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Background : Communicating bronchopulmonary foregut malformation is a rare anomaly characterized by a patent congenital communication between the esophagus or stomach and an isolated portion of the respiratory system. An esophagogram is taken as the gold standard for diagnosis. Compared with esophagography, computed tomography (CT) is more widely used and easily obtained, but CT findings have been described as nonspecific. Purpose: To describe CT findings in 18 patients with communicating bronchopulmonary foregut malformation to assist with early diagnosis. Material and methods: A retrospective review of 18 patients who had proven communicating bronchopulmonary foregut malformation between January 2006 and December 2021 was conducted. For each patient, the medical records, including demographics, clinical manifestations, upper gastrointestinal radiography, magnetic resonance imaging and CT findings, were reviewed. Results: Among the 18 patients, there were 8 males. The right to left ratio was 3.5:1. An entire lung was involved in 10 patients, a lobe or a segment was involved in 7 patients and an ectopic lesion was located in the right neck in 1 patient. The isolated lung may arise from the upper esophagus, mid-esophagus, lower esophagus or stomach, which were detected in 1, 3, 13, and 1 patient, respectively. On chest CT, an extra bronchus which did not arise from the trachea was detected in 14 patients. Contrast-enhanced chest CT was performed in 17 patients, the isolated lung receiving its blood supply from the pulmonary artery in 13 patients, the systemic artery in 11 patients and both pulmonary and systemic arteries in 7 patients. Conclusions: The presence of an extra bronchus, which does not arise from the trachea, highly suggests the diagnosis of communicating bronchopulmonary foregut malformation. Contrast-enhanced chest CT can provide accurate information regarding the airways, lung parenchyma and vascular structures that is useful to plan surgery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The wide range existence of M. aeruginosa FACHB 905 strains in the aquatic environment becomes a great threat for the health of humans and animals; it also poses a great obstacle in the ecological ecosystem. Therefore, an effective, efficient, and environmentally friendly method of treatment is needed. In this work Cu2(OH)PO4 nanoparticles were successively synthesized from a mixture of Cu (NO3)2 and Na2HPO4 according to the results from Fourier-transform infrared (FT-IR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), ultraviolet/visible/near-infrared in diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (UV/Vis/NIR DRS), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) tests. Furthermore, Cu2(OH)PO4 was used to mitigate the growth of M. aeruginosa FACHB 905 strains on a lab-scale, and the investigation on the growth of the harmful algal bloom (HAB) causing M. aeruginosa FACHB 905 strains was worked on. The Cu2(OH)PO4 is effective in inhibiting the growth of the strain by more than 97% at a concentration of 0.032 mg mL−1. Furthermore, analysis of the chlorophyll a content and polysaccharide asserted that a remarkable decrease from 9.40 mg L−1 and 37.66 mg L−1 for the control to 0.07 mg L−1 and 10.21 mg L−1 for the treatment media with 0.032 mg mL−1 Cu2(OH)PO4 has been achieved. The results affirm the effectiveness of the Cu2(OH)PO4 as suitable candidates for preventing HABs caused by the M. aeruginosa FACHB 905 cyanobacterium and other similar strains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

On August 20, 2019, many catastrophic debris flows broke out in meizoseismal area of Wenchuan M s 8.0 earthquake in China under the influence of continuous heavy rainfall. This paper takes the Chutou gully debris flow event occurred on August 20, 2019 as an example. The 3-D numerical simulation software, RAMMS, is used to back calculate the event and predict the future hazard. Coulomb and viscous turbulent friction, μ and ξ are calibrated in RAMMS. Numerical simulation reveals the movement process of Chutou gully from the aspects of flow depth, velocity, discharge, and run-out solid materials volume. The simulation results show that more than two-thirds of the solid materials are still deposited in the main channel, which could provide material basis for the re-occurrence of high hazard debris flow. In addition, based on the intensity and probability of debris flow, the hazard of debris flow is divided into high, middle, and low degrees. According to the simulation results and hazard assessment model, the hazard map of Chutou gully debris flow in various rainstorm return periods (20, 50, 100, and 200 years) is established, which can provide guidance for the future land-use planning and debris flow prevention works. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study was to investigate the associations of matrix metalloprotease-1 (MMP-1) and its receptor protease-activated receptor-1 (PAR-1) coexpression with the clinicopathological characteristics and prognosis of patients with prostate cancer (PCa). Immunohistochemistry was performed to detect the expression changes of MMP-1 and PAR-1 proteins in 180 pairs of human PCa tissues and matched non-cancerous prostate tissues. Then, the associations of combined MMP-1 and PAR-1 expression with selected clinicopathological characteristics and patient prognosis were evaluated. Both MMP-1 and PAR-1 proteins were positively localized in cytoplasm of tumor cells in PCa tissues. Compared with non-cancerous prostate tissues, MMP-1 (PCa vs. Normal: 4.15 ± 1.28 vs. 2.37 ± 1.16, P < 0.001) and PAR-1 (PCa vs. Normal: 3.71 ± 1.21 vs. 1.55 ± 1.12, P < 0.001) protein expression were both significantly upregulated. More interestingly, the expression levels of MMP-1 in PCa tissues were positively correlated with those of PAR-1 significantly (Spearman correlation coefficient r = 0.88, P < 0.001). In addition, the coexpression of MMP-1 and PAR-1 (MMP-1-high/PAR-1-high) in PCa tissues was significantly associated with the higher Gleason score ( P < 0.001), the presence of metastasis ( P < 0.001) and the advanced pathological stage ( P = 0.009). Furthermore, both univariate and multivariate analyses showed that MMP-1-high/PAR-1-high expression was an independent predictor for both unfavorable overall survival and biochemical recurrence-free survival. These findings confirmed for the first time that the upregulation of MMP-1 protein combined with the overexpression of PAR-1 protein may contribute to the malignant progression of PCa. More importantly, MMP-1/PAR-1 axis may be a negative prognostic factor for patients with PCa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]