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To analyze various compositions of urinary stones using revolution spectral CT (rapid kV switching dual-energy CT) in vivo. 202 patients with urinary stones underwent spectral CT before surgery. Zeff peak, overall scope and CT values were detected. Moreover, water/iodine attenuating material images were obtained. Removed stones were subjected to infrared spectroscopy after surgery. The results of infrared spectroscopy were compared with CT. 28 stones (14.08%) with single composition, 165 stones with two mixed compositions (81.68%), and 9 stones with three mixed compositions (4.46%) were observed. When Zeff peaks of stones with single/mixed compositions were summarized together, 146 peaks of calcium oxalate monohydrate, 119 peaks of calcium oxalate dihydrate, 55 peaks of carbapatite, 38 peaks of urate, 16 peaks of struvite, and 11 peaks of brushite were totally observed. 93.8% of calcium oxalate monohydrate had Zeff peaks between 13.3 and 14.0. 91.6% of calcium oxalate dihydrate had peaks between 12.0 and 13.3. For carbapatite, 90.9% of stones had peaks from 14.0 to 15.0. A total of 94.8% of urate had peaks between 7.0 and 11.0. 93.8% of struvite had peaks between 11.0 and 13.0, and 90.9% of brushite had peaks between 12.0 and 14.0. Moreover, densities of urate, struvite and brushite were low density in iodine-based images and high-density in water-based images. The in-vivo analysis of spectral CT in urinary stone revealed characteristics of different compositions, especially mixed compositions. An in-vivo predictive model may be constructed to distinguish stone compositions.

Background and Purpose Chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases (COPD) are age-related, airflow-obstruction diseases mostly caused by cigarette smoke. However, the relationship between COPD and lung cellular senescence is still not fully understood. Here, we investigated how E3 ligase Pellino-1 mediated COPD and lung cellular senescence. Experimental Approach We used western blot, qPCR and co-IP assays to analyze the correlation of Pellino-1 and P21 in cells with or without silencing Pellino-1. Then we used flow cytometry, immunofluorescence staining and β- galactosidase assay to analyze the influences of silencing Pellino-1. Furthermore, we constructed COPD and aging models in vivo. Adenovirus of knock-down and overexpression Pellino-1 was used to infected mice. Immunohistochemistry and HE staining were used to analyze the lung pathology. Key Results Here, we first found that the E3 ubiquitin ligase Pellino-1 could bind to senescence marker p21 and modify p21 by K63-site ubiquitination and verified with silencing Pellino-1. Furthermore, we found that p21-mediated lung cellular senescence could be inhibited by silencing Pellino-1. Moreover, by constructing an adenovirus mouse model, we found that silencing Pellino-1 could inhibit COPD and inflammation via reduction of SASPs regulated by p21. Resistomycin, a potential Pellino-1 inhibitor, interrupts the interaction between Pellino-1 and p21, which accelerates the ubiquitin-dependent degradation of p21 and consequently inhibits lung cellular senescence and COPD progression. Conclusion and Implications Our study elucidated that inhibition of E3 ligase Pellino-1 exhibits therapeutic potential for treatment to attenuate the progression of lung cellular senescence and COPD.

The incorporation of phosphonate ligands into the cyclometalated iridium(III) complexes can not only tune their electronic and optical properties but also provide the possibility of anchoring these molecules on the semiconductor surfaces for further applications. Herein, we report the first examples of mononuclear cyclometallated iridium(III) complexes incorporating phosphonate ligands, namely, [Ir(ppy)2(HL1)]·0.5H2O (1), [Ir(ppy)2(HL2)]·0.5H2O (2), [Ir(dfppy)2(HL1)] (3), and [Ir(dfppy)2(HL2)]·3.5H2O (4) (ppy = 2-phenylpyridine, dfppy = 2-(2,4-difluorophenyl)pyridine, H2L1 = 2-pyridylphosphonic acid, H2L2 = 2-quinolinephosphonic acid). Luminescent spectra are studied both in solution and in the solid state, and significantly red-shifted broad emission bands are observed in complexes 2 and 4. The experimental and density functional theory (DFT) time-dependent-DFT calculation results indicate that the expansion of the aromatic conjugation length in the ancillary phosphonate ligands decreases the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital energy levels of the systems, originating from the triplet state associated with the ancillary ligand such as 3MLCT, 3LC, and 3LLCT charge-transfer transitions.

Four isostructural heptanuclear clusters [LnIr6(ppy)12(bpp)2(bppH)4](CF3SO3)·xH2O (Ir6Ln, Ln = Eu, Tb, Er, Yb) are reported, where the lanthanide ions are six-coordinated by the phosphonate oxygen donors from six [Ir(ppy)2(bpp)] (ppy− = 2-phenylpyridine, bpp2− = 2-pyridylphosphonate) chromophores. All show phosphorescence originating from the IrIII moieties. For compounds Ir6Er and Ir6Yb, field-induced slow magnetization relaxation is also observed, thus providing the first examples of Ir-Er or Ir-Yb complexes showing bifunctional phosphorescence and field-induced single ion magnet behaviors.

Background Gangliocytic paraganglioma (GP) is quite rare, and origin and entity remain to be elucidated. Case presentation A 51-year-old male presented with a sessile polyp with smooth surface measured about 1cm in diameter in the descending portion of duodenum. Pathological examination displayed a neoplasm located in submucosa, infiltrating into lamina propria. The tumor consisted of epithelioid, ganglion-like and spindle cells admixing in a haphazard way. The epithelioid cells resembled paraganglioma in cytological and architectural features, the ganglion-like cells was scattered, and the spindle cells resembled neurofibroma. Syn, MAP-2 and CgA were positive in the epithelioid and ganglion-like cells in variety and NF highlighted the ganglion-like cells. S-100 and SOX-10 were positive in the sustentacular cells around the epithelioid cells and spindle cell proliferation. PR was also positive. Conclusions Origin of GP is presumed to be related with pancreas islet. GP is supposed to be distinguished with NET G1 and designated as paraganglioma-ganglioneuroma, a kind of composite paraganglioma.

Lysine is widely used in food, medical and feed industries. The biosynthesis of l-lysine is closely related to NADPH level, but the regulation mechanism between the biosynthesis of l-lysine in C. glutamicum and the cofactor NADPH is still not clear. Here, a high intracellular NADPH level strain C. glutamicum XQ-5Δpgi::(zwf-gnd) was constructed by blocking the glycolytic pathway and overexpressing the pentose phosphate pathway in the lysine-producing strain C. glutamicum XQ-5, and the intracellular NADPH level in strain XQ-5Δpgi::(zwf-gnd) was increased from 3.57 × 10–5 nmol/(104 cells) to 1.8 × 10–4 nmol/(104 cell). Transcriptome analyses pointed to Cgl2680 as an important regulator of NADPH levels and l-lysine biosynthesis in C. glutamicum. By knocking out the gene Cgl2680, the intracellular NADPH level of the recombinant C. glutamicum lysCfbr ΔCgl2680 was raised from 7.95 × 10–5 nmol/(104 cells) to 2.04 × 10–4 nmol/(104 cells), consequently leading to a 2.3-fold increase in the NADPH/NADP+ ratio. These results indicated that the regulator Cgl2680 showed the negative regulation for NADPH regeneration. In addition, Cgl2680-deficient strain C. glutamicum lysCfbr ΔCgl2680 showed the increase of yield of both l-lysine and l-leucine as well as the increase of H2O2 tolerance. Collectively, our data demonstrated that Cgl2680 plays an important role in negatively regulating NADPH regeneration, and these results provides new insights for breeding l-lysine or l-leucine high-yielding strain.

Atypical extraventricular neurocytoma (EVN) is a rare condition characterized by diffuse tumor cell hyperplasia, increased neovascularization, increased necrosis, and aggressive characteristics. A case of a 25-year old man who presented with atypical EVN in his left parietal - occipital flaps is reported. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) revealed a well-defined globular mass with heterogeneous signals in the left parietal lobe, and mild perilesional edema. After left parietal craniotomy and tumor excision, pathologic examination of the resected tissue revealed that the lesion was localized mainly in the white matter and imbued with tumor cells possessing round hyperchromatic nuclei with perinuclear halos and increased microvascular proliferation. The patient underwent radiotherapy at 21st postoperative day. Over the past 26 months, the patient has been regularly followed up, and so far no neurologic deficits have been observed. The latest MRI showed that the tumor bed was stable with slight peritumoral edema. The results of clinical, histopathological and immunohistochemical examinations indicate that atypical EVN is a rare neoplasm with unique radiographic and pathologic characteristics. It possesses more aggressive properties than typical EVN.

Dehydrogenase pathway, one of diaminopimelate pathway, is important to the biosynthesis of L-lysine and peptidoglycan via one single reaction catalyzed by meso-diaminopimelate dehydrogenase (DapDH). In this study, the thermostable DapDH was introduced into diaminopimelate pathway that increased the final titer (from 71.8 to 119.5 g/L), carbon yield (from 35.3% to 49.1%) and productivity (from 1.80 to 2.99 g/(L∙h)) of L-lysine by LATR12-2∆rpiB::ddhSt in fed-batch fermentation. To do this, the kinetic properties and the effects of different DapDHs on L-lysine production were investigated, and the results indicated that overexpression of StDapDH in LATR12-2 was beneficial to construct an L-lysine producer with good productive performance because it exhibited the best of kinetic characteristics and optimal temperature as well as thermostability in reductive amination. Furthermore, ammonium availability was optimized, and found that 20 g/L of (NH4)2SO4 was the optimal ammonium concentration for improving the efficiency of L-lysine production by LATR12-2∆rpiB::ddhSt. Metabolomics analysis showed that introducing the StDapDH significantly enhanced carbon flux into pentose phosphate pathway and L-lysine biosynthetic pathway, thus increasing the levels of NADPH and precursors for L-lysine biosynthesis. This is the first report of a rational modification of diaminopimelate pathway that improves the efficiency of L-lysine production through overexpression of thermostable DapDH in E. coli.

The echinoderm microtubule associated protein like 4‑anaplastic lymphoma kinase (EML4‑ALK) fusion is almost mutually exclusive to epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) or K‑RAS mutation in non‑small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), and it is extremely rare for patients to exhibit both mutations. The present study reported the case of a 71-year‑old female diagnosed with adenocarcinoma, exhibiting mutations in EGFR and EML4‑ALK. The present study treated this patient with EGFR‑TK inhibitors, as the first line therapy, and gefitinib therapy revealed a good response until now. In addition, previously reported cases and associated literature were reviewed. The present study provided a greater understanding of the molecular biology and optimal treatment for patients with NSCLC with >1 driver mutation.

Online long-term tracking is a challenging problem as data streams change over time. In this paper, sparse representation has been applied to visual tracking by finding the most correct sample with minimal reconstruction error using compressed Haar-like features. However, most sparse representation tracking algorithm introduce l1 regularization into the PCA reconstruction using samples directly, which leads to complexity computation and can not adapt to occlusion, rotation and change in size. Our model updating not only uses the samples from the training set, but also generates the warped versions (include scale variation, rotation, occlusion and illumination changes) for the previous tracking result. Also, we do not use the samples in models for sparse representation directly, but the Haar-like features instead which are compressed in a very low-dimensional space. In addition, we use a robust and fast algorithm which exploits the spatio-temporal context for predicting the target location in the next frame. This step will lead to the reduction of the searching range by the detector. We demonstrate the proposed method is able to track objects well under pose and scale variation, rotation, occlusion and illumination with great real-time performance on challenging image sequences.

A variable scale compressive tracking algorithm based on structural constraint sample is presented to solve the variable scale problem in this paper. A number of scanning windows with different scales and positions are obtained by structural constraint sampling.Some sparse random sensing matrices with different scales that can be computed offline easily are adopted to extract the features of different foreground target and background sample image patches with relevant scales online, the sample patch having a maximal score is regarded as the new tracking result by classifying the compressive features via a naive bayesian classifier,meanwhile,to update the location and scale. Experimental results show the proposed algorithm performs favorably against state-of-the-art algorithms on challenging sequences in terms of the basic attitude and scale change, which is robust and does not depend on the scale selection of the initial tracking area.

The detection of small moving target in the context of complex background is a difficult issue. A method combining interframe differential registration and adaptive wiener filtering aimed to suppress background to detect moving object in complex background is proposed. The fixed background in the fore-and-aft frames can be filtered out by the interframe registration which preserves the moving target, parts of background and noise due to interframe movement and the gray-scale fluctuation. On one hand the complex background is estimated by an adaptive wiener filter, and the background suppression leaves the high-frequency regions containing the moving target in image. On the other hand, most of the high-frequency regions corresponding to non-target area are eliminated by the inter-frame registration in the differential images. The motion of target is continual in image sequences, while the position of the leaked background is relatively fixed and the noise is of small size. The fusion of the background suppression and inter-frame registration makes the discrimination of targets, background and noise possible. The small moving target is detected by trajectory association based on its interframe trajectory continuity. Experiment results verify the feasibility of the method.

A new detecting algorithm based on gray-weighted kernel function is proposed for the moving target detection (MTD) in dynamic series of image.This algorithm firstly realizes image sequence registration by using the biggest gradient point. Then divides the image into 32*32 sub-images. The moving target can be finally detected based on the changes of gray-weighted kernel function. The testing result shows that the algorithm can detect the moving target in real-time and can suppress the influence caused by image registration error and gray fluctuation effectively.

Increased delay in visiting a hospital for patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) is often associated with poor outcomes. The factors associated with the decision time were analyzed by comparing the characteristics of patients with delays longer or shorter than the median of 60 min. Pre-hospital delay tended to be longer for patients living in suburban areas compared to those in urban areas (P=0.015). Shorter decision time was more likely among older patients. Being married, medical insurance coverage, and the level of educational qualification did not affect decision time. More efforts should be paid to educate the patients with high risk in suburban areas in order to effectively reduce pre-hospital delays.

Artificial control and engineering of metal–organic framework (MOF) crystals with defects can endow them with suitable properties for applications in gas storage, separation, and catalysis. A series of defective iridium-containing MOFs, [Zn4(μ4-O)(Ir-A)2(1−x)(Ir-B)2x] (ZnIr-MOF-dx), were synthesized by doping heterostructured linker Ir-BH3 into the parent [Zn4(μ4-O)(Ir-A)2] (ZnIr-MOF), in which Ir-AH3 represents [Ir(ppy-COOH)3] (ppyCOOH=3-(pyridin-2-yl)benzoic acid) and Ir-BH3 is [Ir(ppy-COOH)2(2-pyPO3H)] (2-pyPO3H2=2-pyridylphosphonic acid). Samples with different degrees of defects were characterized by SEM, IR and NMR spectroscopy, powder XRD measurements, and thermal and elemental analyses. ZnIr-MOF-d0.3 was selected as a representative for gas (N2, CO2) or vapor (H2O, alcohol) sorption studies. The results demonstrate that defective ZnIr-MOF-d0.3 possesses multiple pore size distributions, ranging from micro- to mesopores, unlike the parent material, which shows a uniform micropore distribution. The hydrophilicity of the interior surface is also increased after defect engineering. As a result, ZnIr-MOF-d0.3 shows an enhanced adsorption capability toward n-butanol, relative to that of the parent compound. Optical studies reveal that both ZnIr-MOF and ZnIr-MOF-d0.3 have low band gaps (2.35 and 2.40 eV), corresponding to semiconductors. ZnIr-MOF-d0.3 exhibits dramatically increased photocatalytic efficiency for dye degradation.

Background Xanthoma disseminatum (XD) is a rare benign histiocytic proliferating disease of non-Langerhans cell origin, which is clinically mainly characterized by cutaneous or mucous lesions. Although XD is acknowledged of one systematic disease, involvement of the central nervous system is quite rare. Case presentation We presented one 34-year-old Chinese female with disseminated intracranial XD without cutaneous or oral mucosal papules and masses of the other organs. MR imaging displayed multiple heterogeneous masses with intense enhancement in the right frontal lobe, temporal lobe, corpus callosum, left cuneus, suprasellar region, and right cerebellum. Pathological examination showed a neoplastic lesion composed of plentiful epitheloid or spindle cells. The cell had pink cytoplasm of vacuolation and foam with deviated nucleus absent of atypia and mitosis. The histiocytic markers including CD163, CD11c, Mac387 and CD68 were positive, whereas S-100, CD1a, GFAP, CD21, CD23 and so on were negative immunohistochemically. Conclusions Intracranial XD without systemic involvement was extremely rare, which was supposed to be considered in differential diagnosis with other neoplasms of histiocytic origin or gliomas.

Although alloy QCr0.5 has been used as the contact materials in the high-voltage equipment extensively, but it always confronts the awkwardness of over aging in the heat treatment, and results in brittleness during the switching on and breaking process. In the present work by the technology of interalloy-adding, the Zr-containing alloy Cu-0.8Cr-0.2Zr has been prepared and investigated. The results of the microstructure and properties indicate that the alloy matrix maintains FCC microstructure and lots of Zr-containing precipitation is dispersed in the matrix uniformly. The brinell hardness, the ultimate tensile strength and the elastic modulus increase greatly, reach 140 MPa, 430 Mpa and 130 GPa respectively, meanwhile the electric conductivity maintains 75%IACS and the softening temperature is up to 550 °C.

Data on the association between age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and cardiovascular disease and mortality are conflicting. The purpose of this report is to conduct a systematic review to better understand the role of AMD as a risk factor for CVD events and mortality. We searched Medline (Ovid) and Embase (Ovid) for trials published from 1980 to 2015. We included 20 cohort studies that reported relative risks with 95% confidence intervals for the association of AMD and cardiovascular events and mortality, involving 29,964,334 participants. In a random-effects model, the adjusted RR (95% confidence interval [CI]) associated with AMD was 1.08 (1.00–1.117) for all-cause mortality (8 studies) and 1.18 (0.98–1.43) for cardiovascular disease mortality (5 studies). The pooled RR (95% CI) was 1.17 (0.94–1.45) for coronary heart disease (CHD; 3 studies) and 1.13 (0.93–1.36) for stroke (8 studies). Findings from this systematic review support that AMD is associated with increased risk of all-cause mortality. The evidence that AMD predicts incident CVD events or CVD mortality remains inclusive and warrants further study in the future.

Dyslipidemia increases the risks for atherosclerosis in part by impairing endothelial integrity. Endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) are thought to contribute to endothelial recovery after arterial injury. Oxidized low-density lipoprotein (ox-LDL) can induce EPC dysfunction, but the underlying mechanism is not well understood. Human EPCs were cultured in endothelial growth medium supplemented with VEGF (10 ng/mL) and bFGF (10 ng/mL). The cells were treated with ox-LDL (50 µg/mL). EPC proliferation was assayed by using CCK8 kits. Expression and translocation of nuclear factor-kabba B (NF-κB) were evaluated. The level of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in cells was measured using H2DCF-DA as a fluorescence probe. The activity of NADPH oxidase activity was determined by colorimetric assay. Ox-LDL significantly decreased the proliferation, migration, and adhesion capacity of EPCs, while significantly increased ROS production and NADPH oxidase expression. Ox-LDL induced NF-κB P65 mRNA expression and translocation in EPCs. Thus ox-LDL can induce EPC dysfunction at least by increasing expression and translocation of NF-κB P65 and NADPH oxidase activity, which represents a new mechanism of lipidemia-induced vascular injury.

Background. Macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) is a proinflammatory cytokine. This study explored the association of 173G/C polymorphism of the MIF gene with coronary heart disease (CHD).Methods. Sequencing was carried out after polymerase chain reaction with DNA specimens from 186 volunteers without CHD and 70 patients with CHD. Plasma MIF levels on admission were measured by ELISA. Patients were classified into either stable angina pectoris (SAP) or unstable angina pectoris (UAP). Genotype distribution between cases and controls and the association of patients’ genotypes with MIF level and plaque stability were statistically evaluated (ethical approval number: 2012-01).Results. The frequency of the C genotype was higher in CHD patients than in the control (P=0.014). The frequency of the 173*CC genotype was higher in CHD patients than in the control (P=0.005). The plasma MIF level was higher in MIF173*C carriers than in MIF173*G carriers (P=0.033). CHD patients had higher plasma MIF levels than the control (P=0.000). Patients with UAP had higher plasma MIF levels than patients with SAP (P=0.014).Conclusions. These data suggest that MIF −173G/C polymorphism may be related to the development of CHD in a Chinese population. Plasma MIF level is a predictor of plaque stability. This trial is registered withNCT01750502.

To study the clinicopathologic features and differential diagnosis of proximal gastric mucosa and mucosa of Barrett's esophagus (BE) in biopsy specimens.Thirty-eight cases of Barrett's esophagus (diagnosed using WHO criteria) and 44 cases of proximal gastric mucosa were studied by immunohistochemistry (for CK7, CK20, CK4, CK8, S-100 protein, MUC6, COX2 and bcl-2) and fluorescence in-situ hybridization (FISH) (for hTERC gene). The pathologic features were analyzed.The differences in expression of CK7, CK20, MUC6, COX2 and bcl-2 between BE and proximal gastric mucosa with intestinal metaplasia were not statistically significant (P0.05). There was however a statistically significant difference in expression of S-100 protein (P0.05). The expression of CK7/CK4 and CK7/CK8 in BE showed positive correlation (P0.05). However, such correlation was not demonstrated in proximal gastric mucosa (P0.05). The results of hTERC gene expression by FISH showed a statistically significant difference between the two groups: 57.9% (22/38) in BE and 13.6% (6/44) in proximal gastric mucosa (P0.05).The significance of CK7 and CK20 expression is uncertain in the differential diagnosis between BE and proximal gastric mucosa. On the other hand, positivity for CK7/CK4/CK8 may support the diagnosis of BE and play a role in distinguishing between the two groups. S-100 protein expression and detection of hTERC gene amplification also contribute to the diagnosis of BE.

Background To explore metal implants’ thermal effect on radiofrequency ablation (RFA) and ascertain distance-thermal relationship between the metal implants and radiofrequency (RF) electrode. Methods Metal implants models were established in seven in-vitro porcine livers using silver clips or 125I seeds. RFA were conducted centering the RF electrode axis1 cm away from them, with one side containing a metal implants model the test group and the other side the control group. The thermometric needles were used to measure multi-point temperatures in order to compare the time-distance-temperature difference between the two groups. The gross scopes of the ablation of the two groups were measured and the tissues were analyzed for microscopic histology. Results At the ablation times of 8, 12, and 15 min, the average multi-point temperatures of the test group and the control group were 48.2±18.07°C, 51.5±19.57°C, 54.6±19.75°C, and 48.6±17.69°C, 52.2±19.73°C, 54.9±19.24°C, respectively, and the differences were not statistically significant (n=126, P>0.05). At the ablation times of 12 and 15 min, the ablation scopes of the test group and the control group were (horizontal/longitudinal diameter) 1.55/3.48 cm, 1.89/3.72 cm, and 1.56/3.48 cm, 1.89/3.72 cm, respectively, and the differences were not statistically significant (n=14, P>0.05). The two groups had the same manifestations in microscopy. Conclusions Metal implants do not cause significant thermal effect on RFA.

Summary We evaluated factors limiting lactating Mongolian gerbils (Meriones unguiculatus) at three temperatures (10°C, 21°C and 30°C). Energy intake and daily energy expenditure (DEE) increased with decreased ambient temperature. At peak lactation (day 14 of lactation), energy intake increased from 148.7 ± 5.7 kJ.day-1 at 30°C to 213.1 ± 8.2 kJ.day-1 at 21°C and 248.7 ± 12.3 kJ.day-1 at 10°C. DEE increased from 105.1 ± 4.0 kJ.day-1 at 30°C to 134.7 ± 5.6 kJ.day-1 at 21°C and 179.5 ± 8.4kJ.day-1 at 10°C on days 14-16 of lactation. With nearly identical mean litter sizes lactating gerbils at 30°C exported 32.0 kJ.day-1 less energy as milk at peak lactation, than those allocated to 10°C or 21°C, with no difference between the latter groups. On day 14 of lactation, the litter masses at 10°C and 30°C were 12.2 g and 9.3 g lower than those at 21°C, respectively. Lactating gerbils had higher thermal conductance of the fur, and lower UCP-1 levels in brown adipose tissue than non-reproductive gerbils, independent of ambient temperature, suggesting they were attempting to avoid heat stress. Thermal conductance of the fur was positively related to circulating prolactin levels. We implanted non-reproductive gerbils with mini-osmotic pumps that delivered either prolactin or saline. Prolactin did not influence thermal conductance of the fur, but did reduce physical activity and UCP-1 levels in BAT. Transferring lactating gerbils from warm to hot conditions resulted in reduced milk production, consistent with the heat dissipation limit theory, but transferring them from warm to cold conditions did not elevate milk production, consistent with peripheral limitation hypothesis or constraints on pup growth.

OBJECTIVE: Numerous studies have demonstrated the role of Helicobacter pylori infection in the pathogenesis of gastric MALT lymphoma and the present study aimed to analyze this correlation in Chinese patients. METHODS: Thirty-five cases of primary gastrointestinal non-Hodgkin's lymphoma that had been surgically resected and pathologically examined during the past 20 years were collected. The tissue samples were re-examined by a physician from the pathology department. Immunohistochemical staining and H. pylori tests were conducted. The clinical diagnosis of gastric MALT lymphoma and the results of therapy were analyzed. RESULTS: According to the immunohistochemistry results, 21 cases were MALT lymphoma, and of these 16 were gastric MALT lymphoma, one was intestinal MALT lymphoma and four were colonic MALT lymphoma. Of the 16 samples of gastric MALT lymphoma, 13 were positive for H. pylori infection and three could not be evaluated because the sample was full of cancer cells. Of the cases of gastric MALT lymphoma, two were stage I1, five were stage II1, and nine were stage IIE. Eleven patients underwent endoscopy: three were misinterpreted as gastric carcinoma, one was diagnosed as Menetrier's disease, one as chronic atrophic gastritis, and only six cases were correctly diagnosed before surgery. Eradication of H. pylori in one patient with gastric MALT lymphoma resulted in regression of the lesion; that patient was followed up for 3 years without relapse. Fifteen cases underwent surgery and 10 were followed up for 5 years: four relapsed within 1−2 years after operation and six remained well. CONCLUSION: There is a close relationship between H. pylori infection and gastric MALT lymphoma. Early gastric MALT lymphoma can be cured after eradication of H. pylori. The depth of the lesion should be diagnosed by echoendoscopy and therapy should be chosen on the basis of the stage of the disease.

Context : Exon 3 mutation of β-catenin is associated with the carcinogenesis. Aims: In this study we aimed to detect the expression of exon 3 mutations of β-catenin in colorectal TSA, TA/VTA, and CRC. Materials and Methods : Immunohistochemistry staining for β-catenin was performed for 30 TSA, 20 tubular adenomas (TA)/villous tubular adenomas (VTA), and 21 colorectal carcinoma (CRC) cases. DNA sequencing of the exon 3 of β-catenin gene was performed for 8 TSA cases, 6 TA cases, 5 VTA cases, and 10 CRC cases with positive staining in the nuclei and cytoplasm. Statistical Analysis: A Fisher exact test and chi-square test were used to analyze the differentiations of the expression of β-catenin in TSA, TA/VTA, and CRC. Results : The percentages of β-catenin expression in TSA, TA/VTA, and CRC were 76.6% (23/30), 70.0% (14/20), and 95.2% (20/21), respectively, and were significantly different among these three types of tissue specimens (χ2 = 22.805, P < 0.001). Although β-catenin expression levels in TSA were not related to it in TA/VTA, they were significantly different between TSA/TA/VTA and CRC. The degree of dysplasia was well correlated with β-catenin expression (TSA: P < 0.01; TA/VTA: P < 0.05). But β-catenin exon 3 mutations were not detected in any of these tissue specimens. Conclusions : Aberrant β-catenin expression is associated with the degree of dysplasia in TSA. β-catenin likely plays an important role in the pathogenesis of colorectal TSA and conventional adenomas.

To study the serrated lesions of colon and to compare the malignant potential between traditional serrated adenomas (TSA) and conventional adenomas (CAD).A total of 5347 cases of colorectal polyps encountered in five regional hospitals during a five-year period were retrospectively reviewed. The serrated lesions were classified on the basis of histologic examination. One hundred and eighty-seven cases of CAD (including 160 cases of tubular adenoma and 27 cases of villous adenoma) and 36 cases of invasive adenocarcinoma were randomly selected as the controls. The degree of dysplasia and expressions of Ki-67, p53 and beta-catenin in TSA and CAD were compared.Amongst the 5347 colorectal polyps studied, 258 cases (4.8%) of serrated lesions were found, which included 112 cases (43.4%, 112/258) of hyperplastic polyp, 78 cases (30.2%, 78/258) of TSA and 26 cases (10.1%, 26/258) of sessile serrated adenoma. Sixty-two cases of TSA were identified from 3 hospitals, in which moderate dysplasia was found in 13 cases. High-grade intraepithelial neoplasia and ICA were found in 6 cases (9.6%). Compared with the 187 cases of CAD, moderate dysplasia were found in 27 cases and high-grade intraepithelial neoplasia and invasive adenocarcinoma were found in 25 cases (13.3%, χ(2) = 19.373, P = 0.000). There was statistically significant difference between TSA and CAD in the degree of dysphasia. The expression of Ki-67, p53 and beta-catenin in TSA and CAD showed no significant difference (P0.05).The incidence of serrated lesions is lower in northern Chinese population than that in Caucasians. TSA has obvious malignant potential; but the rate associated with high-grade intraepithelial neoplasia and invasive adenocarcinoma is lower than that in CAD.

To investigate the clinicopathological characteristics and expression status of Ki67, p53, CEA, CDX, CK7 in colorectal sessile serrated adenoma (SSA).The clinicopathological data of 11 cases of SSA, 51 cases of hyperplastic polyp (HP) and one case with mixed HP/SSA were reviewed and analyzed retrospectively. The expression of Ki67, p53, CEA, CDX and CK7 were detected by immunohistochemistry.The major histological features in SSA were architectural abnormality in crypts, dilatation of serrated crypt bases like an inverted "T" or "L" shape adjacent to muscularis mucosa. Atypical cells containing round to oval nuclei and nucleoli were also observed. The immunohistochemical staining showed that the expression of p53 increased gradually from HP to TA: 11.8% in HP, 20.0% in SSA, 41.2% in VTA and 75.0% in TA, with a significant difference among the groups (chi(2) = 17.996, P = 0.000). However, no significant difference in the expression of CDX and CK7 was observed between HP and SSA. Of the 10 SSA cases, positive expression of Ki67 was found in cells located in the base or middle part of crypt in 6 cases, positive cells index was 26% - 50% in 5 cases, and50% in 3. Compared with the expression of Ki67 in the HP, VTA and VA, SSA showed a significant difference in both the positive cell number and in the positive regions. (positive number: chi(2) = 34.601, P = 0.000; positive regions: chi(2) = 63.077, P = 0.000).Morphological diagnosis of SSA was mainly based on crypt architectural and cellular abnormalities, and the crypt architectural abnormality may be more important than cellular features. Detection of p53 and Ki67 expression may be helpful in differential diagnosis and understanding the nature of SSA.

To verify the traditional serrated pathway by comparing microsatellite instability (MSI) status among traditional serrated adenoma, traditional adenoma, serrated colorectal cancer and non-serrated colorectal cancer.Seventy-five paraffin-embedded tissue samples, including 15 with serrated adenocarcinoma (Sca), 20 with non-serrated adenocarcinoma (N-Sca), 20 with traditional serrated adenoma (TSA) and 20 with villous adenoma (AD) were collected from the pathology department of our hospital. Genomic DNA was extracted from these samples and then amplified with fluorescently-labeled primer specific for BAT25 and BAT26. The MSI status was detected with DNA automatic sequencer.Six of 18 samples with TSA harbored MSI-H and twelve MSI-L/MSS; 18 samples with conventional adenoma were exclusively of MSS; 3 of 13 samples of serrated carcinoma harbored MSI-H and ten MSI-L/MSS; 18 of 19 N-Sca samples harbored MSI-L/MSS and only one MSI-H. With Chi-square test, the MSI frequency in AD group and N-Sca group was significantly lower than that in TSA group and Sca group (P0.05); but with no statistical difference between the TSA group and Sca groups (P0.05).MSI-H frequency in AD group and N-Sca group was obviously lower than that of TSA group and Sca group. It is concluded that there might be a new traditional serrated neoplasia pathway which is different from the conventional adenoma-carcinoma carcinogenesis pathway, but we still need prospective follow-up studies to verify its existence.

To study the clinicopathologic features and proliferative status of colorectal hyperplastic polyp (HP), sessile serrated adenoma (SSA) and traditional serrated adenoma (TSA).One hundred and four cases colorectal serrated lesions were collected from 2628 cases of colorectal polyps during the period from November, 2002 to December, 2007. The clinicopathologic features and expression of proliferation marker Ki-67 were studied.On the basis of morphologic examination, 60 cases were classified as HP, 20 cases as TSA, 11 cases as SSA, 7 cases as mixed HP/SSA/TSA, and 6 cases as mixed serrated polyp/adenoma and tubular adenoma. Immunohistochemical study for Ki-67 showed that 40 cases (78%) of the 51 cases of HP were either mostly negative or rarely (25% cells) positive. Most of the positive cells were located at crypt bases. Among the 15 cases of TSA, 11 of them revealed positive cryptal cells (25% to 50% or50% positivity). Most of the positive cells were located in mid portion of crypts. The number and distribution of Ki-67 positive cells in SSA were similar to those in TSA but were significantly different from those in tubular adenoma and adenocarcinoma (chi2=34.601, P=0.000; chi2=63.077, P=0.000, respectively).HP, SSA and TSA have their morphologic characteristics, with some overlapping features noted. The distinction between SSA and HP can be difficult. Diagnosis of SSA relies mostly on architectural rather than cytologic features. The distinction between TSA and SSA depends mainly on the presence of dysplasia. Ectopic crypt formation is almost exclusively seen in TSA. The distribution and percentage of Ki-67-positive cells are also helpful in subtyping of various colorectal serrated lesions. In general, the proliferative index is lower in serrated adenoma (TSA or SSA) than in tubular adenoma.

To investigate the viral oncogene homolog B1 (BRAF) mutation frequency in serrated colorectal adenocarcinoma (Sca), and to verify the existence of a new serrated pathway indirectly.75 paraffin-embedded tissue samples, including 15 cases of Sca, 20 cases of traditional serrated adenoma (TSA), 20 cases of non-serrated adenocarcinoma (NS-ca), and 20 cases of villous adenoma, were reviewed. Nest-PCR was used to amplify the exon 15 fragment of BRAF gene. RFLP assay was used to detect the BRAF V600E mutation. The positive samples were verified by direct sequencing.Four of the 11 successfully amplified Sca specimens (4/11, 36.4%), and 4 of the 15 TSA samples (4/15, 26.7%) harbored BRAF V600E mutation. However, no BRAF V600E mutation was found in the 14 NS-ca samples and the 11 villous adenoma specimens. The BRAF V600E mutation frequencies of the villous adenoma group and NS-ca group were significantly lower than those of the TSA group and Sca group (P = 0.0084); however, there was no statistical difference in the frequency of BRAF V600E mutation between the Sca and TSA groups (P0.05).BRAF V600E mutation frequency is significantly higher in the Sca and TSA patients than in the NS-ca and villous adenoma patients. There is actually a new serrated neoplasia pathway different from the traditional adenoma-carcinoma carcinogenesis pathway.

The chemisorption geometry within a dense benzene overlayer on Pd(111) has been investigated by a combination of NEXAFS, UPS and XPS. It is demonstrated that the molecule can adopt a tilted configuration with the molecular plane inclined at 30 ° to the metal surface. This finding provides a highly satisfactory explanation for the unexpectedly high efficiency of low-temperature acetylene → benzene conversion on Pd(111).

The bonding and orientation of ethylene on Pd(111) at low temperature have been characterized by NEXAFS and photoelectron spectroscopy. UPS shows that ethylene is {pi}-bonded to palladium, while NEXAFS demonstrate unequivocally that the molecule adopts a flat-lying geometry on the metal surface, with a slight weakening of the C-C bond. At 100 K the saturation coverage is 0.42 ethylene molecules per surface unit cell. On annealing to 300 K, both XPS and UPS indicate that chemisorbed ethylene desorbs essentially reversibly from the surface with no detectable conversion of decomposition to other species.

To explore reproductive health condition of college students in Shanghai and provide scientific basis for reproductive health education.From July 2004 to March 2005, 1192 college students (majors including medicine, science and engineering, arts and culture; 618 medical students and 549 non-medical; 555 male and 612 female) from seven time-day colleges in Shanghai were investigated with a reproductive health questionnaire involving sex. The questionnaire was constituted by 72 topics, involving the need of education, sex attitude, sex videos, sex hygiene knowledge and sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), etc.39.33% (459/1167) students thought they had accepted formal sex education; 49.19% (574/1167) students chose lecture as the favorite way; 41.90% (489/1167) students thought the reproductive health education would not increase the incidence of premarital sexual behavior; 64.10% (748/1167) students thought it was necessary to give college students reproductive health instructions and knowledge. On the other hand, we found 45.05% (250/555) boys and 27.45% (168/612) girls could accept the premarital sexual behaviors; 35.32% (196/555) boys and 39.38% (241/612) girls could accept premarital pregnancy; 44.39% (518/1167) students could calculate the safe period accurately; 71.38% (833/1167) students knew emergency contraception measures; 57.67% (673/1167) students knew how to and when to use condoms; To our surprise, only 2.19% (12/549) non-medical students and 12.14% (75/618) medical students knew exactly the whole 4 sexually transmitted diseases that needed to be essentially prevented in China.At present, the reproductive health condition of college students in Shanghai is sophisticated. Much more education on sex safety, self-protection skills and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) knowledge, etc should be reinforced.

To evaluate the expression pattern of PH20 in primary and metastatic breast cancer and its relationship to tumor metastatic potential.Anti-PH20 antibody was synthesized by injection of conjugated human PH20 peptides into rabbits. Immunohistochemical study was performed on 53 cases of human breast cancer. Western blot was used to detect PH20 expression in 5 cases of breast cancer with available fresh tissue. Two oligonucleotide probes were prepared for in-situ hybridization using breast tissue microarray.Normal breast tissue did not express PH20 (0/3), while 58.4% (31/53) of breast cancer cases did. The highest expression rate was found in metastatic foci in regional lymph nodes (83.3%), followed by primary breast cancer tissue in cases with lymph node secondaries (70.8%). The breast cancer cases with no any metastasis had an expression rate of 48.2%. The immunohistochemical staining results were further confirmed by Western blotting. In-situ hybridization showed PH20 RNA in 75% of the breast cancer tissue (21/28). Two of the 17 cases of normal breast tissue showed weak expression in some ductolobular units.The expression of PH20 has a positive correlation with metastatic potential in breast cancer. It is possible that PH20 may play an important role in the invasive growth and metastasis of breast cancer cells, via mechanisms such as digestion of surrounding stromal tissue and release of FGF-2.