[Clinical features and prognostic analysis of checkpoint inhibitor pneumonitis in patients with non-small cell lung cancer].

Objective: To describe the clinical characteristics of patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who developed checkpoint inhibitor pneumonitis (CIP) and to explore potential prognostic factors. Methods: NSCLC patients who were complicated with CIP after immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) therapy in our institute were enrolled in this study from 1 July 2018 to 30 November 2022. Clinical data of NSCLC-CIP patients were collected, including clinical and radiological features and their outcomes. Results: Among the 70 enrolled NSCLC-CIP patients, there were 57 males (81%) and 13 females (19%). The mean age at the diagnosis of CIP was (65.2±6.3) years. There were 46 smokers (66%), 26 patients (37%) with emphysema, 19 patients (27%) with previous interstitial lung disease, and 26 patients (37%) with a history of thoracic radiation. The mean interval from the first application of checkpoint inhibitor to the onset of CIP was (122.7±106.9) days (range: 2-458 days). The main chest CT manifestations were coincided with non-specific interstitial pneumonia (NSIP) pattern and organizing pneumonia (OP) pattern. Most patients had grade 2 (21 cases) or grade 3 (34 cases) CIP. Seventeen patients had been concurrent with other immune-related adverse events such as rash, hepatitis, colitis, and thyroiditis. Half of the enrolled patients (36 patients/51%) had fever, and most patients had elevated C-reactive protein (52 patients/72%) and all patients had elevated erythrocyte sedimentation rate (70 patients/100%). Serum lactate dehydrogenase was elevated in 34 CIP patients. Prednisone≥1 mg·kg-1·d-1 (or equivalent) was the most commonly used initial treatment in CIP patients (50 patients/71.4%). Complications with pulmonary infections (OR=4.44, P=0.03), use of anti-fungal drugs (OR=5.10, P=0.03) or therapeutic dose of sulfamethoxazole (OR=4.86, P=0.04), longer duration of prednisone≥1 mg·kg-1·d-1 (or equivalent) (Z=-2.33, P=0.02) were probable potential risk factors for poor prognosis. Conclusions: Older males with smoking history might be predisposed to develop NSCLC-CIPs after ICIs therapy. NSIP pattern and OP pattern were common chest CT manifestations. Complications with pulmonary infections (especially fungal infection or Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia), longer duration, longer duration of high-dose corticosteroids were likely potential risk factors for poor prognosis.

Neurological pain relief interventional radiology procedures.

Neurological interventions have taken on a significant role in interventional radiology (IR) practice. Indications fall under three main categories: (1) intraprocedural pain management, (2) cancer pain palliation, and (3) chronic non-cancer pain control. Short-term regional anaesthesia can be achieved with local anaesthetics, while longer-term pain control can be attained with radiofrequency neuromodulation (pulsed or otherwise) or thermal/chemical neurolysis. This review article summarises the therapeutic options, applications, and techniques of commonly used peripheral nerve and plexus interventions in IR.

[Individual control of urine volume to improve stability of bladder volume in radiotherapy of urinary tumor].

OBJECTIVE: To explore the training mode of individual urine volume control, to take indi-vidual expected urine volume as the goal of bladder control in patients with urinary system tumors, and to improve the accuracy of bladder control during radiotherapy by active training of bladder receptivity. METHODS: Twenty-five patients of urinary system tumors were enrolled from May 2019 to September 2019, of whom, 21 patients had prostate cancer, and 4 had bladder cancer. Training of bladder filling started before CT simulation. The patients were required to take the individual bladder filling as the training goal, and the optimal bladder volume range was suggested to be 200－400 mL. After 2－4 weeks of training, the prescribed volume of the bladder was determined according to the patient's bladder receptivity. The volume of the bladder was measured by images of plain CT and images 8-minutes after intravenous contrast injection. The patient's bladder volume was measured using BladderScan before treatment. CBCT (Cone-beam CT) was performed, and bladder volume was measured before treatment. The bladder volume was measured again using BladderScan after treatment. RESULTS: The mean bladder volume of simulation (VCT01) was (262±130) mL, ranging from 78 mL to 505 mL. The mean self-evaluation bladder volume before radiotherapy (VEVA01) was (238±107) mL, ranging from 100 mL to 400 mL. The mean BladderScan measured volume before radiotherapy (VBVI01) was (253±123) mL, ranging from 60 mL to 476 mL. The mean cone-beam CT measured volume before radiotherapy (VCBCT) was (270±120) mL, ranging from 104 mL to 513 mL. There was a correlation between VEVA01 and VBVI01, VCT01 and VBVI01, VCT01, and VBVI01, and there was no significant difference in paired t-test. There was a correlation between differences of self-evaluation bladder volume before radiotherapy(VEVA01) and simulation CT (VCT01) and differences of self-evaluation bladder volume before radiotherapy (VEVA01) and cone-beam CT (VCBCT), and there was no significant difference in paired samples by t-test. CONCLUSION: During radiotherapy for urinary system tumors, such as prostate cancer and bladder cancer, with the assistance of BladderScan, the patients could try to hold their urine moderately according to their conditions, and individualized bladder prescription may be beneficial to achieve stable bladder volume during radiotherapy.

[Value of lenvatinib for the treatment of advanced hepatocellular carcinoma].

Objective: To observe the safety and efficacy of lenvatinib for the treatment of medium-advanced hepatocellular carcinoma. Methods: A total of 36 patients with medium-advanced hepatocellular carcinoma from the First Medical Center of the Chinese PLA General Hospital were retrospectively analyzed from January 2018 to May 2019. All patients had shown tumor progression after at least 2 sessions of TACE. The patients were consisted of 30 males and 6 females with age range of 35 to 76 (54±10) years. Patients received orally administered lenvatinib at a dose of 12 mg once daily for patients ≥ 60 kg and 8 mg once daily for patients<60 kg. According to modified RECIST criteria the tumor response, disease control rate, overall survival and progression free survival were evaluated once every 6-8 weeks. The adverse events were recorded. Results: No patient was in complete response, 2 cases (5.7%) in partial response, and 5 cases (14.3%) in stable disease, respectively. Disease control rate was 20.0% (7/35), the overall survival was 11.5 months, and the progression free survival was 5.3 months. The overall incidence of adverse events was 66.7% (24/36). The most frequent adverse events were hypertension, proteinuria, hand-foot skin reaction and abdominal distension. Conclusion: Lenvatinib can extend the overall survival in a percentage of medium-advanced hepatocellular carcinoma patients who were unresectable and refractory to TACE. Although the incidence of adverse events is high, most of them are mild and reversible.

Improving the performance of optical antenna for optical phased arrays through high-contrast grating structure on SOI substrate.

A novel optical antenna for optical phased arrays is proposed and simulated. A high-contrast grating structure is used to achieve extremely efficient emission. The emission efficiency is as high as 93.94% at 1.55 µm, which exceeds 50% in a range of wavelength from 1.48 µm to 1.62 µm. The antenna can achieve a perfect grating lobe suppression with background suppression of 28.4 dB when the phase difference between adjacent waveguides is 0. A 16-wire optical phased array can easily achieve a scan range of ± 22.8° × 20.2° with a beam width of 2.4° × 2.5°, by employing the optical antenna proposed.

Chemosensory proteins used as target for screening behaviourally active compounds in the rice pest Cnaphalocrocis medinalis (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae).

Reverse chemical ecology based on insect functional odorant binding proteins has been extensively studied to screen behaviourally active compounds, whereas chemosensory proteins (CSPs), which are reportedly involved in olfactory chemical reception and could serve as molecular targets remain unclear. In the present study, two behaviourally active compounds for Cnaphalocrocis medinalis, a serious pest of rice in Asia, were successfully screened via an antenna-biased CSP, CmedCSP33. Fluorescence competitive binding assays showed that CmedCSP33 could bind to seven out of 32 rice volatiles. Fluorescence quenching experiments revealed that CmedCSP33 forms a stable complex with nerolidol and ß-ionone, and circular dichroism (CD) spectra demonstrated that these two compounds cause conformational changes in CmedCSP33. Furthermore, H-tube olfactometer bioassays showed that C. medinalis displayed prominent attractant responses to nerolidol and prominent repellent responses to ß-ionone. Additionally, binding assays and CD spectra at different pH values implied that extensive conformational changes may be a general feature of CSPs for triggering the subsequent chemical transduction. Overall, our findings provide evidence for the involvement of CSPs in olfactory perception, and a protocol for effectively screening behaviourally active compounds.

Transarterial embolisation with bleomycin and N-butyl-2-cyanoacrylate -Lipiodol mixture for symptomatic polycystic liver disease: preliminary experience.

AIMS: To evaluate the therapeutic effect and safety of transarterial embolisation using a bleomycin-Lipiodol mixture and N-butyl-2-cyanoacrylate (NBCA)-Lipiodol mixture (BNL) for the treatment of polycystic liver disease (PLD). MATERIALS AND METHODS: From June 2012 to July 2018, a total of consecutive 14 symptomatic patients (13 women and 1 man; mean age, 49.3±9.9 years) with PLD were referred and underwent transcatheter arterial embolisation (TAE) with BNL. RESULTS: Technical success was achieved in all cases. PLD-related severe symptoms were improved remarkably in 13 of the treated patients. The mean maximum abdominal circumference decreased significantly from 100.6±9.4 to 94.9±9.1 cm (p<0.01). The total liver volume decreased significantly compared with pre-TAE in 13 patients at 6-12 months after TAE. It decreased from 9,776±2,219 to 8,303±2,009 cm3 (p<0.01). There were no major complications associated with the procedure. CONCLUSION: TAE with the bleomycin-Lipiodol mixture and NBCA-Lipiodol mixture may be an effective method for treating symptomatic PLD patients, with improvement of symptoms and shrinkage of cyst volume.

Functional characteristics of chemosensory proteins in the sawyer beetle Monochamus alternatus Hope.

The Japanese pine sawyer, Monochamus alternatus Hope (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae), is a major pest of pines and it is also the key vector of the exotic pinewood nematode in China. In the present study, we cloned, expressed, and purified a chemosensory protein (CSP) in M. alternatus. We surveyed its expression in various developmental stages of male and female adult tissues and determined its binding affinities for different pine volatiles using a competitive binding fluorescence assay. A CSP known as CSP5 in M. alternatus was obtained from an antennal cDNA library and expressed in Escherichia coli. Quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction results indicated that the CSP5 gene was mainly expressed in male and female antennae. Competitive binding assays were performed to test the binding affinity of recombinant CSP5 to 13 odour molecules of pine volatiles. The results showed that CSP5 showed very strong binding abilities to myrcene, (+)-ß-pinene, and (-)-isolongifolene, whereas the volatiles 2-methoxy-4-vinylphenol, p-cymene, and (+)-limonene oxide have relatively weak binding affinity at pH 5.0. Three volatiles myrcene, (+)-ß-pinene, and (-)-isolongifolene may play crucial roles in CSP5 binding with ligands but this needs further study for confirmation. The sensitivity of insect to host plant volatiles can effectively be used to control and monitor the population through mass trapping as part of integrated pest management programs.

[A comparative study of prostatic artery embolization in the treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia with different prostatic volume].

Objective: To compare the efficacy of prostatic artery embolization (PAE) in the treatment of patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) with different prostatic volume (PV). Methods: In this single-center, retrospective study, 137 patients, mean age (70±11) years, range 50-89 years, undergoing PAE for BPH between January 2015 and May 2017 in Chinese PLA General Hospital were involved and divided into three groups according to the PV (group A, >80 ml; group B, 40-80 ml; group C, <40 ml). The changes of international prostate symptoms (IPSS) score, quality of life (QoL) score, and maximum urinary flow rate (Q(max)) were compared among the three groups at 1, 6, and 12 months post-PAE. Correlation between the proportion of prostate ischemia at 1 month post-PAE and the proportion of PV reduction at 12 month post-PAE were analyzed, also the correlation between both of them with IPSS and QoL score were analyzed, respectively. Results: Mean baseline prostate volumes were 110 ml in group A (n=62), 67 ml in group B (n=47) and 33 ml in group C (n=28). At 12 months post-PAE, the outcomes of IPSS score and Q(max) in group A were better than those in group B and C (all P<0.05).The proportion of prostate ischemia at 1 month post-PAE and proportion of PV reduction at 12 month post-PAE in group A, B, and C were 61.4%, 49.3%, 38.0%, and 47.3%, 29.3%, 24.6%, respectively. The proportion of prostate ischemia in group A was larger than that in group B and C (P=0.049, 0.004), also the proportion of PV reduction in group A was greater than that in group B and C (P<0.01). The proportion of prostate ischemia at 1 month post-PAE in all three groups were positively correlated with the proportion of PV reduction at 12 month post-PAE (r=0.699, P=0.024; r=0.719, P=0.019; r=0.821, P=0.004), and there were positive correlations between both of them and the improvement of IPSS score at 12 month post-PAE (0.5

Three chemosensory proteins from the rice leaf folder Cnaphalocrocis medinalis involved in host volatile and sex pheromone reception.

Chemosensory proteins (CSPs) have been considered to play a key role in chemoreception in insects. As stated in our earlier study, three CSP genes from rice leaf folder Cnaphalocrocis medinalis have been identified and showed potential physiological functions in olfaction. Here, we conducted western blot, immunolocalization, competitive binding assay and knockdown assay by RNA interference both in vitro and in vivo to reveal the functions of these three CSPs in C. medinalis. Results showed that both CmedCSP1 and CmedCSP2 are housed in sensilla basiconica and showed high binding affinities to a wide range of host-related semiochemicals. On the other hand, CmedCSP3 is highly expressed in sensilla trichodea of males and sensilla basiconica of females. It showed binding affinities to plant volatiles, especially terpenoids, as well as two of the C. medinalis sex pheromone components, Z11-16:Ac and Z11-16:Al. The transcript expression level of the three CSP genes significantly decreased after injecting target double-stranded RNAs and resulted in remarkably down-regulation on electroantennogram responses evoked by host-related semiochemicals and one sex pheromone compound, which have high binding affinities with CmedCSPs. In conclusion, the three CmedCSPs tested are involved in C. medinalis reception of semiochemicals, including host attractants and sex pheromones.

Optimization of reverse chemical ecology method: false positive binding of Aenasius bambawalei odorant binding protein 1 caused by uncertain binding mechanism.

Odorant binding proteins (OBPs) are considered as the core molecular targets in reverse chemical ecology, which is a convenient and efficient method by which to screen potential semiochemicals. Herein, we identified a classic OBP, AbamOBP1 from Aenasius bambawalei, which showed high mRNA expression in male antennae. Fluorescence competitive binding assay (FCBA) results demonstrated that AbamOBP1 has higher binding affinity with ligands at acid pH, suggesting the physiologically inconsistent binding affinity of this protein. Amongst the four compounds with the highest binding affinities at acid pH, 2, 4, 4-trimethyl-2-pentene and 1-octen-3-one were shown to have attractant activity for male adults, whereas (-)-limonene and an analogue of 1-octen-3-ol exhibited nonbehavioural activity. Further homology modelling and fluorescence quenching experiments demonstrated that the stoichiometry of the binding of this protein to these ligands was not 1: 1, suggesting that the results of FCBA were false. In contrast, the apparent association constants (Ka) of fluorescence quenching experiments seemed to be more reliable, because 2, 4, 4-trimethyl-2-pentene and 1-octen-3-one had observably higher Ka than (-)-limonene and 1-octen-3-ol at neutral pH. Based on the characteristics of different OBPs, various approaches should be applied to study their binding affinities with ligands, which could modify and complement the results of FCBA and contribute to the application of reverse chemical ecology.

Incidence and outcomes of humeral fractures in the older person.

Humeral fractures are not well understood and thus we examined the incidence and outcomes of elderly humeral fractures at a single institution over a 3-year period. We found increasing incidence in humeral fractures with increasing age and negative outcomes comparable to hip fractures. INTRODUCTION: In this study, we report the incidence of humeral fractures in the older patient and their outcomes, including new nursing homes discharges and mortality, residing in the metropolitan referral area of a Sydney tertiary referral hospital. METHODS: All admissions between 2013 and 2016, of patients aged 65 years or more, presenting to hospital with humeral fractures were reviewed. The data was explored primarily for outcomes (mortality and new admissions to residential aged care facility) and secondarily for clinical association with humeral fractures. RESULTS: Two hundred eighty-one episodes of humeral fracture were identified. Incidence peaked in the above 85-year-old group at 670 per 100,000 persons per year. Proximal fractures were accounted for 84.3% of the cohort. 12.8% received operative management. The in-hospital mortality rate was 3.6%. Gender was a significant predictor for mortality (OR = 5.8, 95% CI 1.3-28.5, p value = 0.0032) with males six times more likely to experience in-hospital mortality compared to females. 17.8% of participants were admitted to a new nursing home. Logistical regression demonstrated age (OR = 1.10, 95% CI 1.04-1.17; p value = 0.001) and Charlson comorbidity index (OR = 1.32, 95% CI 1.04-1.66; p value = 0.02) were predictors of admission to a new nursing home. CONCLUSION: Humeral fractures are common in the older population and cause a substantial amount of new nursing home admissions and mortality. Further study is required to ascertain appropriate guidelines for treatment and rehabilitation.

[Significance of pelvic contrast enhanced MRA prior to prostatic artery embolization].

Objective: To assess the values of pelvic contrast enhanced magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) in detection of prostatic artery prior to prostatic arterial embolization(PAE). Methods: This multicenter, prospective study from 5 hospitals in China consisted of 47 patients (mean age (69±16) years, range 56-83 years) who underwent PAE for benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) between January 2016 and April 2018, preprocedural prediction of prostatic arteries were determined using contrast enhanced MRA.CE-MRA findings were compared with subsequent intraprocedural digital subtraction angiography (DSA) or DSA combined with cone-beam computed tomography (CT) to assess the sensitivity and specificity with which contrast enhanced MRA predicted the number and origins of prostatic artery, also to assess the optimal oblique projection of PA. Results: In total, 47 patients (94 pelvic sides) with 97 PAs confirmed by DSA or DSA combined with cone-beam CT at the time of embolization, MR angiography successfully identified 88 PAs and their origins , the sensitivity and specificity was 90.7% (88/97) and 93.6% (88/94), respectively.MR angiography correctly determined the bilateral prostatic artery origins in 36 (76.6%) cases.According to the optimal oblique projection of PAs suggested by MR angiography, the origins and trajectory of PAs of all patients underwent PAE with the same oblique projection (20°-45°ipsilateral anterior oblique direction) were clearly displayed when performed the first arteriography. Conclusion: Pelvic contrast enhanced MR angiography with high sensitivity and specificity in detection the origin, trajectory and number of PAs, and it could provide useful information regarding prostatic arteries before PAE.

[Transarterial chemoembolization with bleomycin treatment for moderate-advenced hepatocellular carcinoma].

Objective: To investigate the safety and efficacy of transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) using bleomycin for the treatment of medium-advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Methods: Between December 2015 and December 2017, a total of 160 patients from the Chinese PLA General Hospital with moderate-advanced HCC whose diagnoses were confirmed by pathology or clinical imaging and were in accord with the Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) staging criteria were prospectively analyzed.All patients had shown persistent viable tumor or tumor progression after at least 2 sessions of TACE.All patients included 135 males and 25 females , age 35-74 (57±8)years, were randomly divided into two groups, the treatment group: TACE procedures consisted of bleomycin+ pirarubicin+ oxaliplatin+ fluorouracil, the control group: pirarubicin+ oxaliplatin+ fluorouracil, and according to modified RECIST criteria the tumor response was evaluated once every 4-6 weeks, survival analysis was performed, overall survival and progression free survival were evaluated.the adverse events were recorded. Results: Response rate of the treatment group was 27.5%(22/80), the median progression free survival(mPFS)was 5.8 months, and the median overall survival (mOS) was 8.1 months.Response rate of the control group was 7.5%(6/80), mPFS of 2.9 months, and mOS of 4 months.The differences in mPFS and in mOS between the two groups were statistically significant (P=0.009, 0.002 respectively), and no serious adverse occurred. Conclusion: It is suggested that transarterial chemoembolization with bleomycin is safe and effective for medium-advenced HCC.

[The relationship between gut microbiota and diet and nutrition related diseases].

The human gastro-intestinal tract is not only the habitat of gut microbiota, but also the main place that the body gets available nutrients. Therefore, the gut microbiota of human can be inseparable associated with the human nutrition. The common technologies used among gut microbiota research included metageonomic, metatranscriptomics, metaproteomics, and metabolomics. The research of gut microbiota based on above omics methods confirmed that diets were the main factors influencing the composition and expression of gut microbiota. The proportion, quantity, stable state, and metabolic changes of gut microbiota were closely related to obesity, diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular disease, and other nutritional-related diseases. Reasonable dietary intervention can adjust the disorders of gut microbiota, which can achieve prevention and treatment of obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, and other nutritional-related diseases. Although the single omics methods can be used to study the problems of some aspects of gut microbiota, the combination of multi-omics is needed to achieve the above objectives.

Finite element analysis on tooth and periodontal stress under simulated occlusal loads.

The tooth stress elicited by occluding contact represents critical biomechanical information about dental health during chewing. Effects of occlusal contact on tooth stress remain obscure. In this study, a mandibular first molar finite element model was built from CT images. The effects of area size, location and direction of occlusal loading on both tooth and periodontal stresses were analysed. Results showed tooth and periodontal stress had drastically different patterns. Tooth stress value was much higher than periodontal stress value under the same task. Tooth stress concentration area and its value decreased from outside to inside. The Maximum Tooth Stress (MTS) always occurred at the loading site and a larger loading area elicited a smaller MTS value. The variation of MTS was larger when the fossa bottoms were inclined loaded than when the cusp tips were inclined loaded, larger when lingually loaded than when buccally loaded and larger when mesially loaded than when distally loaded. Distal loadings generally induced smaller Maximum Periodontal Stress (MPS) variations than the mesial loadings. These findings indicated exposure of the rational site(s) to occlusal contact should be helpful to achieve proper tooth and periodontal stress, thus to diminish loading associated structure problems.

An electromyographic study on the sequential recruitment of bilateral sternocleidomastoid and masseter muscle activity during gum chewing.

Mandibular functions are associated with electromyographic activity of the jaw muscles and also the sternocleidomastoid muscle (SCM). The precise spatiotemporal relation of SCM and masticatory muscles activities during chewing is worthy of investigation. To analyse the sequential recruitment of SCM and masseter activities during chewing as indicated by the spatiotemporal locations of their activity peaks. Jaw movements and bilateral surface electromyographic activity of SCM and masseter were recorded during gum chewing in 20 healthy subjects. The timing order was decided by comparing the length of time from the time when the opening started to the time when the surface electromyographic activity reached its peak value. Spatial order was analysed by locating the peak electromyographic activity onto a standard chewing cycle which was created based on 15 unilateral chewing cycles. Paired t-test, one-way ANOVA and Student-Newman-Keuls post-test were used for comparisons. Although the Time to Peak for the balancing side SCM appeared shorter than for the other three tested muscles, most often it did not reach a level of significance. However, the location of the balancing side SCM's peak activity was further from the terminal chewing position (TCP) than the working side SCM and bilateral masseters (P < 0·05). The balancing side SCM activity reached its peak significantly further away from TCP than the other three tested muscles during chewing. Further studies with spatiotemporal variables included should be helpful to understand the roles of the head, neck and jaw muscles in orofacial and cervical dysfunctional problems.

[Clinical effect of ultraselective transcatheter arterial chemoembolization in treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma originating from the caudate lobe: an analysis of 13 cases].

Objective: To investigate the clinical effect of ultraselective transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE) in the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) originating from the caudate lobe. Methods: A retrospective analysis was performed for 13 patients with solitary HCC originating from the caudate lobe who were admitted to Department of Interventional Radiology in PLA General Hospital from March 2013 to December 2016. A 2.6-F microcatheter was used to perform ultraselective TACE, and the embolization material was ultra-liquefied iodinated oil. The number of tumor-feeding arteries, success rate and short-term efficacy of ultraselective technique, and long-term survival were evaluated after surgery. Results: Of all patients, 8 (61.5%) had a single tumor-feeding artery and 5 (38.5%) had multiple tumor-feeding arteries. The success rate of ultraselective technique was 84.6% (11/13). The complete remission rate at 1 month after ultraselective TACE was 63.6% (7/11). During the follow-up period after the expiration date, 10 out of 11 patients who underwent successful ultraselective TACE survived, and one out of two patients who underwent failed ultraselective TACE survived. Conclusion: Ultraselective TACE has good feasibility, clinical effect, and safety in the treatment of HCC originating from the caudate lobe, with an important clinical significance in the prognosis of such disease.

Systemic administration of strontium or NBD peptide ameliorates early stage cartilage degradation of mouse mandibular condyles.

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether mandibular condylar cartilage degradation induced by experimentally abnormal occlusion could be ameliorated via systemic administration of strontium or NBD peptide. METHODS: Six-week-old female C57BL/6J mice were used. From the seventh day after mock operation or unilateral anterior crossbite (UAC) treatment, the control and UAC mice were further respectively pharmacologically treated for 2 weeks or 4 weeks of saline (CON + Saline and UAC + Saline groups), SrCl2 (CON + SrCl2 and UAC + SrCl2 groups) or NBD peptide (CON + NBD peptide and UAC + NBD peptide groups). Changes in condylar cartilage and subchondral bone were assessed 21 and 35 days after mock operation or UAC procedure by histology and micro-CT. Real-time PCR and/or immunohistochemistry (IHC) were performed to evaluate changes in expression levels of col2a1, aggrecan, ADAMTS-5, tnf-α, il-1ß, nfkbia, nuclear factor-kappaB phospho-p65 in condylar cartilage, and rankl/rank/opg in both condylar cartilage and subchondral bone. RESULTS: Cartilage degradation with decreased col2a1 and aggrecan expression, and increased ADAMTS-5, tnf-α/il1-ß, nfkbia and NF-κB phospho-p65 was observed in UAC + Saline groups. Subchondral bone loss with increased osteoclast numbers and decreased opg/rankl ratio was found in UAC + Saline groups compared to age-match CON + Saline groups. Cartilage degradation and subchondral bone loss were reversed by treatment of SrCl2 or NBD peptide while the same dosage in control mice induced few changes in condylar cartilage and subchondral bone. CONCLUSIONS: The results demonstrate reverse effect of systemic administration of strontium or NBD peptide on UAC-induced condylar cartilage degradation and subchondral bone loss.

Interactions of two odorant-binding proteins influence insect chemoreception.

It is well known that the odorant-binding proteins (OBPs) play crucial roles in insect olfactory detection. To explore if interactions of OBPs affect olfactory coding in the rice leaffolder Cnaphalocrocis medinalis ligand-binding experiments, molecular docking, RNA interference and electrophysiological recording were performed. The binding activity of two C. medinalis OBPs (CmedOBPs) to rice plant volatiles showed wide flexibility depending on the structure of ligands and interactions of CmedOBPs involved. The binding sites of CmedOBP2 and CmedOBP3 to rice plant volatiles were well predicted by three-dimensional structure modelling and molecular docking experiments. In addition, the interactions of these two CmedOBPs in the perception of rice volatiles were demonstrated by RNA interference experiments. When a single double-stranded RNA (dsRNA)-CmedOBP2 was injected, the expression of CmedOBP2 was significantly reduced and the expression of CmedOBP3 was significantly increased, and vice versa. When both dsRNA-CmedOBP2 and 3 were injected together, greater reduction of electroantennogram responses to rice plant volatiles was induced than that seen with individual injection of either dsRNA-CmedOBP2 or dsRNA-CmedOBP3. These results clearly indicate that the interactions of CmedOBP2 and CmedOBP3 have significant effects on C. medinalis during the detection of host plant volatiles.