Search

Background: This study was to investigate the prevalence of preoperative rim enhancement, and its association with clinicopathological features, relapse, and survival profiles in Chinese basal-like...

Mucosal healing, the result of endoscopic remission, is associated with prolonged clinical remission and delayed deterioration of Crohn's disease, which is significant and accompanied by reduced hospitalizations and surgeries. Currently, the relationship between ultrasonic parameters and mucosal healing remains controversial. To establish an ultrasonic regression model to evaluate mucosal healing, we conducted this preliminary study using multiple parameters from B-mode ultrasonography, colour Doppler flow imaging and shear wave elastography systematically.This study consisted of two single-centre investigations based on development and validation populations who received endoscopies (as the gold standard) and ultrasound. The involved bowel segments were divided into mucosal healing (MH) and nonmucosal healing (NMH) groups according to endoscopic results. Eight ultrasonic parameters were observed, including bowel wall thickness (BWT), mesenteric fat thickness (MFT), median modulus of elasticity (Emean), average shear wave velocity (SWV), Limberg scoring (LG), bowel wall stratification (BWS), ascites (AS) and lymph node enlargement (LN). We developed an ultrasonic regression model in the development phase to evaluate segmental mucosal healing and undertook prospective validation of this model.A total of 124 patients with 380 involved bowel segments from the development and validation cohorts were evaluated. Eight ultrasonic parameters were significantly different between the two groups (P0.05) in the development phase. Four significant parameters with better AUC performance were selected to establish an ultrasonic regression model to predict mucosal healing. The AUCs of this ultrasonic model were 0.975 and 0.942 in the development and validation cohorts, respectively.The multimodal ultrasonic model has the potential to evaluate segmental mucosal healing in Crohn's disease.

Past studies have shown that activation of mitogen-activated protein kinase/extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) kinase (MEK)/ERK is a common cause for resistance of melanoma cells to death receptor–mediated or mitochondria-mediated apoptosis. We report in this study that inhibition of the MEK/ERK pathway also sensitizes melanoma cells to endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress-induced apoptosis, and this is mediated, at least in part, by caspase-4 activation and is associated with inhibition of the ER chaperon glucose-regulated protein 78 (GRP78) expression. Treatment with the ER stress inducer tunicamycin or thapsigargin did not induce significant apoptosis in the majority of melanoma cell lines, but resistance to these agents was reversed by the MEK inhibitor U0126 or MEK1 small interfering RNA (siRNA). Induction of apoptosis by ER stress when MEK was inhibited was caspase dependent with caspase-4, caspase-9, and caspase-3 being involved. Caspase-4 seemed to be the apical caspase in that caspase-4 activation occurred before activation of caspase-9 and caspase-3 and that inhibition of caspase-4 by a specific inhibitor or siRNA blocked activation of caspase-9 and caspase-3, whereas inhibition of caspase-9 or caspase-3 did not inhibit caspase-4 activation. Moreover, overexpression of Bcl-2 inhibited activation of caspase-9 and caspase-3 but had minimal effect on caspase-4 activation. Inhibition of MEK/ERK also resulted in down-regulation of GRP78, which was physically associated with caspase-4, before and after treatment with tunicamycin or thapsigargin. In addition, siRNA knockdown of GRP78 increased ER stress-induced caspase-4 activation and apoptosis. Taken together, these results seem to have important implications for new treatment strategies in melanoma by combinations of agents that induce ER stress and inhibitors of the MEK/ERK pathway. [Cancer Res 2007;67(20):9750–61]

Supplementary Figure 4 from Inhibition of MEK Sensitizes Human Melanoma Cells to Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress-Induced Apoptosis

Supplementary Figure 2 from Inhibition of MEK Sensitizes Human Melanoma Cells to Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress-Induced Apoptosis

Supplementary Figure 1 from Inhibition of MEK Sensitizes Human Melanoma Cells to Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress-Induced Apoptosis

Supplementary Figure 3 from Inhibition of MEK Sensitizes Human Melanoma Cells to Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress-Induced Apoptosis

Chronic active Epstein-Barr virus (CAEBV) enteritis is a rare disease that has not been well described. Owing to the similarities between CAEBV enteritis and inflammatory bowel diseases such as ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease, it is easy to be misdiagnosed and mistreated in clinical practice, resulted in complications and even death in severe cases. Through a literature review, this study aimed to summarize the clinical characteristics, pathological features, examinations, and treatment strategies of CAEBV enteritis and its similarities and differences with inflammatory bowel diseases.

BACKGROUND Gastrointestinal involvement in Behçet's disease (GIBD) and Crohn’s disease (CD) are inflammatory diseases sharing a considerable number of similarities. However, different from CD, the operative and postoperative management of GIBD remains largely empirical because of the lack of comprehensive treatment guidelines. AIM To compare surgical patients with GIBD and those with CD in a medical center and identify notable clinical features and effective postoperative treatment for surgical patients with GIBD. METHODS We searched patients diagnosed with CD and GIBD who underwent operations for gastrointestinal complications from 2009 to 2015 at West China Hospital of Sichuan University. A total of 10 surgical patients with GIBD and 106 surgical patients with CD were recruited. Information including demographic data, medication, and operative and postoperative parameters were collected and analyzed. As the incidence of surgical GIBD is low, their detailed medical records were reviewed and compared to previous studies. Moreover, the prognoses of CD and GIBD were evaluated respectively between groups treated with biological and non-biological agents. RESULTS Indication for first surgery was often acute intestinal perforation for GIBD patients (7/10 vs 0/106, P < 0.001), whereas intestinal fistulae (0/10 vs 44/106, P = 0.013) and ileus (0/10 vs 40/106, P = 0.015) were the indications for surgical CD patients. Approximately 40% of patients with GIBD and 23.6% of patients with CD developed postoperative complications, 50% of patients with GIBD and 38.7% of patients with CD had recurrence postoperatively, and 40% (4/10) of patients with GIBD and 26.4% (28/106) of patients with CD underwent reoperations. The average period of postoperative recurrence was 7.87 mo in patients with Behçet's disease (BD) and 10.43 mo in patients with CD, whereas the mean duration from first surgery to reoperation was 5.75 mo in BD patients and 18.04 mo in CD patients. Surgical patients with GIBD more often used corticosteroids (6/10 vs 7/106, P < 0.001) and thalidomide (7/10 vs 9/106, P < 0.001) postoperatively, whereas surgical patients with CD often used infliximab (27/106), azathioprine, or 6-mercaptopurine (74/106) for maintenance therapy. CONCLUSION Patients suffering GIBD require surgery mostly under emergency situations, which may be more susceptible to recurrence and reoperation and need more aggressive postoperative treatment than patients with CD.

Dual-modal magnetic resonance/fluorescent imaging (MRI/FI) attracts moreandmoreattentions in diagnosis of tumors. A corresponding dual-modal imaging agent with sufficient tumor sensitivity and specificity should be matched to improve imaging quality. Tripeptide (RGD) and pentapeptide (YIGSR) were selected as the tumor-targeting groups and attached to gadolinium diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid (Gd-DTPA) and rhodamine B (RhB), and then make two novel polypeptide-based derivatives (RGD-Gd-DTPA-RhB and YIGSR-Gd-DTPA-RhB), respectively. These derivatives were further characterized and their properties, such as cell uptake, cell cytotoxicity, MRI and FI assay, were measured. YIGSR-Gd-DTPA-RhB and RGD-Gd-DTPA-RhB had high relaxivity, good tumor-targeting property, low cell cytotoxicity and good red FI in B16F10 melanoma cells. Moreover, YIGSR-Gd-DTPA-RhB and RGD-Gd-DTPA-RhB possessed high uptake to B16F10 melanoma, and then achieve highly enhanced FI and MRI of tumors in mice for a prolonged time. Therefore, YIGSR-Gd-DTPA-RhB and RGD-Gd-DTPA-RhB can be applied as the potential agents for tumor targeted MRI/FI in vivo.

Background Good’s syndrome (GS) is an immunodeficiency disease, causing thymoma, low or absent B-cells, hypogammaglobulinemia, and defects in cell-mediated immunity. The most common clinical presentation is recurrent infection, followed by refractory diarrhea, due to the immunodeficiency. However, there are only few reports on intestinal endoscopy and pathology. Case summary We report here two typical GS cases with diarrhea as the prominent manifestation. Both cases presented with thymoma combined with immunodeficiency, characterized by hypogammaglobulinemia, low or absent B lymphocytes, and decreased T-cells with inverted CD4+/CD8+ T-cell ratio, while two GS patients were evaluated by endoscopy revealed mucosal edema and fine-granular or nodular appearance changes in the small intestine. Histological examination showed chronic inflammation and villous atrophy. A very interesting finding is that the inflammatory cell infiltration in the two GS cases was different. In one case, predominantly CD138+ plasma cells with only scattered CD3+ T-cells infiltration were revealed, while in another, it showed predominantly T-cells infiltration without plasma cells in the lamina propria. Although GS cases shared various clinical characteristics with common variable immunodeficiency (CVID) cases, they still differed from CVID cases in terms of its late onset, lack of familial clusters, low or absent peripheral blood B lymphocytes, absence of lymphoid hyperplasia, and plasma cells infiltration in the lamina propria in some patients. Although both patients had been diagnosed previously with recurrent diarrhea, respiratory infection, and thymoma, the association between these conditions and the possibility of GS was not recognized. The patients had remained misdiagnosed for 2 and 4 years, respectively, even after receiving the diagnosis of thymoma. The rarity of GS was likely the primary cause for the lack of disease recognition. Reporting of these cases will help to alert clinicians and raise awareness of this disease. Conclusion GS should be considered among the differential diagnoses for patients with unexplained recurrent diarrhea and opportunistic infection. Although it was regarded as a subset of CVID with thymoma, GS had a different clinical-pathological feature from CVID.

Hydraulic fracturing technology is an important means of shale gas development, and microseismic monitoring is the key technology of fracturing effect evaluation. In this study, hydraulic fracturing and microseismic monitoring were simultaneously conducted in the Eyangye 2HF well (hereinafter referred to as EYY2HF well). The target stratum of this well is the second member of the Doushantuo Formation of the Sinian System, which is the oldest stratum of horizontal shale gas wells in the world. A total of 4341 microseismic fracturing events were identified, and 23 fracturing stages of the well were defined. The fluctuation of the number of events showed a repeating “high-low” pattern, and the average energy of these events showed minimal differences. These findings indicate that the water pressure required for the reconstruction of the EYY2HF well is appropriate. The main body of the fracture network extended from northwest to southeast, consistent with the interpretation of regional geological and seismic data. The stimulated rock volumes showed a linear increase with the increase of the fracturing stage. Some technological measures, such as quick lift displacement, quick lift sand ratio, and pump stop for secondary sand addition, were adopted during fracturing to increase the complexity of the fracture network. Microseismic fracture monitoring of the well achieved expected effects and guided real-time fracturing operations and fracturing effect evaluation.

Using corpus analysis and error analysis, this study investigates English-speaking, Japanese-speaking, and Korean-speaking Chinese learners’ acquisition of various meanings of hai in Mandarin Chinese, including its temporal meaning ‘still, yet’ as well as its abundant atemporal meanings involving addition, comparison and counter-expectation. We found a preponderance of misselection errors across the three groups of learners. The next most common error type for the Japanese-speaking and Korean-speaking learners was omission, while omission and over-inclusion were equally challenging for the English-speaking learners. Further analysis of errors in misselection shows that many learners failed to distinguish the temporal hai from the atemporal haishi required in a concessive sentence for the counter-expectation meaning.

This study examined the effects of explicit instruction on EFL learners’ apologetic email writing in terms of comprehension, production, and cognitive processes in pragmatic performance. Participants were 30 Taiwanese EFL eighth graders who received a 10-week pragmatic training on email apologies. Research instruments were a multiple-choice test (MCT), a written discourse completion task (WDCT), and retrospective verbal reports (RVRs). The results showed that the participants obtained higher scores in the MCTs after the instruction, illustrating the facilitative effects on the learners’ comprehension of email writing. As for the production, the learners made overall progress in email writing in the posttest. Regarding the cognitive processes, analysis of the RVRs revealed that after the treatment, the learners’ pragmalinguistic awareness was promoted in their paying more attention to pragmalinguistic features and planning their email writing according to the email moves more frequently. The findings were discussed with implications for pedagogy and future research.

A new 3D Cd(II) coordination polymer, {[Cd2(btc)(HL)(H2O)]·3H2O}n (1) (H2L= 3-(1H-pyrazol-4-yl)-5-(pyridin-2-yl)-1, 2, 4-triazole; H3btc = 1,3,5-benzenetricarboxylic acid), has been synthesized by ...

A new bis- N-heterocyclic carbene palladium complex, (C13H9N2F2)2PdCl2, is synthesized by a three-step reaction and characterized by 1H NMR and 13C NMR spectroscopy as well as by X-ray crystallography. This new bis- N-heterocyclic carbene palladium complex has excellent stability and is capable of efficiently catalyzing the Mizoroki–Heck coupling reaction of aryl halides with acrylates.

BACKGROUND Fistulas are common complications of Crohn’s disease (CD). Gastrocolic fistulas (GFs) are rare, occult and potentially life-threatening complications. Few cases of GFs have been reported. Oral agent contrast-enhanced ultrasound (OA-CEUS) is a novel technique of ultrasound (US) for gut. Contrast agent made by Chinese yam is taken orally to dilate the lumen of the upper gastrointestinal tract. Thus, the impediment of gas inside gastrointestinal tract is removed and a good acoustic window is provided for gastroin-testinal tract scanning. This paper describes a case of GF secondary to CD detected by OA-CEUS when it was missed by endoscopy and computed tomography (CT). To our knowledge, this is the first report of GF secondary to CD detected by OA-CEUS up to date. CASE SUMMARY A 29-year-old woman with a 6-year history of CD was admitted to our hospital for abdominal pain and diarrhea for 5 months without obvious predisposing causes. Initial gastroscopy failed to show any evidence of lesions. Colonoscopy revealed multiple erosions, mucosal nodularity, linear ulcers and a cobblestone appearance. A CT scan of her abdomen showed a complex multilocular structure adherent to the greater curvature of the stomach in her left lower abdomen, with fluid, gas and significant surrounding inflammation. CT also demonstrated an abdominal abscess, which was later treated with US-guided drainage. Colonoscopy, gastroscopy and CT missed the presence of a GF. OA-CEUS was performed. A contrast agent made from Chinese yam was taken orally to dilate the lumen of the gastrointestinal tract. A good acoustic window was provided for gastrointestinal tract scanning and the impediment of gas inside the gastrointestinal tract was removed. With the aid of the “window”, a canal with hypoechoic wall was identified connecting the greater curvature of stomach to the splenic colon flexure in free sections. We also observed the hyperechoic gas flowing dynamically inside the canal. Thus, a GF was suspected. US is the first imaging modality taking GF into account. At the same time, OA-CEUS identified the site of the fistula and its two orifices. Gastroscopy was performed again, revealing a small ulcer approximately 5 mm in diameter, which was considered as an orifice. On the basis of OA-CEUS and other examinations, the patient was diagnosed with a GF secondary to CD. Then, laparoscopic exploration, partial stomach resection, transverse colostomy and abdominal abscess drainage were performed. The patient recovered uneventfully. CONCLUSION GFs are rare, occult and potentially life-threatening complications in CD. US is one of the first-line modalities to evaluate CD and its complications. OA-CEUS, a novel technique of US for gut, may be helpful in reducing the possibility of a missed diagnosis of GF.

The huge investment in the airport has great significance for economic development and national defense. In the past 20 years, China has built a large number of airports, and its pavements have been exposed to the outdoor environment for a long time, resulting in easy be damaged. Therefore, in recent years, the problems faced by the renovation of airport pavements have become increasingly prominent. Based on the analysis of the core functional indicators of the airport pavement, the paper establishes the hierarchical structure model, functional model and cost model, and finally forms the optimization model of the renovation process decision. The simulation calculation is carried out through engineering examples, and the advantages, shortcomings and their gaps of different renovation processes are obtained, which prove the rationality and effectiveness of the model.

Background: The role of Epstein–Barr virus (EBV) in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) remains to be elucidated. The aim of this study was to investigate the presence of EBV in the blood and intestinal mucosa of patients with IBD and evaluate the association between EBV positivity and IBD. Methods: Patients with IBD, hospitalized between January 2015 and April 2018, were enrolled. The EBV-DNA load in blood samples from each subject was analyzed by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction. EBV-encoded small-RNA 1 (EBER-1) was detected by in-situ hybridization in intestinal mucosa tissue sections of patients with IBD. Result: EBV-DNA was detected in 48 out of 568 patients with IBD (8.4%), and EBER-1 positivity was detected in 27 of these patients (56.3%). Refractory IBD and severe mucosal inflammation were more common in patients with detectable levels of EBER-1 than in those without; the number of EBER-1-positive cells positively correlated with mucosal inflammation (P value < 0.05). Age (≥60 years old) and use of azathioprine were risk factors for EBV infection. There was no significant difference in clinical remission rate and surgical rate between the EBER-1 positive group and EBER-1 negative group, antiviral group and the non-antiviral group, among IBD patients who tested positive for EBV-DNA. Conclusion: Elderly patients with IBD, treated with azathioprine, are more susceptible to EBV positivity. Further, EBV mucosal detection correlated with the severity of mucosal damage and refractoriness, but not prognosis.

This study examines the uses of Mandarin Chinese buguo ‘but’ as a contrastive discourse marker (CM) in spoken discourse. The data were taken from casual conversations, TV/radio single-interviewee interviews and TV panel news interviews. We found that two main types of the CM buguo were used to mark contrast: restrictive buguo and cancellative buguo. Restrictive buguo is similar to the adv buguo in usage in that it modifies the validity of the preceding proposition to signal implicit contrast. Cancellative buguo is used to cancel the validity of a previous proposition to indicate explicit contrast. As such, restrictive buguo can serve as a topic-shift marker and to convey implicit disagreement; cancellative buguo often acts as a topic-change marker used to introduce explicit disagreement. In particular, both restrictive buguo and cancellative buguo can serve as metacoherence markers, which are often employed by interview hosts/hostesses to make the discourse optimally coherent.

Seven undescribed sesquiterpene lactone dimers (SLDs) (carpeabrodilactones A-G), one known SLD, and six known sesquiterpenes were isolated from the fruit of Carpesium abrotanoides L. Carpeabrodilactone A was a dimeric carabrane featuring a rare C-13-C-13' linkage. Carpeabrodilactones B and C are the first two SLDs to be described possessing a carabranolide unit and a guaianolide unit connected by an O-ether linkage. The structures of the SLDs were assigned based on HRESIMS, NMR analysis

Objective: To explore the association between the incidence of acute radiation gastritis attributed to postoperative intensity modulated irradiation therapy (IMRT) and the dose volume of intrathoracic stomach of patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) after radical esophagectomy. Methods: The authors retrospectively collected the data of 49 ESCC patients who participated in postoperative IMRT treatment after radical esophagectomy, and analyzed the incidence of acute radiation gastritis during the treatment. Results: Among all the 49 patients, acute grade ≥2 radiation gastritis was observed in 19 patients (39%). Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis showed that the physical variables, such as stomach Dmax, Dmean, length of the whole stomach received 5-40 Gy (LSTT5-LSTT40), and V10-V50, were associated with acute radiation gastritis. Patients were grouped according to cutoff values in physical indicators obtained from the ROC curve. Other than V5, the incidence of acute grade ≥2 radiation gastritis was significantly higher in the group with indicators above cutoff values than that below cutoff values, and the between-group difference was statistically significant in terms of physical indicators. Multivariate analysis suggested that LSTT5 and V40 could be acted as indicators to predict the incidence of acute grade ≥2 radiation gastritis. Conclusions: In the postoperative IMRT treatment for ESCC patients, protection of intrathoracic stomach is strongly recommended. Dose-volume histogram is a preferable predictive indicator for the occurrence of acute radiation gastritis, especially for the stomach LSTT5 and V40. Nevertheless, a larger sample size is needed to provide insight into the relevant study.

Two unique lanthanide coordination polymers, namely, {[Ln2(μ3-OH)2(Tfpht)2 (H2O)2·0.5bipy]}n (Ln = Gd (1) and Eu (2), H2Tfpht = 3,4,5,6-Tetrafluorophthalic acid, bipy = 4,4′-bipyridine) have been afforded successfully. The coordination polymers 1 and 2 are isostructural and have the same phase, both crystallizing in the triclinic system, with space group of P−1. They both exhibit one-dimensional (1-D) ribbon-double chains composed of trinuclear lanthanide clusters bridged by μ3-hydroxyl bridges and carboxyl oxygen atoms of Tfpht2− ligands, and the chains are further linked by hydrogen bonding interactions to give rise to a 2-D corrugated layer. The solid state luminescence emission spectra of coordination polymer 1 is based on the H2Tfpht acid ligand, whereas 2 displays the characteristic f-f transitions of Eu(III) ions. The direct-current (dc) magnetic susceptibility studies reveal the weak ferromagnetic interaction between the Gd(III) ions in coordination polymer 1.

Two nickel (II) complexes, [Ni(Hcdcp) (H2O)3] (1) (H3cdcp = 3-(4-carboxylatephenyl)-2,6-pyridinedicarboxylic acid) and [Ni3(Hdcdcp)2(H2O)6]n (2) (H4dcdcp = 3-(2,4-dicarboxylatephenyl)-2,6-pyridinedicarboxylic acid) have been synthesized under hydrothermal conditions and characterized by elemental analysis and single-crystal X-ray diffraction. For complex 1, Ni(II) ion is coordinated by three water molecules and a deprotonated H3cdcp ligand in chelate mode to form a mononuclear complex; for complex 2, three Ni(II) ions are connected into trinuclear clusters which are further linked into 2D layers by pentadentate Hdcdcp3− ligands in alternant bis-(bridging) and chelate coordination modes; the two complexes are both extend to 3D supramolecular polymers by hydrogen bonds. Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD) are also carried out to determine their thermal stability and phase purity. Magnetic measurement for complex 2 reveals that weak antiferromagnetic interactions occur between the bridging trinuclear Ni( II ) ions.