Ultrastructure of duck Tembusu virus observed by electron microscopy with negative staining

Duck Tembusu virus (DTMUV) is a newly emerging enveloped flavivirus. This study shows the ultrastructure of DTMUV using viral purification, negative staining and electron microscopy. Electron microscopic examinations revealed mature DTMUV particles with 50 to 75 nm in diameter and typical enveloped flavivirus structure that consists of the internal nucleocapsid, an inner layer of lipid bilayer and an external layer of E glycoprotein ectodomain. Particles appear to be mostly spherical. In particular, RNA core is deep colored and dense, both capsid and lipid bilayer are clearly visible, the capsid forms regular hexagon, and E glycoprotein ectodomain forms a fringe instead of visible spikes. Thus, this report about the clear ultrastructure of the DTMUV particles will be the major driving forces behind structural biology of DTMUV.

[Analysis of occupational poisoning in Jiangsu Province, from 2006-2015]

Objective: Analysis of occupational poisoning character and laws in Jiangsu Province from 2006-2015, so as to provide scientific basis for the formulation of effective intervention measures and prevention strategies. Methods: According to the data of Jiangsu province occupational poisoning cases reports of year 2006 to 2015, by EXCEL arranged, using SPSS software to do epidemiological data statistical analysis. Results: In the past ten years, the number of occupational poisoning cases reported in Jiangsu province increased first and then declined. 547 cases of acute occupational poisoning reported in Jiangsu province from 2006-2015 years (35.82% of the total poisoning cases, the same below) , 980 cases of chronic occupational poisoning (64.18%) . The ratio of male and female in acute poisoning was 2.48, while 1.55 of chronic poisoning. The cases of poisoning reported were young and middle-aged, and working years was mainly in 5 years. The cases reported in the south of Jiangsu (mainly is chronic poisoning) is higher than that in the northern part of Jiangsu (mainly is acute poisoning) , which is more economically underdeveloped.. The reported highest mortality rate of occupational poisoning is asphyxia gas poisoning (5.43%) , followed by irritating gas poisoning (2.99%) and organic solvent poisoning (0.47%) . Many more occupational poisoning cases reported from large, joint-stock enterprises, especially chronic poisoning. Meanwhile more cases of acute poisoning reported from small, micro private enterprises. Conclusion: Although a decline in occupational poisoning cases in Jiangsu, the prevention and treatment measures are still not lax. According to the species of toxic, regional economic differences, the scale of the enterprises and the type of economy, the characteristic key classification and prevention should be carried out. Expand the coverage of hospitals in the diagnosis and reporting of occupational poisoning diseases, and strive to improve the quality of occupational disease reports.

Constraining the p-Mode-g-Mode Tidal Instability with GW170817

We analyze the impact of a proposed tidal instability coupling p modes and g modes within neutron stars on GW170817. This nonresonant instability transfers energy from the orbit of the binary to internal modes of the stars, accelerating the gravitational-wave driven inspiral. We model the impact of this instability on the phasing of the gravitational wave signal using three parameters per star: an overall amplitude, a saturation frequency, and a spectral index. Incorporating these additional parameters, we compute the Bayes factor (lnB_{!pg}^{pg}) comparing our p-g model to a standard one. We find that the observed signal is consistent with waveform models that neglect p-g effects, with lnB_{!pg}^{pg}=0.03_{-0.58}^{+0.70} (maximum a posteriori and 90% credible region). By injecting simulated signals that do not include p-g effects and recovering them with the p-g model, we show that there is a ≃50% probability of obtaining similar lnB_{!pg}^{pg} even when p-g effects are absent. We find that the p-g amplitude for 1.4  M_{⊙} neutron stars is constrained to less than a few tenths of the theoretical maximum, with maxima a posteriori near one-tenth this maximum and p-g saturation frequency ∼70  Hz. This suggests that there are less than a few hundred excited modes, assuming they all saturate by wave breaking. For comparison, theoretical upper bounds suggest ≲10^{3} modes saturate by wave breaking. Thus, the measured constraints only rule out extreme values of the p-g parameters. They also imply that the instability dissipates ≲10^{51}  erg over the entire inspiral, i.e., less than a few percent of the energy radiated as gravitational waves.

[Expression and distribution of programmed death receptor 1 and T cell immunoglobulin mucin 3 in breast cancer microenvironment and its relationship with clinicopathological features]

Objective: To explore the expression and distribution of programmed death receptor 1 (PD-1) and T-cell immunoglobulin mucin 3 (TIM-3) in breast cancer microenvironment and analyze the their correlation with the clinicopathological features. Methods: The specimens of tumor tissue and adjacent tissues from 30 patients with infiltrative breast cancer who were diagnosed as breast cancer from June 2016 to May 2017 in The First Hospital of Jiaxing were collected, and the specimen were divided into two parts along the center. After embedding and cryosectioning, the expression and distribution of PD-1 and TIM-3 protein in tumor tissues were observed by immunofluorescence staining. Another part of the specimen was cut and digested, and non-continuous density gradient centrifugation was used to extract tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs), real-time quantitative PCR (qRT-PCR) was used to detect the mRNA expression of PD-1 and TIM-3 in TILs. Meanwhile, the protein expression was determined by Western blotting. The relationship between the expression of PD-1 and TIM-3 and pathological parameters of breast cancer was analyzed with correlation analysis. Results: Immunofluorescence results showed that more PD-1 and TIM-3 positive cells were observed in the tumor tissues compared with the tumor-adjacent tissues. The qRT-PCR showed that the expression of PD-1 and TIM-3 mRNA in TILs were both significantly higher than those in paracancerous tissues (3.09±0.38 vs 1.26±0.23, 3.42±0.31 vs 1.57±0.29, t=4.16, 4.37, both P<0.05). At the protein level, the expression of PD-1 and TIM-3 in tumor tissue lymphocytes(0.66±0.08, 0.80±0.11) was significantly higher than those in cancerous tissues(0.10±0.01, 0.26±0.02) (t=6.79, 4.57, both P<0.05). There were significant differences in the expression of PD-1, TIM-3 mRNA in the TILs between the different tumor histological grades, tumor sizes, lymph node metastasis (t=2.22-2.99, all P<0.05). Correlation analysis showed that there was a significant positive correlation between the expression of PD-1 and TIM-3 in tumor tissues (r=0.616, P<0.01). Conclusions: In the breast cancer microenvironment, PD-1, TIM-3-mediated signaling pathway plays an important role in the occurrence and development of breast cancer, it provides a new basis for the combination therapy of breast cancer.

Utility of Dynamic Susceptibility Contrast Perfusion-Weighted MR Imaging and 11C-Methionine PET/CT for Differentiation of Tumor Recurrence from Radiation Injury in Patients with High-Grade Gliomas

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

Both ¹¹C-methionine PET/CT and DSC-PWI could be used to differentiate radiation injury from recurrent brain tumors. Our aim was to assess the performance of MET PET/CT and DSC-PWI for differentiation of recurrence and radiation injury in patients with high-grade gliomas and to quantitatively analyze the diagnostic values of PET and PWI parameters.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Forty-two patients with high-grade gliomas were enrolled in this study. The final diagnosis was determined by histopathologic analysis or clinical follow-up. PWI and PET parameters were recorded and compared between patients with recurrence and those with radiation injury using Student t tests. Receiver operating characteristic and logistic regression analyses were used to determine the diagnostic performance of each parameter.

RESULTS

The final diagnosis was recurrence in 33 patients and radiation injury in 9. PET/CT showed a patient-based sensitivity and specificity of 0.909 and 0.556, respectively, while PWI showed values of 0.667 and 0.778, respectively. The maximum standardized uptake value, mean standardized uptake value, tumor-to-background maximum standardized uptake value, and mean relative CBV were significantly higher for patients with recurrence than for patients with radiation injury. All these parameters showed a high discriminative power in receiver operating characteristic analysis. The optimal cutoff values for the tumor-to-background maximum standardized uptake value and mean relative CBV were 1.85 and 1.83, respectively, and corresponding sensitivities and specificities for the diagnosis of recurrence were 0.97 and 0.667 and 0.788 and 0.88, respectively. Areas under the curve for the tumor-to-background maximum standardized uptake value and mean relative CBV were 0.847 ± 0.077 and 0.845 ± 0.078, respectively. Combined assessment of the tumor-to-background maximum standardized uptake value and mean relative CBV showed the largest area under the curve (0.953 ± 0.031), with corresponding sensitivity and specificity of 0.848 and 1.0, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

Both ¹¹C-methionine PET/CT and PWI are equally accurate in the differentiation of recurrence from radiation injury in patients with high-grade gliomas, and a combination of the 2 modalities could result in increased diagnostic accuracy.

Search for Subsolar-Mass Ultracompact Binaries in Advanced LIGO's First Observing Run

We present the first Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo search for ultracompact binary systems with component masses between 0.2  M_{⊙}-1.0  M_{⊙} using data taken between September 12, 2015 and January 19, 2016. We find no viable gravitational wave candidates. Our null result constrains the coalescence rate of monochromatic (delta function) distributions of nonspinning (0.2  M_{⊙}, 0.2  M_{⊙}) ultracompact binaries to be less than 1.0×10^{6}  Gpc^{-3}  yr^{-1} and the coalescence rate of a similar distribution of (1.0  M_{⊙}, 1.0  M_{⊙}) ultracompact binaries to be less than 1.9×10^{4}  Gpc^{-3}  yr^{-1} (at 90% confidence). Neither black holes nor neutron stars are expected to form below ∼1  M_{⊙} through conventional stellar evolution, though it has been proposed that similarly low mass black holes could be formed primordially through density fluctuations in the early Universe and contribute to the dark matter density. The interpretation of our constraints in the primordial black hole dark matter paradigm is highly model dependent; however, under a particular primordial black hole binary formation scenario we constrain monochromatic primordial black hole populations of 0.2  M_{⊙} to be less than 33% of the total dark matter density and monochromatic populations of 1.0  M_{⊙} to be less than 5% of the dark matter density. The latter strengthens the presently placed bounds from microlensing surveys of massive compact halo objects (MACHOs) provided by the MACHO and EROS Collaborations.

[Mutational analysis of RNA splicing machinery genes SF3B1, U2AF1 and SRSF2 in 118 patients with myelodysplastic syndromes and related diseases]

目的

探讨RNA剪接体复合物编码基因SF3B1、U2AF1和SRSF2突变在MDS及相关疾病中的突变率、突变特点及临床意义。

方法

以118例MDS及相关疾病患者为研究对象，采用PCR扩增产物直接测序法分别检测SF3B1（K700E）、U2AF1（S34、Q157P）和SRSF2（P95）突变情况。

结果

118例MDS患者中，男76例，女42例，中位年龄53.5（13~84）岁。对全部患者均进行SF3B1（K700E）基因突变分析，SF3B1（K700E）的突变率为19.49%（118例中23例）。在突变的22例MDS患者中，14例环形铁粒幼红细胞（RS）比例≥15%，其中难治性贫血伴环状铁粒幼红细胞（RARS）7例、难治性血细胞减少伴有多系发育异常（RCMD）6例、难治性贫血（RA）1例。与未突变组相比，突变组患者的年龄偏大[58（32~78）岁对51（13~84）岁，z=−1.981，P=0.048]、PLT偏高[121（22~888）×10⁹/L对59（6~1 561）× 10⁹/L，z=−3.305，P=0.001]、骨髓原始细胞比例偏低[0.007（0~0.122）对0.017（0~0.268），z=−2.885，P=0.004]、RS比例偏高[0（0~64%）对0（0~58%），z=−4.664，P<0.001]，HGB偏低[63（40~95）g/L对77（34~144）g/L，z=−3.192，P=0.001]。对105例患者进行U2AF1（S34、Q157P）基因突变分析，突变率为21.90%（105例中23例）。突变组患者各临床特征与未突变组相比差异均无统计学意义。107例患者有SRSF2（P95）突变结果，8例突变，突变率为7.48%，突变组患者初诊时年龄偏高，中位年龄63（50~84）岁，其中难治性贫血伴有原始细胞增多-1（RAEB-1）4例，突变率为14.29%（28例中4例）；MDS转化的急性髓系白血病3例。1例患者同时出现SF3B1（K700E）和SRSF2（P95H）突变，2例患者同时出现SF3B1（K700E）和U2AF1（S34Y）突变。

结论

SF3B1、U2AF1和SRSF2剪接体复合物蛋白编码基因中，仅SF3B1基因突变与环状铁粒幼红细胞增多性贫血密切相关，是该亚型的主要致病基因。

Combined texture analysis of diffusion-weighted imaging with conventional MRI for non-invasive assessment of IDH1 mutation in anaplastic gliomas

AIM

To examine whether texture analysis (TA) of diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) combined with conventional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) could non-invasively predict isocitrate dehydrogenase 1 (IDH1) mutational status in anaplastic gliomas.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Fifty-two patients with histologically confirmed anaplastic glioma was reviewed retrospectively. Conventional MRI was evaluated using the Visually Accessible Rembrandt Images (VASARI) scoring system. TA of DWI based on the entire tumour volume was compared between IDH1-mutant and wild-type tumours by using unpaired Student's t-test. Receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) and logistic regression were used to assess their diagnostic performance.

RESULTS

Significant statistical differences in VASARI features and TA of DWI were observed between IDH1-mutant and wild-type tumours (all p<0.05). Using multivariable logistic regression, the proportion of the tumour that was non-enhancing and the entropy of apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) were found to possess higher prediction potential for IDH1 mutation with areas under the ROC curve (AUC) of 0.918 and 0.724, respectively. A combination of these for the identification of IDH1 mutations improved the AUC to 0.954, with a sensitivity and a specificity of 81% and 96%.

CONCLUSIONS

The combined assessment of the conventional MRI and TA of DWI were useful for predicting IDH1 mutation in anaplastic gliomas.

GW170817: Measurements of Neutron Star Radii and Equation of State

On 17 August 2017, the LIGO and Virgo observatories made the first direct detection of gravitational waves from the coalescence of a neutron star binary system. The detection of this gravitational-wave signal, GW170817, offers a novel opportunity to directly probe the properties of matter at the extreme conditions found in the interior of these stars. The initial, minimal-assumption analysis of the LIGO and Virgo data placed constraints on the tidal effects of the coalescing bodies, which were then translated to constraints on neutron star radii. Here, we expand upon previous analyses by working under the hypothesis that both bodies were neutron stars that are described by the same equation of state and have spins within the range observed in Galactic binary neutron stars. Our analysis employs two methods: the use of equation-of-state-insensitive relations between various macroscopic properties of the neutron stars and the use of an efficient parametrization of the defining function p(ρ) of the equation of state itself. From the LIGO and Virgo data alone and the first method, we measure the two neutron star radii as R_{1}=10.8_{-1.7}^{+2.0}  km for the heavier star and R_{2}=10.7_{-1.5}^{+2.1}  km for the lighter star at the 90% credible level. If we additionally require that the equation of state supports neutron stars with masses larger than 1.97  M_{⊙} as required from electromagnetic observations and employ the equation-of-state parametrization, we further constrain R_{1}=11.9_{-1.4}^{+1.4}  km and R_{2}=11.9_{-1.4}^{+1.4}  km at the 90% credible level. Finally, we obtain constraints on p(ρ) at supranuclear densities, with pressure at twice nuclear saturation density measured at 3.5_{-1.7}^{+2.7}×10^{34}  dyn cm^{-2} at the 90% level.

[Incidence of occupational diseases in a province of China during the period of "Twelfth Five-Year Plan" and its trend]

Objective: To investigate the incidence of occupational diseases in a province of China during the period of "Twelfth Five-Year Plan" , and to analyze the features of disease spectrum, the characteristics of regional and industrial distribution, and incidence trend. Methods: Data (2011-2015) were collected from the Information System of Occupational Diseases and Occupational Health to analyze the reported cases of occupational diseases during the period of "Twelfth Five-Year Plan". A statistical analysis was performed to identify the characteristics of the disease distribution in terms of sex, age, working years, enterprise type, enterprise scale, and region, as well as the incidence trend. Results: The overall incidence of occupational diseases in this province fluctuated and decreased gradually. There were a total of 5036 new cases of occupational diseases during the period of "Twelfth Five-Year Plan" ; 89.45% of them were male, and 69.78% of them were aged 40-69 years; the most frequently seen occupational diseases were pneumoconiosis (72.48%) and ear, nose, throat, and oral diseases (7.23%). Most cases of pneumoconiosis occurred after 5-10 years of exposure, and other occupational diseases usually developed within 10 years of exposure. New cases of occupational diseases were often seen in small and micro enterprises, as well as Wuxi, Suzhou, and Yancheng. Conclusion: During the period of "Twelfth Five-Year Plan" , the incidence of occupational diseases in this province decreased gradually, indicating improved control of occupational diseases, but we still need to pay attention to the high-risk population (male, aged over 40 years) , as well as the prevention of occupational noise-induced hearing loss, and to strengthen the supervision of small and micro enterprises.

[Value analysis of preoperative and intra-operative ultrasound in diagnosis and treatment of parathyroid adenoma]

Objective:To explore the value characteristics of preoperative and intra-operative ultrasound in the diagnosis and treatment of parathyroid adenoma,and to further clarify the value of ultrasound in the diagnosis and treatment of parathyroid adenoma.Method:A total of 62 cases of parathyroid adenoma confirmed by postoperative pathology from March 2016 to November 2017 were collected, and the pre-operative ultrasound parameters were analyzed;and 26 cases were detected by intra-operative ultrasound.Result:In 62 cases of parathyroid adenoma, 58 cases of parathyroid adenoma were diagnosed by ultrasound before operation,and the sensitivity was 93.54%. Among the 26 cases,the lesions of 24 cases were detected by intra-operative ultrasound,and the sensitivity was 92.31%.Conclusion:Preoperative ultrasonography has a high diagnostic value for the qualitative diagnosis and location diagnosis of parathyroid adenoma, and intra-operative ultrasound can help to detect lesions quickly and safely, which is of great significance to shorten the operation time and improve the safety of operation. It is an important development space of ultrasound in the diagnosis and treatment of parathyroid glands.

[Analysis and surgical treatment of 72 cases of parapharyngeal space tumors]

Objective:To summarize and analyze the clinical features, diagnosis methods, surgical approaches and treatment outcomes of patients with parapharygeal space tumors.Method:A retrospective review of 72 cases with parapharygeal space tumors treated from March 1994 to June 2017 was performed. The data on presentation, surgical approach, histological diagnosis and postoperative complications were reviewed.Result:The postoperative pathological diagnosis included 62 benign tumors and 10 malignant tumors. The most frequent symptom was a cervical mass or an intraoral swelling. All patients underwent preoperative enhanced CT scan or MRI,which would be helpful to evaluate the tumor sizes,locations and possible sources,and to make operation scheme. The postoperative pathology included 24 salivary gland lesions and 30 neurogenic lesions. The postoperative complications happened in 13 patients. The surgical approaches included trans-cervical approach in 55 cases, cervical-parotid approach in 9 cases,trans-oral approach in 6 cases , and trans skull base approach in 2 case.Conclusion:A parapharygeal space tumor is an uncommon tumor and requires careful preoperative assessment. Surgery is the first choice for parapharygeal space tumors. These patients should be counseled appropriately about the potential for permanent cranial nerve deficits.

Curcumin Inhibits Proliferation and Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition of Retinal Pigment Epithelial Cells Via Multiple Pathways

BACKGROUND

Proliferative vitreoretinopathy (PVR) is a disease caused by dedifferentiation, translocation and proliferation of several types of local cells. These cells form fibrocellular membranes resulting in detachment of retinal and vision loss. PVR occurs in 8%-10% of patients undergoing primary retinal detachment (RD) surgery and becomes a major obstacle for successful RD repair. Retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells are among the major cells which consist of fibrocellular membranes. Reproliferation and Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) are the primary pathological alteration of RPE cells in PVR.

METHODS

RPE cells were treated with curcumin at different concentrations for 24, 48 and 72 hours. The viable cells were detected by MTT assay. The apoptosis of RPE was stained by Multicaspase/7-AAD and detected using flow cytometry. Cell cycle analysis was quantified by PI staining. The mRNA levels were detected by real-time PCR. The protein levels were detected by western blot.

RESULTS

We found a compound curcumin significantly inhibited proliferation and EMT of RPE cells in vitro. Further study showed curcumin induced cell cycle arrest by activating G2 checkpoint through p53 pathway. Meanwhile, we found that curcumin suppressed the AKT, MAPK and TGF-β pathways in RPE cells which may also affect proliferation and EMT. Our research identified curcumin a potential novel agent for the PVR prevention and treatment. Curcumin induces cell cycle arrest by activating G2 checkpoint.

CONCLUSION

Our results in this study also provide the insights to broaden the application of curcumin in research and probably clinics.

Optical Properties and Local Structure Evolution during Crystallization of Ga16Sb84 Alloy

Phase-change memory is one of the most promising candidates for future memory technologies. However, most of the phase-change memories are based on chalcogenides, while other families of materials for this purpose remain insufficiently studied. In this work, we investigate the optical properties and microstructure of Ga16Sb84 by an in-situ ellipsometer and X-ray diffraction. Our experimental results reveal that the Ga16Sb84 films exhibit a relatively high crystallization temperature of ~250 °C, excelling in long data retention. In addition, a large optical contrast exists between the amorphous and crystalline states, which may make it suitable for use in optical discs. Molecular dynamics simulations indicate that a unique local structure order in the amorphous and crystalline phases is responsible for the optical properties observed in the experiment. The similarity found in the short-range orders of the amorphous and crystalline phases is beneficial to better understanding the fast phase transition of phase-change memory.

LOH12CR1 is a Novel Tumor Suppressor Inhibiting Tumor Growth Through Deregulation of G1/S Checkpoint in Human Colorectal Carcinoma

BACKGROUND

Loss of heterozygosity (LOH) of 12p12-13 has been frequently found in various types of cancer. LOH12CR1 is one of the seven critical genes located within the 12p12-13 region. The protein encoded by LOH12CR1 is involved in the function of lysosomes and its other functions are still unclear.

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this study is to investigate the potential roles of LOH12CR1 in the development of colorectal cancer.

METHODS

A total of 174 colorectal cancer tissues were used to examine the protein level of LOH12CR1 by immunohistochemistry staining. The correlation between LOH12CR1 expression and the patient prognosis was further investigated through retrospective study. The tumor suppression capacity was examined by knockdown or overexpression of LOH12CR1 in four colorectal cancer cell lines and one normal cell line.

RESULTS

Significant decrease of LOH12CR1 protein was observed in colorectal cancerous tissues (P<0.001). Knockdown of LOH12CR1 promoted colorectal cancer cell proliferation, colony formation, and accelerated G1/S cell cycle transition through downregulation of p16^INK4a and p21^WAF1/CIP1, while ectopic expression of LOH12CR1 displayed the opposite effects. The protein level of LOH12CR1 was well correlated with the expression of p16^INK4a and p21^WAF1/CIP1. Most importantly, the protein level of LOH12CR1 negatively correlated with clinical prognosis of colorectal carcinomas.

CONCLUSION

The present results suggest that LOH12CR1 might function as a tumor suppressor. Thus, loss of function of LOH12CR1 might be a potential driver in the development of colorectal carcinoma. Detection of LOH12CR1 could be used as a method for diagnosis and therapeutic assessment of patients with colorectal cancer.

Targeted methylation sequencing of plasma cell-free DNA for cancer detection and classification

Background

Targeted methylation sequencing of plasma cell-free DNA (cfDNA) has a potential to expand liquid biopsies to patients with tumors without detectable oncogenic alterations, which can be potentially useful in early diagnosis.

Patients and methods

We developed a comprehensive methylation sequencing assay targeting 9223 CpG sites consistently hypermethylated according to The Cancer Genome Atlas. Next, we carried out a clinical validation of our method using plasma cfDNA samples from 78 patients with advanced colorectal cancer, non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC), breast cancer or melanoma and compared results with patients' outcomes.

Results

Median methylation scores in plasma cfDNA samples from patients on therapy were lower than from patients off therapy (4.74 versus 85.29; P = 0.001). Of 68 plasma samples from patients off therapy, methylation scores detected the presence of cancer in 57 (83.8%), and methylation-based signatures accurately classified the underlying cancer type in 45 (78.9%) of these. Methylation scores were most accurate in detecting colorectal cancer (96.3%), followed by breast cancer (91.7%), melanoma (81.8%) and NSCLC (61.1%), and most accurate in classifying the underlying cancer type in colorectal cancer (88.5%), followed by NSCLC (81.8%), breast cancer (72.7%) and melanoma (55.6%). Low methylation scores versus high were associated with longer survival (10.4 versus 4.4 months, P < 0.001) and longer time-to-treatment failure (2.8 versus 1.6 months, P = 0.016).

Conclusions

Comprehensive targeted methylation sequencing of 9223 CpG sites in plasma cfDNA from patients with common advanced cancers detects the presence of cancer and underlying cancer type with high accuracy. Methylation scores in plasma cfDNA correspond with treatment outcomes.

Detection and genetic characterization of porcine pegivirus in pigs in the United States

Using next-generation sequencing on vesicular swab and serum from swine from the USA exhibiting lameness and vesicles, porcine pegivirus (PPgV) was first identified and genetically characterized in the United States. Further screening using RT-PCR revealed that 24 of 159 (15.1%) serum samples were positive for PPgV. Future studies are needed to understand clinical impacts of the virus.

Clinical and molecular insights into Glanzmann's thrombasthenia in China

Glanzmann's thrombasthenia (GT) is a rare bleeding disorder characterized by spontaneous mucocutaneous bleeding. The disorder is caused by quantitative or qualitative defects in integrin αIIbβ3 (encoded by ITGA2B and ITGB3) on the platelet and is more common in consanguineous populations. However, the prevalence rate and clinical characteristics of GT in non-consanguineous populations have been unclear. We analyzed 97 patients from 93 families with GT in the Han population in China. This analysis showed lower consanguinity (18.3%) in Han patients than other ethnic populations in GT-prone countries. Compared with other ethnic populations, there was no significant difference in the distribution of GT types. Han females suffered more severe bleeding and had a poorer prognosis. We identified a total of 43 different ITGA2B and ITGB3 variants, including 25 previously unidentified, in 45 patients. These variants included 14 missense, 4 nonsense, 4 frameshift, and 3 splicing site variants. Patients with the same genotype generally manifested the same GT type but presented with different bleeding severities. This suggests that GT clinical phenotype does not solely depend on genotype. Our study provides an initial, yet important, clinical and molecular characterization of GT heterogeneity in China.