[Intestinal and pharyngeal microbiota in early neonates: an analysis based on high-throughput sequencing]. / åŸºäºŽé«˜é€šé‡æµ‹åºåˆ†æžæ—©æœŸæ–°ç”Ÿå„¿è‚ é“å’Œå’½éƒ¨å¾®ç”Ÿç‰©èŒç¾¤.

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the distribution characteristics and correlation of intestinal and pharyngeal microbiota in early neonates. METHODS: Full-term healthy neonates who were born in Shanghai Pudong New Area Maternal and Child Health Hospital from September 2021 to January 2022 and were given mixed feeding were enrolled. The 16S rRNA sequencing technique was used to analyze the stool and pharyngeal swab samples collected on the day of birth and days 5-7 after birth, and the composition and function of intestinal and pharyngeal microbiota were analyzed and compared. RESULTS: The diversity analysis showed that the diversity of pharyngeal microbiota was higher than that of intestinal microbiota in early neonates, but the difference was not statistically significant (P>0.05). On the day of birth, the relative abundance of Proteobacteria in the intestine was significantly higher than that in the pharynx (P<0.05). On days 5-7 after birth, the relative abundance of Actinobacteria and Proteobacteria in the intestine was significantly higher than that in the pharynx (P<0.05), and the relative abundance of Firmicutes in the intestine was significantly lower than that in the pharynx (P<0.05). At the genus level, there was no significant difference in the composition of dominant bacteria between the intestine and the pharynx on the day of birth (P>0.05), while on days 5-7 after birth, there were significant differences in the symbiotic bacteria of Streptococcus, Staphylococcus, Rothia, Bifidobacterium, and Escherichia-Shigella between the intestine and the pharynx (P<0.05). The analysis based on the database of Clusters of Orthologous Groups of proteins showed that pharyngeal microbiota was more concentrated on chromatin structure and dynamics and cytoskeleton, while intestinal microbiota was more abundant in RNA processing and modification, energy production and conversion, amino acid transport and metabolism, carbohydrate transport and metabolism, coenzyme transport and metabolism, and others (P<0.05). The Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes analysis showed that compared with pharyngeal microbiota, intestinal microbiota was more predictive of cell motility, cellular processes and signal transduction, endocrine system, excretory system, immune system, metabolic diseases, nervous system, and transcription parameters (P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The composition and diversity of intestinal and pharyngeal microbiota of neonates are not significantly different at birth. The microbiota of these two ecological niches begin to differentiate and gradually exhibit distinct functions over time.

Gastric cancer and image-derived quantitative parameters: Part 2-a critical review of DCE-MRI and 18F-FDG PET/CT findings.

There is yet no consensus on the application of functional imaging and qualitative image interpretation in the management of gastric cancer. In this second part, we will discuss the role of image-derived quantitative parameters from dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (DCE-MRI) and 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography (18F-FDG PET/CT) in gastric cancer, as both techniques have been shown to be promising and useful tools in the clinical decision making of this disease. We will focus on different aspects including aggressiveness assessment, staging and Lauren type discrimination, prognosis prediction and response evaluation. Although both the number of articles and the patients enrolled in the studies were rather small, there is evidence that quantitative parameters from DCE-MRI such as Ktrans, Ve, Kep and AUC could be promising image-derived surrogate parameters for the management of gastric cancer. Data from 18F-FDG PET/CT studies showed that standardised uptake value (SUV) is significantly associated with the aggressiveness, treatment response and prognosis of this disease. Along with the results from diffusion-weighted MRI and contrast-enhanced multidetector computed tomography presented in Part 1 of this critical review, there are additional image-derived quantitative parameters from DCE-MRI and 18F-FDG PET/CT that hold promise as effective tools in the diagnostic pathway of gastric cancer. KEY POINTS: • Quantitative analysis from DCE-MRI and18F-FDG PET/CT allows the extrapolation of multiple image-derived parameters. • Data from DCE-MRI (Ktrans, Ve, Kep and AUC) and 18F-FDG PET/CT (SUV) are non-invasive, quantitative image-derived parameters that hold promise in the evaluation of the aggressiveness, treatment response and prognosis of gastric cancer.

Bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells overexpressing GATA-4 improve cardiac function following myocardial infarction.

INTRODUCTION: The present study aimed to examine whether GATA-4 overexpressing bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells can improve cardiac function in a murine myocardial infarction model compared with bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells alone. METHODS: A lentiviral-based transgenic system was used to generate bone mesenchymal stem cells which stably expressed GATA-4 (GATA-4-bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells). Apoptosis and the myogenic phenotype of the bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells were measured using Western blot and immunofluorescence assays co-cultured with cardiomyocytes. Cardiac function, bone marrow mesenchymal stem cell homing, cardiac cell apoptosis, and vessel number following transplantation were assessed, as well as the expression of c-Kit. RESULTS: In GATA-4-bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells-cardiomyocyte co-cultures, expression of myocardial-specific antigens, cTnT, connexin-43, desmin, and α-actin was increased compared with bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells alone. Caspase 8 and cytochrome C expression was lower, and the apoptotic rate was significantly lower in GATA-4 bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells. Cardiac function following myocardial infarction was also increased in the GATA-4 bone marrow mesenchymal stem cell group as demonstrated by enhanced ejection fraction and left ventricular fractional shortening. Analysis of the cardiac tissue revealed that the GATA-4 bone marrow mesenchymal stem cell group had a greater number of DiR-positive cells suggestive of increased homing and/or survival. Transplantation with GATA-4-bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells significantly increased the number of blood vessels, decreased the proportion of apoptotic cells, and increased the mean number of cardiac c-kit-positive cells. CONCLUSION: GATA-4 overexpression in bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells exerts anti-apoptotic effects by targeting cytochrome C and Fas pathways, promotes the aggregation of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells in cardiac tissue, facilitates angiogenesis, and effectively mobilizes c-kit-positive cells following myocardial infarction, leading to the improvement of cardiac function after MI.

Tf2O-Promoted Intramolecular Schmidt Reaction of the ω-Azido Carboxylic Acids.

A designed Tf2O-promoted intramolecular Schmidt reaction of 2-substituted ω-azido carboxylic acids was demonstrated. Tf2O was used as an activation reagent for the carboxylic acid, and ω-azido anhydride was in situ generated, releasing a molecular TfOH, which acted as an acid promoter for the Schmidt process. A series of 2-substituted pyrrolidines was produced and acetylated for better purification. The strategy was also efficient for conversion of a 4-substituted ω-azido carboxylic acid to the tricyclic lactam.

[Study on the conductivity properties of lightning channel by spectroscopy].

Combining the spectra of cloud-to-ground lightning return obtained by a slit-less spectrograph with the transport theory of air plasma, the electrical conductivity in one discharge channel was calculated with different methods. The results show that the conductivity of the lightning channel core is of the order of 10(4) S m-1; the conductivity goes down with the increase in the channel height in the same channel; the contributions of the collisions between electron and first or second degree ionized atoms, and electron-electron as well as ion-ion collisions to the electrical conductivity of the lightning channel core can not be neglected; the collision integrals method is more reasonable for calculating the conductivity of the lightning channel core. Based on the conductivity, the discharge current was estimated and compared with the peak current of every return stroke, and the results are in the reasonable range, further, the correlation between the channel temperature and the discharge characteristics is discussed, which provides a practical way for this aspect.

[Prognostic value of maximum standard uptake on pretreatment 18F-FDG PET/CT scan in newly diagnosed diffuse large B cell lymphoma].

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the prognostic value of maximum standard uptake (SUVmax) on pretreatment (18)F-fluoro-2-deoxyglucose ((18)F-FDG) positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) scan in patients with newly diagnosed diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL). METHODS: The clinical data of 39 DLBCL patients undergoing a PET/CT scan at pre-treatment from December 2009 to October 2011 were analyzed retrospectively. SUVmax on PET/CT was evaluated by SPSS 13.0 for the associations with patient characteristics, prognostic factors, treatment efficacy and survival time. RESULTS: The median SUVmax was higher in non-germinal center B cell-like (non-GCB) patients than that in GCB ones (18.0(2.2 - 40.5) vs 11.6 (5.3 - 18.7), P = 0.039). No difference of SUVmax was observed between the patients with and without bulky disease (P = 0.539). SUVmax was not associated with such patient characteristics as international protein index, age, stage, Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status, lactate dehydrogenase, number of extranodal involvement and Ki-67 (all P > 0.05). No significant difference in median SUVmax existed between complete remission (CR) and non-CR patients (P = 0.312). The difference of SUVmax was insignificant for the patients with efficacy and no efficacy (P = 0.243). With the cut-off values of 10, 15, 20, the CR rate, response rate, 2-year progression-free survival (PFS) rate and 2-year overall survival (OS) rate were not different between the patients with SUVmax below and above cut-off value (all P > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The prognostic value of SUVmax on PET/CT is indeterminate. And it can not be used to predict the patient prognosis.

Potential application value of PET/computed tomography in retroperitoneal leiomyosarcoma and a literature review.

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the fluorine-18 fludeoxyglucose PET/computed tomography (18F-FDG PET/CT) findings of retroperitoneal leiomyosarcoma (RLMS) and the role of this method in differentiating between benign and malignant masses and classifying the malignant degree to improve the understanding of this rare disease. METHODS: Eight leiomyomas (A group), 13 RLMSs (B group), and 20 postoperative recurrence/metastasis RLMSs (C group) were enrolled. PET/CT features of B group were analyzed. The differences of metabolic parameters between three groups were compared, receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was performed to group A and B, and correlation analysis was performed to subgroup B. RESULTS: (1) The RLMS patients were more likely to be female, and PET/CT showed a high degree of heterogeneous metabolism in the soft tissue mass. (2) The standardized uptake value (SUV) of RLMS were significantly higher than those of benign leiomyomas (P < 0.05). The area under the ROC curve was 0.909, the sensitivity and specificity for diagnosing RLMS were 0.923 and 0.750, respectively, The SUVmax and SUVstd of primary RLMS were moderately associated with the Ki67 index. The mean SUVmax in the G1, G2 and G3 subgroups increased successively (4.15 ± 0.35, 6.47 ± 0.83, and 10.13 ± 4.29, respectively). (3) Primary RLMS was characterized by local invasion, but hematogenous metastasis and lymph node metastasis were rare. Postoperative recurrence/metastasis of RLMS was characterized by local recurrence and hematogenous metastasis, but lymph node metastasis was rare. CONCLUSION: PET/CT has potential value in the preoperative staging, benign and malignant differentiation, malignant degree classification and postoperative follow-up of RLMS.

Microarray and Bioinformatics Analysis of Circular RNA Differential Expression in Newborns With Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome.

Previous studies pointed out that a variety of microRNAs (miRNAs) are involved in the pathogenesis of neonatal acute respiratory distress syndrome (NARDS) and play different roles in the pathological process. However, there have been few studies reporting the connection between circular RNA (circRNA) and NARDS, so the expression profile of circRNAs in newborns with acute respiratory distress syndrome remains largely unknown. In the present study, 10 samples obtained from remaining clinical blood samples of newborns hospitalized in a neonatal ward of the First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University from January 2020 to October 2020 were divided into the "NARDS" group and "non-NARDS" group according to the Montelux standard and then were analyzed in microarray, and 10 other samples collected from the same place and from January 1, 2021 to August 31, 2021, were used to do RT-qPCR experiment. circRNA expression profiles, in which 741 circRNAs were downregulated and 588 were upregulated, were screened with circRNA high-throughput sequencing. Subsequently, Gene Ontology and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes analysis of parent genes of the differentially expressed circRNAs revealed that these circRNAs may be related to the process of protein synthesis and metabolism in NARDS. Moreover, five circRNAs-hsa_circ_0058495, hsa_circ_0000367, hsa_circ_0005389, hsa_circ_0059571, and hsa_circ_0006608-were selected randomly among the top 10 circRNAs of the downregulated or upregulated expression profiles. Then, bioinformatics tools were used to predict correlative miRNA and its target genes, which were also subjected to the same bioinformatics analysis for further study. The top 30 enriched KEGG pathway analyses of the 125 target genes suggested that these target genes are widely involved in the synthesis and secretion of endocrine hormones, and the top 30 enriched GO terms based on the 125 target genes are also focused on the protein and DNA processing. Thus, the present results show that circRNAs could promote the inflammation of NARDS which may provide a new therapeutic direction and it can be used as molecular markers for early diagnosis of NARDS, but further molecular biology verification is needed to define the specific role of differentially expressed circRNAs in NARDS.

[Preliminary study on a new sentinel lymphoscintigraphy agent 99mTc-Rituximab for breast patient].

OBJECTIVE: To develop a new imaging agent, (99m)Tc-Rituximab, for sentinel lymphoscinti-graphy and investigate its feasibility in detecting the sentinel lymph node (SLN) for breast cancer patient. METHODS: (99m)Tc-Rituximab was prepared by introducing (99m)Tc directly into the mclecule of Rituximab, thus a new kind of lymphoscintigraphy agent ((99m)Tc-Rituximab) was produced. Five Bal b/c mice and ten breast cancer patients underwent dynamic SLN mapping procedures using (99m)Tc-Rituximab. Axillary lymph node status in breast cancer patients were evaluated with the fusion images, which was processed by computer software. With ROI technique, SLN/background ratio and the rate of SLN uptake were calculated and the dynamic curve of SLN uptake was drawn. The other 61 breast carcinoma patients underwent routine lymphatic mapping. Sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) and axillary lymph node dissection (ALND) were both performed in all 71 patients. Fresh SLNs and all axillary nodes were sent for pathological examination using hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) staining. RESULTS: (99m)Tc-Rituximab, with a yield of about 95.0%, can show SLN status in both mice and patients. The fusion image showed SLNs clearly, even the depth of SLNs in the axilla. The results of dynamic SLN mapping showed visible SLN starting from 10 min, up to 16 h after injecting tracer, however, secondary lymph nodes were not detectable at all. In mice, the ratio of SLN/background was 2.1, the rate of uptake was about 3.0% to 3.5%, and the equation of the curve was produced as: y = 0.036x + 2.7875, r(2) = 0.9787. For breast cancer patients, the uptake rate was different from case to case, but the cure seemed to be consistent with logarithm. The result of SLNB and ALND showed that the sensitivity and accuracy of SLNB was both 100.0%. The average number of SLNs found in each case was 2.6. Of nineteen breast cancer patients (26.8%) with lymph node metastasis, 11 were found to only have SLN metastasis. CONCLUSION: (99m)Tc-Rituximab, as a new tracer to mapping sentinel lymph node for breast cancer patient, is able to show the status of sentinel lymph node reliably. The fusing image is easy to obtain and be interpreted by the clinician.

[Preliminary study of new imaging agent, 99mTc-Rituximab, for sentinel lymph node biopsy of primary breast cancer].

OBJECTIVE: To study the feasibility and effects of new imaging agent, 99mTc-Rituximab, for sentinel lymph nodes biopsy (SLNB) of primary breast cancer. METHODS: SLNB were performed in eighty-five primary breast cancer patients using 99mTc-Rituximab combined with patent blue. Metastases in sentinel lymph nodes were detected with routine pathologic and immunohistochemistry method. RESULTS: The successful rate of SLNB using combining method of 99mTc-Rituximab and patent blue was 96% (82/85). Thirty cases of SLN (37%, 30/82) were metastasis positive, including twenty-four positive cases by HE staining and six by immunohistochemistry method. SLN was the only metastasis lymph nodes in 18/30 cases. One case has false negative SLN metastasis. The sensitivity and accuracy of SLNB were 97% (30/31) and 99% (81/82). The specificity was 100% (51/51). The false negative rate was 3% (1/30) and the negative predictive value was 98% (51/52). The positive predictive value was 100% (31/31). Internal mammary sentinel lymph node lymphoscintigraphy was positive in eleven cases but all of them were confirmed metastases negative by pathologic examination. CONCLUSIONS: 99mTc-Rituximab, as a new imaging agent, can keep SLN imaging durable and can make SLNB more convenient. Through primary clinical manifestation, higher sensitivity and accuracy could obtained by combining method of 99mTc-Rituximab and patent blue for SLNB of primary breast cancer.

Monitoring bisphenol A and its biodegradation in water using a fluorescent molecularly imprinted chemosensor.

In this paper, we present a simple and rapid method for monitoring bisphenol A (BPA) and its biodegradation in environmental water using a fluorescent molecularly imprinted polymer chemosensor (fMIPcs). A fluorescent molecularly imprinted polymer (fMIP) was first synthesized by precipitation polymerization method using BPA as template, dansyl methacrylate as functional monomer. Then a fMIPcs was constructed by combining the fMIP with a fluorescent microplate reader. The fMIPcs displayed selective, concentration-dependent fluorescence quenching in response to BPA in water even in the existence of interferences, thereby allowing reliable high through-put quantification of BPA via simple fluorescence measurements. The fMIPcs was able to directly quantify BPA (from 10 to 2000 µg L(-1)) in different environmental water samples (distilled water, distilled water containing heavy metals and humic acid, tap water, and river water) with high accuracy, and to monitor BPA biodegradation in real-time. Using the fMIPcs, it was possible to achieve fast analytical results with lower limit of detection for BPA (3 µg L(-1)) from smaller sample volume (250 µL), which are superior to many relevant methods reported in the literature. Moreover, BPA levels and biodegradation rates measured by fMIPcs are comparable to the instrument-based method (HPLC). The fMIPcs developed in this work offers a new solution for simple, rapid, accurate and high through-put BPA quantification, and makes it possible to monitor BPA biodegradation in real time.

[Prognostic value of (18)F-FDG PET/CT after first-line treatment in patients with diffuse large B cell lymphoma].

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the value of (18)F-FDG PET/CT in detecting residual disease and predicting relapse following first-line treatment in patients with diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL). METHODS: The clinical data of 39 patients with DLBCL, who underwent PET/CT scan after first-line treatment, were analyzed retrospectively. Kaplan-Meier method was used to analyze the survival of patients. RESULTS: PET/CT findings were interpreted as negative, mild metabolism and positive. Seventeen patients' PET/CT findings were judged as negative, none of them relapsed with a median follow-up of 24.1 months, 13 were judged as mild metabolism, 2 of them relapsed with a median follow-up of 17.1 months. Of the rest 9 findings were judged as positive with a median follow-up of 16.3 months, 4 patients were considered as disease progression according to clinical manifestations and other radiographic results, 2 patients relapsed at the time points of 13.5 and 6.8 months after PET/CT scan respectively, the other 3 patients were diagnosed as negative by biopsy, none of them relapsed at the time points of 5.9, 9.6 and 20.0 months after PET/CT scan respectively. One-year progression-free-survival (PFS) for negative, mild metabolism and positive groups was 100%, 83% and 56%, respectively. Two-year PFS was 100%, 83% and 42%, respectively. Overall survival (OS) at 1 year for negative, mild metabolism and positive groups was 100%, 100% and 89%, respectively. Two-year OS was 100%, 100% and 63%, respectively (P = 0.004). CONCLUSION: DLBCL patients with negative and mild metabolism PET/CT following first-line treatment had good prognosis, who needed no additional therapy. While patients with positive PET/CT had poor prognosis, those patients should receive biopsy before adjusting treatment regimen because of the high false-positive rate.

[Nutrient dynamics in Quercus mongolica leaves at different canopy positions].

Taking the dominant tree species Quercus mongolica in natural coniferous-broadleaved mixed forest in Changbai Mountains as test object, this paper studied the variations of leaf dry mass per unit area (LMA), leaf carbon (C), nitrogen (N), and phosphorus (P) contents per unit mass and per unit area, as well as the leaf N and P resorption efficiency and use efficiency at upper and lower canopy positions during growth season (from June to October). In the growth season, and at both upper and lower canopy positions, the LMA and leaf C content per unit area had obvious monthly fluctuation, the leaf N and P contents per unit area had the similar monthly variation trend with the leaf N and P contents per unit mass, but the leaf N and P resorption efficiency per unit mass had no significant difference with the leaf N and P resorption efficiency per unit area. The leaf N resorption efficiency and use efficiency were less affected by canopy position, but the leaf P resorption efficiency and use efficiency were higher at upper canopy than at lower canopy. Under the scenario of future climate change, the higher survival and competitive capabilities of Q. mongolica would benefit the nutrient cycling in the test forest ecosystem.