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Chimeric antigen receptor T (CAR-T) cell therapy is a novel cellular immunotherapy that is widely used to treat hematological malignancies, including acute leukemia, lymphoma, and multiple myeloma. Despite its remarkable clinical effects, this therapy has side effects that cannot be underestimated. Cytokine release syndrome (CRS) is one of the most clinically important and potentially life-threatening toxicities. This syndrome is a systemic immune storm that involves the mass cytokines releasing by activated immune cells. This phenomenon causes multisystem damages and sometimes even death. In this study, we reported the management of a patient with recurrent and refractory multiple myeloma and three patients with acute lymphocytic leukemia who suffered CRS during CAR-T treatment. The early application of tocilizumab, an anti-IL-6 receptor antibody, according to toxicity grading and clinical manifestation is recommended especially for patients who suffer continuous hyperpyrexia, hypotensive shock, acute respiratory failure, and whose CRS toxicities deteriorated rapidly. Moreover, low doses of dexamethasone (5–10 mg/day) were used for refractory CRS not responding to tocilizumab. The effective management of the toxicities associated with CRS will bring additional survival opportunities and improve the quality of life for patients with cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cadmium (Cd) can cause animal organism damage, but there have been few studies on the damage of cadmium to the immune organs of birds. Most fungal polysaccharide has antioxidant and immunomodulatory effects. The experimental study investigated the effects of fungal polysaccharide (Agaricus blazei Murill polysaccharide and Ganoderma luciduccharide) on the oxidative damage of central immune organs (thymus and bursa of Fabricius) and on the Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) pathway in cadmium-poisoned chickens. The results showed that Agaricus blazei polysaccharide and Ganoderma lucidum polysaccharide can reduce cadmium content, TLR4 expression, inflammatory factor (IL-1β, IL-6, TNF-α) content, and lipid peroxidation product MDA content and increase the activity of antioxidant enzymes SOD and GSH-Px in thymus and bursa of cadmium poisoning chickens. Ganoderma lucidum polysaccharide could decrease the expression of TLR4, IL-1β, and IL-6 in cadmium poisoning peripheral blood lymphocytes of chicken, and TLR4 inhibitor had the same effect. The results demonstrated the protective effects of Agaricus blazei Murill polysaccharide and Ganoderma lucidum polysaccharides on the damage of the central immune organs of chickens caused by cadmium poisoning were closely related to the TLR4 signaling pathway and oxidative stress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cadmium (Cd) is a heavy metal that poses a huge potential threat to human and animal health. Therefore, it is necessary to study its damage mechanism. In the present study, we have examined the protective effects of Ganoderma lucidum triterpenoids on oxidative stress and apoptosis in the spleen of chickens induced by Cd. One hundred and twenty healthy Hailan white chickens (7-day-old) were randomly divided into the following four groups: control group, Cd group, triterpenoid group, and Cd–triterpenoid group. The chickens were euthanized on the 20th, 40th, and 60th days, and the spleens were removed. Cd and malondialdehyde (MDA) content, antioxidant enzyme (superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px)) activities, and inflammatory factor (tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) and interleukin (IL-1β and IL-6)) and apoptotic factor (caspase-3, BAX, and Bcl-2) expressions were detected. The results showed that Ganoderma lucidum triterpenoids could reduce the content of Cd and MDA; increase the antioxidant enzyme activities (SOD and GSH-Px); decrease the expression of inflammatory factors (TNF-α) and interleukin (IL-1β and IL-6); increase the expression of apoptotic factor (Bcl-2); and decrease the expression of apoptotic factors (caspase-3 and Bax). It showed that the triterpenoids of Ganoderma lucidum had significant protective effects on oxidative stress and apoptosis of chicken spleen, which provided a theoretical basis for further prevention and treatment of cadmium poisoning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gyrocenter dynamics of charged particles plays a fundamental and important role in plasma physics, which requires accuracy and conservation in a long-time simulation. Variational symplectic algorithms and canonicalized symplectic algorithms have been developed for gyrocenter dynamics. However, variational symplectic methods are always unstable, and canonicalized symplectic methods need coordinates transformation case by case, which is usually difficult to find. Based on the fact that the Hamiltonian function describing the energy of the system is invariant, we develop energy-preserving algorithms for gyrocenter dynamics systematically using the discrete gradient method. The given integrators have significant advantages in preserving energy and efficiency over long-time simulations, compared with non-symplectic methods and canonicalized symplectic algorithms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we study symplectic simulation of dark solitons motion of nonlinear Schrödinger equation (NLSE). The Ablowitz-Ladik model (A-L model) of NLSE can be expressed as a non-canonical Hamiltonian system. By using splitting technique, we construct explicit splitting K-symplectic methods for the A-L model. On the other hand, the A-L model can be transformed into a canonical system and standard symplectic methods can be employed to perform numerical simulation. A second order K-symplectic method and a second order symplectic method are employed to simulate one dark soliton and two dark solitons motion for the A-L model and its canonicalized system respectively. By comparing with a third-order non-symplectic Runge-Kutta method, we show the superiorities of the two symplectic methods in long-term tracking the motion of dark solitons and preserving the invariants. We also compare the CPU times of K-symplectic methods and standard symplectic methods and show that the former ones are more efficient. The energy-preserving scheme is also applied for non-canonical Hamiltonian systems. The numerical results demonstrate that the K-symplectic methods can nearly preserve the energy, the discrete invariants of A-L model and conserved quantities of NLSE, but the energy-preserving scheme can only exactly preserve the energy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A series of 16BaF2–(84 −x)NaPO3–xYF3–yErF3 (x = 0, 12, 24, 36, and 48 mol%; y = 0.1, 0.5, and 1 mol%) glasses were prepared via the conventional melt-quenching method and subsequently heated to synthesize glass ceramics containing Er3+-doped Na5Y9F32 crystals. The structures of glasses and glass ceramics were characterized by multiple advanced one- and two-dimensional solid-state magic angle spinning nuclear magnetic resonance (MAS NMR) techniques. At the atomic level, multiple phosphorus species Qn (n = 0, 1, and 2) were resolved. Here, the value n denotes the number of P–O–P bonds, which can be quantified by 2D J-resolved spectroscopy. The connectivity between F− ions and cations was detected by the rotational echo double resonance (REDOR) and the J-coupling based heteronuclear multiple quantum coherence (HMQC) method. With the increase of YF3 content, the phosphate network depolymerized gradually. 31P and 19F MAS spectra, as well as 23Na {31P} and 23Na {19F} REDOR results, consistently proved that Y3+ ions, replacing partial Ba2+ and Na+ ions, aggregated around phosphorus tetrahedrons [PO4]3−, whereas partial Ba2+ and Na+ ions moved away from [PO4]3− to bond with F− ions and formed Y–F…Na and Ba–F…Na linkages. All cations could exist as oxygen and fluorine complex ligand units M(OxFy), besides single oxygen ligand units M(Ox+y), where M represents cations in glasses. When YF3 content reached 48% by mole, micro-regions enriched in Y–F…Na linkages were formed, which promoted the crystallization. 31P MAS spectra indicated that the crystallization of Na5Y9F32 crystals has not affected the local structure of phosphorus species. Intensive upconversion luminescence can be observed in the fluoro-phosphate glass ceramics containing Er3+:Na5Y9F32 crystals. On the basis of these complementary evidences from solid-state NMR experiments and luminescence spectra, a novel structure evolution model during crystallization is developed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]