Artificial intelligence aided precise detection of local recurrence on MRI for nasopharyngeal carcinoma: a multicenter cohort study.

Background: MRI is the routine examination to surveil the recurrence of nasopharyngeal carcinoma, but it has relatively lower sensitivity than PET/CT. We aimed to find if artificial intelligence (AI) could be competent pre-inspector for MRI radiologists and whether AI-aided MRI could perform better or even equal to PET/CT. Methods: This multicenter study enrolled 6916 patients from five hospitals between September 2009 and October 2020. A 2.5D convolutional neural network diagnostic model and a nnU-Net contouring model were developed in the training and test cohorts and used to independently predict and visualize the recurrence of patients in the internal and external validation cohorts. We evaluated the area under the ROC curve (AUC) of AI and compared AI with MRI and PET/CT in sensitivity and specificity using the McNemar test. The prospective cohort was randomized into the AI and non-AI groups, and their sensitivity and specificity were compared using the Chi-square test. Findings: The AI model achieved AUCs of 0.92 and 0.88 in the internal and external validation cohorts, corresponding to the sensitivity of 79.5% and 74.3% and specificity of 91.0% and 92.8%. It had comparable sensitivity to MRI (e.g., 74.3% vs. 74.7%, P = 0.89) but lower sensitivity than PET/CT (77.9% vs. 92.0%, P < 0.0001) at the same individual-specificities. The AI model achieved moderate precision with a median dice similarity coefficient of 0.67. AI-aided MRI improved specificity (92.5% vs. 85.0%, P = 0.034), equaled PET/CT in the internal validation subcohort, and increased sensitivity (81.9% vs. 70.8%, P = 0.021) in the external validation subcohort. In the prospective cohort of 1248 patients, the AI group had higher sensitivity than the non-AI group (78.6% vs. 67.3%, P = 0.23), albeit nonsignificant. In future randomized controlled trials, a sample size of 3943 patients in each arm would be required to demonstrate the statistically significant difference. Interpretation: The AI model equaled MRI by expert radiologists, and AI-aided MRI by expert radiologists equaled PET/CT. A larger randomized controlled trial is warranted to demonstrate the AI's benefit sufficiently. Funding: The Sun Yat-sen University Clinical Research 5010 Program (2015020), Guangdong Basic and Applied Basic Research Foundation (2022A1515110356), and Guangzhou Science and Technology Program (2023A04J1788).

Silicon composition and stoichiometric ratios with other nutrients in the lower Minjiang River, Southeast China.

Over the past decades, rivers have delivered imbalanced nutrient loads to coastal marine ecosystems due to human activities, which leads to serious regional or global eutrophication problems. The Minjiang River is heavily influenced by human activities. To understand the changing characteristics of nutrient transport ratios in the Minjiang River waters, we measured the seasonal variations of carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus and silicon nutrients in the lower surface waters of the Minjiang River between July 2019 and July 2020. The results showed that the annual average contents of dissolved silicon (DSi), lithogenic silicon (LSi) and biogenic silicon (BSi) in the surface waters of the lower Minjiang River were 5.30, 4.58 and 2.37 mg·L-1, respectively. There were large seasonal differences among these parameters, with higher content of DSi than LSi and BSi in summer, higher content of DSi than BSi and LSi in autumn and higher content of LSi than DSi and BSi in winter. The proportions of DSi in total silicon tended to decrease gradually from land to sea, while the proportion of BSi was on the contrary. In term of stoichiometric ratios, the Minjiang River mostly presented carbon or phosphorus limitation and was unlimited by silicon or nitrogen. About 1.03×1010 mol DSi and 0.46 ×1010 mol BSi were delivered via the Minjiang River to the ocean yearly, showing a decreasing trend year by year. Based on the data in recent years, the nutrient loads of carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus transported by Minjiang River showed an increasing trend. The imbalanced nutrient loads may lead to changes in the structure and function of the river, estuary, and offshore ecosystems. The study of nutrient stoichiometric ratios can provide a theoretical basis for solving the problems in structural balance of nutrients and eutrophication in Minjiang River estuary and adjacent marine waters.

First report of Athelia rolfsii associated with southern blight disease of Amorphophallus muelleri in China.

Amorphophallus muelleri, known as konjac, is widely used in the biomedicine and food processing due to its richness in glucomannan. Between the years of 2019 to 2022, severe outbreaks of southern blight on Am. muelleri were observed during August and September in the main planting region of Mile city. The average disease incidence was 20%, resulted in 15.3% of economic losses in approximately 10,000 m2. Infected plants showed wilting and rotting and were covered with white dense mats of mycelia and sclerotia on both petiole base and tubers. Am. muelleri petiole base covered with mycelial mats were collected for pathogen isolation. The infected tissues (n=20) were washed with sterile water and surface disinfected with 75% alcohol for 60 seconds, rinsed three times with sterile water, cultured on rose bengal agar (RBA) and incubated at 27 ℃ for two days (Adre et al. 2022). Individual hyphae were transferred to new RBA plates and incubated at 27 ℃ for 15 days to obtain purified cultures. Five representative isolates were subsequently obtained and exhibited identical morphological characteristics. All isolates produced dense, cotton-white aerial mycelia and had a daily growth rate of 1.6 ± 0.2 mm (n=5). After 10 days, all isolates formed sclerotia in spherical (diameter range 1.1 to 3.5 mm, aver. 2.0 ± 0.5 mm; n=30) and irregular shapes. The number of sclerotia per plate ranged from 58 to 113 (aver=82; n=5). These sclerotia were initially white and gradually turned brown as they matured. A representative isolate (17B-1) was selected for molecular identification and the translation elongation factor (TEF, 480 nt.), internal transcribed spacer (ITS, 629 nt.), large subunit (LSU, 922 nt.), and small subunit (SSU, 1016 nt.) regions were amplified with the primers EF595F/EF1160R (Wendland and Kothe 1997), ITS1/ITS4 (Utama et al. 2022), NS1/NS4, and LROR/LR5 (Moncalvo et al. 2000), respectively. The ITS (GenBank accession no. OP658949), LSU (OP658955), SSU (OP658952), and TEF (OP679794) sequences were 99.19%, 99.78%, 99.31%, and 99.58% similar to those of At. rolfsii isolates (MT634388, MT225781, MT103059, and MN106270, respectively). Thus, the fungus represented by isolate 17B-1 was identified as At. rolfsii, corroborating the identification of Sclerotium rolfsii Sacc., the anamorph, based on cultural and morphological features. Pathogenicity tests were performed on six-month-old asymptomatic Am. muelleri plants (n=30) grown in pots with sterile soil in a greenhouse at 27 °C and 80% relative humidity. The petiole base was scratched with a sterile blade and 20 plants were inoculated by placing a 5 mm2 mycelial plug of five-day-old isolate 17B-1 on the wound. Sterile RBA plugs were used on 10 wounded control plants. After 12 days, all inoculated plants exhibited symptoms similar to those observed in the field, while the control plants showed no symptoms. The morphological and molecular identification of the fungus reisolated from inoculated petioles confirmed its identity as At. Rolfsii, fulfilling Koch's postulates. S. rolfsii was first reported on Am. campanulatus in India (Sarma et al. 2002). As At. rolfsii causes konjac diseases in all Amorphophallus growing areas (Pravi et al. 2014), the importance of At. rolfsii as an endemic pathogen of Am. muelleri in China needs to be recognized, and its prevalence should be determined as a first step to managing this disease.

Deep learning-based precise prediction and early detection of radiation-induced temporal lobe injury for nasopharyngeal carcinoma.

Background: Radiotherapy is the mainstay of treatment for nasopharyngeal carcinoma. Radiation-induced temporal lobe injury (TLI) can regress or resolve in the early phase, but it is irreversible at a later stage. However, no study has proposed a risk-based follow-up schedule for its early detection. Planning evaluation is difficult when dose-volume histogram (DVH) parameters are similar and optimization is terminated. Methods: This multicenter retrospective study included 6065 patients between 2014 and 2018. A 3D ResNet-based deep learning model was developed in training and validation cohorts and independently tested using concordance index in internal and external test cohorts. Accordingly, the patients were stratified into risk groups, and the model-predicted risks were used to develop risk-based follow-up schedules. The schedule was compared with the Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG) recommendation (every 3 months during the first 2 years and every 6 months in 3-5 years). Additionally, the model was used to evaluate plans with similar DVH parameters. Findings: Our model achieved concordance indexes of 0.831, 0.818, and 0.804, respectively, which outperformed conventional prediction models (all P < 0.001). The temporal lobes in all the cohorts were stratified into three groups with discrepant TLI-free survival. Personalized follow-up schedules developed for each risk group could detect TLI 1.9 months earlier than the RTOG recommendation. According to a higher median predicted 3-year TLI-free survival (99.25% vs. 99.15%, P < 0.001), the model identified a better plan than previous models. Interpretation: The deep learning model predicted TLI more precisely. The model-determined risk-based follow-up schedule detected the TLI earlier. The planning evaluation was refined because the model identified a better plan with a lower risk of TLI. Funding: The Sun Yat-sen University Clinical Research 5010 Program (2015020), Guangdong Basic and Applied Basic Research Foundation (2022A1515110356), Medical Scientific Research Foundation of Guangdong Province (A2022367), and Guangzhou Science and Technology Program (2023A04J1788).

First Report of Achromobacter Xylosoxidans Causing Stem Soft Rot on Amorphophallus Konjac in China.

Amorphophallus konjac is one of the important commercial crops cultivated in south China and has long been used as a food source and a traditional medicine, because it is the only species with glucomannan and other trace elements (Ban et al. 2009; Melinda et al. 2010). In June of 2021, an outbreak of stem soft rot disease was observed on A. konjac plants in more than 2,000 square meters of agricultural planting fields in the Fuyuan country (25°34'50″N, 104°04'21″E), Qujing City, Yunnan Province, China. The disease incidence ranged from 30 to 35% in severely infested fields. The diseased plants displayed the first symptoms were damp brown spots. As the brown spots expanded, dark brown water stains appeared at the basal part of the stem and the bulbs were rotting with a foul smell, gradually extending to the underground parts. Progressively, the whole plants wilted and collapsed, and even the plants ultimately died. To identify the pathogen, symptomatic stems were cut into pieces, surface sterilized with 75% (v/v) ethanol, and placed on LB (tryptone/yeast extract/NaCl) medium for 24 to 48 hours at 28 ± 2°C. Six single-colony isolates were obtained from the diseased stems. The colonies on LB present a raised milky white opaque colonies moisture on the surface, round and convex in shape, with neat edges. Scanning electron microscopy showed that the cells were short rods (0.3∼0.5) × (1.9∼2.1)µm in size without any flagellum and were often arranged in pairs or clusters at certain angles. The 16S rDNA sequence of the randomly selected strain MY-G1 with primers 27F/1492R (Ying et al. 2012) and the housekeeping genes nusA, eno, lepA and nuoL (Spilker et al. 2012) were amplified and sequenced. The 16S rDNA sequence of the 1326 bp product was deposited in GenBank (accession no. ON786717) and showed a 99.77% similarity to A. xylosoxidans strain E2 (accession no. MK849863.1). The nusA (OP680477), eno (OP680479), lepA (OP680481) and nuoL (OP680482) sequences showed 94.71%, 97.24%, 94.64% and 95.95% similarity to A. xylosoxidans strain DN002 (accession no. CP045222.1), respectively. The phylogenetic trees built based on 16S rRNA and the nusA-eno-lepA-nuoL multilocus analysis showed the isolate MY-G1 to cluster with A. xylosoxidans. Based on morphological and molecular analysis, the isolated MY-G1 was identified as A. xylosoxidans, which indicates that MY-G1 is a new strain of A. xylosoxidans. Pathogenicity tests were confirmed on the stem and petiole of one-year-old A. konjac. The wounds were made by puncturing with a MY-G1 bacteria suspension containing 108 CFU/ml (15ul/inoculation site). As a negative control, control seedlings were injected with the same amount of sterilized distilled water. Control and inoculated seedlings (each six) were kept in greenhouses and watered as needed in controlled conditions: 28°C, 75% relative humidity. Inoculated seedlings presented similar symptoms of stem soft rot, inner medulla disintegration, and wilt of leaves on developed within 3 to 9 days. The bacterial pathogen was re-isolated from inoculated seedlings and identified by morphological and molecular methods to fulfill Koch's postulates test. According to previous research, A. xylosoxidans can cross-kingdom infect animals and plants (Aisenberg et al.,2004; Ye et al.,2018). To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of A. xylosoxidans causing stem soft rot of A. konjac in China, expanding the known pathogen for the soft rot of A. konjac, and also the host range of A. xylosoxidans.

Combined metabolomics and proteomics to reveal beneficial mechanisms of Dendrobium fimbriatum against gastric mucosal injury.

As a dietary and medicinal plant, Dendrobium fimbriatum (DF) is widely utilized in China for improving stomach disease for centuries. However, the underlying mechanisms against gastric mucosal injury have not been fully disclosed. Here, metabolomics and proteomics were integrated to clarify the in-depth molecular mechanisms using cyclophosphamide-induced gastric mucosal injury model in mice. As a result, three metabolic pathways, such as creatine metabolism, arginine and proline metabolism, and pyrimidine metabolism were hit contributing to DF protective benefits. Additionally, γ-L-glutamyl-putrescine, cytosine, and thymine might be the eligible biomarkers to reflect gastric mucosal injury tatus, and DF anti-gastric mucosal injury effects were mediated by the so-called target proteins such as Ckm, Arg1, Ctps2, Pycr3, and Cmpk2. This finding provided meaningful information for the molecular mechanisms of DF and also offered a promising strategy to clarify the therapeutic mechanisms of functional foods.

[Research on in vivo metabolites of Longxue Tongluo Capsules by liquid chromatography coupled with hybrid ion trap/time-of-flight mass spectrometry].

Longxue Tongluo Capsules(LTC) has good efficacy against blood stasis syndrome during the recovery period of ischemic stroke. Its main active ingredient is the phenolic extract of Chinese dragon's blood. In our previous study, the primary mass fragmentation pathways of phenolic derivatives from LTC were clarified. Herein, the metabolites in rat plasma were characterized following the oral administration of loureirin A and loureirin C using liquid chromatography coupled with hybrid ion trap/time-of-flight mass spectro-metry(LC-IT-TOF-MS), with 18 and 55 metabolites identified, respectively. On this basis, with the help of the obtained accurate molecular weight, characteristic fragment ions, reference comparison, combined with LTC database and natural products database self-created in our group, 18 prototypes and 106 metabolites were tentatively identified in rat plasma after oral gavage of LTC at a dose of 500 mg·kg~(-1). Glucuronidation, sulfonation, and methylation were major biotransformation pathways of LTC. This study preliminarily clarified the LTC constituents absorbed into blood and laid the foundation for clarifying the effective substances of LTC.

[Identification of active components of Dendrobium inhibit growth of gastric cancer cells based on component-activity relationship].

Three cancer cell lines including gastric cancer SGC-7901, HGC-27, and MGC-803 cells were employed to evaluate the bioactivity of seven Dendrobium species. Simultaneously, these Dendrobium species were assessed with UPLC-Q-TOF-MS, and 504 common peaks were found. Based on the hypothesis that biological effects varied with differences in components, multivariate relevance analysis for chemical component-activity relationship of Dendrobium, including grey relation(GRA) and partial least squares(PLS) analysis were performed to evaluate the contribution of each identified component. The target peaks were identified by standards toge-ther with databases of Dendrobium, Nature Chemistry, MassBank, etc. Finally, four active components, including 3,5,9-trihydroxy-23-methylergosta-7,22-dien-6-one, diacylglycerol(14∶1/22∶6/0∶0), pipercitine, and 22-tricosenoic acid, might have negative effect on the growth of gastric cancer cells.

First Report of Botryosphaeria dothidea Causing Stem Canker and Dieback of Gleditsia sinensis in China.

Gleditsia Sinensis Lam is a kind of legume perennial woody plant, which is a traditional Chinese medicine with high economic and ecological value. Its planting area is about 0.1 million ha. In July 2018, symptoms of stem blight were observed on G. sinensis in An shun (26.072311°N, 106.097433°E), Guizhou province (southwestern China). Symptoms included stem canker and dieback, twig blight and extensive vascular discoloration, with incidence rate of 45 to 70%. Samples from plants with symptoms were washed with running tap water, surface sterilized with 2% sodium hypochlorite and then 75% ethanol, rinsed in sterile distilled water, plated on potato dextrose agar (PDA) and incubated at 28°C. Fungal isolates developed copious white aerial mycelium that became dark grey after four to five days, and formed black pycnidia after 23 days. Single hyphal tip cultures of putative 27 isolates were stored in the culture collection (CMW) of the Urban Modern Agriculture Engineering Research Center at the Kunming University. Conidia forming on pycnidia were one-celled, hyaline, aseptate, and fusiform, with dimensions of 20.3-25.9 µm x 4.2-6.5 µm (average 22.5 x 5.5 µm) (sixty conidia were measured). DNA sequence analysis of the ribosomal internal transcribed spacer regions ITS1-5.8S-ITS4, ß-tubulin, and the translation elongation factor 1-alpha (EF1-α) were performed. BLAST searches at GenBank showed the highest nucleotide sequence identity with Botryosphaeria dothidea reference sequence (ITS: >99.82%, KR708996; EF1-α: 99.62%, KP183214; ß-tubulin: > 99.67%, KU306116). Representative sequences of isolates from these regions were deposited in GenBank (ITS: Accession No. MT449017; EF1-α: Accession No. MT454342; ß-tubulin: Accession No. MT454343). Morphological and molecular results confirmed this species as B. dothidea (Aguirre et al. 2018). Pathogenicity tests were conducted by stem inoculation of two-year-old G. sinensis seedlings. Mycelial plugs (2-3 mm in diameter) from actively growing colonies of B. dothidea (PDA) were applied to same-size bark wounds on the middle point of the stems. Inoculated wounds were wrapped with Parafilm. Control seedlings received sterile PDA plugs. Inoculated and control seedlings (9 each), and kept in the greenhouse (28℃, 80% humidity); After 10 days, all of the inoculated plants showed dark vascular stem tissue, and the controls remained healthy. After 30 days, all of the inoculated but none of the control G. sinensis seedlings showed leaf wilting and tissue discoloration. B. dothidea was re-isolated from symptomatic tissues, thus fulfilling Koch's postulates. No symptoms were visible in the control seedlings, and no B. dothidea was re-isolated from the control seedlings tissues. B. dothidea is a member of Botryosphaeriaceae, commonly associated with cankers and dieback of woody plants. B. dothidea has been reported as a pathogen causing stem dieback and branch canker on Malosma laurina (Aguirre et al. 2018), Helwingia chinensis (Yu et al. 2012), and blueberry (Choi 2011; Yu et al. 2012). To our knowledge, this is the first report of B. dothidea on G. sinensis in China.

Effect of Induction Chemotherapy in Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma: An Updated Meta-Analysis.

BACKGROUND: Previous meta-analysis had evaluated the effect of induction chemotherapy in nasopharyngeal carcinoma. But two trials with opposite findings were not included and the long-term result of another trial significantly differed from the preliminary report. This updated meta-analysis was thus warranted. METHODS: Literature search was conducted to identify randomized controlled trials focusing on the additional efficacy of induction chemotherapy in nasopharyngeal carcinoma. Trial-level pooled analysis of hazard ratio (HR) for progression free survival and overall survival and risk ratio (RR) for locoregional control rate and distant control rate were performed. RESULTS: Twelve trials were eligible. The addition of induction chemotherapy significantly prolonged both progression free survival (HR=0.68, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.60-0.76, p<0.001) and overall survival (HR=0.67, 95% CI 0.54-0.80, p<0.001), with 5-year absolute benefit of 11.31% and 8.95%, respectively. Locoregional (RR=0.80, 95% CI 0.70-0.92, p=0.002) and distant control (RR=0.70, 95% CI 0.62-0.80) rates were significantly improved as well. The incidence of grade 3-4 adverse events during the concurrent chemoradiotherapy was higher in leukopenia (p=0.028), thrombocytopenia (p<0.001), and fatigue (p=0.038) in the induction chemotherapy group. CONCLUSIONS: This meta-analysis supported that induction chemotherapy could benefit patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma in progression free survival, overall survival, locoregional, and distant control rate.

Enhancement of epithelial cell autophagy induced by sinensetin alleviates epithelial barrier dysfunction in colitis.

Intestinal epithelial barrier dysfunction is a key pathology of colitis. Autophagy of epithelial cells maintains homeostasis of the intestinal barrier by inhibiting apoptosis and stimulating degradation of the tight junction protein claudin-2. This study investigated the effects and mechanism of activity of sinensetin, a polymethylated flavonoid isolated from tangerine peel and citrus, on intestinal barrier dysfunction in colitis. Animal model of colitis were established by intracolonic administration of 2, 4, 6-trinitrobenzene sulfonic acid and oral treatment with dextran sulfate sodium. Epithelial barrier function was evaluated by measuring the serum recovery of fluorescein isothiocyanate-4 kD dextran in vivo and transepithelial electrical resistance in Caco-2 cells, respectively. Epithelial cell autophagy assayed by autophagosome formation and expression of autophagy-related protein. Sinensetin reversed colitis-associated increase in intestinal permeability, significantly promoted epithelial cell autophagy, and further decreased epithelial cell apoptosis, and reduced mucosal claudin-2. Sinenstetin alleviated colitis symptoms rats and mice with colitis. Knockdown of 5' adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase (AMPK) reversed the promotion of epithelial autophagy by sinensetin. In conclusion, sinensetin significantly alleviated intestinal barrier dysfunction in colitis by promoting epithelial cell autophagy, and further inhibiting apoptosis and promoting claudin-2 degradation. The results highlighted novel potential benefits of sinensetin in colitis.

Phenolic constituents, pharmacological activities, quality control, and metabolism of Dracaena species: A review.

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: Dragon's blood (Chinese name: Xuejie), which comprises red resins obtained from several plants (27 species from 4 families), is drawing worldwide interests in medicinal applications owing to its broad pharmacological spectrum such as promoting blood circulation, regenerating muscle, relieving swelling and pain, maintaining hemostasis, etc. AIM OF THE STUDY: This work aims to evaluate current research progress on phenolic constituents, pharmacological activities, quality control, and metabolism of six Dracaena plants, namely, Dracaena cochinchinensis (Lour.) S.C.Chen, D. cambodiana Pierre ex Gagnep., D. cinnabari Balf. f., D. draco (L.) L., D. loureiroi Gagnep., and D. schizantha Baker, figure out the shortcomings of existing studies, and provide meaningful guidelines for future investigations. METHODS: Extensive database retrieval, such as SciFinder, PubMed, CNKI, ChemSpider, etc., was performed by using the keywords "Dracaena," "dragon's blood," as well as the Latin names of the six Dracaena species. In addition, relevant textbooks, patents, reviews, and documents were also employed to ensure sufficient information is collected. RESULTS: Flavonoids and their oligomers are the primary chemical clusters distributed in Dracaena plants. Pharmacological activities including analgesic, anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, hypolipidemic, hypoglycemic, and cytotoxic effects; bi-directional regulation effects on hemorheology; and cardiovascular and cerebrovascular effects have been disclosed by modern pharmacological evaluations. The chemical and metabolic profiles after oral administration of dragon's blood extract were preliminarily characterized. However, some of the pharmacological investigations reported only elementary methodologies and unreliable findings, and even worse, some important aspects were questionable or missing in these articles. CONCLUSIONS: Dragon's blood is a valuable source of bioactive compounds, mainly flavonoids and their oligomers. Its potential therapeutic effects on different diseases are attractive, such as the notable effect on cardiovascular diseases. In future studies, there is an urgent need to test the effect of this extract on appropriate cell lines and animal models to analyze its ethnopharmacological applications; moreover, "composition-effect correlation" methods and omics technologies are demanded for identifying the effective material basis and therapeutic mechanisms before entering into clinical trials. Moreover, attention should be paid to the chemical profiling and quality evaluation of this precious herbal medicine.

Diversity of culture-independent bacteria and antimicrobial activity of culturable endophytic bacteria isolated from different Dendrobium stems.

Dendrobium is known for its pharmacological actions including anti-cancer effect, anti-fatigue effect, gastric ulcer protective effect, and so on. At present, only studies on endophytic fungi of Dendrobium affecting the metabolites of host plants have been reported, very little research has been done on endophytic bacteria. In this study, we have demonstrated the great diversity of endophytic bacteria in 6 Dendrobium samples from different origins and cultivars. According to the results of the culture-independent method, the endophytic bacterial community in Dendrobium stems showed obvious different in the 6 samples and was influenced by origin and cultivar. Some bacteria including Ralstonia, Comamonas and Lelliottia were first detected in Dendrobium in this study. Based on the culture-dependent method, a total of 165 cultivable endophytic bacteria isolates were isolated from the sterilized Dendrobium stems, and were classified into 43 species according to the 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis. Moreover, 14 of the 43 strains showed antimicrobial activity against phytopathogen using the Kirby-Bauer method. Strain NA-HTong-7 (Bacillus megaterium, 99.12%) showed the highest antimicrobial activity. This study was the first comprehensive study on endophytic bacteria of Dendrobium from different origins and cultivars, which provides new insights into the endophytic bacteria from Dendrobium.

[Identification of active components in Longxue Tongluo Capsules against ischemic brain injury based on component-activity relationship].

Ten fractions(A-J) were prepared by separation of Longxue Tongluo Capsules(LTC) by using silica gel column chromatography and orthogonal experimental design,showing similar chemical profiles with different abundances of peaks.These ten samples were assessed with UHPLC-QE OrbitrapHRMS for 97 common peaks.For the pharmacological activity experiment,three kinds of in vitro cell models including lipopolysaccharide(LPS)-induced BV-2 microglial cells NO release model,oxygen-glucose deprivation/reoxygenation(OGD/R)-treated HUVEC vascular endothelial cells injury model,and OGD/R-treated PC-12 nerve cells injury model were employed to evaluated the bioactivity of each fraction.Based on the contribution of each identified component,grey relation analysis and partial least squares(PLS) analysis were performed to establish component-activity relationship of LTC,identify the potential active components.After that,validation of the potential active components in LTC was carried out by using the same models.The results indicated that 4 phenolic compounds including 7,4'-dihydroxyhomoisoflavanone,loureirin C,4,4'-dihydroxy-2,6-dimethoxydihydrochalcone,and homoisosocotrin-4'-ol,might be the active components for anti-neuroinflammation effect;five phenolic compounds such as 3,5,7,4'-tetrahydroxyhomoisoflavanone,loureirin D,7,4'-dihydroxyhomoisoflavane,and 5,7-dihydroxy-4'-methoxy-8-methyflavane,might have positive effects on the vascular endothelial injury;three phenolic compounds including 5,7,4'-trihydroxyflavanone,7,4'-dihydroxy-5-methoxyhomoisoflavane,and loureirin D,might be the active components in LTC against neuronal injury.

Change of the peripheral blood immune pattern and its correlation with prognosis in patients with liver cancer treated by sorafenib.

OBJECTIVE: To study the change of the peripheral blood immune pattern and its correlation with prognosis in patients with liver cancer after treated by sorafenib. METHODS: Patients with advanced liver cancer admitted in our hospital were enrolled and treated with sorafenib. After two months of the treatment, their peripheral blood was collected. The immune cell subset and cytokines level were determined by flow cytometry and luminex technology. According to the reaction expressed by patients towards sorafenib, patients were divided into the response group and the no response group. The changes of the peripheral blood immune pattern and its correlation with prognosis of patients in the two groups were compared. RESULTS: Before and after treatment of sorafenib, there was no significant difference in the ratios of T cells, NK cells and their subtypes in peripheral blood of patients between the two groups; while after treatment the ratio of B cells and regulatory B cells (Breg) of patients in the response group was significant higher than that of the no response group (P < 0.05), and the prognosis conditions of patients with decreased ratio of Breg cells were better than other patients after undergoing chemotherapy. The levels of plasma cytokines IL-6, IL-10, IL-12, IL17, FIL-3L, IFN-γ, TNF-α, MCP-1 and VEGF showed no significant differences. CONCLUSIONS: After treatment of sorafenib, the prognosis conditions of patients of advanced liver cancer with a reduced Breg ratio are better than patients with an unaltered or increased Breg ratio. The ratio of Breg in peripheral blood may be considered as early biological indicator for the prediction of the curative effects of sorafenib.

[Visible and Infrared Thermal Image Fusion Algorithm Based on Self-Adaptive Reference Image].

The technology of fusing visible images and infrared thermal images is one of the most important researching fields in terms of high-performance night vision technology home and abroad Using this kind of technology can efficiently improve people's ability of target-detecting and scene's comprehension. The commonly used color transfer algorithm belongs to single reference image's global color transfer, which results in huge influence on the color of fusion image. Thus, this kind of method cannot adapt to different kinds of scenes. In this essay, we focus on environmental adaptation problems of regular color transfer in color image fusion algorithm base on YUV color space. After analyzing the mean and standard deviation of typical scenes' UV channel, we find that it has obvious classified characteristics. As a result, we propose a method of constructing adaptive reference image based on mean and standard deviation of U and V channels, which makes visible and infrared thermal image fusion algorithm better adapt to environment and fusion images' color is natural. Furthermore, the handling capacity is small and it exerts little impact on the speed of algorithm real-time hardware processing. To conclude, it is a kind of practical natural color fusion processing algorithm.

[Real-time Three-dimensional Dobutamine Stress Echocardiography for the Evaluation of Ischemic Mitral Regurgitation].

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate mitral regurgitation (MR) and left ventricular myocardial function in the patients with ischemic mitral regurgitation (IMR) by real-time three-dimensional dobutamine stress echocardiography (RT3D-DSE). METHODS: Seventy two consecutive in-patients with myocardial infarction and MR were enrolled in the study during 2006-2012. Each patient underwent RT3D-DSE examination before treatment. Three-dimensional (3D) heart full-volume data and 3D MR were obtained at baseline and each stress state. Quantitative parameters including: left ventricular end-diastolic/systolic volume (LVEDV/LVESV), left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) , left ventricular diastolic /systolic mass (LVMd/s). The time to the point of minimal regional systolic volume (Tmsv) was measured from the time volume curves of 17 segments, the standard deviation (Tmsv-SD) and maximal difference (Tmsv-Dif) of Tmsv were calculated. Excursion max (Emax), excursion SD (Esd), vena contarcta area (VCA) also were measured. RESULTS: 94.4% patients reached dobutamine (Dob) at 30 µg/(kg · min), 69.4% patients completed Dob 40 µg/(kg · min), only 38.9% patients completed Dob at 50 µg/(kg · min). At different stress state, VCA decreased significantly, and the decrement was up to the largest at 30 µg/(kg · min). 2D-LVEF, 3D-LVEF increased gradually, but decreased at 50 µg/(kg · min). 2D-LVESV and LVMd decreased, but increased at 50 µg/(kg · min). Tmsv-16/12/6 SD%, Tmsv-16/12/6 Dif% decreased, but increased at 50 µg/(kg · min). Eave and Esd increased, but decreased at 40-50 µg/(kg · min). Compared each with the baseline, LV remodeling parameters and VCA were statistically significant. CONCLUSION: IMR patients showed a biphasic response during RT3D-DSE. The decrease of VCA is associated with an improvement of LV remodeling and synchronization when Dob ≤ 40 µg/(kg · min).

Modulation of staurosporine-activated volume-sensitive outwardly rectifying Cl⁻ channel by PI3K/Akt in cardiomyocytes.

Chloride (Cl⁻) channels participate in the regulation of cardiac function in response to stress although the underlying regulatory mechanism remains poorly understood. This study was designed to examine the impact of the pro-apoptotic stimulus staurosporine (STS) on the volume-sensitive outwardly rectifying Cl⁻ current (I(Cl,Vol)) in cardiomyocytes and possible regulatory mechanism involved with a focus on phosphatidylinositol-3 kinase (PI3K)/Akt. Primary cultured rat neonatal cardiomyocytes were subjected to hypotonic and isotonic environment in the presence or absence of STS prior to whole-cell voltage-clamp evaluation of Cl⁻ current. Whole-cell recordings revealed that STS activated an outwardly rectifying Cl⁻ current with phenotypic properties reminiscent of I(Cl,Vol). These currents were outwardly rectifying with a time-dependent inactivation at positive potentials and were sensitive to 4,4'-diisothiocya-natostilbene- 2,2'- disulfonicacid (DIDS), a non-selective Cl⁻ channel blocker, and 4-(2-butyl-6,7-dichlor-2-cyclopentyl-indan-1-on-5-yl)oxybutyric acid (DCPIB), a selective VSOR Cl⁻ channel blocker. DIDS and DCPIB inhibited I(Cl,Vol) by 92.6% ± 7.3% and 78.4% ± 5.5%, respectively. Our data further revealed that the PI3K inhibitor LY294002 facilitated the current with the peak amplitude of 19.54 ± 2.70 pA/pF. To the contrary, insulin partially inhibited the current amplitude with the peak current amplitude of 15.4 ± 2.13 pA/pF. Taken together, our data depicted staurosporine is capable of activating I(Cl,Vol) channel in cardiomyocytes via possibly a PI3K/Akt-dependent mechanism.

[A bird's eye view of the algorithms and software packages for reconstructing phylogenetic trees].

The prototype phylogenetic tree, i.e., evolutionary "tree" or "tree of life", was first conceived by Charles Darwin in his seminal book "The Origin of Species", and its reconstructions have been approached by generations of biologists ever since. In this article, we briefly reviewed the major algorithms and software packages for reconstructing phylogenetic trees. Specifically we discuss four categories of phylogeny algorithms including distance-matrix, maximum parsimony, maximum likelihood, and Bayesian framework, as well as software packages (PHYLIP, MEGA, MrBayes) based on them.