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Since the start of the twenty-first century, China's economy has grown at a high or moderate rate, and air pollution has become increasingly severe. The study was conducted using data from remote sensing observations between 1998 and 2019, employing the standard deviation ellipse model and spatial autocorrelation analysis, to explore the spatiotemporal distribution characteristics of PM 2.5 in Henan Province. Additionally, a multiscale geographically weighted regression model (MGWR) was applied to explore the impact of 12 driving factors (e.g., mean surface temperature and CO 2 emissions) on PM 2.5 concentration. The research revealed that (1) Over a period of 22 years, the yearly mean PM 2.5 concentrations in Henan Province demonstrated a trend resembling the shape of the letter "M", and the general trend observed in Henan Province demonstrated that the spatial center of gravity of PM 2.5 concentrations shifted toward the north. (2) Distinct spatial clustering patterns of PM 2.5 were observed in Henan Province, with the northern region showing a primary concentration of spatial hot spots, while the western and southern areas were predominantly characterized as cold spots. (3) MGWR is more effective than GWR in unveiling the spatial heterogeneity of influencing factors at various scales, thereby making it a more appropriate approach for investigating the driving mechanisms behind PM 2.5 concentration. (4) The results acquired from the MGWR model indicate that there are varying degrees of spatial heterogeneity in the effects of various factors on PM 2.5 concentration. To summarize the above conclusions, the management of the atmospheric environment in Henan Province still has a long way to go, and the formulation of relevant policies should be adapted to local conditions, taking into account the spatial scale effect of the impact of different influencing factors on PM 2.5 ., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2023 Wang, Zhang, Niu and Zheng.)

This study aimed to assess the efficacy and safety of hypomethylating agent (HMA)-based regimens in the treatment of older adult patients with acute myeloid leukaemia (AML), unfit for standard induction chemotherapy. Treatment outcomes and prognostic factors of 140 older adult patients with AML who were unfit for intensive chemotherapy and were treated with HMA-based therapies were retrospectively analysed. The median age of the group was 70 years, and poor-risk cytogenetics and secondary/treatment-related AML (s/t-AML) accounted for 45.6% and 34.3% of these patients, respectively. The overall response rate was 48.6%, and 40.1% for patients who achieved complete remission (CR) or CR with incomplete blood count recovery. The median overall survival (OS) was 10.4 months, and the 1-, 2-, and 5-year OS rates were 42.6%, 19.9%, and 4.9%, respectively. Early mortality accounted for 4.3% of all cases, and infection occurred in 87.1% of all patients during induction therapy. Patients who received HMA and low-dose chemotherapy presented with significantly superior response and long-term survival rates compared to those who received HMA alone. They also showed comparable outcomes to those treated with the azacitidine plus venetoclax protocol. Low-dose chemotherapy in combination with decitabine or azacitidine showed a similar response rate and prognosis. Age ≥ 75years and a white blood cell (WBC) count ≥ 10 × 109 cells/L were identified as independent adverse prognostic factors for OS, while poor-risk cytogenetics, percentage of bone marrow blasts, and s/tAML had no significant impact on OS when patients were treated with HMA-based regimens. In conclusion, HMA combined with low-dose chemotherapy was effective and safe in older adults with AML who were unfit for intensive chemotherapy, and no difference was observed between decitabine and azacitidine.

Haplo-HSCT has been used when HLA-matched siblings are not available. Conditioning regimens aim to reduce tumor burden prior to HSCT and provide sufficient immunoablation. We report the outcome of haplo-HSCT in 63 consecutive patients from 2/2013 to 12/2015 (19 females/44 males) with high-risk or relapsed/refractory hematological malignancies (n=29-AML; 8-sAML; 19-ALL; 5-advanced-MDS; 2-CML-BC). Median age was 20 years (range: 1.1-49). Twenty-one patients achieved remission prior to transplant, while 42 did not. Patients received FA5-BUCY, i.e., 5-day salvage chemotherapy (Fludarabine/Ara-C) and conditioning (Busulfan/Cyclophosphamide). GvHD prophylaxis included ATG, CsA, MMF and short-term MTX. All patients received stem cells from bone marrow and peripheral blood, and achieved successful engraftment, except two who died before. With a median follow-up of 269 days (120-1081), 42/63 patients are still alive and disease-free. Two-year OS and RFS were similar in patients not in remission and in those in complete remission (61.3% vs 56.3%, p=0.88; 58.3% vs 56.3%, p=0.991). Non-relapse mortality and relapse incidence were 22.2% and 11.1%, respectively. Severe acute-GvHD occurred in 4/63 patients. Transplant-related mortality was low at day+100 (17.5%) and for the entire study period (20.6%). Unexpectedly, few patients experienced mild-to-moderate toxicity, and main causes of death were infection and GvHD. BM blast counts, age, and donor-recipient gender-pairs did not affect the outcome. Less chemotherapy cycles prior to HSCT might result in more favorable outcome. Thus, haplo-HSCT with FA5-BUCY appears promising for advanced disease, especially when TBI and amsacrine, used for FLAMSA, are not available and in pediatric patients for whom TBI is not recommended.

Systemic acquired resistance (SAR) is an important component of disease-resistance arsenal of plants, and is associated with enhanced potency of activating local and systemic defense-related responses upon pathogen attack. In this report, we demonstrated that pre-treatment with beta-aminobutyric acid (BABA), a new elicitor of SAR in the plants, enhanced resistance against tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) in a temperately-sensitive tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L.) cultivar Yunyan 85. The resistance is based on the elicitation of defense-related responses induced by BABA that brings the TMV-susceptible tobacco plants to a defense-ready state, even before exposure to the pathogen. The induced resistance was strongly associated with potentiated activation of defense-related enzymes [phenylalanine ammonia lyase (PAL) and polyphenol oxidase (PPO)] activities, proportional to the concentration of the BABA sprayed. Interestingly, simultaneous clipping, an important agricultural practice in tobacco production, attenuated BABA-mediated enhancement of TMV resistance in tobacco. The changes in the defense-related enzymes activities indicated that the interaction between BABA and wounding was reciprocally antagonistic. Moreover, such a negative interaction regulated the expression of defense-related enzymes. depending on the time of induction.