[A case of craniopharyngioma presenting as cavernous sinus space occupying]

SummaryA 37-year-old female patient has the symptoms of recurrent headache for 2 years and worse for 1 month. The skull CT and MRI show a space-occupying lesion in the right of the cavernous sinus region. The patient underwent the resection of the tumor by the nasal endoscopy. The pathological biopsy showed the craniopharyngioma. This paper reports a case of craniopharyngioma in the cavernous sinus region and reviews the literature in order to increase the understanding of the disease and reduce misdiagnosis and missed diagnosis.

Detoxification of municipal solid waste incinerator (MSWI) fly ash by single-mode microwave (MW) irradiation: Addition of urea on the degradation of Dioxin and mechanism

The detoxification of municipal solid waste incinerator (MSWI) fly ash dioxins urgently requires an effective treatment technology. In this study, we adopted a single-mode microwave (MW)-based pyrolysis to treat MSWI fly ash under N₂ atmosphere and further elucidated the main influencing factors, including the chemical inhibitor, for dioxin control. The results show that (1) the detoxification process was optimized with a mass ratio of fly ash to SiC of 1:9, 23.1% (wt%) urea addition and pyrolysis temperature of ˜ 480 °C; (2) the total polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs) destruction efficiency and the bioassay-derived 2,3,7,8-TCDD toxic equivalent (Bio-TEQ) removal efficiency reached 98.5% and 97.9%, respectively, accompanied with ˜ 1.3% of the total amount of dioxin being submitted to exhaust gas; (3) the MW-based pyrolysis of urea (133˜300 °C) was favourable for the generation of hot spots as well as the PCDD/F rapid destruction in fly ash. In addition, the leaching toxicity of heavy metals was also partially reduced after MW pyrolysis reactions. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report adopting a MW-based pyrolysis to eliminate dioxin in MSWI fly ash with the addition of urea, which is a promising alternative to current methods.

Extended suspect screening strategy to identify characteristic toxicants in the discharge of a chemical industrial park based on toxicity to Daphnia magna

With an increasing amount of industrial wastewater being discharged and the numerous chemicals existed in, methods to identify toxicants in such complex matrices are urgently needed for source control and quality management. In vivo toxicity to Daphnia magna was evaluated in the effluent of a wastewater treatment plant (WWTP). An extended suspect screening strategy was performed by bioassay-directed fractionation, accompanied with suspect screening of 228 suspect chemicals in toxic fractions based on their mass characteristics and chromatography characteristics. A toxicity evaluation of the original samples, organic components extracted by solid-phase extraction (SPE) and the filtered samples showed that organic compounds extracted by SPE were the main toxic components. Four of the 26 fractions of the organic extracts exhibited a toxic unit (TU) > 1.0, with hydrophobic organic compounds contributing most to the toxicity. Twenty-eight of the 228 suspects were identified in four toxic fractions, with 53.6% of the suspects elucidated by spectrum interpretation based on mass characteristics and 53.8% more false positive suspects removed based on chromatography characteristics. Finally, 6 pollutants, including imazalil, prometryn, propiconazole, tebuconazole, buprofezin and diazinon, were further confirmed and explained 48.79% of the observed toxicity. With 2.48 times more of the toxicity explained and 90% of the labor saved, the extended suspect screening strategy enabled more efficient and reliable identification compared to traditional quantitative analysis and non-target screening, especially for identification of characteristic toxicants in complex environmental matrices.

Textiles Wastewater Treatment

A review of the literature published in 2017 on topics related to textiles wastewater treatment is presented. This review includes the following sections: brief introduction of textiles wastewater treatment, review of current treatment technologies categorized into physicochemical, biological, and combined processes. In the end, the authors have discussed future of the topic.

Similar Effect of P16 Hydroxymethylation and True Methylation on Prediction of Malignant Transformation of Oral Epithelial Dysplasia: A Prospective Study

Background: Total P16 methylation (P16M), including P16 hydroxymethylation (P16H) and true-P16M, correlates with malignant transformation of oral epithelial dysplasia (OED). Both true-P16M and P16H are early events in carcinogenesis. Aim: The aim of this study is to prospectively determine if discrimination of true-P16M from P16H similarly is necessary for prediction of cancer development from OEDs. Methods: Patients (n = 265) with mild or moderate OED were recruited into the double-blind 2-center cohort. Total-P16M and P16H were analyzed using the 115-bp MethyLight, TET-assistant bisulfite (TAB) methylation-specific PCR (MSP), and TAB-sequencing. Total-P16M-positive and P16H-negative samples were defined as true-P16M-positive. Progression of OEDs was monitored for a minimum 24 months follow-up period. Results: P16H was detected in 23 of 73 (31.5%) total-P16M-positive OEDs. Follow-up information was obtained from 247 patients with an ultimate compliance of 93.2%. OED-derived squamous cell carcinomas were observed in 13.0% (32/247) patients during the follow-up (median, 41.0 months). The cancer progression rate for total-P16M-positive patients was significantly increased when compared with total-P16M-negative patients (23.3% vs 8.6%; adjusted odds ratio = 2.67 [95% CI: 1.19-5.99]). However, the cancer progression rate was similar between P16H- and true-P16M-positive OEDs (26.1% [6/23] vs 22.0% [11/50]; odds ratio = 0.80 [95% CI: 0.22-2.92]). The progression-free survival was also similar for these patients. Conclusion: P16H and true-P16M are similar biomarkers for determining malignant potential of OEDs. Discrimination of P16H from true-P16M, at least in OED, may be not necessary in clinical applications.

[Clinicpathological features and survival of patients with AIDS related non-Hodgkin's lymphoma]

目的

分析艾滋病相关非霍奇金淋巴瘤（ARL）患者的临床特征及生存状态。

方法

回顾性分析53例ARL患者的临床资料，按1∶2随机配对对照研究方法，以106例普通非霍奇金淋巴瘤（NHL）患者为对照，比较两组患者的生存率。

结果

53例ARL患者的平均年龄为43（11~67）岁，诊断NHL时CD4⁺T细胞中位数为（146±20）个/µl。53例患者中B细胞来源者47例（88.7%），T细胞来源者6例（11.3%）。Ann Arbor分期Ⅲ~Ⅳ期者占52.8%（28/53）；IPI评分中高危组和高危组患者比例分别为45.3%（24/53）和18.9%（10/53）。ARL诊断后放弃治疗者占37.7%（20/53），抗HIV治疗联合放化疗者占62.3%（33/53）。抗NHL治疗采用CHOP（环磷酰胺、长春新碱、表阿霉素、泼尼松）方案。ARL组患者的总生存（OS）时间显著短于对照组[（6.0±1.3）对（48.0±10.0）个月，P<0.05]。接受抗NHL治疗的患者中，ARL组（33例）和对照组（100例）患者的OS时间差异无统计学意义[（48.0±10.9）对（77.0±11.1）个月，P=0.816]；ARL组患者1年OS率低于对照组（60.6%对83.0%，P<0.05），但两组患者的2年（53.5%对60.5%）、3年（48.1%对45.9%）和5年（39.1%对27.5%）OS率差异均无统计学意义（P值均>0.05）。

结论

ARL多见于青壮年，1年内病死率高，抗HIV治疗联合CHOP方案抗NHL治疗能显著改善ARL患者预后。

Extended Virtual Screening Strategies To Link Antiandrogenic Activities and Detected Organic Contaminants in Soils

A tiered screening strategy based on extensive virtual fractionation and elucidation was developed to simplify identification of toxicants in complex environments. In tier1-virtual fractionation, multivariate analysis (MVA) was set up as an alternative of physical fractionation. In tier2-virtual structure elucidation, in-house quantitative structure-retention relationship (QSRR) models and toxicity simulation methods were developed to simplify nontarget identification. The efficiency of the tiered virtual strategy was tentatively verified by soil samples from a chemical park contaminated by antiandrogenic substances. Eight out of 18 sites were detected as antiandrogenic, while none of them exhibited androgenic agonist potencies. Sixty-seven peaks were selected for further identification by MVA, among which over 90% were verified in androgenic fractions in traditional effect-directed analysis (EDA). With 579 tentative structures generated by in silico fragmentation, 74% were elucidated by QSRR and 65% were elucidated by in silico toxicity prediction. All prior peaks were identified at different confidence levels with over 40% of the identified peaks above confidence level 2b, which has been increased over 40% with less than half of the time spent compared to traditional EDA. Such a combination of tiered virtual screening methods provides more efficient and rapid identifications of key toxicants at contaminated sites.

[Treatment for the external auditory canal lesions in the psoriasis patient: a case report]

A case of a psoriasis patient with the lesions in the left external auditory canal is reported. A 34-year-old male patient has the symptoms of left hearing loss and aural fullness for 8 years. Physical examination: left external auditory canal was full of granulation tissue. Ear HRCT: the left external auditory canal filled with tissue, no damage of the external auditory canal bone. Pure tone audiometry: mild conductive hearing loss in the left ear. Clinical diagnosis: psoriasis lesions in left external auditory canal, psoriasis vulgaris.

Continuous sulfidogenic wastewater treatment with iron sulfide sludge oxidation and recycle

This study evaluated the technical feasibility of packed-bed sulfidogenic bioreactors dosed with ferrous chloride for continuous wastewater treatment over a 450-day period. In phase I, the bioreactors were operated under different combinations of carbon, iron, and sulfate mass loads without sludge recycling to identify optimal treatment conditions. A COD/sulfate mass ratio of 2 and a Fe/S molar ratio of 1 yielded the best treatment performance with COD oxidation rate of 786 ± 82 mg/(L⋅d), which resulted in 84 ± 9% COD removal, 94 ± 6% sulfate reduction, and good iron retention (99 ± 1%) under favorable pH conditions (6.2-7.0). In phase II, the bioreactors were operated under this chemical load combination over a 62-day period, during which 7 events of sludge collection, oxidation, and recycling were performed. The collected sludge materials contained both inorganic and organic matter with FeS and FeS₂ as the main inorganic constituents. In each event, the sludge materials were oxidized in an oxidizing basin before recycling to mix with the wastewater influent. Sludge recycling yielded enhanced COD removal (90 ± 6% vs. 75 ± 7%), and better effluent quality in terms of pH (6.8 ± 0.1 vs. 6.5 ± 0.2), iron (0.7 ± 0.5 vs. 1.9 ± 1.7 mg/L), and sulfide-S (0.3 ± 0.1 vs. 0.4 ± 0.1 mg/L) removal compared to the baseline operation without sludge recycling during phase II. This process exhibited treatment stability with reasonable variations, and fairly consistent sludge content over long periods of operation under a range of COD/sulfate and Fe/S ratios without sludge recycling. The bioreactors were found to absorb recycling-induced changes efficiently without causing elevated suspended solids in the effluents.

Environmental application of millimetre-scale sponge iron (s-Fe0) particles (IV): New insights into visible light photo-Fenton-like process with optimum dosage of H2O2 and RhB photosensitizers

In this study, we firstly develop the photo-Fenton-like system with millimetric sponge iron (s-Fe⁰), H₂O₂, visible light (vis, λ≥420nm) and rhodamine B (RhB), and present a comprehensive study concerning the mechanism. Thus, we investigate (1) the adsorption of RhB onto s-Fe⁰, (2) the photo-Fenton-like removal of RhB over iron oxides generated from the corrosion of s-Fe⁰, (3) the homogeneous photo-Fenton removal of RhB over Fe²⁺ or Fe³⁺, (4) the Fe³⁺-RhB complexes, and (5) the photo-Fenton-like removal of tetrabromobisphenol A (TBBPA). The results show that neither the adsorption process over s-Fe⁰ nor the photo-Fenton-like process over FeOOH, Fe₃O₄ and Fe₂O₃, achieved efficient removal of RhB. For comparison, in homogeneous photo-Fenton process, the presence of Fe³⁺ ions, rather than Fe²⁺ ions, effectively eliminated RhB. Furthermore, the UV-vis spectra showing new absorbance at∼285nm indicate the complexes of RhB and Fe³⁺ ions, adopting vis photons to form excited state and further eject one electron via ligand-to-metal charge-transfer to activate H₂O₂. Additionally, efficient TBBPA removal was obtained only in the presence of RhB. Accordingly, the s-Fe⁰- based photo-Fenton-like process assisted with dyestuff wastewater is promising for removing a series of persistent organic pollutants.

A general nonaqueous sol-gel route to g-C3N4-coupling photocatalysts: the case of Z-scheme g-C3N4/TiO2 with enhanced photodegradation toward RhB under visible-light

The g-C₃N₄-coupling TiO₂ photocatalysts with controllable particle size as well as the interface contact were prepared by a general nonaqueous sol-gel method. The structural and morphological features of g-C₃N₄/TiO₂ were investigated through the X-ray diffraction, Fourier transformed infrared spectra, scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy, respectively. It is found the TiO₂ nanoparticles with a size of 7.3 ± 1.6 nm are uniformly anchored on the surface of the g-C₃N₄ nanosheets in isolation. The photocatalytic properties of as-prepared g-C₃N₄/TiO₂ were tested by degradation of Rhodamine B (RhB) under visible light, and an enhanced activity is observed. The mechanism of the enhanced activity was further investigated through N₂ adsorption-desorption isotherms, UV-vis spectra, photoluminescence spectra, photoelectrochemical measurements, radical trapping experiments and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Furthermore, the photocatalytic performances of obtained g-C₃N₄/TiO₂ under sunlight were also evaluated in aspects of degradation efficiency and stability. The results indicate that the obtained g-C₃N₄/TiO₂ is one promising photocatalyst for practical applications. The study of as-prepared g-C₃N₄/TiO₂ also implies that the present method could be a general route of g-C₃N₄-coupling photocatalysts.

Chronic inflammation initiates multiple forms of K-Ras-independent mouse pancreatic cancer in the absence of TP53

Chronic inflammation (CI) is a risk factor for pancreatic cancer (PC) including the most common type, ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), but its role and the mechanisms involved are unclear. To investigate the role of CI in PC, we generated genetic mouse models with pancreatic specific CI in the presence or absence of TP53. Mice were engineered to express either cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) or IκB kinase-2 (IKK2), and TP53^+/+ or TP53^f/f specifically in adult pancreatic acinar cells by using a full-length pancreatic elastase promoter-driven Cre. Animals were followed for >80 weeks and pancreatic lesions were evaluated histologically and immunohistochemically. The presence of K-ras mutations was assessed by direct sequencing, locked nuclei acid (LNA)-based PCR, and immunohistochemistry. We observed that sustained COX-2/IKK2 expression caused histological abnormalities of pancreas, including increased immune cell infiltration, proliferation rate and DNA damage. A minority of animals with CI developed pre-neoplastic lesions, but cancer was not observed in any TP53^+/+ animals within 84 weeks. In contrast, all animals with CI-lacking TP53 developed various subtypes of PC, including acinar cell carcinoma, ductal adenocarcinoma, sarcomatoid carcinoma and neuroendocrine tumors, and all died within 65 weeks. No evidence of K-ras mutations was observed. Variations in the activity of the Hippo, pERK and c-Myc pathways were found in the diverse cancer subtypes. In summary, chronic inflammation is extremely inefficient at inducing PC in the presence of TP53. However, in the absence of TP53, CI leads to the development of several rare K-ras-independent forms of PC, with infrequent PDAC. This may help explain the rarity of PDAC in persons with chronic inflammatory conditions.

DREADD in parvalbumin interneurons of the dentate gyrus modulates anxiety, social interaction and memory extinction

Parvalbumin (PV)-positive interneurons in the hippocampus play a critical role in animal memory, such as spatial working memory. However, how PV-positive interneurons in the subregions of the hippocampus affect animal behaviors remains poorly defined. Here, we achieved specific and reversible activation of PV-positive interneurons using designer receptors exclusively activated by designer drugs (DREADD) technology. Inducible DREADD expression was demonstrated in vitro in cultured neurons, in which co-transfection of the hM3D-Gq-mCherry vector with a Cre plasmid resulted in a cellular response to hM3Dq ligand clozapine-N-oxide (CNO) stimulation. In addition, the dentate gyrus (DG) of PV-Cre mice received bilateral injection of control lentivirus or lentivirus expressing double floxed hM3D-Gq-mCherry. Selective activation of PV-positive interneurons in the DG did not affect locomotor activity or depression-related behavior in mice. Interestingly, stimulation of PV-positive interneurons induced an anxiolytic effect. Activation of PVpositive interneurons appears to impair social interaction to novelty, but has no effect on social motivation. However, this defect is likely due to the anxiolytic effect as the exploratory behavior of mice expressing hM3DGq is significantly increased. Mice expressing hM3D-Gq did not affect novel object recognition. Activation of PV-positive interneurons in the DG maintains intact cued and contextual fear memory but facilitates fear extinction. Collectively, our results demonstrated that proper control of PV interneurons activity in the DG is critical for regulation of the anxiety, social interaction and fear extinction. These results improve our fundamental understanding of the physiological role of PV-positive interneurons in the hippocampus.

Kinetics and microbial ecology of batch sulfidogenic bioreactors for co-treatment of municipal wastewater and acid mine drainage

The kinetics and microbial ecology in sulfidogenic bioreactors used in a novel two-stage process for co-treatment of acid mine drainage (AMD) and municipal wastewater (MWW) were investigated. Michaelis-Menten modeling of COD oxidation by sulfate reducing bacteria (SRB) (Vmax=0.33mgL(-1)min(-1), Km=4.3mgL(-1)) suggested that the Vmax can be reasonably achieved given the typical COD values in MWW and anticipated mixing with AMD. Non-competitive inhibition modeling (Ki=6.55mgL(-1)) indicated that excessive iron level should be avoided to limit its effects on SRB. The COD oxidation rate was positively correlated to COD/sulfate ratio and SRB population, as evidenced by dsrA gene copies. Phylogenetic analysis revealed diverse microbial communities dominated by sulfate reducing delta-proteobacteria. Microbial community and relative quantities of SRB showed significant differences under different COD/sulfate ratios (0.2, 1 and 2), and the highest dsrA gene concentration and most complex microbial diversity were observed under COD/sulfate ratio 2. Major species were associated with Desulfovirga, Desulfobulbus, Desulfovibrio, and Syntrophus sp. The reported COD kinetics, SRB abundances and the phylogenetic profile provide insights into the co-treatment process and help identify the parameters of concerns for such technology development.