DNA methylation variations of DNA damage response correlate survival and local immune status in melanomas.

AIM: We aimed to explore the impact of DNA methylation alterations on the DNA damage response (DDR) in melanoma prognosis and immunity. MATERIAL & METHODS: Different melanoma cohorts with molecular and clinical data were included. RESULTS: Hierarchical clustering utilizing different combinations of DDR-relevant CpGs yielded distinct melanoma subtypes, which were characteristic of different prognoses, transcriptional function profiles of DDR, and immunity and immunotherapy responses but were associated with similar tumor mutation burdens. We then constructed and validated a clinically applicable 4-CpG risk-score signature for predicting survival and immunotherapy response. CONCLUSION: Our study describes the close interrelationship among DNA methylation, DDR machinery, local tumor immune status, melanoma prognosis, and immunotherapy response.

Investigating the impact of temporal instability in smart roadway retrofitting on terrain-related crash injury severity.

The advancement of intelligent road systems in developing countries poses unique challenges in identifying risk factors and implementing safety strategies. The variability of factors affecting crash injury severity leads to different risks across levels of roadway smartness, especially in hazardous terrains, complicating the adaptation of smart technologies. Therefore, this study investigates the temporal instability of factors affecting injury severities in crashes across various terrains, with a focus on the evolution of road smartness. Crash data from selected complex terrain regions in Shaanxi Province during smart road adaptation were used, and categorized into periods before, during, and after smart road implementations. A series of mixed logit models were employed to account for unobserved heterogeneity in mean and variance, and likelihood ratio tests were conducted to assess the spatio-temporal instability of model parameters across different topographic settings and smart processes. Moreover, a comparison between partially constrained and unconstrained temporal modeling approaches was made. The findings reveal significant differences in injury severity determinants across terrain conditions as roadway intelligence progressed. On the other hand, certain factors like pavement damage, truck and pedestrian involvement were identified that had relatively stable effects on crash injury severities. Out-of-sample predictions further emphasize the need for modeling across terrain and roadway development stages. These insights are crucial for developing tailored safety measures for smart road retrofitting in different terrain conditions, thereby supporting the transition towards smarter road systems in developing regions.

Crosstalk between metabolism and cell death in tumorigenesis.

It is generally recognized that tumor cells proliferate more rapidly than normal cells. Due to such an abnormally rapid proliferation rate, cancer cells constantly encounter the limits of insufficient oxygen and nutrient supplies. To satisfy their growth needs and resist adverse environmental events, tumor cells modify the metabolic pathways to produce both extra energies and substances required for rapid growth. Realizing the metabolic characters special for tumor cells will be helpful for eliminating them during therapy. Cell death is a hot topic of long-term study and targeting cell death is one of the most effective ways to repress tumor growth. Many studies have successfully demonstrated that metabolism is inextricably linked to cell death of cancer cells. Here we summarize the recently identified metabolic characters that specifically impact on different types of cell deaths and discuss their roles in tumorigenesis.

Protective strategy for the caudate lobe bile duct during left hemihepatectomy based on imaging data analysis.

Purpose: This study was performed to analyze the rule of confluence of the caudate lobe bile duct (CLD) into the left hepatic duct (LHD) and to discuss the protective strategy during left hemihepatectomy. Methods: MRI of 400 patients and T-tube angiography images of 100 patients were collected, and the imaging rules of the confluence of the CLD into the LHD were summarized. The clinical data of 33 patients who underwent left hemihepatectomy using the protective strategy were analyzed. Results: MRI and T-tube angiography images showed that the length from the confluence point of the CLD into the LHD to the confluence of the left and right hepatic ducts was 1.19 ± 0.40 cm and 1.26 ± 0.39 cm, respectively. The average angle between the longitudinal axis of the 2 bile ducts was 68.27° ± 22.59° and 66.58 ± 22.88°, respectively. Coronal and cross-sectional images showed that inflow from the foot side to the cranial side was noted in 79.8% and 82.0% of patients, respectively, and inflow from the dorsal to the ventral side was observed in 84.5% and 88.0%, respectively. Based on these imaging rules, the safe transection length and plane were summarized, and the CLD was effectively protected in 33 cases of left hemihepatectomy. Conclusion: In left hemihepatectomy, the LHD should be transected at least 1.5 cm away from the confluence of the left and right hepatic ducts, and the plane of transection should be oblique to the dorsal side at an angle of 45° with the LHD, these parameters represent an effective strategy to protect the CLD.

BarH-Like Homeobox 2 Suppresses Cell Proliferation, Invasion, and Angiogenesis in Hepatocellular Carcinoma by Activating N-Acetylgalactosaminyltransferase 4.

BarH-like homeobox 2 (BARX2) has been identified to play a key role in the development of multiple cancers. Meanwhile, BARX2 may be an independent prognostic biomarker for patients suffering from hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Nevertheless, the regulatory role of BARX2 in HCC is still unclear and needs to be unveiled. In this study, the expressions of BARX2 and N-acetylgalactosaminyltransferase 4 (GALNT4) were evaluated by quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) as well as western blot. Besides, the abilities of cells to proliferate, migrate, invade, and angiogenesis were assessed with CCK-8, colony formation, wound-healing, Transwell, and tube formation assays, separately. Cell apoptosis was determined by flow cytometry analysis. The binding relationship between BARX2 and GALNT4 was predicted by JASPAR website and verified using Chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) and luciferase report assay. It was discovered that BARX2 was reduced in HCC cell lines, while its overexpression greatly repressed cell proliferation, migration, invasion, and angiogenesis and promoted cell apoptosis in HuH7 and MHCC97-H cells. BARX2 could bind to GALNT4 promoter and positively regulate GALNT4 expression. In addition, GALNT4 deficiency partly abolished the inhibitory effects of BARX2 on the progression of HCC. In summary, this study highlights that BARX2 may hold promise for serving as a potential therapeutic target, facilitating the development of a novel therapeutic strategy against HCC.

Pancancer analysis of oncogenic BARX2 identifying its prognostic value and immunological function in liver hepatocellular carcinoma.

The transcription factor BarH-like homeobox 2 (BARX2), a member of the Bar-like homeobox gene family, is involved in cell proliferation, differentiation, immune responses and tumorigenesis. However, the potential role of BARX2 in the development of liver hepatocellular carcinoma (LIHC) remains unclear. Therefore, we aimed to study the biological role of BARX2 in hepatocellular carcinoma. Through the UALCAN, GTEx PORTAL, TIMER 2.0, LinkedOmics, SMART, MethSurv, Metascape, GSEA and STRING public databases, the BARX2 mRNA level, prognostic value, coexpressed genes, associated differentially expressed genes, DNA methylation and functional enrichment of LIHC patients were studied. The relationships between BARX2 expression and various clinical or genetic parameters of LIHC patients were determined using data from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA), Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO), and BEAT LIHC databases. In addition, the biological function of BARX2 in LIHC was studied in vitro. Through large-scale data mining, our study showed that BARX2 was differentially expressed between different normal and tumour tissues.BARX2 expression in LIHC tissues was significantly lower than that in corresponding controls, especially in patients with T2-4 stage disease. In patients with LIHC, overexpression of BARX2 was an independent poor prognostic factor associated with poor cytogenetic risk and gene mutations. Genomic hypermethylation of the BARX2 gene was associated with upregulated BARX2 expression and poor overall survival (OS) in LIHC. Functional enrichment analysis showed that BARX2 had an immunomodulatory role and was involved in the inflammatory response in LIHC occurrence. In conclusion, the oncogene BARX2 may serve as a new biomarker and prognostic factor for patients with LIHC. The immunomodulatory function of BARX2 deserves further validation in LIHC.

Validation of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation mortality prediction and severity of illness scores in an international COVID-19 cohort.

BACKGROUND: Veno-venous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (V-V ECMO) is a lifesaving support modality for severe respiratory failure, but its resource-intensive nature led to significant controversy surrounding its use during the COVID-19 pandemic. We report the performance of several ECMO mortality prediction and severity of illness scores at discriminating survival in a large COVID-19 V-V ECMO cohort. METHODS: We validated ECMOnet, PRESET (PREdiction of Survival on ECMO Therapy-Score), Roch, SOFA (Sequential Organ Failure Assessment), APACHE II (acute physiology and chronic health evaluation), 4C (Coronavirus Clinical Characterisation Consortium), and CURB-65 (Confusion, Urea nitrogen, Respiratory Rate, Blood Pressure, age >65 years) scores on the ISARIC (International Severe Acute Respiratory and emerging Infection Consortium) database. We report discrimination via Area Under the Receiver Operative Curve (AUROC) and Area under the Precision Recall Curve (AURPC) and calibration via Brier score. RESULTS: We included 1147 patients and scores were calculated on patients with sufficient variables. ECMO mortality scores had AUROC (0.58-0.62), AUPRC (0.62-0.74), and Brier score (0.286-0.303). Roch score had the highest accuracy (AUROC 0.62), precision (AUPRC 0.74) yet worst calibration (Brier score of 0.3) despite being calculated on the fewest patients (144). Severity of illness scores had AUROC (0.52-0.57), AURPC (0.59-0.64), and Brier Score (0.265-0.471). APACHE II had the highest accuracy (AUROC 0.58), precision (AUPRC 0.64), and best calibration (Brier score 0.26). CONCLUSION: Within a large international multicenter COVID-19 cohort, the evaluated ECMO mortality prediction and severity of illness scores demonstrated inconsistent discrimination and calibration highlighting the need for better clinically applicable decision support tools.

Multi-horizon predictive models for guiding extracorporeal resource allocation in critically ill COVID-19 patients.

OBJECTIVE: Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) resource allocation tools are currently lacking. We developed machine learning (ML) models for predicting COVID-19 patients at risk of receiving ECMO to guide patient triage and resource allocation. MATERIAL AND METHODS: We included COVID-19 patients admitted to intensive care units for >24 h from March 2020 to October 2021, divided into training and testing development and testing-only holdout cohorts. We developed ECMO deployment timely prediction model ForecastECMO using Gradient Boosting Tree (GBT), with pre-ECMO prediction horizons from 0 to 48 h, compared to PaO2/FiO2 ratio, Sequential Organ Failure Assessment score, PREdiction of Survival on ECMO Therapy score, logistic regression, and 30 pre-selected clinical variables GBT Clinical GBT models, with area under the receiver operator curve (AUROC) and precision recall curve (AUPRC) metrics. RESULTS: ECMO prevalence was 2.89% and 1.73% in development and holdout cohorts. ForecastECMO had the best performance in both cohorts. At the 18-h prediction horizon, a potentially clinically actionable pre-ECMO window, ForecastECMO, had the highest AUROC (0.94 and 0.95) and AUPRC (0.54 and 0.37) in development and holdout cohorts in identifying ECMO patients without data 18 h prior to ECMO. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS: We developed a multi-horizon model, ForecastECMO, with high performance in identifying patients receiving ECMO at various prediction horizons. This model has potential to be used as early alert tool to guide ECMO resource allocation for COVID-19 patients. Future prospective multicenter validation would provide evidence for generalizability and real-world application of such models to improve patient outcomes.

Event-Triggered Distributed Secondary Control With Model-Free Predictive Compensation in AC/DC Networked Microgrids Under DoS Attacks.

This article presents an event-triggered distributed secondary control with predictive compensation based on the model-free predictive control under Denial-of-Service (DoS) attacks in ac/dc-networked microgrids. First, models of ac/dc networked microgrids in both electric network and communication network are established. On this premise, event-triggered distributed secondary control is proposed to solve the problems of strong communication burden and low-power distribution accuracy. Besides, aiming at the impact of DoS attacks on distributed secondary control, a compensation algorithm based on model-free predictive control is designed to estimate the control variables when the DoS attack occurs, which can improve the control performance and maintain the stable operation without a specific system structure system. Then, the convergence of event-triggered distributed secondary control with the condition of whether DoS attacks happen are analyzed. Finally, the effectiveness of the proposed control is verified on the hardware-in-loop (HIL) simulation platform consisting of the RT-LAB simulator, MATLAB/Simulink simulation model, and DSP controller.

Prognostic Value of Bleeding in Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumors: A Meta-Analysis.

BACKGROUND: Gastrointestinal bleeding is the most common clinical manifestation of gastrointestinal stromal tumor. It is of great significance to the prognosis of patients. But the results are controversial. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the relationship between gastrointestinal bleeding and clinical prognosis in patients with GIST. METHODS: A systematic literature search was performed in Pumbed, Cochrane Library, EMBASE, ClinicalTrials.gov, CNKI, VIP and wanfang databases with the pattern of unlimited languages. 12 studies with 2781 individuals were included in the final analysis. The overall survival (OS), recurrence-free survival/disease-free survival (RFS/DFS) and related factors affecting bleeding in patients with gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST) were extracted. Hazard ratio (HR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) were used for in the meta-analysis. RESULTS: A total of 12 articles were included in the study, including 2781 patients with GIST, including 845 patients with gastrointestinal bleeding. The OS of GIST patients with gastrointestinal bleeding was significantly worse (HR = 2.54, 95% CI = 1.13-5.73, P = 0.025). But there was no significant difference in RFS between gastrointestinal bleeding patients and non-bleeding patients (HR = 1.35, 95% CI = 0.70-2.61, P = 0.371). Further analysis of the related factors of GI bleeding in GIST patients was observed, besides the aging factor (HR = 1.02, 95% CI = 0.69-1.50, P = 0.929), Small intestinal stromal tumor (HR = 0.56, 95% CI = 0.41-0.76, P < 0.001), tumor diameter ≥ 5 cm (HR = 2.09, 95% CI = 1.20-3.63, P = 0.009), Mitotic index ≥ 5/50 HPF (HR = 1.66, 95% CI = 1.11-2.49, P = 0.014) and tumor rupture (HR = 2.04, 95% CI = 1.0-3.82, P = 0.026) all increased the risk of GI bleeding in patients with GIST. CONCLUSIONS: The OS of GIST patients with GI bleeding was worse than non-GI bleeding, but had no significant effect on RFS. Nevertheless the aging factor, the location of GIST in the small intestine, tumor diameter ≥ 5 cm, Mitotic index ≥ 5/50 HPF and tumor rupture all increased the risk of GI bleeding in patients with GIST.

A Noncanonical Hedgehog Signaling Exerts a Tumor-Promoting Effect on Pancreatic Cancer Cells Via Induction of Osteopontin Expression.

Objective: Sonic Hedgehog (Shh)-Gli1 signaling and osteopontin (OPN) play vital roles in pancreatic cancer. However, the precise mechanisms of both signals have not been fully clarified, and whether there is a correlation between them in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is unknown. This study aims to confirm the effect of OPN on human PDAC and assess whether Hh signaling affects pancreatic cancer cells through upregulation of OPN. Materials and Methods: OPN expression in human PDAC tissues and cell lines was investigated. Proliferation, apoptosis, migration, and invasion of OPN-knockdown BxPC-3 cells were observed. We analyzed the correlation between Shh or Gli1 and OPN expression in human PDAC. Hh signaling inhibitors and shRNA against Gli1 were used to confirm if OPN expression in BxPC-3 cells was regulated by Hh canonical or noncanonical pathway. We also evaluated the proliferation, apoptosis, migration, and invasion of Gli1-knockdown BxPC-3 cells. Results: OPN is highly expressed in human PDAC tissues and cell lines. The proliferation, migration, and invasion of BxPC-3 cell lines were decreased, whereas apoptosis was increased when OPN was knocked down. Correlation analysis showed that Gli1, but not Shh, was associated with OPN expression in human PDAC, and Gli1 regulated OPN production in BxPC-3 cells through a noncanonical pathway because Gli but not Smo inhibitor reduced OPN expression. Similar to above, the proliferation, migration, and invasion of BxPC-3 cells were decreased, whereas the apoptosis was increased when Gli1 was knocked down. Supplement of exogenous OPN protein could partially reverse the effect of both OPN knockdown and Gli1 knockdown on the bio-behavior of BxPC-3 cells. Conclusion: Hh signaling promotes proliferation, migration, and invasion but inhibits apoptosis of pancreatic cancer cells through upregulation of OPN in a noncanonical pathway.

Clinical and pathological analysis of solitary fibrous tumors with portal vein widening: A case report.

RATIONALE: Solitary fibrous tumors (SFTs) are rare soft-tissue tumors characterized with spindle-cell, which occur more common in the chest and rarely seen in the abdomen. So far as we knew, SFTs accompanied with venopathy of portal vein has rarely been reported. PATIENT CONCERNS: A 36-year-old male presented with left-sided abdominal mass and portal vein expansion on ultrasound. DIAGNOSES: The post-operative histopathology confirmed the diagnosis of Solitary fibrous tumor. INTERVENTIONS: Laparotomy was performed and the mass was completely removed. OUTCOMES: Patients had no symptoms, recovered well without recurrence; the portal vein and splenic vein dilatation were alleviated and the symptoms of portal hypertension were relieved. LESSONS: SFTs presents with few symptoms in the early stage of the disease. A rich arteriovenous shunt is beneficial to the diagnosis of SFTs by B-ultrasound and computed tomography (CT) examinations. However, the diagnosis of SFTs must depend on histopathology.

Serological Epidemiological Investigation of Tibetan Sheep (Ovis aries) Plague in Qinghai, China.

The plague, which is caused by the Gram-negative coccobacillus bacterium Yersinia pestis, has been classified as a reemerging infectious disease by the World Health Organization. The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau natural plague focus is the largest plague focus in China, and Marmota himalayana is the primary host of the plague. Tibetan sheep (Ovis aries) were first identified as naturally infected hosts of Y. pestis based on etiological evidence in 1975, and activities such as slaughtering or skinning Tibetan sheep that have been infected by Y. pestis or died from Y. pestis infection had caused severe human plague in Qinghai. Tibetan sheep are important domestic livestock in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. Knowledge regarding the infection rate of Y. pestis in Tibetan sheep is important for understanding the range of infection and improving measures to control plague epidemics in this area. In this study, a serological survey involving 12,710 Tibetan sheep in all 44 counties in Qinghai Province was conducted. The total positive rate of indirect hemagglutination assay for Y. pestis in Tibetan sheep in Qinghai was 0.68% (86/12,710). Serological positivity to the Y. pestis F1 antibody was found in Tibetan sheep in all prefectures, except the Haidong and Haibei prefectures in Qinghai, with the seropositive rate in different counties ranging from 0.33% to 5.2% and the titers in the positive sera ranging from 1:20 to 1:5120. In addition, the seropositive rates in animal plague focus counties were higher than the rates in non-animal plague counties. Such results indicated a widespread infection of Tibetan sheep with Y. pestis in Qinghai, even though only sporadic epidemics of Tibetan sheep plague have been reported in Qinghai.

[CT manifestation for excavated-type of rhomboid fossa of the clavicle].

OBJECTIVE: To explore the manifestation of CT for excavated-type of rhomboid fossa of the clavicle. METHODS: Nine cases with rhomboid fossaes of the clavicle of 8 patients accepted CT and 1 case added MRI together;all 8 patients were male who aged from 17 to 70 years old with mean age of 42.5 years old;three dimensional reconstruction of all CTs were made, the distance between focus and inside end of clavicle and the size of all focus were measured respectively, then the position, shape, margin of focus were analyzed. RESULTS: All focuses located near the inside end of clavicle and the distances between focus and inside end of clavicle were lower than 2 cm and the mean value was 1.3 cm, the size of all focuses was from 1.05 to 3.45 cm and the mean value was 2.18 cm. All 9 focuses of 8 patients located in the posterior and nether edge of inside end of clavicle, 5 cases located in right and 4 cases located in left side(both right and left side occurred in 1 patient. Seven focuses showed "fishhook sign" and the rest 2 focuses were small and without fishhook shape;the cortex of clavicle of all 9 cases showed local minus and nearly marrow showed integrated sclerotic margin. Regular soft tissue as strip can be seen in 7 focuses and the rest small focuses without the symptom. CONCLUSIONS: CT could show certain characteristics for excavated-type of rhomboid fossa of the clavicle and certain value for its diagnosis and identification.

Asbestos textile production linked to malignant peritoneal and pleural mesothelioma in women: Analysis of 28 cases in Southeast China.

BACKGROUND: Chrysotile had been used in asbestos textile workshops in Southeast China but a clear relation to mesothelioma is lacking. METHODS: All patients diagnosed with mesothelioma from 2003 to 2010 at Yuyao People's Hospital were re-evaluated by multiple expert pathologists with immunohistochemistry and asbestos exposure data were collected. RESULTS: Of 43 patients with a mesothelioma diagnosis, 19 peritoneal and nine pleural cases were finally diagnosed as mesothelioma. All were females, and the mean age of the patients with peritoneal or pleural mesothelioma was 52.4 and 58.2 years, respectively. All these cases had a history of domestic or occupational exposure to chrysotile. Two-thirds of the patients were from two adjoining towns with multiple small asbestos textile workshops. Contamination of tremolite was estimated to be less than 0.3%. CONCLUSIONS: This is a report of mesothelioma in women exposed to chrysotile asbestos at home and at work, with an over-representation of peritoneal mesothelioma.

[The epidemiology and etiology research of Tibetan sheep plague in Qinghai plateau].

OBJECTIVE: To identify the epidemiology and etiology characteristics of Tibetan sheep plague in Qinghai plateau. METHODS: The background materials of Qinghai Tibetan sheep plague found during 1975 to 2009 were summarized, the regional, time and interpersonal distribution, infection routes, ecological factors for the spread were used to analyze; followed by choosing 14 Yersinia pestis strains isolated from such sheep for biochemical test, toxicity test, virulence factors identification, plasmid analysis, and DFR genotype. RESULTS: From 1975 to 2009, 14 Yersinia pestis strains were isolated from Tibetan sheep in Qinghai province. Tibetan sheep, as the infection source, had caused 10 cases of human plague, 25 plague patients, and 13 cases of death. All of the initial cases were infected due to eating Tibetan sheep died of plague; followed by cases due to contact of plague patients, while all the initial cases were bubonic plague. Cases of bubonic plague developed into secondary pneumonic plague and septicemia plague were most popular and with high mortality. Most of the Tibetan sheep plague and human plague occurred in Gannan ecological zone in southern Gansu province, which was closely related to its unique ecological and geographical landscape. Tibetan sheep plague coincided with human plague caused by Tibetan sheep, especially noteworthy was that November (a time for marmots to start their dormancy) witnesses the number of Yersinia pestis strains isolated from Tibetan sheep and human plague cases caused by Tibetan sheep. This constituted the underlying cause that the epidemic time of Tibetan sheep plague lags obviously behind that of the Marmot plague. It was confirmed in the study that all the 14 strains were of Qinghai-Tibet Plateau ecotype, with virulence factors evaluation and toxicity test demonstrating strains as velogenic. As found in the (Different Region) DFR genotyping, the strains isolated from Yushu county and Zhiduo county were genomovar 5, the two strain isolated from Nangqian county were genomovar 5 and genomovar 7, while those isolated Delingha region were genomovar 8. CONCLUSION: Tibetan sheep were vulnerable to plague infection, hence causing human plague as the infectious source. The Yersinia pestis strains isolated from Tibetan sheep plague carried pathogen characteristics of Qinghai-Tibet plateau plague, developing many new characteristics of such plague.

Massive localized malignant pleural mesothelioma (LMPM): manifestations on computed tomography in 6 cases.

OBJECTIVE: Our study analyzed the clinical symptoms and computed tomography (CT) manifestations of massive localized malignant pleural mesothelioma (LMPM) patients to improve the knowledge and diagnosis of this disease. METHODS: Our study collected 6 massive LMPM patients pathologically confirmed by CT in the department of Radiology of the People's Hospital of Yuyao, Zhejiang Province, from January, 2007 to June, 2013; data of patients were also collected. The clinical symptoms, clinicopathological characteristics, CT manifestations, treatments and prognosis of enrolled patients were analyzed. RESULTS: Our study enrolled 6 LMPM patients (2 males; 4 females) classified to epitheliated type (n = 4) and sarcomatous type (n = 2) with mean age of 62.7 ± 7.4, and 5 of them had a history of asbestos exposure. CT manifestations revealed that large soft-tissue mass close to pleura, which was smooth and lobulated, was discovered in all patients with maximum diameter of 10~15 cm and mean diameter of 13.67 ± 1.15 cm; The mean value of CT was 36.29 ± 2.62 HU; after enhancement, the mean value was increased to 76.36 ± 7.73 HU; patients showed zones of small patchy necrosis and large patchy necrosis. The following presentations were founded: enlargement of tumor vessel which showed arborization (2 patients), mass wrap around the descending aorta in left lower chest (1 patient), strips of fat density in mediastinum superior (1 patient), pleural tail sign (3 patients). Among 6 patients, pleural effusion (n = 4), mediastinal lymph node enlargement (n = 3), invasion and destruction of local ribs (n = 2). Median survival time of patients were 20 months (2 cases conducted operation), 24 (2 cases chose combined radiotherapy and chemotherapy) and less than 6 months (2 cases underwent chemotherapy). CONCLUSION: To sum up, CT showed important diagnostic values on massive LMPM patients; patients with a history of asbestos exposure, large soft-tissue mass of pleura with an abundant blood supply and wrap around large vessels might increase the risk of massive LMPM.

Optical properties of PbS nanocrystal quantum dots at ambient and elevated pressure.

We investigated pressure-dependent changes in the optical properties of PbS nanocrystal quantum dots (NQD) by combining X-ray scattering and optical absorption spectroscopy in a diamond anvil cell. We discovered that the excitonic absorption peak vanishes as the NQD crystal structure reversibly undergoes the pressure-induced phase transition from rock-salt to orthorhombic structure. In the rock-salt phase, the pressure coefficient ∂E(g)/∂P of PbS NQD is negative and decreases in magnitude with decreasing NQD size. The basic theoretical model based on literature values of the PbS bulk modulus significantly overestimated the change in pressure coefficient with NQD size. We present a model that includes the size-dependence of both the pressure coefficient and bulk modulus to describe the experimentally observed optical and structural trends.

Acquisition of maternal antibodies both from the placenta and by lactation protects mouse offspring from Yersinia pestis challenge.

Artificially passive immunization has been demonstrated to be effective against Yersinia pestis infection in animals. However, maternal antibodies' protective efficacy against plague has not yet been demonstrated. Here, we evaluated the kinetics, protective efficacy, and transmission modes of maternal antibodies, using mice immunized with plague subunit vaccine SV1 (20 µg of F1 and 10 µg of rV270). The results showed that the rV270- and F1-specific antibodies could be detected in the sera of newborn mice (NM) until 10 and 14 weeks of age, respectively. There was no antibody titer difference between the parturient mice immunized with SV1 (PM-S) and the caesarean-section newborns (CSN) from the PM-S or between the lactating mice immunized by SV1 (LM-S) and the cross-fostered mice (CFM) during 3 weeks of lactation. The NM had a 72% protection against 4,800 CFU Y. pestis strain 141 challenge at 6 weeks of age, whereas at 14 weeks of age, NM all succumbed to 5,700 CFU of Y. pestis challenge. After 7 weeks of age, CFM had an 84% protection against 5,000 CFU of Y. pestis challenge. These results indicated that maternal antibodies induced by the plague subunit vaccine in mother mice can be transferred to NM by both placenta and lactation. Passive antibodies from the immunized mothers could persist for 3 months and provide early protection for NM. The degree of early protection is dependent on levels of the passively acquired antibody. The results indicate that passive immunization should be an effective countermeasure against plague during its epidemics.

[Evaluation of immunization protection efficacy of plague subunit vaccine].

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the protective efficacy of plague subunit vaccine, BALB/c mice, guinea pigs and rabbits were used in this study. METHODS: Groups of mice (10 per group), guinea pigs (14 per group) and rabbits (6 per group) were immunized with F1 + rV270 vaccine, EV76 vaccine and alum adjuvant by intramuscular route, respectively. Serum antibody titres of mice, guinea pigs and rabbits were determined by ELISA and the immunized animals were challenged with 10(6) CFU of Y. pestis strain 141 at the 8th week after the primary immunization. RESULTS: The immunized mice, guinea pigs or rabbits with subunit vaccine developed anti-F1 IgG titre of 41 587.3 +/- 2.1, 11 543.7 +/- 2.1 or 522.4 +/- 22.4 and elicited statistical anti-F1 IgG titre difference among them (F = 17.58, P < 0.01). The immunized mice, guinea pigs or rabbits with subunit vaccine had anti-rV270 IgG titre of 15 748.7 +/- 1.6, 12.6 +/- 1.4 or 1648.0 +/- 5.0 and induced statistical anti-rV270 IgG titre difference among them (F value was 16.34, P < 0.01). There was significant anti-F1 IgG titre difference among mice, guinea pigs and rabbits immunized with EV76 vaccine that developed anti-F1 IgG titre of 913.4 +/- 4.5, 937.0 +/- 2.0 or 342.0 +/- 12.0 (F = 23.67, P < 0.01), whereas the immunized mice, guinea pigs and rabbits with EV76 vaccine developed anti-rV270 IgG titre of 12.0 +/- 1.0, 447.0 +/- 10.0, 40.0 +/- 11.0 and there was no anti-rV270 IgG titre difference between them (F = 2.20, P = 0.1314). The immunized mice with subunit vaccine developed significantly higher anti-F1 IgG titres than immunized guinea pigs and rabbits (q value was 30.57 and 19.04, respectively, P < 0.01), and there were no anti-F1 IgG titre differences between the immunized guinea pigs and rabbits (q = 0.04, P = 0.8485). The immunized mice with subunit vaccine developed significantly higher anti-rV270 IgG titres than immunized guinea pigs and rabbits (q value was 27.10 and 19.49, respectively, P < 0.01), and there were no anti-rV270 IgG titre differences between the immunized guinea pigs and rabbits with the subunit vaccine (q = 0.25, P = 0.6187). The immunized mice with EV76 elicited higher anti-F1 IgG titres than immunized guinea pigs and rabbits (q value was 40.67 and 29.10, respectively, P < 0.01), whereas there was no difference of F1 IgG titer between immunized guinea pigs and rabbits (q = 0.06, P = 0.8098). The immunized mice, guinea pigs and rabbits with subunit vaccine provided 100% (10/10), 86% (12/14) and 100% (5/5) protection against 10(6) CFU Y. pestis of challenge, respectively. The immunized mice, guinea pigs and rabbits with EV76 vaccine gave 100% (6/6), 93% (13/14) and 100% (6/6) protection against 10(6) CFU Y. pestis of challenge respectively. CONCLUSION: BALB/c mice is the best small animal model for valuation of protective efficacy of plague subunit vaccine. The guinea pigs showed a high individual variation for this purpose. The rabbits can be used as an alternative model for evaluating plague subunit vaccine.