SNS alleviates depression-like behaviors in CUMS mice by regluating dendritic spines via NCOA4-mediated ferritinophagy

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE

Depression is one of the most common mood disturbances worldwide. The Si-ni-san formula (SNS) is a famous classic Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) widely used to treat depression for thousands of years in clinics. However, the mechanism underlying the therapeutic effect of SNS in improving depression-like behaviors following chronic unpredictable mild stress (CUMS) remains unknown.

AIM OF THE STUDY

This study aimed to investigate whether SNS alleviates depression-like behaviors in CUMS mice by regulating dendritic spines via NCOA4-mediated ferritinophagy in vitro and in vivo.

STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS

In vivo, mice were exposed to CUMS for 42 days, and SNS (4.9, 9.8, 19.6 g/kg/d), fluoxetine (10 mg/kg/d), 3-methyladenine (3-MA) (30 mg/kg/d), rapamycin(1 mg/kg/d), and deferoxamine (DFO) (200 mg/kg/d) were conducted once daily during the last 3 weeks of the CUMS procedure. In vitro, a depressive model was established by culture of SH-SY5Y cells with corticosterone, followed by treatment with different concentrations of freeze-dried SNS (0.001, 0.01, 0.1 mg/mL) and rapamycin (10 nM), NCOA4-overexpression, Si-NCOA4. After the behavioral test (open-field test (OFT), sucrose preference test (SPT), forced swimming test (FST) and tail suspension test (TST), dendritic spines, GluR2 protein expression, iron concentration, and ferritinophagy-related protein levels (P62, FTH, NCOA4, LC3-II/LC3-I) were tested in vitro and in vivo using immunohistochemistry, golgi staining, immunofluorescence, and Western blot assays. Finally, HEK-293T cells were transfected by si-NCOA4 or GluR2-and NCOA4-overexpression plasmid and treated with corticosterone(100 μM), freeze-dried SNS(0.01 mg/mL), rapamycin(25 nM), and 3-MA(5 mM). The binding amount of GluR2, NCOA4, and LC3 was assessed by the co-immunoprecipitation (CO-IP) assay.

RESULTS

3-MA, SNS, and DFO promoted depressive-like behaviors in CUMS mice during OFT, SPT, FST and TST, improved the amount of the total, thin, mushroom spine density and enhanced GluR2 protein expression in the hippocampus. Meanwhile, treatment with SNS decreased iron concentrations and inhibited NCOA4-mediated ferritinophagy activation in vitro and in vivo. Importantly, 3-MA and SNS could prevent the binding of GluR2, NCOA4 and LC3 in corticosterone-treated HEK-293T, and rapamycin reversed this phenomenon after treatment with SNS.

CONCLUSION

SNS alleviates depression-like behaviors in CUMS mice by regulating dendritic spines via NCOA4-mediated ferritinophagy.

Paeoniflorin Coordinates Macrophage Polarization and Mitigates Liver Inflammation and Fibrogenesis by Targeting the NF-[Formula: see text]B/HIF-1α Pathway in CCl4-Induced Liver Fibrosis

Liver fibrosis is a disease largely driven by resident and recruited macrophages. The phenotypic switch of hepatic macrophages can be achieved by chemo-attractants and cytokines. During a screening of plants traditionally used to treat liver diseases in China, paeoniflorin was identified as a potential drug that affects the polarization of macrophages. The aim of this study was to evaluate the therapeutic effects of paeoniflorin in an animal model of liver fibrosis and explore its underlying mechanisms. Liver fibrosis was induced in Wistar rats via an intraperitoneal injection of CCl₄. In addition, the RAW264.7 macrophages were cultured in the presence of CoCl₂ to simulate a hypoxic microenvironment of fibrotic livers in vitro. The modeled rats were treated daily with either paeoniflorin (100, 150, and 200[Formula: see text]mg/kg) or YC-1 (2[Formula: see text]mg/kg) for 8 weeks. Hepatic function, inflammation and fibrosis, activation of hepatic stellate cells (HSC), and extracellular matrix (ECM) deposition were assessed in the in vivo and in vitro models. The expression levels of M1 and M2 macrophage markers and the NF-[Formula: see text]B/HIF-1[Formula: see text] pathway factors were measured using standard assays. Paeoniflorin significantly alleviated hepatic inflammation and fibrosis, as well as hepatocyte necrosis in the CCl₄-induced fibrosis model. Furthermore, paeoniflorin also inhibited HSC activation and reduced ECM deposition both in vivo and in vitro. Mechanistically, paeoniflorin restrained M1 macrophage polarization and induced M2 polarization in the fibrotic liver tissues as well as in the RAW264.7 cells grown under hypoxic conditions by inactivating the NF-[Formula: see text]B/HIF-1[Formula: see text] signaling pathway. In conclusion, paeoniflorin exerts its anti-inflammatory and anti-fibrotic effects in the liver by coordinating macrophage polarization through the NF-[Formula: see text]B/HIF-1[Formula: see text] pathway.

Progress in Antiviral Fullerene Research

Unlike traditional small molecule drugs, fullerene is an all-carbon nanomolecule with a spherical cage structure. Fullerene exhibits high levels of antiviral activity, inhibiting virus replication in vitro and in vivo. In this review, we systematically summarize the latest research regarding the different types of fullerenes investigated in antiviral studies. We discuss the unique structural advantage of fullerenes, present diverse modification strategies based on the addition of various functional groups, assess the effect of structural differences on antiviral activity, and describe the possible antiviral mechanism. Finally, we discuss the prospective development of fullerenes as antiviral drugs.

Short-term high-fat diet favors the appearances of apoptosis and gliosis by activation of ERK1/2/p38MAPK pathways in brain

High-fat diet (HFD) has been associated with neuroinflammation and apoptosis in distinct brain regions. To explore the effect of short-term (7, 14 and 21 days) high-fat overfeeding on apoptosis, inflammatory signaling proteins, APP changes and glial cell activities in cerebral cortex and cerebellum. Mice were fed with HFD for different lengths (up to 21 days) and after each time body weights of mice was tested, then the apoptotic proteins, IL-1β, APP, BACE1and MAPKs, Akt and NF-κB signaling activity were evaluated by western blots. Results demonstrate that short period of high-fat overnutrition significantly promotes apoptosis, APP expression at day 21 of cerebral cortex and at day 7 of cerebellum compared to chow diet. In addition, increased GFAP+astrocytes, Iba-1+microglia and IL-1β 30 were observed in cerebral cortex after 21 days HFD, but no changes for 7 days overfeeding of cerebellum. Serendipitously, ERK1/2 pathway was activated both in cerebral cortex and cerebellum for different time course of HFD. Furthermore, increased phospho-p38 MAPK level was observed in cerebellum only. In consistent with in vivo results, SH-SY5Y cells treatment with cholesterol (50 μM, 100 μM) for 48 h culture in vitro demonstrated that pro-apoptotic proteins were enhanced as well. In brief, short-term HFD consumption increases sensitivity to apoptosis, APP and IL-1β production as well as gliosis in cerebral cortex and cerebellum, which may be related to enhancement of ERK1/2 and p38 MAPK activation.

Clinical application of individualized total arterial coronary artery bypass grafting in coronary artery surgery

BACKGROUND

Total arterial revascularization is associated with increased patency and long-term efficacy and decreased perioperative morbidity and mortality and incidence of cardiac-related events and sternal wound infection compared with conventional coronary artery bypass surgery (CABG), in which the left internal mammary artery (LIMA) is typically grafted to the left anterior descending artery with additional saphenous vein grafts often used. This study determined whether these favorable clinical results could be realized at the authors’ institute.

AIM

To summarize the early efficacy and clinical experience of individualized total arterial coronary artery bypass grafting surgery.

METHODS

CABG was performed on 35 patients with non-single-vessel coronary artery disease by adopting total arterial grafts at Fourth Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University between April 2016 and December 2019. LIMA was used in 35 patients, radial artery (RA) was used in 35 patients, and right gastroepiploic artery (RGEA) was used in 9 patients. Perioperative complications were observed, short-term graft patency rate was followed-up, and quality of life was assessed.

RESULTS

All patients underwent off-pump coronary artery bypass and the surgeries were successful. All of them were discharged without any complications or deaths. During the follow-up, it was found that patients’ angina symptoms were relieved and New York Heart Association classification for cardiac function was class I to class II. A total of 90 vessels were grafted with no occlusion for internal mammary artery, three occlusions for RA, and one occlusion for RGEA.

CONCLUSION

The individualized total arterial strategy based on the vessels targeting individual anatomic characteristics can achieve complete revascularization with satisfactory short-term grafting patency rate.

[Consistency of peripheral whole blood and venous serum procalcitonin in children: a multicenter parallel controlled study]

Objective: To explore the consistency of peripheral whole blood and venous serum procalcitonin (PCT) levels, and the value of peripheral whole blood PCT in evaluating pediatric bacterial infection. Methods: This multicenter cross-sectional parallel control study was conducted in 11 children's hospital. All the 1 898 patients older than 28 days admitted to these hospitals from March 2018 to February 2019 had their peripheral whole blood and venous serum PCT detected simultaneously with unified equipment, reagent and method. According to the venous serum PCT level, the patients were stratified to subgroups. Analysis of variance and chi-square test were used to compare the demographic characteristics among groups. And the correlation between the peripheral blood and venous serum PCT level was investigated by quantitative Pearson correlation analysis.The PCT resultes were also converted into ranked data to further test the consistency between the two sampling methods by Spearman's rank correlation test. Furthermore, the ranked data were converted into binary data to evaluate the consistency and investigate the best cut-off of peripheral blood PCT level in predicting bacterial infection. Results: A total of 1 898 valid samples were included (1 098 males, 800 females),age 27.4(12.2,56.7) months. There was a good correlation between PCT values of peripheral whole blood and venous serum (r=0.97, P<0.01). The linear regression equation was PCT_{venous serum}=0.135+0.929×PCT_{peripheral whole blood}. However, when stratified to 5 levels, PCT results showed diverse and unsatisfied consistency between the two sampling methods (r=0.51-0.92, all P<0.01). But after PCT was converted to ordinal categorical variables, the stratified analysis showed that the coincidence rate of the measured values by the two sampling methods in each boundary area was 84.9%-97.1%. The dichotomous variables also showed a good consistency (coincidence rate 96.8%-99.3%, Youden index 0.82-0.89). According to the severity of disease, the serum PCT value was classified into 4 intervals（<0.5、0.5-<2.0、2.0-<10.0、≥10.0 μg/L）, and the peripheral blood PCT value also showed a good predictive value (AUC value was 0.991 2-0.997 9). The optimal cut points of peripheral whole blood PCT value 0.5、1.0、2.0、10.0 μg/L corresponding to venous serum PCT values were 0.395, 0.595, 1.175 and 3.545 μg/L, respectively. Conclusions: There is a good correlation between peripheral whole blood PCT value and the venous serum PCT value, which means that the peripheral whole blood PCT could facilitate the identification of infection and clinical severity. Besides, the sampling of peripheral whole blood is simple and easy to repeat.

Nogo-A-Δ20/EphA4 interaction antagonizes apoptosis of neural stem cells by integrating p38 and JNK MAPK signaling

Nogo-A protein consists of two main extracellular domains: Nogo-66 (rat amino acid [aa] 1019-1083) and Nogo-A-Δ20 (extracellular, active 180 amino acid Nogo-A region), which serve as strong inhibitors of axon regeneration in the adult CNS (Central Nervous System). Although receptors S1PR2 and HSPGs have been identified as Nogo-A-Δ20 binding proteins, it remains at present elusive whether other receptors directly interacting with Nogo-A-Δ20 exist, and decrease cell death. On the other hand, the key roles of EphA4 in the regulation of glioblastoma, axon regeneration and NSCs (Neural Stem Cells) proliferation or differentiation are well understood, but little is known the relationship between EphA4 and Nogo-A-Δ20 in NSCs apoptosis. Thus, we aim to determine whether Nogo-A-Δ20 can bind to EphA4 and affect survival of NSCs. Here, we discover that EphA4, belonging to a member of erythropoietin-producing hepatocellular (Eph) receptors family, could be acting as a high affinity ligand for Nogo-A-Δ20. Trans-membrane protein of EphA4 is needed for Nogo-A-Δ20-triggered inhibition of NSCs apoptosis, which are mediated by balancing p38 inactivation and JNK MAPK pathway activation. Finally, we predict at the atomic level that essential residues Lys-205, Ile-190, Pro-194 in Nogo-A-Δ20 and EphA4 residues Gln-390, Asn-425, Pro-426 might play critical roles in Nogo-A-Δ20/EphA4 binding via molecular docking.

Simple transabdominal minimally invasive direct coronary artery bypass surgery with right gastroepiploic artery

For three patients with isolated right coronary artery disease who had drug resistance and were intolerant to interventional therapy, simple transabdominal small incision bypass grafting of the right gastroepiploic artery and the posterior descending branch of the right coronary artery was conducted without cardiopulmonary. All three patients were discharged smoothly without complications, and were followed up for three months, during which time the myocardial bridges were unobstructed and the cardiac functions were good. The surgery needs no thoracotomy and the injury is small, and avoids influences of sternum and pericardium adhesion on other cardiac surgery in the future. The risk of median sternotomy can be avoided for patients undergoing reoperation for coronary artery bypass surgery.

The effect of strain on water dissociation on reduced rutile TiO2(110) surface

The effect of external uniaxial strain on water dissociation on a reduced rutile TiO₂(110) surface has been theoretically studied using first-principles calculations. We find that when the tensile strain along [11̄0] is applied, the energy barrier of water dissociation substantially decreases with the increase of strain. In particular, water almost automatically dissociates when the strain is larger than 3%. Besides, the water dissociation mechanism changes from indirect to direct dissociation when the compressive strain is larger than 1.3% along [11̄0] or 3% along [001]. The results strongly suggest that it is feasible to engineer the water dissociation on the reduced rutile TiO₂(110) surface using external strain.

The tensile strain along [11̄0] on the reduced TiO₂(110) surface can greatly promote the dissociation of water, the compressive strain along [001] and [11̄0] can change the dissociation mechanisms.

A sensitive and reversible staining of proteins on blot membranes

A modified, sensitive and reversible method for protein staining on nitrocellulose (NC) and polyvinylidine fluoride (PVDF) membranes was developed in Western blotting. The method employed Congo red staining to visualize proteins on different blot membranes. Staining of proteins with Congo red dye is more faster procedures. According to the experimental results, approximate 20 ng proteins could be detected in 3 min in room temperature. The staining on the proteins is easily reversible with Congo red destaining solution for NC and PVDF membranes, so that the blot membranes can be reused for Western blotting. In addition, we confirmed that the staining method is fully compatible with Western blot detection. NC and PVDF membranes treatment with Congo red staining does not interfere with conventional chemiluminescent substrates of peroxidase. As compared to MemCode reversible protein stain kits from Pirece Biotechnology, the staining technique is more sensitive, lower of cost, convenient and not adversely affecting subsequent Western blotting results. On the other hand, the stain is more sensitive than the Ponceau S staining. Therefore, Congo red staining is a promising and ideal alternative for current protein stain. Besides, the binding modes of Congo red or Ponceau S stain were investigated using various 2D and 3D molecular docking and demonstrated potential molecular basis for sensitivity of Congo red staining are higher than Ponceau S.

Young age at diagnosis is associated with better prognosis in stage IV breast cancer

Numerous studies have shown that young age is a risk factor in early breast cancer. But for stage IV breast cancer, it is unclear whether age has a similar effect on patient survival. We collected and analyzed data from patients with stage IV breast cancer between January 2010 and December 2015 in SEER database. Multivariate Cox proportional hazard model was used in this study. 13,069 patients with stage IV breast cancer were included in the analysis, of which 1,135 were young breast cancer patients (≤40 years old). In a multivariate analysis that adjusted for sociodemographic factors, clinical-pathological characteristics and therapeutic methods, the risk of death in patients with stage IV ≤40 years was significantly reduced (hazard ratio [HR], 0.72; 95% CI, 0.65-0.79). Subgroup analyses showed that, with the same adjustment of all factors, young age only significantly reduced the risk of death in patients with luminal A (HR, 0.78; 95% CI, 0.68-0.89) and luminal B (HR 0.46; 95% CI, 0.35-0.60) subtypes. Young age at diagnosis is associated with better survival in patients with stage IV breast cancer. The effect of young age at diagnosis on the survival outcome of stage IV breast cancer varies by subtypes.

[The predicting value of the 8th edition of American Joint Committee on Cancer staging manual in mucinous breast cancer]

Objective: The current study aimed to evaluate the predictive performances of anatomic staging system (AS) and prognostic staging system (PS) proposed in the 8th edition American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) staging manual in patients with pure mucinous breast cancer (PMBC). Methods: Clinicopathologic features and follow-up information were collected from a total of 3628 patients with PMBC. Breast cancer-specific survival (BCSS) were compared among patients in different stage groups. Likelihood ratio (LR) χ(2), Akaike information criterion (AIC) and Harrell's concordance index (C-index) were used to evaluate the predictive performances of AS and PS in PMBC. Results: In PMBC, BCSS was associated with tumor size (P=0.002), lymph node status (P=0.002), grade(P=0.003), PR status(P=0.017)and the receipt of radiation. Compared to AS, 1326 patients (37.54%) underwent stage change after applying PS, with 6.50% upstaged and 37.04% downstaged. There were significant differences in BCSS among patients of different stages under the AS and PS (P<0.001). However, PS was not superior to AS in predicting prognosis (AS vs PS, LR χ(2): 16.41 vs 17.5; AIC: 357.44 vs 358.35; C-index, 0.72 vs 0.73, P=0.667). Conclusions: Both of AS and PS proposed in the 8th edition American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) staging manual were predictive factors in patients with PMBC. Compared with AS, the PS did not show superiority in prognosis prediction among patients with PMBC.

Cripto-1 expression in patients with clear cell renal cell carcinoma is associated with poor disease outcome

Background

Cripto-1 (CR-1) has been reported to be involved in the development of several human cancers. The potential role of CR-1 in clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) is still not clear.

Methods

CR-1 expression was evaluated in ccRCC tissues by Real-time quantitative PCR, Western blot and immunohistochemistry. Serum levels of CR-1 were tested by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The clinical significance of CR-1 was analyzed. The effects of CR-1 on cell proliferation, migration, invasion and angiogenesis were investigated in ccRCC cell lines in vitro and in vivo, and markers of the epithelial -mesenchymal transition (EMT) were analyzed. The impact of CR-1 on Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway was also evaluated in vitro and in vivo.

Results

CR-1 expression was elevated in ccRCC tumor tissues and serum samples. CR-1 expression was correlated with aggressive tumor phenotype and poor survival. Ectopic expression of CR-1 significantly promoted cell proliferation, migration, invasion and angiogenesis whereas knockdown of CR-1 inhibited these activities both in vitro and in vivo. Moreover, we found that CR-1 induced EMT and activated Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway both in vitro and in vivo.

Conclusions

These results suggest that CR-1 is likely to play important roles in ccRCC development and progression, and that CR-1 is a prognostic biomarker and a promising therapeutic target for ccRCC.

[Factor analysis of diagnosis and surgical treatment of local regional recurrence in breast cancer patients]

Objective: To analyze the association between clinicopathological factors and clinical diagnosis, treatment and surgery of local regional recurrence (LRR) in breast cancer. Methods: A retrospective study was done to evaluate consecutive 7 823 breast cancer LRR cases between January 2009 and August 2018 at Comprehensive Breast Health Center, Ruijin Hospital, Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine. A total of 108 LRR patients were enrolled: 35 cases (32.4%) with ipsilateral breast tumor recurrence (IBTR) after breast conserving surgery, 40 cases (37.0%) of chest wall recurrence (CR), and 33 cases (30.6%) with regional lymph node recurrence (LNR). All patients were female, aged from 26 to 83 years with a mean of 49 years. Clinicopathological factor and its relationship with different sites of LRR and following surgical choice were analyzed by χ(2) test, rank-sum test and Logistic regression. Survival analysis were performed between different LRR patterns and whether undergoing second surgery. Kaplan-Meier survival curves and Log-rank tests demonstrated the distribution of overall survival. Results: Both univariate analysis and multivariate analysis found that axillary lymph nodes (ALN) status (OR=7.27, 95% CI: 1.30 to 40.53, P=0.042) and disease-free interval (OR=0.18, 95% CI: 0.06 to 0.60, P=0.013) were related to different site of LRR. Compared with patients with IBTR, LNR and CR patients had a higher rate of ALN metastasis and a shorter disease-free interval. A total of 36 LRR patients underwent following surgery. In univariate analysis, initial ALN surgery (χ(2)=16.705, P=0.001), pathological type (χ(2)=7.047, P=0.03), ALN status (χ(2)=10.812, P=0.002), disease-free interval (χ(2)=6.118, P=0.023) and LRR site(χ(2)=19.328, P=0.000) were associated with surgical treatment for LRR patients. Multivariate analysis demonstrated that only site of LRR was independently associated with surgery (OR=0.17, 95% CI: 0.05 to 0.65, P=0.024). The 5-year overall survival was 100% and 60.1% (P=0.018) for LRR patients treated with surgery or not. Furthermore, CR patients had significantly worse overall survival than LNR and IBTR patients, with 5-year overall survival 53.1%, 73.5%, and 100% respectively (P=0.021). Conclusions: Initial lymph nodes metastasis and disease-free interval are associated with different site of LRR. LRR site significantly influenced following surgery choice after LRR, which are both related with overall survival after LRR.

Cathepsin L is involved in proliferation and invasion of breast cancer cells

Cathepsin L(CTSL), a lysosomal endopeptidase was found overexpressed in Breast cancer (BC). The purpose of this work was to investigate the possible role of CTSL in the development of BC. RNA interference(RNAi) with a CTSL small hairpin RNAs(CTSL-shRNA) and plasmid with CTSL were used to identify the effects of CTSL on malignant behaviors of BC. MCF-7 and SKBR-3 were selected as cell models in vitro and in vivo. The results showed that down-regulation of CTSL can significantly inhibit the proliferative and invasive ability of MCF-7 cell, while up-regulation of CTSL in SKBR-3 cells had opposite effects. Comparing to parental BC cells, CTSL knockdown cells exhibited attenuated capacities in developing tumor in nude mice, furthermore, the growth of these xenografts were dramatically regressed. In conclusion, our findings suggest that CTSL contributes to the proliferation and metastasis of BC and might be a potent molecular target for BC treatment.

[Qidong Chronic Hepatitis B Cohort: participants enrollment and comparison of baseline characteristics by gender stratification]

Objective: To establish a study cohort of chronic hepatitis B (CHB) in Qidong and evaluate its baseline characteristics. Methods: CHB outpatients of the Third People's Hospital of Qidong were invited to participate in baseline survey from January 1, 2016, including questionnaire survey, liver function detection, serum detection of HBV infection and upper abdomen ultrasound detection. Anticipated sample size was at least one thousand. Baseline data were inputted by EpiData 3.1 software and then cleaned and analyzed by SAS 9.3 software. Results: As of 18 July, 2016, a total of 1 006 participants had been enrolled into the current study, including 615 males with an average age of (44.26±9.97) years and 391 females with an average age of (46.66±11.17) years. The difference in family history of liver disease was not significant between males and females (P>0.05), while the differences in other key information, such as age, education level, tobacco consumption, alcohol drinking, tea consumption, and antiviral intervention, were significant between males and females (P<0.05). Among the key clinical parameters, such as ALT, HBeAg, HBsAg, HBV DNA, albumin, and width of splenic vein and portal vein, only the abnormal rates of ALT and total bilirubin levels were higher in males than in females, the difference was significant (P<0.05). Conclusion: Outpatient department-based CHB cohort was established successfully in Qidong, and sub-cohort could be divided according to the differences on baseline characteristics.

[Clinical utility study of 21-gene assay in 927 Chinese patients with early breast cancer]

Objective: To investigate the distribution patterns of 21-gene assay and its influencing factors in Chinese patients with early breast cancer. Methods: Nine hundred and twenty-seven early breast cancer patients were retrospectively recruited from January 2009 to December 2015 at Ruijin Hospital, Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine. The 21-gene reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction(RT-PCR) assay were conducted in paraffin-embedded tumor tissues to calculate the Recurrence Score(RS). Immunohistochemistry(IHC) assay was used to measure the expression levels of estrogen receptor(ER), progesterone receptor(PR) and Ki-67. Concordances of RT-PCR and IHC results were assessed. Correlations of RS and classical clinicopathological factors were evaluated, and logistic regression were applied to determine independent predictive factors for RS. Results: The median RS of 927 patients was 23(range: 0~90), and the proportions of patients categorized as having a low, intermediate, or high risk were 26.5%, 47.7% and 25.8%, respectively. The distribution of RS varied significantly according to different tumor grade, T stage, PR status, Ki-67 index and molecular subtypes(P<0.05 for all). Grade, PR status and Ki-67 index were independent predictive factors for RS. ER, PR status and Ki-67 index showed significantly correlation between RT-PCR and IHC assays, and the concordance rates for ER and PR status were 98.7% and 87.8%, respectively. Conclusions: RS significantly correlated with tumor grade, T stage, PR status, Ki-67 index and subtypes. Grade, PR status and Ki-67 index can independently predict RS. Remarkable concordances of ER, PR status and Ki-67 index are found between RT-PCR and IHC assays.

[Surgical treatment and prognosis of ductal carcinoma in situ: 526 cases analysis]

Objective: To evaluate the choice of surgical treatment of ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) and its impact on long-term outcomes. Methods: A retrospective analysis of the clinicopathological features and treatment protocol of DCIS patients who underwent surgical treatment in Comprehensive Breast Health Center, Ruijin Hospital, Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine from January 2009 to August 2016 was done. The factors which could affect surgical treatment were analyzed by χ(2) test and Logistic regression. Survival analysis were performed between different surgical approaches. Kaplan-Meier survival curves and Log-rank tests demonstrated the distribution of disease free survival and overall survival. Results: A total of 526 patients were enrolled in this study, 405 cases (77.0%) underwent mastectomy, 121 cases (23.0%) underwent breast-conserving surgery, of which 88 cases received radiotherapy after breast-conserving surgery. It was shown by univariate and multivariate analysis that age>50 years (OR=0.631, 95% CI: 0.413 to 0.965, P=0.034), first symptom of nipple discharge (OR=0.316, 95% CI: 0.120 to 0.834, P=0.020), excision biopsy (OR=1.831, 95% CI: 1.182 to 2.835, P=0.007) and tumor size >3 cm (OR=0.422, 95% CI: 0.206 to 0.864, P=0.018) were significantly correlated with choice of surgical treatment for breast lesions. Axillary lymph node dissection was performed for 118 cases (22.4%), with sentinel lymph node biopsy for 327 cases (62.2%), and none for 81 cases (15.4%). There was significant statistical difference in the choice of axillary lymph node management in patients of different age (χ(2)=8.124, P=0.017), biopsy type (χ(2)=35.567, P=0.000), breast operation type (χ(2)=149.118, P=0.000) and tumor size (χ(2)=13.394, P=0.010). The 5-year disease free survival rates was 95.7%, 89.6% and 100%, respectively, for mastectomy group, breast-conserving surgery group and breast-conserving surgery plus radiotherapy group. And the 5-year overall survival rates for three groups were 99.0%, 100% and 100%. The differences were not statistically significant (P=0.427, 0.777). Conclusions: For DCIS patients, age, first symptom and tumor size are independent predictors of breast surgery. The choice of axillary lymph node surgery is influenced by age, biopsy, operation type, and tumor size. Different surgical treatment options has no significant effect on disease-free survival and overall survival in DCIS patients.

[Effect of 21-gene recurrence score on chemotherapy decisions for patients with estrogen receptor-positive, epidermal growth factor receptor 2-negative and lymph node-negative early stage-breast cancer]

Objective: To investigate the effect of 21-gene recurrence score on adjuvant chemotherapy decisions for patients with estrogen receptor (ER)-positive, epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER-2)-negative and lymph node (LN)-negative early stage-breast cancer. Methods: One hundred and forty-eight patients with ER+ , HER-2- and LN- early stage breast cancer were recruited in the Ruijin hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine. The 21-gene recurrence score (RS)assay was performed and systemic therapeutic decisions were made before and after knowing the RS results under multidisciplinary discussion. The effects of RS assay and the other influential factors on adjuvant chemotherapy decision were further analyzed. Results: After knowing the RS results, treatment decisions were changed in 26 out of 148 patients(17.6%). Among them, 9 out of 26 patients were not recommended for chemotherapy; 16 of 26 had treatment recommendation changed to chemotherapy, and chemotherapy regimen was changed in the last one patient. Multivariate analysis showed that RS, age and histological grade were independent factors of decision-making for adjuvant chemotherapy. Conclusion: Our results suggest that 21-gene recurrence score significantly influences decision making for adjuvant chemotherapy in patients with ER+ , HER-2- and LN- early stage breast cancer.

[Analysis of the factors influencing adjuvant chemotherapy decisions for triple negative breast cancer]

Objective: To analyze adjuvant chemotherapy decisions for triple negative breast cancer (TNBC), and explore the influencing factors in the multidisciplinary treatment (MDT) modality. Methods: A retrospective analysis was performed. The cases with invasive TNBC who underwent surgery and MDT discussion for adjuvant treatment in Ruijin Hospital, from April 2013 to June 2015, were recruited. The patients' clinicopathological characteristics were analyzed and adjuvant treatment suggestions from MDT were obtained. Here the chemotherapy decision alteration was defined as a disagreement in chemotherapy or not, or inconsistence in regimens between the attending doctor and the multidisciplinary team. Results: A total of 194 patients aged ≤70 years old were enrolled in the multidisciplinary discussion, and 187 patients (96.4%) were suggested to receive chemotherapy. When compared the opinions of the attending doctor to suggestions of the multidisciplinary team, we found that the percentage of chemotherapy decision alteration reached 22.7% (39/172), of which 94.9% (37/39) were inconsistence in chemotherapy regimens. There were 119 patients who were recommended to receive epirubicin plus cyclophosphamide (EC) followed by docetaxel (T) or weekly paclitaxel (wP) regimens. Before the announcement of results for the E1199 trial, EC-T accounted for 62.5% (55/88), and EC-wP accounted for 37.5% (33/88) for this group of patients. After that, the proportion of EC-T was decreased to 22.6% (7/31) and proportion of EC-wP increased to 77.4%(24/31) (P<0.001). In addition, a total of 20 patients were suggested to receive platinum based chemotherapy. The proportions were 9.3% in cases with invasive ductal carcinoma, and 33.3% in cases with metaplastic carcinoma, respectively (P=0.016). Conclusions: The adjuvant chemotherapy decision for TNBC patients is altered in 22.7% of the patients after MDT discussion. After the announcement of SABCS E1199 results, more patients are suggested to receive EC followed by weekly paclitaxel. There is a lack of detailed evidence for platinum based adjuvant chemotherapy for TNBC, and more patients with metaplastic carcinoma receive platinum based adjuvant chemotherapy.

[Impact of carbon dioxide pneumoperitoneum in operating rooms on the health of medical staffs]

Objective: To evaluate the impact of CO(2) pneumoperitoneum in operating rooms on the health of medical staffs. Methods: In June 2016, the thirty-three medical staffs in operating rooms were chosen as the object of the research.Seventeen people who took part in the pneumoperitoneum operation were selected as a exposure group and sixteen people who took part in the laparotomy operation were selected as a control group.Vital signs and arterial blood gases of medical staffs in the two groups were both measured in pre-operation and post-operation. Occupational Health Questionnaires were conducted to collect information on age, weight and postoperative symptoms. The level of CO(2) in operating room was determined by a portable infrared CO(2) analyzer. Results: Compared with the control group, the concentration of CO(2) in the exposed group was higherat T(1), T(2) and T(3) (t=22.227, 13.583, 17.408, P<0.05) . Heart rates and PaCO(2) in the exposure group raised greatly (t=2.132, 2.129, P<0.05) , while pH decreased (t=-3.015, P<0.05) . The differences between the two groups were statistically significant. Conclusion: The increase of mild acidosis and thesense of job burnout in medical staffs could be caused by CO(2) pollution in the operating rooms.

Deletion of autophagy-related gene 7 in dopaminergic neurons prevents their loss induced by MPTP

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disease caused by a gradual loss of midbrain dopaminergic (mDA) neurons in the substantia nigra pars compacta (SNpc) during aging. 1-Methyl-4-phenyl-1, 2, 3, 6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP) is one of the neurotoxins used widely to induce PD-like symptoms in PD animal models, including rodents and non-human primates. It has been reported that deletion of autophagy-related gene 7 (Atg7) in the brain results in a reduction of mDA neurons in adulthood. In this study, we used tyrosine hydroxylase (TH)-Cre mice to generate conditional knockout (CKO) mice with the specific deletion of Atg7 in mDA neurons. Consistent with previous reports, adult Atg7 CKO mice contained fewer TH-positive mDA neurons compared with wild-type (WT) controls. TH-expressing neurons containing puncta-like structures with p62 and ubiquitin immunoreactivity were observed in the midbrain of Atg7 CKO mice but were not detected in control mice. However, MPTP-induced loss of mDA neurons was not observed in Atg7 CKO mice. Our results indicate that Atg7-involved autophagy is required not only for the survival of mDA neurons in the mouse brain, but also for MPTP-induced mDA neuron degeneration.

Energetics and kinetics of Cu atoms and clusters on the Si(111)-7 × 7 surface: first-principles calculations

Exploring the properties of noble metal atoms and nano- or subnano-clusters on the semiconductor surface is of great importance in many surface catalytic reactions, self-assembly processes, crystal growth, and thin film epitaxy. Here, the energetics and kinetic properties of a single Cu atom and previously reported Cu magic clusters on the Si(111)-(7 × 7) surface are re-examined by the state-of-the-art first-principles calculations based on density functional theory. First of all, the diffusion path and high diffusion rate of a Cu atom on the Si(111)-(7 × 7) surface are identified by mapping out the total potential energy surface of the Cu atom as a function of its positions on the surface, supporting previous experimental hypothesis that the apparent triangular light spots observed by scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) are resulted from a single Cu atom frequently hopping among adjacent adsorption sites. Furthermore, our findings confirm that in the low coverage of 0.15 monolayer (ML) the previously proposed hexagonal ring-like Cu6 cluster configuration assigned to the STM pattern is considerably unstable. Importantly, the most stable Cu6/Si(111) complex also possesses a distinct simulated STM pattern with the experimentally observed ones. Instead, an energetically preferred solid-centered Cu7 structure exhibits a reasonable agreement between the simulated STM patterns and the experimental images. Therefore, the present findings convincingly rule out the tentative six-atom model and provide new insights into the understanding of the well-defined Cu nanocluster arrays on the Si(111)-(7 × 7) surface.

[Factors related to adjuvant ovarian function suppression in premenopausal breast cancer patients]

OBJECTIVE

To analyze the applied condition of ovary function suppression (OFS) before and after joint analysis of TEXT and SOFT trials and SOFT trial, and to identify the relevant factors of OFS usage.

METHODS

The analysis was performed in premenopausal women with hormone receptor (HR) positive breast cancer receiving surgical treatment from Apr 2013 to Oct 2015 in Ruijin Hospital, Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine. Adjuvant treatment strategy was made in the multidisciplinary team (MDT) meetings. We analyzed the applied condition of OFS before and after joint analysis, SOFT trial and its relevant factors.

RESULTS

Among 454 patients, 114 (25.1%) patients received OFS. Before the results of joint analysis came out, all the patients (38/38) received OFS together with tamoxifen (TAM); after the results came out, clinicians began to put OFS with exemestane into practice, among 76 patients, 41(53.9%) patients received OFS with exemestane while 35 (46.1%) patients received OFS together with TAM. Before the results of SOFT trial came out, 71 out of 310 (22.9%) patients received OFS while 43 out of 144 (29.9%) patients received OFS after that. No significant difference was found between the proportion of patients receiving OFS before and after the results of SOFT trial came out (P=0.112). Age, histological grade, pN status, Ki-67 status, molecular subtype and acceptance of chemotherapy were correlated with OFS treatment (P<0.05). Age, tumor grade and pN were independent significant predictors of OFS usage.

CONCLUSIONS

After the results of joint analysis came out, clinicians began to apply OFS with exemestane to premenopausal women with HR positive breast cancer. There is no significant difference between the proportion of patients receiving OFS before and after SOFT trial. Age, tumor grade and pN status are independent significant predictors of OFS treatment. Patients younger than 40, with histological grade Ⅱ or Ⅲ tumor and with pN1 or pN2 status are prone to receive OFS.

Codelivery of paclitaxel and small interfering RNA by octadecyl quaternized carboxymethyl chitosan-modified cationic liposome for combined cancer therapy

Conventional therapeutic approaches for cancer are limited by cancer cell resistance, which has impeded their clinical applications. The main goal of this work was to investigate the combined antitumor effect of paclitaxel with small interfering RNA modified by cationic liposome formed from modified octadecyl quaternized carboxymethyl chitosan. The cationic liposome was composed of 3β-[N-(N', N'-dimethylaminoethane)-carbamoyl]-cholesterol, dioleoylphosphatidylethanolamine, and octadecyl quaternized carboxymethyl chitosan. The cationic liposome properties were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, dynamic light scattering and zeta potential measurements, transmission electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, and gel retardation assay. The cationic liposome exhibited good properties, such as a small particle size, a narrow particle size distribution, a good spherical shape, a smooth surface, and a good binding ability with small interfering RNA. Most importantly, when combined with paclitaxel and small interfering RNA, the composite cationic liposome induced a great enhancement in the antitumor activity, which showed a significantly higher in vitro cytotoxicity in Bcap-37 cells than liposomal paclitaxel or small interfering RNA alone. In conclusion, the results indicate that cationic liposome could be further developed as a codelivery system for chemotherapy drugs and therapeutic small interfering RNAs.

Single nucleotide polymorphism variants within tva and tvb receptor genes in Chinese chickens

Avian leukosis is an immunosuppressive neoplastic disease caused by avian leukosis viruses (ALV), which causes tremendous economic losses in the worldwide poultry industry. The susceptibility or resistance of chicken cells to subgroup A ALV and subgroup B, D, and E ALV are determined by the receptor genes tumor virus locus A (tva) and tumor virus locus B (tvb), respectively. Four genetic resistant loci (tva(r1), tva(r2), tva(r3), and tva(r4)) in tva receptor gene and a genetic resistant locus tvb(r) in the tvb receptor gene have been identified in inbred lines of White Leghorn. To evaluate the genetic resistance to subgroup A, B, D, and E ALV, genetic variations within resistant loci in tva and tvb genes were screened in Chinese local chicken breeds and commercial broiler lines. Here, the heterozygote tva(s1/r1) and the resistant genotype tva(r2/r2), tva(r3/r3), and tva(r4/r4) were detected in Chinese chickens by direct sequencing. The heterozygote tva(s1/r1) was detected in Huiyang Bearded chicken (HYBC), Rizhaoma chicken, and commercial broiler line 13 to 15 (CB13 to CB15), with the frequencies at 0.08, 0.18, 0.17, 0.25, and 0.15, respectively. The resistant genotype tva(r2/r2) was detected in Jiningbairi chicken (JNBRC), HYBC, and CB15, with the frequencies at 0.03, 0.08, and 0.06, respectively, whereas tva(r3/r3) and tva(r4/r4) were detected in 19 and 17 of the 25 Chinese chickens tested, with the average frequencies at 0.13 and 0.20, respectively. Furthermore, the resistant genotype tvb(r/r) was detected in JNBRC, CB07, CB12, CB14, and CB15 by pyrosequencing assay, with the frequencies at 0.03, 0.03, 0.11, 0.09, and 0.15, respectively. These results demonstrated that the potential for genetic improvement of resistance to subgroup A, B, D, and E ALV were great both in Chinese local chickens and commercial broilers. This study provides valuable insight into the selective breeding for chickens genetically resistant to ALV.

[Research progress in co-delivery of gene and chemotherapy drugs with nanocarriers for cancer therapy]

Current trends in nanotechnology and RNA interference technology have made the application of nanocarriers (NCS) as a novel gene and drug delivery systems very promising for the field of multidrug resistance (MDR) cancer treatment. Co-delivery of gene and chemotherapy drugs with NCS has a good synergistic effect compared with the traditional chemotherapy which can increase the amount of the drug distribution in target organ in order to reduce the toxic side effects thereby enhancing efficacy. Therefore, the advent of co-delivery systems with NCS especially in the clinical treatment of MDR has had a significant impact on the cancer treatment.

Establishment of an acute rejection model by transplanting both renal grafts into two different rats using a modified method of ureterovesical anastomosis

OBJECTIVE

To establish an acute rejection model after kidney transplantation in the rat using a modified method of ureterovesical anastomosis.

METHODS

Thirty-nine Wistar rat donors, were transplanted into 70 male SD rats. Wistar rats (group 1; n = 18) underwent harvest of both kidneys, cold perfusion, and transplantation into 36 SD rats. Wistar rats (group 2; n = 18) underwent left kidney harvest, cold perfusion and transplantation into 18 SD rats. Groups 1 and 2 did not receive immunosuppression after transplantation. Six kidneys were harvested from 3 Wistar rats (group 3), were transplanted into 6 SD rats that were treated with CsA (5 mg/kg per day) postoperatively, and humanely killed at 21 days. There were 10 SD in sham operated rats (group 4). The renal allograft vein was end-to-end anastomosed to the recipient renal vein using an epidural catheter. The renal allograft was anastomosed end-to-side to the recipient abdominal aorta with an abdominal aortic flap. The renal allograft ureterovesical flap was directly inserted into the recipient bladder, and attached by 4-5 interrupted sutures. The recipient's right kidney vessels were ligated at 3 days postoperatively.

RESULTS

The success rates were 91.7% and 88.9% in groups 1 and 2, respectively. Except for the time for removal of the renal allografts, the operative durations and warm ischemia times differed insignificantly between both groups (P > .05). Blood creatinine levels increased significantly after kidney transplantation in groups 1 and 2 compared with the sham operated and CsA-treated cohorts (P < .01), but insignificantly between groups 1 and 2 (P > .05).

CONCLUSIONS

A dual renal allograft model was established in the rat using a modified ureterovesical anastomosis. The technique can be reproduced reliably, reducing costs and shorten using overall operative duration.

Development of the heat treatment system for the 40 T hybrid magnet superconducting outsert

The heat treatment of Nb(3)Sn coil with the glass fabric insulation is one of the key and critical processes for the outsert solenoids of the 40 T hybrid magnet, which could be wound with cable-in-conduit conductors using the insulation-wind-and-react technique. The manufacturing of the large vertical type vacuum/Ar atmosphere-protection heat treatment system has been completed and recently installed in the High Magnetic Filed Laboratory, Chinese Academy of Sciences. The heat treatment system composed mainly the furnace, the purging gas supply system, the control system, the gas impurities monitoring system, and so on. At present, the regulation and testing of the heat treatment system has been successfully finished, and all of technical parameters meet or exceed specifications.

DNA release and uptake associated with the development of pleomorphic cells in mammalian skin autotransplants

OBJECTIVE

Although several in vitro studies have demonstrated active release of DNA by living cells, there is still doubt. There are no such in vivo studies (1). The following experiment is an in vivo study to determine whether DNA release and uptake by cells and tissues occur and can be related to normal growth and differentiation, abnormal growth and cancer

METHODS

Epidermal and full-thickness ear-skin grafts were separately autotransplanted into two groups of mice. In a second group, host mice were labelled with tritiated thymidine and autografted separately, with unlabelled epidermal and full-thickness ear-skin grafts. Animals were sacrificed regularly in both cases.

RESULTS

Full thickness grafts revealed cysts in 15 out of 16 grafts, with well-differentiated squamous epidermis, DNA labelling of dermalfibroblasts and no DNA labelling of epidermal cells. Epidermal grafts revealed cysts in six out of 20 grafts, with epidermal cells variable in shape and arrangement; some appeared normal but others were two to four times larger, forming solid nests of cells. In some grafts, there were spindle-shaped pleomorphic cells loosely interconnected. DNA labelling was observed in occasional epidermal cell. Two lung adenocarcinomas were found.

CONCLUSION

These results suggest active release of DNA by host cells and DNA uptake by grafted cells. This phenomenon and the differential uptake of DNA labelling of epidermal and dermal cells in the epidermal and full-thickness grafts suggest an association with abnormal, even pleomorphic epidermal cell behaviour due to the interference of dermal/epidermal interacting factors.

Noble and alkali adatoms on a [Formula: see text]-Ag surface: a first-principles study

Using first-principles calculations, we present a comprehensive study on the atomic and electronic structures of metal adatoms (noble metals Ag, Au, Cu and alkali metals Li, Na, K) adsorbed on a [Formula: see text]-Ag (hereafter [Formula: see text]-Ag) surface. We found that adsorption of noble and alkali adatoms can induce significant structural changes in the topmost Ag layer. The most striking and interesting results are the immersion of the noble and Li adatoms into the substrate Ag layer and the finding of the most stable configurations with three adatoms incorporating into or being adsorbed on the surface dependent on their atomic radii. We also found that the almost empty two-dimensional free-electron-like band s1 and its band folding s1(*) of the original surface band s1 of the [Formula: see text]-Ag surface split into a gap at the surface Brillouin zone (SBZ) boundary with adsorption of an adatom. The two surface bands gradually move downwards and the s1 band is gradually filled with an increase of coverage. The s1 band is fully occupied with the largest band gap ∼ 0.25 eV between the s1 and s1(*) bands at the critical coverage of 0.14 monolayers (ML) [three adatoms in a [Formula: see text]-Ag (hereafter [Formula: see text]-Ag) unit cell], which corresponds to the most stable adsorption phase. Although the adsorption configurations are different, both the noble and alkali adatom adsorptions give rise to similar electronic structures at low coverages, indicating a free-electron-like character of the adsorption surfaces.

A low power biomedical signal processor ASIC based on hardware software codesign

A low power biomedical digital signal processor ASIC based on hardware and software codesign methodology was presented in this paper. The codesign methodology was used to achieve higher system performance and design flexibility. The hardware implementation included a low power 32bit RISC CPU ARM7TDMI, a low power AHB-compatible bus, and a scalable digital co-processor that was optimized for low power Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) calculations. The co-processor could be scaled for 8-point, 16-point and 32-point FFTs, taking approximate 50, 100 and 150 clock circles, respectively. The complete design was intensively simulated using ARM DSM model and was emulated by ARM Versatile platform, before conducted to silicon. The multi-million-gate ASIC was fabricated using SMIC 0.18 microm mixed-signal CMOS 1P6M technology. The die area measures 5,000 microm x 2,350 microm. The power consumption was approximately 3.6 mW at 1.8 V power supply and 1 MHz clock rate. The power consumption for FFT calculations was less than 1.5 % comparing with the conventional embedded software-based solution.

Calcium regulation of neuronal gene expression

Plasticity is a remarkable feature of the brain, allowing neuronal structure and function to accommodate to patterns of electrical activity. One component of these long-term changes is the activity-driven induction of new gene expression, which is required for both the long-lasting long-term potentiation of synaptic transmission associated with learning and memory, and the activity dependent survival events that help to shape and wire the brain during development. We have characterized molecular mechanisms by which neuronal membrane depolarization and subsequent calcium influx into the cytoplasm lead to the induction of new gene transcription. We have identified three points within this cascade of events where the specificity of genes induced by different types of stimuli can be regulated. By using the induction of the gene that encodes brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) as a model, we have found that the ability of a calcium influx to induce transcription of this gene is regulated by the route of calcium entry into the cell, by the pattern of phosphorylation induced on the transcription factor cAMP-response element (CRE) binding protein (CREB), and by the complement of active transcription factors recruited to the BDNF promoter. These results refine and expand the working model of activity-induced gene induction in the brain, and help to explain how different types of neuronal stimuli can activate distinct transcriptional responses.

Eye irritation caused by formaldehyde as an indoor air pollution--a controlled human exposure experiment

OBJECTIVE

The present study focuses on health assessment of wood based panels which are widely used in interior decoration practices over the recent years in China. Formaldehyde has been identified as chemical indicator of (IAO) and an indoor air pollutant. To test its health effects experiment was undertaken.

METHOD

A small environmental test chamber (60/L) was used as the generator of emission gas from new panels, and was operating at a temperature of 22.7 +/- 0.6 degrees C and a humidity of 44.4 +/- 2.5% with an air exchange rate of 1.0 +/- 0.15 h-1. On the three experimental days the values of product loading in chamber were 4, 2 and 6 m2/m3, respectively. Eight people were selected randomly from the students and employees of Wuhan Health and Anti-epidemic Station as subjects, with an average age of 21.9 +/- 5.9 years, and a gender ratio of 1:1, and two of them were smokers (one male and one female). The subjects' eyes were exposed to formaldehyde through a pair of goggles. Each goggle had its flow inlet and outlet, and connected to chamber exhaust of emission gas and to an exhaust from the room. The exposure time was very short, just 5 minutes and the formaldehyde doses were at 1.65 +/- 0.01, 2.99 +/- 0.07 and 4.31 +/- 0.02 ppm. A 60-mm linear visual analogue rating scales was used to measure the intensity of sensory eye irritation and a video tape recorder was used to record eye blinking frequency.

RESULTS

The results demonstrated that tests of sensory eye irritation and eye blinking can be used for materials testing, and that a dose-effect as well as a time-variance of the effect can be measured.

CONCLUSION

The tests showed that eye irritation was perceived at all of the three levels.

No significant association of Epstein-Barr virus infection with invasive breast carcinoma

We studied 48 cases of invasive breast carcinoma for evidence of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), which is associated with many human malignancies. In situ hybridization studies to detect the presence of EBV-encoded small nonpolyadenylated RNA (EBER)-1 were performed in paraffin sections. Immunohistochemical studies to detect EBV nuclear antigen (EBNA)-1, latent membrane protein (LMP)-1, and the transactivating immediate-early BZLF1 (ZEBRA) protein were also performed in paraffin sections. The presence of EBV genomic DNA was studied by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification using sets of primers flanking the EBNA-4 and the EBV-LMP-1 genes in frozen tissues. Southern blot analysis using a probe flanking the EBV terminal repeat region was then attempted in cases that were PCR-positive. Five of 48 cases (10%) of breast carcinoma showed focal EBER-positive tumor cells. Twelve cases (25%) were positive for EBNA-1 by immunohistochemistry, all but one different from the EBER-positive cases. None of the cases were positive for LMP-1 or ZEBRA protein by immunohistochemistry. PCR studies for EBNA-4 and LMP-1 were each positive in five cases (including three cases in common). However, Southern blot studies successfully performed in all but one of the PCR-positive cases were completely negative. The identification of EBV by any methodology was not correlated with tumor size, grade, or lymph node status. This study demonstrated evidence of EBV infection in tissues involved by invasive breast carcinomas in a significant subset of cases. However, the lack of localization of EBV infection to a significant population of the tumor cells in any case, the negativity by Southern blot hybridization, and the lack of expression of multiple antigens in any case strongly argue against a significant role for EBV in the pathogenesis of breast carcinoma.

Pulmonary Langerhans' cell histiocytosis: molecular analysis of clonality

Pulmonary Langerhans' cell histiocytosis (LCH) is a form of Langerhans' cell disease that primarily affects smokers in the third to fifth decade. Extrapulmonary manifestations are rare. Its clinical course is typically characterized by stabilization or regression of bilateral micronodular infiltrates seen on chest radiographs; progression to honeycomb fibrosis is rare. Because the clinical course of pulmonary LCH is distinct from systemic multiorgan LCH, currently thought to be a clonal proliferative disorder, we examined the X-linked polymorphic human androgen receptor assay (HUMARA) locus to assess clonality in female patients with one or more discrete LCH cell nodules in open lung biopsies. Langerhans' cells (LCH cells) were excised from formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue by microdissection to assure a relatively pure cellular population, and studies for differential methylation patterns at the HUMARA locus were performed. Twenty-four nodules in 13 patients were evaluated. Seven (29%) were clonal and 17 (71%) were nonclonal. Of six cases with multiple discrete nodules, three (50%) showed a nonclonal LCH cell population. In one biopsy with five nodules, two nodules were clonal with one allele inactivated, one nodule was clonal with the other allele inactivated, and two nodules were nonclonal. In contrast to systemic LCH, pulmonary LCH appears to be primarily a reactive process in which nonlethal, nonmalignant clonal evolution of LCH cells may arise in the setting of nonclonal LCH cell hyperplasia. Cigarette smoking may be the stimulus for pulmonary LCH in contrast to other forms of LCH.

Coexisting thymic and gastric lymphomas of mucosa-associated lymphoid tissues in a patient with Sjögren syndrome

Lymphomas of mucosa-associated lymphoid tissues (MALTomas) arising from the thymus are extremely rare. In this case report, we describe a 36-year-old woman with an 11-year history of Sjögren syndrome who was found to have a thymic MALToma coexisting with a gastric MALToma. Both tumors shared similar histologic features, showing clusters of centrocytic-like B cells, lymphoepithelial lesions, and prominent plasmacytic differentiation. They also showed the following identical immunohistochemical features: CD20(+), IgA/lambda(+), CD5(-), and CD43(-). Molecular studies using polymerase chain reaction methods revealed monoclonal gene rearrangement of the immunoglobulin heavy chain in the gastric MALToma, but not in the thymic MALToma. The possible pathogenesis of this unusual case is discussed.

Hemodynamic assessment of ischemic stroke with near-infrared spectroscopy

OBJECTIVE

To validate near-infrared cerebral topography (NCT) as a practical tool in tracing the regional hemodynamic changes during normal ischemic stroke model of rat.

METHOD

Middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) and photosensitizer induced intracranial infarction model of rat were established. The geometric shape and infarction area were measured by NCT, functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), and TTC stained anatomical imaging techniques.

RESULT

In photosensitizer induced infarction model, the correlation between anatomical infarct area and NCT image area for infarct focus were r = 0.897 for 24 h group (P < 0.05) and r = 0.906 for 2 months group (P < 0.01), respectively. The correlation between anatomical infarction area and NCT image area for infarct focus were r = 0.820 for normothermia group (P < 0.05) and r = 0.851 for hypothermia group (P < 0.05), respectively. The correlation between fMRI and NCT image area for infarction focus were r = 0.874 for normothermia group (P < 0.05) and r = 0.782 for hypothermia group (P < 0. 05), respectively.

CONCLUSION

Measurement with NCT for infarction focus matched well with fMRI and anatomic sample in rats. NCT technique might be a practical tool for short-term prediction of stroke and the rehabilitation after stroke in real time.

Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) nuclear antigen (EBNA)-4 mutation in EBV-associated malignancies in three different populations

Different ethnic groups with a high human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-A11 prevalence have been shown to experience a high rate of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection, EBV-associated malignancies, and Epstein-Barr nuclear antigen (EBNA)-4 mutations. The epitopes 399-408 and 416-424 of EBNA-4 are major antigenic epitopes that elicit an HLA-A11 cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) response to EBV infection. Mutations selectively involving one or more nucleotide residues in these epitopes affect the antigenicity of EBNA-4, because the mutant EBV strains are not recognized by the HLA-A11-restricted CTLs. To investigate these mutations in common EBV-associated malignancies occurring in different populations, we studied the mutation rate of epitopes 399-408 and 416-424 of EBNA-4 in 25 cases of EBV-associated Hodgkin's disease (HD), nine cases of AIDS-related non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, and 37 cases of EBV-associated gastric carcinoma (GC) from the United States, Brazil, and Japan. We found one or more mutations in these two epitopes in 50% (6/12) of United States HD, 15% (2/13) of Brazilian HD, 50% (6/12) United States GC and 28% (7/25) Japanese GC, and 22% (2/9) of United States AIDS-lymphoma. Similar mutations were found in 30% (3/10) of United States reactive, 0% (0/6) of Brazilian reactive, and 25% (2/8) Japanese reactive tissues. The most frequent amino acid substitutions were virtually identical to those seen in previously reported isolates from EBV-associated nasopharyngeal carcinomas and Burkitt's lymphomas occurring in high prevalence HLA-A11 regions. However, only 2/28 (7%) mutations occurred in HLA-A11-positive patients. Our studies suggest that: 1) EBNA-4 mutations are a common phenomenon in EBV-associated HD, GC, and AIDS-lymphoma; 2) the mutation rate does not vary in these geographic areas and ethnic groups; 3) EBNA-4 mutations in EBV-associated United States and Brazilian HD, United States and Japanese GC, and United States AIDS lymphomas are not related to patients' HLA-A11 status.

EBNA-1 gene sequences in Brazilian and American patients with Hodgkin's disease

We examined the types of Epstein-Barr virus-associated nuclear antigen-1 (EBNA-1) gene carboxy (C)-terminal mutations occurring in Hodgkin's disease (HD) and reactive tissues from two different geographic regions. Previously reported EBNA-1 C-terminal region amino acid sequence variants, based on the amino acid at codon 487, include Prototype (P)-ala, which is found in the B95.8-derived prototype virus, P-thr, Variant (V)-leu, V-val, and V-pro. Using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to amplify portions of the EBNA-1 gene, followed by DNA sequencing, we found a single EBNA-1 gene sequence variant in each tissue, whether reactive or neoplastic and whether from Brazil or the United States. Variant EBNA-1 gene sequences were more common in both neoplastic and non-neoplastic tissues from different geographic areas than the so-called prototype sequence. In the 17 Brazilian HD cases, 4 cases had P-thr variants and 13 had V-leu variants. In the six reactive tissues from Brazil, one had a P-ala variant, two had P-thr variants, and three had V-leu variants. In the 12 American HD cases, 2 had P-ala variants, 6 had P-thr variants, and 4 had V-leu variants. The 11 American reactive tissues included 2 P-ala variants, 5 P-thr variants, and 4 V-leu variants. In both countries, there were similar variant EBNA-1 sequences present in normal tissues and HD cases. Compared with the P-ala and P-thr cases, the V-leu cases were more likely to have the 30-bp latent membrane protein 1 (LMP1) gene deletion (P = 0.0075). In addition, cases of HD with the V-leu were statistically associated with a substitution of asparagine for glutamine at codon 322 of the C-terminal portion of the LMP1 gene. Our results suggest that any variation in EBNA-1 gene sequence is caused by a polymorphism present in pre-existing viral strains in the underlying population, and not a mutation occurring during oncogenesis.

Epstein-Barr virus-associated nuclear antigen-1 carboxy-terminal gene sequences in Japanese and American patients with gastric carcinoma

We examined Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-associated nuclear antigen-1 (EBNA-1) gene carboxy (C)-terminal deletions occurring in gastric carcinoma and noncarcinoma tissues from two different ethnic populations. Previously reported EBNA-1 C-terminal region amino acid sequence variations include five subtypes based on the amino acid at codon 487: Prototype (P)-ala, which is found in the B95.8-derived prototype virus; P-thr; Variant (V)-pro; V-leu; and V-val. Using polymerase chain reaction to amplify fragments of the EBNA-1 gene, followed by gene sequencing, we identified a single EBNA-1 gene sequence variant (V-val') in all 25 cases of known EBV-positive gastric carcinoma and all 8 cases of known EBV-positive reactive follicular hyperplasia from Japan. All 17 cases of known EBV-positive American gastric carcinomas had a single EBNA-1 gene sequence, including 3 P-ala or P-ala variants, 9 P-thr, 4 V-leu or V-leu variants, and 1 V-val'. All 11 cases of American reactive lymphoid tissue also had a single EBNA-1 gene sequence, including 2 P-ala variants, 5 P-thr or P-thr variants, and 4 V-leu. Variant EBNA-1 sequences were more common in both carcinoma and non-neoplastic tissues than the prototype sequence, whether from Japan or America. The EBNA-1 gene sequences found in the two ethnic populations differed, suggesting that variation in EBNA-1 gene sequence is due to polymorphisms present within pre-existing viral strains prevalent within various ethnic populations. The EBNA-1 gene sequences in reactive tissues were similar to those in malignant tissues from the same ethnic population, suggesting that the differences in EBNA-1 gene sequences do not result from mutation occurring during neoplastic transformation and that there may not be a selective cell tropism for different EBNA-1 proteins, as previously suggested.

Deletion of Epstein-Barr virus latent membrane protein 1 gene in Japanese and Brazilian gastric carcinomas, metastatic lesions, and reactive lymphocytes

A 30-bp deletion in the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) latent membrane protein 1 (LMP1) gene has been reported in nasopharyngeal carcinoma and EBV-associated malignant lymphomas. Information on this deletion in EBV-associated gastric carcinoma (EBVaGC) is limited. The association of gastric carcinoma (GC) with EBV was examined by EBV-encoded RNA (EBER) in situ hybridization in 510 patients from Japan and 80 patients from Brazil. We studied the prevalence of 30-bp LMP1 gene deletion in EBVaGC in Japan (29 cases) and Brazil (four cases) in comparison with the corresponding EBER1-positive metastatic lesions in lymph nodes (10 cases) and EBV-infected reactive lymphocytes from dissected nonmetastatic lymph nodes (22 cases), microdissected non-neoplastic gastric mucosa of EBVaGC (five cases), and EBV-nonassociated GC (25 cases). We studied the status of the LMP1 gene by Southern blot hybridization of polymerase chain reaction products obtained after amplification with primers flanking the site of the deletion. We also performed EBV typing and LMP1 protein immunohistochemistry. EBV DNA was amplified by polymerase chain reaction in 30 of 33 EBVaGC cases, 8 of 10 metastatic carcinomas, 14 non-neoplastic tissues from 27 EBVaGC cases, and 12 of 25 non-EBV-associated GC cases with EBER1-positive lymphocytes. The 30-bp LMP1 gene deletion was observed in 23 of 26 (88.5%) cases of EBVaGC from Japan and two of four (50%) cases of Brazilian EBVaGC as compared with EBER1-positive reactive lymphocytes from 11 of 14 (78.6%) EBVaGC cases and 9 of 12 (75%) cases of non-EBV-associated GC. The variant type (the 30-bp deletion variant or nondeleted wild type) of LMP1 gene was the same among reactive lymphocytes, primary and secondary lesions of EBVaGC in all cases for which all three tissue types were studied (six of six). There was no correlation between the presence of the 30-bp deletion with depth of cancer invasion or presence of metastasis. Type A was detected in all available EBV-positive cases. The similar high incidence of 30-bp deletion in LMP1 gene in both carcinoma cells and reactive lymphocytes in EBVaGC cases suggests that this deletion may not be relevant to the pathogenesis of EBVaGC.

A harmonic retrieval framework for discontinuous motion estimation

Motion discontinuities arise when there are occlusions or multiple moving objects in the scene that is imaged. Conventional regularization techniques use smoothness constraints but are not applicable to motion discontinuities. In this paper, we show that discontinuous (or multiple) motion estimation can be viewed as a multicomponent harmonic retrieval problem. From this viewpoint, a number of established techniques for harmonic retrieval ran be applied to solve the challenging problem of discontinuous (or multiple) motion. Compared with existing techniques, the resulting algorithm is not iterative, which not only implies computational efficiency but also obviates concerns regarding convergence or local minima. It also adds flexibility to spatio-temporal techniques which have suffered from lack of explicit modeling of discontinuous motion. Experimental verification of our framework on both synthetic data as well as real image data is provided.

Deletion of Epstein-Barr virus latent membrane protein 1 gene in United States and Brazilian Hodgkin's disease and reactive lymphoid tissue: high frequency of a 30-bp deletion

A 30-basepair (bp) deletion in the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) latent membrane protein 1 (LMP1) gene has been reported in nasopharyngeal carcinoma and EBV-associated malignant lymphomas. Prior studies have found the deletion in about 10% to 28% of cases of Hodgkin's disease (HD), particularly in cases with aggressive histology. We studied the prevalence of 30-bp LMP1 gene deletion in EBV-positive HD in the United States (US) (12 cases) and Brazil (26 cases) with comparison to reactive lymphoid tissues (21 cases) and HD without EBV-positive Reed-Sternberg cells (15 cases). We studied the status of the LMP1 gene by Southern blot hybridization of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) products obtained after amplification with primers spanning the site of the deletion. We also performed EBV typing, EBER1 in situ hybridization, and LMP1 protein immunohistochemistry. EBV was detected in 12/26 (46%) cases of HD from the US and 26/27 (96%) cases of Brazilian HD. The 30-bp LMP1 gene deletion was observed in 4/12 (33%) cases of EBV-positive HD from US, and 12/26 (46%) cases of Brazilian EBV-positive HD, including 3 cases of type B EBV, as compared with 12/21 (57%) reactive lymphoid tissues and 9/15 (60%) cases of EBV-negative HD. US and Brazilian HD showed a higher prevalence of the 30-bp LMP1 gene deletion, compared with studies of others. The unexpected finding of high incidence of 30-bp deletion in LMP1 gene in reactive lymphoid tissue and HD without EBV-positive Reed-Sternberg cells suggests that this deletion may not be relevant to HD pathogenesis in most cases.

p53 mutations in Hodgkin's disease

Although numerous studies have demonstrated increased expression of p53 protein in the Reed-Sternberg cells of Hodgkin's disease, little data exist as to whether mutations of the p53 gene is a common occurrence in this neoplasm. Using a microdissection technique coupled with PCR, single-strand conformation analysis, and DNA sequencing, we studied 23 cases of Hodgkin's disease for mutations within exons 5 to 8 of the p53 gene. We found seven mutations within six cases; six were missense mutations. An identical missense mutation was found in three cases (codon 243, methionine to isoleucine), and another identical missense mutation was found in an additional two cases (codon 204, glutamic acid to lysine). Verification of the mutations was accomplished either by direct Southern blotting of PCR-amplified p53 exon products from re-extracted DNA or by hybridization of cloned PCR-amplified p53 exon products from re-extracted DNA with a mutant-specific oligonucleotide. There was no good correlation between the presence of p53 mutations and the level of p53 protein expression, which was found to be overexpressed in all cases, the level of MDM2 protein expression, or the proliferation rate as determined by K-67 antibody. None of the cases with p53 mutation had evidence of Epstein-Barr virus within the Reed-Sternberg cells, as compared with 7 of 17 of the other cases (p < 0.06). These results suggest that p53 mutation may represent an important mechanism in the pathogenesis of Hodgkin's disease, and this mechanism may be independent of Epstein-Barr virus.

Spatiotemporal approach for time-varying global image motion estimation

Image motion estimation using the spatiotemporal approach has largely relied on the constant velocity assumption, and thus becomes inappropriate when the velocity of the imaged scene or the camera changes during the data acquisition time. Using a polynomial or a trigonometric polynomial model for the time variation of the image motion, spatiotemporal algorithms are developed in this paper to handle time-varying (but space-invariant) motion. Under these models, it is shown that time-varying image motion estimation is equivalent to parameter estimation of one-dimensional (1-D) polynomial phase or phase-modulated signals, which allows one to exploit well-established results in radar signal processing. When compared with alternative approaches, the resulting motion estimation algorithms produce more accurate estimates. Simulation results are provided to demonstrate the proposed schemes.