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In this study, the magnetic UiO-66 composite was prepared and used as an adsorbent to effectively remove Rhodamine B (RhB) from water. The as-prepared magnetic MOFs composites not only retain the unique structure and properties of MOFs materials, but also can be quickly recovered and separated from aqueous solution by applying a magnetic field. The effects of contact time, initial concentration on the adsorption properties were studied. For RhB, pseudo-second-order model and Langmuir model could well explain the adsorption process of magnetic UiO-66 composite, indicating that the adsorption process of the RhB was mainly performed by chemisorption on uniform surface, and the maximum adsorption capacity is 188.68 mg/g. The possible mechanism for RhB was further proposed, revealing that electrostatic interactions, π-π stacking interactions mainly affected the adsorption process.

OBJECTIVE In this study, the authors aimed to create a nomogram for precisely predicting the 5-year prospective hemorrhage risk in brainstem cavernous malformations (BSCMs). METHODS Patients with confirmed BSCMs in a single-center prospective observational series from January 2012 to December 2016 were included in the present study for nomogram building and validation. The concordance index (C-index), calibration curves, and decision curve analysis were used to evaluate the predictive accuracy, discriminative ability, and clinical usefulness of the nomogram. Then, a nomogram-based risk stratification model for untreated BSCMs was developed. RESULTS In total, 600 patients were included in the study; 417 patients who had been enrolled before July 2015 were divided into the training and validation cohorts, and 183 subsequently enrolled patients were used as the external validation cohort. By applying a backward stepwise procedure in the multivariable Cox model, variables, including prior hemorrhage (HR 1.69), hemorrhage on admission (HR 3.33), lesion size > 1.5 cm (HR 1.84), lesion depth (HR 2.35), crossing the axial midpoint (HR 1.94), and developmental venous anomaly (HR 2.62), were incorporated to develop a nomogram. The Harrell C-index values for a 5-year prospective hemorrhage were 0.752 (95% CI 0.687–0.816), 0.801 (95% CI 0.665–0.936), and 0.758 (95% CI 0.674–0.842) in the training, internal validation, and external validation cohorts, respectively. The nomogram performed well in terms of consistency between prediction and actual observation according to the calibration curve. The patients could be classified into three distinct (low, medium, and high) risk groups using the final score of this nomogram. CONCLUSIONS Independent predictors of the 5-year hemorrhage risk in untreated BSCMs were selected to create the first nomogram for predicting individual prospective hemorrhage. The nomogram was able to stratify patients into different risk groups and assist in clinical decision-making.

As of 2022, inactivated SARS-CoV-2 vaccines had been used in more than 91 countries. However, limited real world information was available on the immune responses of the inactivated SARS-CoV-2 vaccine.We used SARS-CoV-2 pseudovirues to determine the neutralizing antibodies (NAbs) to wild type and several global variants and utilized enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay to investigate IFN-γ-secreting T-cell responses to SARS-CoV-2 among 240 vaccinated individuals after two doses of inactivated vaccine in China.A majority of the vaccinated (90%) developed robust NAbs and T-cell responses to SARS-CoV-2 in the first two months after the second dose. After six months, only 37.0% and 44.0% of vaccinees had NAbs and T-cell immunity to SARS-CoV-2, respectively. Immune serum retained most of its neutralizing potency against the Alpha and Iota variants, but lost significant neutralizing potency against the Beta, Kappa, Delta, and Omicron variants. Only 40% of vaccine-sera retained low-level neutralization activities to Omicron, with a 14.7-fold decrease compared to the wild type.The inactivated SARS-CoV-2 vaccine stimulated robust NAbs and T-cell immune responses in the first two months after the second dose but the immune effect dropped rapidly, highlighing that a third dose or additional booster immunizations may be required to boost immunity against SARS-CoV-2.

Hemorrhage of brainstem cavernous malformation (CM) would cause various symptoms and severe disability. The study aimed to elaborate on the 5-year actuarial cumulative hazard of symptomatic hemorrhage. Patients diagnosed in our institute between 2009 and 2013 were prospectively registered. All clinical data were obtained, follow-up was performed, and risk factors were evaluated. Four hundred sixty-eight patients (217 female, 46.4%) were included in the study with a median follow-up duration of 79.0 months. A total of 137 prospective hemorrhages occurred in 107 patients (22.9%) during 1854.0 patient-years. Multivariate Cox analysis found age ≥ 55 years (hazard ratio (HR) 2.166, p = 0.002), DVA (HR 1.576, p = 0.026), superficial-seated location (HR 1.530, p = 0.047), and hemorrhage on admission (HR 2.419, p = 0.026) as independent risk factors for hemorrhage. The 5-year cumulative hazard of hemorrhage was 30.8% for the overall cohort, 47.8% for 60 patients with age ≥ 55 years, 43.7% for 146 patients with DVA, 37.9% for 272 patients with superficial-seated lesions, and 37.2% for 341 patients with hemorrhage on admission. As a stratified analysis, within subcohort of 341 patients with a hemorrhagic presentation, age ≥ 55 years (HR 3.005, p 0.001), DVA (HR 1.801, p = 0.010), and superficial-seated location (HR 2.276, p = 0.001) remained independently significant. The 5-year cumulative hazard of hemorrhage was 52.0% for 119 patients with both DVA and hemorrhagic presentation. The 5-year cumulative hemorrhagic risk was 30.8% and was higher in subgroups if harboring risk factors that helped to predict potential hemorrhagic candidates and were useful for treatment decision-making.Clinical Trial Registration-URL: http://www.chictr.org.cn Unique identifier: ChiCTR-POC-17011575.

There was a lack of natural history of incidental brainstem cavernous malformations (CMs), hemorrhage of which would lead to severe neuropathies. The study aimed to evaluate the prospective hemorrhage rate and neurological outcome of the disease. This prospective cohort included patients with incidental brainstem CMs referred to our institute from 2009 to 2015. The diagnosis was confirmed based on the patients' complain, physical examination, and radiographic evidence. Clinical data were collected, scheduled follow-up was performed, and the independent risk factors were identified by multivariate analysis. This cohort included 48 patients (22 female, 45.8%). The median follow-up duration was 60.7 months, and 13 prospective hemorrhages occurred within 244.0 patient-years yielding an annual hemorrhage rate of 5.3%. The hemorrhage-free survival at 1 and 5 years was 91.6% and 80.6%. Age ≥ 55 years (hazard ratio (HR) = 8.59, p = 0.003), lesion size (per 1-mm increase) (HR = 3.55, p = 0.041), developmental venous anomaly (HR = 10.28, p = 0.017), and perilesional edema (HR = 4.90, p = 0.043) were independent risk factors for hemorrhage. Seven patients (14.6%) received surgical resection, and the other 41 patients remained under observation. Neurological function was improved in 22 patients (45.8%), unchanged in 19 (39.6%), and worsened in 7 (14.6%). Prospective hemorrhage (odds ratio = 14.95, p = 0.037) was the only independent risk factor for worsened outcomes. The natural history of incidental brainstem CMs seemed to be acceptable with improved/unchanged outcomes in most patients (85.4%). These results improved our understanding of the disease, and the future study of a large cohort was required to verify our findings.

PurposeThe reinforced concrete open-web sandwich slab is composed of upper rib, lower rib, surface plate and shear key and was applied to long-span structure crossing at 18–30 m. The shear-bearing capacity of shear key, having vital effects on the slab’s bearing capacity, is analysed to present its calculation formula used for the engineering application of the slab.Design/methodology/approachThe shear-bearing capacity of shear key is analysed by the strut-and-tie model and the benchmark model established by the finite element method. Furthermore, the design formula of its shear capacity is given by the parametric analysis of FEM to adjust the result of the strut-and-tie model, using multivariate linear regression analysis of these parameters.FindingsThe calculation result of the benchmark model is compared with those of the strut-and-tie model and the standard formula, which indicates that the result of the strut-and-tie model is closer to that of the benchmark model than that of the standard formula. Moreover, the parametric analysis of the finite element model indicates that the volume–stirrup ratio of the shear key and the compression strength of the concrete have lesser effect on the shear capacity compared with the longitudinal reinforcement ratio and the shear-to-span ratio of the shear key and the relative section height of the rib.Originality/valueThe shear capacity of the shear key is provided in the paper by combining the finite element method and the strut-and-tie model, which is different from the calculation of the shear key in local codes and Chinese code, based on the theory of short corbel and the experiment of member. Furthermore, the formula of the shear capacity could be employed in the design and construction of the RC open-web sandwich slab, mainly used in the public and industrial multi-story building with long span to save the dwindling land resource currently.

Trigeminal neurofibromas are rarely reported, and even rarer when involving the infratemporal fossa. We describe the case of a 58-year-old man incidentally found through magnetic resonance imaging to have a tumor situated mainly in the infratemporal fossa. The tumor derived from the third branch of the trigeminal nerve and was totally removed by endoscopic endonasal surgery. Final pathology confirmed a diagnosis of neurofibroma. The patient had no intraoperative or postoperative complications except for numbness of the face. During the 6 years of follow-up, there has been no tumor progress or recurrence. We consider that endoscopic endonasal surgery is feasible in treating trigeminal neurofibromas involving the infratemporal fossa.

PURPOSE The extranodal natural killer (NK)/T-cell lymphoma (NKTCL) of non-upper aerodigestive tract (NUAT) was found to have clinical heterogeneity compared with NKTCL of the upper aerodigestive tract (UAT) in small scale studies. We conducted this study in a much larger cohort to analyze the clinical characteristics, prognostic factors, treatment modality, and clinical outcomes of patients with NUAT-NKTCL. Materials and Methods From January 2001 to December 2017, a total of 757 NKTCL patients were identified and included in this study, including 92 NUAT-NKTCL patients (12.2%) and 665 UAT-NKTCL patients (87.8%). RESULTS NUAT-NKTCL patients had relatively poorer performance status, more unfavorable prognostic factors, and more advanced stage, compared with UAT-NKTCL patients. The 5-year overall survival (OS) was 34.7% for NUAT-NKTCL, which was significantly worse than UAT-NKTCL (64.2%, p

SARS-CoV-2 is the etiologic agent of COVID-19, which has led to a dramatic loss of human life and presents an unprecedented challenge to public health worldwide. The gold standard assay for SARS-CoV-2 identification is real-time polymerase chain reaction; however, this assay depends on highly trained personnel and sophisticated equipment and may suffer from false results. Thus, a serological antibody test is a supplement to the diagnosis or screening of SARS-CoV-2. Here, we develop and evaluate the diagnostic performance of an IgM/IgG indirect ELISA method for antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 in COVID-19. The ELISA was constructed by coating with a recombinant nucleocapsid protein of SARS-CoV-2 on an enzyme immunoassay plate, and its sensitivity and specificity for clinical diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 infection was assessed by detecting the SARS-CoV-2-specific IgM and IgG antibodies in COVID-19 patient's sera or healthy person's sera. The SARS-CoV-2 positive serum samples (n = 168) were collected from confirmed COVID-19 patients. A commercial nucleocapsid protein-based chemiluminescent immunoassay (CLIA) kit and a colloidal gold immunochromatography kit were compared with those of the ELISA assay. The specificity, sensitivity, positive predictive value (PPV), and negative predictive value (NPV) of IgM were 100, 95.24, 100, and 91.84%, whereas those of IgG were 100, 97.02, 100, and 94.74%, respectively. We developed a highly sensitive and specific SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid protein-based ELISA method for the diagnosis and epidemiologic investigation of COVID-19 by SARS-CoV-2 IgM and IgG antibody detection.

Poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) has been electrochemically deposited on carbon paper (CP), stainless steel mesh (SSM), stainless steel (SS), and indium tin oxide (ITO) by unipolar-pulsed method. The surface morphology, micro-structure, and electrochemical capacitance for PEDOT/substrates were characterized by scanning electron microscope (SEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and electrochemical techniques. The electrochemical capacity measurements of the PEDOT/CP electrode in 0.5 M H2SO4 shows high mass-specific capacitance of 126.24 F/g at a 1 mA/cm2, which is consistent with the specific capacitance of 126.75 F/g at 5 mV/s. Compared with PEDOT/SSM, PEDOT/SS, and PEDOT/ITO, PEDOT/CP electrode shows better capacitive performance, which presents good rate performance of 76.78% at 5 mA/cm2 and charge-discharge stability with the capacitance retention rate of 80.57% for 5000 cycles. SEM result shows PEDOT maintained the spindle-like structure along with the threads of each carbon fiber, which are densely packed and randomly oriented forming the porous structure.

E2F transcription factors (E2Fs) are a family of transcription factors involved in cell proliferation, differentiation, and apoptosis. Their important roles in the development and metastasis of breast carcinoma (BC) have been discovered by previous in vitro and in vivo studies. Yet, expressions and distinct prognostic values of these eight E2Fs in human BC remain unclear in many respects. In this study, we aimed to reveal their roles in BC through analyzing the transcription and survival data of the E2Fs in BC patients from four online databases including ONCOMINE, Breast Cancer Gene-Expression Miner v4.1, cBioPortal for Cancer Genomics, and Kaplan-Meier Plotter. We found the overexpression of E2Fs in BC tissues compared with normal breast tissues, except for E2F4. Higher expression levels of E2Fs, except for E2F4 and E2F6, were associated with higher levels of Scarff-Bloom-Richardson grade of BC. Alterations of E2Fs were found to be significantly correlated with poorer overall survival of BC patients. Through plotting the survival curve in the Kaplan-Meier Plotter, it was found that higher mRNA levels of E2F1, E2F3, E2F7, and E2F8 were associated with poorer relapse-free survival in all BC patients, indicating that they are potential targets for individualized treatments of BC patients. Conversely, higher mRNA expression level of E2F4 predicted better RFS in BC patients, suggesting E2F4 as a new biomarker for BC prognosis. Considering currently available limited evidence, further studies need to be performed to investigate the roles of E2Fs in BC.

Cancer side-population (SP) represents a sub-population of stem-like cancer cells that have an important role in drug resistance due to their high expression of the ATP-binding cassette transporter ABCG2 involved in drug export. Auranofin (AF), a clinical drug of gold complex that is used in treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, has been reported inducing tumor antiproliferation. However, whether AF can impact SP cells remains unclear. Our study showed that AF caused a depletion of SP cells and a downregulation of stem cell markers, and impaired their ability to form tumor colonies in vitro and incidence to develop tumors in vivo of lung cancer cells. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) had an important role in mediating AF-induced depletion of SP cells, which could be reversed by antioxidant NAC. Further study revealed that AF could also cause ATP depletion by inhibition of glycolysis. The depletion of cellular ATP might impair the function of ABCG2 pump, leading to increased drug accumulation within the cells and thus enhancing anticancer activity of chemotherapeutic agents such as adriamycin. Synergistic effect of AF and adriamycin was demonstrated both in vitro and in vivo. Simultaneous increase of ROS and inhibition of glycolysis is a novel strategy to eliminate stem-like cancer cells. Combination of AF with adriamycin seems to be promising to enhance therapeutic effectiveness.

Klebsiella pneumoniae is an important human pathogen associated with a variety of diseases and the prevalence of blaKPC carrying K. pneumoniae (KPC-Kp) is rapidly increasing. Capsule is an important virulence factor in K. pneumoniae. In this study, we determined to first systematically characterize capsular polysaccharide (CPS) and virulence traits in KPC-Kp strains. A total of 56 KPC-Kp isolates were recovered from clinical samples in a Chinese hospital, which were assigned to clonal lineages by multilocus sequence typing (MLST). Capsule typing (wzi sequencing and wzc polymerase chain reaction [PCR]) and virulence genes were characterized by molecular approaches. The virulence of these strains was determined by biofilm formation, serum killing resistance, phagocytosis, and infection models. Six different STs were found among 56 KPC-Kp isolates: 76.8% (43 of 56 isolates) belonged to ST11, 6 isolates belonged to ST147, 4 isolates belonged to ST15, 1 isolate belonged to ST1456, 1 isolate belonged to ST65, a...

Abstract For advanced node such as 14nm technology and beyond, Patterning is one of the key challenges in the semiconductor industry. Advanced pattern transfer techniques such as negative tone development (NTD) technology are under investigation to enable the aggressive pitch requirements demanded. Even though, just as traditional positive tone development (PTD) technique, a pattern wiggling issue has arisen with the reduction of pattern dimension during dry etch process, which prevents the successful pattern transfer [1]. Two kinds of wiggling solutions have been proposed. One is the lithographic resolution such as changing the physical properties of the under-layer materials [2-4]. The other is the gases treatment in the tri-layer process such as H2plasma for spin-on carbon (SOC) hard-mask [5] and HBr and Ar plasma treatment for photoresist [6]. However, with the decrease of device size, a single method hardly eliminates wiggling and meets the pattern target. Besides, the requirements for Line Edge Roughness (LER)/Line Width Roughness (LWR); critical dimension uniformity (CDU); through pitch are extremely aggressive in advanced technology. Therefore, the characteristics of the dry etching process play an increasingly import role in defining the outcome of the pattern process. In this paper, we will demonstrate the method of PR treatment (both PTD and NTD techniques) that improves LER/LWR for trench pattern in dry etch ICP etcher. Meanwhile, the difference of PR treatment methods between PTD and NTD is illuminated. What’s more, in PR treatment methods, other pattern behavers such as CD, CD uniformity, through pitch are concerned during improving LER/LWR process, and aim to get a good result of all aspects. At last, the role of various plasma etch parameters that influence the key patterning metrics of CD, resist selectivity and LER/LWR are studied. Acknowledgement REFERENCES [1] Goji Wakamatsu, Kentaro Goto, Yoshi Hishiro, Taiichi Furukawa al., Advances in Resist Materials and Processing Technology XXIX, Proc. of SPIE Vol. 8325 83250T-1,(2012) [2] Makoto, M., Mitsuaki, I., Takashi, K., Hisashi, H, and Seiji, F., Proc. SPIE7972,797226 (2011). [3] Tadokoro M., Yonekura K., Yoshikawa K., Ono Y., Ishibashi T., Hanawa T., Fukiwara N., Matsunobe T., MatsudaK., J. Vac. Sci.Technol. B,26, 67-71 (2008). [4] Someya, Y., Shinjo, T., Hashimoto, K., Nishimaki, H., Karasawa, R., Sakamoto, R., Matsumoto,T., Proceedings of the SPIE, vol.8325, 83250U (2012). [5] M. Tadokoro, K. Yonekura, K. Yoshikawa, Y. Ono, T. Ishibashi,T. Hanawa, and N. Fujiwara, J. Vac. Sci. Technol. B 26 (1) Jan/Feb( 2008) [6] E. Pargon, K. Menguelti, M. Martin, A. Bazin, O. Chaix-Pluchery, C. Sourd, S. Derrough, T. Lill, and O. Joubert, Journal of Applied Physics 105, 094902 (2009)

Two new sandwich-type heterometallic ZnII-LnIII clusters based on a methoxy substituted salicylamide Salen-like ligand, [Zn2Er3(HL)2(H2L)2(OH)2(NO3)3](NO3)2·2CH3OH (Zn2Er3), [Zn2Yb3(HL)2(H2L)2(OH)2 (NO3)3](NO3)2·2CH3OH (Zn2Yb3), H3L = 1-(2-hydroxy-4-methoxy-benzamido)-2-(2-hydroxy-3-methoxy-benzylideneamino)-ethane, were prepared and structurally characterized. Single-crystal structure analyses reveal that both compounds are pentanuclear clusters with a hydroxyl bridged trinuclear LnIII3 core swaddled by two ZnII ions, two singly deprotoned H2L− ligands, two doubly deprotoned HL− ligands and three nitrate anions. Photophysical determination indicates that the two ZnII-LnIII compounds display both ligand-centered and near-infrared emission. The magnetic susceptibility measurements reveal that Zn2Er3 displays antiferromagnetic interactions with zero field slow magnetization relaxation diagnostic of single-molecule-magnet (SMM).

Three new sandwich-type hexanuclear ZnII–LnIII clusters based on a methoxy substituted salicylamide Salen-like ligand and o-vanilline, [Zn2Ln4(HL)4(o-vanilline)2(OH)4(CH3OH)2]·2NO3·5CH3OH (Ln = Eu, Tb and Dy, H3L = 1-(2-hydroxy-4-methoxy-benzamido)-2-(2-hydroxy-3-methoxy-benzylideneamino)-ethane) were synthesised. Single-crystal structure analyses reveal that these ZnII–LnIII clusters display a hydroxyl bridged tetranuclear LnIII4 core sandwiched in an environment of two ZnII ions, four doubly deprotonated HL2− and two singly deprotonated o-vanilline. Photophysical determinations indicate that the ZnII–EuIII cluster shows mixed emissions both originating from ligands and EuIII ions, and the other two only display ligand-centered emission in visible region. The magnetic studies reveal that the ZnII–DyIII cluster displays rare ferromagnetic behavior with slow magnetic relaxation behavior at zero field.

Compelling evidences from recent studies suggest that leukemia stem cells (LSCs), a small subpopulation of malignant cells with long-term self-renewal capacity, play a key role in leukemia development, drug resistance, and disease relapse and recurrence (1). It has also been known for some time that tumor microenvironment or tissue niches may exert profound effect on the fates and viability of LSCs. A recent study by Ye et al . revealed a metabolic interaction between LSCs and adipose tissues, and showed that LSCs could be segregated into two metabolically and functionally distinct subgroups by their expression of the fatty acid (FA) transporter CD36 (2). The authors also suggested that gonadal adipose tissue (GAT) might provide a preferred niche to support CD36 + LSCs and promote drug resistance in a mouse model of blast crisis chronic myeloid leukemia (CML).

Here we report five cases of NDM-7-producing Escherichia coli from patients with bacteriuria in a teaching hospital in mainland China. Two isolates belonged to sequence type 131 (ST131), simultaneously carrying blaCTX-M-15, blaSHV-11, blaTEM-1 and qnrS1. The blaNDM-7 gene was located on a conjugative IncX3-type plasmid bearing blaTEM-1 and qnrS1. These findings indicate the spread of NDM-7 metallo-β-lactamase in a highly resistant and virulent E. coli sequence type in China.

Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) patients with high Ki-67 expression receive limited benefits from R-CHOP (rituximab, cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone) therapy. This study aims to compare the R-EPOCH (etoposide, prednisone, vincristine, cyclophosphamide, and doxorubicin) and R-CHOP regimens as first-line therapy in DLBCL patients with high Ki-67 expression. Data from 44 untreated DLBCL patients with high Ki-67 expression receiving R-EPOCH therapy were matched with those from 132 untreated DLBCL patients with high Ki-67 expression receiving R-CHOP therapy based on the International Prognostic Index (IPI: age, Ann Arbor stage, performance status, LDH level, number of extranodal sites), gender, and Ki-67 expression. In the R-EPOCH group, 42/44 patients were eligible for response evaluation. A total of 35 patients (83.3%) achieved complete remission (CR); 6 patients (14.3%) achieved partial remission (PR); and one patient (2.4%) exhibited progressive disease (PD) after 2 cycles of therapy. Patients in the R-EPOCH group presented better survival outcomes than those in the R-CHOP group (3-year overall survival [OS]: 89.9% vs. 70.2%, p = 0.041; 3-year progression-free survival [PFS]: 86.6% vs. 59.7%, p = 0.024). The survival superiority of the R-EPOCH over the R-CHOP regimen persisted when considering only patients of low-to-intermediate IPI risk, but it was not observed in those of high IPI risk. Our data suggest that R-EPOCH could be superior to R-CHOP as a first-line regimen in DLBCL patients with high Ki-67 expression, especially in those of low-to-intermediate IPI risk.

// Xi Zhang 1, * , Jia-Jia Huang 1, * , Yi Xia 1, * , Chao-Feng Li 2 , Yu Wang 1 , Pan-Pan Liu 1 , Xi-Wen Bi 1 , Peng Sun 1 , Tong-Yu Lin 1 , Wen-Qi Jiang 1 , Zhi-Ming Li 1 1 State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China, Collaborative Innovation Center for Cancer Medicine, Department of Medical Oncology, Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center, 510060 Guangzhou, China 2 Department of Information, Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center, 510060 Guangzhou, China * These authors contributed equally to this work Correspondence to: Zhi-Ming Li, email: lzmsysu@sysucc.org.cn Keywords: peripherally inserted central venous catheter (PICC), thrombosis, lymphoma Received: February 17, 2016 Accepted: March 28, 2016 Published: April 07, 2016 ABSTRACT Peripherally inserted central venous catheters (PICCs) are widely used in cancer patients. Although PICC is a convenient tool, its use is associated with an obvious increase in the incidence of venous thrombosis. The risk factors for deep vein thrombosis associated with the use of PICCs in cancer patients are largely unexplored. This study aimed to investigate the incidence of PICC-associated thrombosis in lymphoma compared with its incidences in other types of cancer. A total of 8028 adult cancer patients inserted with PICC between June 2007 and June 2015 were included in this study. A total of 249 of the 8028 included patients (3.1%) inserted with PICC developed upper extremity deep vein thrombosis (PICC-UEDVT). Patients with lymphoma were more likely to have PICC-UEDVT than those with other types of malignancies (7.1% vs. 2.80%; P < 0.001). Logistic analysis revealed that a lymphoma diagnosis was a risk factor for UEDVT in cancer patients inserted with PICC (OR: 3.849, 95% CI: 2.334–6.347). Patients with lymphoma may be more predisposed to developing PICC-UEDVT than those with other types of malignancies. Identifying the mechanism underlying the relationship between PICC-UEDVT and lymphoma requires further study.

Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) is the most common adult leukemia in the western countries and is currently incurable due, in part, to difficulty in eliminating the leukemia cells protected by stromal microenvironment. Based on previous observations that CLL cells exhibit mitochondrial dysfunction and altered lipid metabolism and that carnitine palmitoyltransferases (CPT) have a major role in transporting fatty acid into mitochondria to support cancer cell metabolism, we tested several clinically relevant inhibitors of lipid metabolism for their ability to eliminate primary CLL cells. We discovered that perhexiline, an antiangina agent that inhibits CPT, was highly effective in killing CLL cells in stromal microenvironment at clinically achievable concentrations. These effective concentrations caused low toxicity to normal lymphocytes and normal stromal cells. Mechanistic study revealed that CLL cells expressed high levels of CPT1 and CPT2. Suppression of fatty acid transport into mitochondria by inhibiting CPT using perhexiline resulted in a depletion of cardiolipin, a key component of mitochondrial membranes, and compromised mitochondrial integrity, leading to rapid depolarization and massive CLL cell death. The therapeutic activity of perhexiline was further demonstrated in vivo using a CLL transgenic mouse model. Perhexiline significantly prolonged the overall animal survival by only four drug injections. Our study suggests that targeting CPT using an antiangina drug is able to effectively eliminate leukemia cells in vivo, and is a novel therapeutic strategy for potential clinical treatment of CLL.

Rubredoxins are a class of iron-containing proteins that play an important role in the reduction of superoxide in some anaerobic bacteria and also act as electron carriers in many biochemical processes. Unlike the more widely studied about rubredoxin proteins in anaerobic bacteria, very few researches about the function of rubredoxins have been proceeded in plants. Previous studies indicated that rubredoxins inA. thalianamay play a critical role in responding to oxidative stress. In order to identify more rubredoxins in plants that maybe have similar functions as the rubredoxin-like protein ofA. thaliana, we identified and analyzed plant rubredoxin proteins using bioinformatics-based methods. Totally, 66 candidate rubredoxin proteins were identified based on public databases, exhibiting lengths of 187–360 amino acids with molecular weights of 19.856–37.117 kDa. The results of subcellular localization showed that these candidate rubredoxins were localized to the chloroplast, which might be consistent with the fact that rubredoxins were predominantly expressed in leaves. Analyses of conserved motifs indicated that these candidate rubredoxins contained rubredoxin and PDZ domains. The expression patterns of rubredoxins in glycophyte and halophytic plant under salt/drought stress revealed that rubredoxin is one of the important stress response proteins. Finally, the coexpression network of rubredoxin inArabidopsis thalianaunder abiotic was extracted from ATTED-II to explore the function and regulation relationship of rubredoxin inArabidopsis thaliana. Our results showed that putative rubredoxin proteins containing PDZ and rubredoxin domains, localized to the chloroplast, may act with other proteins in chloroplast to responses to abiotic stress in higher plants. These findings might provide value inference to promote the development of plant tolerance to some abiotic stresses and other economically important crops.

An improved level set evolution model is proposed to segment the ultrasound images accurately and efficiently in this paper. At first, the multi-scale gradient vector field is employed to reduce the image noise. We assign the standard deviation as a scale to set up several scales images, and use the gradient direction information between the adjacent scales to refine the multi-scale gradient vector field, which highlights the real boundaries and reduces the noise. Besides, the divergence operator of the multi-scale gradient vector field is used to overcome the sensitivity problem of initialization and avoid boundary leakage. The experiments results demonstrate that the performance of the proposed method is very close to the ground truths obtained from manual segmentation by specialists with higher area similarity measure (ASM) and lower mean contour distance (MCD), which demonstrated that the proposed method is reliable, accurate and robust for the tumor boundary segmentation in ultrasound images.

We propose a laser rangefinder system based on the quadrature modem to achieve amplitude modulation, the method improves the accuracy of the phase measuring and simplifies the hardware design compared to the system with the secondary mixing methods, and to solve the range ambiguity caused by the measuring process, the ranging ambiguity resolving algorithm based on the over-determined equation is proposed, which avoids the searching of the optimal solution, finally the two K60 laser rangefinders and three proposed rangefinders were experimented on the national standard baseline with the precision of 0.18 mm. the measuring time of the proposed system is less than 1.8 s, the average measuring error of those three prototypes is less than 2 mm, and the standard deviation is less than 1 mm within the measuring range 0~60 m. The experimental results show that the proposed design system of the rangefinder has higher measurement accuracy and speed in comparison with the traditional ones, which indicates the high reliability of the proposed design system.

Withering is an indispensable process for improving flavors in green, black and white teas during their manufacturing. The effects of the withering process on the formation of tea flavors were investigated using transcriptome and metabolite profiling in withered tea leaves. A total of 3268, 23,282 and 25,185 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified at 3 h (68%, water content), 12 h (61%) and 24 h (48%) of the withering process, respectively. The DEGs, involved in flavonoid biosynthesis were significantly downregulated, which could be correlated with the reduction of catechins. Enhancement of terpenoids and alpha-linolenic acid metabolism could trigger an increase in the total content and number of volatiles. The increase in free amino acid-content could be related to 261 DEGs. Our study suggests that dehydration stress during withering induced significant changes in the gene transcription and content of the tea flavor compounds, which promoted the special flavors in various teas.

Background: Malignant lymphomas are a group of distinct lymphoid neoplasms, exhibiting marked diversity in biological behaviors and clinical outcomes. Liquid biopsy, such as circulating cell-free DNA (cfDNA), has recently been attempted to be used for mutation profiling of lymphomas using next-generation sequencing (NGS). However, only limited data about cfDNA are restricted in Hodgkin's lymphoma and B cell lymphoma, and there is no report in the T cell lymphoma so far. Patient and Methods: Medical records of a total of 50 lymphoma patients were retrospectively reviewed, and cfDNA samples were analyzed by capture-based NGS targeting 390 lymphoma- and cancer- relevant genes. We sought to explore the clinical utility of cfDNA in establishing the mutation profiles of different lymphoma subtypes and analyze the correlation between cfDNA concentration and other clinical indices such as serum LDH and IPI. Results: Somatic alterations were identified in cfDNA samples with a median of 64 variants per sample. The concentration of cfDNA in the plasma was found to be significantly correlated with the clinical indices in diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL). The genetic heterogeneity of different lymphoma subtypes was clearly observed in cfDNAs from germinal center B-cell (GCB) DLBCL, non-GCB DLBCL and natural killer/T-cell lymphoma (NKTCL), confirming that distinct molecular mechanisms are involved in the pathogenesis of different lymphomas. Conclusion: Our findings demonstrate that NGS-based cfDNA mutation profiling reveals genetic heterogeneity across lymphoma subtypes, with potential implications for the discovery of therapeutic targets, the exploration of genome evolution and the development of risk-adapted treatment.

Coxsackievirus A6 (CV-A6) is an emerging pathogen associated with hand, foot, and mouth disease (HFMD). Its genetic characterization and pathogenic properties are largely unknown. Here, we report 39 circulating CV-A6 strains isolated in 2013 from HFMD patients in northeast China. Three major clusters of CV-A6 were identified and related to CV-A6, mostly from Shanghai, indicating that domestic CV-A6 strains were responsible for HFMD emerging in northeast China. Four full-length CV-A6 genomes representing each cluster were sequenced and analyzed further. Bootscanning tests indicated that all four CV-A6-Changchun strains were most likely recombinants between the CV-A6 prototype Gdula and prototype CV-A4 or CV-A4-related viruses, while the recombination pattern was related to, yet distinct from, the strains isolated from other regions of China. Furthermore, different CV-A6 strains showed different capabilities of viral replication, release, and pathogenesis in a mouse model. Further analyses indicated that viral protein 2C contributed to the diverse pathogenic abilities of CV-A6 by causing autophagy and inducing cell death. To our knowledge, this study is the first to report lethal and nonlethal strains of CV-A6 associated with HFMD. The 2C protein region may play a key role in the pathogenicity of CV-A6 strains. IMPORTANCE Hand, foot, and mouth disease (HFMD) is a major and persistent threat to infants and children. Besides the most common pathogens, such as enterovirus A71 (EV-A71) and coxsackievirus A16 (CV-A16), other enteroviruses are increasingly contributing to HFMD. The present study focused on the recently emerged CV-A6 strain. We found that CV-A6 strains isolated in Changchun City in northeast China were associated with domestic origins. These Changchun viruses were novel recombinants of the CV-A6 prototype Gdula and CV-A4. Our results imply that measures to control CV-A6 transmission are urgently needed. Further analyses revealed differing pathogenicities in strains isolated in a neonatal mouse model. One of the possible causes has been narrowed down to the viral protein 2C, using phylogenetic studies, viral sequences, and direct tests on cultured human cells. Thus, the viral 2C protein is a promising target for antiviral drugs to prevent CV-A6-induced tissue damage.