A Cerasus humilis transcription factor, ChDREB2C, enhances salt tolerance in transgenic Arabidopsis.

DREB transcription factors play important roles in plant responses to various abiotic and biotic stresses. We conducted bioinformatics analysis of ChDREB2C, explored subcellular localization, transcription activation activity, and heterologous expression in Arabidopsis, and measured expression of related physiological indicators and genes under salt stress. A transcription factor of the DREB family was cloned and named ChDREB2C. ChDREB2C protein was localized in the nucleus, and its C-terminal domain exhibited transcriptional activation activity. ChDREB2C formed a homologous dimer in yeast. Arabidopsis plants overexpressing ChDREB2C were more tolerant to salt stress than WT plants, through increased scavenging capacity of ROS and accumulation of proline. Overexpression of ChDREB2C resulted in increased expression of AtSOS1, AtNHX1, AtRD29A, AtRD29B, AtKIN1, AtABA4, and AtABF2 genes. The interaction between ChABF2 (ABA response element binding factor 2) and ChDREB2C was verified using yeast two-hybrid and firefly luciferase assays. The results suggest that ChDREB2C could have a positive role in mediating the abiotic response.

[Cluster classification and clinical prognostic modeling based on m6A RNA methylation regulators in liver cancer].

Objective: Cluster classification based on m6A methylation regulators and construct prognostic evaluation model. Methods: Utilizing consensus cluster to classify the liver cancer samples form TCGA based on the expression of 13 m6A methylation regulators, and verify the function and prognostic significance of the clustered subtypes. Marker genes were further screened to construct a risk prediction model for evaluating the prognosis of liver cancer patients. Results: The two clustered subtypes based on m6A methylation regulators showed significant differences in the prognosis value of liver cancer patients (P=0.048), and 38 prognostic markers related to m6A methylation in liver cancer were screened from the subgroup with poor prognosis. Two m6A regulatory genes, YTHDF1 and YTHDF2, are proved with adverse prognosis by univariate cox analysis (P<0.05, Hazard ratio>1). We used Lasso regression method to build risk assessment model and effectively predicted the prognosis status of liver cancer patients within 4 years (4-year AUC=0.685, 3-year AUC=0.669). Moreover, the assessment model was validated in another dataset of Asia liver cancer patients. Conclusion: The study provided ideas for studying m6A methylation in liver cancer, and the risk prediction model can be used to evaluate the short-term prognosis of liver cancer patients.

[The history of post-anesthesia care units].

Post anesthesia care units (PACU) are designed to handle the utilization of the operating rooms and provide a place for postoperative patients to recover consciousness. PACU first appeared in the 1940s, prevailed in the United States in the 1950s, and expanded gradually to Canada, South Africa and other places, and were popularized in the UK and other European countries in the 1960s. PACU were developed widely in China after 1990 and expanded rapidly after the 21st century. It is now taken as an assessment indicator for evaluating hospitals. A set of management systems for PACU was gradually regulated and established, such as anesthesia record sheets, equipment and personnel training in the process of PACU development. It is currently evolving towards centralization, economization and specialization.

A piecewise constitutive model for collagen fiber tissues.

Inspired by Meyers et al. (Science, 2013), a piecewise model is established so as to individually predict both the heel region and the linear region of stress-strain curve. When the piecewise model satisfactorily predicts the experimental data, the constitutive parameters are precisely identified with definite physical significances. Along with this piecewise guideline, a complete constitutive model can be established for the whole stress-strain curve of collagen fiber tissues with the failure region as well. Graphical abstract.

On the utility of hierarchical self-healing fiber bundle materials under different environments.

Bio-materials use a hierarchical structure to optimize their self-healing mechanical behavior. However, the utility may be restricted by different environments. In this paper, based on the previous work in Ji and Li (J Mater Sci 53:14858-14870, 2018) on the constitutive relation of hierarchical self-healing fiber bundle materials (FBMs), the stability is investigated for the mechanical-environmental interaction system established in Ji and Li (Int J Fract 212:105-112, 2018). With the principle of total potential, the stability criterion is proposed. The critical environment stiffness is derived and the system is therefore classified into the absolutely stable one and the conditionally stable one. For the conditionally stable system, the applied strain of FBMs reduces to be [0,[Formula: see text]], where [Formula: see text] is the cutoff strain. Finally, the toughness of hierarchical self-healing FBMs is studied for different interaction systems. The results show that in the absolutely stable system there exists a critical healing rate across which the toughness benefits from a hierarchical structure. In the conditionally stable system, the toughness is significantly affected by the environment stiffness, i.e., the toughness of a FBM increases with a rising hierarchical level, whereas it decreases with a rising healing rate. Moreover, the critical healing rate for toughness becomes greater compared to that in an absolutely stable system.

[Effects and mechanism of pressure treatment on hemodynamic changes in patients with hypertrophic scar secondary to extensive burns].

Objective: To investigate the hemodynamic changes of the main arteries and veins of the extremities and the heart in patients with hypertrophic scar secondary to extensive burns after pressure treatment, and to analyze the relevant mechanisms. Methods: A retrospective before-after self-control study was conducted. From January 2017 to February 2022, 37 patients with hypertrophic scar secondary to extensive burns who met the inclusion criteria were hospitalized in the Burn Rehabilitation Department of Guangdong Industrial Injury Rehabilitation Hospital, including 25 males and 12 females, aged 23-52 years. The patients were admitted to the hospital within 12 weeks after wound healing, and within one week after admission, rehabilitation therapists, occupational therapists, and tailors custom-made pressure products such as full-body pressure garment, pressure pants, vests, split finger gloves, split finger socks, hoods, and plastic collars, with the pressure at each part maintained at 2.67-4.00 kPa when wearing. Before the first treatment with pressure products (hereinafter referred to as before pressure treatment) and at 1 h of the first treatment with pressure products (hereinafter referred to as 1 h of pressure treatment), color Doppler ultrasonography was performed to check the pulse rate of the axillary artery, the lumen diameter, peak systolic velocity (PSV), and resistance index of the axillary artery and femoral artery on the left side, the lumen diameter, cross-sectional area, and average blood flow velocity of the axillary vein and femoral vein, and the mitral valve E peak, mitral valve A peak, tricuspid valve E peak, aortic valve PSV, and pulmonary valve PSV of the heart; an optical chromatographic skin detector was used to detect the red color, red pigment, and surface brightness of the scar on the back of the hand to reflect the filling and distribution of the scar microvessels. Data were statistically analyzed with paired sample t test. Results: Compared with those before pressure treatment, the PSV of the axillary artery of patients was significantly slowed down at 1 h of pressure treatment (t=55.42, P<0.01); the average blood flow velocity of the axillary vein was significantly accelerated (t=-60.50, P<0.01); the pulse rate, lumen diameter, and resistance index of the axillary artery, as well as the lumen diameter and cross-sectional area of the axillary vein did not change obviously (P>0.05); the average blood flow velocity of the femoral vein was significantly accelerated (t=-80.52, P<0.01); the lumen diameter, PSV, and resistance index of the femoral artery, as well as the lumen diameter and cross-sectional area of the femoral vein had no significant change (P>0.05); the mitral valve E peak and mitral valve A peak of the heart decreased significantly (with t values of 10.71 and 21.96, respectively, P<0.01); the tricuspid valve E peak of the heart increased significantly (t=7.57, P<0.01); the PSV of the aortic valve and pulmonary valve of the heart did not change obviously (P>0.05). At 1 h of pressure treatment, the red color and red pigment values of the scar on the back of the hand of patients were 15.3±1.1 and 16.8±1.2, respectively, which were significantly lower than 24.5±1.3 and 23.8±1.2 before pressure treatment (with t values of 8.32 and 8.04, respectively, P<0.01). The brightness value of the scar surface on the back of the hand of patients at 1 h of pressure treatment was similar to that before pressure treatment (P>0.05). Conclusions: After pressure treatment for the hypertrophic scar in patients secondary to extensive burn, the average blood flow velocity of the axillary vein and femoral vein in patients are obviously accelerated, the PSV of the axillary artery is significantly slowed down, the peak values of mitral valve E and mitral valve A of the heart are significantly decreased, and the tricuspid valve E peak is significantly increased. These hemodynamic changes may be related to the reduction of microvascular blood flow in the local area of scar after systemic pressure treatment.

A constitutive relation for the tissue composed of type-I collagen fibers under uniaxial tension.

Mechanical tests for various collagen tissues showed that the stress-strain curves are composed of two regimes with different deformation mechanisms. In this paper, the constitutive relations are first studied separately for the two regimes and then merged together. For the unfurling regime, a phenomenological power-law relation is utilized to characterize the stress-strain curve, and, for the stretching regime which is modeled as a fiber bundle material, a nonlinear constitutive relation is proposed based on the Weibull distribution and Daniels' fiber bundle theory. A technique is suggested to continuously merge the two relations for the two regimes of collagen tissues. A strategy is finally devised to quantitatively determine the critical strain for dividing the two regimes and to identify the constitutive parameters for experimental curves. The constitutive relation is first validated by comparing the identified parameters with the references, and then applied to predict the experimental stress-strain curves of collagen tissues. The present work shows that the critical strain plays an essential role in establishing the constitutive relation if experimental data are adopted.

Significance of the histological and ultrastructural features of elastic fibers in diagnosis of bronchioloalveolar carcinoma.

OBJECTIVES: The accurate identification of bronchioloalveolar carcinoma (BAC) from adenocarcinoma (AC) and other types of lung cancer is important from clinical perspectives; especially, when BAC is histologically-mixed with AC. We hypothesized that the elastic fibers (EF) pattern could be used as a differential marker to identify BAC from other lung cancers. The aim was to characterize the EF pattern in different types of lung cancer and evaluate its significance for differential diagnosis of BAC. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Clinical samples of different types of lung cancers were collected. The samples were stained by hematoxylin-eosin (H&E) staining for histopathological comparison. Then, modified Weigert's staining of the EF was performed to characterize its patterns. The EFs were semi-quantified and compared among different types of lung cancer. Further, transmission electronic microscopy (TEM) was performed and ultrastructural features of the EFs were compared between BAC and adenocarcinoma (AC). RESULTS: H&E staining histopathology could differentiate the most types of lung cancer except certain types, such as histologically-mixed BAC and AC. The EF pattern in BAC was uniquely different from other types of lung cancer as > 95% of BAC was + or ++ for EF staining while > 95% of other types of lung cancer were--or ± type. TEM study further confirmed the EF pattern difference between BAC and AC. CONCLUSIONS: As the data show, as > 95% BAC specimens can be identified from other lung cancers based on EF (Weigert's) staining. The EF pattern in BAC is uniquely different from other types of lung cancer and, therefore, can be used as a differential clinical marker of BAC.

Involvement of ligninolytic enzymes in degradation of wheat straw by Trametes trogii.

AIMS: Wheat straw is generated in billions of tons around the world every year and has not been fully used. This study sought to evaluate the delignification capacity and enzyme production of Trametes trogii MT strain and to clarify the changes of structure and chemical composition of wheat straw during the decay process. METHODS AND RESULTS: The results obtained revealed that the T. trogii MT strain has the ability to degrade lignin, cellulose as well as hemicellulose of wheat straw simultaneously. The strain can produce high activities of laccase, manganese peroxidase, xylanase, carboxymethylcellulase and feruloyl esterase but no lignin peroxidases during the decay process of a 60-day incubation period on wheat straw. Scanning electron microscopy observation and infrared spectroscopy analysis showed the lignin and carbohydrate of wheat straw were degraded with no obvious different levels. The low molecular mass fractions collected from the culture of the MT strains grown in wheat straw powder liquid medium showed high Fe(3+) chelating, reducing capacity and hydroxyl radical and hydrogen peroxide generation. CONCLUSIONS: Trametes trogii MT has a complex mechanism to degrade lignocellulose, in addition to the extracellular enzymatic systems, and has great potential as an attractive micro-organism used for the biological degradation of waste straws. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY: This study revealed the dynamic changes of the ligninolytic enzymes of T. trogii MT during the degradation of wheat straw, and suggested that the decay patterns of wheat straw by T. trogii MT had some simultaneous type characteristics.

Novel interventions targeting on apoptosis and necrosis induced by aluminum chloride in neuroblastoma cells.

Aluminum chloride induces neuroblastoma cell (SH-SY5Y) death following in vitro exposure. The objective of this study is to define apoptosis and necrosis in an in vitro model system of SH-SY5Y cells, and to investigate appropriate defense mechanisms with caspase-3 small interference RNA (siRNA) and necrostatin-1 (Nec-1). SH-SY5Y cells were treated with aluminum chloride for 24 h, followed by analysis of cell death rates and alterations in morphology. The results show that aluminum chloride could induce cell death by a combination of apoptosis and necrosis. Treatment with caspase-3 siRNA resulted in inhibition of caspase-3 gene and protein expression, both indicatives of apoptosis reduction. In addition, decrement of apoptotic rate was evident. Interestingly, treatment with caspase-3 siRNA could markedly up-regulate the expression of LC3- II, indicating a shift of cell death mode, from apoptosis to autophagy. Nec-1 treatment significantly affected necrosis induced by aluminum chloride, resulting in decreased necrotic rates and marked inhibition of LC3- II expression. Results showed for the first time that cell death induced by aluminum chloride could be rescued by caspase-3 siRNA and Nec-1 in SH-SY5Y cells, and co-administration of both produced an additive effect on reducing cell death. These data will pave the way for future studies investigating the prevention of cell death in Al neurotoxicity both in vivo and in vitro.

Is necroptosis a death pathway in aluminum-induced neuroblastoma cell demise?

Besides being an aggravating factor secondary to major physiological alterations in degenerative diseases, aluminum has also been considered as a risk factor in the etiology. Although many in vivo and in vitro data are in favor of apoptosis and necrosis being involved in Al induced neurodegenerative processes, there is considerable evidence that very complex events may contribute to neural cell death. Necroptosis, a novel cell death pathway, was recently reported to contribute to ischemia brain injury. It is different from, but associated with, apoptosis and necrosis, the two common major pathways of cell demise. In the present study, SH-SY5Y cells were put under stress by Al, a potential degenerative cell death inducer. Nec-1, a specific inhibitor, was used to identify necroptosis. The characteristics observed in Nec-1 and Al treated SH-SY5Y cells showed that necrotic morphological changes were reduced, and a sharp decrease of necrotic rate was detected. Besides, there were Al-induced mitochondria membrane potential decreasing, reactive oxygen species remaining, and autophagosomes declining. The mechanism of Nec-1s effect on cell death may be related to caspases pathways. To our best knowledge, this is the pioneer report on necroptosis in mixed human neural cell death pathways, which might offer a novel therapeutic target for neurodegenerative diseases, and an extended window for neuroprotection.

Sequential pathological and immunologic analysis of percutaneous microwave coagulation therapy of hepatocellular carcinoma.

PURPOSE: To evaluate sequential pathologic and immunologic changes and their prognostic significance after percutaneous microwave coagulation therapy (PMCT) of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). METHODS: Eighty-nine nodules in 82 consecutive patients were studied. The 89 nodules were divided into two groups: a treatment group, with 82 primary nodules (average dimension was 3.4 +/- 1.2 cm) in 82 patients, and a control group, of seven nodules (average dimension was 1.4 +/- 0.6 cm) in seven patients. The criteria for a nodule's inclusion in the control group was that the nodule was one of two nodules in the same patient and that the two nodules were located in different liver lobes. This guarantees that while one nodule is treated by PMCT, the distant one will not be directly affected by the microwave thermal field. The control group nodules were treated after the study was completed. Specimens were taken with ultrasound-guided liver biopsy from the treated nodule and the control nodule, pre- and post-PMCT. Infiltration by T-lymphocytes, B-lymphocytes, NK cells and macrophages in the tumour tissue were observed immunohistochemically using a panel of monoclonal antibodies against CD3, CD45RO, CD20, CD56 and CD68. The extent of immune cell infiltration was compared both before and after PMCT, as well as between the treated and control nodules. The relationship between the prognosis and the extent of immunocyte infiltration was analysed. RESULTS: The patients were followed for 2-26 months (mean 14.6 +/- 6.3) post-treatment. The recurrence rates at 1 and 2 years were 20.4% and 28.1% within the liver in treatment group, respectively. The survival rates at 1 and 2 years were 92.5% and 75.3% for the treatment group. T-cells, NK cells and macrophages increased significantly in both treated and untreated nodules after PMCT, albeit less markedly within untreated nodules when compared to the treated ones. There is a statistically significant correlation between survival outcome and the extent of immunocyte infiltration. CONCLUSIONS: For inoperable HCC patients, PMCT is one of the treatment choices shown to be effective. Apart from its tissue coagulation effect, an increased systemic immune response directed against the tumour may also play an important role in improved survival.

Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) in Chinese pediatric Hodgkin disease: Hodgkin disease in young children is an EBV-related lymphoma.

BACKGROUND: The Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is thought to be involved in the pathogenesis of some Hodgkin disease (HD) cases. EBV may be associated particularly with childhood HD, a disease rare in the West compared with developing countries. In this study, a large series of Chinese pediatric HD cases has been examined to determine the age-specific prevalence of EBV. METHODS: Paraffin sections from 104 pediatric and 52 adult Chinese HD cases were examined for EBV-RNA (EBERs) and EBV latent membrane protein-1. RESULTS: Most pediatric cases arose in boys and showed an histology of mixed cellularity. Prominent interfollicular involvement was seen frequently in the childhood cases. EBV was identified in tumor cells in 113 of 156 (72%) HD cases but was more frequent in pediatric cases (93 of 104; 89%) compared with adult cases (20 of 52; 38%) (P < 0.01; chi-square test). EBV was found in 86 out of 91 (95%) cases in children aged 3-10 years and in 7 out of 13 (54%) cases in children aged 11-14 years (P < 0.01; chi-square test). The virus was less frequent in cases in young adults than in old adults, although this trend was not significant (P > 0.05; chi-square test). Pediatric HD was associated with EBV irrespective of histologic subtype. In adults, EBV was associated more frequently with mixed cellularity than with other subtypes. CONCLUSION: To the authors' knowledge, this is to date the largest series of pediatric HD cases studied for EBV. Study findings provided further evidence that HD is etiologically heterogeneous. The authors believe that pediatric HD now should be regarded as a distinctive EBV-related lymphoma.

Epstein--Barr virus gene polymorphisms in Chinese Hodgkin's disease cases and healthy donors: identification of three distinct virus variants.

Epstein--Barr virus (EBV) is associated with several malignancies. Specific EBV gene variants, e.g. the BamHI f configuration, a C-terminal region 30 bp deletion in the latent membrane protein-1 (LMP1) gene (del-LMP) and the loss of an XhoI site in LMP1 (XhoI-loss), are found in Chinese cases of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC), suggesting that EBV sequence variation may be involved in oncogenesis. In order to understand better the epidemiology of these EBV variants, they were studied in virus isolates from EBV-positive Chinese cases of Hodgkin's disease (HD; n=71) and donor throat washings from healthy CHINESE: Sequencing was performed of 15 representative EBV isolates, including the first analysis of the LMP1 promoter in Asian wild-type EBV isolates. The following observations were made. (i) Three EBV LMP1 variants were identified, designated Chinese groups (CG) 1--3. In both EBV-associated HD and in healthy Chinese, CG1-like viruses showing del-LMP1 and XhoI-loss were predominant. (ii) CG1viruses were distinct from European and African variants, suggesting that this profile is useful for epidemiological studies. (iii) Specific patterns of mutations were present in the LMP1 promoter in both CG1 and CG2. (iv) The BamHI f variant was not found in Chinese HD, in contrast to Chinese NPC and European HD. This study confirms that EBV isolates in Chinese HD and other tumours differ from those reported in Western cases. However, this reflects the predominant virus strain present in the healthy Chinese population, suggesting that these are geographically restricted polymorphisms rather than tumour-specific strains.

[Malignant pleomorphic adenoma of the salivary gland: a clinicopathological and immunohistochemical study].

Eighty three cases of malignant pleomorphic adenomas (MPA) of salivary glands were studied. Twenty tumors among of them were labeled with 4 kinds of antibodies including anti-CEA, anti-S 100 P, anti-CK12 and CK27 by immunohistochemical staining. Based on this study, it was concluded that the majority cases of MPAs derived from malignant transformation of benign pleomorphous adenomas. The author suggested that the MPAs might be classified as carcinomatous and carcino-sarcomatous subtypes according to the histologic appearances of malignant component in the tumor. The CEA positive reaction in the cytoplasm of tumor cells was a reliable marker of malignancy.

DNA content and its relationship with pathology and prognosis of colorectal carcinoma.

The DNA content of 181 colorectal cancers was investigated by flow cytometry on paraffin-embedded specimen. The relationship of flow cytometric DNA patterns of colorectal cancer to Dukes's stage, histological type and grade, tumor size and patient's prognosis were analysed. The DNA aneuploid carcinomas were found in 53.04% of the patients (hypodiploid 22.10%, hyperdiploid 20.99%, polyploid 9.94%). Diploidy was found in 46.96% of the patients with colorectal cancer. The proportions of aneuploidy were significantly lower in the patients with Dukes' stage A (25.00%) and B (47.14%) than those with Dukes' stage C (64.71%) and D (68.42%). Aneuploid frequency was higher in the patients with poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma (84.62%), mucinous adenocarcinoma (62.50%) and tubular adenocarcinoma (52.75%) than those with villous adenocarcinoma (22.86%). The proportion of aneuploidy was significantly higher in the patients with poorly differentiated tumor (71.79%) than in those with moderately (50.00%) and well differentiated tumors (44.83%). Five-year survival rate of the patients with DNA aneuploid tumors was 33.80% compared with 66.67% of those with diploid tumors. Analysis of Cox regression revealed that DNA ploidy and Dukes' stage significantly influenced the patient's prognosis. It is suggested that DNA ploidy might be an important prognostic factor in colorectal cancer.

[Comparison of the distribution sites and diagnostic significance of three antibodies as the melanoma markers].

S-100 and its subunits have subsequently been shown to be present in a wide variety of human neoplastic tissues. Three antibodies, monoclonal S-100, polyclonal S-100 and HMB-45, were used for comparison of the positive rates of different sites of melanomas. The results showed that HMB-45 was positive for those melanoma cells in epidermis and negative for those in dermis. Monoclonal S-100 was negative for melanoma cells in epidermis and positive for those in dermis. They are useful for the diagnosis of melanoma in surgical pathology.

Comparison of HMB-45 monoclonal antibody and S-100 protein in the immunohistochemical diagnosis of melanoma.

The value of HMB-45 mouse monoclonal antibody in the immunohistochemical diagnosis of melanoma was compared with that of two antibodies to S-100 protein. Tissue from 32 (91.4%) of the 35 melanomas studied reacted with HMB-45, however, none of the 98 nonmelanoma tumors stained with this antibody. In contrast, 31 (88.5%) melanomas and 24 (24.4%) of the nonmelanoma neoplasms expressed S-100 protein. These results indicated that HMB-45 monoclonal antibody has a higher specificity for melanoma cells than did S-100 protein and that, because of its reactivity in routinely processed tissues, it may be helpful in surgical pathology.