Measurement of the

The ^{18}O(α,γ)^{22}Ne reaction is critical for AGB star nucleosynthesis due to its connection to the abundances of several key isotopes, such as ^{21}Ne and ^{22}Ne. However, the ambiguous resonance energy and spin-parity of the dominant 470 keV resonance leads to substantial uncertainty in the ^{18}O(α,γ)^{22}Ne reaction rate for the temperature of interest. We have measured the resonance energies and strengths of the low-energy resonances in ^{18}O(α,γ)^{22}Ne at the Jinping Underground Nuclear Astrophysics experimental facility (JUNA) with improved precision. The key 470 keV resonance energy has been measured to be E_{α}=474.0±1.1 keV, with such high precision achieved for the first time. The spin-parity of this resonance state is determined to be 1^{-}, removing discrepancies in the resonance strengths in earlier studies. The results significantly improve the precision of the ^{18}O(α,γ)^{22}Ne reaction rates by up to about 10 times compared with the previous data at typical AGB temperatures of 0.1-0.3 GK. We demonstrate that such improvement leads to precise ^{21}Ne abundance predictions, with an impact on probing the origin of meteoritic stardust SiC grains from AGB stars.

EZH2 promotes tumor progression by increasing VEGF expression in clear cell renal cell carcinoma.

OBJECTIVES: The present study is to evaluate the expression level of enhancer of zeste homolog 2 (EZH2) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), and analyze their correlations with clinicopathological characteristics and survival in patients with clear cell renal cell carcinoma (CCRCC). The effect of EZH2 on apoptosis and cell proliferation in 786-O renal cancer cell line is investigated. METHODS: The expression level of EZH2 and VEGF was detected in 185 primary CCRCC patients' tissues using tissue microarray and immunohistochemistry. Small interfering RNA or enhanced green fluorescent protein transfection was employed to investigate the effect of EZH2 inhibition or overexpression on VEGF expression, apoptosis and cell proliferation in 786-O cells using flow cytometry, immunofluorescence microscopy, quantitative real-time reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction and Western blot analysis. RESULTS: High expression level of EZH2 and VEGF was observed in advanced CCRCC and correlated with the TNM stage (p = 0.013, p = 0.001) and distant metastasis (p = 0.011, p = 0.038), respectively. EZH2 was positively correlated with VEGF in CCRCC tissues (correlation coefficient = 0.850, p < 0.001). Kaplan-Meier survival analysis revealed that patients with positive EZH2 expression had a shorter overall survival time compared to patients with negative EZH2 expression (34.3 vs. 67.2, p < 0.001). In 786-O cells, EZH2 silencing inhibited VEGF expression and cell proliferation while increasing apoptosis (p < 0.001). EZH2 overexpression promoted VEGF expression and cell proliferation while inhibiting apoptosis (p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: EZH2 correlates positively with VEGF and associates with adverse clinicopathologic characteristics and shorter survival time in CCRCC patients. EZH2 accelerates antiapoptosis and cell cycle in 786-O cells.

[Comparison of dipyridamole Tc-99m myocardial imaging with dipyridamole electrocardiogram in detecting coronary artery disease].

The authors compared the results of dipyridamole myocardial-SPECT (D-ECT) with dipyridamole electrocardiogram (D-ECG) in detecting coronary artery disease (CAD). According to the result of coronary artery angiogram. We analysed the results of D-ECT and D-ECG in 62 patients. In detecting CAD, the sensitivity and specificity of D-ECT were 89%, and 92%, while those of D-ECG were 54% and 76% respectively. In detecting single double, triple vessel diseases, the sensitivity of D-ECT was 76%, 100% and 100% respectively. The sensitivity of D-ECG was 35%, 73% and 67% respectively. In identifying left anterior descending, left circumflex and right coronary artery, the sensitivity of D-ECT was 73%, 80% and 80% respectively, while that of D-ECG was 54%, 20% and 25% respectively. The results showed that D-ECT was better than D-ECG in diagnosing CAD.

A preliminary study of radioimmunoimaging by 131I-COC183B2 monoclonal antibody in patients with epithelial ovarian cancer.

Monoclonal antibody 131I-COC183B2, developed in our laboratory and proved to fit for human treatment was injected intraperitoneally or subcutaneously in 13 patients. In 8 cases with i.p. injection the disease corresponded with the image, i.e. 3 primary ovarian epithelial cancers showed positive images, 1 ovarian Krukenberg tumor was negative and the other 4 negative images included 1 uterine myoma and 3 ovarian teratomas. In the subcutaneous injection group, 4 cases had ovarian carcinoma, surgery and chemotherapy. Two negative images corresponded with the clinical status-in good health, another negative case had metastatic left supraclavicular lymph node due to ovarian mucinous adenocarcinoma. The last negative image in this group was a case of benign ovarian teratoma which was proved after surgery. The 1 positive case was waiting to be proved by a scheduled third operation. The computer scintigram calculation of T/NT was 5.35 to 13.7. The results suggest that this monoclonal antibody can be used for radioimmunoimaging for the localization of ovarian carcinoma, which is not only helpful for clinical staging and differential diagnosis but is also a good follow-up method.