Bevacizumab did not reduce the risk of anemia associated with chemotherapy: an up-to-date meta-analysis.

PURPOSE: The risk of anemia due to bevacizumab-based chemotherapy has not been well described, and new randomized controlled trials (RCTs) have been reported in recent years. We therefore conducted an up-to-date meta-analysis of RCTs to fully characterize the risk of anemia with bevacizumab. METHODS: We carried out an electronic search of Medline, Embase, and The Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials to investigate the effects of RCTs on bevacizumab treatment on cancer patients up to October 2014, and random or fixed-effect meta-analytical models were used to assess the risk ratio (RR) of anemia due to the use of bevacizumab according to the heterogeneity of included studies. RESULTS: A total of 13,173 patients were included in this analysis from 18 RCTs. Among those patients receiving bevacizumab and chemotherapy, the incidences of all-grade and high-grade (grade 3 and above) anemia were 24% (95% confidence interval (CI) 13-41%) and 4.0% (95% CI 3.0-6.0%), respectively. Bevacizumab-containing therapy did not significantly decreased the risk of developing all-grade anemia (RR 0.872, 95% CI 0.739-1.029, P = 0.104) and high-grade anemia (RR 0.850, 95% CI 0.720-1.002, P = 0.053), which is not in agreement with previous meta-analysis. On subgroup analysis, we did not find significant risk differences based on bevacizumab dosage, tumor types, and concomitant drugs. When stratified by dose level, a significantly decreased risk of high-grade anemia with bevacizumab was obtained in a lower dose level (2.5 mg/kg/week, RR 0.773, 95% CI 0.611-0.978, P = 0.031) compared to control group. CONCLUSIONS: Bevacizumab did not significantly reduce the risk of anemia with chemotherapy in cancer patients.

[Driving Mechanism of the Spatiotemporal Evolution of Vegetation in the Yellow River Basin from 2000 to 2020].

The NDVI (normalized difference vegetation index) was used as the vegetation coverage index. Based on the NDVI and weather data from 2000 to 2020, the characteristics of the spatiotemporal evolution and the driving mechanism of vegetation were investigated by using correlation analysis, the Theil-Sen estimator, the Mann-Kendall method, and multivariate residual trend analysis. The results showed that the growing season average NDVI in the Yellow River basin was a fluctuating upward trend of 0.005 a-1 from 2000 to 2020. Areas with significantly improved vegetation in the basin were mainly distributed in the Qinling Mountains, the Northern Shaanxi Plateau, and the Lvliang Mountains in the midstream. The average value of the partial correlation coefficient between the growing season average NDVI and rainfall in the Yellow River basin was 0.57, and the average value of the partial correlation coefficient between the growing season average NDVI and temperature was 0.49. The impact of rainfall on vegetation was higher than that of temperature. The areas where human activities significantly improved vegetation growth were mainly distributed in the northern Shaanxi Plateau, the Lvliang Mountains, and southern Ningxia. The areas where human activities inhibited vegetation growth were mainly distributed in cities with strong human activities such as Yinchuan, Baotou, Xi'an, Luoyang, Zhengzhou, and Taiyuan. Human activities and climate change contributed to 72% and 28% of the vegetation change in the Yellow River basin. Driven by human activities and climate change, the area where vegetation growth has improved in the Yellow River basin accounted for 96.4% of the basin area, of which the contribution rate of human activities greater than 80% of the area accounted for 34.3%, which was mainly distributed in the middle and southeast of the basin. The area with a contribution rate of climate change greater than 80% accounted for 4.2%, which was mainly distributed in the Sichuan-Tibet Plateau and Longzhong Loess Plateau in the basin. The results of this research can provide scientific support for the ecological protection and high-quality development of the Yellow River basin.

[Magnetic properties of indoor dustfall at different heights in Lanzhou].

Environmental magnetic measurements were carried out on the samples of indoor dustfall collected from Qiyun building at different heights in Lanzhou University. The results indicate a high concentration of magnetic minerals in indoor dustfall, dominated by pseudo-single domain (PSD) and multiple domain (MD) ferrimagnetic minerals which are mainly from air pollution. The concentration and granulometry of magnetic minerals decrease with the increase of the height within 24 m near surface. We call it near surface blowing model dominated by low pollution sources. Within 10 m near the top of the building, the concentration and granulometry of magnetic mineral show the synchronous change with the increase of height and that is called building damping model dominated by high pollution sources. The concentration of magnetic minerals can reflect particulate matter pollution in Lanzhou. The results show the pollution is relatively slight from 20-30 m and can provide a scientific basis for atmospheric dust management and improvement at the same time.

Protection effect of Xuanfudaizhetang on reflux esophagitis in rats.

OBJECTIVE: To study protection effect of Xuanfudaizhetang on reflux esophagitis in rats. METHODS: A total of 50 Wistar rats were randomly divided into groups A, B, C, D and E with 10 in each. Reflux esophagitis model in rats was established by incomplete helicobacter seam+lower esophagus sphincterotomy. All rats were divided into 5 groups: group A as control group, group B as model group, group C with saline lavage treatment, group D with motilium treatment, group E with Xuanfudaizhetang lavage treatment. Recovery of esophageal, gastric mucosa and pH changes of rats were compared between groups. RESULTS: Weight gain in group D and E was significantly higher in than group C; the esophageal mucosa grades and esophagus tissue pathological morphology grades of group D and E were higher than that of group B and C with significant difference between groups (P<0.05); pH of lower esophageal mucosa in group D and E increased significantly than that in the group B and C (P<0.05), and the distal mucosal pH dropped significantly in the group B and C (P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Xuanfudaizhetang can obviously improve the pH of lower esophageal mucosa in rats with reflux esophagitis, decrease pH value of gastric mucosal, thus improve esophageal mucosa pathological conditions to achieve therapeutic effect on reflux esophagitis.

[Treatment of cicatricial stricture subsequent to esophageal chemical burns with transverse colon replacing esophagus in children].

OBJECTIVE: To study the validity of transplanting transverse colon to replace esophagus in treating cicatricial stricture resulting from severe esophageal chemical burns in children. METHODS: A retrospective study was carried out on the clinical data of 46 patients with severe chemical esophageal burns who were treated from November 1972 to September 2008. The transverse colon with the ascending branch of the left colic artery was brought through a retrosternal tunnel to replace strictured esophagus. Thirty-two patients underwent colon-esophageal anastomosis and 14 patients underwent colon-pharyngeal anastomosis. RESULTS: All patients survived after surgery, but complications occurred in 7 cases, including leakage of anastomosis in cervical region in 4 cases, stenosis of anastomosis in 2 cases, and dyspnea in 1 case, and they were cured after due treatment. Follow-up study (1 - 26 years) in 39 patients revealed that there was no difference in growth, development and diet between the patients and the normal children of the same age. CONCLUSIONS: Esophageal reconstruction with transverse colon together with the ascending branch of the left colic artery through a retrosternal tunnel is a valuable method for treating cicatricial stricture of the esophagus secondary to severe chemical burns of the esophagus in children.

[NSP5/NSP6 of rotavirus strain TB-Chen and preliminary genotyping analysis].

Strain TB-Chen is a group A rotavirus (RV) isolated from a Chinese infant suffering from gastroenteritis in hospital. The NSP5 and NSP6 of strain TB-Chen are encoded by the 10th gene segment (816bp in whole length) of the viral genome. The results obtained in this study showed that the NSP5 was encoded in the first open-reading-frame (ORF) of the gene segment (from 22bp to 624bp), and NSP6 was encoded in the second ORF (from 80bp to 355bp). The NSP5 protein consisted of 200 amino acid residues with a putative molecular mass of 21.9 kD, and a putative isoelectric point of 7.86. The NSP6 protein consisted of 92 amino acids with a putative molecular mass of 11 kD, and a putative isoelectric point of 9.65. This study further analyzed phylogenetic relationship of the NSP5/NSP6 ORF nucleotide sequence. The results showed that the NSP5s of group A rotavirus could be at least classified into 7 genotypes (H1-H7), the NSP6s could be at least classified into 8 genotypes (hl-h8); the genotypes of the NSP5 and NSP6 derived from strain TB-Chen was classified as H2 and h2. This was the first report on the genotype classification of the NSP6 of group A RVs, and it was proposed English letter "h" to represent genotype of the NSP6, e. g. strain 69M classified as H7h7, strains Wa and KU classified as H1h8.