Magnonic Unidirectional Spin Hall Magnetoresistance in a Heavy-Metal-Ferromagnetic-Insulator Bilayer.

We report the observation of the unidirectional spin Hall magnetoresistance (USMR), which depends on the current or magnetization direction, in heavy-metal-ferromagnetic-insulator bilayer, Pt-Y_{3}Fe_{5}O_{12} (YIG). This USMR is apparently not caused by the mechanisms established in metallic bilayer, in which the ferromagnetic layer is required to be electrically conductive. From the magnetic field, current, temperature, and YIG thickness dependent measurements, the USMR is attributed to the asymmetric magnon creation and annihilation induced by the spin-orbit torque. This asymmetry and the resultant USMR are further revealed by the micromagnetic simulations combined with the spin-orbit torque and the spin drift-diffusion model. Our finding exhibits a nonlinear manipulation of magnons with the charge current.

[A clinical study of haploidentical hematopoietic stem cell transplantation in the treatment of pediatric patients with acquired severe aplastic anemia: single center experience].

Objective: To investigate the efficacy of haplotype hematopoietic stem cell transplantation in the treatment of acquired severe aplastic anemia (SAA) in children. Methods: The clinical characteristics of 59 pediatric patients with SAA, including 26 cases VSAA, 37males and 22 females, 47 cases typeⅠ and 12 cases typeⅡ, undrerwent haplo-HSCT in our hospital between December 1st, 2011 and December 1st, 2017 were retrospectively analyzed. Among 59 patients, 56 patients with a median age of 4.5 (1.2-14.8) years and median weight of 43 (12-80) kg underwent their first HSCT and 3 patients underwent their second HSCT. All patients received the following conditioning regimen: busulfan, cyclophosphamide, and rabbit ATG or Bu (-, CTX) , fludarabineand rabbit ATG. The prophylaxis of acute graft versus host disease (aGVHD) was cyclosporine (CsA) , MMF and methotrexate. All patients received bone marrow transfusion on day 01 and peripheral stem cell transfusion on day 02 from haploid donor. The median dose of donor mononuclear cell counts was 15.60 (7.74-21.04) ×108/kg of recipient weight and CD34+ cell counts was 4.86 (3.74-7.14) ×106/kg of recipient weight. Results: Neutrophils and platelets of all 59 children were implanted. The median implantation time of granulocytes and platelets were 13 (10-19) d, 19 (9-62) d, respectively. The incidence of grade Ⅰ-Ⅱ aGVHD was 45.76% (27 cases) and grade Ⅲ/Ⅳ 13.56% (8 cases) , The incidence of chronic GVHD was 8.47% (5 cases) , The incidences of CMV and EBV viremia were 59.32% (35 cases) and 28.81% (17 cases) , respectively. The median follow-up was 30 (8-80) months, 57 patients survived with disease free, 2 patients died of GVHD. Both of the estimated 5-year OS and DFS rates were (96.4±2.5) %. Conclusion: Haplo-HSCT could improve the outcomes of SAA children.

Unidirectional Spin-Wave-Propagation-Induced Seebeck Voltage in a PEDOT:PSS/YIG Bilayer.

We clarify the physical origin of the dc voltage generation in a bilayer of a conducting polymer film and a micrometer-thick magnetic insulator Y_{3}Fe_{5}O_{12} (YIG) film under ferromagnetic resonance and/or spin wave excitation conditions. The previous attributed mechanism, the inverse spin Hall effect in the polymer [Nat. Mater. 12, 622 (2013)NMAACR1476-112210.1038/nmat3634], is excluded by two control experiments. We find an in-plane temperature gradient in YIG which has the same angular dependence with the generated voltage. Both vanish when the YIG thickness is reduced to a few nanometers. Thus, we argue that the dc voltage is governed by the Seebeck effect in the polymer, where the temperature gradient is created by the nonreciprocal magnetostatic surface spin wave propagation in YIG.

Plasma ADAMTS-13 activity in proliferative lupus nephritis: a large cohort study from China.

Objectives The aim of this study was to investigate plasma ADAMTS-13 activity in patients with proliferative lupus nephritis and to evaluate the role of clinical, laboratory and pathological features, especially the vascular lesions in lupus nephritis. Methods Plasma samples from 163 class III and IV lupus nephritis patients confirmed by biopsy examinations and 98 normal controls were collected. ADAMTS-13 activity was evaluated by a residual collagen binding assay. IgG autoantibodies against ADAMTS-13 were detected by ELISA using recombinant ADAMTS-13 as a solid-phase ligand. Levels of vWF were measured by ELISA. Their associations with clinical, laboratory and pathological features were further assessed. Results Plasma ADAMTS-13 activity in lupus nephritis patients was significantly lower than that in normal controls (84 ± 21% vs. 90 ± 13%, p = 0.005). IgG ADAMTS-13 autoantibodies were detected in only three patients. The plasma level of vWF was significantly higher in the lupus nephritis group than in normal controls (1.00 ± 0.79 vs. 0.70 ± 0.30, p = 0.025). Plasma ADAMTS-13 activity was negatively correlated with the level of serum creatinine and proteinuria ( r = -0.354, p < 0.001; r = -0.200, p = 0.011, respectively). Patients with a higher level of ADAMTS-13 activity had significantly higher levels of factor H (401.51 ± 183.01 µg/ml vs. 239.02 ± 155.45 µg/ml, p = 0.005). Plasma ADAMTS-13 activity was negatively associated with total pathological AI scores ( r = -0.326, p < 0.001), endocapillary hypercellularity ( r = -0.419, p < 0.001), cellular crescents ( r = -0.274, p < 0.001), subendothelial hyaline deposits ( r = -0.266, p = 0.001), interstitial inflammatory cell infiltration ( r = -0.304, P < 0.001), tubular atrophy ( r = -0.199, p = 0.011), acute glomerular vascular lesions ( r = -0.344, p < 0.001) and acute renal vascular lesions ( r = -0.338, p < 0.001). No association was found between level of vWF and plasma ADAMTS-13 activity ( r = 0.033, p = 0.671). Low level of ADAMTS-13 activity was a risk factor for renal outcomes ( p = 0.039, HR = 0.047, 95% CI: 0.120-1.005). Conclusions Decreased ADAMTS-13 activity was found in patients with proliferative lupus nephritis, and plasma ADAMTS-13 activity was closely associated with renal injury indices, especially pathological vascular scores. The role of ADAMTS-13 in the disease remains to be further investigated.

Efficacy of radioiodine therapy for treating 20 patients with pulmonary metastases from differentiated thyroid cancer and a meta-analysis of the current literature.

BACKGROUND: Radioiodine therapy (RAI) after total or near-total thyroidectomy is a recommended treatment for patients with pulmonary metastasis from differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC). However, the total effective rate of iodine-131 therapy remains controversial. This study aimed to determine the efficacy of RAI for treating patients with pulmonary metastasis from DTC, and to identify independent predictors of its efficacy. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective study to evaluate 20 patients with pulmonary metastasis from DTC who underwent RAI at our center at first and performed a meta-analysis to evaluate relevant literature regarding the overall efficacy of RAI and subgroup-specific efficacies subsequently. RESULTS: The efficacy rate at our center was 40%, and no significant differences were observed according to sex, age, pathological type, metastasis state, or interval between the initial RAI and final surgery. The meta-analysis revealed that the pooled overall efficacy rate was 58%, and significant differences were observed when we compared pulmonary metastasis versus pulmonary and other distant metastasis, age of < 40 years versus age of ≥ 40 years, papillary thyroid cancer versus follicular thyroid cancer and male patients versus female patients. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that RAI is an effective treatment for patients with pulmonary metastasis from DTC after surgical treatment. The efficacy of RAI was significantly predicted by the presence of papillary thyroid cancer, age of < 40 years, the absence of non-lung distant metastasis and female patients.

[Research progress on rhinitis medicamentosa].

Rhinitis medicamentosa (RM) refers to nonallergic inflammation in the nasal mucosa which is caused by the abuse of nasal decongestant and it often occurs in patients with allergic/nonallergic rhinitis along with nasal congestion. RM is characterized by nasal congestion based on long-term use of nasal decongestant, without rhinorrhoea or sneezing. The signs of RM include nasal swelling, thickening, loss of elasticity, and loss of sensitivity to the decongestant. The histological changes of RM are loss of nasal mucosa cilia, squamous epithelium metaplasia, edema of epithelium cell, hyperplasia of goblet cell, increased expression of epidermal growth factor receptor and infiltration of inflammatory cells, etc. There is no precise diagnosis standard for RM, making it even harder for its objective diagnosis. Patients with RM should immediately stop using nasal decongestant, in stead of using nasal glucocorticoid spray for the recovery of the nasal mucosa's function.

[Expression of miR-212 and miR-132 in serum of patients with primary liver cancer and their targeted regulation of GP73].

Objective: To investigate the expression of miR-212 and miR-132 in the serum of patients with primary liver cancer and their targeted regulation of GP73. Methods: The patients with liver cancer, chronic hepatitis B, or liver cirrhosis who were hospitalized in Taizhou People's Hospital from January 2015 to December 2016 were enrolled, and healthy volunteers were also enrolled as controls. Quantitative real-time PCR was used to measure the serum levels of miR-212 and miR-132, and the association between the expression of serum miR-212 and miR-132 and the clinicopathological features of patients with liver cancer was analyzed. A Spearman's rank correlation analysis was used to analyze the correlation between serum miR-212/miR-132 and GP73. Western blot was used to measure the protein expression of GP73, and MTT assay was used to measure the survival rate of cells. The Levene's homogeneity of variance test was used for data analysis. The independent samples t-test was used for comparison of means between two samples, and ANOVA was used for comparison of means between multiple samples. Results: A total of 90 patients with liver cancer, 60 with chronic hepatitis B, 68 with liver cirrhosis, and 100 healthy volunteers were enrolled. The relative expression levels of miR-212 and miR-132 in serum were 0.046 6 ± 0.024 7 and 0.005 9 ± 0.003 0 in the patients with liver cancer, 0.979 7 ± 0.259 5 and 1.001 8 ± 0.249 9 in the healthy volunteers, 0.588 2 ± 0.216 5 and 0.345 7 ± 0.233 8 in the patients with hepatitis, and 0.313 8 ± 0.153 3 and 0.080 1 ± 0.042 66 in the patients with liver cirrhosis. Compared with the normal controls, all patients had significant reductions in the expression of serum miR-212 (t = 10.26, 20.86, and 35.80, all P < 0.01) and miR-132 (t = 16.55, 36.09, and 39.85, all P < 0.01). In the patients with liver cancer, the relative expression of miR-212 and miR-132 was negatively correlated with alpha-fetoprotein (miR-212: t = -4.46, P < 0.01; miR-132: t = -4.83, P < 0.01), TNM stage (miR-212: t = 6.569, P < 0.01; miR-132: t = 7.31, P < 0.01), degree of tumor differentiation (miR-212: t = 5.268, P < 0.01; miR-132: t = 5.914, P < 0.01), and presence of portal vein tumor thrombus (miR-212: t = 5.16, P < 0.01; miR-132: t = 3.681, P < 0.01), while it was not correlated with tumor size (miR-212: t = 0.687, P > 0.05; miR-132: t = 0.887, P > 0.05). In addition, serum miR-212 and miR-132 were negatively correlated with GP73 in the patients with liver cancer (miR-212: r(s) = -0.709, P < 0.01; miR-132: r(s) = -0.877, P < 0.01). Overexpression of miR-212 or miR-132 in HepG2 cells significantly inhibited the activity and expression of 3'-UTR, and interference of miR-212 or miR-132 significantly increased the activity and expression of 3'-UTR in GP73. Overexpression of GP73 reversed the reduction in survival rate of hepatoma cells induced by the overexpression of miR-212 or miR-132. Conclusion: Patients with liver cancer have a significant reduction in the expression of miR-212 and miR-132 in serum, which is closely associated with the development, progression, and metastasis of liver cancer, and miR-212 and miR-132 in hepatoma cells inhibit the growth of liver cancer by targeted regulation of GP73 expression.

Identification of key biomarkers involved in osteosarcoma using altered modules.

The aim of this study was to screen for key biomarkers of osteosarcoma (OS) by tracking altered modules. Protein-protein interaction (PPI) networks of OS and normal groups were constructed and re-weighted using the Pearson correlation coefficient (PCC), respectively. The condition-specific modules were explored from OS and normal PPI networks using a clique-merging algorithm. Altered modules were identified by a maximum weight bipartite-matching method. The important biological pathways in OS were identified by a pathway-enrichment analysis using genes from disrupted modules. The most important genes in these pathways were selected as key biomarkers. Finally, the mRNA and protein expressions of hub genes in OS bone tissues were analyzed using reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction and western blotting, respectively. We identified 703 and 2270 modules in normal and disease networks, respectively; 150 altered modules were identified from among these and explored. We identified 10 important pathways based on gene pairs with altered PCC > 1 in the disrupted modules (P < 0.01), and PCNA, ATP6V1C2, ATP6V1G3, FEN1, CDC7, and RPA3 (expressed in these pathways) were selected as key genes of OS. We observed that these genes (and the proteins they encoded) were differentially expressed between normal and OS samples (P < 0.01) (excluding ATP6V1C2, whose protein expression did not differ significantly). Therefore, we identified 5 gene signatures that may be potential biomarkers for the detection and effective therapy of OS.

Prediction efficiency of PITX2 DNA methylation for prostate cancer survival.

This study determined the level of PITX2 methylation in prostate cancer and benign tissues and its relationship with the postoperative survival rate. Forty-four patients with prostate cancer who underwent radical prostatectomy and 43 patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia were selected. DNA was extracted from the tissues and PITX2 methylation status was quantitatively analyzed by using the EpiTect MethyLight method. The median follow-up time of the patients was 63 months and was used to analyze the relationship between PITX2 methylation status with tumor stage and survival rates. Median PITX2 gene expression in benign tissues was 1.46, which was higher than that of tumor tissues with a median of 0.01 (P < 0.001). The median methylation in the controls was less than 0.001%, while the median methylation in the test group was 23.3% (P = 0.000). The number of patients with low methylation level in T2 stage was 15, which was more than that in T3 and T4 stages (8 patients); while the number of patients with high methylation levels in T2 stage was 6, which was less than that in T3 and T4 stages (15 patients) (P = 0.035). The PITX2 gene expression level in prostate cancer tissues was lower than that in benign tissues. A higher degree of PITX2 DNA methylation was associated with higher tumor stage and lower survival rates. PITX2 DNA methylation presents a good predictive value for prostate cancer survival.

[Comparison study of subcutaneous immunotherapy and sublingual immunotherapy in patients with allergic rhinitis].

Objective: To observe the compliance, efficacy and safety of subcutaneous immunotherapy(SLIT) and sublingual immunotherapy(SCIT) in patients with allergic rhinitis(AR).Method:One hundred and fifteen patients sensitized to house dust mites were recruited in this study. The standardized extract of house dust mites was used for SLIT in 64 cases, and the standardized extract of dual house dust mites was used for SCIT in the other 51 cases. The compliance, nasal symptom scores, the medication scores, the quality of life and the adverse reaction were evaluated before and 2 years after immunotherapy. SPSS 19.0 was used for data analysis. Result:Forty patients out of 64 completed the 2 years-SLIT, and the compliance rate was 62.50%. Forty three patients out of 51 completed the 2 years-SCIT and the compliance rate was 84.31%.The compliance rate of SLIT was significantly lower than that of SCIT(P <0.05). The nasal symptom scores, the anti-allergic medication, the scores in quality of life decreased significantly after receiving SLIT or SCIT for 2 years（P <0.05）. However, the changed values of scores between the two groups had no significant differences（P >0.05）. There was no moderate or severe adverse reactions occurred in SLIT group but a total of 6 moderate or severe adverse reactions occurred in SCIT group.Conclusion:SLIT has same effect compared with SCIT with a lower compliance rate but a significantly higher safety.

[Research progress of animal model of allergic rhinitis].

The animal model of allergic rhinitis is ciritical for the study of this disease.Guinea pig,mouse,rat,rabbit and other animals can be selected.Allergen includes ovalbumin,pollen,dust mites,available fungi,roundworm and schistosome antigen.Aluminum hydroxide adjuvant is most commonly used.To enhance the sensitivity,nasal drops can be selected,inhalation and multi-point subcutaneous injection is optional.Nasal itching,sneezing,clear nasal discharge ,or specific histopathological and immunological results can indicate the success of modeling.Immunological test is the most important standard to determine whether the model is successful or not.This review summarizes the recent advances in the study of animal models of allergic rhinitis.

Exchange-Dominated Pure Spin Current Transport in Alq3 Molecules.

We address the controversy over the spin transport mechanism in Alq3 utilizing spin pumping in the Y3Fe5O12/Alq3/Pd system. An unusual angular dependence of the inverse spin Hall effect is found. It, however, disappears when the microwave magnetic field is fully in the sample plane, excluding the presence of the Hanle effect. Together with the quantitative temperature-dependent measurements, these results provide compelling evidence that the pure spin current transport in Alq3 is dominated by the exchange-mediated mechanism.

Screening of rice (Oryza sativa L.) OsPR1b-interacting factors and their roles in resisting bacterial blight.

PR genes, a type of genetic marker, are constitutively expressed at background levels, while being easily inducible by pathogenic bacteria. By using a yeast two-hybrid technique, four rice (Oryza sativa L.) OsPR1b-interacting factors were screened. Homozygous plants overexpressing OsPR1b were prepared by transgenic technology. We postulated that OsPR1b may participate in the resistance signaling pathway of rice. Of simultaneous treatments with hormones and pathogenic bacteria, exogenously applying JA and ET significantly increased the expression level of OsPR1b genes in seedlings. Compared with the control group that was inoculated with water, inoculation with a mixture of water and pathogenic bacteria hardly affected the expression level of OsPR1b gene, while cotreatment with SA and pathogenic bacteria slightly upregulated the expression level. However, cotreatment with JA or ET and pathogenic bacteria managed to significantly upregulate the expression level of the OsPR1b gene by 4.8 or 5.7 fold. PR genes, which are sensitive, are prone to many unknown factors during expression, and the detailed regulatory mechanisms in rice still require in-depth studies.

Nomogram for Predicting Time to Death After Withdrawal of Life-Sustaining Treatment in Patients With Devastating Neurological Injury.

Reliable prediction of time of death after withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment in patients with devastating neurological injury is crucial to successful donation after cardiac death. Herein, we conducted a study of 419 neurocritical patients who underwent life support withdrawal at four neurosurgical centers in China. Based on a retrospective cohort, we used multivariate Cox regression analysis to identify prognostic factors for patient death, which were then integrated into a nomogram. The model was calibrated and validated using data from an external retrospective cohort and a prospective cohort. We identified 10 variables that were incorporated into a nomogram. The C-indexes for predicting the 60-min death probability in the training, external validation and prospective validation cohorts were 0.96 (0.93-0.98), 0.94 (0.91-0.97), and 0.99 (0.97-1.00), respectively. The calibration plots after WLST showed an optimal agreement between the prediction of time to death by the nomogram and the actual observation for all cohorts. Then we identified 22, 26 and 37 as cut-points for risk stratification into four groups. Kaplan-Meier curves indicated distinct prognoses between patients in the different risk groups (p < 0.001). In conclusion, we have developed and validated a nomogram to accurately identify potential cardiac death donors in neurocritical patients in a Chinese population.

Postoperative chemoradiotherapy improves survival in esophageal squamous cell cancer with extracapsular lymph node extension.

In esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC), extracapsular extention (ECE) in metastatic lymph nodes portends high rate of recurrence and poor prognosis. To our knowledge, the effectiveness of postoperative chemoradiotherapy (CRT) in these patients has never been investigated. In this retrospective study, we compared the outcomes of surgery with or without postoperative chemoradiotherapy in ESCC patients with ECE. From 2008 to 2009, 90 ECSS patients with ECE were included. Among those patients, 47 only received curative surgery alone, and 43 received additional postoperative concurrent CRT which consisted of radiotherapy (median dose 50 Gy) and chemotherapy (5-fluorouracil 1000 mg/m(2), days 1-4 and 29-32; cisplatinum 25 mg/m(2), days 1-3 and 29-31). Patients treated with postoperative CRT had significantly more T3/4 tumors (p=0.023). Based on log-rank stratified by T stage, postoperative adjuvant CRT significantly improved the overall survival (p=0.017) and progression free survival (p=0.002). In multivariate analysis, adjuvant CRT was identified as an independent prognostic factor (HR=0.494, CI 0.290-0.844, p=0.010). Compared with surgery alone, the CRT group had significantly fewer cases of regional recurrence (P=0.048) and overall recurrence (P=0.024). However, there was no significant difference in distant metastasis between two groups (P=0.755). In conclusion, our data suggest that the postoperative adjuvant CRT might be beneficial in selected subgroups of ESCC patients with ECE. To further verify these results, a prospective trial with a large sample size is needed.

Rapid generation of Epstein-Barr virus-specific T cells for cellular therapy.

Lymphoproliferative disease after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation is a serious and life-threatening disease. CD8(+) T lymphocytes play a key role in the control of viral diseases and some tumors. Adoptive immunotherapy has been shown to be effective in controlling and preventing some virus-related diseases in transplant recipients. However, the ex vivo production of cells for adoptive transfer is labor-intensive and expensive. To simplify the culture procedures of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes, we explored a novel method, a rapid expansion protocol, that only used recombinant human interleukin to initiate the growth of clinical-grade EBV-specific T cells. After restimulation with EBV peptides principally from latent antigens and immediate/early antigens, the CD8(+) cells obtained could produce cytokines that had cytotoxic activity against target cells. This method provides a new possibility for the treatment of life-threatening EBV-associated malignancies.

Ethyl pyruvate significantly inhibits tumour necrosis factor-α, interleukin-1ß and high mobility group box 1 releasing and attenuates sodium taurocholate-induced severe acute pancreatitis associated with acute lung injury.

In this study, we examined the effect of ethyl pyruvate (EP) on pulmonary inflammation in rats with severe pancreatitis-associated acute lung injury (ALI). Severe acute pancreatitis (SAP) was induced in rats by the retrograde injection of 5% sodium taurocholate into the pancreatic duct. Rats were randomly divided into the following experimental groups: control group, SAP group and EP-treated group. The tissue specimens were harvested for morphological studies, Streptavidin-peroxidase immunohistochemistry examination. Pancreatic or lung tissue oedema was evaluated by tissue water content. Serum amylase and lung tissue malondialdehyde (MDA) and myeloperoxidase (MPO) were measured. Meanwhile, the nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) activation, tumour necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin-1ß (IL-1ß) levels and HMGB1 protein expression levels in the lung were studied. In the present study, we demonstrated that treatment with EP after SAP was associated with a reduction in the severity of SAP and lung injury. Treatment with EP significantly decreased the expression of TNF-α, IL-1ß, HMGB1 and ameliorated MDA concentration, MPO activity in the lung in SAP rats. Compared to SAP group, administration of EP prevented pancreatitis-induced increases in nuclear translocation of NF-κB in the lung. Similarly, treatment with EP significantly decreased the accumulation of neutrophils and markedly reduced the enhanced lung permeability. In conclusion, these results demonstrate that EP might play a therapeutic role in pulmonary inflammation in this SAP model.