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To evaluate the effect of Chinese medicine (CM) treatment on survival time and quality of life (QOL) in patients with small cell lung cancer (SCLC). This was an exploratory and prospective clinical observation. Patients diagnosed with SCLC receiving CM treatment were included and followed up every 3 months. The primary outcome was overall survival (OS), and the secondary outcomes were progression-free survival (PFS) and QOL. A total of 136 patients including 65 limited-stage SCLC (LS-SCLC) patients and 71 extensive-stage SCLC (ES-SCLC) patients were analyzed. The median OS of ES-SCLC patients was 17.27 months, and the median OS of LS-SCLC was 40.07 months. The survival time was 16.27 months for SCLC patients with brain metastasis, 9.83 months for liver metastasis, 13.43 months for bone metastasis, and 18.13 months for lung metastasis. Advanced age, pleural fluid, liver and brain metastasis were risk factors, while longer CM treatment duration was a protective factor. QOL assessment indicated that after 6 months of CM treatment, scores increased in function domains and decreased in symptom domains. CM treatment might help prolong OS of SCLC patients. Moreover, CM treatment brought the trend of symptom amelioration and QOL improvement. These results provide preliminary evidence for applying CM in SCLC multi-disciplinary treatment.

To evaluate the effect of Chinese medicine (CM) treatment on survival time and quality of life (QOL) in patients with small cell lung cancer (SCLC).This was an exploratory and prospective clinical observation. Patients diagnosed with SCLC receiving CM treatment were included and followed up every 3 months. The primary outcome was overall survival (OS), and the secondary outcomes were progression-free survival (PFS) and QOL.A total of 136 patients including 65 limited-stage SCLC (LS-SCLC) patients and 71 extensive-stage SCLC (ES-SCLC) patients were analyzed. The median OS of ES-SCLC patients was 17.27 months, and the median OS of LS-SCLC was 40.07 months. The survival time was 16.27 months for SCLC patients with brain metastasis, 9.83 months for liver metastasis, 13.43 months for bone metastasis, and 18.13 months for lung metastasis. Advanced age, pleural fluid, liver and brain metastasis were risk factors, while longer CM treatment duration was a protective factor. QOL assessment indicated that after 6 months of CM treatment, scores increased in function domains and decreased in symptom domains.CM treatment might help prolong OS of SCLC patients. Moreover, CM treatment brought the trend of symptom amelioration and QOL improvement. These results provide preliminary evidence for applying CM in SCLC multi-disciplinary treatment.

microRNA-3607 (miR-3607) has been identified as an important biomarker, and its aberrant expression exerts a significant role in tumorigenesis. However, the biological function of miR-3607 in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) needs to be deciphered comprehensively. Clinical samples of HCC patients, as well as normal cases, were derived from The Cancer Genome Atlas database. Quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) and Western blotting analyses were utilized to detect the expression levels of indicated genes. Cell counting kit-8 (CCK-8), colony formation, and transwell assays were performed to assess the effect of miR-3607 in HCC cell viability, migration, and invasion. Bioinformatics analysis and luciferase reporter gene assay was applied to screen the target genes of miR-3607 and verified the association between miR-3607 and its potential target gene. Our study showed that miR-3607 expression was decreased in HCC tissues and cell lines, and its downregulation was linked with poor outcomes of HCC patients. miR-3607 was noted to inhibit HCC cell growth, colony formation, migration, and invasion. Besides, minichromosome maintenance (MCM5) was a possible target gene of miR-3607 in HCC. Overexpression of MCM5 was observed in HCC and induced unfavorable prognosis. MCM5 expression had a negative correlation with miR-3607. MCM5 can abolish the suppressive impacts of miR-3607 on HCC cell malignant behaviors and the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) process. To sum up, our results unveiled that miR-3607 could inhibit HCC cell growth, migration, and invasion by regulating MCM5 and mediating EMT process, suggesting a new probable biomarker for further treatment of HCC.

Viburnum macrocephalum f. keteleeri, not well explored in the pharmaceutical field, is a tall deciduous shrub and commonly used as folk medicines for the treatment of type 2 diabetes (T2D). In this study, the dried branches of V. macrocephalum f. keteleeri were extracted with 95% ethanol and the extract was fractionated on the basis of polarity with ethyl acetate and n-butanol. Among the different fractions, the ethyl acetate fraction exhibited the highest α-glucosidase inhibitory activity, and its bioassay-guided fractionation led to the isolation and identification of six compounds including a new 8-O-4′-neolignan glycoside (1), categorized as a rare 7-deoxy skeleton, three previously undescribed phenolic glycosides (2–4), together with two known secondary metabolites (5, 6), which were found for the first time in Viburnum. Noticeably, compound 1 had almost the same intestinal α-glucosidase inhibitory activity as the positive control acarbose.

Several studies were conducted to explore the prognostic significance of Twist in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), however, contradictory results in different studies were reported. To this end, we presented a systematic review aiming to summarize the prognostic significance of Twist in patients with NSCLC. 5 studies involving a total of 572 patients were identified. The result indicated that high Twist expression was significantly associated with a worse overall survival (OS) (hazard ratio (HR) = 2.19, 95% confidence interval (95% CI) = 1.64–2.94, p < 0.001; I2 = 0.0%, fixed effect), recurrence-free survival (RFS) (HR = 2.476, 95% CI = 1.728–3.547, p < 0.001; I2 = 0.0%, fixed effect) and lymph node or other metastasis (odds rate (OR) = 0.419, 95% CI = 0.259–0.679, P < 0.001, fixed effect). Subgroup analysis revealed that the expression of Twist in Chinese patients might be more closely associated with the prognosis of NSCLC than in American patients. Overall, these results indicated that Twist over-expression in patients with NSCLC might be related to poor prognosis and serves as an unfavorable predictor of poor clinicopathological prognosis factor.

Three new compounds (1–3) and seven known compounds (4–10) have been isolated from the ethanolic extract of Viburnum macrocephalum f. keteleeri using bioactivity-guided fractionation and identified...

Highlights • A variety of methods was used to isolate differentially expressed host genes. • Twenty-nine isolated genes showed significant identity to five human gene families. • Five representative genes (one from each family) were selected as target genes. • Target genes up- or down- regulate sperm-introduced HBV gene expression in embryo. • It is first confirmed that HBV gene expression in embryos regulated by host genes., Hepatitis B virus (HBV) can invade the male germline, and sperm-introduced HBV genes could be transcribed in embryo. This study was to explore whether viral gene transcription is regulated by host genes. Embryos were produced by in vitro fertilization of hamster oocytes with human sperm containing the HBV genome. Total RNA extracted from test and control embryos were subjected to SMART-PCR, SSH, microarray hybridization, sequencing and BLAST analysis. Twenty-nine sequences showing significant identity to five human gene families were identified, with CSH2, EIF4G2, PCBD2, PSG4 and TTN selected to represent target genes. Using qRT-PCR, when CSH2 and PCBD2 (or EIF4G2, PSG4 and TTN) were silenced by RNAi, transcriptional levels of HBV s and x genes decreased (or increased). This is the first report that host genes participate in regulation of sperm-introduced HBV gene transcription in embryo, which is critical to prevent negative impact of HBV infection on early embryonic development.

A new adenine glycoside 1, along with a known compound 2, was isolated from Brassica rapa. Its structure was elucidated as 5′-deoxy-5′-methylamino-9-(α-L-lyxofuranosyl)adenine on the basis of extensive spectroscopic analyses.

Background Recently, a growing number of reports indicated that long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) were involved in the development of various cancers. However, the performance of LINC00511 is still limited in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Thus, we attempted to assess the effect of LINC00511 and underlying mechanism in HCC progression. Methods TCGA and GEO database acted as supporters to provide us clinical samples data. Overall survival (OS) analyses were plotted using Kaplan-Meier method. Five cell lines were utilized to detect LINC00511 expression level and Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK-8), colony formation and transwell assays were conducted to examine the effects on cell behaviors. The correlations between LINC00511 and miR-195 or eyes absent homolog 1 (EYA1) were confirmed by luciferase reporter assay. Quantitative real-time PCR and western blotting were fulfilled to ascertain the mRNA and protein expression levels. Results In this study, we found that LINC00511 was high-regulated in HCC tissue samples and cell lines, which might be linked with unfavorable prognosis of HCC patients and clinical parameters. Loss-of-function experiments determined that LINC00511 deficiency inhibited cell proliferation, colony formation and invasive activity in HepG2 cells, while gain-of-function experiments showed the counter impacts in Huh7 cells. Bioinformatics tools and luciferase reporter assays revealed that LINC00511 may act as a competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) for miR-195 and positively correlate with EYA1, which was reinforced by rescue experiments. Conclusion Taken together, these findings indicated that LINC00511 interacted with EYA1 promoted HCC development via mediating miR-195, proposing a promising therapeutic biomarker for HCC diagnosis and prognosis.

With the development of advanced high strength steel, especially for dual-phase steel, the model algorithm for cooling control after hot rolling has to achieve the targeted coiling temperature control at the location of downcoiler whilst maintaining the cooling path control based on strip microstructure along the whole cooling section. A cooling path control algorithm was proposed for the laminar cooling process as a solution to practical difficulties associated with the realization of the thermal cycle during cooling process. The heat conduction equation coupled with the carbon diffusion equation with moving boundary was employed in order to simulate temperature change and phase transformation kinetics, making it possible to observe the temperature field and the phase fraction of the strip in real time. On this basis, an optimization method was utilized for valve settings to ensure the minimum deviations between the predicted and actual cooling path of the strip, taking into account the constraints of the cooling equipment′s specific capacity, cooling line length, etc. Results showed that the model algorithm was able to achieve the online cooling path control for dual-phase steel.

The evolution of volatile sulfur compounds (VSCs) in Cabernet Sauvignon wines from seven regions of China during maturation in oak barrels was investigated. The barrels were made of different wood grains (fine and medium) and toasting levels (light and medium). Twelve VSCs were quantified by GC/FPD, with dimethyl sulfide (DMS) and methionol exceeding their sensory thresholds. Most VSCs tended to decline during the aging, while DMS was found to increase. After one year aging, the levels of DMS, 2-methyltetrahy-drothiophen-3-one and sulfur-containing esters were lower in the wines aged in oak barrels than in stainless steel tanks. The wood grain and toasting level of oak barrels significantly influenced the concentration of S-methyl thioacetate and 2-methyltetrahy-drothiophen-3-one. This study reported the evolution of VSCs in wines during oak barrel aging for the first time and evaluated the influence of barrel types, which would provide wine-makers with references in making proposals about wine aging.

Two new phenolic compounds, Schitenoside A (1) and Schitenoside B (2), have been isolated together with six known compounds: 3,4-dihydroxyphenethyl alcohol-4-O-β-D-glucopyranoside (3), 2-(3-hydroxy-4-methoxyphenyl) ethanol 1-O-α-L-rhamnopyranosyl-(1→2)-β-D-glucopyranoside (4), benzyl 7-O-β-D-xylopyranosyl-(1→6)-β-D-glucopyranoside (5), 2-hydroxybenzoic acid (6), m-hydroxybenzoic acid (7) and trans-caffeic acid (8), from the Schizonepeta tenuifolia. Their structures were elucidated by spectroscopic analysis. Compounds (3-7) were isolated from Schizonepeta genus for the first time. Compounds 1 and 2 showed a week antibacterial activity against four test strains, involving both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria .

A new flavonoid glycoside 1, along with seven known compounds (2–8), was isolated from Viburnum macrocephalum f. keteleeri by repeated column chromatography. Its structure was identified as apigenin-7-O-[6-O-(5-methoxy-3-hydroxy-3-methyl-5-oxovaleryl)]-β-D-glucopyranoside (1) by spectral analysis.

Three new phenolic compounds 1, 2, and 3 have been isolated from Eucommia ulmoides by repeated column chromatography. Their structures were identified as (+)-erythro-7-O-ethylguaiacylglycerol (1), (–)-erythro-7-O-ethylguaiacylglycerol (2), and 1,3-propanediol-2-O-4′ -(3′ ,5′ -dimethoxy-1′ -hydroxymethyl)phenyl ether (3).

A new phenolic compound, schitenoside C (1), and 23 known compounds (2–24), were isolated from Schizonepeta tenuifolia by repeated column chromatography. Their structures were assigned by spectroscopic data interpretation. Among them, compounds 2–5, 7, and 9–23 were isolated from this genus for the first time.

Three new compounds (

BACKGROUND At present no useful factors to predict the sensitivity to neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (nCRT) have been established in patients with locally advanced rectal cancer (LARC). OBJECTIVE The objective of this study was to explore the prognostic role of T cell factor 4 (TCF4) expression in predicting tumor response to nCRT and tumor outcomes for patients with LARC. METHODS The study enrolled 96 patients who underwent nCRT followed by total mesorectal excision (TME). The TCF4 expression of all patients' biopsies before nCRT was evaluated by Immunohistochemical staining method. RESULTS After completion of nCRT, 5 cases (5.2%) achieved clinical complete response (cCR) thus the remaining 91 patients underwent a standardized total mesorectal excision (TME) procedure. There were 44 patients (45.8%) achieved good tumor response (including TRG 3-4 and 5 cCR patients) while poor response (TRG 0-2) was achieved in 52 patients (54.2%). Our results demonstrated that patients with low expression of TCF4 were more sensitive to nCRT than those with high TCF4 expression (P=0.031). Low TCF4 expression before nCRT and good response were significantly associated with improved 5-year disease-free survival and 5-year overall survival (P

In order to ensure safe and reliable operation of the spring operating mechanism, a method of spring’s state diagnosis in spring operating mechanism is proposed. Through the analyze the spring’s operation characteristic in storing process and in closing/opening process, the effective output of motor in storing process and the closing/opening speed are extracted, and these are used as characteristic parameters to diagnose spring’s state. The diagnosis process of closing/opening spring’s state is specifically analyzed and described based on the judgment of characteristic parameters. The diagnosis system of closing/opening spring’s state is designed, and it is verified by combining with the CT20 spring operating mechanism. Through the contrast experiment of old and new closing/opening spring, the proposed diagnosis method for opening/closing spring is validated to be simple and accurate, and the result of the diagnosis is very well.

Lignocellulose is a polysaccharide and an abundant biomass resource that widely exists in grains, beans, rice, and their by-products. Over 10 million tons of lignocellulose resources and processing products are produced every year in China. Three recombinant Y. lipolytica strains with cellulase (β-glucosidase, endoglucanase and cellobiohydrolase) were constructed. The enzymatic activities of these enzymes were 14.181 U/mL, 16.307 U/mL, and 17.391 U/mL, respectively. The whole cell cellulases were used for a stover bio-transformation. The celluloses in the stover were partly degraded by the cellulases, and the degradation products were transformed into single cell protein (SCP) by the Y. lipolytica cells. After 15 d of fermentation with the whole cell cellulases, the protein content of the maize stover and the rice straw reached 16.23% and 14.75%, which increased by 168.26% and 161.52% compared with the control, respectively. This study provides a new stage for the efficient utilization of stover in the feed industry.

Objective To evaluate the eradication rates, side effects and the patient compliance of a dual therapy with rabeprazole and amoxicillin as the first-line therapy in patients with Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection. Methods A total of 120 patients diagnosed endoscopically with non-ulcer dyspepsia with H. pylori infection were randomly assigned into two groups, one treated with amoxicillin 1 g thrice daily plus rabeprazole 10 mg twice daily (R10A group) or 20 mg twice daily (R20A group) for 14 days. H. pylori eradication was evaluated by 13C-urea breath test (UBT) at 4–6 weeks after the completion of treatment. H. pylori eradication rate was analyzed by per-protocol (PP) and intention-to-treat (ITT) analyses together with 95% confidence interval (CI). Side effects and patients' compliance were also recorded. Results Overall, 117 patients (58 in the R10A group and 59 in the R20A group) completed the study, among whom five did not undertake the UBT. H. pylori eradication was achieved in 89.8% of patients in the R20A group by ITT analysis and 93.0% by PP analysis, which was significantly higher than those in the R10A group (75.9% and 80.0%, respectively, P

This article describes the current quality control method during hot coating process. To improve the current quality control method during hot coating process, this article also elaborates the advanced coated product quality control system based on process analytical technology (PAT), the concept of which is “Quality by Design”, the targets of which are to enhance process stability and to improve the technological and economic index.

Herein, we report a novel approach to Methylthiouracil-templated formation of fluorescent Ag nanoclusters and its application to bioimaging. We used fluorescence assay and TEM to characterize the silver nanocluster. The complex can be directly employed into bioimaging HeLa cells. The cell toxicity (3-[4,5-dimethylthiazolyl-2]-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide, MTT) assay demonstrated that the silver nanocluster has only little affect on the cytotoxicity to the cells, which further proves the applicability of the method in tumor cell imaging. This work successfully develops the capping Methylthiouracil scaffolds of silver nanoclusters.

Unified highly-available information has led to many compelling advances, including evolutionary programming and virtual machines. Given the current status of replicated information, hackers worldwide particularly desire the refinement of voice-over-IP, which embodies the significant principles of networking. Hackers worldwide agree that self-learning symmetries are an interesting new topic in the field of robotics, and electrical engineers concur. In fact, few leading analysts would disagree with the construction of multi-processors, which embodies the natural principles of cryptography. Our focus in this position paper is not on whether RAID can be made compact, optimal, and real-time, but rather on proposing new heterogeneous configurations.

In this paper, we proposed a strategy to find new local minima based on mutated damping factors and converged damping factor (conventional damping factor). In this proposed strategy, the converged damping factor is used to make the algorithm converge to a certain local minimum, and the mutated damping factors are used to make the trapped solution jump out of present convergence area. We study the behavior of the two kinds of factors in lens system optimization. The proposed strategy is successfully applied in lens system optimization. The result shows that the proposed strategy is reliable to make a further improvement especially when the solution is approaching target design.

We propose a 3D interaction and autostereoscopic display system that use gesture recognition, which can manipulate virtual objects in the scene directly by hand gestures and can display objects in 3D stereoscopy. The system consists of a gesture recognition and manipulation part as well as an autostereoscopic display as an interactive display part. To manipulate the 3D virtual scene, a gesture recognition algorithm is proposed, which use spatial-temporal sequences of feature vectors to match predefined gestures. To get smooth 3D visualization, we utilize the programmable graphics pipeline in graphic processing unit to accelerate data processing. We develop a prototype system for 3D virtual exhibition. The prototype system reaches frame rates of 60 fps and operates efficiently with a mean recognition accuracy of 90%.

Multiview autostereoscopic systems display three-dimensional (3D) images interleaved from parallax images to provide adequate viewing zones for viewers. A 3D image interleaving method based on parallel processing with Graphic Processing Unit (GPU) is proposed to accelerate the image interleaving for real-time autostereoscopic displays. The proposed method is implemented with Direct3D Application Programming Interface (API) library. Masks used to interleave the 3D images are generated according to some particular principles. Both multiple texture blending and alpha blending operations are used to interleave a 3D image. The experiments prove that high interleaving efficiency and good stereoscopic sense can be obtained. The proposed method meets the requirement of real-time multiview autostereoscopic displays and avoids extra shader program.

In this paper, a new biomedical Mg-Li alloy for the improvement of the comprehensive mechanical properties by micro-alloying and processing to meet the need of mechanical properties of biomedical materials. And the Mg-Li (Mg-Li-Al-Zn-Ca-Sr) alloy's processing and heat treatment were investigated in detail. The crystal texture of cast state, forged state and rolled state were observed and analyzed by OM, XRD and SEM. The mechanical properties of every stage were tested as well. The results showed that the grain size was refined obviously by the concentrating of Ca and Sr in the grain boundary. With the increase of rolling lane, the second phase's distribution was changed to a scattered state gradually from the reunion state. The tensile strength of the forged alloy was improved as well as its elongation after cold rolling and with rolled heat treatment process. The tensile strength reached 220MPa and the elongation reach 22%, which might meet the demand of cardiovascular stents mechanics.

Lei Jin, Yi-cun Ding, Yu Zhang, Xiao-qing Xu, Qin Cao Department of Gastroenterology, Putuo Hospital, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai, People’s Republicof China Abstract: The aim of the present study was to design a new pH–enzyme double-dependent mesalamine colon-specific delivery system. The drug release behaviors in vitro and pharmacokinetics and biodistribution in vivo were further evaluated. The mean particle diameters of mesalamine-coated microparticles were 312.2 µm. In vitro, a small amount of mesalamine was released in HCl at a pH of 1.2 and PBS medium at a pH of 7.4 for 5 hours, and 71% of the entrapped mesalamine was further released during the subsequent 20 hours of incubation. Agreater area under the plasma concentration–time curve (AUC)0–t was obtained for the coated microparticles (1.9-fold) compared to the suspensions group, which indicated that the encapsulated mesalamine had mostly been absorbed in rats over the period of 12 hours. The AUC0–t of the coated microparticles in colon was 2.63-fold higher compared to the suspensions (P

Ceramic cores are playing a more and more important role in the modern precision casting industry system; it could influence the internal structure and performance of the castings. Especially in the precision casting field, the internal structure directly influenced the ultimate properties. This paper investigated the calcium oxide ceramic cores used in titanium precision casting fields through changing the ratio of aggregate sizes and sintering process. The main properties as bend strength, sintering shrinkage, casting reaction layer and microstructure are performed using SEM, XRD and other measurement method. Results of this research showed that the calcium oxide ceramic cores could be used in titanium precision casting, provide a stable casting property and nearly without reaction pollution to the titanium castings.

The hot deformation behavior of homogenized zinc alloy was investigated through uniaxial compression test on a Gleeble-1500 thermal-mechanical simulator within a temperature range of 230–380 °C and a strain rate range of 0.01–10 s −1 , the corresponding flow curves and their characters were determined and analyzed, and microstructures were studied by optical, SEM and TEM microscopy. The results indicated that the microstructure evolution of zinc alloy during hot deformation involves the spheroidization of the phase of TiZn 15 , coarsening of the precipitated phase and dynamic recrystallization (DRX) of the phase of matrix, leading to the formation of the polyphase (η+ɛ+TiZn 15 ) structure. The spheroidization of the phase of TiZn 15 during hot deformation was beneficial to the particle nucleation stimulated and then promoted to DRX of matrix. The dynamic recrystallization grain size of the matrix phase decreased firstly and then increased with elevating the temperature, and the degree of DRX became more complete when the strain rate and strain became larger. Hot deformation accelerated the diffusion of Cu atom, which resulted in the coarsening of the precipitated phase. Thus, the microstructure was refined owing to the pinning effect of the precipitated phase.

Herein, a novel kind of silver nanocluster is synthesized simply by mixing N-Acetyl-L-cysteine template with silver ions and reduction reagent (NaBH4, here). We used fluorescence assay, MALDI TOF MS, and TEM to characterize the silver nanocluster. The complex can be directly employed into bioimaging HeLa cells. The cell toxicity (3-[4,5-dimethylthiazolyl-2]-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide, MTT) assay demonstrated that the silver nanocluster has only little affect on the cytotoxicity to the cells, which further proves the applicability of the method in tumor cell imaging. Our method displays a promising application space in future cancer researches.

The hot deformation behavior of the Zn-8Cu-0.3Ti alloy was researched by compression test on Gleeble-3500 thermo-simulation machine. The results indicated that the flow stress increased rapidly with the increase of the strain at the initial stage, however, the flow stress decreased and become steady when the strain exceed a certain value. The steady stress and peak stress increased with the decrease of the deformation temperature and the increase of the strain rate. The variation regulation of the deformation activation energy and stress exponent with the strain was established through the regression method. The hot deformation constitutive relationship was also established. Comparing with the experimental results, it was proved that the model reflected the real deformation feature of Zn-8Cu-0.3Ti zinc alloy.

OBJECTIVES To determine the prognostic value of standardized uptake value (SUV) of F-fluorodeoxyglucose by serial positron emission tomography and computed tomography (PET/CT) in nonsmall cell lung cancer (NSCLC). METHODS Forty-seven patients (37 male, 10 female) with NSCLC in stage III were enrolled. All patients had at least 2 serial F-fluorodeoxyglucose PET/CT scans, both before and after therapy, and the maximum standardized uptake value (SUVmax) of the primary lung lesion was calculated. The value changes of SUVmax before and after treatment were calculated according to the following equation: DeltaSUV = (SUVbefore - SUVafter) x 100%/SUVbefore. RESULTS Of the 47 eligible patients, after a median follow-up of 23.5 months (range, 13-34 months), 26 patients had local and regional recurrence or metastasis and 21 remained disease-free. Significant differences in SUVmax were observed either before (P1 = 0.003) or after (P2 = 0.002) treatment between the 2 groups. However, the percent change of SUVmax before and after therapy were not significantly different (P = 0.054). CONCLUSIONS SUV from 2 serial PET/CT scans, before and after concurrent chemoradiotherapy were significant predictors for local and regional recurrence or metastasis. SUV is a significant predictor for local and regional recurrence or metastasis in patients of NSCLC.

Brucellosis is one of the most widespread zoonotic diseases, with the most frequent complication being osteoarticular changes. The aim of this study was to assess the changes of C-terminal telopeptide of type II collagen (CTX-II) in patients infected with brucellosis. A total of 84 brucellosis patients and 43 volunteers were selected and divided into brucellosis vs. control groups. Serum samples were subjected to serological tests for brucellosis, and CTX-II levels in all samples were measured simultaneously with ELISA. The results showed that serum CTX-II levels in human brucellosis were higher than those of healthy controls, without a statistically significant difference, but serum CTX-II levels in male patients were significantly higher than those of female patients (P0.05). This finding could indicate the biological changes in the cartilage and bone in human brucellosis.

Individual response to opioid analgesics varies among patients.This study sought to clarify the impact of distinct genetic variations on pain, opioid consumption, and opioid side effects in patients with postoperative pain.A systematic review and meta-analysis of associations between genetic single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and opioids used for acute postoperative pain.This meta-analysis examined all studies involving an association between genetic polymorphisms and the analgesic efficacy or clinical outcome of opioid analgesics for postoperative pain.A literature search was performed up to January 31, 2014, using the PubMed, EMBase, ISI Web of Science, and Cochrane Library databases.Fifty-nine studies were included in this systematic review, and 23 studies (a total of 5,902 patients) were included in the final meta-analysis. The results showed that human μ-opioid receptor gene (OPRM1) 118G allele variant carriers consumed more opioids for analgesia (SMD = -0.17, 95% CI = [-0.25, -0.10], P0.00001), but reported higher pain scores (MD = -0.11, 95% CI = [-0.17, -0.04], P = 0.002) and less nausea and vomiting (odds ratio = 1.30, 95% CI = [1.08, 1.55], P = 0.005) than the homozygous 118AA patients during the first 24 hour but not the 48 hour postoperative period. Moreover, CYP3A4*1G carriers consumed less opioids than homozygous CYP3A4*1/*1 patients during the first 24 hours postoperative period (MD = 45.12, 95% CI = [36.17, 54.06], P0.00001). No significant differences were found in CYP3A5*3, ABCB1 C3435T, and G2477T/A genetic polymorphisms.Some potential non-genetic factors can modify the effects of gene SNP on pain and opioid consumption during the postoperative period, such as age, gender, mood, anxiety, and drug-drug interactions. But further analyses could not be performed in the present meta-analysis due to limited information.The results indicate that among the genetic SNPs we studied which include those affecting analgesic drug metabolism, transport of analgesic agents across the blood-brain barrier, and their activity at target receptors and ion channels and in the modulation of neurotransmitter pathways, the A118G allele variant of OPRM1 has the most potent influence on pain management of postoperative patients. Opioid receptor gene information may provide valuable information for clinicians to properly manage the analgesic use of opioids individually for better pain management.

Trigonal selenium nanorods have successfully been synthesized through a simple and convenient hydrothermal route. The effect of hydrothermal temperature on the morphology of products was investigated. It was found that excess hydrazine might act as catalyst in the formation of selenium rods.

A new phenolic compound 1 was isolated from Viburnum fordiae Hance by repeated column chromatography. Its structure was identified as 7,8-bis-O-isopropylidene-dihydroeugenol (1) by spectral analysis. In addition, compound 1 was evaluated in vitro for its antifungal activity. It was found to exhibit moderate activity against Aspergillus niger.

To investigate whether transcription of hepatitis B virus (HBV) gene occurs in human sperm, total RNA was extracted from sperm of patients with chronic HBV infection (test-1), from donor sperm transfected with a plasmid containing the full-length HBV genome (test-2), and from nontransfected donor sperm (control), used as the template for reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Positive bands for HBV DNA were observed in the test groups but not in the control. Next, to identify the role of host genes in regulating viral gene transcription in sperm, total RNA was extracted from 2-cell embryos derived from hamster oocytes fertilized in vitro by HBV-transfected (test) or nontransfected (control) human sperm and successively subjected to SMART-PCR, suppression subtractive hybridization, T/A cloning, bacterial amplification, microarray hybridization, sequencing and the Basic Local Alignment Search Tool (BLAST) search to isolate differentially expressed genes. Twenty-nine sequences showing significant identity to five human gene families were identified, with chorionic somatomammotropin hormone 2 (CSH2), eukaryotic translation initiation factor 4 gamma 2 (EIF4G2), pterin-4 alpha-carbinolamine dehydratase 2 (PCBD2), pregnancy-specific beta-1-glycoprotein 4 (PSG4) and titin (TTN) selected to represent target genes. Using real-time quantitative RT-PCR (qRT-PCR), when CSH2 and PCBD2 (or EIF4G2, PSG4 and TTN) were silenced by RNA interference, transcriptional levels of HBV s and x genes significantly decreased (or increased) (P < 0.05). Silencing of a control gene in sperm did not significantly change transcription of HBV s and x genes (P > 0.05). This study provides the first experimental evidence that transcription of HBV genes occurs in human sperm and is regulated by host genes.

To evaluate the eradication rates, side effects and the patient compliance of a dual therapy with rabeprazole and amoxicillin as the first-line therapy in patients with Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection.A total of 120 patients diagnosed endoscopically with non-ulcer dyspepsia with H. pylori infection were randomly assigned into two groups, one treated with amoxicillin 1 g thrice daily plus rabeprazole 10 mg twice daily (R10A group) or 20 mg twice daily (R20A group) for 14 days. H. pylori eradication was evaluated by (13) C-urea breath test (UBT) at 4-6 weeks after the completion of treatment. H. pylori eradication rate was analyzed by per-protocol (PP) and intention-to-treat (ITT) analyses together with 95% confidence interval (CI). Side effects and patients' compliance were also recorded.Overall, 117 patients (58 in the R10A group and 59 in the R20A group) completed the study, among whom five did not undertake the UBT. H. pylori eradication was achieved in 89.8% of patients in the R20A group by ITT analysis and 93.0% by PP analysis, which was significantly higher than those in the R10A group (75.9% and 80.0%, respectively, P0.05). Side effects, including skin rash, abdominal discomfort, headache, insomnia and nausea, were all mild and were treated symptomatically without the need to discontinue the treatment.The modified dual therapy with high doses of rabeprazole and amoxicillin is considered an effective and safe primary therapy for H. pylori eradication and could be recommended as the first-line eradication regimen for certain patients.