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Ovalbumin (OVA), a common food protein, can cause deadly allergies with intestine-specific immune reactions. L-Theanine (LTA) shows great potential for regulating intestinal immunity. To investigate the regulatory effect of LTA intervention on intestine-specific immunity, a 41 day experiment was performed on BALB/c OVA-sensitized mice. The results show that injecting female mice intraperitoneally with 50 μg of OVA and administering 30 mg of OVA 4 times can successfully establish an OVA-sensitized mouse model. LTA intervention significantly increased weight gain and thymus index (

Within an isospin- and momentum-dependent transport model, we investigate the necessity of selfconsistent calculations for the electromagnetic field in probing the nuclear symmetry energy using pion observables in heavy-ion collisions at intermediate energies. To this end, we perform the $^{96}$Ru + $^{96}$Ru collisions at 400 MeV/nucleon with two calculations scenarios for the electromagnetic field including the selfconsistent calculation and the most used Li\'{e}nard-Wiechert formula, while the latter is a simplified one of the complete Li\'{e}nard-Wiechert formula by neglecting the radiation field for practical calculations in heavy-ion collisions at intermediate and/or relativistic energies. As a comparison, we also consider the static Coulomb field formula for calculations of the electromagnetic field in heavy-ion collisions. It is shown that the most used simplified Li\'{e}nard-Wiechert formula is not enough for the electromagnetic field calculation because the absent radiation field in this formula also affects significantly the charged pions as well as their $\pi^{-}/\pi^{+}$ ratio. Moreover, we also examine effects of the electromagnetic field in these scenarios on the double $\pi^{-}/\pi^{+}$ ratio of two isobar reaction systems of $^{96}$Ru + $^{96}$Ru and $^{96}$Zr + $^{96}$Zr at 400 MeV/nucleon. It is shown that the double $\pi^{-}/\pi^{+}$ ratio of two reactions tends to be less affected by the electromagnetic field calculation scenario and thus can still be an effective probe of the nuclear symmetry energy in heavy-ion collisions. Therefore, according to these findings, it is suggested that the selfconsistent calculation for the electromagnetic field should be carefully taken into account when using the pion observables to probe the nuclear symmetry energy in heavy-ion collisions., Comment: 7 pages, 6 figures. Accepted for publication in Physical Review C

The clinical implications and contemporary management of T1b penile cancer are unknown. National treatment guidelines advocate surgical lymph node examination (SLNE) for T1b disease. The aim of this study was to evaluate the prognosis of T1b disease and adherence to corresponding treatment guidelines. We analyzed 296 patients from two academic centers, and 1263 patients from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) registry (median follow-up 48.3 and 21 months, respectively). Multivariate Cox and Fine–Gray regressions were applied for penile cancer-specific survival (PCSS) analyses. In the academic center cohort, 28.3% of T1 patients had T1b disease, all of whom underwent SLNE. Nodal metastases were detected in 86.7% of T1b patients and 13.2% of T1a patients (p

This study aimed to evaluate the eighth edition of the American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) for clinical staging of prostate cancer based upon Surveillance, Epidemiology and, End Results (SEER) database. Patients diagnosed as prostate adenocarcinoma during 2004–2009 without any surgical treatment to the primary site were selected from the SEER registry. Excluded were cases with incomplete or unavailable staging, PSA and Gleason score information. A total of 144,443 cases were identified. The median follow-up time was 84 months. The median age at diagnosis was 69 years, and median PSA was 7 ng/ml. CSS at 10th years was 96.2% for cT2a and 86.2% for cT2b/2c, respectively. The survival differences between clinical stage cT2a and cT2b/2c still had statistical significance (P

The selective oxidation capacity of free radicals in advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) is important for the accurate determination of the degradation pathways of organic contaminants when various active species coexist in the catalytic system. In this study, diclofenac sodium (DCF) was selected as a model contaminant due to its toxicity and structural characteristics (containing organic moieties with varying electronegativity). A 3D hexagonal star-shaped cobalt oxide electrode was synthesized and used as the electric anode to simultaneously combine with AOPs based on peroxymonosulfate (EAOPs/PMS) to generate two active species (SO4 − and OH) and achieve efficient mineralization of DCF. The selectivity property of the free radicals was investigated by comparing DCF transformation pathways in three systems: EAOPs/PMS (containing both SO4 − and OH), EAOPs/PMS + TBA (containing only SO4 −), and Fe2+/H2O2 (containing only OH). When present simultaneously, SO4 − favored attacking the electron-donating moieties (amino groups and aromatic rings), while OH was more disposed to attack the electron-withdrawing moieties (carboxyl groups and chlorine atoms). This study, for the first time, sheds light on the selective oxidation capacity of coexisting SO4 − and OH towards organic moieties with differing electronegativity and provides an in-depth analysis of the degradation pathways of an organic contaminant.

Surgical excision is essential for management of the rare and aggressive neoplasm adrenal cortical carcinoma (ACC). Five-year overall survival (OS) after surgery for ACC is dependent on disease stage, but for all stages the risk of death declines with time after surgery. We calculated the effect of post-surgical duration on conditional survival (CS) among ACC patients. A total of 641 patients with M0 ACC were selected from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) registry (1988-2012). OS for the entire cohort at 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 years was 81.4%, 66.8%, 56.3%, 50.3%, 47.2% and 44.3%, respectively. CS for an additional year given prior survival for 0, 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5 years was 81.4%, 81.1%, 83.0%, 87.5%, 93.4% and 93.4%, respectively. Age, tumor stage, tumor grade and marital status affected OS and CS. Increases in 1-year CS over time were more pronounced in patients with poorer prognostic factors. With longer follow-up, tumor stage- and grade-dependent differences in CS decreased or even disappeared. CS may provide more meaningful life expectancy predictions for survivors of ACC than conventional survival analysis.

// Da-Long Cao 1, 2 , Ding-Wei Ye 1, 2 , Bo Dai 1, 2 , Hai-Liang Zhang 1, 2 , Yi-Jun Shen 1, 2 , Yao Zhu 1, 2 , Yi-Ping Zhu 1, 2 , Guo-Hai Shi 1, 2 , Chun-Guang Ma 1, 2 , Wen-Jun Xiao 1, 2 , Xiao-Jian Qin 1, 2 , Guo-Wen Lin 1, 2 1 Department of Urology, Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center, Shanghai, 200032, China 2 Department of Oncology, Shanghai Medical College, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200032, China Correspondence to: Ding-Wei Ye, e-mail: dwyeli@163.com Keywords: prostate cancer, susceptibility, polymorphism, glutathione S-transferases T1, glutathione S-transferases M1 Received: June 21, 2015 Accepted: September 14, 2015 Published: September 24, 2015 ABSTRACT Background: Genetic polymorphism was hypothesized to be reason of variation in prostate cancer incidence among different racial group. Based on that published data on the association of prostate cancer susceptibility with polymorphisms in genes encoding Glutathione S-transferases (GSTs) were inconclusive, the aim of this study was to more precisely address the role of GSTs polymorphisms (especially, GSTT1 and GSTM1 deletions) on prostate cancer risk in Asian descent. Methods: A meta-analysis including 8 articles with 711 cases and 1122 controls for GSTT1 and 1098 cases and 1588 controls for GSTM1 was performed. Results: Significantly increased prostate cancer risk was found among subjects carrying GSTM1 null genotype (odds ratio (OR) = 1.403; 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.088 – 1.808) but not among subjects carrying GSTT1 deletion genotype (OR = 0.959; 95%CI = 0.709 – 1.297). When stratified by country, the null genotype of GSTT1 neither increased nor decreased prostate cancer risk significantly in China (OR = 1.355; 95%CI = 0.895 – 2.049), Japan (OR = 0.812; 95%CI = 0.545 – 1.211), and Korea (OR = 1.056; 95%CI = 0.727 – 1.534). While significant association of elevated prostate cancer risk with GSTM1 deletion were found in China (OR = 1.665; 95%CI = 1.324 – .094) and Korea (OR = 1.914; 95%CI = 1.311 – 2.793) but not in Japan (OR = 0.980; 95%CI = 0.726 – 1.321). Conclusion: In summary, this meta-analysis suggested that the null genotype of GSTM1 rather than GSTT1 may be involved in the etiology of prostate cancer in Asian population.

This study aimed to evaluate the role of serum lipid profiles as novel biomarkers in predicting pathological characteristics of prostate cancer (PCa). We retrospectively analyzed 322 consecutive patients with clinically localized PCa receiving radical prostatectomy (RP) and extended pelvic lymphadenectomy. Unconditional logistic regression was used to estimate the prostatectomy Gleason score (pGS), pathological stage and lymph node involvement (LNI) in RP specimens. Preoperative prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels, biopsy GS (bGS), and preoperative tumor, node, metastasis staging were used as basic variables to predict postoperative pathological characteristics. Preoperative serum lipid profiles were introduced as potential predictors. A receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to determine predictive efficacy. Significant differences in pathological characteristics were observed among patients with normal and abnormal total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG), and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) levels, with the exception of pGS in the TG group. Multivariable regression analysis revealed that the odds ratio for high levels of TC for LNI compared with normal TC levels was 6.386 (95% confidence interval [CI] 1.510-27.010), 3.270 (95% CI: 1.470-7.278) for high levels of TG for pT3-4 disease, and 2.670 (95% CI: 1.134-6.287) for high levels of LDL for pGS. The area under the ROC curve of the models with dyslipidemia was larger than that in models without dyslipidemia, in predicting pathological characteristics. Abnormal TC, TG, and LDL levels are significantly associated with postoperative pathological status in PCa patients. Together with preoperative PSA levels, bGS, and clinical stage, dyslipidemia is more accurate in predicting pathological characteristics.

Purposes To examine the factors related to the choice of cytoreductive nephrectomy (CN) for patients with metastatic clear cell renal cell carcinoma (mCCRCC), and compare the population-based survival rates of patients treated with or without surgery in the modern targeted therapy era. Materials and Methods From 2006 to 2009, patients with mCCRCC were identified from SEER database. The factors that affected patients to be submitted to CN were examined and propensity scores for each patient were calculated. Then patients were matched based upon propensity scores. Univariable and multivariable cox regression models were used to compare survival rates of patients treated with or without surgery. Finally, sensitivity analysis for the cox model on a hazard ratio scale was performed. Results Age, race, tumor size, T stage and N stage were associated with nephrectomy univariablely. After the match based upon propensity scores, the 1-, 2-, and 3-year cancer-specific survival rate estimates were 45.1%, 27.9%, and 21.7% for the no-surgery group vs 70.6%, 52.2%, and 41.7% for the surgery group, respectively (hazard ratio 0.42, 95%CI: 0.35-0.52, log-rank P

This study aimed to evaluate the major changes of the eighth edition of the American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) pathologic staging for prostate cancer treated with radical prostatectomy. A total of 138,176 patients diagnosed with prostate adenocarcinoma undergoing radical prostatectomy were selected from the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) database during 2004-2014 period. Excluded were cases with incomplete or unavailable staging, PSA and Gleason score information. Two subgroups were established: group a, T2 stage with PSA≥20ng/ml; group b, T2 stage with Gleason score grade group 5 and PSA

In this work, we studied the catalytic kinetics of the alliin/alliinase system using a fiber-optic in situ monitoring system (fiber-optic drug dissolution test system, FODT) to explore the application of a fiber-optic sensor analysis technique in the process of monitoring catalytic kinetics. According to Lambert–Beer's law and with the assistance of the computational relationship of alliin, allicin and pyruvate, we established two mathematical models, including obtaining the absorptivity of each substance in the reaction and looking at the products as a whole. According to the UV spectra of alliin, alliinase, sodium pyruvate, an allicin solution and the analyte corresponding to the allicin peak extracted from an HPLC/PDA chromatogram, an optical probe with a 5-mm gap was chosen for the measurement, and 230 nm was chosen as the detection wavelength during the catalysis reaction. Then, we determined the value of every parameter in the mathematical model at 230 nm and recorded the information into the workstation. A certain concentration of alliinase was well-mixed with a series of alliin solutions in the volume ratio 1:1, and the concentration variation of alliin was monitored in real time. The maximum reaction rates for various concentrations of the substrate were obtained using Origin 7.5 software. To this end, a double-reciprocal plot was used to calculate the parameters of the catalytic kinetics of the alliin/alliinase system, including the Michaelis constant ( K m ) and the maximum velocity ( V max ), which was compared to HPLC results.

Objective To investigate whether visceral obesity is associated with certain histological subtypes of renal cell carcinoma (RCC) in a multicentre Chinese cohort. Patients and Methods A kidney tumour database was created using three tertiary centres in China; 487 patients were enrolled presenting with localised RCC and complete computer tomography (CT)/magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) information. A single-slice CT image was used to measure the area of visceral and subcutaneous adipose tissues in each patient. Statistical methods were used to analyse clear-cell RCC (ccRCC) and non-clear-cell RCC (non-ccRCC) as they relate to visceral fat area (VFA) and other risk factors, such as age, gender, tumour size, diabetes, hypertension, total fat area (TFA) and body mass index (BMI). Results In all, 418 patients had a ccRCC subtype and 69 had a non-ccRCC subtype. For all the patients with RCC, the mean VFA was 102 cm2, while mean BMI was 24 kg/m2. The mean VFA was greater in ccRCC than non-ccRCC patients by 25 cm2. There were significant differences in the mean VFA and TFA between patients with ccRCC and those with non-ccRCC. Multivariate analysis showed that the presence of VFA was more important than the effects of BMI and Type 2 diabetes on pathology prediction. In patients with a normal BMI, those with a higher quartile of VFA were more likely to develop ccRCC than those with a low VFA. Conclusions Increased visceral fat was found to be associated with ccRCC and the significance of VFA outweighed the effects of BMI and Type 2 diabetes for the prediction of RCC pathology in multivariate analyses. As a result, VFA could constitute a primary explanation for the link between obesity and ccRCC.

We synthesized a novel polymeric functional ionic liquid (IL), i.e. poly [(N-isopropylacrylamide)-co-(ionic liquid)] (P(NIPAAm-co-IL)), which can make multi–walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) well dispersed in water. This method is a noncovalent technique, and the resulting solution was sensitive with temperature.

Novel thermoresponsive dendronized monomer bearing azobenzene moiety, 4-(4′-(3, 4, 5-tris (2-(2-methoxyethoxy) ethoxy) benzyloxy) phenylazo) benzyl methacrylate, has been successfully synthesized. The chemical structures of intermediate compounds and dendronized monomer were confirmed by FTIR and 1H NMR. The phase transition behaviors of these intermediate compounds and dendronized monomer were investigated. These intermediate compound and dendronized monomer showed remarkably reversible thermoresponsive phase transition behaviors.

We propose a new clustering method that uses a similarlity metric deived from electrical resistance networks. The proposed metric allows us to quantify the mutual relevancy between data objects or nodes. We show how to derive the metric from the data collection and how to apply it to various application contexts. Our theoretical analyses and experiments show the excellent potential of the method to identifying clusters of networks and to improving data clustering performance on a number of data sets.

Logistics is one of the earliest realized industries in Internet of Things (IOT), IOT technology plays a great role in promoting the development of logistics industry, changing the processes and management methods of supply chain, on reducing logistics costs and improving logistics efficiency as well. Starting from the concepts and the actual situation of the supply chain management. The article analyzed various aspects of the supply chain, and described the design of supply chain management system in intelligent logistics. At last, the trends and importance of the Internet of Things in intelligent supply chain logistics management was described.

Based on the high precision terrain datas , high resolution FVCOM(Finite-Volume Coastal Ocean Model) numerical model was established to simulation for tide current and study three-dimensional dynamic characteristics of the south of Radiation shoal waters. Result show that transverse circulation was easy to produce in channel and groove. The vorticity and helicity computation method was applied in the area for the frist time. Transverse circulation and helical flow characteristics of typical sections were preliminary studied, and result show the quantitative evidence for the existence of the Spiral flow.Deep groove is not always appear double reverse spiral flow structure, it changes with the main flow velocity. Shoal grooves appear, a main spiral flow structure, and show great adaptability to the terrain, which is the reflection of the spiral flow to the terrain maintain mechanism .

In this paper, the application mode of internet of things is analyzed and expounded in detail according to current IOT (Internet of Things) application content. Firstly, the application mode is divided into three kinds on a substantial use side. Secondly, the future five kinds of IOT business mode are given from an operational standpoint. Finally, the IOT is technically divided into three operation modes which are based on RFID, WSN and M2M respectively to solve the problem of redundant content and the chaos mode problem. Thereby, the IOT application mode can be normalized and can develop continuously.

With the governments strongly support and promotion, IOT (Internet of Things) has become popular in our life nowadays. In order to build China national IOT application technology, in this paper, IOT application architecture based on Beidou navigation system is presented and analyzed in detail. And the IOT network layer, which consists of wireless sensor network, cellular mobile communication network and Beidou navigation system, is mainly expounded. This architecture not only expands coverage area of IOT, but also enhances reliability and economical efficiency of the whole IOT system. Thereby, it can bring more new applications in IOT field.

Purpose: To compare Partin tables (PTs) 1997, 2001, and 2007 for their clinical applicability in a Chinese cohort based upon a decision curve analysis (DCA). Methods: Clinical and pathologic data of 264 consecutive Chinese patients with clinically localized prostate cancer were used. These patients underwent open radical prostatectomy between 2005 and 2011. DCA quantified the net benefit of different PT versions relating to specific threshold probabilities of established capsular penetration (ECP), seminal vesicle involvement (SVI), and lymph node involvement (LNI). Results: Overall, ECP, SVI, and LNI were recorded in 23.1, 10.2, and 6.1%, respectively. When the threshold probability was below the prevalence for LNI and ECP predictions, the DCA favored the 2007 version versus the 1997 version for SVI. Conclusions: DCA indicates that for low threshold probability, decision models are useful to discriminate the performance differences of three PT versions, although net benefit differences were not apparent. For high threshold probability, there may not be an important benefit from the use of PTs and the current analysis cannot translate into meaningful net gains differences.

Several prediction models have been developed to estimate the outcomes of prostate biopsies. Most of these tools were designed for use with Western populations and have not been validated across different ethnic groups. Therefore, we evaluated the predictive value of the Prostate Cancer Prevention Trial (PCPT) and the European Randomized Study of Screening for Prostate Cancer (ERSPC) risk calculators in a Chinese cohort. Clinicopathological information was obtained from 495 Chinese men who had undergone extended prostate biopsies between January 2009 and March 2011. The estimated probabilities of prostate cancer and high-grade disease (Gleason6) were calculated using the PCPT and ERSPC risk calculators. Overall measures, discrimination, calibration and clinical usefulness were assessed for the model evaluation. Of these patients, 28.7% were diagnosed with prostate cancer and 19.4% had high-grade disease. Compared to the PCPT model and the prostate-specific antigen (PSA) threshold of 4 ng ml(-1), the ERSPC risk calculator exhibited better discriminative ability for predicting positive biopsies and high-grade disease (the area under the curve was 0.831 and 0.852, respectively, P0.01 for both). Decision curve analysis also suggested the favourable clinical utility of the ERSPC calculator in the validation dataset. Both prediction models demonstrated miscalibration: the risk of prostate cancer and high-grade disease was overestimated by approximately 20% for a wide range of predicted probabilities. In conclusion, the ERSPC risk calculator outperformed both the PCPT model and the PSA threshold of 4 ng ml(-1) in predicting prostate cancer and high-grade disease in Chinese patients. However, the prediction tools derived from Western men significantly overestimated the probability of prostate cancer and high-grade disease compared to the outcomes of biopsies in a Chinese cohort.

To investigate the oncologic influence of transurethral resection of the prostate (TURP) as a cytoreductive surgery in metastatic hormone sensitive prostate cancer (mHSPC), in the setting of continuous complete androgen blockade (CAB).Medical histories of 146 consecutive Chinese males with newly diagnosed mHSPC, registered in our institution in 2006 and 2007, were reviewed. All of these patients received CAB as initial systematic therapy. Demographics and cancer control outcomes from 39 mHSPC patients who underwent TURP for a relief of bladder outlet obstruction were compared with those of the other 107 who received CAB only when they were still hormone-sensitive. Median follow-up was 15 months (3 to 27 months).Age at diagnosis, baseline PSA, and biopsy Gleason score were comparable between the 2 groups. Patients who underwent a TURP had lower PSA nadir (median 0.15 ng/ml vs. 0.82 ng/ml, P = 0.015) and longer time to PSA nadir (11.2 months vs. 6.4 months, P0.001). More patients in the non-TURP group developed hormone refractory prostate cancer (P = 0.007). The TURP group had a tendency towards longer disease-specific survival and overall survival (24.4 months vs. 24.1 months and 24.4 months vs. 22.9 months, respectively), though this did not reach statistical significance.TURP resulted in a better and more prolonged response to hormone therapy in mHSPC, with a trend towards positive influence in disease specific survival and overall survival. To date, our preliminary report is the first study regarding long-term survival of cytoreductive surgery in mHSPC, and further investigations are warranted.

It is now well known that many large-sized complex networks obey a scale-free power-law vertex-degree distribution. Here, we show that when the vertex degrees of a large-sized network follow a scale-free power-law distribution with exponent  2, the number of degree-1 vertices, if nonzero, is of order N and the average degree is of order lower than log N, where N is the size of the network. Furthermore, we show that the number of degree-1 vertices is divisible by the least common multiple of , , . . ., , and l is less than log N, where l = < is the vertex-degree sequence of the network. The method we developed here relies only on a static condition, which can be easily verified, and we have verified it by a large number of real complex networks.

To investigate whether microRNA-21 was involved in mediating the chemoresistance of prostate cancer cells to docetaxel. A microarray technique was used to determine the miRNA profile in docetaxel-resistant PC3 cells. Real-time PCR was used to confirm the array results. miR-21 mimics and inhibitors were synthesized and introduced to cells using Lipofectamine 2000. Cell proliferation was examined with the CCK-8 assay. Luciferase reporter containing PDCD 3′UTR was constructed and the activity was detected by a dual luciferase assay. PDCD4 protein expression was evaluated using Western blot. A docetaxel-resistant prostate cancer PC3 cell line (PC3R) was established . Using microarrays, miR-21 was found to be up-regulated in PC3R cells. Ectopic expression of miR-21 increased the resistance to docetaxel in PC3 wild type cells. In contrast, silencing of miR-21 in PC3R cells sensitized the cells to docetaxel. The IC50 values for miR-21-silencing cells and control cells were 28.31 and 35.89 nmol/L, respectively. PDCD4, a direct target gene of miR-21, could mediate chemoresistance to docetaxel in PC3 cells. Our findings suggest that miR-21 contributed to the resistance of PC3 cells to docetaxel, and that targeting miR-21 may offer a promising therapeutic approach in sensitizing prostate cancer to docetaxel treatment.

A brand new performance assessment model is proposed for multiple sequence alignment. The new strategy is based on beam constructing of DC-BTA algorithm, which is a Divide-and-Conquer alignment method with beams. Beams form blocks of almost the identical columns and contribute biggest similarity weight to sequences. A formula to compute all beam areas covering a sequence assigns a value or weight to the sequence. And the total beam area is a partial to the whole alignment. A rate value between 0 and 1 is computed to assess the performance. This scheme is a simple and effective assessment policy in DC-BTA for the convenience of collecting the beam areas.

To find out all dependency relationships in which metaphors probably exist between syntax constituents in a given sentence, a dependency tree matching algorithm oriented to Chinese metaphor processing is proposed based on a research of unordered tree inclusion matching. In this algorithm, the pattern library is composed of formalization dependency syntax trees that are derived from large-scale metaphor sentences. These kinds of metaphor sentences are saved in the pattern library in advance. The main process of this algorithm is up-down searching and bottom-up backtracking revising. The algorithm discovers potential metaphoric structures in Chinese sentences from metaphoric dependency pattern library. Finally, the feasibility and efficiency of the new matching algorithm are further testified by the results of a series of experiments on dependency pattern library. Hence, accurate dependency relationships can be achieved through this algorithm.

In this study, the persistence of severe acute respiratory syndrome-associated coronavirus (SARS-CoV) was observed in feces, urine and water. In addition, the inactivation of SARS-CoV in wastewater with sodium hypochlorite and chlorine dioxide was also studied. In vitro experiments demonstrated that the virus could only persist for 2 days in hospital wastewater, domestic sewage and dechlorinated tap water, while 3 days in feces, 14 days in PBS and 17 days in urine at 20 degrees C. However, at 4 degrees C, the SARS-CoV could persist for 14 days in wastewater and at least 17 days in feces or urine. SARS-CoV is more susceptible to disinfectants than Escherichia coli and f2 phage. Free chlorine was found to inactivate SARS-CoV better than chlorine dioxide. Free residue chlorine over 0.5 mg/L for chlorine or 2.19 mg/L for chlorine dioxide in wastewater ensures complete inactivation of SARS-CoV while it does not inactivate completely E. coli and f2 phage.

A new family of interconnection networks WGn is proposed, that is constant degree 3 Cayley graph, and is isomorphic to a Cayley graph of the wreath product Z2∫Sn when the generator set is chosen properly. Its different algebraic properties is investigated and a routing algorithm is given with the diameter upper bounded by 3n2 - 6n + 4. The embedding properties and the fault tolerance are devired. In conclusion, we present a comparison of some familiar networks with constant degree 3.

ABSTRACT Aim: To investigate the role of sorafenib dosage escalation in Asian patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma that had progressed after routine dosages. Patients & methods: Sorafenib dosage escalation to 600 or 800 mg twice a day was offered to 41 patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma who had progressed on normal dosages. Clinical outcome, toxicity and favorable clinical covariables for progression-free survival (PFS) were evaluated. Results: The median PFS with dosage-escalated therapy was 7 months. Drug-related adverse events were tolerable. The pre-escalation Karnofsky performance status, serum calcium concentration, neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio, PFS and the highest toxicity grade at the routine dosage were associated with a longer PFS in the dosage-escalation period. Conclusion: Sorafenib dosage escalation was efficacious and tolerable in Asian patients. Trial registration: Chinese Clinical Trial Registry (no. ChiCTR-ONRC-12002088).

To investigate whether visceral obesity is associated with certain histological subtypes of renal cell carcinoma (RCC) ina multicentre Chinese cohort.A kidney tumour database was created using three tertiary centres in China; 487 patients were enrolled presenting with localised RCC and complete computer tomography(CT)/magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) information. A single-slice CT image was used to measure the area of visceral and subcutaneous adipose tissues in each patient. Statistical methods were used to analyse clear-cell RCC (ccRCC) and non-clear-cell RCC (non-ccRCC) as they relate to visceral fat area (VFA) and other risk factors, such as age, gender, tumour size, diabetes, hypertension, total fat area (TFA) and body mass index (BMI).In all, 418 patients had a ccRCC subtype and 69 had a non-ccRCC subtype. For all the patients with RCC, the mean VFA was 102 cm2, while mean BMI was 24 kg/m2. The mean VFA was greater in ccRCC than non-ccRCC patients by 25 cm2. There were significant differences in the mean VFA and TFA between patients with ccRCC and those with non-ccRCC.Multivariate analysis showed that the presence ofVFA was more important than the effects of BMI and Type 2 diabetes on pathology prediction. In patients with a normal BMI, those with a higher quartile of VFA were more likely to develop ccRCC than those with a low VFA.Increased visceral fat was found to be associated with ccRCC and the significance of VFA outweighed the effects of BMI and Type 2 diabetes for the prediction of RCC pathology in multivariate analyses. As a result, VFA could constitute a primary explanation for the link between obesity and ccRCC.

To explore the effect of toxicity of sunitinib on the clinical outcome of patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma (RCC) .A total of 136 patients with advanced RCC were treated with sunitinib from 2008 to 2011. There were 91 males and 45 females with an average age of 56 years. Their 6-week therapy cycle was 4 weeks of sunitinib 50 mg daily followed by 2-week off-treatment (schedule 4/2). The median follow-up time was 15 months. Correlation between toxicities and overall survival (OS) was evaluated in a Cox model using log-transformed levels after adjusting for MSKCC model.Log-rank test and Cox proportional hazard model were used to assess the value of drug toxicity as the prognostic factors.The increased hemoglobin on cycle 1 day 14 (HR:0.950, 95%CI:0.923-0.978) and the increased lymphocytes on cycle 1 days 28 and 42 (HR:0.405, 95%CI:0.203-0.809, HR:0.394, 95%CI:0.179-0.867) were significantly associated with OS (P adj = 0.001, 0.014 and 0.022 respectively). Hypertension class III/IV (HR:0.066, 95%CI:0.008-0.582), and the number of neutrophils screening and lymphocyte count ratio (HR:2.537, 95%CI:1.182-5.404) were the survival prognosis independent predictors.Early hematopoietic toxicities may potentially predict the outcomes of advanced RCC after a therapy of sunitinib.

To explore the hematologic adverse effects in patients with renal cell carcinoma treated with sunitinib.A total of 136 patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma were treated with sunitinib at our hospital from 2008 to 2011. There were 91 males and 45 females with an average age of 55.5 years. They received sunitinib in repeated 6-week cycles consisting of 4 weeks of sunitinib 50 mg per day followed by 2 weeks of treatment (schedule 4/2). The hematologic toxicities, collected at baseline and 14, 28, 42 (after a 2-week rest period) days, were graded according to the National Cancer Institute common terminology criteria for adverse events version 3.0. The paired Wilcoxon test was used to evaluate the kinetics of hematologic adverse effects at days 14, 28, and 42 post-treatment.The hematologic toxicities included leukopenia (n = 91, 66.9%), neutropenia (n = 95, 69.8%), lymphopenia (n = 58, 46.2%), thrombopenia (n = 89, 65.4%) and hypohemoglobinemia (n = 48, 35.3%). Among them, 31 cases (22.8%) had the high-grade (including grades 3 and 4) toxicity of thrombopenia. There were depressions in hematopoietic cell populations including leukocytes, neutrophils, and platelets at days 14, 28 and 42 versus the baseline level (all P0.05). The median hemoglobin level transiently increased at days 14 and 28 (both P0.01) and returned to the level of baseline at days 42 (P = 0.754).The incidence of hematologic adverse effects of sunitinib slightly varies with what have been observed in previous studies. And the incidence of high-grade toxicity of thrombocytopenia is higher than that reported in studies conducted in the US and Europe.

Transverse testicular ectopia (TTE) is a rare anomaly in which both testes descend through a single inguinal canal. We report a case of yolk sac tumor in the ectopic testis of a patient with TTE. A 24-year-old man presented to our hospital with a left inguinal-mass, right cryptorchidism and elevated alpha-fetoprotein (AFP). A left herniotomy 3 years earlier demonstrated both testes in the left scrotum, one above another positionally. Four months ago, a left scrotal mass appeared and radical orchiectomy of both testes revealed testicular yolk sac tumor of the ectopic testis. An enlarging left inguinal-mass appeared 2 months ago and he was referred to our hospital. Laboratory data showed an elevation of AFP (245.5 ng/ml) and a 46 XY karyotype. He underwent bilateral retroperitoneal lymph node dissection and simultaneous left inguinal mass dissection. Histopathologic examination revealed a diagnosis of recurrent yolk sac tumor in the left inguinal mass. The retroperitoneal lymph node was not enlarged and, on histopathology, was not involved. The patient has now been followed up for 8 months without evidence of biochemical or radiological recurrence.

To perform a head to head comparison among three generations of Partin tables, namely from 1997, 2001 and the last updated version of 2007, in a Chinese cohort of prostate cancer.Clinical and pathological data of 198 consecutive Chinese patients were retrospectively analyzed, who underwent radical prostatectomy for clinically localized prostate cancer between January 2005 and May 2010. Three versions of the Partin tables were compared for their accuracy and performance to predict final pathological stage using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve.Of the whole cohort 58.6% were presented with organ-confined disease (OCD), 10.1% had lymph node involvement (LNI), and 31.3% had locally advanced disease (LAD), while 21.2% had extraprostatic extension (ECE) and 10.1% showed seminal vesicle involvement (SVI). The area under the ROC curve (AUC) of the Partin Tables 1997, 2001 and 2007 was 0.732, 0.722 and 0.695 for OCD; 0.647, 0.594 and 0.577 for LAD; 0.856, 0.872 and 0.829 for LNI, respectively.All three generations of the Partin tables showed a good accuracy to predict OCD, and LNI. However, the predictive accuracy for LAD was more limited. Overall, the newer versions of the Partin tables could not exceed the version of 1997 in their predictive accuracy for the present Chinese cohort. Our results suggest caution when using newly introduced predictive tools that are not supported by population-specific accuracy tests.

To establish the regression model predicting the probability of the capsular penetration according to the Chinese prostate cancer samples.Men enrolled in the Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Centre and undergoing radical prostatectomy between January 2006 and April 2010 were used to establish the predicting model. According to the pathology after radical prostatectomy, all cases were divided into two groups: organ confined disease group and locally advanced disease group, the difference of which were whether had the capsular penetration. The cases with regional lymph node metastasis were excluded. Serum prostate specific antigen level, Gleason grade, clinical stage were collected. Multiple Logistic regression model was established according to preoperative clinical data and postoperative pathological data to predict the incidence of capsular penetration. Receiver operating characteristic curve was used for the internal validation of the model.83 Chinese men were identified in the organ confined disease group with the age of 66.8 ± 5.8 years, and 36 in the locally advanced disease group with the age of 66.0 ± 6.8 years. The difference of the age between the two groups were of no statistic significance (t = 0.650, P = 0.517). The serum prostate specific antigen level (Wilcoxon W = 4562.0, P = 0.016), Gleason score (Wilcoxon W = 4586.5, P = 0.016), and clinical stage (Wilcoxon W = 4444.5, P = 0.001) of the locally advanced disease group were higher than the other group. The equation of the multiple Logistic regression model was Logit P = 0.488 × Gleason score + 0.104 × clinical stage -6.187, with the freedom degree of two and the likelihood ratio χ(2) test of 11.263 (P = 0.001). The area under the ROC curve (AUC) for capsular penetration was 0.696 (P = 0.001), with the 95% confidence interval of 0.598 - 0.793.The multiple Logistic regression model based on the Chinese population can accurately predict the probability of capsular penetration of the prostate cancer and work on well with high internal accuracy when clinical decisions are made.

To validate the 2007 Partin tables externally, which are based on the population of United States, using a cohort of Chinese prostate cancer patients.All of the patients enrolled and underwent radical prostatectomy between January 2006 and February 2010 were reviewed. The cases without preoperative hormone therapy and pelvic lymph node involvement according to radiologic tests were used for the external validation of the 2007 Partin tables. A comparative analysis of the clinical and pathological parameters of this Chinese cohort and Partin tables cohort was performed. Values of areas under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve were used to assess predictive accuracy for the Chinese cohort.The mean age of the whole cohort was 67 years. The serum prostate specific antigen level, Gleason score and clinical stage of this cohort were higher than the Partin tables cohort. The pathological outcomes analysis revealed that the rates of organ confined disease, capsular penetration, seminal vesicle involvement and lymph node involvement were 62.3%, 16.7%, 12.3% and 8.8%, respectively. The area under the ROC curve (AUC) for organ confined disease, capsular penetration, seminal vesicle involvement and lymph node involvement were 0.735, 0.653, 0.601 and 0.845.The Partin tables discriminate well for Chinese patients at risk for positive lymph node. The discrimination of organ confined disease is also acceptable and the discrimination of capsular penetration and seminal vesicle involvement is more limited.