Substantial CO2 uptake by biomass ashes under natural condition in China.

A considerable amount of biomass ashes, resulting from agricultural waste field burning, wildfire, and solid biofuel incineration, is typically discarded in field or stored in dumps, where the alkaline oxides (CaO, MgO) they contain undergo carbonation and weathering-erosion processes over extended periods, continuously absorbing CO2 from the atmosphere and soil. However, their CO2 absorption behavior under natural conditions remains insufficiently explored in China. Using life cycle assessment (LCA) and material flow analysis (MFA) methods, this study developed a CO2 absorption analysis model for biomass ashes under natural conditions. We estimated the CO2 absorption of 9 different types of biomass ash from 1950 to 2022 through Monte Carlo uncertainty simulation. The results show that biomass ashes in China absorbed approximately 24.17Mt/year (95 % CI, 11.10-43.56) of CO2 under nature conditions, with the annual average CO2 uptake showing a steady increase from 1950 to 2022. The total CO2 uptake reached 856.85Mt (95 % CI, 368.73-1526.01) over these decades, mainly due to the significant contribution of biomass ash produced by domestic straw burning and fuelwood combustion, which accounted for 51.97 % and 22.08 %, respectively. Our findings highlight the substantial carbon sink benefits of biomass ash, providing valuable insights for further studies on carbon cycles in natural ecosystems and the potential integration of biomass ash in Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage (CCUS) technologies.

Meta-analysis of the efficacy and safety of integrated Chinese and Western medicine in the treatment of acute myeloid leukaemia in elderly people.

Objective: To systematically evaluate the effectiveness and safety of integrated Chinese and Western medicine in the treatment of acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) in elderly people. Method: The Cochrane Library, PubMed, Web of Science, Excerpta Medica Database, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Chinese Biomedical Literature Database, Wanfang Data and VIP Data databases were systematically searched from database inception to 30 June 2023 to identify cases of AML treatment with and without integrated Chinese and Western medicine. Fixed- and random-effect models were used to pool the main results, and the pooled risk ratio (RR) with a 95 % confidence interval (CI) was used as the effect indicator. Results: Eleven randomized controlled trial (RCT) involving 828 patients were finally included. The meta-analysis results showed that the overall response efficiency of integrated Chinese and Western medicine in treating myeloid leukaemia in elderly people was better than that of Western medicine alone (RR = 1.23, 95 % CI: 1.13, 1.33, p ＜ 0.001). There was significant difference in the complete remission rate between the two groups (RR = 1.38, 95 % CI: 1.15, 1.65, p ＜ 0.001). The incidence of myelosuppression (RR = 0.49, 95 % CI: 0.32, 0.75, p = 0.001), hepatic and renal insufficiency (RR = 0.43, 95 % CI: 0.29, 0.66, p ＜ 0.001), infection (RR = 0.26, 95 % CI: 0.17, 0.40, p ＜ 0.001) and gastrointestinal discomfort (RR = 0.31, 95 % CI: 0.22, 0.46, p ＜ 0.001) of integrated Chinese and Western medicine were significantly lower than that of Western medicine alone. Conclusion: Compared with Western medicine alone, the application of integrated traditional Chinese and Western medicine can improve the total clinical remission rate and reduce adverse effects following chemotherapy. However, more high-quality results of randomised controlled trials and analysis are needed to confirm the findings.

[Corrigendum] Exogenous hydrogen sulfide exerts proliferation, anti-apoptosis, migration effects and accelerates cell cycle progression in multiple myeloma cells via activating the Akt pathway.

Following the publication of this article, an interested reader drew to the authors' attention that, in Fig. 4 on p. 1913, the t-Akt panel in Fig. 4A looked unexpectedly similar to the ß-actin panel in Fig. 4C. The authors were able to refer back to their original data, and realized that the Figure had been compiled incorrectly; essentially, the data for the t-Akt panel had been duplicated, and the data for the ß-actin panel in Fig. 4C had not been included in the Figure as intended. The revised version of Fig. 4, showing the correct data for the ß-actin panel in Fig. 4C, is shown opposite. This error did not have a significant impact on the results or the conclusions reported in this study. The authors are grateful to the Editor of Oncology Reports for allowing them the opportunity to publish this Corrigendum, and all of the authors agree to the publication of this Corrigendum. The authors sincerely apologize for this mistake, and regret any inconvenience this mistake has caused. [the original article was published in Oncology Reports 36: 1909-1916, 2016; DOI: 10.3892/or.2016.5014].

Can measuring perilesional tissue stiffness and stiff rim sign improve the diagnostic performance between benign and malignant breast lesions?

PURPOSE: To evaluate tissue stiffness values around breast lesions and stiff rim sign for the differentiation of benign and malignant lesions. METHODS: A total of 192 patients (mean age, 44.6 ± 13.6 years) with 199 breast lesions were included in this retrospective study. All lesions were pathologically proven by US-guided core needle biopsy (CNB), Mammotome biopsy, or surgery. We first observed the presence or absence of a stiff rim sign, which was defined as a red or orange halo around the breast lesion. The shell around the breast lesion on SWE was then automatically drawn by machine, with a width of 1 mm, 2 mm, and 3 mm. The elasticity moduli of the lesion and surrounding tissue were recorded, including maximum elasticity (Emax), mean elasticity (Emean), minimum elasticity (Emin), and elasticity ratio (shell/lesion ratio). The optimal thresholds of elasticity moduli were calculated according to the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve. RESULTS: There were 75 malignant lesions and 124 benign ones. The average Emax and Emean of lesions and shell were significantly higher in the malignant group than in the benign group (P < 0.05). The optimal cut-off value of Emax for diagnosing malignant lesions was 101.7 kPa, with a sensitivity of 66.3% and specificity of 87.9%. The optimal cut-off value of Emean was 29.1 kPa, with a sensitivity of 65.3% and specificity of 79.8%. The stiff rim sign had the highest diagnostic performance for malignancy as compared with other elastic parameters, with an accuracy of 88.4%. However, measuring peritumoral tissue stiffness can achieve relatively high sensitivity, whereas specificity was not improved significantly. CONCLUSIONS: The stiffness of tissue surrounding breast malignancies was significantly higher than the surrounding benign lesions. Stiff rim sign has the potential to improve the diagnostic performance of breast lesions.

The value of virtual touch tissue imaging quantification in the differential diagnosis between benign and malignant breast lesions.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the value and diagnostic performance of virtual touch tissue imaging quantification (VTIQ) and to determine the optimum cut-off value for differential diagnosis between benign and malignant breast lesions. METHODS: Conventional ultrasonography (US) and VTIQ were performed in 454 patients with 466 breast lesions with a Siemens Acuson S3000 ultrasound machine. All lesions were assessed by an ultrasound Breast Imaging Reporting and Data System (BI-RADS) and confirmed by histopathology. The maximum, mean, and minimum shear wave velocity (SWV) values were quantitatively measured in m/s within the regions of interest (ROIs) and ranged from 0.5 to 10 m/s. The sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, and area under the receiver operating curve (AUC) of the VTIQ, BI-RADS, and combined data were compared. RESULTS: Among the 466 breast lesions, 266 were benign and 200 were malignant. All of the SWV values of the malignant lesions were significantly greater than those of the benign ones (P < 0.05). The optimal cut-off values for SWVmax, SWVmin, SWVmean, and SWVmax/SWVmin obtained from ROC analysis were 5.37 m/s, 3.08 m/s, 4.04 m/s, and 1.83, respectively. Logistic regression analysis revealed that BI-RADS was an independent risk factor for the differential diagnosis of breast lesions, whereas SWV values were not independent risk factors. CONCLUSIONS: VTIQ is useful in the differential diagnosis between benign and malignant breast lesions. The combination of VTIQ and ultrasonic BI-RADS can improve the diagnostic performance.

Exogenous hydrogen sulfide exerts proliferation, anti-apoptosis, migration effects and accelerates cell cycle progression in multiple myeloma cells via activating the Akt pathway.

Hydrogen sulfide (H2S), regarded as the third gaseous transmitter, mediates and induces various biological effects. The present study investigated the effects of H2S on multiple myeloma cell progression via amplifying the activation of Akt pathway in multiple myeloma cells. The level of H2S produced in multiple myeloma (MM) patients and healthy subjects was measured using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). MM cells were treated with 500 µmol/l NaHS (a donor of H2S) for 24 h. The expression levels of phosphorylated-Akt (p-Akt), Bcl-2 and caspase-3 were measured by western blot assay. Cell viability was detected by Cell Counting Kit 8 (CCK-8). The cell cycle was analyzed by flow cytometry. Our results show that the concentration of H2S was higher in MM patients and that it increased in parallel with disease progression. Treating MM cells with 500 µmol/l NaHS for 24 h markedly increased the expression level of Bcl-2 and the activation of p-Akt, however, the expression level of caspase-3 was decreased, cell viability was increased, and cell cycle progression was accelerated in MM cells. NaHS also induced migration in MM cells in transwell migration assay. Furthermore, co-treatment of MM cells with 500 µmol/l NaHS and 50 µmol/l LY294002 for 24 h significantly overset these effects. In conclusion, our findings demonstrate that the Akt pathway contributes to NaHS-induced cell proliferation, migration and acceleration of cell cycle progression in MM cells.