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Parking reservation systems allocate large parking flows to popular parking lots, which may increase the queue length and waiting time at the entrances of those parking lots. To alleviate or even solve the queuing problem, this article proposes a moving amendment method to determine the allowable parking flow entering parking lots at each allocation time. Based on this, a system-oriented proportional allocation model is formulated with the consideration of parking lot entrance capacity constraints. With the proportional allocation model, the parking flow assigned to a parking lot is proportional to the entrance capacity of the parking lot. Then, an agent-based simulation is introduced to investigate the performance of the proportional allocation model. Finally, the simulation result of an empirical case study in the Wujiaochang central business district in Shanghai, China, shows that compared with an ordinary allocation scheme without the consideration of entrance capacity constraints, the proportional allocation model has potential to decrease the queue length and waiting time at parking lot entrances. The proposed proportional allocation model may assist in the design and operation of parking reservation systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The aim of this study was to evaluate the application of pulse contour cardiac output (PiCCO) in patients with traumatic shock. Methods: Seventy-eight patients with traumatic shock were included and grouped. The control group (CG, n = 39) underwent fluid resuscitation through transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) monitoring, and the research group (RG, n = 39) received PiCCO-guided fluid resuscitation. Results: The mechanical ventilation time, duration of vasoactive drug use, and duration of stay in the intensive care unit were lower in the RG compared to the CG (P <.05). At 72 h after fluid resuscitation, the mean arterial pressure and central venous pressure in the RG were higher than those in the CG (P <.05). The stroke volume variation and distensibility index of the inferior vena cava were lower at 72 h after fluid resuscitation, but the levels of extravascular lung water, global end-diastolic volume index, and intrathoracic blood volume index were higher in the RG (P <.05). The levels of endothelial 1, nitrogen monoxide, tumor necrosis factor-α, procalcitonin, C-reactive protein, and partial pressure of carbon dioxide at 72 h after fluid resuscitation in the RG were lower than those in the CG (P <.05). Conclusion: PiCCO-guided liquid resuscitation may help to accurately evaluate the volumetric parameters, alleviate symptoms of ischemia and hypoxia, regulate hemodynamics and blood gas analysis, reduce inflammatory reactions, improve endothelial functions, and effectively guide the usage of vascular active drugs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the increasing popularity of smart phones, Parking Reservation System (PRS) becomes practical to reduce the travel time in cruising for vacant spaces. The aim of this study is to assess the impact of PRS explicitly. This paper was started with analyzing the processes of cruising for vacant spaces and making parking reservation decisions. The vehicles were divided into two categories: the intelligent vehicles and the regular ones. Only the intelligent vehicles have the ability to make a parking reservation beforehand, while the regular ones have to cruise for vacant spaces. All involved components were treated as different agents, including vehicles, parking lots, network, and management center. Based on this, agent-based simulation was introduced to evaluate the performances of the scenarios with different penetration rates. The simulation results indicate the average travel time increases with the improvement of the penetration rates for the regular vehicles. The assessment method presented in this study would assist in promoting the performances of PRS in urban areas., 1. Introduction The shortage of parking spaces is one of the major ignored transportation issues in urban areas [1,2], mainly because the situation gained less attention than the roadway planning [...]

Context.--Constitutive activation of the FMS-like tyrosine kinase 3 (FLT3) receptor tyrosine kinase by internal tandem duplication (ITD) has been researched in patients with de novo acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Objective.--To study the patterns of FLT3-ITD in Chinese patients with AML. Design.--A total of 207 patients with de novo AML were enrolled in the study. Genomic DNA was extracted from peripheral blood and polymerase chain reaction was performed. GeneScan was used to analyze the mutant to wild-type ratio. The sequencing of mutated genes was performed to confirm the mutation types and exclude false positives. Results.--A total of 42 cases (20.3%) were associated with mutations. FLT3-ITD was found equally in AML subtypes M1 to M6. The level of the ITD allele was heterogeneous. GeneScan showed that the mutant to wild-type ratio ranged from 0.03 to 3.78 (median, 0.43). Patients with a high ratio had significantly lower cancer remission rates and shorter survival. They also showed distinct clinical features including higher white blood cell counts and higher CD7 and CD56 expression. The length of the duplicated fragment was 26 to 57 bp (median, 43 bp). Twenty-two cases (52%) had simple tandem duplications, while 20 other cases (48%) had an extra interval of 12 to 30 bp before the tandem duplications. A hexanucleotide consisting of GAAAAG was found exclusively in the intervals. Patients with this GAAAAG interval showed better survival. The ITD to wild-type ratio, gene pattern, and CD7 expression status appear to be independent prognostic indices for patients with AML. Conclusion.--Detection of FLT3 mutation is fast, easy, and inexpensive. The mutant to wild-type ratio is helpful for performing detailed risk stratification. DNA sequence analysis is more precise for confirming and evaluating the mutation pattern. (Arch Pathol Lab Med. 2012; 136:84-89; doi: 10.5858/arpa.2010-0700-OA), Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a genetically heterogeneous disease with accumulation of acquired genetic alterations in hematopoietic progenitor cells that disturb normal mechanisms of cell growth, proliferation, and differentiation. (1,2) [...]

A letter to the editor is presented which discusses the case of a 21-year-old man complaining with ecchymoses and gingival bleeding who underwent series of medical examinations revealing the presence of diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBL) that is associated to Immune thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP).

Objective: To investigate the short-term efficacy and safety of generic bortezomib in the treatment of Chinese patients with multiple myeloma (MM)., Methods: Clinical data of 62 MM patients (median age of 62 years) who had accepted at least 2 cycles of chemotherapy based on generic bortezomib in our center from December 2017 to July 2019 were retrospectively analyzed, including 47 newly diagnosed patients and 15 with disease recurrence or progression., Results: Anemia, renal dysfunction, hypoproteinemia and high level of β 2 -microglobulin were all improved rapidly after induction treatment. In 56 patients who had completed at least 4 cycles of chemotherapy, the overall response rate (ORR) was 85.7%, and 64.3% of the patients achieved very good partial response (VGPR) or better, and 28.6% achieved complete remission (CR) or better. In the 19 patients who had already completed all planned induction and consolidation treatment (9 cycles of chemotherapy or 4-6 cycles of chemotherapy plus autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation), 84.2% achieved VGPR or better, and 57.9% achieved CR or stringent complete remission (sCR). Median follow-up time was 300 days with data cut-off date of September 20, 2019, and the progression-free survival (PFS) rate and overall survival (OS) rate were 62.1% and 85.3%, respectively. The possible adverse reactions associated with bortezomib were grade 1-2, the most common hematologic adverse reaction was thrombocytopenia (27.4%), and the most common non-hematologic adverse reaction was peripheral neuropathy (43.5%), followed by asthenia (37.1%)., Conclusion: The disease severity can be rapidly alleviated after generic bortezomib-based chemotherapy, and a favorable short-term efficacy and survival have been observed with a generally acceptable toxicity profile. However, the long-term outcomes will be examined through further follow-up.

Objective: To investigate the effects of high dose vitamin C on proliferation and apoptosis of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) cell lines including HL-60, U937 and primary CD34 + leukemia cells in AML., Methods: CD34 + cells were sorted by using immunomagnetic cell sorting system, then the primary CD34 + leukemia cells, including HL-60 and U937 cell lines were cultured in vitro. Cells in each group were treated with different concentrations of vitamin C, the survival rate of cells was determined by MTT assay, the apoptosis rate of cells was evaluated by Annexin V/PI double staining, the expression of apoptotic proteins-including cleaved caspase 3, cleaved caspase-9 and cleaved PARP were detected by Western blot., Results: The proliferation of HL-60 and U937 cells could be inhibited by high dose vitamin C, which showed a concentration-dependent manner (r=-0.9664; r=-0.9796). HL-60 and U937 cells were treated with different concentrations of vitamin C (8 and 20 mmol/L) for 24 hours, respectively, it was found that with the increasing of vitamin C concentration, cell apoptosis rate was significantly increased (r=0.9905; r=0.9971), and the expression of apoptosis related proteins including cleaved caspase 3, cleaved caspase-9 and cleaved PARP was aslo significantly increased with the increasing of concentration. In addition, it was found that with or without the mutation of TET2, high dose vitamin C could inhibit the proliferation (r=-0.9719; r=-0.9699) and promote the apoptosis (r=0.9998; r=0.9901) of primary CD34 + leukemia cells in AML, which showed a dose-dependent manner, but it showed no effect on the proliferation (r=-0.2032) and apoptosis (r=0.1912) of normal CD34 + cells., Conclusion: High dose vitamin C can inhibit the proliferation and promote the apoptosis of acute myeloid leukemia cells, and selectively kill primary CD34 + leukemia cells in AML.

Objective: To test the effect of Artesunate (ART) on the proliferation of Raji cells, Jurkat cells and acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) primary cells; to determine the synergistic antiproliferation effect between ART and Vincristine (VCR) or Cytarabine(Ara-C) on Raji and Jurkat cells; and to explore the mechanism of ART induced apoptosis of tumor cells in vitro., Methods: MTT assay was performed to detect the inhibition of proliferation of Raji, Jurkat, and ALL primary cells. The cells were exposed to ART at various concentrations with or without VCR or Ara-C. The morphological changes of Raji and Jurkat cells were observed under light microscopy after Wright-Giemsa dyeing and electron transmission microscopy. The mitochondria transmenbrane potential was measured by Rhodamine 123 staining. Colorimetric method was used to measure the activities of caspase-3 in those tumor cells., Results: ART inhibited the proliferation of Raji cells, Jurkat cells and ALL primary cells. The cytotoxicity of ART on Raji cells and Jurkat cells at a low concentration increased when combined with VCR or Ara-C. Apoptosis in Raji cells and Jurkat cells appeared after exposure to ART. Raji cells and Jurkat cells exposed to ART showed mitochondria transmembrane potential collapse. ART increased the caspase-3 activities of Raji, Jurkat and ALL primary cells., Conclusion: ART alone or combined with chemotherapy drugs could inhibit the proliferation of B/T lymphocytic tumor cell lines as well ALL primary cells in vitro, probably through the mechanism of apoptosis, which suggest that ART is likely to be a potential drug in the treatment of leukemia/lymphoma.

The mechanisms of human bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (hBMMSCs)-mediated immunomodulation are still not be completely clarified. In order to investigate the expression of B7-H1 on hBMMSCs and to explore whether B7-H1 mediated signaling pathway (B7-H1/PD-1) involves in the mechanisms of hBMMSCs-mediated immunomodulation, the hBMMSCs were isolated, cultured and identified, the B7-H1 expression on hBMMSCs was detected by flow cytometry, RT-PCR, and Western blot. The inhibitory effect of hBMMSCs on proliferation of T lymphocytes was observed in mixed lymphocyte culture, and then the functional anti-B7-H1 monoclonal antibody (mcAb) was used to block B7-H1, the proliferation of T lymphocytes was detected by using CCK-8. The results indicated that hBMMSCs highly expressed B7-H1 molecule, hBMMSCs effectively inhibited the proliferation of T lymphocytes with a dose-dependent manner, and the inhibitory proliferation of T lymphocytes by hBMMSCs could be partially restored when the anti-B7-H1 mAb was used to block the B7-H1, the inhibitory rate of T lymphocyte proliferation decreased from 64.1% to 38.75%. It is concluded that B7-H1 highly expresses on hBMMSCs, the B7-H1 mediated signaling pathway (B7-H1/PD-1) involves in the mechanisms for hBMMSCs-mediated immunomodulation.

Objective: To evaluate the clinical significance of IgH and TCR gamma gene rearrangement in plasma free DNA in patients with non-Hodgkin Lymphoma (NHL)., Methods: Plasma free DNA in 74 patients with NHL were extracted and identified by Globin gene. IgH (FR3A/VLJH), TCR gamma (TVG/TJX) clonal rearrangements were amplified by PCR and compared with results of mononuclear cell DNA and pathological biopsy sample DNA., Results: Plasma free DNAs were successfully obtained from 58 cases (35 B-NHL and 23 T-NHL) of newly diagnostic, refractory and relapsed NHL out of total 74 patients (78.4%), but not found in the rest 16 patients in remission. Of 35 B-NHL cases, 31 showed IgH rearrangement (88.6%), and none with TCR gamma rearrangement; of 23 T-NHL cases, 8 showed TCR gamma rearrangement (34.8%), and 2 with IgH gene rearrangement synchronously. In comparison with the results of IgH and TCR gamma gene rearrangement in biopsy samples in 30 B-NHL cases, 26 cases in plasma free DNA (86.7%) and 24 in biopsy samples (80%) were positive (P > 0.05). In 20 T-NHL patients, 7 cases in plasma cell-free DNA (35%) and 6 cases in biopsy samples (30%) were positive (P >0.05)., Conclusions: Tumor-derived DNA could be detected in plasma from underlying cancer patients. For NHL patients, detecting IgH and TCR gamma gene rearrangement in plasma free DNA has the same clinical significance as in biopsy samples.