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Objective: Primary spinal cord glioblastoma (PSCGBM) is a rare malignancy with a poor prognosis. To date, no prognostic nomogram for this rare disease was established. Hence, we aimed to develop a nomogram to predict overall survival (OS) of PSCGBM. Methods: Clinical data of patients with PSCGBM was retrospectively collected from the neurosurgery department of Soochow University Affiliated Second Hospital and the Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results database. Information including age, sex, race, tumor extension, extent of resection, adjuvant treatment, marital status, income, year of diagnosis and months from diagnosis to treatment were recorded. Univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses were used to identify independent prognostic factors for PSCGBM. A nomogram was constructed to predict 1-year, 1.5-year, and 2-year OS of PSCGBM. Results: A total of 132 patients were included. The 1-year, 1.5-year, and 2-year OS were 45.5%, 29.5%, and 18.9%, respectively. Four variables: age groups, tumor extension, extent of resection, and adjuvant therapy, were identified as independent prognostic factors. The nomogram showed robust discrimination with a C-index value for the prediction of 1-year OS, 1.5-year OS, and 2-year of 0.71 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.61–0.70), 0.72 (95% CI, 0.62–0.70), and 0.70 (95% CI, 0.61–0.70), respectively. The calibration curves exhibited high consistencies between the predicted and observed survival probability in this cohort. Conclusion: We have developed and internally validated a nomogram for predicting the survival outcome of PSCGBM for the first time. The nomogram has the potential to assist clinicians in making individualized predictions of survival outcome of PSCGBM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Determining how mountain communities in conservation priority areas can benefit from rich local biodiversity through sustainable development has been a challenge to governments throughout the world. The village of Hanlong in western Yunnan China has been developing bird photography tourism to capitalize on the extremely rich avifaunal diversity of the area. In this study, we analyzed the impact of the emerging tourism on local communities' livelihoods and identified the key areas of improvements for wider dissemination of the experiences. Bird photography tourism in Hanlong has contributed significantly to the sustainable livelihoods of local communities by providing a major new source of income, creating local employment opportunities, and reducing local people's dependence on the extractive use of forest resources. In the process, local communities have acquired new knowledge, skills, and social networks. They have also developed new institutions and governance mechanisms, which enable them to better adapt to the changing socioeconomic environment. Bird photography tourism offers new opportunities and hope for sustaining local livelihoods and biodiversity in conservation priority areas. Experiences in Hanlong offer an excellent heuristic example for sustainable community development, adaptation, and transformational change in conservation priority areas. They also contribute to the realization of the Sustainable Development Goals and Aichi targets and thus have value for wider upscaling. Geographical location, local leadership, and external support are all important for the success of bird photography in Hanlong. We recommend that a landscape (including transboundary landscape) approach be adopted to integrate farming practices, other economic activities, and photography tourism. Farming practices and land uses that sustain bird diversity should be encouraged.

The aim of this study is to determine whether phosphorylation of AKT could be effected by t-AUCB-induced p-Hsp27 and whether p-AKT inhibition sensitizes glioblastoma cells to t-AUCB, and to evaluate the effects of simultaneous inhibition of p-Hsp27 and p-AKT on t-AUCB treated glioblastoma cells. Cell growth was detected using CCK-8 assay; Caspase-3 activity assay kits and flow cytometry were used in apoptosis analysis; Western blot analysis was used to detect p-Hsp27 and p-AKT levels; RNA interference using the siRNA oligos of Hsp27 was performed to knockdown gene expression of Hsp27. All data were analyzed by the Student-Newman-Keul's test. We demonstrated that t-AUCB treatment induces AKT phosphorylation by activating Hsp27 in U251 and LN443 cell lines. Inhibition of AKT phosphorylation by AKT inhibitor IV sensitizes glioblastoma cells to t-AUCB, strengthens t-AUCB suppressing cell growth and inducing cell apoptosis. We also found inhibiting both p-Hsp27 and p-AKT synergistically strengthen t-AUCB suppressing cell growth. Thus, p-AKT induced by p-Hsp27 confers the apoptosis-resistance in t-AUCB-treated glioblastoma cells. Targeting p-Hsp27 and/or p-AKT may be a potential effective strategy for the treatment of glioblastoma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to visualize hypoxic tissues, a 99mTc complex containing a nitroimidazole group was evaluated. A new dithiocarbamate ligand, potassium 2-(4-nitro-1H-imidazolyl)ethyl dithiocarbamate (NIET) was synthesized. The corresponding nitridotechnetium complex was formed by a ligand exchange method. The dependence of the radiolabeling yield of 99mTcN-NIET on the amount of added stannous chloride and other parameters was screened by the normal procedure. Under optimized labeling conditions, the radiolabeling yield of 99mTcN-NIET is about 90%. The biodistribution of 99mTcN-NIET in mice bearing S180 tumor demonstrated some uptake in tumor and a tumor-to-muscle ratio of 3.14 at 4 hours after injection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective To establish a method for primary culture of adult mouse cardiac fibroblasts. Methods Myocardial tissues from adult mice were digested with 1 g/L trypsin and 0.8 g/L collagenase IV by oscillating water bath for a short time repeatedly. Cardiac fibroblasts and myocardial cells were isolated with differential adhesion method. Immunofluorescence staining was used to assess the purity of cardiac fibroblasts. The cell morphology was observed under an inverted phase contrast microscope. The proliferation of cardiac fibroblasts was analyzed by growth curve and CCK-8 assay. The Smad2/3 phosphorylation induced by TGF-β1 was detected by Western blotting. Results After 90 minutes of differential adhesion, adherent fibroblasts formed spherical cell mass and after 3 days, cells were spindle-shaped and proliferated rapidly. Cells were confluent after 5 days and the growth curve presented nearly "S" shape. The positive expression rate of vimentin was 95%. CCK-8 assay showed that the optimal cell proliferating activity was found from day 3 to day 5. The level of phosphorylated Smad2/3 obviously increased at the second passage induced by TGF-β1. Conclusion This method is economical and stable to isolate cardiac fibroblasts with high activity and high purity from adult mice.

Objective: To compare and estimate the diagnostic value and characteristic of different diagnostic methods (blood laboratory test, histological analysis, synovial fluid cytological test and microbiological examination) in detecting the presence of periprosthetic joint infection., Methods: Data of 52 patients underwent hip or knee joint revision in Peking University People's Hospital Arthritis Clinic and Research Center between July 2013 and March 2015 were analyzed retrospectively. For each patient, results of blood laboratory tests(peripheral-blood white blood cell, C-reactive protein (CRP), erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), interleukin-6 (IL-6) and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (Hs-CRP)), histological analysis, synovial fluid white cell count (SWCC), microbiological examinations (synovial fluid, tissue and prosthetic joint sonication fluid) were collected. Data were analyzed by t-test, independent sample median test or χ(2) test, respectively. Sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value and accuracy for each method were calculated and compared by receiver operating characteristic curve., Results: There were 30 female and 22 male patients. Twenty-one patients (40.4%) were diagnosed as PJI. The levels of CRP, ESR, IL-6 and Hs-CRP in patients with PJI were higher than that in aseptic failure patients (Z=23.084, 13.499, 5.796, 17.045, all P<0.05). The sensitivities of CRP, ESR, IL-6 and Hs-CRP were 90.5%, 81.0%, 95.0% and 90.0%. The sensitivities of histological analysis and SWCC were 55.0% and 70.6%, while they had high specificity as 89.7% and 85.7%. The sensitivity of sonication fluid culture was 90.0%, which was higher than that of tissue culture (71.4%) and synovial fluid culture (65.0%) (χ(2) = 5.333, 6.400, all P<0.05)., Conclusions: The tests of CRP, ESR, IL-6 and Hs-CRP have good value in detecting PJI preoperatively. Histological analysis and SWCC have high specificity, which could help to exclude PJI. Sonication fluid culture has a higher sensitivity than tissue culture and synovial fluid culture.