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Xianmin Zhu,1 Shuang Dong,1 Jing Tang,1 Rong Xie,1 Huijing Wu,1 Jun Guan,2 Sheng Hu1 1Department of Medical Oncology, Hubei Cancer Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of Hematology, Wuhan NO.1 Hospital, Wuhan, People’s Republic of ChinaCorrespondence: Sheng Hu, Department of Medical Oncology, Hubei Cancer Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, 116 South Road, Wuhan, 430079, People’s Republic of China, Email ehusmn@163.comAbstract: In recent years, there have been limited reports on the efficacy of later-line anti-programmed cell death − 1 (PD-1) therapy in achieving prolonged and complete remission in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Tislelizumab, a humanized anti-PD-1 monoclonal IgG4 antibody, has shown promising results in the treatment of HCC. This report highlights the case of a patient with HCC who experienced the development of lung metastatic lesions following HCC resection and chemotherapy, but achieved a prolonged complete response (CR) after receiving tislelizumab treatment. In April 2017, a 56-year-old male diagnosed with primary HCC underwent hepatectomy and hepatic arterial infusion pump placement. Following the surgery, the patient received adjuvant hepatic arterial infusion chemotherapy (HAIC) with 4 cycles of cisplatin+5-fluorouracil (PF) regimen starting in June 2017. In May 2018, lung metastatic lesions were detected, and the patient underwent 4 cycles of oxaliplatin+leucovorin+5-fluorouracil (FOLFOX) chemotherapy. However, the disease progressed in August 2018, leading to the administration of arsenic trioxide treatment. Despite this, further progression was observed in October 2018, prompting the patient’s enrollment in a clinical trial for tislelizumab therapy. Initially, the patient achieved a partial response (PR) to tislelizumab, which was followed by a CR that lasted for almost 4 years. Unfortunately, tislelizumab treatment had to be discontinued due to immune-related adverse events (AE). Subsequently, the patient received lenvatinib and maintained a CR until July 2023. Tislelizumab monotherapy, when used as a third-line treatment, has demonstrated remarkable efficacy in facilitating patients with advanced HCC to attain a durable CR.Keywords: hepatocellular carcinoma, complete response, immune checkpoint inhibitor, tislelizumab, chemotherapy failure, metastasis

Kworweinski Lafontant,1,2 Amber Blount,2,3 Jethro Raphael M Suarez,2,4 David H Fukuda,1 Jeffrey R Stout,1,5 Evette M Trahan,2 Nichole R Lighthall,3 Joon-Hyuk Park,4,5 Rui Xie,2,6 Ladda Thiamwong2,5 1Institute of Exercise Physiology and Rehabilitation Science, University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL, USA; 2College of Nursing, University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL, USA; 3Department of Psychology, University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL, USA; 4Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department, University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL, USA; 5Disability, Aging, and Technology Cluster, University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL, USA; 6Department of Statistics and Data Science, University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL, USACorrespondence: Ladda Thiamwong, UCF College of Nursing, 12201 Research Parkway, Suite 300, Orlando, FL, 32826, USA, Tel +1 407 823 5091, Email ladda.thiamwong@ucf.eduPurpose: The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has implemented the Stopping Elderly Accidents, Deaths, and Injuries (STEADI) initiative. This initiative provides an algorithm for fall risk screening. However, the algorithm has the potential to overcategorize individuals as high risk for falling upon initial screening, which may burden clinicians with the task of recategorizing individuals after follow-up testing. Therefore, this study aimed to compare the accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity of fall risk appraisal between the STEADI, Short Fall-Efficacy Scale International (FES-I), and portable balance system (BTrackS) assessments in community-dwelling older adults.Patients and Methods: This cross-sectional analysis included 122 community-dwelling older adults, comprising 94 women and 28 men. Center-of-pressure postural sway was assessed using the BTrackS, fear of falling was assessed using the Short FES-I questionnaire, and all participants completed the STEADI checklist. Each assessment categorized participants as either high or low fall risk and fall risk appraisal was compared between groups using McNemar tests.Results: The STEADI checklist (high risk: n = 62; low risk: n = 60) significantly differed in fall risk appraisal compared to the BTrackS (high risk: n = 44; low risk: n = 78; p = 0.014) and the Short FES-I (high risk: n = 42; low risk: n = 80; p = 0.002). Compared to the BTrackS, the STEADI checklist had a specificity of 62.8%, sensitivity of 70.5%, and accuracy of 65.6%. Compared to the Short FES-I, the STEADI checklist had a specificity of 67.5%, sensitivity of 81.0%, and accuracy of 72.1%.Conclusion: The STEADI checklist appears to overcategorize individuals as high fall risk more frequently than direct assessments of postural sway and fear of falling. Further research is needed to examine potential improvements in accuracy when combining the STEADI checklist with direct assessments of postural sway and/or fear of falling.Plain Language Summary: Fall risk assessments are crucial for preventative care in older adults. However, the demands of clinical practice require an accurate and time-efficient method. The U.S Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has implemented a fall risk checklist through the Stopping Elderly Accidents, Deaths, and Injuries (STEADI) initiative. However, the STEADI checklist might cost clinicians more time than expected, as some patients initially classified as high risk for falling may not actually be at high risk. This leads to unnecessary follow-up assessments. In this study, we compared the STEADI checklist to direct measures of postural sway (balance) using the BTrackS system and fear of falling using the Short FES-I survey to determine how they differed in classifying community-dwelling older adults as high versus low fall risk. Our results show that the STEADI checklist classifies older adults as high risk more frequently than the BTrackS and Short FES-I. Considering that the follow-up assessments for a high-risk classification by the STEADI checklist include a balance test, we suggest that combining a balance test such as the BTrackS with a questionnaire or checklist may yield better screening outcomes and accurately identify high-risk individuals in a timely manner. Further research is needed to determine the effectiveness of this combination and to establish a true gold standard method for fall risk appraisal.Keywords: balance, postural sway, fall efficacy, clinical practice

Shaoyun Li,1,&ast; Yuefei Li,1,&ast; Xiyan Xu,1 Jian Shao,2 Ruifeng Xie,3 Sheng Liu,1 Li Peng,1 Jin Wang,1 Kaixin Zhou,3 Huyi Feng1 1The Fifth People’s Hospital of Chongqing, Chongqing, People’s Republic of China; 2Guangzhou Laboratory, Guangzhou, People’s Republic of China; 3Department of Life Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, People’s Republic of China&ast;These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Kaixin Zhou; Huyi Feng, Email zhoukx@ucas.ac.cn; fenghuyi@hotmail.comIntroduction: Simple non-invasive biomarker is urgently needed to detect the largely silent osteopenia in order to prevent osteoporosis-related fracture later in life. The accumulation of advanced glycation end products (AGEs) has been related to reduced bone density and osteoporotic fractures. Whether lens autofluorescence (LAF) based AGEs (LAF-AGEs) measurement could be used to assess the risk of osteopenia is aimed to investigate in this paper.Methods: Through routine health examination, 368 individuals under the age of 50 were enrolled. A dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) device was used to measure bone mineral density (BMD) of the forearm and determine osteopenia. AGE levels were derived with LAF along with the other demographic and laboratory parameters. After deriving the age-adjusted AGE levels (AALs), a linear regression analysis and an ordered logistic regression analysis were applied to examine the associations between osteopenia and LAF-AGEs as well as AALs.Results: Negative correlations (Pearson r = − 0.16, p < 0.001) were found between LAF-AGEs and T-scores. Higher AALs were significantly associated (p = 0.004) with escalated level of osteopenia in the ordered logistic analysis.Discussion: After reviewing the relevant studies, it is concluded that LAF-AGE is a more stable measure of long-term metabolic dysfunction than circulating AGE. LAF-AGEs are a valid, practical and non-invasive parameter for osteopenia risk evaluation. Further studies with longer follow-up will be helpful to clarify its effectiveness for osteoporosis risk assessment.Keywords: lens autofluorescence, LAF, osteopenia, advanced glycation end products, AGEs, bone mineral density, T-scores

Ruijie Xie,1 Xiongjie Huang,1 Ya Zhang,2 Qianlong Liu,3 Mingjiang Liu1 1Department of Hand Surgery, The Affiliated Nanhua Hospital, Hengyang Medical School, University of South China, Hengyang, 421002, People’s Republic of China; 2Affiliated Hospital of Youjiang Medical University for Nationalities, Baise, 533099, People’s Republic of China; 3The Affiliated Changsha Central Hospital, Hengyang Medical school, University of South China, Changsha, 410004, People’s Republic of ChinaCorrespondence: Mingjiang Liu, Email usclmj@163.comBackground: Serum lipids are highly inheritable and play a major role in bone health. However, the relationship between low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) and bone mineral density (BMD) remains uncertain. The goal of this study was to see if there was a link between LDL-C levels and BMD in persons aged 20 to 59.Methods: Using data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2011– 2018, multivariate logistic regression models were utilized to investigate the association between LDL-C and lumbar BMD. Fitted smoothing curves and generalized additive models were also used.Results: The analysis included a total of 4909 adults. After controlling for various variables, we discovered that LDL-C was negatively linked with lumbar BMD. The favorable connection of LDL-C with lumbar BMD was maintained in subgroup analyses stratified by gender and race in both males and females, Whites and Mexican Americans, but not in Blacks and other races. The relationship between LDL-C and lumbar BMD in other races was an inverted U-shaped curve with the inflection point: 2.327 (mmol/L).Conclusion: In people aged 20 to 59, our research discovered a negative relationship among LDL-C and lumbar BMD. Among races other than Whites, Blacks, Mexican Americans, this relationship followed an inverted U-shaped curve (inflection point: 2.327mmol/L). LDL-C measurement might be used as a responsive biomarker for detecting osteoporosis early and guiding therapy.Keywords: low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, bone mineral density, osteoporosis, osteopenia

Thin films of fully conjugated donor-acceptor block copolymers composed of an electron donating block and an electron accepting block can be used as single component photoactive layers in organic photovoltaic (OPV) devices. In order to realize their full potential, control over microphase separation and thin-film morphology are critical. In conjugated block copolymer systems where one or more blocks can crystallize, the morphological evolution is governed by the competition between microphase separation and crystallization. In this work, we control crystallization of fully conjugated block copolymers with a random copolymer block. We suppress the crystal packing of poly(3-hexylthiophene-2,5-diyl) (P3HT) through the insertion of a small number of 3-octylthiophene (3OT) units within the chains, yielding poly(3-hexylthiophene-2,5-diyl-random-3-octylthiophene-2,5-diyl) (P[3HT-r-3OT]). While crystallization of P3HT dominates the morphology and prevents microphase separation in poly(3-hexylthiophene-2,5-diyl)-block-poly((9,9-dioctylfluorene-2,7-diyl)-alt-(4,7-di(thiophene-2-yl)-2,1,3-benzothiadiazole)-5′,5″-diyl) (P3HT-b-PFTBT), modest levels of 3OT suppress crystallization in P[3HT-r-3OT]-b-PFTBT, and permit microphase separation. Thus, we demonstrate that incorporating a random copolymer into a donor-acceptor block copolymer can increase control over microphase separation and lead to enhanced performance in OPV devices.

Charge transport in conjugated polymers may be governed not only by the static microstructure but also fluctuations of backbone segments. Using molecular dynamics simulations, we predict the role of side chains in the backbone dynamics for regiorandom poly(3-alkylthiophene-2,5-diyl)s (P3ATs). We show that the backbone of poly(3-dodecylthiophene-2-5-diyl) (P3DDT) moves faster than that of poly(3-hexylthiophene-2,5-diyl) (P3HT) as a result of the faster motion of the longer side chains. To verify our predictions, we investigated the structures and dynamics of regiorandom P3ATs with neutron scattering and solid state NMR. Measurements of spin-lattice relaxations (T1) using NMR support our prediction of faster motion for side chain atoms that are farther away from the backbone. Using small-angle neutron scattering (SANS), we confirmed that regiorandom P3ATs are amorphous at about 300 K, although microphase separation between the side chains and backbones is apparent. Furthermore, quasi-elastic neutron scattering (QENS) reveals that thiophene backbone motion is enhanced as the side chain length increases from hexyl to dodecyl. The faster motion of longer side chains leads to faster backbone dynamics, which in turn may affect charge transport for conjugated polymers. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part B: Polym. Phys. 2018, 56, 1193–1202.

Ruibo Xie,1,2 Yue Xia,1,2 Xinchun Wu,3 Ying Zhao,3 Hongjun Chen,3 Peng Sun,3 Jie Feng3 1Parents Education Research Institution, College of Teacher Education, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua, People’s Republic of China; 2Key Laboratory of Intelligent Education Technology and Application of Zhejjiang Province, College of Teacher Education, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua, People’s Republic of China; 3Research Center of Children’s Reading and Learning, Beijing Key Laboratory of Applied Experimental Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, People’s Republic of ChinaCorrespondence: Xinchun WuResearch Center of Children’s Reading and Learning, Beijing Key Laboratory of Applied Experimental Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, People’s Republic of ChinaEmail xcwu@bnu.edu.cnBackground: Listening comprehension is particularly important in children without sight. Little research has focused on listening comprehension. There are strong correlations among syllables, morphemes, and orthographic representations in Chinese. For this reason, vocabulary knowledge may have a mediating role in morphological awareness and listening comprehension in blind children during the elementary school.Methods: The study that included measures of children’s age, working memory, rapid automatized naming, phonological awareness, morphological awareness, vocabulary knowledge, and listening comprehension was administered to 142 Chinese‐speaking blind children during the early elementary level (Grades 1 to 3) and late (Grades 4 to 6). Through a mediation analysis following the bootstrapping procedures.Results: The study shows that (1) morphological awareness predicted listening comprehension in blind children directly; (2) after children’s age, working memory, rapid automatized naming, and phonological awareness controlled, vocabulary knowledge plays a mediating role in morphological awareness and listening comprehension.Conclusion: The findings of the present study indicate the important unique role of morphological awareness and the mediation of vocabulary knowledge in blind children’s listening comprehension during the elementary school years.Keywords: morphological awareness, vocabulary knowledge, listening comprehension, blindness, Chinese

Ting Chen, Haiying Wu, Xiuli Chen, Rongrong Xie, Fengyun Wang, Hui Sun, Linqi Chen Department of Endocrinology, Genetics and Metabolism, Children’s Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou 215000 Jiangsu, People’s Republic of ChinaCorrespondence: Ting ChenDepartment of Endocrinology, Genetics, and Metabolism, Children’s Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou, Jiangsu, People’s Republic of ChinaTel +86-512-8069-8322Email chenting888@suda.edu.cnStudy Objective: The well-known tumor suppressor transcriptional factor p53 has been proposed to be one of the central hubs of a functionally related and hierarchically arranged gene network coordinating pubertal timing. Our previous studies revealed that p53 is involved in the metabolic control of puberty. The current study aimed to investigate the underlying signaling pathway, through which p53 mediated the metabolic control of puberty.Design, Setting, Participants, Interventions, and Main Outcome Measures: We engineered the expression of p53 and/or Lin28a in GT1-7 cells to investigate the interaction between p53 and Lin28/let-7 system, and their impact on GnRH secretion.Results: Overexpression of p53 stimulated, while inhibition of p53 by pifithrin-α significantly suppressed the GnRH secretion and GPR54 expression levels in response to kisspeptin stimulation in GT1-7 cells. Furthermore, overexpressed p53 suppressed Lin28a and c-Myc expression levels and increased let-7 expression levels in GT1-7 cell lines. On the other hand, inhibition of p53 by pifithrin-α upregulated Lin28a and c-Myc levels and downregulated let-7 expression levels. Moreover, Lin28a overexpression counteracted the effect of p53 overexpression in p53 and Lin28a co-overexpression cells, whose GnRH secretion and GPR54 expression levels were not different from controls. Meanwhile, Lin28a suppression counteracted the effect of pifithrin-α, and the GnRH secretion and GPR54 expression levels are not different from controls in p53 and Lin28a co-suppression cells.Conclusion: These data suggest that p53 is a central mediator of GnRH secretion in hypothalamus, and this effect is at least partly through the Lin28/let-7 pathway.Keywords: pubertal timing, p53, Lin28/let-7 system, gonadotropin-releasing hormone

Dan-Li Hao, Ran Xie, Ge-Jing De, Hong Yi, Chen Zang, Mi-Yi Yang, Li Liu, Hai Ma, Wei-Yan Cai, Qing-He Zhao, Feng Sui, Yan-Jun Chen Institute of Chinese Materia Medica, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing 100700, People’s Republic of ChinaCorrespondence: Qing-He Zhao; Yan-Jun Chen Tel/ Fax +86-10-84036059Email qhzhao@icmm.ac.cn; yjchen@icmm.ac.cnPurpose: In this study, pH-sensitive poly(2-ethyl-2-oxazoline)-poly(lactic acid)-poly(β-amino ester) (PEOz-PLA-PBAE) triblock copolymers were synthesized and were conjugated with an antimalaria drug artesunate (ART), for inhibition of a colon cancer xenograft model.Methods: The as-prepared polymer prodrugs are tended to self-assemble into polymeric micelles in aqueous milieu, with PEOz segment as hydrophilic shell and PLA-PBAE segment as hydrophobic core.Results: The pH sensitivity of the as-prepared copolymers was confirmed by acid-base titration with pKb values around 6.5. The drug-conjugated polymer micelles showed high stability for at least 96 h in PBS and 37°C, respectively. The as-prepared copolymer prodrugs showed high drug loading content, with 9.57%± 1.24% of drug loading for PEOz-PLA-PBAE-ART4. The conjugated ART could be released in a sustained and pH-dependent manner, with 92% of released drug at pH 6.0 and 57% of drug released at pH 7.4, respectively. In addition, in vitro experiments showed higher inhibitory effect of the prodrugs on rodent CT-26 cells than that of free ART. Animal studies also demonstrated the enhanced inhibitory efficacy of PEOz-PLA-PBAE-ART2 micelles on the growth of rodent xenograft tumor.Conclusion: The pH-responsive artesunate polymer prodrugs are promising candidates for colon cancer adjuvant therapy.Keywords: artesunate, micelles, pH responsive, polymer prodrug, poly(2-ethyl-2-oxazoline), poly(β-amino ester)

Wencheng Huang,1 Ruijie Xie,2 Yuancheng Hong,1 Qingui Chen2 1Department of Respiratory Medicine, The 910th Hospital of People’s Liberation Army, Quanzhou, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of Medical Intensive Care Unit, The First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, People’s Republic of ChinaCorrespondence: Qingui ChenDepartment of Medical Intensive Care Unit, The First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-Sen University, No. 58 Zhongshan Road 2, Guangzhou 510080, People’s Republic of ChinaTel +86-135 8044 2523Email chqgui@mail2.sysu.edu.cnBackground and Aim: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a rather common comorbid condition among patients admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU), while evidence of how this comorbidity affects prognosis is limited. This study aimed to investigate the associations between COPD comorbidity and prognoses of patients who were admitted to the ICU for non-COPD reasons, and to examine whether the associations varied between different types of ICU.Methods: A retrospective cohort study was performed using data extracted from a freely accessible critical care database (MIMIC-III). Adult (≥ 18 years) patients of first ICU admission in the database were enrolled as study participants but those with a primary diagnosis of COPD were excluded. The primary endpoint was 28-day mortality after ICU admission and multivariable Cox regression analyses were employed to assess the associations between COPD comorbidity and the study endpoints. Different adjusting models including a propensity score were used to adjust potential confounders.Results: A total of 29,499 patients were enrolled finally, among which 3,332 patients (11.30%) were comorbid with COPD. A higher 28-day mortality was observed among patients with COPD than those without COPD (13.90% versus 8.07%, P< 0.001), but there was no statistically significant difference in the proportion of patients who needed mechanical ventilation on the first day after ICU admission between the two groups. Multivariable Cox regression analyses found a significant association between COPD comorbidity and 28-day mortality (adjusted hazard ratio=1.32, 95% confidence interval=1.19– 1.47, P< 0.0001). The associations were broadly consistent among patients admitted to different types of ICU, but a much higher estimate was observed in patients admitted to cardiac surgery recovery unit (adjusted hazard ratio=2.03, 95% confidence interval=1.44– 2.86, P< 0.0001).Conclusion: Comorbid COPD increased the risk of 28-day mortality among patients admitted to the ICU for non-COPD reasons, especially for those admitted to the cardiac surgery recovery unit.Keywords: chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, comorbidity, intensive care units, prognosis, risk factors

Jiahe Hu,1,* Jialan Shi,2,3 Yingqian Gao,1 Wei Yang,1 Ping Liu,1 Qinghao Liu,1 Fei He,4 Chunxu Wang,2 Tao Li,2 Rui Xie,1 Jiuxin Zhu,5 Piaoping Yang4,* 1Department of Digestive Internal Medicine, Harbin Medical University Cancer Hospital, Harbin 150081, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of Hematology, The First Affiliated Hospital, Harbin Medical University, Harbin 150001, People’s Republic of China; 3Department of Surgery, VA Boston Healthcare System, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 12132, USA; 4Key Laboratory of Superlight Materials and Surface Technology, Ministry of Education, College of Material Sciences and Chemical Engineering, Harbin Engineering University, Harbin 150001, People’s Republic of China; 5Department of Pharmacology (State-Province Key Laboratories of Biomedicine-Pharmaceutics of China, Key Laboratories of Cardiovascular Medicine Research, Ministry of Education), College of Pharmacy, Harbin Medical University, Harbin 150081, People’s Republic of China*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Jiuxin ZhuDepartment of Pharmacology (State-Province Key Laboratories of Biomedicine-Pharmaceutics of China Key Laboratories of Cardiovascular Medicine Research, Ministry of Education), College of Pharmacy, Harbin Medical University, Harbin 150081, People’s Republic of ChinaTel +86 15104557900Email zhujiuxin@hrbmu.edu.cnRui XieDepartment of Digestive Internal Medicine Harbin Medical University Cancer Hospital, 150 Haping Road, Nangang District, Heilongjiang, Harbin 150081, People’s Republic of ChinaTel +86 13845098117Email rxie@hrbmu.edu.cnBackground: It is important to explore effective treatment for liver cancer. Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is a novel technique to treat liver cancer, but its clinical application is obstructed by limited depth of visible light penetration into tissue. The near-infrared (NIR) photosensitizer is a potential solution to the limitations of PDT for deep tumor tissue treatment.Purpose: We aimed to investigate 808 nm NIR light-excited UCNPs@mSiO2-Ce6-GPC3 nanocomposites for PDT in liver cancer.Methods: In our study, 808 nm NIR light-excited upconversion nanoparticles (UCNPs) were simultaneously loaded with the photosensitizer chlorin e6 (Ce6) and the antibody glypican-3 (GPC3), which is overexpressed in hepatocellular carcinoma cells. The multitasking UCNPs@mSiO2-Ce6-GPC3 nanoparticles under 808 nm laser irradiation with enhanced depth of penetration would enable the effective targeting of PDT.Results: We found that the UCNPs@mSiO2-Ce6-GPC3 nanoparticles had good biocompatibility, low toxicity, excellent cell imaging in HepG2 cancer cells and high anti-tumor effect in vitro and in vivo.Conclusion: We believe that the utilization of 808 nm NIR excited UCNPs@mSiO2-Ce6-GPC3 nanoparticles for PDT is a safe and potential therapeutic option for liver cancer.Keywords: liver cancer, photodynamic therapy, upconversion nanoparticles, 808 nm NIR, GPC3, targeted therapy

In this study, we aim to examine the influence of water entry velocity of a single and two tandem projectile(s) on the supercavitation flow and projectile loading under wave conditions using numerical simulation. The volume of fluid model, renormalization group (RNG) κ-ε turbulence model, and Schnerr-Sauer cavitation model are adopted to simulate the multiphase, turbulent, and cavitation flow, respectively. The projectile movement is considered using overlapping grids and a six-degree-of-freedom model. The results show that as the projectile velocity increases, both the dimensionless maximum radius and length of the cavity, as well as the yaw angle, also increase with the rising water entry velocity. For the two tandem projectiles, the cavity pattern on the second projectile varies as the projectile velocity changes. With a lower projectile velocity, the second projectile cannot directly access the front cavity, and there may be situations wherein the part of the second projectile is not enveloped by cavity. As the projectile velocity increases, the second one can directly enter the cavity of the first projectile without forming a separate cavity around itself. In all of the examined cases, the peak pressure on the first projectile is approximately an order of magnitude higher than that on the second one. Furthermore, with increasing projectile velocity, the pressure peak ratio between the first and second projectiles increases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: To investigate the clinical efficacy of compound dexamethasone acetate cream coordinated with massage in the treatment of iodine contrast extravasation. Materials and Methods: There were sixty patients who were selected in total with iodine contrast extravasation transferred to our hospital from June 2020 to June 2021. With the adaption of the random number method, patients were split into observation group and control group, with 30 cases in each. Compound dexamethasone acetate cream coordinated with massage was applied to the observation group. Meanwhile, simple compound dexamethasone acetate cream was applied to the other group. The clinical efficacy, swelling and pain degree and complication rate of the two groups were compared. Results: The clinical effective rate of the former group (93.33%) was considerably higher than that of the latter (86.67%), the discrepancy was quite essential in statistics (P<0.05). Apart from that, the limb swelling value, redness and swelling resolution time and pain resolution time in the former group were considerably less than those in the latter one, which was with statistical essential (P<0.05). Besides, the incidence of complications in observation group (3.33%) was also considerably lower than that in control group (13.33%), and the two sets of data indicate the statistically significant difference (P<0.05) as well. Conclusion: Compound dexamethasone acetate cream combined with massage for the treatment of iodine contrast extravasation has definite clinical efficacy and high safety, which is able to considerably ameliorate the clinical symptoms of patients, which is worthy of widespread clinical application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Liren Zhang, Peng Yang, Ranran Guo, Jiaxin Sun, Ruihong Xie, Wuli Yang State Key Laboratory of Molecular Engineering of Polymers, Department of Macromolecular Science, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, People’s Republic of ChinaCorrespondence: Wuli YangState Key Laboratory of Molecular Engineering of Polymers, Department of Macromolecular Science, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, People’s Republic of ChinaTel +86-021-31242385Email wlyang@fudan.edu.cnBackground: Chemo-photothermal therapy has attracted intensive attention because of its low side effects and better therapeutic efficiency. Although many photothermal agents have been loaded with chemotherapeutic drugs for chemo-photothermal therapy, their applications are limited by complex synthetic protocols and long-term safety. Therefore, there is significant clinical value in the development of a simple system of biocompatible and biodegradable photothermal nanomaterials with high payloads of chemotherapeutic drugs for chemo-photothermal synergistic therapy.Materials and methods: In this study, PEG-modified polydopamine nanoparticles with mesoporous structure (MPDA-PEG) were successfully obtained by an emulsion-induced interface assembly strategy. Subsequently, paclitaxel (PTX) dissolved in acetone was loaded into the mesoporous channels of MPDA-PEG nanoparticles by solution absorption method. A PTX-loaded MPDA-PEG (MPDA-PEG-PTX) nanoplatform for combination of photothermal therapy (PTT) and chemotherapy was developed.Results: The synthesized MPDA-PEG nanoparticles had a great photothermal effect under near-infrared (NIR) laser irradiation and exhibited an enhanced photothermal effect with the increase of particle size. Meanwhile, MPDA-PEG nanoparticles also had a high payload of PTX, and the PTX release could be greatly accelerated by elevated temperature from photothermal effect. In MTT cytotoxicity assay, A549 cells incubated with MPDA-PEG-PTX under NIR laser irradiation (PTT + chemotherapy group) exhibited better therapeutic effect than single chemotherapy (MPDA-PEG-PTX group) and PTT (MPDA-PEG + Laser group). The synergistic therapeutic effect of MPDA-PEG-PTX with NIR laser irradiation in vivo was further investigated under the guidance of photoacoustic imaging (PAI), tumors of nude mice treated with MPDA-PEG-PTX with NIR laser irradiation were completely eliminated with minimal side effect.Conclusion: The MPDA-PEG-PTX nanoplatform is a simple and effective platform which can completely inhibit tumor growth with minimal side effects under NIR irradiation, and it exhibits better therapeutic effect than single chemotherapy and PTT.Keywords: photothermal therapy, polydopamine, mesoporous nanoparticle, chemotherapy, paclitaxel

Long Chen,1,* Conghui Yang,1,* Jun Feng,2,* Xin Liu,3,* Yadong Tian,1 Lei Zhao,1 Ran Xie,1 Chao Liu,4 Sheng Zhao,1 Hua Sun1 1Department of PET/CT Center, 2Department of Radiology, 3Department of Pathology, 4Department of Nuclear Medicine, Yunnan Tumor Hospital, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University, Kunming, People’s Republic of China *These authors contributed equally to this work Purpose: To evaluate the possible roles of miR-34a expression in thyroid lesions, to unravel the correlation between fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) uptake and miR-34a expression and moreover, to discover the underlying mechanisms by which miR-34a regulates FDG avidity. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed 75 patients with pathology-confirmed thyroid diseases who underwent 18F-FDG positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) within 3 months before undergoing thyroid surgery and miR-34a analysis from June 2012 to July 2017. 18F-FDG uptake of thyroid lesions was also analyzed semiquantitatively using maximum standardized uptake value (SUVmax). The association between miR-34a expression and clinicopathological variables (age, sex, TNM stage, histopathology, lesion numbers, location and 18F-FDG avidity) was investigated. When there were multiple lesions in thyroid bed, only the one with the highest 18F-FDG uptake was analyzed. Next, we inhibited the miR-34a expression in TPC-1 cells and detected the expression of glucose transporter 1 (GLUT1) mRNA and protein. Results: In the patients cohort, miR-34a was upregulated in those with malignant thyroid diseases compared with benign lesions. The expression of miR-34a was associated with tumor stages, histopathological types and SUVmax. There was an inverse relationship between miR-34a expression and SUVmax in patients with thyroid diseases (Spearman correlation coefficient = –0.553, P < 0.0001). With an SUVmax of 4.3 as the threshold, sensitivity and specificity of the prediction of miR-34a expression (low or high) were 70% and 94.3%, respectively. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve was 0.843 (95% confidence interval: 0.749, 0.936; P = 0.001). Inhibiting miR-34a in TPC-1 cells significantly increased GLUT1 mRNA and protein expression. Conclusion: miR-34a expression was upregulated in thyroid lesions, negatively correlated with SUVmax and can be predicted by FDG SUVmax. In addition, miR-34a may regulate FDG avidity via targeting GLUT1. Keywords: miR-34a, thyroid cancer, PET/CT