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Biochar is increasingly been used as a soil amendment to improve water-holding capacity, reduce nutrient leaching, increase soil pH, and also as a means to reduce contamination through sorption of heavy metals or organic pollutants. The sorption behavior of three phenylurea herbicides (monuron, diuron and linuron) on five biochars (Enhanced Biochar, Hog Waste, Turkey Litter, Walnut Shell and Wood Feedstock) and an agricultural soil (Yolo silt loam) was investigated using a batch equilibration method. Sorption isotherms of herbicides to biochars were well described by the Freundlich model (R(2) = 0.93-0.97). The adsorption KF values ranged from 6.94 to 1306.95 mg kg(-1) and indicated the sorption of herbicides in the biochars and Yolo soil was in the sequence of linuron > diuron > monuron and walnut shell biochar > wood feedstock biochar > turkey litter biochar > enhanced biochar > hog waste biochar > Yolo soil. These data show that sorption of herbicides to biochar can have both positive (reduced off-site transport) and negative (reduced herbicide efficacy) implications and specific biochar properties, such as H/C ratio and surface area, should be considered together with soil type, agriculture chemical and climate condition in biochar application to agricultural soil to optimize the system for both agricultural and environmental benefits.

Background: To evaluate the safety and tolerability of docetaxel/carboplatin regimen in the post-operative setting of patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC)., Methods: Enrolment of 133 patients with stage Ib - IIIa NSCLC was undertaken in an open-label, single arm study to assess the safety and tolerability of docetaxel (75 mg/kg) and carboplatin (AUC 5.5) administered for 3 cycles after resection for curative intent. The primary endpoint of the study was safety, as reflected by a febrile neutropenia rate of <10%. Other endpoints assessed protocol compliance and the impact of minimally invasive surgical technique., Results: Patient accrual was completed at 1 center in the US and 10 centers in China in <6 months. Febrile neutropenia complicated treatment in 12 patients (9.0%), below the predetermined safety threshold of 14 patients. Four VATS and 8 open thoracotomy patients experienced febrile neutropenia (P=0.26). Completion of the three-cycle adjuvant regimen was achieved in 86% (95% CI, 77-95%) of patients. Sixty-two of 66 VATS patients compared to 53 of 67 open thoracotomy patients received all three doses according to protocol (P<0.01). Thirteen serious adverse events (9.8%) and no deaths were attributed to the study regimen., Conclusions: In this rapidly accrued study, docetaxel and carboplatin were well-tolerated in the adjuvant treatment of NSCLC. Adjuvant treatment compliance was higher among patients undergoing a minimally invasive surgical approach. (ClinicalTrials.gov number NCT00883675).

Erlotinib is a potent reversible HER1/epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) tyrosine kinase inhibitor with single-agent activity in patients with non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). In this article, we updated the evidence of erlotinib in treating advanced NSCLC by adding new results of RCTs published between January 2011 and May 2012 into a pooled analysis which had been published in 2011. Outcomes analyzed were objective response rate (ORR), progression free survival (PFS), overall survival (OS) and adverse events. Twenty trials including 9,005 patients were identified, and six of them were recently published. As first-line therapy compared to placebo or chemotherapy, there was a similar ORR (P=0.29 and 0.42), PFS (P=0.09 and 0.25) and OS (P=0.73 and 0.49). However, for the patients with EGFR mutations, erlotinib based regimens could significantly improve ORR (P<0.01), prolong PFS (P<0.0), but did not prolong OS (P=0.22). As maintenance therapy compared with placebo, erlotinib based regimens significantly increased ORR (P<0.01), prolonged PFS (P<0.01), but did not improve OS (P=0.22). As second/third-line therapy comparing with placebo, erlotinib based regimens also significantly increased ORR (P<0.01), prolonged PFS (P<0.01), and improved OS (P<0.01). As second/third-line therapy compared with chemotherapy, gefitinib, or vandetanib, the outcomes were similar between two arms. However, compared with PF299804, there was a decreased ORR (P=0.02), and shorten PFS (P=0.02). Meanwhile, The patients treated with erlotinib based regimens suffered from more diarrhea, rash, and less fatigue, neutropenia, and thrombocytopenia than other agent based regimens. Our meta analysis showed that erlotinib based regimens could significantly increase ORR, improve PFS as first-line maintenance therapy or second/third-line therapy comparing with placebo or PF299804.

Pulmonary embolism (PE) by occlusion of the pulmonary arterial bed may lead to acute life-threatening but potentially reversible right ventricular failure, one of the most severe complications of thoracic surgery. Still, the incidence of acute pulmonary embolism after surgery is reduced by comprehensive anticoagulant prevention, improved surgical techniques, appropriate perioperative management and early ambulation. However, there is difficulty in diagnosing PE after thoracic surgery due to the lack of specific clinical manifestations. So that optimal diagnostic strategy and management according to the clinical presentation and estimated risk of an adverse outcome is fundamental.

Plant seedlings were exposed to single-walled carbon nanotube-quantum dot conjugates (SWCNT-QD) mixed in the growth medium in order to understand the interactions between these multicomponent nanosystems and plants. A combination of fluorescent and Raman-scattering 2D mapping analysis was used to clearly monitor the presence of the SWCNT-QD conjugates in various parts of the tomato seedlings. We found that the addition of QDs to SWCNTs dramatically changed the biological viability of the tomato plants by significantly accelerating leaf senescence and inhibiting root formation. Although the exposure of SWCNTs only to the plants induced positive effects, the chlorophyll content decreased by 1.5-fold in leaves, and the total weight of the root system decreased four times for the tomato plants exposed to SWCNT-QDs (50 µg ml(-1)) compared to plants grown on regular medium as controls. Our results clearly indicate that the exposure of plants to multicomponent nanomaterials is highly influenced by the presence and bioactivity of each component, individually. Such studies could be the foundation for understanding how complex nanosized systems affect the activity of various biological systems with a major impact on ecotoxicology.

Background and Objective: Transient receptor potential canonical (TRPC) proteins, a group of Ca2' permeable nonselective cation channels, are thought to constitute store-operated calcium channels (SOCC) and mediate store-operated calcium entry (SOCE) in various cell types. Members of TRPC have been found to be involved in abnormal proliferation, differentiation, and growth of cancer cells. The aim of this study is to detect the mRNA and protein expression of TRPC in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC)., Methods: Real-time quantitative PCRwas performed to screen the expression of TRPC mRNA in NSCLC tissue. Protein expression of TRPC was detected by Western blot., Results: Among the seven family members of TRPC so far identified (TRPC1-7), we detected the expression ofTRPC1, TRPC3, TRPC4, TRPC6 mRNA in 24 cases of NSCLC tissue; TRPC2, TRPC5 and TRPC7 mRNA were not detectable. The relative abundance of the expressed TRPC was TRPC1 approximately equal TRPC6 > TRPC3 > TRPC4. Western blot confirmed the protein expression of TRPC1, TRPC3, TRPC4 and TRPC6 in NSCLC tissue., Conclusion: Out of the seven members of TRPC, we found TRPC1, TRPC3, TRPC4, TRPC6 mRNA and protein were selectively expressed in human NSCLC tissue. This study could provide a basis for future exploration of the individual role of these TRPC proteins in mediating SOCE and in the progression of lung cancer.

For patients with identical clinical-pathological characteristics or the same stage of lung cancer, great uncertainties remain regarding how some patients will be cured while other patients will have cancer recurrence, metastasis, or death after surgical resection. Identification of patients at high risk of recurrence, those who are unlikely to respond to specific chemotherapeutic agents, is the rationale for measuring specific biochemical markers. Thus, main investigational studies nowadays are focused in identifying molecular markers of recurrence, beyond pathologic stage, after surgical treatment and factors that can predict a benefit from adjuvant chemotherapy in poor prognosis subgroups, to individualize treatments. Advances in genomics and proteomics have generated many candidate markers with potential clinical value. Gene expression profiling (GEP) by microarray or real-time quantitative reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) can be useful in the classification or prognosis of various types of cancer, including lung cancer. A number of prognostic gene expression signatures have been reported to predict survival in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). In this review, we focus on the role of GEP in early-stage NSCLC as predictive and prognostic biomarker and its potential use for a 'personalized' medicine in the years to come.

Objective: Tracheoesophageal fistula (TEF) is an uncommon and potentially life-threatening complication of blunt chest trauma. The objectives of this report are to describe our surgical experience in three patients with huge TEF and to evaluate the short-term results of surgical management in this potentially life-threatening complication of blunt chest trauma., Methods: Three patients with huge TEF (5.2-7.0 cm in diameter) after blunt chest trauma were kept in supine position, then the neck was excided and esophagus was free, double breasted suture and clench and mutilation were performed successively over the same level of superior aperture of thorax. The thoracic esophagus was then located in situ at the membrane portion where the trachea was incomplete. Meanwhile, the stomach was then freed through a middle abdominal incision and pulled through the posterior tunnel of the sternum to the neck. Last, an anastomosis between esophagus and tubular stomach was performed over left neck., Results: All three patients recovered well after the operation. They were able to take liquids and then solids beginning ten days after the procedure. One year post-operation, they were able to resume normal activity., Conclusions: The surgical management of patients with huge TEF by esophageal exclusion (cervical gastroesophagostomy) and use of esophagus segment in situ as replacement of the posterior membranous wall of the trachea is feasible.

There is an increasing need for establishment of biobanks for human cancer, which may facilitate basic and clinical researches as well as the development of novel approaches to early diagnostics, prevention and treatment, including personalized medicine. Herein we report the establishment of a lung cancer biobanks using biological samples from a lung cancer patient population in Southern China. Since 2007, we have collected lung cancer tissue from 1,054 patients with lung cancer, from whom 11,895 frozen tumor and normal matched tissues, 4,899 tissue paraffin blocks, and 3,562 blood serum samples were accumulated. The information on clinical manifestations, laboratory tests, and follow-up was maintained by an independent information management system, including three data sets. The primary data set included frozen tissue specimens, formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissues, blood specimens and clinical and long-term follow-up data. The secondary data set included DNA, RNA and proteins extracted from corresponding tissue specimens. And the tertiary data set contained improved genome, RNA and proteomics correlation analysis with relevant clinical and long-term follow-up data. The lung cancer biobanks is accessible to academic research and public services. To our best knowledge, this biobanks represents the first lung cancer tissue reservoir in China and should facilitate the basic and clinical research of this disease and developing diagnostic markers and novel therapeutic modalities.

Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) accounts for the largest number of cancer deaths annually, worldwide. It seems reasonable to test a less toxic regimen also in early stages after complete (R0) resection of the tumor, where reduced toxicities might improve the feasibility of drug delivery, compliance and the convenience of treatment for the patient and hence perhaps improve survival. The main purpose of this phase II trial is to evaluate the clinical feasibility-in terms of patients without dose limiting toxicities or premature treatment withdrawal or death-of administering adjuvant chemotherapy of pemetrexed followed by pemetrexed/oxaliplatin immediately post-VATS (video-assisted thoracic surgery) in patients with completely resected NSCLC.

Background and Aims: The present study was carried out to test the hypothesis that interferon-alpha (IFN-alpha) treatment would reduce or postpone the recurrence rate and improve the overall survival rate in patients after transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) treatment of hepatitis B virus (HBV) related unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC)., Methods: 216 patients with unresectable HBV-related HCC were randomized into a TACE group and a TACE-IFN group, each group had 108 patients. In the TACE-IFN group, patients received IFN-alpha1b at a dose of 3 million units (mu) three times a week by intramuscular injection one week after/before TACE treatment, for 48 weeks., Results: The median disease-free survival in the TACE-IFN treatment group was 23.6 months (95% CI: 21.4-25.8) and 20.3 months (95% CI: 15.8-24.8) in the TACE group (P = 0.027). The disease free rate at 24 months in the TACE group was lower than in the TACE-IFN group (39.8% vs 59.3%, P = 0.004). The median overall survival was 29 months (95% CI: 27.5-32.1) in the TACE-IFN group and 26 months (95% CI: 20.1-31.9) in the TACE group (P = 0.003). The 2-year overall survival in the TACE-IFN group was higher than in the TACE group (72.2% vs 52.8%, P = 0.003)., Conclusions: IFN-alpha treatment reduced recurrence and improved the survival of patients after TACE treatment of HBV-related HCC, with acceptable toxicities.