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To quickly and accurately evaluate and predict the quality and safety of food products, in this study, storage temperatures (0, 4 and 25 ℃) were used to investigate the effects on the total number of colonies, TVB-N, pH, moisture content, color, and biogenic amine content of chilled meat. It aimed to accurately predict the pattern of change in the quality of chilled meat in storage, as well as its quality and safety, and determined the characteristic quality indexes of chilled meat. Based on Backpropagation (BP) neural network and Moth-Flame Optimization (MFO) BP neural network, the quality prediction model of chilled meat under different storage temperatures was constructed using characteristic indexes as the training data to quickly and accurately evaluate and predict the quality and safety of food. The results showed that the total number of colonies, pH, TVB-N, color and biogenic amine content of chilled meat under different storage temperatures showed an increasing trend with the extension of storage time (P

Abstract Hematological malignancies are a group of cancers that affect the blood, bone marrow, and lymphatic system. Cancer stem cells (CSCs) are believed to be responsible for the initiation, progression, and relapse of hematological malignancies. However, identifying and targeting CSCs presents many challenges. We aimed to develop a stemness index (HSCsi) to identify and guide the therapy targeting CSCs in hematological malignancies. We developed a novel one-class logistic regression (OCLR) algorithm to identify transcriptomic feature sets related to stemness in hematologic malignancies. We used the HSCsi to measure the stemness degree of leukemia stem cells (LSCs) and correlate it with clinical outcomes.We analyze the correlation of HSCsi with genes and pathways involved in drug resistance and immune microenvironment of acute myeloid leukemia (AML). HSCsi revealed stemness-related biological mechanisms in hematologic malignancies and effectively identify LSCs. The index also predicted survival and relapse rates of various hematologic malignancies. We also identified potential drugs and interventions targeting cancer stem cells (CSCs) of hematologic malignancies by the index. Moreover, we found a correlation between stemness and bone marrow immune microenvironment in AML. Our study provides a novel method and tool to assess the stemness degree of hematologic malignancies and its implications for clinical outcomes and therapeutic strategies. Our HSC stemness index can facilitate the precise stratification of hematologic malignancies, suggest possible targeted and immunotherapy options, and guide the selection of patients.

Abstract Background Medical fear is a common psychological reaction in hospitalized children, especially during radiotherapy for central nervous system (CNS) cancers. This fear not only causes negative emotions such as anxiety and depression but also affects children’s quality of life and treatment outcomes. It is exacerbated by factors such as unfamiliar environments during radiation therapy and separation from parents. Child Life, as a professional service, offers physical and mental support to children through medical understanding and psychological preparation, addressing their social and psychological needs, among other things. This study aims to construct a comprehensive Child Life intervention program (CCLIP), consisting of four key components: psychological adjustment and preparation, therapeutic play, pain management and coping strategies, and family support. The integration of effective intervention methods aims to reduce medical fear in children undergoing radiotherapy, promote psychological well-being, improve treatment compliance, and enhance quality of life. Methods This study is a protocol for a randomized controlled trial. Using a random number table method, we plan to recruit 38 eligible children who meet the inclusion criteria and then randomize them into two distinct groups: the intervention group and the control group. The intervention group will receive the CCLIP, and the control group will receive standardized care. Data will be collected through questionnaires and on-site assessments during the one-month intervention period at four distinct time points: the day of admission (T0), the first radiotherapy positioning (T1), mid-radiotherapy (T2), and postradiotherapy (T3). The primary outcome measure is the effectiveness of the CCLIP in reducing medical fear among children receiving radiation treatment for CNS cancers. Secondary outcomes include anxiety, depression, radiation adherence, quality of life among children, and parental satisfaction. Discussion This study aims to alleviate medical fear among children with CNS tumors undergoing radiotherapy through the implementation of the CCLIP while enhancing their mental health and quality of life. The expected outcomes of this research include providing effective intervention strategies for clinical practice, improving the treatment experience and long-term prognosis of children, and having positive impacts on children and their families. Trial registration This study is registered at the Chinese Clinical Trial Registry, ChiCTR2400082622. Registered 2 April, 2024.

Abstract Humans can be exposed to multiple pollutants in the air and surface water. These environments are non-static, trans-boundary and correlated, creating a complex network, and significant challenges for research on environmental hazards, especially in real-world cancer research. This article reports on a large study (377 million people in 30 provinces of China) that evaluated the combined impact of air and surface water pollution on cancer. We formulate a spatial evaluation system and a common grading scale for co-pollution measurement, and validate assumptions that air and surface water environments are spatially connected and that cancers of different types tend to cluster in areas where these environments are poorer. We observe “dose–response” relationships in both the number of affected cancer types and the cancer incidence with an increase in degree of co-pollution. We estimate that 62,847 (7.4%) new cases of cancer registered in China in 2016 were attributable to air and surface water pollution, and the majority (69.7%) of these excess cases occurred in areas with the highest level of co-pollution. The findings clearly show that the environment cannot be considered as a set of separate entities. They also support the development of policies for cooperative environmental governance and disease prevention.

Tumor protein P53 (TP53) is an important tumor suppressor gene in humans. Under normal circumstances, TP53 can help repair mutated genes, or promote the death of cells with severe gene mutations (specifically, TP53 prevents cells from arrest in the G1/S phase when deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) is damaged and promotes apoptosis if not repaired), and prevents normal cells from becoming malignant cells. TP53 mutations affect its tumor suppressor function, leading to the development of malignant tumors. In this study, using a public database, we explored the pan-cancer expression of TP53, its impact on patient survival and prognosis, the types of gene mutations, its correlation with immunity, and its regulation of other transcription factors and micro RNA (miRNA). The docking sites of therapeutic drugs and key amino acid sites of action provide a basis for future targeted therapies. TP53 has important biological functions in the human body. This study provides a theoretical basis for clinical TP53 gene therapy.

Pulsed electric field (PEF) is an up-to-date non-thermal processing technology with a wide range of applications in the food industry. The inactivation effect of PEF on Escherichia coli was different under different conditions. The E. coli inactivated number was 1.13 ± 0.01 lg CFU/mL when PEF was treated for 60 min and treated with 0.24 kV/cm. The treatment times were found to be positively correlated with the inactivation effect of PEF, and the number of E. coli was reduced by 3.09 ± 0.01 lg CFU/mL after 100 min of treatment. The inactivation assays showed that E. coli was inactivated at electrical intensity (0.24 kV/cm) within 100 min, providing an effective inactivating outcome for Gram-negative bacteria. The purpose of this work was to investigate the cellular level (morphological destruction, intracellular macromolecule damage, intracellular enzyme inactivation) as well as the molecular level via transcriptome analysis. Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (TFESEM) and Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM) results demonstrated that cell permeability was disrupted after PEF treatment. Entocytes, including proteins and DNA, were markedly reduced after PEF treatment. In addition, the activities of Pyruvate Kinase (PK), Succinate Dehydrogenase (SDH), and Adenosine Triphosphatase (ATPase) were inhibited remarkably for PEF-treated samples. Transcriptome sequencing results showed that differentially expressed genes (DEGs) related to the biosynthesis of the cell membrane, DNA replication and repair, energy metabolism, and mobility were significantly affected. In conclusion, membrane damage, energy metabolism disruption, and other pathways are important mechanisms of PEF’s inhibitory effect on E. coli.

Abstract Little is known about the association between surface water quality and cancer incidence, especially in China. Drinking water quality has been linked to the incidence of several cancers in individual-level studies. However, few studies have attempted to examine multiple pollutants and multiple cancers at population level. This study used water monitoring and population-level cancer data from across China to examine spatial associations between water pollutants and types of cancer. We found a “dose–response” relationship between the number of pollutants present at high levels and cancer incidence. These results provide evidence of a nationwide spatial association between water quality and cancer in China. The precise relationship varies with cancers and pollutants. However, the overall consistency of the “dose–response” relationship suggests that surface water quality is an important factor in cancer incidence. Our findings highlight new issues such as the changing effects when different pollutants co-exist and an increasing number of new cancer cases partially attributable to poor water quality. Our work also points to some ways to deal with these challenges.

Objective. This study aimed to analyse the etiology and clinical characteristics of hypercalcemic crisis in a large cohort of Chinese patients and summarised our clinical experience in the management of this serious endocrinological emergency. Methods. This was a retrospective analysis of a cohort of patients with hypercalcemic crisis hospitalized in the First Medical Center of Chinese PLA General Hospital between January 2009 and March 2024. The general data, clinical manifestations, etiology, photographic examination, emergency treatment, etiological treatment, and prognosis were analysed. Results. A total of 155 patients with hypercalcemic crisis (91 males and 64 females) with a mean age of 54.60 ± 16.99 years old were enrolled. The most frequent disease-causing hypercalcemic crisis was hyperparathyroidism (41.94%), followed by solid malignancy (41.29%) and multiple myeloma (9.03%), et al. Patients mainly presented with symptoms of the digestive system (78.10%), nervous system (63.30%), skeletal system (59.60%), urinary system (59.50%), and cardiovascular system (34.90%). These 155 patients with hypercalcemic crisis got effective therapies that included simultaneous administration of intravenous injection (IV) isotonic saline, subcutaneous calcitonin, bisphosphonate, or hemodialysis in serious cases. After emergency treatment, all the symptoms in the patients were relieved obviously. The cure rate of hypercalcemic with etiological treatments was 84.50% (131/155). Conclusion. Hypercalcemic crisis is a serious endocrinological emergency with a variety of etiologies and a high risk of mortality. A prompt diagnosis and the implementation of a comprehensive and effective treatment can efficiently alleviate this endocrinological emergency. Etiological treatment targeting different causes can improve prognosis significantly.

Abstract Background Postoperative sleep disturbance (PSD) is a prevalent clinical complication that may arise due to various factors. The purpose of this investigation is to identify the risk factors for PSD in spinal surgery and establish a risk prediction nomogram. Methods The clinical records of individuals who underwent spinal surgery from January 2020 to January 2021 were gathered prospectively. The least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) regression, along with multivariate logistic regression analysis, was employed to establish independent risk factors. A nomogram prediction model was devised based on these factors. The nomogram’s effectiveness was evaluated and verified via the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve, calibration plot, and decision curve analysis (DCA). Results A total of 640 patients who underwent spinal surgery were analyzed in this investigation, among which 393 patients experienced PSD with an incidence rate of 61.4%. After conducting LASSO regression and logistic regression analyses using R software on the variables in training set, 8 independent risk factors associated to PSD were identified, including female, preoperative sleep disorder, high preoperative anxiety score, high intraoperative bleeding volume, high postoperative pain score, dissatisfaction with ward sleep environment, non-use of dexmedetomidine and non-use of erector spinae plane block (ESPB). The nomogram and online dynamic nomogram were constructed after incorporating these variables. In the training and validation sets, the area under the curve (AUC) in the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were 0.806 (0.768–0.844) and 0.755 (0.667–0.844), respectively. The calibration plots indicated that the mean absolute error (MAE) values in both sets were respectively 1.2% and 1.7%. The decision curve analysis demonstrated the model had a substantial net benefit within the range of threshold probabilities between 20% and 90%. Conclusions The nomogram model proposed in this study included eight frequently observed clinical factors and exhibited favorable accuracy and calibration. Trial registration The study was retrospectively registered with the Chinese Clinical Trial Registry (ChiCTR2200061257, 18/06/2022).

Electrochemical corrosion and stress corrosion cracking (SCC) behavior of X80 steel in the sulfurated marine environment at open circuit potential and −850 mVSCE are investigated. The results show that SCC is controlled by both anodic dissolution and hydrogen evolution, which is attributed to the HSO3− acceleration of the anodic and cathodic current density. Localized anodic dissolution leads to pits, which induce stress that promotes the initiation of stress corrosion cracks. Under a cathodic potential of −850 mVSCE, the effect of dissolution is limited, and SCC susceptibility increases because of the synergistic effect of the high HSO3−concentration and cathodic potential.

Abstract Background For detecting genotype-phenotype association from case–control single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) data, one class of methods relies on testing each genomic variant site individually. However, this approach ignores the tendency for associated variant sites to be spatially clustered instead of uniformly distributed along the genome. Therefore, a more recent class of methods looks for blocks of influential variant sites. Unfortunately, existing such methods either assume prior knowledge of the blocks, or rely on ad hoc moving windows. A principled method is needed to automatically detect genomic variant blocks which are associated with the phenotype. Results In this paper, we introduce an automatic block-wise Genome-Wide Association Study (GWAS) method based on Hidden Markov model. Using case–control SNP data as input, our method detects the number of blocks associated with the phenotype and the locations of the blocks. Correspondingly, the minor allele of each variate site will be classified as having negative influence, no influence or positive influence on the phenotype. We evaluated our method using both datasets simulated from our model and datasets from a block model different from ours, and compared the performance with other methods. These included both simple methods based on the Fisher’s exact test, applied site-by-site, as well as more complex methods built into the recent Zoom-Focus Algorithm. Across all simulations, our method consistently outperformed the comparisons. Conclusions With its demonstrated better performance, we expect our algorithm for detecting influential variant sites may help find more accurate signals across a wide range of case–control GWAS.

Propelled by emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence and deep learning, the essence and scope of cartography have significantly expanded. The rapid progress in neuroscience has raised high expectations for related disciplines, furnishing theoretical support for revealing and deepening the essence of maps. In this study, CiteSpace was used to examine the confluence of cartography and neural networks over the past decade (2013–2023), thus revealing the prevailing research trends and cutting-edge investigations in the field of machine learning and its application in mapping. In addition, this analysis included the systematic categorization of knowledge clusters arising from the fusion of cartography and neural networks, which was followed by the discernment of pivotal clusters in the field of knowledge mapping. Crucially, this study diligently identified the critical studies (milestones) that have made significant contributions to the development of these elucidated clusters. Timeline analysis was used to track these studies’ origins, evolution, and current status. Finally, we constructed collaborative networks among the contributing authors, journals, institutions, and countries. This mapping aids in identifying and visualizing the primary contributing factors of the evolution of knowledge mapping encompassing cartography and neural networks, thus facilitating interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary research and investigations.

Astatine-211 (211At) has emerged as a promising radionuclide for targeted alpha therapy of cancer by virtue of its favorable nuclear properties. However, the limited in vivo stability of 211At-labeled radiopharmaceuticals remains a major challenge. This review provides a comprehensive overview of the current strategies for 211At radiolabeling, including nucleophilic and electrophilic substitution reactions, as well as the recent advances in the development of novel bifunctional coupling agents and labeling approaches to enhance the stability of 211At-labeled compounds. The preclinical and clinical applications of 211At-labeled radiopharmaceuticals, including small molecules, peptides, and antibodies, are also discussed. Looking forward, the identification of new molecular targets, the optimization of 211At production and quality control methods, and the continued evaluation of 211At-labeled radiopharmaceuticals in preclinical and clinical settings will be the key to realizing the full potential of 211At-based targeted alpha therapy. With the growing interest and investment in this field, 211At-labeled radiopharmaceuticals are poised to play an increasingly important role in future cancer treatment.

A fine-grained WC-15wt%Al0.5CoCrFeNi cemented carbide was prepared through a vacuum and gas pressure sintering. For achieving high surface integrity, diamond wheel grinding serves as the primary molding process for the machining of WC cemented carbide. To reveal the influence of grinding on the surface integrity of fine-grained WC-HEA cemented carbide, studies were conducted on grinding force, surface microstructure, surface roughness, residual stress, microhardness, and bending strength. The morphological analysis of the ground surface indicated a transition in the material removal mechanism of WC-HEA cemented carbide from ductile removal to brittle removal, with brittle removal becoming predominant as the depth of grinding increases. With the increasing depth of grinding, the grinding force increases, and the grinding force increases while the surface roughness decreases. Correspondingly, there is an improvement in both hardness and bending strength. Additionally, grinding induces high residual compressive stress on the surface, with a maximum compressive stress of 1795 MPa. The bending strength of the material is found to be dependent on the residual stress.

Glioma is a primary cranial malignancy with high recurrence rate, poor prognosis and high mortality. However, the roles of immunogenic cell death (ICD) in glioma remain unclear. Twenty ICD genes were analyzed to be differentially expressed between glioma tissues and non-tumor tissues in 371 glioma patients from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA). Patients were classified into three subgroups via unsupervised clustering. Interestingly, the features of cell-infiltrating from three clusters were matched with three immune phenotypes. An applied scoring system was built depending on the expression of hub ICD-related genes. Notably, the ICD-related score was linked with immune checkpoints and the prognosis of glioma patients. In addition, the applied risk model could be used for the prediction of the effect of chemotherapy and immunotherapy for glioma patients. Furthermore, MYD88 was identified to play key roles in the risk model for glioma patients. MYD88 was specifically expressed in malignant cells and validated to correlate with cell proliferation and invasion. Ligand–receptor pairs are determined as novel communications indicating between immunocytes and malignant cells. Therefore, our research established an ICD-related score to investigate the potential effect to chemotherapy and immunotherapy for glioma patients and indicated that MYD88 was a key role in this risk model.

Objective To elucidate the impact of acute-phase protein serum amyloid A (aSAA) on microvascular invasion (MVI) and early recurrence in hepatitis B virus (HBV)-related hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Methods HBV-related HCC patients (n = 192) undergoing liver resection were included in the study. The protein levels of aSAA were analyzed by immunohistochemical staining in 172 tumor specimens, and further detected via western blotting in HCC and their corresponding portal vein tumor thrombus (PVTT) (n = 20). Cox and logit regression analysis was performed. Exploratory subgroup analysis was used to balance the potential confounders. Results HBV-related HCC patients with high aSAA levels tended to have high HBV-DNA loads. Logit and Cox regression analyses revealed high expression of aSAA is an independent risk factor not only for MVI (OR 5.384, 95% CI 2.286–13.301, P

BackgroundCastleman Disease (CD) is a group of diseases with characteristic lymph node histopathology, characterized by marked enlargement of deep or superficial lymph nodes. Adrenal CD is rarely reported, and an accurate preoperative diagnosis of adrenal CD is difficult.MethodWe report four cases of CD in the adrenal gland confirmed by pathology and review the characteristics of this rare disease, highlighting the necessity of diagnostic evaluation and follow-up of the patients.ResultsAll of the patients sought medical advice because of adrenal incidentalomas. No significant abnormalities were presented in the biochemistry or endocrine systems. The imaging suggested a moderate-to-large mass with uneven moderate contrast enhancement of the adrenal region, similar to a pheochromocytoma. All cases were misdiagnosed as pheochromocytomas before operation and finally confirmed by histopathology. Three cases were pathologically diagnosed as hyaline vascular CD, and one case was diagnosed as plasma cell CD. All the patients are alive without recurrence after a median follow-up of 8 years.ConclusionThe adrenal CD should be considered after excluding pheochromocytoma and malignancy in the adrenal region. The long-term prognosis of patients with complete resection of the mass is excellent.

Objective: China is a developing country with urban–rural disparities and accelerating population aging. Therefore, quantifying the effects of population aging on the cancer mortality burden is urgently needed. Methods: Using data from China’s death surveillance datasets (2004–2017), we decomposed and quantified the effects of population aging and factor variations on cancer mortality rates in urban and rural China during 2004–2017 through a decomposition method. R ratios were used to assess the extent of the mortality decreases attributable to factor variations offsetting the increases attributable to population aging for 4 aging-related cancers (lung, colorectal, esophageal, and stomach cancer). Results: Overall, population aging has led to continued increases in cancer mortality rates in China during 2004–2017 (mortality rates attributable to population aging: 8.63/100,000 for urban men, 4.21/100,000 for urban women, 11.95/100,000 for rural men, and 5.66/100,000 for rural women). The 4 cancers displayed 3 patterns. The mortality rates from lung cancer in rural China and from colorectal cancer nationwide increased because of both population aging and factor variations. Population aging was primarily responsible for the growing mortality due to lung cancer in urban areas. However, for esophageal and stomach cancer, the effect of population aging was not dominant, thus resulting in decreases in mortality rates. Conclusions: Health resource allocation should prioritize areas or cancers more adversely affected by population aging. The burden of cancer will continue to increase in the future, because of rapid population aging, but can still be offset or even reversed with enhanced cancer control and prevention.

Abstract Background To determine the efficacy and safety of umbilical cord-derived mesenchymal stem cells (UC-MSCs) in Chinese adults with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Methods In this single-center, double-blinded, randomized, placebo-controlled phase II trial, 91 patients were randomly assigned to receive intravenous infusion of UC-MSCs (n = 45) or placebo (n = 46) three times with 4-week intervals and followed up for 48 weeks from October 2015 to December 2018. The primary endpoint was the percentage of patients with glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) levels of

As an emerging grinding equipment, roller presses are widely used in Cement industry. The current problem with roller press is that the rolls surface is prone to wear and needs to be replaced regularly. This greatly reduces the service life of the roller press and affects the development of the roller press. Therefore, how to reduce the wear on the surface of the roller press and increase the service life of the roller press is an urgent problem that needs to be solved for the current roller press. Current research mainly focuses on the mechanism research of roller press wear and the optimization of rolls surface structure. In this paper, the extrusion force between the stud-lining and the material is calculated by analyzing the stress of the studded rolls under actual working conditions and the compression and rebound characteristics of material layer. The failure modes of studded rolls are mainly divided into two parts. On the one hand, it is fatigue cracking of the roller shaft and stud-lining. On the other hand, it is cracking at the contact between the stud-lining and the stud, and the fracture of the stud. Because the failure modes of the studded rolls are divided into two parts, the studded rolls are divided into two parts for simulation by using ANSYS 18.0. Firstly, the static analysis is carried out on the roller shaft and the stud-lining, and the distribution cloud diagram of the stress and contact pressure of the roller shaft and the stud-lining is obtained, and the stress concentration area is optimized. After optimization, the contact pressure between the roller shaft and the stud-lining is reduced by about 50%. The maximum equivalent stress of the roller shaft and stud-lining has also been reduced. Secondly, a static analysis was conducted on the stud-lining and studs. Since the stud-lining of the studded rolls are composed of stud holes arranged in a certain order. Therefore, stress concentration is prone to occur around the stud hole. The simulation experiment was carried out by changing the optimization schemes such as the assembly method of the stud and the stud-lining, the distance between the studs, and the length of the stud. To reduce the stress concentration of stud and stud-lining. After optimizing the model of the stud and stud-lining, the maximum equivalent stress of the stud-lining and stud decreased by about 10% and 25% respectively. Through the optimized design of roller shafts, stud-lining and studs. The service life of the studded rolls can be effectively improved and the production cost can be reduced. This can provide a reference for the design of the studded rolls.

Abstract Background Patients with normoalbuminuria and a reduced estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) account for a considerable proportion of type 2 diabetes patients. The aim of this research was to investigate the epidemiological and clinical characteristics of normoalbuminuric kidney disease in a Chinese population. Methods We included 8131 diabetic patients from a multicenter prospective study in China. Based on eGFR and urinary albumin‐to‐creatinine ratio (UACR), participants were stratified into four groups—normal albuminuria, albuminuria, normoalbuminuria with eGFR

ObjectiveThe overexpression of polo-like kinase 1 (PLK-1) has been found in a broad spectrum of human tumors, making it an attractive prognostic tumor biomarker. Nowadays, PLK-1 is considered a cancer therapeutic target with clinical therapeutic value. The aim of the present study was to systematically review the prognostic and therapeutic value of PLK-1 in different malignant neoplasms.MethodsA systematic literature search of the Cochrane Library, PubMed, Web of Science, and China National Knowledge Internet (CNKI) databases was conducted between December 2018 and September 2022. In total, 41 published studies were screened, comprising 5,301 patients. We calculated the pooled odds ratios (ORs) and corresponding 95%CIs for the clinical parameters of patients included in these studies, as well as the pooled hazard ratios (HRs) and corresponding 95% CIs for 5-year overall survival (OS).ResultsOur analysis included 41 eligible studies, representing a total of 5,301 patients. The results showed that overexpression of PLK-1 was significantly associated with poor OS (HR, 1.57; 95% CI, 1.18–2.08) and inferior 5-year disease-free survival/relapse-free survival ((HR, 1.89; 95% CI, 1.47–2.44). The pooled analysis showed that PLK-1 overexpression was significantly associated with lymph node metastasis, histological grade, clinical stages (p < 0.001 respectively), and tumor grade (p < 0.001). In digestive system neoplasms, PLK-1 overexpression was significantly associated with histopathological classification, primary tumor grade, histological grade, and clinical stages (p = 0.002, p = 0.001, p < 0.0001, respectively). In breast cancer, PLK-1 was significantly associated with 5-year overall survival, histological grade, and lymph node metastasis (p < 0.001, p = 0.003, p < 0.001, respectively). In the female reproductive system, PLK-1 was significantly associated with clinical stage (p = 0.011). In the respiratory system, PLK-1 was significantly associated with clinical stage (p = 0.021).ConclusionOur analysis indicates that high PLK-1 expression is associated with aggressiveness and poor prognosis in malignant neoplasms. Therefore, PLK-1 may be a clinically valuable target for cancer treatment.

Molecular targeting and immunotherapy provide durable responses for advanced lung cancer clinical therapy in many patients. However, the mechanisms of occurrence of progressive disease and resistance to targeted therapy and immunotherapy have not been elucidated. Herein, we report two cases of small cell transformation of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) after targeted therapy or immunotherapy. The first case was a 63-year-old female patient presenting with cough and expectoration. Left lung invasive adenocarcinoma was diagnosed after left lung tumor biopsy. After epidermal growth factor receptor-tyrosine kinase inhibitor (EGFR-TKI) targeted therapy for almost 2 years, disease progression and symptom aggravation were observed. Pathological and immunohistochemical staining results after biopsy revealed small cell lung cancer (SCLC). The second case was a 75-year-old male patient diagnosed with stage IV squamous cell carcinoma of the lung, who received carboplatin/paclitaxel adjuvant chemotherapy and pembrolizumab treatment with partial response. Disease progression and metastasis occurred within 15 cycles of immunotherapy. Computed tomography revealed a lower left lung tumor. Cytological examination of lung lavage fluid and biopsy under thoracoscope revealed SCLC. In conclusion, histological transformation to SCLC is a potential mechanism of NSCLC resistance to targeted therapy or immunotherapy. During treatment, clinicians should monitor serum tumor markers or genome sequencing, particularly in patients with disease progression, as this may be beneficial for early detection of SCLC transformation. Repeated biopsy can be performed if necessary, and the therapeutic regimen can be adjusted in a timely manner according to the results of molecular pathological tests for personalization and whole-process management.

Ti1-xAlxN coating is formed by replacing some Ti atoms in TiN with Al atoms, and their properties are closely related to Al content (0 < x < 1). Recently, Ti1-xAlxN-coated tools have been widely used in the machining of Ti-6Al-4V alloy. In this paper, the hard-to-machine material Ti-6Al-4V alloy is used as the study material. Ti1-xAlxN-coated tools are used for milling experiments. The evolution of the wear form and the wear mechanism of Ti1-xAlxN-coated tools are studied, and the influence of Al content (x = 0.52, 0.62) and cutting speed on tool wear are analyzed. The results show that the wear on the rake face changes from the initial adhesion and micro-chipping to coating delamination and chipping. Wear on the flank face varies from the initial adhesion and grooves to boundary wear, build-up layer, and ablation. The main wear mechanisms of Ti1-xAlxN-coated tools are dominated by adhesion, diffusion, and oxidation wear. Ti0.48Al0.52N coating protects the tool well and extends its service life.

Background and objectiveMild autonomous cortisol secretion (MACS) presents with a marked female preponderance, but whether the sex difference in its distribution has any relevance to the presentation and outcome of the disease is unknown. The aim of this study was therefore to compare biochemical indices of hypercortisolism and impaired glucose metabolism between male and female patients with MACS.MethodWe enrolled a total of 98 patients with autonomous/possible autonomous cortisol secretion in our study, and indices of hypercortisolism and glucose metabolism were collected and compared between the male and female patients. Logistic regression models were used to evaluate the association between sex and cortisol-secretory ability, as well as between the latter and glucose metabolism. In addition, we conducted further stratified analyses according to the degree of autonomous cortisol secretion and menopausal status.ResultsCortisol levels at 00:00 and 08:00 h after a 1-mg dexamethasone suppression test (DST) and low-dose DST were significantly higher in female than in male MACS patients, and the inhibition rate of 1-mg DST was lower in the women than in the men. This significant difference still remained after adjusting for age, BMI, and the course of the disease. Logistic regression analysis revealed a significant association between autonomous cortisol secretion and fasting C-peptide, as well as with the C-peptide-to-glucose ratio in females relative to male patients. In addition, stratified analyses indicated that this association was observed only among women with autonomous cortisol secretion and who were premenopausal.ConclusionThe level of autonomic cortisol secretion in female patients with MACS was higher than in male patients, and the association between autonomous cortisol secretory ability and glucose homeostasis was only noted in patients with autonomous cortisol secretion and in premenopausal women. This phenomenon will, however, require closer follow-up.

To investigate the formation mechanism of the white layer on the machined surface during high-speed milling of nickel-based superalloy GH4169, several cutting parameters were selected for milling experiments. Energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and electron backscattered diffraction (EBSD) were employed to characterize element distribution, phase transformation, and microstructure changes in the machined surface of the superalloy and then reveal the formation mechanism of the white layer on the machined surface. The results show that the white layer appears on the machined surface of GH4169, which is dense and has no obvious structural features. The total amount of elements in the white layer remains unchanged, but the distribution of elements such as C, N, O, Fe, and Ni changes due to phase change. The formation mechanism of the white layer is due to the dynamic recovery and dynamic recrystallization caused by the heat–force coupling effect, which leads to the grain refinement of the material and thus forms the white layer. This investigation can provide theoretical support to improve the service life of the parts in actual machining.

Abstract Aims/Introduction This secondary analysis of the 24‐week SMART study examined the efficacy of add‐on saxagliptin or acarbose to metformin across different patient subgroups with type 2 diabetes mellitus, based on baseline characteristics. Materials and Methods Randomized patients (n = 481) were classified into subgroups based on their baseline age (9%. The effect of acarbose on postprandial glucose was also variable (+0.23 to −3.38 mmol/L). Conclusions As add‐on to metformin, both saxagliptin and acarbose reduced HbA1c regardless of baseline HbA1c, age, body mass index and renal function; however, only saxagliptin was effective at a stable glycemic control (FPG and PPG). The efficacy of acarbose on FPG and PPG was significantly attenuated in patients with higher baseline HbA1c (≥8%).

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) have been shown to be closely related to cancer progression. Traditional methods for discovering cancer-related miRNAs mostly require significant marginal differential expression, but some cancer-related miRNAs may be non-differentially or only weakly differentially expressed. Such miRNAs are called dark matters miRNAs (DM-miRNAs) and are targeted through the Pearson correlation change on miRNA-target interactions (MTIs), but the efficiency of their method heavily relies on restrictive assumptions. In this paper, a novel method was developed to discover DM-miRNAs using support vector machine (SVM) based on not only the miRNA expression data but also the expression of its regulating target. The application of the new method in breast and kidney cancer datasets found, respectively, 9 and 24 potential DM-miRNAs that cannot be detected by previous methods. Eight and 15 of the newly discovered miRNAs have been found to be associated with breast and kidney cancers, respectively, in existing literature. These results indicate that our new method is more effective in discovering cancer-related miRNAs. Keywords: cancer-related miRNAs, support vector machine, dark matters, miRNA-target interactions, expression data

Nodular cast iron QT700-2 is extensively used in automobile engine crankshaft parts due to its prime mechanical properties. The journal of a crankshaft is a curved surface, and traditional wheel grinding easily causes grinding burn and surface and subsurface damage. Shape adaptive grinding (SAG) is a flexible grinding technology, which has the advantages of low grinding force and temperature, and good grinding quality. It is suitable for machining curved surface parts with complex shapes. Therefore, the SAG surface integrity of nodular cast iron QT700-2 was experimentally investigated. The influence of grinding parameters on grinding force, material removal rate, grinding temperature, and surface integrity was studied, and the machining performance of SAG tools was evaluated. It was concluded that the grain size in SAG is the most important factor affecting the grinding force, material removal rate, and surface roughness; the influence of SAG grinding is very weak, mainly removing the workpiece material. Then, the influence law of SAG technology on the surface integrity of nodular cast iron QT700-2 was summarized, and the optimal grinding parameters were obtained, providing a reference for the curved surface grinding of nodular cast iron QT700-2 in the future.

With the in-depth research on high-entropy alloys (HEAs), most of the current research uses experimental methods to verify the effects of the main elements of HEAs on the mechanical properties of the alloys. However, this is limited by the long experimental period and the influence of many external factors. The computer simulation method can not only effectively save costs and shorten the test cycle, but also help to discover new materials and broaden the field of materials. Therefore, in this paper, the physical properties (such as lattice constant, density and elastic constant) of AlCoxCrFeNi (x = 0, 0.25, 0.5, 0.75, 1) HEAs were calculated based on the first-principles calculation method and virtual crystal approximate modeling method. It is found that AlCoxCrFeNi HEAs have the best hardness and toughness properties, with a Co content of 0.5~0.7. The research results can provide theoretical guidance for the preparation of HEAs with optimal mechanical properties.

Ectopic ACTH syndrome (EAS) accounts for 10–20% of endogenous Cushing’s syndrome (CS). Hardly any cases of adrenal medullary hyperplasia have been reported to ectopically secrete adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH). Here we describe a series of three patients with hypercortisolism secondary to ectopic production of ACTH from adrenal medulla. Cushingoid features were absent in case 1 but evident in the other two cases. Marked hypokalemia was found in all three patients, but hyperglycemia and osteoporosis were present only in case 2. All three patients showed significantly elevated serum cortisol and 24-h urinary cortisol levels. The ACTH levels ranged from 19.8 to 103.0pmol/L, favoring ACTH-dependent Cushing’s syndrome. Results of bilateral inferior petrosal sinus sampling (BIPSS) for case 1 and case 3 confirmed ectopic origin of ACTH. The extremely high level of ACTH and failure to suppress cortisol with high dose dexamethasone suppression test (HDDST) suggested EAS for patient 2. However, image studies failed to identify the source of ACTH secretion. Bilateral adrenalectomy was performed for rapid control of hypercortisolism. After surgery, cushingoid features gradually disappeared for case 2 and case 3. Blood pressure, blood glucose and potassium levels returned to normal ranges without medication for case 2. The level of serum potassium also normalized without any supplementation for case 1 and case 3. The ACTH levels of all three patients significantly decreased 3-6 months after surgery. Histopathology revealed bilateral adrenal medullary hyperplasia and immunostaining showed positive ACTH staining located in adrenal medulla cells. In summary, our case series reveals the adrenal medulla to be a site of ectopic ACTH secretion. Adrenal medulla-originated EAS makes the differential diagnosis of ACTH-dependent Cushing’s syndrome much more difficult. Control of the hypercortisolism is mandatory for such patients.

Nocturnin is a rhythmically expressed protein that regulates metabolism under the control of circadian clock proposed to function through the deadenylation of metabolic enzyme mRNAs. Here the authors show that Nocturnin and its fly homolog Curled catalyze the removal of 2′-phosphate from NADP+ and NADPH, providing a direct link to metabolic regulation.

Interleukin-37 (IL-37) is an effective anti-inflammatory factor and acts through intracellular and extracellular pathways, inhibiting the effects of other inflammatory cytokines, such as IL-1β, IL-6, and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), thereby exerting powerful anti-inflammatory effects. In numerous recent studies, the anti-inflammatory effects of IL-37 have been described in many autoimmune diseases, colitis, and tumors. However, the current research on IL-37 in the field of the central nervous system (CNS) is not only less, but mainly for clinical research and little discussion of the mechanism. In this review, the role of IL-37 and its associated inflammatory factors in common CNS diseases are summarized, and their therapeutic potential in CNS diseases identified.

Objective Autoimmune hypothalamitis (AHT) is a rare inflammatory disorder that involves the hypothalamus. It remains unclear whether autoimmune hypophysitis (AH) and AHT represent different diseases or different aspects of the same disease. Thus, further investigation of AHT is required. Methods A retrospective review of medical and pathological records of AHT patients from the Chinese PLA General Hospital were examined from January 1, 2005 to May 1, 2017. Clinical data, treatments, and outcomes were investigated. Results Five female patients were identified (median age, 42.6 years). Symptoms included central diabetes insipidus, hypopituitarism, hyperprolactinemia, headache, and hypothalamic syndrome. The following hormonal deficits were noted: follicle-stimulating hormone, luteinizing hormone, adrenocorticotropic hormone, thyroid stimulating hormone, and growth hormone. One patient underwent high-dose methylprednisolone pulse treatment (HDMPT) and azathioprine plus intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT), and two patients underwent HDMPT and two rounds of replacement therapy. During follow-up, one patient died because of non-compliance with therapy and the others were in remission or they recovered. Conclusions AHT had similar MRI results, pathology, and treatment compared with AH. Thus, it may be a subtype of AH, and AHT patients may also show hypothalamic syndrome.

The anti-thyroglobulin antibody (TgAb) has been suggested to be more common in patients with papillary thyroid cancer (PTC). Here, we performed a retrospective study investigated the correlation between TgAb level and PTC in Chinese patients between 2011 and 2015. Patients with goiter who underwent thyroidectomy and received a confirmed pathological diagnosis were enrolled into the study. Clinical characteristics and preoperative thyroglobulin antibody (TgAb) level data were collected from all enrolled patients. Based on the preoperative TgAb test results, patients were divided into a TgAb negative (TgAb–) group (

With the growth of online commerce, companies have created virtual communities (VCs) where users can create posts and reply to posts about the company’s products. VCs can be represented as networks, with users as nodes and relationships between users as edges. Information propagates through edges. In VC studies, it is important to know how the number of topics concerning the product grows over time and what network features make a user more influential than others in the information-spreading process. The existing literature has not provided a quantitative method with which to determine key points during the topic emergence process. Also, few researchers have considered the link between multilayer physical features and the nodes’ spreading influence. In this paper, we present two new ideas to enrich network theory as applied to VCs: a novel application of an adjusted coefficient of determination to topic growth and an adjustment to the Jaccard coefficient to measure the connection between two users. A two-layer network model was first used to study the spread of topics through a VC. A random forest method was then applied to rank various factors that might determine an individual user’s importance in topic spreading through a VC. Our research provides insightful ways for enterprises to mine information from VCs.

Background. Functional pancreatic neuroendocrine neoplasms (PanNENs) are very rare disorders but have complex spectrum, including insulinoma, gastrinoma, glucagonoma, somatostatinoma, and VIPoma. Patients with PanNENs usually present with characteristic symptoms caused by corresponding hormone hypersecretion. It has always been challenging in dealing with such rare but complicated disorders. In this report, we analyzed the clinical characteristics of functional PanNENs in a large cohort of Chinese patients and summarized our clinical experience in diagnosis and treatment. Methods. The retrospective analysis was performed in patients with a definite diagnosis of functional PanNENs hospitalized in Chinese PLA General Hospital between 2000 and 2020. The clinical characteristics, surgical information, and pathological findings were extracted from their medical records and were analyzed. Results. Totally, 286 patients (gender: male 103 and female 183; age: 45.55 ± 15.23 years old) were diagnosed with definite functional PanNENs. The most frequent functional PanNENs were insulinoma (266/286) followed by glucagonoma (10/286), somatostatinoma (3/286), adrenocorticotropic hormone- (ACTH-) producing tumor (3/286), gastrinoma (2/286), and VIPoma (2/286). Nine patients were diagnosed with multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1 (MEN1) in which all the associated functional PanNENs were insulinomas. The duration from symptoms’ onset to confirmed diagnosis was 3.67 ± 4.28 years. Two hundred and eighty patients with tumor localized in pancreatic or with limited metastasis underwent surgery. The symptoms associated with hormonal oversecretion were improved significantly after surgery. Five patients with unresectable metastases or tumor recurrence after surgery were administrated with systemic chemotherapy or other targeted therapies. With these various therapies, the symptoms were also partially relieved. According to findings in pathological and immunochemical examination, all the functional PanNENs were categorized into NEN-G1 (41.95%), NEN-G2 (54.90%), NEN-G3 (3.15%), and NEC-G3 (0%). Conclusion. Patients with suspected functional PanNENs should have a systematic endocrine examination at diagnosis. Multidisciplinary collaborations are essential for precise diagnosis and tumor localization. A successful surgery or other targeted therapies can improve the prognosis of patients with such rare but complex disorders.

Cutting heat conduction undergoes three stages that include intensity transient-state, transient-state, and steady-states. Especially during machining with coated cutting tools, in the conduction process, cutting heat needs to pass through a few micron thick coatings and then flow into the tool body. This heat conduction presents typical non-Fourier heat conduction characteristics. This paper focuses on the cutting temperature in transient heat conduction with a coated tool. A new analytical model to characterize the thermal shock based on the non-Fourier heat conduction was proposed. The distribution of cutting temperature in mono-layer coated tools during the machining was then illustrated. The cutting temperature distribution predicted by the Fourier heat conduction model was employed to compare with that by non-Fourier heat conduction in order to reveal the non-Fourier heat conduction effect in transient heat conduction. The results show that the transient heat conduction analytical model is more suitable for the intensity transient-state and transient-state in the process of cutting heat conduction.

Objective: To investigate the role of PSMA in the differential diagnosis of adrenocortical carcinoma samples (ACCs) and adrenocortical adenoma samples (ACAs), to validate the prognostic role of PSMA in patients with ACCs, and to explore the possibility that this marker can differentiate localized ACCs from adrenal metastases from other sites.Methods: PSMA protein expression in tissue samples from 50 ACCs, 90 ACAs (including 20 from patients who presented with Cushing's syndrome, 20 aldosterone-producing adenomas and 50 non-functional tumors) and 10 tissues that were metastases from other primary sites was assessed by immunohistochemistry. The clinical and pathological characteristics were compared, the intensity and density were analyzed, and the prognostic role was evaluated.Results: The analysis of clinical and pathological features revealed that the size of ACCs was greater than that of benign tissues and the ACC patients were older than the ACA patients (p < 0.01). The percentage of PSMA-positive vessels, the mean intensity and the degree of staining density were found to be significantly lower in ACAs than in ACCs (p < 0.01). In these 140 samples, 60% of the ACCs were grouped in the positive category. The samples were negative for metastases that were from other primary sites. The ENSAT stage and Ki-67 were correlated with PSMA expression. The survival distribution revealed that high PSMA expression did not show any prognostic relevance in the current ACCs series. Those samples with a score of > 3.5 were 75 times more likely to be malignant (OR = 75). We established a cut-off score of 3.5 (p < 0.05), which had 46% sensitivity and 99% specificity. Paralleling PSMA and Ki-67 maximized the area under the curve, with 72% sensitivity and 100% specificity.Conclusions: Our results strongly confirm that PSMA is helpful for distinguishing benign from malignant tumors and that its high expression levels correlate with a high ENSAT stage and high proliferation. The combination of PSMA and Ki-67 can be particularly useful. Furthermore, PSMA might be a useful tool for the identification of localized adrenal carcinoma and metastatic carcinoma.

The rapid development of synthetic biology has conferred almost perfect modification on single cells, and provided methodological support for synthesizing microbial consortia, which have a much wider application potential than synthetic single cells. Co-cultivating multiple cell populations with rational strategies based on interacting relationships within natural microbial consortia provides theoretical as well as experimental support for the successful obtaining of synthetic microbial consortia, promoting it into extensive research on both industrial applications in plenty of areas and also better understanding of natural microbial consortia. According to their composition complexity, synthetic microbial consortia are summarized in three aspects in this review and are discussed in principles of design and construction, insights and methods for analysis, and applications in energy, healthcare, etc.

Direct conversion of methane to its oxygenate derivatives remains highly attractive while challenging owing to the intrinsic chemical inertness of CH4. Photocatalysis arises as a promising green strategy which could stimulate water splitting to produce oxidative radicals for methane C−H activation and subsequent C−C coupling. However, synthesis of a photocatalyst with an appropriate capability of methane oxidation by water remains a challenge using an effective and viable approach. Herein, ceria nanoparticles with abundant oxygen vacancies prepared by calcinating commercial CeO2 powder at high temperatures in argon are reported to capably produce ethanol and aldehyde from CH4 photocatalytic oxidation under ambient conditions. Although high-temperature calcinations lead to lower light adsorptions and increased band gaps to some extent, deficient CeO2 nanoparticles with oxygen vacancies and surface CeIII species are formed, which are crucial for methane photocatalytic conversion. The ceria catalyst as-calcinated at 1100 °C had the highest oxygen vacancy concentration and CeIII content, achieving an ethanol production rate of 11.4 µmol·gcat−1·h−1 with a selectivity of 91.5%. Additional experimental results suggested that the product aldehyde was from the oxidation of ethanol during the photocatalytic conversion of CH4.

Craniopharyngiomas and germinomas are both rare cranial tumors that most commonly present during childhood or adolescence. Although these tumors have different origins, their clinical and radiological features may be similar. In this article, we report the case of a 35-year female patient with clinical and radiological findings and increased human chorionic gonadotrophin (HCG) levels in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) that were consistent with a germinoma. However, pathological analysis revealed a craniopharyngioma. This case report indicates that HCG, which is regarded as a specific tumor marker for germinomas in the differential diagnosis of intracranial lesions, is also detectable in other kinds of suprasellar tumors, such as craniopharyngiomas.

Oxidative stress is unavoidable for aerobic organisms. When abiotic and biotic stresses are encountered, oxidative damage could occur in cells. To avoid this damage, defense mechanisms must be timely and efficiently modulated. While the response to oxidative stress has been extensively studied in plants, little is known about how the activated response is switched off when oxidative stress is diminished. By studying Arabidopsis mutant paraquat tolerance3, we identified the genetic locus PARAQUAT TOLERANCE3 (PQT3) as a major negative regulator of oxidative stress tolerance. PQT3, encoding an E3 ubiquitin ligase, is rapidly down-regulated by oxidative stress. PQT3 has E3 ubiquitin ligase activity in ubiquitination assay. Subsequently, we identified PRMT4b as a PQT3-interacting protein. By histone methylation, PRMT4b upregulates the expression of APX1 and GPX1, encoding two key enzymes against oxidative stress. On the other hand, PRMT4b is recognized by PQT3 for targeted degradation via 26S proteasome. Therefore, we have identified PQT3 as an E3 ligase that acts as a negative regulator of activated response to oxidative stress and found that histone modification by PRMT4b at APX1 and GPX1 loci plays an important role in oxidative stress tolerance.

Exopolysaccharide from Crypthecodinium cohnii (EPCP1-2) is a marine exopolysaccharide that evidences a variety of biological activities. We isolated a neutral polysaccharide from the fermentation liquid of Crypthecodinium cohnii (CP). In this study, a polysaccharide that is derived from Crypthecodinium cohnii were analyzed and its anti-inflammatory effect was evaluated on protein expression of toll-like receptor 4 and nuclear factor κB pathways in macrophages. The structural characteristics of EPCP1-2 were characterized by GC (gas chromatography) and GC-MS (gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometer) analyses. The molecular weight was about 82.5 kDa. The main chain of EPCP1-2 consisted of (1→6)-linked mannopyranosyl, (1→6)-linked glucopyranosyl, branched-chain consisted of (1→3,6)-linked galactopyranosyl and terminal consisted of t-l-Rhapyranosyl. The in vitro anti-inflammatory activity was representated through assay of proliferation rate, pro-inflammatory factor (NO) and expressions of proteins on RAW 264.7, the macrophage cell line. The results revealed that EPCP1-2 exhibited significant anti-inflammatory activity by regulating the expression of toll-like receptor 4, mitogen-activated protein kinases, and Nuclear Factor-κB protein.

Bacillus strains have been widely used as the companion strain of Ketogulonigenium vulgare in the process of vitamin C fermentation. Different Bacillus strains generate different effects on the growth of K. vulgare and ultimately influence the productivity. First, we identified that Bacillus endophyticus Hbe603 was an appropriate strain to cooperate with K. vulgare and the product conversion rate exceeded 90% in industrial vitamin C fermentation. Here, we report the genome sequencing of the B. endophyticus Hbe603 industrial companion strain and speculate its possible advantage in the consortium. The circular chromosome of B. endophyticus Hbe603 has a size of 4.87 Mb with GC content of 36.64% and has the highest similarity with that of Bacillus megaterium among all the bacteria with complete genomes. By comparing the distribution of COGs with that of Bacillus thuringiensis, Bacillus cereus and B. megaterium, B. endophyticus has less genes related to cell envelope biogenesis and signal transduction mechanisms, and more genes related to carbohydrate transport and metabolism, energy production and conversion, as well as lipid transport and metabolism. Genome-based functional studies revealed the specific capability of B. endophyticus in sporulation, transcription regulation, environmental resistance, membrane transportation, extracellular proteins and nutrients synthesis, which would be beneficial for K. vulgare. In particular, B. endophyticus lacks the Rap-Phr signal cascade system and, in part, spore coat related proteins. In addition, it has specific pathways for vitamin B12 synthesis and sorbitol metabolism. The genome analysis of the industrial B. endophyticus will help us understand its cooperative mechanism in the K. vulgare-Bacillus strain consortium to improve the fermentation of vitamin C.

OBJECTIVE: Pituitary stalk interruption syndrome (PSIS) is characterized by the absence of pituitary stalk, pituitary hypoplasia, and ectopic posterior pituitary. Due to the rarity of PSIS, clinical data are limited, especially in Chinese people. Herein, we analyzed the clinical characteristics of patients diagnosed with PSIS from our center over 10 years. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed the clinical manifestations and laboratory and MRI findings in 55 patients with PSIS. RESULTS: Of the 55 patients with PSIS, 48 (87.3%) were male. The average age was 19.7±6.7 years and there was no familial case. A history of breech delivery was documented in 40 of 45 patients (88.9%) and 19 of 55 patients (34.5%) had a history of dystocia. Short stature was found in 47 of 55 patients (85.5%) and bone age delayed 7.26±5.37 years. Secondary sex characteristics were poor or undeveloped in most patients. The prevalence of deficiencies in growth hormone, gonadotropins, corticotropin, and thyrotropin were 100%, 95.8%, 81.8%, 76.3%, respectively. Hyperprolactinemia was found in 36.4% of patients. Three or more pituitary hormone deficiencies were found in 92.7% of the patients. All patients had normal posterior pituitary function and absent pituitary stalk on imaging. The average height of anterior pituitary was 28 mm, documented anterior pituitary hypoplasia. Midline abnormalities were presented in 9.1% of patients. CONCLUSIONS: The clinical features of our Chinese PSIS patients seem to be different from other reported patients in regarding to the higher degree of hypopituitarism and lower prevalence of midline defects. In addition, our patients were older at the time of case detection and the bone age was markedly delayed. We also had no cases of familial PSIS.