Performance of Spodoptera litura (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) in responses to different amplitudes of alternating temperatures across permissive warm temperature regimes.

Climate change involves changes in the pattern of temperature fluctuations and the frequency and magnitude of thermal extremes. It is essential to investigate how insects respond to increased temperature variations, especially for species that usually experience diel temperature variations extending to thermal performance limits. To explicitly elucidate the effects of sizes of amplitudes of temperature variations, we used daily alternating temperatures with an equivalent mean of 28 °C to investigate the impact of different fluctuation amplitudes (±â€…0 °C,  ±â€…2 °C,  ±â€…4 °C, and  ±â€…6 °C) across permissive temperature regimes on the performance of Spodoptera lituraFabricius, a highly destructive polyphagous pest of crops and vegetables in tropical and temperate climates. Amplitudes of temperature fluctuations significantly affected developmental durations, adult life spans, pupal weights, fecundity, and fertility of S. litura. The survival rates from the egg stage to the adult eclosion did not differ significantly across different temperature treatments. The developmental durations of individual life cycles significantly increased with larger amplitudes in 3 fluctuating temperature treatments. The pupal weight was significantly lower and the adult life span was significantly shorter in the ±â€…6 °C treatment in all treatments. Fecundity and fertility were significantly reduced in the ±â€…6 °C treatment, making the continuation of generations nearly impossible. The results should provide critical information for understanding the ecology of this widespread pest under diel, seasonal, and global climate changes.

Prognostic Significance of Neutrophil to Lymphocyte Ratio, Lymphocyte to Monocyte Ratio, and Platelet to Lymphocyte Ratio in Patients with Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma.

The peripheral blood neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NLR), lymphocyte to monocyte ratio (LMR), and platelet to lymphocyte ratio (PLR) have been reported to correlate with the prognosis of many malignancies. This study evaluated the prognostic value of pretreatment NLR, LMR, and PLR in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). A retrospective analysis of clinical and pathological data of 140 NPC patients without distant metastasis during initial treatment was conducted to identify correlations between NLR, LMR, and PLR and clinicopathological features, overall survival, and progression-free survival. Cox proportional hazard regression analysis was used to reveal the independent factors affecting the prognosis of NPC patients. NLR was associated with T staging, N staging, and overall clinical stage grouping of the NPC patients (P < 0.05). NLR ≥ 2.28, LMR < 2.26, and PLR ≥ 174 were significantly associated with a relatively short overall survival (P < 0.05). In addition, NLR ≥ 2.28 was significantly associated with a relatively short progression-free survival (P < 0.05). Cox proportional hazard regression analysis showed that NLR was an independent prognostic factor in NPC. Pretreatment NLR, LMR, and PLR might be a useful complement to TNM staging in the prognostic assessment of NPC patients.

Expression and Prognostic Significance of Macrophage Inflammatory Protein-3 Alpha and Cystatin A in Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma.

This study aims to investigate the expression of macrophage inflammatory protein-3 alpha (MIP-3α) and cystatin A in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) and their association with clinical characteristics and prognosis. Primary tumor specimens from 114 NPC patients and associated clinical follow-up data were collected, and the expression of MIP-3α and cystatin A proteins was investigated by immunohistochemistry. Expression of MIP-3α was significantly associated with TNM stage in patients with NPC (P < 0.05). NPC patients with positive expression of MIP-3α exhibited shorter median overall survival (OS) and distant metastasis-free survival (DMFS), compared with patients with negative expression (OS: 50.5 months versus 59.0 months, P = 0.013; DMFS: 50.1 months versus 60.2 months, P = 0.003). NPC patients with positive expression of cystatin A exhibited shorter median OS, local recurrence-free survival (LRFS), and DMFS, compared with patients with negative expression (OS: 51.1 months versus 60.0 months, P = 0.004; LRFS: 54.5 months versus 59.5 months, P = 0.036; DMFS: 52.3 months versus 58.8 months, P = 0.036). Both MIP-3α and cystatin A overexpressions in NPC tumor tissues were strong independent factors of poor prognosis in NPC patients. MIP-3α and cystatin A expressions may be valuable prognostic markers in NPC patients.

Increased serum levels of macrophage inflammatory protein-3α and cystatin a predict a poor prognosis of nasopharyngeal carcinoma.

This study was aimed to investigate the roles of serum macrophage inflammatory protein-3α (MIP-3α) and cystatin A in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) prognosis.The serum levels of MIP-3α and cystatin A in 140 primary NPC patients without distant metastasis were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay before and after treatment. The results were compared with those in 100 healthy controls. The log-rank test was used to compare survival curves of the 2 groups. Multivariate analysis of prognostic factors used Cox proportional hazards regression model.Serum levels of MIP-3α and cystatin A in pretreatment patients with NPC were higher than those in healthy controls. Concentrations of these 2 factors in the majority of patients after the therapy decreased to control level. Patients with high serum level of MIP-3α and cystatin A before treatment had poorer overall survival (OS), local recurrence-free survival, and distant metastasis-free survival than the ones with low level. In addition, serum pretreatment MIP-3α and cystatin A levels were independent prognostic factors for OS and distant metastasis-free survival of NPC patients; serum posttreatment MIP-3α and cystatin A levels were independent prognostic factors of local recurrence-free survival.Our results revealed that serum MIP-3α and cystatin A may be promising candidate prognostic factors for NPC, and higher serum levels of MIP-3α and cystatin A correlate with shorter probability of OS, local recurrence, and distant metastasis.

Diagnostic significance of combined detection of Epstein-Barr virus antibodies, VCA/IgA, EA/IgA, Rta/IgG and EBNA1/IgA for nasopharyngeal carcinoma.

The objective of this study was to investigate the diagnostic significance of EBV antibody combined detection for nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) in a high incidence region of southern China. Two hundred and eleven untreated NPC patients, 203 non-NPC ENT patients, and 210 healthy controls were recruited for the study. The titers of VCA/IgA and EA/IgA were assessed by immunoenzyme assay, and the levels of Rta/IgG and EBNA1/IgA were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The levels of VCA/IgA, EA/IgA, Rta/IgG and EBNA1/ IgA demonstrated no association with gender or age (p>0.05). The receiver operating characteristic curve and the area under the curve were used to evaluate the diagnostic value. The sensitivity of VCA/IgA (98.1%) and the specificity of EA/IgA (98.5%) were the highest. When a logistic regression model was used to combine the results from multiple antibodies to increase the accuracy, the combination of VCA/IgA+Rta/IgG, whose area under the curve was 0.99, had the highest diagnostic efficiency, and its sensitivity, specificity and Youden index were 94.8%, 98.0% and 0.93 respectively. The data suggest that the combination of VCA/IgA+Rta/IgG may be most suitable for NPC serodiagnosis.

[Prognostic significance of serum anti-Epstein-Barr virus antibodies in nasopharyngeal carcinoma].

OBJECTIVE: This study was aimed to investigate the association between serum against Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) antibodies levels and nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) patients' prognosis. METHODS: Blood samples from 140 primary NPC patients without metastasis were collected before and after treatment. The titers of VCA/IgA and EA/IgA were detected by immunoenzyme assay, and the levels of NA1/IgA and Rta/IgG were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). All patients received consequent follow-up and long-term efficacy and survival assessment. RESULTS: Post-treatment serum levels of VCA/IgA, EA/IgA, NA1/IgA and Rta/IgG in NPC patients significantly decreased than those before treatment, while had significantly higher than those in control individuals (P < 0.05). Patients in remission had significantly lower pre-treatment serum levels of VCA/IgA and EA/IgA than patients with progression (P < 0.05). None of serum levels of VCA/IgA, EA/IgA, NA1/IgA and Rta/IgG was associated with the 3-year overall survival (P > 0.05). The progression-free survivals were significantly lower in patients with higher pre-treatment VCA/IgA (> or = 1 : 320) and EA/IgA (> or = 1:80) levels than in those with lower VCA/IgA ( < 1 : 320) and EA/IgA (< 1 : 80) levels, respectively (61.8% vs. 86.5% , 61.3% vs. 86.5%, P < 0.001). Cox regression model analysis demonstrated that pre-treatment serum VCA/IgA level was an independent risk factor for progression-free survival (HR = 3.80, P = 0.001). CONCLUSION: Anti-EBV VCA/IgA and EA/IgA might provide information regarding the prognosis of NPC patients.

[Relationship between HLA-A, B alleles and red blood cell parameters of patients with --(SEA/αα) subtype of α(0)-thalassemia of Han ethnic population of Wuzhou city].

This study was purposed to investigate the relationship between HLA-A, B allele polymorphisms and red blood cell parameters of patients with --(SEA/αα) subtype of α(0)-thalassemia in Han ethnic population of Wuzhou city. The HLA genetic polymorphisms were determined by polymerase chain reaction-sequence-based typing (PCR-SBT) in 57 patients with --(SEA/αα) subtype of α(0)-thalassemia of Han ethnic population in Wuzhou city, Guangxi province, China. Mean corpuscular volume (MCV), hemoglobin (Hb), mean corpuscular hemoglobin (MCH) and mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration (MCHC) were detected by automatic blood analyzer system. HbA2 were detected by electrophoretic method. The statistical analysis was performed by ordinal polytomous logistic regression. The results showed that Hb and HbA2 levels were significantly lower in patients positive for HLA-A*33:03, B*15:01 or B*55:02, and were significantly higher in patients positive for B*15:02 (P < 0.05). It is concluded that several HLA alleles may be associated with Hb level of --(SEA/αα) subtype of α(0)-thalassemia of Han ethnic population in Wuzhou city. This result has the value for understanding phenotype-genotype relationships in thalassemia.