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Background As a structurally and functionally important component in forest ecosystems, plant debris plays a crucial role in the global carbon cycle. Although it is well known that plant debris stocks vary greatly with tree species composition, forest type, forest origin, and stand age, simultaneous investigation on the changes in woody and non-woody debris biomass and their carbon stock with forest succession has not been reported. Therefore, woody and non-woody debris and carbon stocks were investigated across a subalpine forest successional gradient in Wanglang National Nature Reserve on the eastern Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. Results Plant debris ranged from 25.19 to 82.89 Mg∙ha− 1 and showed a global increasing tendency across the subalpine forest successional series except for decreasing at the S4 successional stage. Accordingly, the ratios of woody to non-woody debris stocks ranged from 26.58 to 208.89, and the highest and lowest ratios of woody to non-woody debris stocks were respectively observed in mid-successional coniferous forest and shrub forest, implying that woody debris dominates the plant debris. In particular, the ratios of coarse to fine woody debris stocks varied greatly with the successional stage, and the highest and lowest ratios were found in later and earlier successional subalpine forests, respectively. Furthermore, the woody debris stock varied greatly with diameter size, and larger diameter woody debris dominated the plant debris. Correspondingly, the carbon stock of plant debris ranged from 10.30 to 38.87 Mg∙ha− 1 across the successional series, and the highest and lowest values were observed in the mid-coniferous stage and shrub forest stage, respectively. Most importantly, the carbon stored in coarse woody debris in later successional forests was four times higher than in earlier successional forests. Conclusions The stock and role of woody debris, particularly coarse woody debris, varied greatly with the forest successional stage and dominated the carbon cycle in the subalpine forest ecosystem. Thus, preserving coarse woody debris is a critical strategy for sustainable forest management.

The incidence of melanoma is rising globally including China. Comparing to Caucasians, the incidence of non-cutaneous melanomas is significantly higher in Chinese. Herein, we performed genomic profiling of 89 Chinese surgically resected primary melanomas, including acral (n = 54), cutaneous (n = 22), and mucosal (n = 13), by hybrid capture-based next-generation sequencing. We show that mucosal melanomas tended to harbor more pathogenic mutations than other types of melanoma, though the biological significance of this finding remains uncertain. Chromosomal arm-level alterations including 6q, 9p, and 10p/q loss were highly recurrent in all subtypes, but mucosal melanoma was significantly associated with increased genomic instability. Importantly, 7p gain significantly correlated with unfavorable clinical outcomes in non-cutaneous melanomas, representing an intriguing prognostic biomarker of those subtypes. Furthermore, focal amplification of 4q12 (KIT, KDR, and PDGFRα) and RAD51 deletion were more abundant in mucosal melanoma, while NOTCH2 amplification was enriched in acral melanoma. Additionally, cutaneous melanomas had higher mutation load than acral melanomas, while mucosal melanomas did not differ from other subtypes in mutation burden. Together, our data revealed important features of acral and mucosal melanomas in Chinese including distinctive driver mutation pattern and increased genomic instability. These findings highlight the possibilities of combination therapies in the clinical management of melanoma.

Two-dimensional model tests combined with PIV technology were conducted to study the failure behavior of strip footing on geosynthetic-reinforced granular soil foundations on a mesoscale. The results showed that geosynthetic reinforcements improve the bearing capacity of granular soil foundations; however, the effectiveness of the reinforcement was affected by the position, length, and number of geosynthetics. The mesoscale factor affecting the reinforcement effectiveness was the size of the sliding wedge in the foundation, which was changed by the embedded geosynthetics. As the depth, length, number, and vertical spacing of the reinforcements varied, three possible failure modes occurred in the reinforced foundations: failure above the top reinforcement layer, failure between reinforcement layers, and failure similar to footings on the unreinforced foundation.

9550 Background: Mucosal melanoma is a rare subtype in white populations, but the second most common subtype in Asian populations. This subtype is a more aggressive malignancy, with high risk of metastasis and death. Immune checkpoint inhibitor combined with anti-angiogenic agent has been investigated in many solid tumors, including some preliminary evidence (NCT03086174 and NCT04091217) in Chinese patients with advanced mucosal melanoma. This study investigated the efficacy and safety of camrelizumab plus apatinib in patients with advanced mucosal melanoma. Methods: In this prospective, single-arm study (ChiCTR1900023277), patients with inoperable stage III-IV or recurrent/metastatic mucosal melanoma and Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status of 0-1 were enrolled. Patients received camrelizumab 200 mg once every 2 weeks and apatinib 500 mg once daily until disease progression or intolerable toxicity. The primary endpoint was objective response rate (ORR) according to the Response Evaluation Criteria In Solid Tumors, version 1.1. Results: Between April 2019 and January 2022, a total of 30 patients were enrolled (Table). As of January 2022, 21 patients had at least one efficacy assessment, and the median follow-up duration was 8.1 months. The ORR was 42.9%, including one (4.8%) patient with confirmed complete response, six (28.6%) with confirmed partial response (PR), and two (9.5%) with unconfirmed PR. The disease control rate (DCR) was 81.0%. The median progression-free survival was 7.2 months (95%CI, 5.8-not reached [NR]) in 21 patients, 7.7 months (95%CI, 5.8-NR) in 19 patients with first-line camrelizumab plus apatinib treatment, and 9.8 months (95%CI, 4.2-NR) in 11 patients without prior chemotherapy. The most common treatment-related adverse events in 27 patients with available safety data were fatigue (17 [63.0%]), hypertension (15 [55.6%]), and elevated transaminase (14 [51.9%]). No treatment-related deaths occurred. Exploratory analysis found a tendency that patients with high T cell receptor diversity had better prognosis. Higher frequencies of Vβ-Jβ (including Vβ5-8Jβ2-7, Vβ28J2-4 and Vβ12-5Jβ1-1) indicate better survival, and Vβ12-5Jβ1-1 is an independent factor after multivariate adjustment. Conclusions: Camrelizumab plus apatinib showed favorable ORR and DCR in patients with advanced mucosal melanoma, with an acceptable safety profile. Follow-up for survival outcomes is ongoing. Clinical trial information: ChiCTR1900023277. [Table: see text]

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the prognostic relevance of metabolic parameters measured using 18F-FDG PET/CT in patients with metastatic cutaneous malignant melanoma (CMM).Materials and Methods: The prognostic impact of whole-body metabolic tumor volume (wMTV), whole-body tumor lesion glycolysis (wTLG), maximum standardized uptake value (SUVmax) and mean standardized uptake value (SUVmean) was evaluated in 42 metastatic CMM patients who underwent 18F-FDG PET/CT. The metabolic parameters were dichotomized by optimal cutoff values using time-dependent receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves. In addition, univariate and multivariate analyses of the metabolic parameters were performed using the Kaplan-Meier method and Cox proportional hazards models.Results: The optimal cutoff values for disease-free survival (DFS) were 4.63 for SUVmax, 3.31 for SUVmean, 8.22 cm3 for wMTV, and 18.22 for wTLG. The optimal cutoff values for melanoma-specific survival (MSS) were 4.77 for SUVmax, 3.31 for SUVmean, 22.32 cm3 for wMTV, and 51.37 for wTLG. Thirty-two (72%) of the 42 patients experienced recurrence during the follow-up period, and 21 patients (50%) died from the disease. In univariate analysis, SUVmax greater than 4.63 (p= 0.025) and SUVmean greater than 3.31 (p= 0.011) affected DFS, while SUVmax greater than 4.77 (p= 0.039), wMTV greater than 22.32 (p= 0.023) and wMTV greater than 51.37 (p= 0.016) affected MSS. In multivariate analysis after adjustment for the effects of clinical parameters, SUVmax was the best predictive factor for DFS (p = 0.016), and SUVmax, wMTV and wTLG were the best predictive factors for MSS (p = 0.023, p = 0.018, and p = 0.007).Conclusions: SUVmax appears to be a strong independent prognostic factor for recurrence in metastatic CMM, and SUVmax, wMTV and wTLG were found to be the best predictive markers for melanoma-specific death.

Consumers are often overlooked as key drivers of vegetation structure and ecosystem functioning in coastal wetlands. This oversight is particularly apparent in Asia, where much of the variation in coastal wetland plant growth and composition is attributed to physical stress gradients. To address this knowledge gap and quantify the relative importance of consumers in Asian coastal wetlands across temporal variation in environmental stress, we conducted a two-year experiment spanning relatively spring wet (2018) and spring dry (2019) years in which we manipulated the presence of the numerically dominant herbivorous crab, Helice tientsinensis, and evaluated its effects on Phragmites australis growth and structure in a Yellow River Delta salt marsh. In spring wetter 2018, Phragmites biomass and stem density were 75% and 34% higher in Crab Exclusion relative to Ambient Crab plots. In 2019 which experienced spring drought and elevated soil salinity, Phragmites biomass and stem density remained similarly high relative to 2018 in Crab Exclusion plots, but fell further, to only 16% and 39% of levels of 2018 observed in Ambient Crab plots. Phragmites' inflorescences density was also significantly reduced in Ambient Crab than Crab Exclusion plots in 2019. Together, these results highlight the significant role that crab herbivores can play in regulating Phragmites in Yellow River Delta salt marshes and suggest that the magnitude of their top-down control may be amplified, although in a non-additive manner, with spring drought stress in the region.

Along with quickly emerging applications, including 5G, IOT (Internet of Things), Auto Piloting, etc., in industry, demands for local large-scale data analysis and AI (Artificial Intelligence) processing on edge is growing rapidly. As a result, hardware power consumption for edge computing is increasing fast. At the same time, high-power edge computing products are supposed to fit into non-data center scenarios such as 5G edge network, Roads Side Control Unit (RSCU), smart factory, etc. This paper introduces a typical edge server, investigates the environmental requirements for non-data center scenarios and studies on technical feasibility of further extending working temperature, dustproof, waterproof, anti-condensation, etc., and proposed a completed, environmental reliable solution for edge hardware products. The proposed Cloud Edge Server also extends AI server products and environmental adaptability on edge. The same PCB (Printed Circuit Board) can support flexible AI hardware accelerators and storage configurations for diverse applications. And, it can fit into different outdoor and indoor scenarios with only changing chassis design which helps dramatically reducing total deployment cost and achieve better ROI (Return on Investment).

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a common malignant tumor in China. In the present study, we aimed to construct and verify a prediction model of recurrence in HCC patients using databases (TCGA, AMC and Inserm) and machine learning methods and obtain the gene signature that could predict early relapse of HCC. Statistical methods, such as feature selection, survival analysis and Chi-Square test in R software, were used to analyze and select mutant genes related to disease free survival (DFS), race and vascular invasion. In addition, whole-exome sequencing was performed on 10 HCC patients recruited from our center, and the sequencing results were compared with the databases. Using the databases and machine learning methods, the prediction model of recurrence was constructed and optimized, and the selected mutant genes were verified in the test group. The accuracy of prediction was 74.19%. Moreover, these 10 patients from our center were used to verify these mutant genes and the prediction model, and a success rate of 80% was achieved. Collectively, we discovered recurrence-related genes and established recurrence prediction model of recurrence for HCC patients, which could provide significant guidance for clinical prediction of recurrence.

China has implemented forest policies and expanded protected areas to halt deforestation and protect giant panda habitats. These policies simultaneously encouraged local communities to raise livestock that then freely range in forests. This grazing had unintended consequences. As an alternative livelihood, it has become the most prevalent human disturbance across the panda's range. How do free-ranging livestock impact giant panda habitats and what are the implications for future conservation and policy on a larger scale? We use Wanglang National Nature Reserve as a case study. It has seen a nine-fold livestock increase during past 15 years. We combined bamboo survey plots, GPS collar tracking, long-term monitoring, and species distribution modelling incorporating species interaction to understand the impacts across spatial and temporal scales. Our results showed that livestock, especially horses, lead to a significant reduction of bamboo biomass and regeneration. The most intensively used areas by livestock are in the valleys, which are also the areas that pandas prefer. Adding livestock presence to predictive models of the giant panda's distribution yielded a higher accuracy and suggested livestock reduce panda habitat by 34%. Pandas were driven out of the areas intensively used by livestock. We recommend the nature reserve carefully implement a livestock ban and prioritise removing horses because they cause the greater harm. To give up livestock, local communities prefer long-term subsidies or jobs to a one-time payment. Thus, we recommend the government provide payments for ecosystem services that create jobs in forest stewardship or tourism while reducing the number of domestic animals.

This paper performs a numerical investigation on the kinetic behaviors of dry granular flows generated by the collapse of granular columns with different fractal particle size distributions (FPSDs) using the discrete element method. The FPSD has a remarkable impact on the regime and mobility of a granular flow. As the fractal dimension of a granular assembly increases, the translational velocities of the particles increase in the horizontal direction, whereas the rotational velocities decrease. The number of particles involved in the horizontal spreading increases due to the decreasing intensity of the contact shearing particle behavior. These increased translational velocities in the horizontal direction effectively facilitate particle spreading. A boundary layer is formed at the front bottom of the granular body in which the clockwise rotational velocities of particles are significantly increased, thereby benefiting particle spreading. The whole front of the granular flow obtains an immense spreading velocity. Moreover, the translational and rotational characteristics are dependent on the particle size. Smaller particles tend to translate and rotate faster than larger particles because of the greater particle contact forces of the former. As the fractal dimension increases, medium- and large-size particles obtain less kinetic energy than do small-size particles. Therefore, small-size particles play a crucial role in the mobility of granular flows in a granular assembly with a high fractal dimension.

e21555 Background: To map the genome of Chinese melanoma patients and explore its correlation with the expression of tumor immune microenvironmental indicators. Methods: Next generation sequencing was performed on 87 cases of primary melanoma that had been surgically removed from Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital from July 2010 to May 2017. Immunohistochemistry was carried out to detect the expressions of PD1, PDL1, CD3+TIL, MSH2, MSH6, PMS2 and MLH1. Results: BRAF mutations were the most common (26.4%), followed by KIT mutations (12.6%) in melanoma patients. RB1 gene copy number deletion (55%) and CDK4 (25%)/CCND1 (22.5%) gene copy number amplification were also common. The prognosis of patients could be distinguished by grouping the expression of PDL1 and TIL, and the difference may be related to the expression of PD1. There were more copy number amplication of genes with poor prognosis in PDL1-TIL- patients. Conclusions: The classification of tumors into four microenvironmental subtypes based on PDL1 and TIL expression is an appropriate method to stratify patients with different clinical outcomes. At the genetic level, there are more copy number amplification of the genes with poor prognosis in patients with TIL-PDL1- type, so the prognosis is always worse than that of patients with TIL+PDL1+ type. Gene may affect the prognosis of patients by affecting the tumor immune microenvironment.

Despite broad recognition that nature reserves protect local biodiversity and rare species effectively, the wider benefits and costs provided by this conservation approach relative to alternative approaches are not well understood. This study addressed this research gap by quantifying differences in ecosystem services provision of two alternative conservation management approaches in a strictly protected nature reserve in China based on (1) existing strict regulations versus (2) extrapolation of those in an adjacent Natural Forest Protection Project (NFPP) allowing the use of natural resources by local communities. Using a new Toolkit for Ecosystem Services Site-based Assessment (TESSA), we demonstrated the nature reserve provides more valuable ecosystem services than it would have done if managed like the adjacent NFPP. In comparison, the nature reserve provides greater benefits in terms of carbon stock, carbon sequestration, and recreation, at the national and global scale. The monetary benefits of the nature reserve could cover all conservation management costs, making it a more worthwhile approach for conservation and beneficiaries. Thus, our study highlights the importance of strictly protected nature reserves in China, demonstrating the importance of balancing conservation and development to governmental managers and local residents, and could be used to guide eco-compensation for local beneficiaries.

Functional no-flow is a topic of considerable interest in the research and management of the Yellow River. The operation of the Xiaolangdi Reservoir has been a source of concern regarding hydraulic characteristics and hydro-environmental responses. However, the impacts of the reservoir on functional no-flow events have not been reported to date. Using a complete set of daily hydrological data from four key hydrological stations for the past six decades and at three different temporal scales (year, wet season and dry season), the differences in incoming water and functional no-flow events have been compared before and after the Xiaolangdi Reservoir began operation, using two sets of critical runoff values that were summarized from previous studies. The results indicate that the frequency of functional no-flow events has decreased since the Xiaolangdi Reservoir began to operate, based on critical runoff or discharge values defined by long term hydrological records, and the frequency decreased more when the critical values defining the new situation were used. However, functional no-flow events still occurred in the Lower Yellow River, especially in the lower reach during the wet season. The degree of severity of the functional no-flow events and the magnitude and variation of daily discharge are strongly linearly related before and after the reservoir began operation, regardless of which set of critical values were used to identify the functional no-flow events.

The focus of this paper is on studying novel approaches to estimate sediment exchange between suspended-load and bed material in an unsteady sediment-laden flow with fine-grained sand. The erosion-deposition characteristics of the channel have close relation with the variation of size compositions of both suspended-load and bed material. These aims are addressed by deducing the sediment exchange equations from the mass conservation perspective and establishing a river-sediment mathematical model based on the theory. The model is applied in the middle and lower Yellow River, China, and calibrated and verified under both deposition and erosion conditions using a generalized channel and a large quantity of measured data in the Yellow River basin. The results indicate that the grading curves of suspended-load and bed material calculated by the mathematical model are close to those of the measured data. The temporal and spatial variations in the mean sizes of suspended-load and bed material, flow rate, sediment concentration and erosion or deposition volume estimates during the entire flood process can be accurately predicted. The model performance is considered acceptable for determining the sediment exchange process and the change in channel morphology for unsteady sediment-laden flow.

e16773 Background: Pancreatic cancer is a kind of digestive tumor with low incidence but high degree of malignancy. It is characterized by difficult in early detection and invasive metastasis. Together with high recurrence and metastasis rate after resection, the prognosis of pancreatic cancer is extremely poor. To explore the role of BRCA1 mRNA expression in the chemotherapy of unresectable pancreatic cancer and the synergistic effect of chemotherapy and immunotherapy, our center has carried out a clinical trial which focuses on individualized chemotherapy combined with sequential immunotherapy according to BRCA1 mRNA expression in the first-line treatment of unresectable pancreatic cancer. Methods: The expression of BRCA1 mRNA in tumor tissues of patients with pancreatic cancer was detected. According to the expression level, gemcitabine combined with nab-paclitaxel-based or gemcitabine combined with oxaliplatin-based biweekly chemotherapy combined with sequential GM-CSF and IL-2 immunotherapy was applied. Patients’ conditions and the efficacy and safety were assessed every 4 cycles. Results: A total of 25 patients were enrolled in the study. All of them were observed for toxic side effects and 24 of them were evaluated for efficacy. The median overall survival and median progression-free survival were 11.9 months and 6.3 months. The disease control rate was 91.7%, of which 37.5% (9/24) patients achieved partial remission (PR), 54.2% (13/24) patients achieved stable disease (SD) and 8.3% (2/24) patients were assessed as progressive disease(PD). Of the 15 patients with medium or high expression in BRCA1 mRNA, 7 achieved PR and 8 achieved SD. Of the 9 patients with low BRCA1 mRNA expression, 2 achieved PR, 5 achieved SD and 2 had PD. The proportion of eosinophils in the blood of some patients with good therapeutic effects was significantly higher than that before treatment. Hematological and non-hematological toxicity during the treatment were mostly grade 1~2. The two most common grade 3~4 adverse events were fever and thrombocytopenia. Conclusions: Our results suggest that individualized selection of chemotherapy combined with sequential immunotherapy according to BRCA1 mRNA expression level in the treatment of unresectable pancreatic cancer have curative effect and controllable adverse reactions. The improvement of treatment efficiency may be related to the activation of non-specific immune response.

The paper described one new species from Sichuan, China. The new species, i.e. Pseudocosmetura wanglangensis sp. nov. differs from the known species of the genus in its distinctive male cercus and epiproct.

To assess the association of plasma cytokines and growth factor levels with clinical characteristics and inflammatory indices in patients with gastric cancer. Plasma samples derived from 99 gastric cancer patients were used for analysis. Levels of interferon (IFN)-γ, tumor growth factor (TGF)-β1, tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-2, IL-4, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, IL-12p40, IL-12p70, and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) were measured by Luminex suspension array technology. The association between cytokine/growth factor levels and demographic/clinical characteristics was assessed. Correlation between cytokines and growth factor levels was assessed by Pearson's correlation analysis. Male patients had significant higher levels of plasma TNF-α, IL-12p70, IL-4, IL-10, and VEGF as compared with those in women (P

In general, the discharge capacity of hydraulic structures in the sediment-laden river is calculated based on the discharge coefficient from the hydraulic manual or clean water model test. The method is suitable for the river with less sand. However, to the sediment-laden river, the change of muddy water’s physical characteristics induced by the sediment has a great effect on discharge capacity. As a widely applied weir in the sediment-laden river, WES practical weir’s discharge capacity directly influences the hydraulic structures’ layout form, flood-releasing scheme, and engineering safety. In this paper, a new three-dimensional electromagnetic current meter was put forward to be used in the model test of a rectangular water tank of 0.4 m wide and 30 m long. The muddy water with various sediment concentrations flowing over the WES weir was made by adding the sediment with a particle diameter of 0.027 mm, and the relevant hydraulic parameters were measured systematically. It was shown that, when the value of sediment concentration was less than 100 kg/m3, the composite discharge coefficient had no distinct correlation with the sediment concentration. When the value of sediment concentration was between 100 and 400 kg/m3, the composite discharge coefficient decreased with the increase of the sediment concentration. When the value of sediment concentration was greater than 400 kg/m3, the composite discharge coefficient increased with the increase of the sediment concentration. Based on the results of a series of model experiments and the natural river’s data analyses, the deviation effect from sediment concentration on WES practical weir’s discharge coefficient was demonstrated from the point of sediment-laden flow structure and motion mechanism, and the deviation modification of the weir flow’s discharge coefficient was stated under the condition of the sediment-laden flow. The calculation formulas of WES weir’s discharge capacity, which is available for different values of sediment concentration, were put forward with the method of dimension and correlation analyses, and the results were verified and corrected through the engineering observation data. The research results in this paper play an important role in the fundamental research of hydraulics and the construction of river regulation. The study not only provides a better calculation method of discharge capacity for WES weir but also has important academic and practical value for making sure the discharge capacity of hydraulic structures in the sediment-laden river.

Clinical reports of primary sphenoid sinus melanoma and isolated gastric metastatic melanoma are rare. Thus, to the best of our knowledge, the present study reports the first case of isolated gastric metastasis from a sphenoid sinus melanoma. The aim of the present study was to discuss the clinicopathological and radiographic characteristics, the treatment strategy and the prognosis of sphenoid sinus metastatic malignant melanoma of the stomach. Although almost 60% of patients who succumb to melanoma exhibit gastrointestinal metastases at autopsy, antemortem diagnosis is uncommon; this is predominantly due to gastric metastatic melanoma presenting with non-specific symptoms similar to other common gastrointestinal diseases. Gastrectomy may prolong overall survival and improve the quality of life for gastric metastatic melanoma patients, and the present case emphasizes the importance of palliative surgery in such cases.

Tremendous progress has been made in the field of immunotherapy through various research studies and clinical trials. This work has led to significant breakthroughs in the treatment of malignant tumors. Immunotherapy treatment is an additional treatment option to other novel approaches, including immune checkpoint inhibitors and signaling pathway inhibitors; those have demonstrated clear efficacy in the treatment of numerous cancer types. Some examples include malignant melanoma, kidney cancer, lung cancer, and urinary bladder cancer. Adoptive cell therapy (ACT) has also shown clear effects in the treatment of different malignant diseases. ACT is a highly personalized cancer therapy that takes advantage of immune cells that infiltrate tumors for direct anticancer activities. ACT utilizes either natural host cells, such as lymphokine-activated killer cells (LAK), cytokine-induced killer cells (CIK), tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TIL), and cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL), or host cells that have been genetically engineered to possess antitumor T cell receptors (TCRs) or chimeric antigen receptors (CARs). This chapter profiles ACT in cancer immunotherapy based on reliable data, some of which demonstrates the use of this cell therapy for the treatment of gastric cancer.

9576 Background: The incidence of melanoma subtypes differs significantly among ethnicities. Ultraviolet (UV) radiation-driven melanomas are common in Caucasians, while non-cutaneous melanomas including acral and mucosal melanomas are more frequent in Asians. It will be of great interest and clinical relevance to decipher the molecular pathogenesis of different melanoma subtypes. Methods: We retrospectively studied a cohort of 89 Chinese melanoma patients who underwent surgical resection of their primary tumors followed by chemotherapy. Genomic profiling of primary melanomas was performed using next generation sequencing by targeting 422 cancer-relevant genes. The Kaplan-Meier method and logrank test were used for survival analysis, and a cox model was used for multivariate survival analysis. Results: Acral melanomas (54/89, 60%) were the most common subtype of this cohort, while cutaneous and mucosal subtypes accounted for 25% and 15%, respectively. Mutation profiling revealed that BRAF was most frequently mutated in cutaneous melanomas, but aberrant BRAF, RAS, KIT, and NF1 were almost evenly represented in acral and mucosal melanomas; of note, mucosal melanomas had a propensity for concurrent driver mutations. Chromosomal alterations were detected across all subtypes, and chr7p amplification significantly correlated with poor prognosis while independently of melanoma subtypes. Furthermore, acral and mucosal melanomas demonstrated higher rates of focal copy number variations (CNVs) than cutaneous melanomas. The amplification of CDK4/CCND1 and NOTCH2 was observed predominantly in acral melanomas , and RAD51 loss was significantly enriched in mucosal melanomas correlating with poor survival. In addition, the tumor mutation burden (TMB) was significantly lower in acral or mucosal melanomas than in cutaneous melanomas. Conclusions: Our findings revealed distinct patterns of driver mutations and chromosomal alterations in acral and mucosal melanomas in contrast to cutaneous melanoma, and highlighted the association of chromosome 7p amplification and RAD51 deletion with unfavourable survival in melanoma patients treated with standard chemotherapy.

Two chitooligosaccharide samples (COS1 and COS2) were prepared by enzymatic degradation of chitosan. The molecular weight of the main component was determined by mass spectrometry to be 2340 and 4303, respectively. They showed cholesteric liquid crystal structures in concentrated solutions. The critical concentrations to form a lyotropic liquid crystalline phase in formic acid were measured by means of polarized optical microscopy, refractometry and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The results from the three methods agreed with each other. The experimental value of COS2 was quantitatively consistent with that calculated according to Khokhlov and Semenov theory. But the experimental value of COS1 diverged from the theoretical one, which is explained by the inaccuracy at higher concentrations of the second virial approximation underlying this theory.

e23200 Background: To discuss the regulate effect of Ginsenoside Rg3 during the TGF-β1 induced EMT in human gastric cancer SNU-601 cell line. Methods: In the first part of our experiment, ninety-nine patients who were diagnosed as gastric cancer were admitted to this study eventually. The Luminex® xMAP technology was used to measure the plasma levels of TGF-β1. In the second part, human gastric cancer SNU-601 cell line were cultured normally. Inverted microscope was used to observe morphological changes. The cell relative growth rate of proliferation was analyzed by MTT assay. Wound-healing assay and transwell invasion assay were carried out to predict the capacity of Ginsenoside Rg3 in inhibiting migration and invasion. Western Blot was performed to analyze the influence of Ginsenoside Rg3 and TGF-β1 on the protein expression of E-cadherin and Vimentin. Results: The plasma cytokine levels of TGF-β1 were associated with vessel invasion, peritoneal involvement, TNM stage, T stage, N stage in gastric cancer patients. In Vitro Study, TGF-β1 stimulated epithelial-mesenchymal transition in SNU-601 cell lines. Ginsenoside Rg3 inhibited the TGF-β1 induced morphological changes, cell proliferation increase, cell migration and cell invasion. Ginsenoside Rg3 markedly increased expression of the epithelial marker E-cadherin, and repressed the upregulation and expression of the mesenchymal marker Vimentin during the TGF-β1 induced EMT in SNU-601 cell line. Conclusions: The plasma cytokine levels of TGF-β1 were associated with vessel invasion, peritoneal involvement, tumor stage in gastric cancer patients. TGF-β1 stimulated biological malignant behavior through EMT in gastric cancer. Ginsenoside Rg3 could inhibit the EMT induced by TGF-β1 in SNU-601 cell lines.

For the future development of the Lower Yellow River control program to provide information, the paper based on the condition of flow and sediment which is from 165 years in the downstream of Yellow River, comparison of the two governance sediment quantity of scour-silt which is obtained by using quasi-2D mathematical model for flow and sediment in unsteady flow. It also could offer comprehensive comparisons, and for future reference to the making of management.