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ObjectiveTo investigate the difference in intestinal flora between hepatitis B liver cirrhosis (HBLC) patients with or without ascites. MethodsA total of 57 patients with HBLC who visited Shuguang Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine from October to December 2016 were enrolled, among whom 30 had no ascites (HBLC-WOA group) and 27 had ascites without spontaneous peritonitis (SBP) (HBLC-WA group), and 28 healthy volunteers were enrolled as healthy controls (HC group). Intestinal flora was compared between the two groups of HBLC patients using 16S rRNA sequencing. The Wilcoxon rank sum test was used for comparison of categorical data between two groups, and the Mann-Whitney U test was used for comparison of continuous data between two groups; the Kruskal-Wallis H test was used for comparison of continuous variables between more than two groups. Multiple hypothesis tests were used for comparison of relative abundance between species and was adjusted by Benjamini and Hochberg false discovery rate (fdr), and Pfdr＜0.05 was considered statistically significant. The Spearman rank correlation test was used for correlation analysis. An analysis of similarity (ANOSIM) and a non-parametric multivariate analysis of variance (Adonis) were used for comparison between groups under different conditions. ResultsThe abundance of fecal microbiota gradually decreased with the appearance of ascites in HBLC patients (P=0042). There were significant differences between the HBLC-WOA group and the HC group (ANOSIM: R=0.159, P=0.001; Adonis: R2=0067, P=0.001) and between the HBLC-WA group and the HC group (ANOSIM: R=0.323, P=0.001; Adonis: R2=0.107, P=0001). At the genus level, compared with the HC group, the HBLC-WA group had significant reductions in the abundance of Subdoligranulum and Pseudobutyrivibrio (P＜0.01 and P＜0.001) and significant increases in the abundance of Enterobacter, Escherichia, and Veillonella (P＜0.05, P＜0.001, and P＜0.01). Escherichia and Veillonella were positively correlated with Child-Turcotte-Pugh (CTP) score, prothrombin time, and international normalized ratio and were negatively correlated with serum albumin (Alb) level (all P＜0.05). Pseudobutyrivibrio, norank_f_Lachnospiraceae, unclassified_f_Lachnospiraceae, and Blautia were positively correlated with Alb level and were negatively correlated with CTP score and C-reactive protein level (all P＜0.05). The KEGG pathway analysis showed that with the appearance of ascites, there were gradual increases in the abundance of the pathways associated with transcription-related proteins, alpha-linolenic acid metabolism, Staphylococcus aureus infection, bacterial invasion of epithelial cells, and bile secretion (all Pfdr＜0.05), as well as a gradual reduction in the abundance of the pathway associated with the biosynthesis of flavonoids (Pfdr＜0.05). The pathway associated with bacterial invasion of epithelial cells was positively correlated with the abundance of Escherichia (P＜0.001), and the abundance of Enterobacter was positively correlated with the pathway of bile secretion (P＜0.001). ConclusionIntestinal flora disturbance is observed in HBLC-WA patients, featuring the reductions in the abundance of Subdoligranulum and Pseudobutyrivibrio belonging to Firmicutes and the increases in the abundance of Enterobacter and Escherichia belonging to Proteobacteria. Enterobacter may be involved in the pathway of bile secretion, and Escherichia may be involved in the pathway associated with bacterial invasion of epithelial cells. It is suggested that regulation of intestinal flora, as well as the prophylactic treatment of SBP, should be considered for HBLC-WA patients without SBP.

Herein, we report a simple method towards a hierarchical porous carbon material using biomass rice husk ash as the carbon resource. The carbon material possesses a hierarchical pore structure after a pre-treatment and calcination procedure. The specific surface area of the resulting rice husk porous carbon (RHPC) shows an evident increase in its capacitance due to the effective area of contact between the electrolyte solution and electrode material. The RHPC delivers a great specific capacitance of 260 F g−1 at 1 A g−1 and exhibits outstanding rate capability with an excellent charging/discharging cycle stability (14% loss after 10 000 cycles) at a current density of 20 A g−1. The RHPC shows an excellent electrochemical performance attributed to the large surface area and good electrical conductivity. The porous carbon from biomass rice husk ash shows the potential of the application in energy storage.

Spontaneous bacterial peritonitis (SBP) is a major complication of liver cirrhosis. In recent years, with the development of biotechnology, such as high-throughput sequencing and intestinal metagenomics, the role of intestinal flora in liver diseases has been taken more and more seriously. Bacterial translocation, especially the translocation of Gram-negative enteric bacilli, is involved in the development and progression of SBP. This article briefly describes the factors related to the development and progression of SBP and the important role of intestinal flora in SBP. The improvement in biotechnology clarifies the role of intestinal flora in diseases, and restoration of balanced intestinal flora may become a new method for the prevention and treatment of SBP.

Graphitic carbon nitride sheets (GCNS) were obtained through the direct ultrasonic exfoliation of bulk GCN in pure water, and hybridized heterojunction structures between the TiO2 nanorods and GCNS were fabricated by a facile production method. The introduction of GCNS can significantly increase the reactive sites for photocatalysis, form an efficient contact with TiO2 nanorods, and expand the visible-light-responsive region. The photocatalytic activities of TiO2 nanorods/GCNS under visible-light irradiation were about 3- and 10-times those of bulk GCN and TiO2 nanorods, respectively. The excellent photocatalytic performance of the TiO2 nanorods/GCNS was mainly attributed to the high separation and migration rate of electron–hole pairs and the efficient utilization of visible light.

Tao Han,1,* Jianjun Chen,1,* Yuting Luan,2,* Xiaoxia Chen,1,* Xiaodan Yang,1 Yue Zhang,1 Gao Li,2 Di Wang,3 Zhendong Zheng1 1Department of Oncology, Cancer Center of People’s Liberation Army, General Hospital of Shenyang Military Region, Shenyang 110840, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of Clinical Pharmacy, Shenyang Pharmaceutical University, Shenyang 110840, People’s Republic of China; 3Department of Pathology, General Hospital of Shenyang Military Region, Shenyang 110840, People’s Republic of China *These authors contributed equally to this work Abstract: Embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma (ERMS) has a low prevalence, poor prognosis, and limited treatment efficacy. We report a case of an 18-year-old male whose disease relapsed in the abdominal cavity after a testicular ERMS curative resection. The patient received eight sequential cycles of rescue therapy using cisplatin and isocyclophosphamide in combination with a vascular targeted drug, Endostar. The therapeutic effect of the combination regimen has been evaluated for complete response. This is the first case to report using Endostar and chemotherapy in relapsed ERMS, and the curative effect results in complete response. Endostar, a new vascular targeted drug, combined with chemotherapy may play a synergistic role and provide a reference for the treatment of ERMS. Keywords: embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma, metastasis, complete response, endogenous angiogenesis inhibitor