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Understanding the evolutionary history of endangered species is crucial for identifying the main reasons for species endangerment in the past and predicting the changing trends and evolutionary directions of their future distribution. In order to study the impact of environmental changes caused by deep valley incision after the uplift of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau on endangered species, we collected 23 samples belonging to four populations of Aleuritopteris grevilleoides, an endangered fern endemic to the dry-hot valleys (DHV) of Yunnan. Single-nucleotide variation sites (SNPs) were obtained by the genotyping-by-sequencing (GBS) method, and approximately 8085 SNP loci were identified. Through the reconstruction and analysis of genetic diversity, population structure, population dynamics, evolution time, and ancestral geographical distribution, combined with geological historical events such as the formation of dry-hot valleys, this study explores the formation history, current situation, reasons for endangerment and scientifically sound measures for the protection of A. grevilleoides. In our study, A. grevilleoides had low genetic diversity (Obs_Het = 0.16, Exp_Het = 0.32, Pi = 0.33) and a high inbreeding coefficient (Fis = 0.45). The differentiation events were 0.18 Mya, 0.16 Mya, and 0.11 Mya in the A. grevilleoides and may have been related to the formation of terraces within the dry-hot valleys. The history of population dynamics results shows that the diversion of the river resulted in a small amount of gene flow between the two clades, accompanied by a rapid increase in the population at 0.8 Mya. After that, the effective population sizes of A. grevilleoides began to contract continuously due to topographic changes resulting from the continuous expansion of dry-hot valleys. In conclusion, we found that the environmental changes caused by geological events might be the main reason for the changing population size of A. grevilleoides.

Unified solutions to the elastoplastic limit load of thick-walled cylindrical and spherical vessels under internal pressure are obtained in terms of the unified strength theory ( UST) and the unified slip-line field theory (USLFT). The UST and the USLFT include or approximate an existing strength criterion or slip-line field theory by adopting a parameter b, which varies from 0 to 1. The theories can be used on pressure-sensitive materials, which have the strength difference (SD) effect. The solutions, based on the Tresca criterion, the yon Mises criterion, the Mohr-Coulomb criterion, and the twin shear strength criterion, are special cases of the present unified solutions. The results based on the Mohr-Coulomb criterion (b = 0) give the lower bound of the plastic limit load, while those according to the twin shear strength criterion (b = 1) are the upper bound. The solution of the yon Mises criterion is approximated by the linear function of the UST with a specific parameter (b ≈ 0.5). Plastic limit solutions with respect to different yield criteria are illustrated and compared. The influences of the yield criterion as well as the ratio of the tensile strength to the compressive strength on the plastic limit loads are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Although immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) have demonstrated significant survival benefits in some patients diagnosed with gastric cancer (GC), existing prognostic markers are not universally applicable to all patients with advanced GC., Aim: To investigate biomarkers that predict prognosis in GC patients treated with ICIs and develop accurate predictive models., Methods: Data from 273 patients diagnosed with GC and distant metastasis, who un-derwent ≥ 1 cycle(s) of ICIs therapy were included in this study. Patients were randomly divided into training and test sets at a ratio of 7:3. Training set data were used to develop the machine learning models, and the test set was used to validate their predictive ability. Shapley additive explanations were used to provide insights into the best model., Results: Among the 273 patients with GC treated with ICIs in this study, 112 died within 1 year, and 129 progressed within the same timeframe. Five features related to overall survival and 4 related to progression-free survival were identified and used to construct eXtreme Gradient Boosting (XGBoost), logistic regression, and decision tree. After comprehensive evaluation, XGBoost demonstrated good accuracy in predicting overall survival and progression-free survival., Conclusion: The XGBoost model aided in identifying patients with GC who were more likely to benefit from ICIs therapy. Patient nutritional status may, to some extent, reflect prognosis., Competing Interests: Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article., (©The Author(s) 2024. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: The development and progression of gastric cancer (GC) are closely linked to the nutritional status of patients. Although immunotherapy has been demonstrated to be clinically effective, the relationships of sarcopenia and myosteatosis with the use of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) in patients with gastric cancer remain to be characterized., Aim: To assess the effects of sarcopenia and myosteatosis on the clinical outcomes of patients with GC undergoing treatment with an ICI., Methods: We performed a retrospective study of patients who were undergoing immunotherapy for GC. For the evaluation of sarcopenia, the optimal cut-off value for the skeletal muscle index was established using receiver operating characteristic analysis of data obtained from pre-treatment computed tomography images at the L3 vertebral level. Myosteatosis was defined using the mean skeletal muscle density (SMD), with a threshold value of < 41 Hounsfield units (HU) for patients with a body mass index (BMI) < 25 kg/m² and < 33 HU for those with a BMI ≥ 25 kg/m². The log-rank test was used to compare progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS), and a Cox proportional hazard model was used to identify prognostic factors. Nomograms were developed to predict the PFS and OS of patients on the basis of the results of multivariate analyses., Results: We studied 115 patients who were undergoing ICI therapy for GC, of whom 27.4% had sarcopenia and 29.8% had myosteatosis. Patients with sarcopenia or myosteatosis had significantly shorter PFS and OS than those without these conditions. Furthermore, both sarcopenia and myosteatosis were found to be independent predictors of PFS and OS in patients with GC administering an ICI. The prediction models created for PFS and OS were associated with C-indexes of 0.758 and 0.781, respectively., Conclusion: The presence of sarcopenia or myosteatosis is a reliable predictor of the clinical outcomes of patients with GC who are undergoing treatment with an ICI., Competing Interests: Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare no competing financial interests., (©The Author(s) 2024. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background/aims: This study gives insight into the effect of splenectomy in radical surgery for gastric cancer., Methodology: The study included 631 patients who underwent radical resection for gastric cancer. Of these 631 patients, 105 underwent splenectomy and 526 had splenic preservation. The clinicopathologic features of 105 patients underwent gastrectomy combined with resection of the spleen (splenectomy group) and 526 patients underwent gastrectomy (spleen-preservation group) were compared., Results: Gastric cancer with splenectomy was characterized by tumor located in gastric cardia (33.3%), positive lymph node metastasis (91.4%), and serosal invasion (94.3%). For age, gender, and tumor size, there was no significant difference between the patients with splenectomy and spleen-preservation. The 5-year survival of splenectomy group was 21.3% as compared with 38.6% for spleen-preservation group (P<0.001). With respect to patients with splenectomy, multivariate analysis showed that lymph node metastasis was significant factors affecting survival., Conclusions: Compared with spleen-preservation group, patients who underwent gastrectomy combined with splenectomy have a greater chance of tumor located in gastric cardia, positive lymph node metastasis, and serosal invasion and a significantly poor prognosis.

Background/aims: This study gives insight into the effect of combined Billroth II with Braun anastomosis for patients with gastric cancer., Methodology: The clinical data of 720 patients with gastric cancer who underwent surgical treatment in our hospital from 1997 to 2011 were reviewed retrospectively. The results of different operative approaches were analyzed., Results: Combined Billroth II with Braun anastomosis was performed in 378 cases, and Billroth II in 342 cases. The Gastrointestinal Quality of Life Index (GIQLI) was used to evaluate postoperative quality of life., Conclusions: If the indications for combined Billroth II with Braun anastomosis are strictly controlled, and more attention is paid to perioperatively support, combined Billroth II with Braun anastomosis can prolong the life span of the patients with gastric cancer rather than increase the surgical complications and the mortality.

Enteral nutrition can provide adequate nutrients and enhance immunity. Because it is inexpensive, no significant side effects, and convenient, enteral nutrition has been used widely. However, enteral nutrition has its limitation, therefore some details should be noticed during the management. In this paper, we discuss the details about enteral nutrition based on the data of our gastric carcinoma patients.

Recently, the incidence of carcinoma at the esophagogastric junction (CEG), especially adenocarcinoma at esophagogastric junction (AEG) is increasing. AEG has obvious difference from other parts of stomach tumor in anatomy, physiology and pathology. The scholars have not made a consensus and standard about the treatment of AEG. It is necessary to improve the knowledge and cognition about AEG and find a feasible treatment strategy.

Objective: To compare the incidence of postoperative long-term complications and quality of life between two digestive tract reconstruction techniques after total gastrectomy in order to provide evidence for clinical practice., Methods: A systematic literature search was carried out to obtain studies of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of reconstruction techniques including jejunal interposition and Roux-en-Y. Data extracted from RCTs for meta-analysis were independently assessed by two reviewers. A meta-analysis was performed by RevMan5.0 software., Results: A total of 1628 gastric cancer cases undergoing total gastrectomy from 10 RCTs were eligible for inclusion, among whom 728 received jejunal interposition reconstruction and 954 Roux-en-Y anastomosis. As compared with Roux-en-Y anastomosis, jejunal interposition reconstruction significantly decreased the incidence of dumping syndrome (OR=0.19, 95%CI:0.11-0.34, P<0.01), increased the prognostic nutritional index (WMD=6.02, 95%CI:1.82-10.22, P<0.01), and improved the body weight postoperatively (WMD=-2.45, 95%CI:-3.81--1.71, P<0.01). Meanwhile, jejunal interposition reconstruction did not prolong operative time and hospital stay (both P>0.05)., Conclusion: Jejunal interposition has better efficacy than Roux-en-Y in dumping syndrome and quality of life, and is a reasonable and effective digestive tract reconstruction for long-term survival of gastric cancer patients.

Objective: To evaluate the effect of nasogastric decompression tube after gastric cancer operation on the postoperative recovery., Methods: A total of 174 patients with gastric cancer were prospectively enrolled from December 2009 to March 2011 and randomly divided into non-nasogastric tube control group(n=88) and nasogastric tube group(n=86). Postoperative symptoms, complications, recovery time, and quality of life during hospital stay were compared between the two groups., Results: The incidences of nausea(14.8% vs. 47.7%, P<0.01), sore throat(6.8% vs. 38.4%, P<0.01), bucking and foreign body sensation(3.4% vs. 20.9%, P<0.01), expectoration obstruction(36.4% vs. 55.8%, P<0.05) were significantly lower in nasogastric tube group than those in the control group. The intervals to ambulation and flatus were(1.46±0.58) d and(3.11±0.77) d in the non-nasogastric tube group, significantly shorter those in nasogastric tube group[(1.68±0.61) d and(3.75±1.03) d]. There was no anastomotic leak or bowel obstruction. The difference in bleeding was not statistically significant[3.4%(3/88) vs. 5.8%(5/86), P>0.05] between the two groups. The quality of life differed between the two groups(mean score, 3.36 vs. 2.78, P<0.01)., Conclusion: Early removal of nasogastric decompression tube is safe and reasonable and can improve the quality of life during hospital stay.

Objective: To provide basic information for epidemiological research of gastrointestinal (GI) malignant tumors., Methods: Data of GI cancer diagnosed in 15 hospitals of Heilongjiang province between January 1998 and December 2007 were analyzed retrospectively. The data mainly involved the age of onset, initial symptoms, pathological types, clinical staging and types of surgical procedure., Results: Gastric cancer was the most common type (45.8%) among the 33,540 GI cancer cases, then were rectal cancer (27.3%) and colon cancer (26.8%). Right colon cancer cases were more common than the left ones (1.3:1.0), particularly in people over 80 (2.1:1.0). Only 1.3% of colorectal cancer could be found in age under 30 years old. In patients aged 50 to 70, advanced gastric cancer accounted for 70.6%, advanced colon cancer 73.4% and advanced rectal cancer 72.4%. Well-moderately differentiated adenocarcinoma in early gastric cancer was 49.7%, early colon cancer 77.3% and rectal cancer 83.2%. Patients undergone radical excision in early gastric cancer accounted for 69.1%, advanced gastric cancer 79.9%, left colon cancer 91.9%, right colon cancer 83.9% and in rectal cancer for 88.3%., Conclusions: People aged 50 to 70 tend to get GI cancer in Heilongjiang province. Gastric cancer is the most common GI cancer. Radical excision is the main choice of therapy.

Objective: To investigate the expression of transcription factor SP1, vascular endothelial growth factor(VEGF) and CD34 in serosa-infiltrating gastric cancer and their relationship with biological behavior and survival rate., Methods: Immunohistochemical technique was used to detect the expression of SP1, VEGF and CD34(described by microvessel density, MVD) in 68 specimens with serosa-infiltrating gastric cancer., Results: The positive expression rates of SP1 and VEGF in serosa-infiltrating gastric cancer were 50.0% and 52.9% respectively. In positive SP1 specimens, the positive rate of VEGF(73.5%) was significantly higher than that of negative SP1 specimens (32.4%, chi(2)=11.57, P=0.01). The mean tumor MVD was correlated with the expression levels of SP1 and VEGF(P<0.01). There was a significant correlation of the SP1 expression with tumor size and growth pattern(P =0.01). The expression levels of VEGF and MVD were correlated with Borrmann types, cell differentiation, metastatic lymph nodes and growth pattern(P<0.01). Univariate analysis revealed that SP1 and VEGF expression, MVD, Borrmann types, lymph node metastasis, tumor size and growth pattern were significant prognostic factors related to survival time. Multivariate analysis showed that SP1 expression, MVD and growth pattern were independently prognostic factors of poor survival., Conclusions: The activation of SP1 contributes to angiogenesis and metastasis in gastric cancer through the up-regulation of VEGF. SP1, VEGF and MVD may serve as valuable indicators of biological behavior of gastric cancer. SP1 protein expression is not related with the number of metastatic lymph nodes. SP1 expression and MVD may serve as valuable indicators of prognosis in gastric carcinoma.

Objective: To observe the expression of hepatocyte growth factor (HGF), transcription factor SP1, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and CD34 (demonstrating by microvessel density, MVD) in serosa-infiltrative gastric cancer (T3) and their relations with the pathobiological behavior of the tumor, and to investigate the molecular basis of the defluxion of gastric cancer cells in abdominal cavity and its influence on prognosis., Methods: Selective collection of peritoneal lavage was obtained from 80 patients with serosa-infiltrative gastric cancer received operation from April to December in 2007. The cancer cells were detected by using peritoneal lavage cytology (PLC) and immunochemistry of cytokeratin 18 (CK18). Immunohistochemistry was applied to detect the HGF, SP1, VEGF and CD34 in serosa-infiltrative gastric cancer tissues. The rigorous follow-up was carried out for the patients., Results: The positive rate of PLC was 63.8% (51/80), and the positive rate of immunochemistry of CK18 was 75.0% (60/80). The positive cases in PLC were positive in immunochemistry of CK18 also, while 9 negative cases in PLC were positive with CK18, and of them 6 cases were determined positive with exfoliated cancer cells through pathological consulting. So the positive rate of exfoliated cells of this group was 71.3% (57/80). The positive rates of HGF, SP1 and VEGF in gastric cancer tissues were 57.5%, 52.5% and 55.0%, respectively, and were all significantly correlated with the MVD (P < 0.05). HGF, SP1, VEGF and MVD were correlated with the positive rate of exfoliated cells (P < 0.05). HGF, SP1, VEGF and MVD were found significantly related to prognosis on univariate analysis (P < 0.05), and it was demonstrated that HGF, SP1 and VEGF were independent prognostic influential factors on Logistic regression analysis (P < 0.05)., Conclusions: The expression of HGF, SP1, VEGF and MVD are related with the biological behaviour of serosa-infiltrative gastric cancer. The detection of these factors might be helpful in predicting the defluxion of gastric cancer cells and postoperative recurrence.

Objective: To study the precise cause and the specific procedure about gastric mucosal lesion in rats with water immersion-restraint stress(WRS)., Methods: One hundred and forty-four Wistar rats were divided into 9 groups randomly: A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H and I group. There were 16 rats in each group. A, B and C groups underwent gastric emptying determination. Emptying rate of gastric fluid was determined with radiate nuclide (99m)Tc. D, E and F groups underwent gastric acid secretion determination after cleaning gastric contents and pylorus ligation. G, H and I groups underwent gastric acid secretion determination after pylorus ligation without cleaning gastric contents. Gastric mucosal lesion ulcer index(UI) was evaluated. The relationship between of gastric mucosal lesion and gastric emptying rate and gastric acid secretion were examined., Results: Gastric emptying rate decreased obviously when the WRS time was prolonged. There were significant differences among B (WRS 2 h), C group (WRS 4 h) and A group (controlled group) (P<0.01). There was also significant difference between B and C group (P<0.01).The rats' gastric acid secretion was inhibited significantly. The differences among E (WRS 2 h), F (WRS 4 h) and D groups (controlled group) were significant (P<0.01). There was no significant difference between F and E groups (P>0.05). The gastric mucosal lesions were aggravated with time of stress. Gastric contents cleaning could effectively prevent gastric mucosal lesions originated by stress .The operation had no influence on this test. There were significant gastric mucosal lesion UI in B and C groups compared with A group (P<0.01). The difference between B and C group was significant (P<0.01).There were no gastric mucosal lesions in A, D, E, F and G groups. However, There was significant difference between I and F group (P<0.01). No significant difference were found among A, D, E, F and G groups (P>0.05). There were significant difference between H and B group and also between I and C group (P<0.01)., Conclusions: WRS can induce gastric emptying disturbance, reduce gastric acid secretion and cause gastric mucosal lesion. As a factor inducing gastric mucosal lesion, acid can damage gastric mucosa as long as it exists without necessary peracid. The prolongation of acid with gastric mucosa contact period and the decrease of gastric mucosa resistance are perhaps the major causes of gastric mucosal lesion. Besides anti-acid, giving facilitative gastric emptying drugs and gastric lavage during stress ulcer prevention and cure should be considered. Acid evacuation in time is also a major cure for gastritis and recurrent ulcer.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the reversal effect and its mechanism of arsenic trioxide (As2O3) on multidrug resistance of gastric carcinoma cells. The concentration of vincristine (VCR) increased gradually to induce the drug resistance of gastric carcinoma cell SGC7901. MTT assay was used to determine the lethal effect of anticarcinogens on tumor cells and Western blotting assay was applied to determine the expression of P-glucoprotein (P-gp) and glutathione S-transferase (GST-s) in tumor cells. As a result, the resistance of SGC7901/VCR cells to VCR, fluorouracil and epirubicin was 16.56, 2.69 and 13.05 times, respectively, more than that of SGC7901 cells. After 24 h precondition with As2O3, RI of vincristine, fluorouracil and epirubicin decreased significantly (P < 0.05). Expression of P-gp and GST-s in resting SGC7901/VCR cells was significantly higher than that in carcinogen-sensitive SGC7901 cells. As2O3 decreased the expression of P-gp and GST-s in SGC7901/VCR cells significantly, while it showed no significant effect on carcinogen-sensitive SGC7901 cells. The result suggested that As2O3 could partly reverse drug resistance of SGC7901/VCR cells by probably the mechanism of decreasing the expression of P-gp and GST-s.

Objective: To study endoglin (CD105) gene expression in breast cancer and its clinicopathologic significance., Methods: In 40 patients with breast cancers, CD105 mRNA was detected at center and periphery of tumor and at nearby normal tissue by RT-PCR., Results: The difference in CD105 mRNA expressions between cancer and normal breast tissue was significant (t = 12.08, P < 0.05), and the expression was significantly higher at the tumor periphery than at the tumor center (t = 7.52, P < 0.05). CD105 over-expression was related to lymph node metastases (t = 2.71, P < 0.05), but not to age, tumor size, pathologic grade or pathologic type (P > 0.05)., Conclusion: CD105 over-expression may play a crucial role in the progression of breast cancer and lymph node metastasis.

Background & Objective: Cellular FLICE inhibitory protein (cFLIP) plays an important role in cell apoptosis, researches of antisense oligonucleotides (ASODN) of cFLIP gene may provide a new method or protocol for treatment of human gastric cancer. This study was to explore effect of cFLIP ASODN on apoptosis of human gastric cancer cell line BGC823., Methods: Human cervical cancer cell line HeLa was used as control, cFLIP ASODN was introduced into BGC823 cells and HeLa cells, reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and Western blot were used to detect cFLIP(L/S) (cellular FLIP(Short) and cellular FLIP(long)) mRNA and protein. The 5'FAM-conjugated ASODN was created complementary to a sequence that included the start site of FLIP open reading frame. After introducing, MTT was used to detect cell inhibition rate,TUNEL and flow cytometry (FCM) were used to detect cell apoptosis, and Western blot was used to detect protein level of cFLIP., Results: The encoding mRNA and protein of cFLIP(L) and cFLIP(S) can be detected in both HeLa and BGC823 cells. MTT revealed that cFLIP ASODN significantly inhibited proliferation of BGC823 cells (P< 0.05) in a concentration-dependent manner. TUNEL staining detected positive FLIP expression, specific apoptotic peak can be detected before G1 peak by FCM, and Western blot revealed that protein level of cFLIP(L) and cFLIP(S) decreased significantly (P< 0.05)., Conclusion: The cFLIP(L/S) mRNA and encoded proteins expressed in both HeLa and BGC823 cells. ASODN may down-regulate cFLIP(L/S) protein level, and initiate apoptosis of BGC823 cells.

Background: Peptide nucleic acid (PNA) has many characteristics useful in molecular biology. This paper described an effective way to raise the cell ingestion rate of PNA so as to kill gastric cancer cells., Methods: Heteroduplexes of PNAs and oligonucleotides, wrapped by Lipofectamine 2000, were used to infect SGC7901 cells. The inhibitive effect of heteroduplexes was evaluated by analyzing cell clone forming and cell growth rate. Telomerase activity of SGC7901 cells was detected by polymerase chain reaction enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (PCR-ELISA) and silver staining assay., Results: PNAs showed a dose-dependent inhibition of cell proliferation. The percentage of proliferation inhibition was 99.4% after 7 days; the rate of cloning inhibition was 98.2% after 8 days; whereas for oligonucleotide groups, at the same concentration, the percentages were 50.1% and 67.5% respectively. Antisense PNA-DNA-Lipofectamine 2000 group (AP-D-L group) exhibited significantly different percentages from the control groups (P < 0.05). The test result indicated that telomerase activity of the AP-D-L group was inhibited (P < 0.05). At the same time, the impact on cell morphology was observed., Conclusions: The results showed that PNAs are potent antisense reagents. The telomerase-associated therapies are very promising for the treatment of malignant tumours.

Objective: To study the expression of the cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) gene in breast cancer in contrast to that of normal breast tissues or benign breast tumors and its significance in the carcinogenesis and development of breast cancer., Methods: With reference to the expression of the beta-actin gene, the expression of COX-2 mRNA was examined in cancerous tissues and adjacent normal breast tissue from 30 patients and benign breast tumors from 15 patients by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Quantitation of relative band densities was performed using densitometry-scanning software. Estrogen receptors of 30 breast cancers were investigated by immunohistochemistry., Results: Enhanced expression of COX-2 was observed in ninety percent of cancers tissue with a range of 0.05 - 0.91 (median 0.53). Rare cases showed significant COX-2 expression in normal breast tissues with a range of 0 - 0.09 (median 0). In part of benign breast tumors, COX-2 expressions were obviously elevated with a range of 0 - 0.68 (median 0.07). The difference of expression of COX-2 mRNA among breast cancers, normal breast tissues, mastopathy or fibroadenomas was significant (rank-sum test, P < 0.05) and the difference of that between estrogen receptor negative and positive was also observed (rank-sum test, P < 0.01)., Conclusion: The level of expression of COX-2 mRNA is obviously higher in breast cancer tissue than in normal breast tissue, mastopathy or fibroadenomas. The expression of COX-2 in hormone-dependent breast cancer is higher than that in hormone-independent breast cancer. The overexpression of COX-2 may play a crucial role in the carcinogenesis and development of cancer in patients with breast carcinoma.