metastatic lesions (P>0.05). The sensitivity and specificity of whole body DWI for searching primary tumors was 95.8% and 90.0%, respectively., Conclusion: Combined with conventional MR scanning, whole body DWI can help to search primary lesions of patients with metastases.

The chiral complexation of bilirubin (BR) with bovine and human serum albumin (BSA and HSA), and the aggregation of the complexes at the heptane+chloroform(5:1)/water interface were studied via UV/Vis absorption and circular dichroism (CD) measurements in combination with the centrifugal liquid membrane (CLM) method. The interfacial adsorptivities of BR, BSA and their complexes were also studied by performing interfacial tension measurements at the interface. The changes in the absorbances and the induced CD amplitudes of the interfacial BR-BSA complex provided insights into the mechanism of the conformational enantioselective complexation at the interface, and indicated that the chiral conversion induced by the complexation with BSA was from the P(+) form to the M(-) form of BR. The broadening of the 450 nm band and the appearance of a new shoulder at 474 nm further supported the formation of aggregates of the complexes at the interface. The dependence of the CD amplitude on the molar ratio of BSA to BR revealed that the composition of the complex was 1:1 BSA:BR. The probable interfacial reaction scheme was proposed, and the affinity constant of BR-BSA at the interface was found to be 4.67 x 10(8) M(-2). The interfacial complexation and aggregation of BR and HSA were weaker than those of the BR-BSA complex due to the different BR binding positions adopted for BSA and HSA and the binding effect of chloroform.

The visible absorption spectra of p-benzoquinone (PBQ) in CS2 were measured, and a weak absorption band around 507 nm attributed to n-pi* singlet-triplet transition was denonstrated. Using the resonance Raman effect excited in liquid-core optical fiber which can enhance Raman intensity by 6-9 orders of magnitude, the authors obtained the 514.5 nm excited resonance Raman (RR) spectra of PBQ at 1439 cn(-1) in the concentration range from 10(-3) to 10(-6) mol x L(-1). The new characteristic RR band is attributed to the symmetric C==O stretch (v(C==O)) of n-pi* singlet-triplet transition of PBQ. The resonance Raman shift is blue-shifted with decreasing concentration. The results of this paper are helpful for understanding the relationship between the electric structure and the photophysical properties of PBQ, and for obtaining more abundant structural information of molecules.

Four new sesterterpenoids, terretonins A-D (1-4), and a new alkaloid, asterrelenin (5), together with five known compounds, were isolated from the ethyl acetate extract of a solid-state fermented culture of Aspergillus terreus. Their structures were elucidated on the basis of spectroscopic analysis. The structures of 1, 2, and 5 were confirmed by X-ray crystallographic analysis.

Objective: To investigate the effect of the third generation cementing technique in total hip anthroplasty (THA)., Methods: The clinical data of THA performed on 107 hips in 90 patients suffering from different kinds of orthopedic diseases, 54 males and 36 females, with an average age of 55 years and the average follow-up period of 36 months, were analyzed., Results: According to the Harris scoring system, the 90 patients achieved a score of 34 (range 4 - 78) before the operation and achieved a score of 91 (range 64 - 100) after the operation. 97.1% of the patients showed good or excellent results during the short-term follow-up., Conclusion: The third generation cementing technique is rather effective in total hip anthroplasty.