Surgery is a Viable Treatment Option for Stage IE Primary Thyroid Lymphoma.

BACKGROUND: Stage IE primary thyroid lymphoma (PTL) has been diagnosed in approximately half of patients with PTL; however, the optimal treatment for stage IE PTL has not yet been established. METHODS: Stage IE PTL patients were identified from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database between 1998 and 2019. Thereafter, the disease-specific survival (DSS) and treatment modalities (surgery alone, surgery + radiotherapy (RT) and/or chemotherapy (CT), and RT and/or CT) of these patients were compared by Kaplan-Meier curves and log-rank test after propensity score matching (PSM). Additionally, patients with PTL from the Affiliated Sixth People's Hospital of the Shanghai Jiao Tong University and School of Medicine (Shanghai, China) between 2007 and 2022 were retrospectively analyzed as an external cohort. RESULTS: Among the 1596 patients with PTL from the SEER database, 842 were identified as patients with stage IE PTL, with an average follow-up period of 7.8 years. Pairwise analysis after PSM revealed no significant difference between the DSS of the three treatment groups. A total of 38 patients with PTL were identified in the external cohort, with an average follow-up period of 3.4 years. Compared with the RT and/or CT group, the surgery-alone group showed no significant difference in the incidence of hypothyroidism (p = 0.161) but had significantly fewer treatment-related complications (p = 0.021), shorter treatment duration (p < 0.001), and lower treatment costs (p = 0.025). CONCLUSIONS: The results of our study demonstrate that surgery is a viable treatment option for patients with stage IE PTL.

Status of 18F-PSMA-1007-PET/CT compared with multiparametric MRI in preoperative evaluation of prostate cancer.

PURPOSE: Treatment of primary prostate cancer extremely depends on preoperative stage. The role of 18F-1007-PSMA-PET/CT in preoperative staging has not been well defined. Our aim was to compare the diagnostic performance of 18F-1007-PEMA-PET/CT, mpMRI, and mpMRI + PEMA-PET/CT in local progression and lymph node invasion of prostate cancer using histopathology as the gold standard. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this retrospective study, all patients with prostate cancer who underwent mpMRI and 18F-PSMA-1007-PET/CT before operation were included. The role of preoperative imaging was evaluated by predicting the sensitivity and specificity of EPE (extraprostatic extension), SVI (seminal vesicle invasion), and lymph node invasion results. RESULTS: Ultimately, 130 patients were included in this study. In the preoperative judgment of EPE and SVI, mpMRI + PSMA-PET/CT had higher sensitivity and specificity. When predicting lymph node metastasis, PSMA-PET/CT was the best choice. The accuracy of mpMRI + PSMA-PET/CT and PSMA-PET/CT in the T and N stages, respectively, was affected by the least factors. CONCLUSIONS: Based on the combined results of mpMRI and 18F-1007-PSMA-PET/CT, the accuracy of the preoperative judgment of prostatic capsule invasion can be improved, which may be conducive to developing intra-fascial technology while ensuring no tumor-touch isolation. PSMA-PET/CT has the advantages over mpMRI alone in terms of lymph node positivity. Compared with PSMA-PET/CT alone, the combined results can improve the sensitivity, but reduce specificity. Therefore, it is recommended to focus on PSMA-PET/CT to decide whether lymph node dissection should be performed.

The value of KL-6 in the diagnosis and assessment of interstitial lung disease.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the value of Krebs von den Lungen-6 (KL-6) in the diagnosis and activity assessment of interstitial lung disease (ILD). METHODS: The data of 69 ILD patients admitted to our hospital from January 2018 to January 2020 were analyzed retrospectively, and they were included in the ILD group. In addition, 69 patients with connective tissue disease (CTD) admitted to our hospital during the same period were selected and included in the non-ILD (NILD) group. The lung function, pulmonary imaging scores, and KL-6 expression levels were compared between the two groups. The patients in the ILD group were divided into two subgroups: the inactive group and the active group. The pulmonary function, pulmonary imaging scores, and the KL-6 expression levels of the patients in the two subgroups were compared. The value of KL-6 in the diagnosis and the ILD activity evaluation were analyzed. RESULTS: The FEV1, FVC, and DLCO levels in the LID group were lower than they were in the NLID group (P<0.05). The LUS and Warrick scores in the LID group were higher than they were in the NLID group (P<0.05). The FEV1, FVC, and DLCO levels in the active group were lower than they were in the inactive group (P<0.05). The LUS and Warrick scores in the active group were higher than they were in the NLID group (P<0.05). The patients' serum KL-6 levels in the ILD group were higher than they were in the NILD group (P<0.05), and the patients' serum KL-6 levels in the ILD group were higher than they were in the inactive group (P<0.05). The Youden's index of serum KL-6 for the diagnosis of ILD was 421.775 U/ml and the sensitivity and specificity of the serum KL-6 were 91.304% and 95.652%, respectively, showing a high diagnostic value (P<0.05). The Youden's index of the serum KL-6 levels for the evaluation of the ILD activity was den Lungen-6 (KL-, with a sensitivity of 60.976% and a specificity of 100%, showing a moderate evaluation value (P<0.05). CONCLUSION: KL-6 has a high value in the diagnosis of interstitial lung disease, and a moderate value in the assessment of interstitial lung disease activity.

Significance of TP53 and immune-related genes to prostate cancer.

BACKGROUND: Prostate cancer (PCa) is one of most common male neoplasms. TP53 is the tumor suppressor gene with the highest correlation with human tumorigenesis discovered so far. Besides the TP53, immune-related genes attracted much attention since the clinical application of PD-1/PD-L1 (programmed death 1/programmed cell death-ligand 1) related drugs. There is currently a lack of studies that combine TP53 with immune-related genes to analyze the prognosis of prostate cancer patients. METHODS: Differentially expressed genes were filtered out by R package (edgeR) based on the TCGA-PRAD (The Cancer Genome Atlas-Prostate adenocarcinoma) data set. Using the R package (coxph), we distinguished which ones were related to survival prognosis. Constructing high and low risk groups, we used GEO (Gene Expression Omnibus) data set to verify the prediction performance. Subsequently, we explored the functional differences in gene expression between high and low risk groups. RESULTS: A total of six immune-related genes can be seen as prognostic factors in individuals with TP53 mutations. In the high-risk group, genes related to macrophage activation, epithelial cell apoptosis, and inflammation of the skin should be highly expressed. In the low-risk group, highly expressed genes are mainly involved in nucleotide phosphorylation, tRNA metabolism, and mitochondrial metabolism. CONCLUSIONS: Mutations in the TP53 gene can adversely affect the prognosis of prostate cancer and prostate cancer patients with mutations in some immune-related genes together have a worse prognosis. Compared with any other single clinical index, the prognostic score we proposed gave a more accurate forecast. In order to assist clinicians in making predictive assessments, we have also drawn a nomogram of the prognosis of prostate cancer patients.

The influence of lncRNAs on the prognosis of prostate cancer based on TCGA database.

BACKGROUND: Prostate adenocarcinoma (PRAD) is a common male urinary system cancer globally with a poor prognosis. Our research aims to explore the role of LncRNA in the occurrence and prognosis of prostate cancer and its underlying mechanism. METHODS: The biomaRt package screened for the differentially expressed lncRNA. The survival package was used to identify lncRNAs related to prognosis. The survminer package completed the Kaplan-Meier survival curves. WGCNA (Weighted Gene Co-Expression Network Analysis) screened for the co-expressed genes. The ClusterProfiler package implemented the analysis results of GO (gene ontology) and KEGG (Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes). RESULTS: We performed differential expression analysis on the TCGA (The Cancer Genome Atlas) database to determine the association between LncRNA and Prostate cancer. The data of 500 Prostate cancer patients were tested. 6 LncRNAs (AC245884.1, LINC01524, AL807752.4, AP000844.2, AC016590.1, LINC00641) were selected as independent prognostic factors using statistical analysis methods, and their value was tested through multivariate COX analysis and Kaplan-Meier survival analysis. Through the study of co-expressed genes, the biological processes of these lncRNA enrichment are the perception and conduction of smell and taste. The specific carcinogenic and cancer-promoting mechanisms need further study. CONCLUSIONS: This study shows that lncRNA has a certain predictive effect on prostate cancer occurrence and prognosis and can be a new biomarker for prostate cancer survival and potential treatment targets.

Hybrid acoustic metamaterial as super absorber for broadband low-frequency sound.

A hybrid acoustic metamaterial is proposed as a new class of sound absorber, which exhibits superior broadband low-frequency sound absorption as well as excellent mechanical stiffness/strength. Based on the honeycomb-corrugation hybrid core (H-C hybrid core), we introduce perforations on both top facesheet and corrugation, forming perforated honeycomb-corrugation hybrid (PHCH) to gain super broadband low-frequency sound absorption. Applying the theory of micro-perforated panel (MPP), we establish a theoretical method to calculate the sound absorption coefficient of this new kind of metamaterial. Perfect sound absorption is found at just a few hundreds hertz with two-octave 0.5 absorption bandwidth. To verify this model, a finite element model is developed to calculate the absorption coefficient and analyze the viscous-thermal energy dissipation. It is found that viscous energy dissipation at perforation regions dominates the total energy consumed. This new kind of acoustic metamaterials show promising engineering applications, which can serve as multiple functional materials with extraordinary low-frequency sound absorption, excellent stiffness/strength and impact energy absorption.

The Relationship between CmADHs and the Diversity of Volatile Organic Compounds of Three Aroma Types of Melon (Cucumis melo).

Alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) plays an important role in aroma volatile compounds synthesis of plants. In this paper, we tried to explore the relationship between CmADHs and the volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in oriental melon. Three different aroma types of melon were used as materials. The principle component analysis of three types of melon fruit was conducted. We also measured the CmADHs expression level and enzymatic activities of ADH and alcohol acyl-transferase (AAT) on different stages of fruit ripening. An incubation experiment was carried out to investigate the effect of substrates and inhibitor (4-MP, 4-methylpyrazole) on CmADHs expression, ADH activity, and the main compounds of oriental melon. The results illustrated that ethyl acetate, hexyl acetate (E,Z)-3,6-nonadien-1-ol and 2-ethyl-2hexen-1-ol were the four principal volatile compounds of these three types of melon. AAT activity was increasing with fruit ripening, and the AAT activity in CH were the highest, whereas ADH activity peaked on 32 DAP, 2 days before maturation, and the ADH activity in CB and CG were higher than that in CH. The expression pattern of 11 CmADH genes from 24 to 36 day after pollination (DAP) was found to vary in three melon varieties. CmADH4 was only expressed in CG and the expression levels of CmADH3 and CmADH12 in CH and CB were much higher than that in CG, and they both peaked 2 days before fruit ripening. Ethanol and 4-MP decreased the reductase activity of ADH, the expression of most CmADHs and ethyl acetate or hexyl acetate contents of CB, except for 0.1 mM 4-MP, while aldehyde improved the two acetate ester contents. In addition, we found a positive correlation between the expression of CmADH3 and CmADH12 and the key volatile compound of CB. The relationship between CmADHs and VOCs synthesis of oriental melon was discussed.

The Alcohol Dehydrogenase Gene Family in Melon (Cucumis melo L.): Bioinformatic Analysis and Expression Patterns.

Alcohol dehydrogenases (ADH), encoded by multigene family in plants, play a critical role in plant growth, development, adaptation, fruit ripening and aroma production. Thirteen ADH genes were identified in melon genome, including 12 ADHs and one formaldehyde dehydrogenease (FDH), designated CmADH1-12 and CmFDH1, in which CmADH1 and CmADH2 have been isolated in Cantaloupe. ADH genes shared a lower identity with each other at the protein level and had different intron-exon structure at nucleotide level. No typical signal peptides were found in all CmADHs, and CmADH proteins might locate in the cytoplasm. The phylogenetic tree revealed that 13 ADH genes were divided into three groups respectively, namely long-, medium-, and short-chain ADH subfamily, and CmADH1,3-11, which belongs to the medium-chain ADH subfamily, fell into six medium-chain ADH subgroups. CmADH12 may belong to the long-chain ADH subfamily, while CmFDH1 may be a Class III ADH and serve as an ancestral ADH in melon. Expression profiling revealed that CmADH1, CmADH2, CmADH10 and CmFDH1 were moderately or strongly expressed in different vegetative tissues and fruit at medium and late developmental stages, while CmADH8 and CmADH12 were highly expressed in fruit after 20 days. CmADH3 showed preferential expression in young tissues. CmADH4 only had slight expression in root. Promoter analysis revealed several motifs of CmADH genes involved in the gene expression modulated by various hormones, and the response pattern of CmADH genes to ABA, IAA and ethylene were different. These CmADHs were divided into ethylene-sensitive and -insensitive groups, and the functions of CmADHs were discussed.

Heterologous Expression and Biochemical Characterization of Two Lipoxygenases in Oriental Melon, Cucumis melo var. makuwa Makino.

Lipoxygenases (LOXs) are a class of non-heme iron-containing dioxygenases that catalyse oxidation of polyunsaturated fatty acids to produce hydroperoxidation that are in turn converted to oxylipins. Although multiple isoforms of LOXs have been detected in several plants, LOXs in oriental melon have not attracted much attention. Two full-length LOX cDNA clones, CmLOX10 and CmLOX13 which have been isolated from oriental melon (Cucumis melo var. makuwa Makino) cultivar "Yumeiren", encode 902 and 906 amino acids, respectively. Bioinformatics analysis showed that CmLOX10 and CmLOX13 included all of the typical LOX domains and shared 58.11% identity at the amino acid level with each other. The phylogenetic analysis revealed that CmLOX10 and CmLOX13 were members of the type 2 13-LOX subgroup which are known to be involved in biotic and abiotic stress. Heterologous expression of the full-length CmLOX10 and truncated CmLOX13 in Escherichia coli revealed that the encoded exogenous proteins were identical to the predicted molecular weights and possessed the lipoxygenase activities. The purified CmLOX10 and CmLOX13 recombinant enzymes exhibited maximum activity at different temperature and pH and both had higher affinity for linoleic acid than linolenic acid. Chromatogram analysis of reaction products from the CmLOX10 and CmLOX13 enzyme reaction revealed that both enzymes produced 13S-hydroperoxides when linoleic acid was used as substrate. Furthermore, the subcellular localization analysis by transient expression of the two LOX fusion proteins in tobacco leaves showed that CmLOX10 and CmLOX13 proteins were located in plasma membrane and chloroplasts respectively. We propose that the two lipoxygenases may play different functions in oriental melon during plant growth and development.

The Effect of CmLOXs on the Production of Volatile Organic Compounds in Four Aroma Types of Melon (Cucumis melo).

Lipoxygenases (LOXs) play important role in the synthesis of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which influence the aroma of fruit. In this study, we elucidate that there is a positive relationship between LOXs activity and VOC production in melon (Cucumis melo), and CmLOX genes are involved in fruit aroma generation in melon. To this end, we tested four aroma types of melon that feature a thin pericarp: two aromatic cultivars of the oriental melons (C. melo var. makuwa Makino), 'Yu Meiren' (YMR) and 'Cui Bao' (CB); a non-aromatic oriental pickling melon (C. melo var. conomon), 'Shao Gua' (SHAO); and a non-aromatic snake melon (C. melo L. var. flexuosus Naud), 'Cai Gua' (CAI). A principal component analysis (PCA) revealed that the aromas of SHAO and CAI are similar in nature because their ester contents are lower than those of YMR and CB. Ethyl acetate, benzyl acetate, (E, Z)-2, 6-nonadienal and menthol are four principal volatile compounds that affect the aromatic characteristics of these four types of melons. The LOX activity and total ester content in YMR were the highest among the examined melon varieties. The expression patterns of 18 CmLOX genes were found to vary based on the aromatic nature of the melon. Four of them were highly expressed in YMR. Moreover, we treated the fruit disks of YMR with LOX substrates (linoleic acid and linolenic acid) and LOX inhibitors (n-propyl gallate and nordihydroguariaretic acid). Substrate application promoted LOX activity and induced accumulation of hexanal, (2E)-nonenal and straight-chain esters, such as ethyl acetate. In contrast, LOX inhibitors decreased the levels of these compounds. The effect of CmLOXs in the biosynthesis of esters in melons are discussed.

Prevalence of hepatitis C infection among intravenous drug users in Shanghai.

AIM: To characterize the prevalence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection among Chinese intravenous drug users (IDUs). METHODS: A total of 432 adult IDUs (95 women and 337 men) in Shanghai were included in the study. The third-generation Elecsys Anti-HCV assay (Roche Diagnostics GmbH, Sandhofer Strasse 116, D-68305, Mannheim, Germany) was used to screen for antibodies against HCV. The RIBA strip, a supplemental anti-HCV test with high specificity, was performed on all of the samples that tested positive during the initial screening. All of the anti-HCV positive samples were analyzed with a Cobas TaqMan 48 Analyzer (Roche Diagnostics) for direct detection of HCV RNA. All of the HCV RNA-positive samples were sequenced for genotype determination. RESULTS: The preliminary screening identified 262 (60.6%) subjects who were seropositive for HCV. Of the 62 females and 200 males seropositive subjects, 16 (16.7%) and 65 (19.3%), respectively, were confirmed by RIBA, yielding an overall HCV seropositive rate of 18.8%. Four female (6.5%) and 14 male (7.0%) subjects tested positive for HCV RNA, indicating an active infection rate of 4.2% for the entire study population. The 18 HCV RNA-positive serum samples were genotyped. Seven individuals were genotype 1b, and four were genotype 1a. One individual each was infected with genotypes 2a, 2b and 3a. Four subjects were co-infected with multiple strains: two with genotypes 1a and 2a, and two with genotypes 1b and 2a. The active infection rate among HCV-seropositive individuals was 22.2%, which was significantly lower than most estimates. CONCLUSION: The prevalence of HCV is relatively low among IDUs in Shanghai, with a spontaneous recovery rate much higher than previous estimates.

[Serological survey of Toxoplasma gondii infection among public health practitioners in Xuhui District of Shanghai].

448 public health practitioners in the district were selected randomly from Dec. 2010 to Mar. 2011. Blood specimens were collected and tested for anti-T. gondii IgG by ELISA. The result showed that the positive rate was 10.3% (46/448). No significant difference was found between males and females, so as different cities of origin (P > 0.05). The positive rate was higher in > or = 30 age group (14.9%, 29/195) than that in < 30 age group (6.7%, 17/253)(P < 0.05), and the highest sero-prevalence was recorded in 30-39 age group (15.8%, 16/101). The positive rate was higher in subjects engaged in the food production and processing enterprises (12.6%, 36/286) than those in other industries (6.2%, 10/162) (P < 0.05).