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With the advantages of one-dimensional hollow structure, high porosity and prominent mechanical strength, single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) have been extensively utilized to improve conventional filtration membranes for oil/water separation. Their intrinsic hydrophobicity, however, adversely affects the anti-fouling performance of the SWCNT membrane. Herein, a super-hydrophilic and underwater super-oleophobic hierarchical modified membrane with enhanced permeability and anti-fouling property was fabricated using the vacuum-assisted filtration technique by synergistically assembling SWCNTs and titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanoparticles on a cellulose acetate membrane. Highly dispersed SWCNTs were obtained by carboxylating treatment of agglomerate SWCNTs. The controlled stacking of SWCNTs fibers and a controllable amount of TiO2 rendered a modified membrane with high porosity and hierarchical structure, leading to an ultrahigh water flux up to 4,777.07 L·m−2·h−1, and excellent separation performance with efficiency greater than 99.47%. Most importantly, the membrane exhibited excellent anti-fouling ability during ten cycles with the aid of the super-wetting property of TiO2 nanoparticles. The results indicated that coating TiO2 nanoparticles on SWCNTs modified the surface topography of the obtained SWCNT/TiO2 membrane, which improved hydrophilicity, permeability and anti-fouling property, manifesting attractive potential applications in oil/water separation.

Lower respiratory tract infection (LRTI) is still a threat to human health. Metagenomics next-generation sequencing (NGS) provides an efficient and unbiased way to identify LRTI pathogens, and has been shown to have several advantages over traditional methods. However, its application is currently limited in low-resource settings. Our aim was to collect and analyze data on LRTI cases at a county-level community hospital in Eastern China over one year, in order to compare the efficiency of NGS and traditional methods including culture, nucleic acid amplification and antibody techniques. We performed NGS of bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) for pathogen identification in 71 patients with LRTI. We compared the detection rates, identified pathogens, and turnaround time of NGS with traditional methods. Pathogens were detected using traditional methods in 19 cases, and the results were compared with those obtained with the NGS technique in 60 cases. The pathogen detection rate of NGS (84.5%) was much higher than that of the traditional methods (26.8%). Moreover, with the traditional methods considered the gold standard, the consistency rate between NGS and traditional methods was 68.4%. For the 19 cases in which the traditional method was used, the main pathogens included invasive Aspergillus (5 cases), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (3 cases), Candida albicans (3 cases), and Staphylococcus aureus (2 cases). Among the 60 cases detected by NGS, the main pathogens included Mycobacterium (12 cases), Streptococcus pneumoniae (5 cases), Klebsiella pneumoniae (3 cases), P. aeruginosa (3 cases), Haemophilus influenzae (3 cases), and S. aureus (3 cases), Aspergillus (9 cases), Pneumocystis jiroveci (5 cases), C. albicans (3 cases), Human Papilloma Virus (9 cases), Epstein-Barr virus (8 cases), and parvovirus (6 cases). In addition, 2 cases of chlamydia and 1 case of mycoplasma infection were detected by NGS. The time taken to perform the NGS tests was significantly shorter than that taken with the traditional method. NGS analysis of bronchoalveolar lavage fluid, in combination with traditional pathogen detection methods, can improve the efficiency of pathogen detection. More attention should be paid to the regional epidemic characteristics of infectious pathogens in LRTI.

Yanwu Nie,1,&ast; Chenchen Wang,2,&ast; Lei Yang,3 Zhen Yang,4 Yahong Sun,4 Maozai Tian,5,6 Yuhua Ma,7,8 Yuxia Zhang,9 Yimu Yuan,10 Liping Zhang6 1State Key Laboratory of Pathogenesis, Prevention and Treatment of High Incidence Diseases in Central Asia, School of Public Health, Xinjiang Medical University, Urumqi, 830017, People’s Republic of China; 2Center for Disease Control and prevention of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Urumqi, 830017, People’s Republic of China; 3School of Nursing, Xinjiang Medical University, Urumqi, 830017, People’s Republic of China; 4School of Public Health, Xinjiang Medical University, Urumqi, 830017, People’s Republic of China; 5Center for Applied Statistics, School of Statistics, Renmin University of China, Beijing, 100872, People’s Republic of China; 6College of Medical Engineering and Technology, Xinjiang Medical University, Urumqi, 830017, People’s Republic of China; 7Department of Oncology, Shanghai East Hospital, Tongji University School of Medicine, Shanghai, 200120, People’s Republic of China; 8Department of Pathology, Karamay Central Hospital of XinJiang Karamay, Karamay, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, 834000, People’s Republic of China; 9Department of Clinical Nutrition, Urumqi Maternal and Child Health Institute, Urumqi, 830001, People’s Republic of China; 10Department of General Practice Medicine, Xinjiang Corps Hospital, Urumqi, People’s Republic of China&ast;These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Liping Zhang, Email zhanglp1219@163.comPurpose: The role of inorganic arsenic (iAs) in the risk of metabolic syndrome (MetS) remains unclear. This investigation focused on the effect of iAs exposure on MetS and whether the results are consistent in different subgroups.Patients and Methods: The present study was conducted on 629 men and 616 women aged 35– 70 years and living in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, China. The 1:1 propensity score matching (PSM) was adopted to regulate the confounding factors, and the multivariate logistic regression was performed to assess the relationship between urinary iAs and MetS.Results: The median content of urinary iAs was examined as 2.20 μg/dL (interquartile range: 1.30– 3.20 μg/dL), and the MetS prevalence reached 23.69% (295 cases/950 participants). After the confounding factors were adjusted, the ORs (95% CIs) for MetS from the minimal to the maximum urinary iAs quartiles reached 1.171 (0.736,1.863), 1.568 (1.008, 2.440) and 2.011 (1.296, 3.120), respectively (referencing 1.00) (P for trend=0.001). After the PSM, the urinary iAs content still plays a potential prediction role in MetS (P for trend=0.011). In addition, as revealed from the subgroup analysis, the urinary iAs content was a predictor of MetS in the female patients, whereas it did not serve as a significant predictor of MetS in the male patients (P for interaction< 0.05).Conclusion: The increased urinary iAs content was associated with the increased prevalence of MetS in Chinese population. More attention should be paid to female urinary iAs content to avoid the high prevalence of MetS.Keywords: metabolic syndrome, urinary inorganic arsenic, propensity score matching, subgroup analysis

The rapid development of e-commerce and the prosperity of express delivery has brought great convenience to people's life. However, the environmental and social problems caused by express delivery packaging (EDP) have not been well understood yet. It has become an important issue to coordinate the economic, environmental, and social development goals of the government for the sustainable development of the EDP. This paper adopted the system dynamics (SD) method to simulate three subsystems in the express delivery packaging supply chain (EDPSC), i.e., the manufacturer subsystem, the consumer subsystem, and the recycler subsystem. Particularly, the impact of government subsidies on the EDPSC from three dimensions of economy, environment, and society was discussed in this paper. The results showed that (1) CO

Glycyrrhiza uralensis Fisch. is known as a common Chinese medicinal herb used to harmonize the effects of other ingredients in most Chinese herbal prescriptions. The rapid production of flavonoids in vitro remains unknown in G. uralensis Fisch. To investigate the in vitro adventitious root regeneration and flavonoid accumulation characteristics in G. uralensis for restrictions on collecting wild plants, suspension cultural and freezing microtomy with histochemical assays were carried out. We reported that multiple adventitious roots were initiated from hypocotyls and stems of G. uralensis. Indole-3-butyric acid (IBA) was more conducive than NAA (1-naphthaleneacetic acid) in inducing G. uralensis adventitious roots, but the addition of 6-BA (6-benzylaminopurine) and KT (kinetin) suppressed the formation of adventitious roots. While the concentration of IBA was 1.0 mg L(−1), the flavonoid content and yield were the highest at 19.96 mg g(−1) and 1.23 mg g(−1), respectively. The optimum medium for adventitious root induction was 1/4-strength Murashige and Skoog’s medium containing 0.1 mg L(−1) IBA. The content of flavonoids in adventitious roots and apicals cultured in vitro was higher than that in suspension callus, reaching 3.87 times the callus flavonoid content. The histochemical localization of flavonoids showed that G. uralensis flavonoids mainly distributed in the epidermal parenchyma cells of the callus outer layers and gradually accumulated in cell wall and cell gaps of the epidermis and endodermis of adventitious roots along with the primary growth of adventitious roots, indicating that there were no flavonoids in the roots at the early stage of adventitious roots formation. The results showed that calli inducing adventitious roots and apicals for 30 days obtained the highest yield of flavonoid, indicating effective production for flavonoids instead of wild culture. AlCl(3) ethanol solution was better than NaOH aqueous solution in terms of chromogenic and localization effects. We concluded that the highest yield of flavonoid and effective production for flavonoid instead of wild culture could be obtained from calli inducing adventitious roots and apicals. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1007/s13197-019-04191-w) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

With the wide application of live-cell single-molecule imaging and tracking of biomolecules at work, deriving diffusion state changes of individual molecules is of particular interest as these changes reflect molecular oligomerization or interaction with other cellular components and thus correlate with functional changes. We have developed a Rayleigh mixture distribution-based hidden Markov model method to analyze time-lapse diffusivity change of single molecules, especially membrane proteins, with unknown dynamic states in living cells. With this method, the diffusion parameters, including diffusion state number, state transition probability, diffusion coefficient, and state mixture ratio, can be extracted from the single-molecule diffusion trajectories accurately via easy computation. The validity of our method has been demonstrated with not only experiments on synthetic trajectories but also single-molecule fluorescence imaging data of two typical membrane receptors. Our method offers a new analytical tool for the investigation of molecular interaction kinetics at the single-molecule level.

This study aimed to investigate the regulatory relationship between miR-144-3p and COL11A1, and to explore its effect on the proliferation, migration and invasion of lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) cells. A series of methods and experiments were applied. miR-144-3p was downregulated in LUAD tissue and cells, whereas COL11A1 was highly expressed. Overexpressing miR-144-3p inhibited the proliferation, migration and invasion of LUAD cells, which could be reversed by overexpression of COL11A1. Overexpressing miR-144-3p inhibits the proliferation, migration and invasion of LUAD cells by silencing COL11A1.

Obtaining 2n pollen from the diploid Chinese old rose ‘Old Blush’ through artificial induction is one important means of hybridizing and breeding modern tetraploid roses. We used colchicine-induced 2n pollen to assess normal viability during hybridization and fructification. The results showed that the pollen mother cell had lagging chromosomes and parallel spindles at meiosis I stage, following which the 2n pollen was produced from dyads and triads with doubled chromosomes. We obtained 4.30% viable 2n pollen, which was significantly higher than the yield of the spontaneous 2n pollen (1.00%) using an optimal treatment combination of induction for 24 h with 0.50% colchicine. There was no significant difference between the external morphology of the induced 2n pollen and the spontaneous 2n pollen, whereas both types of 2n pollen possessed finer furrows, and fewer and smaller pores than the 1n pollen, and the external morphology of 2n pollen was more evolved. In terms of in vitro germination rate and pollen tube length, the induced 2n pollen did not differ significantly from the spontaneous 2n pollen. The survival rate of the floral buds was significantly decreased with increased colchicine concentration and treatment time.

Upregulated in lung cancer, miRNA-182 was found to be related to cancer proliferation and chemoresistance. However, there is no report on the role of miR-182 in radioresistance, which is a main obstacle of radiotherapy. In this study, we aim to depict the effect of miR-182 inhibition on cellular sensitivity to ionizing radiation. Our data confirm that miR-182 is upregulated in lung cancers and tissues and that miR-182 is responsive to irradiation. We also show that miR-182 knockdown suppresses cell proliferation and increases cell apoptosis after irradiation. DNA damage remains unrepaired in miR-182 knockdown cells, which results in cell cycle arrest. Finally, we find that FOXO3 is a direct target of miR-182 and that overexpression of FOXO3 enhances radiation resistance in miR-182 knockdown cells. In conclusion, our data suggest that miR-182 might account for radioresistance in lung cancer and that miR-182-FOXO3 provides a novel radiosensitizing target.

Semi-volatile organic compounds (SVOCs) are one of the main indoor pollutant categories. Six phthalates (dimethyl phthalate (DMP), diethyl phthalate (DEP), di(isobutyl) phthalate (DiBP), di(nbutyl) phthalate (DnBP), butyl benzyl phthalate (BBzP) and di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP)) in house dust samples were measured in forty residential apartments in Tianjin and Urumqi in four seasons throughout a year. The measured DEHP dust-phase concentration is in the range: 11.9–699.9 μg/g; and showed obvious differences in different seasons, and the maximum can be 2 times higher than minimum. The DiBP and DnBP showed similar phenomenon. The corresponding gas-phase concentration is estimated considering the influencing factors of indoor temperature, air change rate, particle concentration. Then the dust-gas partition coefficient Kd under different season was obtained through the measured dust-phase concentration and estimated gas-phase concentration. From winter to summer, because the increased temperature leads to higher emission rate, the gas-phase concentration is obviously high in spite of the higher air change rate in summer. The estimated DEHP gas-phase concentration showed obvious differences in different seasons, and the maximum can be about 2 times higher than minimum. The DiBP and DnBP showed similar phenomenon. The lower dust-phase concentration in summer is observed due to the temperature-dependency of the dust-gas partition coefficient. Therefore temperature has the greatest impact on the dust concentration, not influence via emission rate, but influences the partition coefficient Kd.

Previous research studies focused only on data of local air temperature and humidity, ignoring the water body itself, which cannot definitively answer the question of how the Three Gorges Reservoir's (TGR) water affects the local climate overall. To understand the effect of the TGR on the local climate quantitatively, this paper provides an original mathematical hypothesis and proves in theory there is only one way to calculate the transfer of heat and humidity between the TGR and the local air. Based on this mathematical hypothesis, a detailed research method to explore the effects of the TGR's heat and humidity on local climate was formed. A field investigation was conducted and a research site was selected in Chongqing. This study has determined the effects of the TGR's heating or cooling on the air during the measuring period. A mathematical model to assess the effects of heat and humidity from the TGR on local climate was set up. The final results based on the mathematical model show that the average air temperature decreased 0.67 K and the average moisture content increased 0.25 g/kg during the 24 hours measuring time for the area studied.

Semi-volatile organic compounds (SVOCs) are widely used in various indoor materials and their adverse health effects have been increasingly recognized. The gas-phase SVOC concentration in equilibrium with the source material ( y 0 ), as a characteristic parameter for SVOC sources, is mostly assumed to be constant in previous studies. However, decreases in y 0 with time have been observed in some studies. As a first step to reveal the mechanism behind the phenomenon, this study quantitatively investigated the variation of y 0 over time under two conditions: natural exposure to outdoor ambient (Case 1), and storage in a controlled ventilated chamber (Case 2). Three phthalates (Di-iso-butyl Phthalate (DiBP), Di-n-butyl Phthalate (DnBP), and di-(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP)) emitted from polyvinyl chloride (PVC) floorings and one flame retardant (tris(2-chloroisopropyl) phosphate, TCPP) emitted from polyurethane foam (PUF) were targeted. Experimental results indicated that, for SVOCs with higher volatility, i.e., DiBP, DnBP, and TCPP, y 0 decreased 16%–49% after 60 days' exposure for Case 1; and 16%–36% for Case 2. For SVOCs with lower volatility, i.e., DEHP, no significant decrease in y 0 was observed after 60 days in both cases; while if prolonging the time to about 1.5 years, a decrease of 38% was observed. Discussion about potential reasons for the decrease of y 0 was presented. The results obtained here provide a further understanding about SVOC source characteristics and therefore help providing source strength for estimating indoor SVOC health exposure.

Unlike the ensemble-averaging measurements, the single-molecule imaging and tracking (SMIT) in living cells provides the real-time quantitative information about the locations, kinetics, dynamics and interactions of individual molecules in their native environments with high spatiotemporal resolution and minimal perturbation. The past decade has witnessed a transforming development in the methods of SMIT with living cells, including fluorescent probes, labeling strategies, fluorescence microscopy, and detection and tracking algorithms. In this review, we will discuss these aspects with a particular focus on their recent advancements. We will then describe representative single-molecule studies to illustrate how the single-molecule approaches can be applied to monitor biomolecular interaction/reaction dynamics, and extract the molecular mechanistic information for different cellular systems.

Asthma is the most common chronic disease and is characterized by airway remodeling and chronic inflammation. Increasingly, studies have found that the activation and M1 phenotypic transformation of macrophages play important roles in asthma progress, including airway remodeling. However, the reversal of M1 macrophages to the M2 phenotype has been shown to attenuate airway remodeling. Exosomes are nano-sized extracellular vesicles derived from endosomes; they play direct roles in governing physiological and pathological conditions by the intracellular transfer of bioactive cargo, such as proteins, enzymes, nucleic acids (microRNA [miRNA], mRNA, DNA), and metabolites. However, transfer mechanisms are unclear. To uncover potential therapeutic mechanisms, we constructed an ovalbumin-induced asthma mouse model and lipopolysaccharide-induced RAW264.7 macrophages cells. High-throughput sequencing showed that mmu_circ_0001359 was downregulated in asthmatic mice when compared with normal mice. Adipose-derived stem cell (ADSC)-exosome treatment suppressed inflammatory cytokine expression by the conversion of M1 macrophages to the M2 phenotype, under lipopolysaccharide-induced conditions. Exosomes from mmu_circ_0001359 overexpression in ADSCs increased therapeutic effects, in terms of cytokine expression, when compared with wild-type exosomes. Luciferase reporter assays confirmed that exosomes from mmu_circ_0001359-modified ADSCs attenuated airway remodeling by enhancing FoxO1 signaling-mediated M2-like macrophage activation, via sponging miR-183-5p. In conclusion, mmu_circ_0001359-enriched exosomes attenuated airway remodeling by promoting M2-like macrophages.

This prospective trial was performed to verify whether microwave ablation (MWA) in combination with chemotherapy could provide superior survival benefit compared with chemotherapy alone. From March 1, 2015, to June 20, 2017, treatment-naive patients with pathologically verified advanced or recurrent non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) were randomly assigned to MWA plus chemotherapy group or chemotherapy group. The primary endpoint was progression-free survival (PFS), while the secondary endpoints included overall survival (OS), time to local progression (TTLP), and objective response rate (ORR). The complications and adverse events were also reported. A total of 293 patients were randomly assigned into the two groups. One hundred forty-eight patients with 117 stage IV tumors were included in the MWA plus chemotherapy group. One hundred forty-five patients with 113 stage IV tumors were included in the chemotherapy group. The median follow-up period was 13.1 months and 12.4 months, respectively. Median PFS was 10.3 months (95% CI 8.0–13.0) in the MWA plus chemotherapy group and 4.9 months (95% CI 4.2–5.7) in the chemotherapy group (HR = 0.44, 95% CI 0.28–0.53; p

With the development of the mobile communication network, mobile learning is becoming a hot spot in the world. According to the idea of system engineering, this paper describes the teaching design process based on WeChat, which is divided into three parts, i.e. teaching preparation, teaching implementation and teaching evaluation. It also elaborates on the specific activities of each stage. The result shows that teaching activities based on the WeChat platform can promote students’ learning and have certain practical significance.

Blockchain originated in 2009, it was the underlying “ledger” recording technology of Bitcoin. After several years of development and improvement, it has gradually become a distributed, decentralized, and trustless technical solution. In the past two years, blockchain has become a new decentralized distributed computing paradigm. We apply blockchain technology into cloud computing, using the former’s security mechanism to improve the latter’s secure storage and secure computing performance. This is a promising research topic. The paper mainly discusses the design and implementation of blockchain from a technical prospect, it summarizes the advantages and disadvantages of the blockchain, and it also analyzes the possible application scenarios.

Single-particle tracking photoactivated localization microscopy (sptPALM) has recently emerged as a powerful tool for high-density imaging and tracking of individual molecules in living cells. In this work, we have monitored and compared the diffusion dynamics of TGF-β type II receptor (TβRII) at high expression level using both traditional single-particle tracking (SPT) and sptPALM. The ligand-induced aggregation of TβRII oligomers was further indicated by sptPALM. Due to the capacity of distinguishing and tracking single molecules within diffraction limit, sptPALM outperforms traditional SPT by providing more accurate biophysical information.

The stoichiometry of the β2-adrenergic receptor (β2AR) was determined using single-molecule fluorescence imaging in living cells. The results showed that β2AR mainly existed as monomers under physiological conditions and exhibited β-arrestin-dependent dimerization upon stimulation with the pharmacological biased ligand carvedilol. The association of β2AR dimerization with biased signalling is revealed.

Single-molecule fluorescence imaging with living cells offers a new approach to visualize and monitor individual proteins during their cellular activities. It facilities the study of cell signaling proteins whose structures and interactions are highly temporal and spatial regulated. In this review, we will mainly present our recent work on probing the dynamics of two types of important transmembrane growth factor receptors, transforming growth factor beta receptors and epidermal growth factor receptors, by single-molecule fluorescence microscopy. This includes the characterization of receptor stoichiometry, monomer-dimer interconversion kinetics, effects of microenvironment on receptor membrane diffusion, and intracellular transportation under different signaling conditions. Related studies on these receptors from other groups, as well as the method developments, will be also discussed. Single-molecule study helps to achieve a better understanding of the molecular mechanism of receptor activation, endocytosis and other molecular events in transmembrane signaling. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Electrostatic adsorption and hydrophobicity constitute the main functions of effective removal of emulsified oils (EOs) in produced water. Here, sepiolite (Sep) is modified with single-chain and double-chain organic cation surfactants, stearyl trimethyl ammonium bromide (STAB) and dimethyl dioctadecyl ammonium bromide (DDAB). Analyses of SEM, CA and ζ-potential indicated that individually-dispersed Sep fibers modified to form Sep fibrous aggregates with a more hydrophobic and electropositive surface, which greatly improved EOs adsorption and oil-water separation efficiency, and EOs removal efficiency exceeded 99%. The maximum adsorption capacities were 957.0 mg/g for STAB-Sep and 1031.5 mg/g for DDAB-Sep, suggesting that modified Sep with double chains exhibited a high affinity for EOs. Both the Langmuir and the Freundlich isotherms could be used to explain the adsorption process. Thermodynamic parameters proved that the adsorption process was a spontaneous endothermic physical process. This study provides a theoretical foundation for the design of high-efficiency and low-cost organoclay adsorbents.

Introduction Intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC) accounts for 10% to 15% of all primary hepatic carcinomas. However, there are no effective drug treatment strategies against ICC, and surgery is currently the only curative treatment. Here, we present a case of ICC successfully treated with anlotinib, a novel oral agent. Patient concerns The patient was a 66-year-old Han Chinese woman, and she was a retired worker. The patient had no history of hepatitis B infection or hypertension. Physical examination showed no abnormalities, and the patient showed no conscious discomfort. However, ultrasound revealed liver occupation. Diagnosis Liver ultrasound and enhanced computed tomography (CT) indicated liver cancer with intrahepatic metastasis. Serum carbohydrate antigen 199 and alpha fetoprotein levels were high at 4270 and 1561 ng/mL, respectively. Pathologic findings of CT-guided liver biopsy revealed an adenocarcinoma. Owing to further immunohistochemical staining and clinical results, a diagnosis of ICC was made. Interventions The patient had received 5 cycles of transhepatic arterial chemotherapy and embolization and 1 cycle of microwave ablation. Due to rapid tumor progression and loss of liver function, systemic chemotherapy was contraindicated. As second-line therapy, she received anlotinib, a novel tyrosine kinase inhibitor that inhibits tumor angiogenesis and proliferative signaling and has been used to treat refractory advanced non-small-cell lung cancer that shows progression despite treatment with ≥2 chemotherapy regimens. Outcomes This patient showed a partial response after 2 cycles of treatment with anlotinib (12 mg daily, days 1-14 of a 21-day cycle). Drug-related side effects, such as hypertension and hand foot skin reaction, were observed. After 4 cycles of anlotinib, the efficacy appeared to be stable, and the patient showed a progression-free survival period of almost 4 months. However, the patient's condition worsened and she died of liver failure 6 months after treatment (overall survival, almost 6 months). Conclusion Some cases of ICC may be responsive to the antiangiogenic drug, anlotinib, when combined with microwave ablation. Randomized clinical studies are required to further confirm the efficacy and safety of anlotinib in the clinical treatment of ICC.

e15515 Background: Apatinib, a small molecule tyrosine kinase inhibitor, has been approved to use in patients with advanced gastric adenocarcinoma or gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma after at least two systemic chemotherapy regimens in China. This study aims to observe the efficacy and safety of apatinib in real word clinical practice and preliminarily explore the characteristics of population with more clinical benefit. Methods: This study included patients with non-operative or advanced gastric cancer confirmed by histopathology or cytology, and did not intervene the regimen which was entirely determined by the clinicians and patients. Results: From April 16, 2018 to January 12, 2019, 732 patients enrolled, and all patients had been followed up at least once. Total 342 patients were eligible for efficacy evaluation. Among them, 43 patients achieved partial response (PR), 209 patients achieved stable disease (SD) and 90 patients experienced progression disease (PD). The overall response rate (ORR) was 12.55%, and the disease control rate was 73.6%. The mPFS have not yet reached. For patients ≥65 years, the ORR was 26.32%, and for patients < 65 years, ORR was 8.33%. For patients with non-signet ring cell carcinoma and signet ring cell carcinoma, the ORRs were 15.22% and 6.0%. For patients with and without organ metastasis, the ORRs were 15.25% and 3.75% respectively. The PFS analysis showed that, Combined chemotherapy and age > 65 may predict longer PFS. The OS analysis showed that, ECOG 0-1, combined chemotherapy, AFP positive and male predict longer OS. The overall incidence of adverse events was 84%. The most common adverse events were hypertension (28.8%), fatigue (22.4%), hand-foot syndrome (17.3%), anorexia (12.8%) and nausea (10.5%). Conclusions: Apatinib showed promising antitumor activity in patients with non- operable or advanced Gastric Cancer in this real word study. The prolonging survival benefits maybe could be attenuated by age 1, treatment regimen, normal AFP, and pathological diagnosis of non-signet ring cell carcinoma. Clinical trial information: ChiCTR1800015701.

A carboxyethyl substituted azacrown ether (CSAE) derivative was intercalated as a second host into a parent host of layered gadolinium hydroxides (LGdH) by an anion-exchange reaction. The influence of intercalation temperature and starting material ratios of CSAE/LRH on the structures and compositions of CSAE-LRH nanocomposites were investigated. Higher temperature and larger initial CSAE-LGdH weight ratios favor of higher degree of ion exchange at a certain range, while lower temperature gives good morphology for the composites. The adsorptive properties for transition and heavy metal ions were studied using the 20 °C-reacted composite, which showed higher adsorptivity toward transition and heavy metal ions, accompanied by the introduction of nitrate anions. The adsorptive capacity for transition metal ions was in the sequence of Cu(2+)Zn(2+)∼Ni(2+)∼Co(2+) with a high selectivity to Cu(2+). For the heavy metal ions Ag(+), Hg(2+), Pb(2+), and Cd(2+), the composite showed markedly high selectivity for Ag(+) and Hg(2+). When putting Cu(2+), Ag(+), Hg(2+), Pb(2+), and Cd(2+) together, Ag(+) and Hg(2+) still have higher adsorptive selectivity over Pb(2+) and Cd(2+), and Cu(2+) has also relatively high selectivity but not as high as Ag(+) and Hg(2+). The nanocomposites with a second host in the interlayer are one promising kind of material because of the synergy of the steric effect of the parent host (LRH layer) and the particular characteristics of the secondary host (interlayer crown ether anions).

We report, for the first time, structural transformation and photoluminescence behavior by calcination of layered europium-doped yttrium hydroxide (LYH:Eu) intercalate with organic sensitizer terephthalate (TA). The calcined samples displayed tunable luminescent performance dependent on calcined temperatures. Calcination under low temperatures (200 and 300 °C) retained layered structure, while high temperatures (>400 °C) yielded oxide phase. The optimal fluorescence occurred in 200 °C-calcination, possibly resulting from an optimal arrangement of TA. Above 200 °C, the luminescence intensity was first weakened and then enhanced, due to gradual departure of TA and following occurrence of oxide phase. The energy transfer presented an intrinsic transition from TA-to-Eu 3+ in the organic intercalate to O 2− -to-Eu 3+ charge transfer in as-transformed oxide. The predominant luminescence property of the hybrid material can provide valuable guide for developing tunable luminescent materials, especially flexible materials resulting from the containing organic component.

Objective: To test the psychometric properties of the Chinese version of the Mini Asthma Quality of Life Questionnaire (MiniAQLQ) and to investigate the differences between the MiniAQLQ completed by patients (p-MiniAQLQ) and by their relatives (r-MiniAQLQ). Methods: One hundred and two asthmatic patients and 45 relatives were recruited. The reliability was evaluated using Cronbach's alpha and intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC). The validity of the MiniAQLQ was assessed by comparing it with the Sydney Asthma Quality of Life Questionnaire (AQLQ-S) and lung function measurements. The mean quality of life scores were compared by gender and smoking history, and the p-MiniAQLQ scores were then compared with the r-MiniAQLQ scores. Results: The MiniAQLQ showed high internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha = 0.901) and a high two-week reproducibility (ICC = 0.863). The cross-sectional correlations between the MiniAQLQ and the AQLQ-S were strong. Correlations between the MiniAQLQ and lung function (predicted FEV1% and PEF) ranged from poor to weak at the total or domain levels. The MiniAQLQ scores were not significantly associated with gender or smoking history. There was poor agreement between the p-MiniAQLQ and r-MiniAQLQ scores at the total or domain levels. Conclusions: The Chinese version of the MiniAQLQ showed good reliability and validity. It is reliable for evaluating the impact of asthma on patients’ quality of life. Relatives of the patients did not have a comprehensive grasp of the patients’ conditions. Physicians should be cautious when patients’ relatives come to the hospital to seek a modified treatment when the patients are not present.

Co-assembly of inorganic LDH nanosheets with an organic azacrown ether carboxylic acid derivative was studied by a flocculation method. The homogeneous structure seen in the wet state changed markedly after drying: a staging structure transformed into a homogeneous one after increased assembly times. The experimental observations, changeover from homogeneous to staging and unequal charges of organic and inorganic guests in gallery, might suggest the Daumas–Herold model applicable in LDH system. The composites with staging could function as powerful water adsorption materials with facile reversibility.

// Pengyuan Song 1 , Lijun Sheng 1 , Yahong Sun 1 , Yuji An 1 , Ya Guo 1 and Yafei Zhang 1 1 Department of Oncology, Affiliated Hospital of Shandong Academy of Medical Sciences, Jinan, Shandong, P.R. China Correspondence to: Lijun Sheng, email: // Keywords : MWA; CRLM; DFS; OS Received : November 22, 2016 Accepted : January 27, 2017 Published : February 09, 2017 Abstract In recent years, the microwave ablation (MWA) has been reported to play an important role in the treatment of patients with colorectal liver metastases (CRLM). In this work, 62 cases of patients who received MWA for liver metastases from colon or rectal cancer between Jan 2012 and Jan 2014 were enrolled in this trial. 28 underwent MWA, and 34 were treated with liver resection as control. Perioperative and 60 months of follow-up data were collected to analyze potential adverse effects, concurrent conditions and survival status. Here, we found there were no significant differences between both groups in the baseline level, including gender, size, number and pathological type (all p >0.05). In those patients, the mean hospitalization duration of patients with MWA is 5.9±0.9d, which is significantly different from control (11.8±6.9 d) ( p

The organic sensitizer terephthalic acid and its anion terephthalate (TA) were introduced into the galleries of europium-doped layered yttrium hydroxide (LYH:Eu). In contrast to using water as solvent, the use of formamide resulted in the introduction of more organic guests and markedly enhanced the Eu3+ luminescence. Formamide prevented water from entering the system, leading to an excess of terephthalic acid molecules, and more efficient coordination of the TA guest with the Eu3+ in the layers of the composite, all of which may have contributed to the enhanced Eu3+ luminescence.

The NO3–-type Eu3+-doped layered gadolinium hydroxide (NO3–LGdH:Eu) was prepared by a developed homogeneous precipitation method through hexamethylenetetramine (HMT) hydrolysis with hydrothermal treatment. Two amino acid anions, phenylalanine (Phe) and tyrosine (Tyr), were intercalated into LGdH:Eu to form composites Phe–LGdH:Eu and Tyr–LGdH:Eu. Photoluminescence studies show that the incorporation of Phe and Tyr into the host layer can sharply quench the Eu3+ luminescence. This simple method is expected to be applied in biological systems for detecting amino acids.

In recent years, transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) and the serine-arginine protein kinase 1 (SRPK1) have been recommended as a key signal mediator that is involved in oncogenesis. However, the mechanisms underlying TGF-β-SRPK1 pathway-mediated proliferation and apoptosis in the esophageal squamous cell carcinomas (ESCC) have not been well featured till now. We used immunohistochemistry, immunoblotting, and RT-PCR to assess the expression of SRPK1 in 120 cases of ESCC samples and cell lines. Subsequently, some in vitro assays were also applied where cells were administrated with TGF-β. We found that SRPK1 was highly expressed in ESCC tissues and acts as an independent prognostic factor for ESCC patients. In vitro studies indicated that overexpression of wild-type SRPK1 promoted ESCC cell proliferation, while overexpression of the kinase-dead mutant of SRPK1 or RNA interference against SRPK1 suppressed cell growth and enhanced apoptosis. The knockdown of SRPK1 also inhibited subcutaneous xenografts' growth of ESCC cells in nude mice. Furthermore, Western bolt analysis showed SRPK1 can activate Akt phosphorylation and inhibit JNK phosphorylation. In conclusion, SRPK1 mediates TGF-β-induced proliferation and apoptosis by regulating AKT and JNK in ESCC, which indicates TGF-β-SRPK1 pathway may be suggested as a useful target to affect the progression of ESCC.

This study evaluated the clinical efficacy and value of computed tomography (CT)-guided percutaneous microwave ablation therapy (PMAT) for lung cancer without surgical treatment. A total of 39 lesions in 29 patients with peripheral lung cancer were treated by CT-guided PMAT under local anesthesia. The microwave energy was 50-70 W at a frequency of 2450 MHz. The treatment was performed by using 1 or 2 points of ablation emission according to the size and shape of the tumor. Operations were completed in 29 patients. The average operating time was 8 min (range: 5-12 min). After PMAT, lower density in the ablated area was observed by CT. Pre- and post-treatment CT values were 52.60 and 26.12 Hu, respectively. Eight, 14, 4, and 3 patients achieved complete remission, partial remission, stable status, and progression, respectively, for an effectiveness rate of 75.86%. Complications included 5, 2, and 15 cases of pneumothorax, pleural effusion, and fever, respectively. No needle track implantation was observed. Mean progression-free survival was 14.6 months. The 1- and 2-year survival rates were 91.3 and 82.6%, respectively. Thus, PMAT is a minimally invasive, safe, and effective treatment for lung cancer. It can improve quality of life, prolong survival, and improve the survival rate.

A fatigue life of die-casting dies depends on heat checks, which are fine shallow cracks on a surface due to cyclic thermal stress. According to the recent study, a method of locally melting area using laser beam has been attractive to repair cracks and extend the life of dies. In this study, the repair effect of hot work tool steel (SKD6) by laser-melting process has been evaluated by rotating bending fatigue test. As a result, the fatigue strength of the laser-processed specimen decreases remarkably compared with that of base metal. The notch sensitivity might have risen because the structure became brittle due to rapid cooling. However, it can be recovered by heat treatment at 773 K. This could be due to a high-yield strength resulted in a secondary-hardening effect. The fractgraphic results also demonstrate the same tendency. The fracture surface of heat-treated specimen is similar to that of base metal, while that of laser processed one shows different appearance.

Two-dimensional NMR spectroscopic studies (HECTOR and NOESY) have confirmed that the copolymer of diethyl diallylmalonate with sulfur dioxide consists predominately of cis-linked cyclopentane rings. When the cyclopolymerization is carried out at 81°C in acetonitrile, the ratio of cis to trans linkages is 4.3 : 1. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 91: 3477–3480, 2004

A fatigue life of die-casting dies depends on heat checks, which are fine shallow cracks on a surface due to cyclic thermal stress. According to the recent study, the laser-processing is effective to repair cracks and extend the life of dies. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to evaluate the fatigue strength of laser-processed hot work tool steel to validate the reliability of repaired dies.In this study, the rotating bending fatigue test for the laser-processed hot work tool steel specimens has been carried out. Because test results have scatter, S-N curves are decided based on the evaluation of fatigue strength distribution. As a result, the fatigue strength of the laser-processed specimens decrease remarkably in compared with that of the non-processed ones. The notch sensitivity might have risen because the structure became brittle due to rapid cooling. However, it can be recovered by heat-treatment at 773K. This could be due to a high yield strength resulted in a secondary-hardening effect. The fractgraphic results also demonstrate the same tendency. The fracture surface of heat-treated specimen is similar to that of base metal, while that of laser-processed one shows different appearance.The laser-processing method can be carried out at relatively low cost and effective for the repair of heat check. Therefore, we can conclude that this method is available for the extension of the life span of dies.

Hot work tool steel with an application in the die-casing industry was chosen as the test material. Most of the failure of dies depends on the heat check due to cyclic thermal stress. So, the present work aims to find a repair method of the failed tool. The microstructure of the Nd:YAG laser-processed material is formed by dendritic structure hardened into martensite. The steel shows secondary hardening by tempering and fatigue softening by cyclic loading even at room temperature. The rotating bending fatigue strength can be recovered to almost initial value by heat treatment at secondary hardening temperature after laser-processing. As the result, it is concluded that the laser processing is suitable for the repair of heat check.