[Clinicopathological characteristics and prognostic analysis of patients with pathological complete response and near complete response after neoadjuvant treatment of rectal cancer]

Objective: To investigate the clinicopathological characteristics and prognosis of rectal cancer patients with pathological complete response and near complete response after neoadjuvant therapy. Methods: The clinicopathological data of patients who underwent neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy plus radical surgery of rectal cancer in the Cancer Hospital of Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences from January 2004 to December 2016 were retrospectively collected. The clinicopathological characteristics and prognostic factor of patients with pathological complete response and near complete response were analyzed. Results: The clinical data of 142 patients were collected. There were 93 males and 49 females, aged from 24 to 81 years. The median disease-free survival was 53.9 months and the median overall survival was 55.0 months. Univariate analysis showed that the maximum diameter of scar or lesion, the status of lymph node metastasis and the distance between the lower edge of tumor and anal edge were associated with disease-free survival time; the maximum diameter of scar or lesion and the status of lymph node metastasis were associated with overall survival time. Multivariate Cox proportional hazards regression analysis showed that patients with scar or lesion diameter>3 cm (HR=4.406,95%CI:1.619-12.006), positive lymph node metastasis status (HR=4.102,95%CI:1.461-11.513) and tumor lower margin to anal margin distance ≤4 cm (HR=18.171,95%CI:2.357-140.073) had shorter disease-free survival time.The patients with scar or lesion diameter>3 cm (HR=8.573,95%CI:1.630-45.099) and lymph node metastasis status (HR=4.721, 95%CI:1.068-20.860) had shorter overall survival time. Conclusions: The overall prognosis of patients with pathological complete response or near complete response after neoadjuvant therapy for rectal cancer is better. The distance between the lower margin of the tumor and the anal edge, the status of lymph node metastasis and the maximum diameter of scars or lesion were the related factors affecting the prognosis of patients with rectal cancer.

Association between maternal thallium exposure and risk of gestational diabetes mellitus: Evidence from a birth cohort study

BACKGROUND

The adverse effects of TI exposure on pregnant women are still unclear, especially regarding the risk of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) Objective: We explored the association between maternal urinary Tl burden and the risk of GDM.

METHODS

A subsample of 1789 pregnant women were enrolled who provided spot urine samples before the diagnostic 75-g oral glucose tolerance test. Urinary Tl concentration was measured using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. Logistic regression and covariance analysis were carried out to estimate the association between Tl exposure and GDM risk.

RESULTS

The median of urinary Tl concentration was 0.382 μg/L or 0.525 μg/g creatinine (CC-Tl). There were 437 (24.4%) participants who were diagnosed with GDM, and the urinary CC-Tl concentrations of pregnant women with GDM were higher than that of pregnant women without GDM [0.548 (0.402, 0.788) vs 0.518 (0.356, 0.724), p = 0.014]. After adjusting for the relevant covariates, an association between urinary Tl concentrations and GDM was found. In comparison to the pregnant women in the lowest quartile of urinary CC-Tl concentration, the pregnant women in the highest quartile had a higher risk of GDM [OR (95% CI) = 1.44 (1.03, 2.02), p-trend = 0.055]. If limited to the pregnant women without family history of diabetes, the results were still robust [OR (95% CI) = 1.59 (1.11, 2.30), p-trend = 0.012].

CONCLUSION

Urinary CC-Tl concentration was associated with GDM among Chinese pregnant women. Our findings provide evidence that moderately high Tl exposure may be a novel risk factor for pregnant women health.

[Expression and clinical significance of CXC chemokine ligand 10 in glioma]

Objective: To analyze the expression of CXC chemokine ligand 10 (CXCL10) in glioma and its clinical significance through bioinformatics. Methods: The expression level of CXCL10 in glioma, and its prognostic significance, gene ontology (GO) function annotation, Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genome (KEGG) pathway enrichment and the correlation of tumor cell purity were analyzed in TCGA, CGGA, MetaScape, TIMER databases. In addition, 34 clinical glioma tissues were collected for Western Blot and immunohistochemistry to further verify the correlation between CXCL10 and glioma. Results: CGGA and TCGA database analysis showed that with the increase of WHO grade, the expression of CXCL10 in gliomas increased (P<0.01). The overall survival rate of patients with high CXCL10 expression was significantly lower than that of patients with low expression (χ² =148.1,P<0.05). Among patients with grade Ⅳ glioblastoma who received radiotherapy or chemotherapy, the patients with low CXCL10 expression were associated with good survival (χ² =6.714,P<0.05;χ² =5.618,P<0.05). Moreover, GO and KEGG analysis showed that genes co-expressed with CXCL10 were mainly enriched in the biological processes such as cytokine-mediated signaling pathways, regulating adaptive immune responses and inflammatory responses. Furthermore, TIMER database analysis showed that CXCL10 was negatively correlated with the purity of glioma cells (LGG: r=-0.129;GBM: r=-0.165;P<0.05). Similarly, clinical sample analysis also showed that the expression level of CXCL10 increased in glioma, and it increased with the grade of glioma (all P<0.05). Conclusion: The expression of CXCL10 is up-regulated in glioma as well as it increased with the malignant degree of glioma. At the same time, the high expression of CXCL10 in glioma is closely related to the poor prognosis of patients.

Evolution of diverse Hall effects during the successive magnetic phase transitions in Mn2.5Fe0.6Sn0.9 Kagome-lattice alloy

Evolution of diverse Hall effects due to successive magnetic transitions has been observed in Mn_2.5Fe_0.6Sn_0.9 by suitable chemical substitution of Fe in Mn_3.1Sn_0.9. This noncollinear antiferromagnetic alloy exhibits a Neel temperature of 325 K. Upon cooling from 325 K, a magnetic phase transition from noncollinear antiferromagnetism to ferromagnetism occurs at 168 K due to the tilting of magnetization towards c axis. Above this temperature, anomalous Hall resistivity ranged from 0.6 to 1.3 μΩ cm has been observed in noncollinear antiferromagnetic state. Below this temperature, a topological Hall effect (THE) starts to appear due to the non-vanishing scalar spin chirality arising from the noncoplanar spin structure. Further decreasing temperature to 132 K, another magnetic transition happens, resulting in the coexistence of ferromagnetism and antiferromagnetism, so that a Hall plateau with large hysteresis below 70 K is yielded. A hysteresis as high as ∼80 kOe is obtained in ρ _xy -H at 15 K. However, the Hall plateau disappears and only anomalous Hall effect (AHE) persists when further decreasing the temperature to 5 K. The present study provides a picture of diverse magneto-transport properties correlated to the variable spin structures driven by magnetic phase transitions.

Gastrointestinal stromal tumor with multisegmental spinal metastases as first presentation: A case report and review of the literature

BACKGROUND

Gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST) usually originates in the stomach, followed by the small intestine, rectum, and other parts of the gastrointestinal tract. The most common sites of metastasis are the liver and peritoneum, whereas spinal metastases from GIST are extremely rare.

CASE SUMMARY

We found a case of GIST with the first presentation of multilevel spinal metastases involving the thoracic and lumbar vertebrae. A 61-year-old Chinese man presented to our clinic because of pain in his lower back and hip for 10 d without cause. Subsequently, computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) revealed abnormal signals in the vertebral appendages of T12 and L4 accompanied by spinal canal stenosis, which was considered as tumor metastasis. As there were no metastases to vital organs, posterior thoracic and lumbar spinal decompression + adnexal mass resection + pedicle internal fixation was adopted to achieve local cure and prevent nerve compression. The results of histopathological studies were consistent with the metastasis of GIST. No local recurrence or new metastases were found at the 6-mo follow-up at the surgical site. The patient has no neurological symptoms at present. It is worth mentioning that a rectal mass was found and surgically removed 1 mo after the patient was discharged from hospital, and the pathological diagnosis of the mass was GIST.

CONCLUSION

By reviewing 26 previously reported cases of spinal metastasis in GIST, it was found that spinal metastasis of GIST has become more common in recent years, so the possibility of early spinal metastasis should be recognized. CT and MRI are of great value in the diagnosis of spinal metastatic tumors, and pathological biopsy is the gold standard for the diagnosis of metastatic tumors. It is safe and feasible to treat isolated spinal metastasis in GIST by excising metastatic masses, decompressing the spinal canal, and stabilizing the spine.

[Study on the changes of soft and hard tissue before and after early treatment of ClassⅡskeletal malocclusion with Twin-block appliance]

PURPOSE

To investigate the effect of early correction with Twin-block appliance on soft and hard tissues of patients with Class Ⅱ skeletal malocclusion.

METHODS

Sixty patients with Angle Class Ⅱ skeletal malocclusion were prospectively selected. The patients were divided into 2 groups, 30 cases in each group, by random number table method. Patients in the experimental group were treated with a Twin-block appliance combined with straight wire appliance, while patients in the control group were treated with a straight wire appliance. The soft and hard tissue indexes(SNA, SNB, ANB, U1-NA angle, U1-NA distance, L1-NB distance, L1-NB angle, U1-L1) before, and 12 months after treatment were measured. Soft tissue measurement indicators included UL-U1, LL-L1, over jet, overbite, E-upper-lip from the upper lip to the E-line, and the lower lip to the E-line, changes in the vertical distance (E-lower-lip), the dip angle of the sulcus, and the thickness of the soft tissue. SPSS 25.0 software package was used for statistical analysis of the data.

RESULTS

U1-NA, U1-NA, L1-NB, L1-NB, overjet, overbite, E-upper-lip, and E-lower-lip were significantly less than the control group at 12 months and 36 months after treatment in the experimental group(P<0.05). U1-L1, nasolabial angle, sulcus angle, and soft tissue thickness of the experimental group were significantly greater than those of the control group(P<0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

Twin-block appliance combined with straight wire appliance can significantly improve the relationship between the jaw and the soft and hard tissues of patients with Class Ⅱ skeletal malocclusion, and the long-term effect is good.

Long read sequencing of Toona sinensis (A. Juss) Roem: A chromosome-level reference genome for the family Meliaceae

Chinese mahogany (Toona sinensis) is a woody plant that is widely cultivated in China and Malaysia. Toona sinensis is important economically, including as a nutritious food source, as material for traditional Chinese medicine and as a high-quality hardwood. However, the absence of a reference genome has hindered in-depth molecular and evolutionary studies of this plant. In this study, we report a high-quality T. sinensis genome assembly, with scaffolds anchored to 28 chromosomes and a total assembled length of 596 Mb (contig N50 = 1.5 Mb and scaffold N50 = 21.5 Mb). A total of 34,345 genes were predicted in the genome after homology-based and de novo annotation analyses. Evolutionary analysis showed that the genomes of T. sinensis and Populus trichocarpa diverged ~99.1-103.1 million years ago, and the T. sinensis genome underwent a recent genome-wide duplication event at ~7.8 million years and one more ancient whole genome duplication event at ~71.5 million years. These results provide a high-quality chromosome-level reference genome for T. sinensis and confirm its evolutionary position at the genomic level. Such information will offer genomic resources to study the molecular mechanism of terpenoid biosynthesis and the formation of flavour compounds, which will further facilitate its molecular breeding. As the first chromosome-level genome assembled in the family Meliaceae, it will provide unique insights into the evolution of members of the Meliaceae.

[Emission Estimation and Fate Simulation of Dichlorvos in the Dongjiang River Watershed]

The application of pesticides and their constant inputs have resulted in the universal contamination of the environments within watersheds, and it is essential to assess the level of contamination. Compared with traditional monitoring methods, models coupled with GIS show more obvious advantages. However, the difficult access to application scenarios and emission data of pesticides hinder the modeling and assessment of the pesticides used in watersheds. We established an emission estimation method of pesticides, which was based on the planting scenarios and pesticide application standards of different crops in administered regions and by situational analysis and mathematical deduction, the usage of each sub-basin was able to be derived. Then, by using the aforementioned results as source input data, a semi-distributed watershed hydrological, SWAT (soil and water assessment tool) model, was used to simulate the fate of dichlorvos in the Dongjiang River watershed as an example. The verification results show that the comparisons of magnitude between the simulation and the observations were almost within 1, indicating that the SWAT model, which is based on a source input estimation, was able to assess the environmental fate of pesticides in watershed effectively. Also, the modeling results indicated that the annual emission load of the dichlorvos in the watershed accounted for 3.72% of the usage. Moreover, the losses due to degradation and other reactions within the channels reach 2.35%. Most reaches of the Dongjiang River watershed have mass concentrations over 0.1 μg·L^-1, demonstrating that certain safety concerns exist.

Distribution and mass loads of xenoestrogens bisphenol a, 4-nonylphenol, and 4-tert-octylphenol in rainfall runoff from highly urbanized regions: A comparison with point sources of wastewater

This study pays a special attention to three phenolic endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs), - bisphenol A (BPA), 4-nonylphenol (4-NP), and 4-tert-octylphenol (4-t-OP) - that are present in urban environments, resultant of several anthropogenic activities that can be also carried through rainfall runoff. We investigated the distributions of BPA, 4-NP, and 4-t-OP in Pearl River basin and estimated the mass loads in rainfall runoff, wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) effluents, and industrial wastewater from urbanized Huizhou and Dongguan regions. These three phenolic EDCs were detected frequently in tributaries and mainstream of Dongjiang River with the maximum 4-NP concentrations of 14,540 ng/L in surface waters and 3088 ng/g in sediments. BPA showed high concentrations in rainfall runoff samples with maximum concentrations of 5873 and 2397 ng/L in Huizhou and Dongguan regions, respectively, while concentrations for 4-NP and 4-t-OP were detected at tens to hundreds of nanograms per liter. Mass loads of phenolic EDCs from rainfall runoff were 3-62 times higher than those of WWTP effluents, suggesting rainfall runoff is an important source of phenolic EDCs into receiving waters. Sources and tributaries showed median to high estrogenic risks, while low to median risks were found in mainstream, implying the source control should be focused.

Evolution of microbial community and antibiotic resistance genes in anammox process stressed by oxytetracycline and copper

The individual and combined impacts of copper ion (Cu²⁺) and oxytetracycline (OTC) on anaerobic ammonium oxidation (anammox) performance and its self-recovery process were examined. Experimental results showed that the anammox performance and activity of anammox bacteria were inhibited by 1.0 mg L^-1 OTC, Cu²⁺ and OTC + Cu²⁺, and both single and combined inhibitions were reversible. The abundance of functional genes and parts of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) were positively related to the dominant bacterium Ca. Kuenenia, implying that the recovery of the performance was associated with the progressive induction of potentially resistant species after inhibition. The above outcomes illustrated that anammox bacteria were stressed by metals and antibiotics, but they still could remove nitrogen at a rate higher than 20.6 ± 0.8 kg N m^-3 d^-1, providing guidance for engineering applications of anammox processes.

[A multicenter, randomized, open and positive parallel controlled clinical study of clotrimazole vaginal expansion suppository and vaginal tablet in the treatment of mild and moderate vulvovaginal candidiasis]

Objective: Using clotrimazole vaginal tablet as a positive control, to evaluate the results of clotrimazole vaginal expansion suppository in the treatment of mild and moderate vulvovaginal candidiasis in terms of efficacy, patient satisfaction, side effects, and recurrence rate. Methods: This study was jointly conducted by 5 hospitals from August 2017 to October 2018, patients with mild and moderate vulvovaginal candidiasis confirmed by fungal culture and symptoms scores were selected. They were randomized to experimental group and control group as 1∶1 ratio. In the experimental group (n=105), the subjects applied clotrimazole vaginal expansion suppository (150 mg) daily at night for 7 days. In the control group (n=106), the subjects used a single dose of clotrimazole vaginal tablet (500 mg). Follow-ups were performed at (8±3) and (30±5) days after the discontinuation of the drugs, respectively. The difference in clinical symptoms and signs scores was used to evaluate the improvement of clinical symptoms, and the patient's satisfaction and side effects were recorded. Results: At the first follow-up, the experimental group and control group were followed up by fungal culture on the cure rate [66.7% (70/105) versus 63.2% (67/106), P>0.05] and total effective rate [98.1% (103/105) versus 99.1% (105/106), P>0.05], the differences were not statistically significant. At the second follow-up, the recurrence rates of the experimental group and the control group were 5.7% (4/70) and 14.9% (10/67), respectively, with no significant difference (P>0.05). In the evaluation of patient satisfaction, the leakage of the drug in the experimental group was significantly better than that in the control group (P<0.01). The side effects mainly included vaginal stimulation, itching and burning sensation, and there was no statistical difference between the two groups (χ²=1.070, P=0.586). Conclusions: In the treatment of mild and moderate vulvovaginal candidiasis, clotrimazole vaginal expansion suppository is no less effective than clotrimazole vaginal tablet, and there is no significant difference in the recurrence rate between the two. In terms of patient satisfaction, clotrimazole vaginal expansion suppository is superior to clotrimazole vaginal tablet.

Structural and molecular dynamic studies of Pseudomonas aeruginosa OdaA reveal the regulation role of a C-terminal hinge element

BACKGROUND

Crotonase superfamily members exhibit great catalytic diversity towards various acyl-CoA substrates. A common CoA moiety binding pattern is usually observed in this family, understanding the substrate-binding mechanism would facilitate the rational engineering of crotonases for improved properties.

METHODS

We applied X-ray crystallography to investigate a putative enoyl-CoA hydratase/isomerase OdaA in Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Thermal shift assay (TSA) were performed to explore the binding of OdaA with CoA thioester substrates. Furthermore, we performed molecular dynamics (MD) simulations to elucidate the dynamics of its CoA-binding site.

RESULTS

We solved the crystal structures of the apo and CoA-bound OdaA. Thermal shift assay (TSA) showed that CoA thioester substrates bind to OdaA with a different degree. MD simulations demonstrated that the C-terminal alpha helix underwent a structural transition and a hinge region would associate with this conformational change.

CONCLUSIONS

TSA in combination with MD simulations elucidate that the dynamics of C-terminal alpha helix in CoA-binding, and a hinge region play an important role in conformational change.

GENERAL SIGNIFICANCE

Those results help to extend our knowledge about the nature of crotonases and would be informative for future mechanistic studies and industry applications.

[Diagnosis of imported malaria cases in Henan Province from 2015 to 2019]

OBJECTIVE

To analyze the diagnosis of imported malaria cases in Henan Province from 2015 to 2019, so as to provide the evidence for malaria surveillance during the post-elimination stage.

METHODS

The data pertaining to malaria cases in Henan Province from 2015 to 2019 were extracted via the web-based Chinese Information System for Infectious Diseases Control and Prevention and the Parasitic Diseases Information Reporting Management System (PDIRMS) of Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, and the diagnostic methods, diagnostic institutions and diagnostic time of imported malaria cases were analyzed.

RESULTS

A total of 952 imported malaria cases were reported in Henan Province during the period from 2015 through 2019, and all cases were laboratory-confirmed. The positive rate of malaria rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) was 98.61% (779/790), which was significantly greater than that (94.22%, 897/952) of microscopic examinations (χ² = 22.773, P < 0.05). The proportion of imported malaria cases diagnosed in medical institutions increased from 65.22% (120/184) in 2015 to 81.50% (185/227) in 2019. Among the 238 imported malaria cases diagnosed in centers for disease control and prevention (CDC), 71.01% (169/238) were diagnosed in county-level CDC, and among the 704 cases diagnosed in medical institutions, only 8.38% (59/704) were diagnosed at county-level medical institutions. The median time from onset to definitive diagnosis of malaria was 3 days, and the median duration between onset and initial diagnosis of malaria was 1 day. The duration between initial diagnosis and definitive diagnosis of malaria varied significantly among years (χ² = 24.956, P < 0.05), and the interquartile range from initial diagnosis to definitive diagnosis reduced from 4 days in 2016 to 2 days in 2019. In addition, the median time from initial diagnosis to definitive diagnosis was significantly longer in severe falciparum malaria cases than in non-severe falciparum malaria cases (2 days vs. 1 day; Z = 7.557, P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

Medical institutions play a more and more important role in the identification and surveillance of malaria cases; however, the diagnostic capability of malaria remains low in county-level medical institutions. The diagnostic awareness and capability of county-level medical institutions requires to be improved, in order to play their roles as sentinel hospitals in the malaria surveillance during the post-elimination stage.

Macrophage-NLRP3 Inflammasome Activation Exacerbates Cardiac Dysfunction after Ischemic Stroke in a Mouse Model of Diabetes

Ischemic stroke is one of the leading causes of death worldwide. In the post-stroke stage, cardiac dysfunction is common and is known as the brain-heart interaction. Diabetes mellitus worsens the post-stroke outcome. Stroke-induced systemic inflammation is the major causative factor for the sequential complications, but the mechanism underlying the brain-heart interaction in diabetes has not been clarified. The NLRP3 (NLR pyrin domain-containing 3) inflammasome, an important component of the inflammation after stroke, is mainly activated in M1-polarized macrophages. In this study, we found that the cardiac dysfunction induced by ischemic stroke is more severe in a mouse model of type 2 diabetes. Meanwhile, M1-polarized macrophage infiltration and NLRP3 inflammasome activation increased in the cardiac ventricle after diabetic stroke. Importantly, the NLRP3 inflammasome inhibitor CY-09 restored cardiac function, indicating that the M1-polarized macrophage-NLRP3 inflammasome activation is a pathway underlying the brain-heart interaction after diabetic stroke.

Multifaceted behavior of PEST sequence enriched nuclear proteins in cancer biology and role in gene therapy

The amino acid sequence enriched with proline (P), glutamic acid (E), serine (S), and threonine (T) (PEST) is a signal-transducing agent providing unique features to its substrate nuclear proteins (PEST-NPs). The PEST motif is responsible for particular posttranslational modifications (PTMs). These PTMs impart distinct properties to PEST-NPs that are responsible for their activation/inhibition, intracellular localization, and stability/degradation. PEST-NPs participate in cancer metabolism, immunity, and protein transcription as oncogenes or as tumor suppressors. Gene-based therapeutics are getting the attention of researchers because of their cell specificity. PEST-NPs are good targets to explore as cancer therapeutics. Insights into PTMs of PEST-NPs demonstrate that these proteins not only interact with each other but also recruit other proteins to/from their active site to promote/inhibit tumors. Thus, the role of PEST-NPs in cancer biology is multivariate. It is hard to obtain therapeutic objectives with single gene therapy. An especially designed combination gene therapy might be a promising strategy in cancer treatment. This review highlights the multifaceted behavior of PEST-NPs in cancer biology. We have summarized a number of studies to address the influence of structure and PEST-mediated PTMs on activation, localization, stability, and protein-protein interactions of PEST-NPs. We also recommend researchers to adopt a pragmatic approach in gene-based cancer therapy.

[A technique to design the framework of removable partial denture by multi-stage expert system]

This study aims to apply a new expert system to design removable partial denture (RPD) framework. The RPD design is completed in three steps, namely, "selecting missing teeth", "selecting abutment condition", and "selecting personalized clasp". The system can help auxiliary dentists develop personalized treatment plans to reduce their clinical workload. It can also generate a dental preparation guideline for clinical preparation, which can prevent tooth preparation mistakes. By generating the standard electronic drawings of the framework design, the system can reduce the inconvenience caused by manual drawing, thereby facilitating dentist-technician communication and reducing the rate of remade.

Occurrence, mass loads and risks of bisphenol analogues in the Pearl River Delta region, South China: Urban rainfall runoff as a potential source for receiving rivers

Bisphenol (BP) analogues are widely used as industrial materials and various product additives and are inevitably released into environment. However, knowledge on the sources of different BPs, especially those from urban rainfall runoff to the receiving rivers is very limited. In this study, 15 BPs were determined in surface water, sediments, wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) and rainfall runoff samples in the Pearl River region, South China. Eleven BPs were detected in surface water and sediments of the Pearl Rivers. BPA was the dominant compound up to 2080 ng/L in surface and 1970 ng/g in sediments, followed by BPF, BPS, BPTMC and BPAF. In WWTPs, 10, 9 and 8 BPs were detected in influents, effluents and excess sludges, respectively, with total BPs (ΣBPs) concentrations in effluents still at thousands ng/L, suggesting incompletely removal of BPs. Five BPs were detected in urban rainfall runoff samples, with the ΣBPs concentrations up to 7740 ng/L. Mass loads of ΣBPs from the rainfall runoff (5800 kg/y) were almost equivalent to the source from WWTPs (7370 kg/y) in the region, implying that the urban rainfall runoff was a potential source for BPs into the receiving river. The calculated estrogenic activity contributed by BPs showed low to median risks in sources and receiving rivers. But BPs are always as mixtures with other potential endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) which probably pose high estrogenic activity risks. Hence, effective measures should be taken to decrease the input of EDCs from sources to receiving rivers.

Thermal transport properties in monolayer group-IV binary compounds

New classes of two-dimensional (2D) materials beyond graphene are now attracting intense interest owing to their unique properties and functions. By combining first-principle calculation and the Boltzmann transport equation, we investigated the thermal transport properties of monolayer honeycomb structures of group-IV (C, Si, Ge, Sn) binary compounds. It is found that the thermal conductivity (κ) of these compounds span an enormously large range from 0.04 to 144.29 W m^-1 K^-1, demonstrating promising applications to nanoscale thermoelectrics and thermal management. The κ of low-buckled structures such as SiGe, SiSn and GeSn is lower than that of planar structures such as SiC, GeC and SnC, which can be ascribed to heavy atomic mass and broken in-plane reflection symmetry. Moreover, the κ of planar or low-buckled compounds with Sn atom is much lower than others, and the detailed origin for this phenomenon and contribution of different phonon modes to the κ are investigated. This work has fully studied the diversity of the thermal phenomenon and provides more options for application on thermal transport.

A Bromodomain-Containing Protein 4 (BRD4) Inhibitor Suppresses Angiogenesis by Regulating AP-1 Expression

Angiogenesis dysregulation contributes to inflammation, infections, immune disorders, and carcinogenesis. Bromodomain-containing protein 4 (BRD4) is an epigenetic reader that recognizes histone proteins and acts as a transcriptional regulator to trigger tumor growth and the inflammatory response. The pan-bromodomain and extra-terminal domain (BET) inhibitor, (+)-JQ1 (1), was reported to inhibit angiogenesis. However, owing to the non-selectivity action of (+)-JQ1 towards all BET family members, the role of BRD4 and that of its bromodomains (BD1 and BD2) in angiogenesis remains elusive. Herein, we identified a potent BRD4 inhibitor, ZL0513 (7), which exhibited significant anti-angiogenic effects in chick embryo chorioallantoic membrane (CAM) and yolk sac membrane (YSM) models. This inhibitor also directly suppressed the viability and tube formation of human umbilical vascular endothelial cells (HUVECs). Moreover, ZL0513 (7) was found to inhibit the phosphorylation of c-jun and c-fos, important members of activating protein-1 (AP-1) transcription factor complexes that enhance angiogenesis. The findings on this novel BRD4 inhibitor indicate that, in addition to being a powerful pharmacological tool for further elucidating the roles and functions of BRD4 and its BD domains in angiogenesis, it may serve as a potential therapeutic strategy for targeting the vasculature in various angiogenesis-dysregulated human diseases.

Topical tacrolimus with different frequency for exfoliative cheilitis: a pilot study

Background: Tacrolimus is a new type immunosuppressant. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of topical tacrolimus 0.1% ointment at 2 different frequencies in treating patients with exfoliative cheilitis.Methods: A total of 40 patients with exfoliative cheilitis were randomly divided into the QD group receiving topical tacrolimus 0.1% ointment once a day or the QOD group receiving topical tacrolimus 0.1% ointment once-two-day. Patients were also applied wet dressing of saline twice a day. The effectiveness of treatment was defined as the percentage of improvement in signs or symptoms.Results: 37 patients completed the 2-week treatment. And, a full set was analyzed. The effectiveness of topical tacrolimus 0.1% ointment for relief in objective sign and subjective symptom was 50% and 67.5%% in the QD group, respectively. For the QOD group, the effectiveness of sign and symptom relief was 50% and 73.5%. There was no significant difference of effectiveness between application topical tacrolimus once a day and once 2 days.Conclusion: Our data suggested that application of topical tacrolimus 0.1% ointment once a day and once 2 days had similar clinical effectiveness for sign and symptom relief in patients with exfoliative cheilitis.

[Human Gongylonema pulchrum infection in esophagus: a case report]

This paper reports a female patient with Gongylonema pulchrum parasitizing in the esophagus, with aims to call for the attention to the role of parasite detection in the diagnosis of human diseases.