Giant cell tumor of tendon sheath: A report of 216 cases.

BACKGROUND: In this article on giant cell tumor of tendon sheath (GCTTS), we intend to summarize and analyze the clinical and pathological features of GCTTS hoping to improve clinical management and patient treatment. METHODS: The study retrospectively reviewed 216 patients of GCTTS, registered at the Affiliated Hospital of Southwest Medical University from January 2010 to December 2020. These cases were diagnosed by surgical excision. The clinicopathological features and the prognosis were reviewed in the light of the current literature. RESULTS: Of these 216 GCTTS patients, 72 were males (33.3%) and 144 females (66.7%), with a ratio male-to-female of 1:2. The patients' age ranged from 5 to 82, the average being 41.5 years at diagnosis. A total of 96 cases (44.4%) occurred in the hand region, followed by 35 cases (16.2%) in the knee, 32 cases (14.8%) in the foot, 25 cases (11.6%) in the ankle, 12 cases (5.6%) in the wrist, 12 cases (5.6%) in the leg, 2 cases (0.9%) in the head, 1 case (0.5%) in the forearm, and 1 case (0.5%) inside and outside the spinal channel. Histopathology mainly revealed large synovial-like monocytes, small monocytes, and osteoclast-like giant cells. CONCLUSION: Our results confirm that GCTTS predominantly occurs in the hands of young women. Complete surgical resection with long-term follow-up is the preferred management.

Iron chelation suppresses secondary bleeding after intracerebral hemorrhage in angiotensin II-infused mice.

AIMS: Secondary bleeding and further hematoma expansion (HE) aggravate brain injury after intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH). The majority of HE results from hypertensive ICH. Previous study reported higher iron content in the brains of hypertensive patients. Iron overload exacerbates the risk of hemorrhagic transformation in thromboembolic stroke mice. Whether iron overload during the process of hypertension participates in secondary bleeding of hypertensive ICH remains unclear. METHODS: Hypertension was induced by continuous infusion of angiotensin II (Ang II) with an osmotic pump into C57BL/6 mice. ICH was simulated by intrastriatal injection of the liquid polymer Onyx-18. Iron chelation and iron overload was achieved by deferoxamine mesylate or iron dextran injection. Secondary bleeding was quantified by measuring the hemoglobin content in the ipsilateral brain hemisphere. RESULTS: Ang II-induced hypertensive mice showed increased iron accumulation in the brain and expanded secondary hemorrhage after ICH modeling. Moreover, iron chelation suppressed while iron overload aggravated secondary bleeding. Mechanistically, iron exacerbated the loss of contractile cerebral vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs), aggravated blood-brain barrier (BBB) leakage in Ang II-induced hypertensive mice, and increased glial and MMP9 accumulation after ICH. CONCLUSION: Iron overload plays a key role in secondary bleeding after ICH in Ang II-induced hypertensive mice. Iron chelation during the process of Ang II-induced hypertension suppresses secondary bleeding after ICH.

The Application of Fine Needle Aspiration Biopsy in the Diagnosis of Axillary Masses.

INTRODUCTION: We intend to determine the diagnostic power of fine needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB) for differentiation between malignant and benign lesions on axillary masses and draw the physicians' attention to the benefits of FNAB cytology in the diagnosis of axillary masses. METHODS: In this study, 1,328 patients with an axillary mass diagnosed by FNAB were retrospectively reviewed. These cases were registered at the affiliated hospital of Southwest Medical University (China), July 2014 to June 2017. Cytological results were verified either by histopathology following surgical resection or clinical follow-up. RESULTS: Of the 1,328 patients affected by axillary masses, 987 (74.3%) cases were female, and 341 (25.7%) cases were male. The highest incidence of patients was in the age group of 41-50 years (375, 28.2%). There were 1,129 (85.0%) patients with benign lesions and 199 (15.0%) with malignant lesions. Of the 199 malignant lesions cases, 21 cases were lymphomas, 2 cases were accessory breast cancers, and 176 cases were lymph node metastatic tumors. Under lymph node metastases, the most frequent primary tumors were breast cancer (141, 80.1%), followed by lung cancer (21, 11.9%). According to the study, the characters of 1,328 cases showed statistically significant difference (χ2 = 4.534, p = 0.033), and the incidence of females with axillary mass was significantly higher than that of males. There was a statistically significant difference in the distribution of benign and malignant cases in the patient age groups (χ2 = 1.129, p = 0.000), and the incidence of patients of 41-50 years of age was significantly higher than that of other patients. The diagnostic accuracy of FNAB in axillary masses was analyzed with the results of 95.98% of sensitivity, 99.56% of specificity, 97.45% of positive predictive value, and 99.29% of negative predictive value. CONCLUSION: Our results confirm that FNAB is a valuable initial screening method regarding pathologic diagnosis of axillary mass, in particular with respect to malignancy in 41- to 50-year-old female patients.

Nicotinamide riboside rescues angiotensin II-induced cerebral small vessel disease in mice.

AIMS: Hypertension is a leading cause of cerebral small vessel disease (CSVD). Currently, treatments for CSVD are limited. Nicotinamide riboside (NR) can protect against vascular injury and cognitive impairment in neurodegenerative diseases. In this study, the protective effects of NR against angiotensin - (Ang -)-induced CSVD were evaluated. METHODS: To explore the effects of NR in CSVD, C57BL/6 mice were infused with Ang -, and NR was added to the food of the mice for 28 days. Then, short-term memory, blood-brain barrier (BBB) integrity, and endothelial function were detected. Arteriole injury and glial activation were also evaluated. RESULTS: Our data showed that mice infused with Ang - exhibited decreased short-term memory function and BBB leakage due to decreased claudin-5 expression and increased caveolae-mediated endocytosis after 28 days. Furthermore, Ang - decreased the expression of α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA) and increased the expression of proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) in arterioles and decreased the expression of neurofilament 200 (NF200) and myelin basic protein (MBP) in the white matter. These CSVD-related damages induced by Ang - were inhibited by NR administration. Moreover, NR administration significantly reduced glial activation around the vessels. CONCLUSION: Our results indicated that NR administration alleviated Ang --induced CSVD by protecting BBB integrity, vascular remodeling, neuroinflammation, and white matter injury (WMI)-associated cognitive impairment.

Two Sympatric Spodoptera Species Could Mutually Recognize Sex Pheromone Components for Behavioral Isolation.

Spodoptera exigua and S. litura are two sympatric species in China and many other countries. Both moths employ a multiple component sex pheromone blend, including a common component Z9,E12-14:OAc, and two specific components Z9-14:OH and Z11-16:OAc for S. exigua, and one specific component Z9,E11-14:OAc for S. litura. For the two species, it has been well documented that males are able to recognize and behaviorally attracted by their species-specific sex pheromone, which functions as a means of reproductive isolation, but whether males could mutually recognize pheromone components of its sympatric species is unknown. In the present study, the electroantennogram (EAG) and field evaluation were conducted to address this topic. The EAG recordings revealed that males of each species could significantly respond to specific components of its sympatric species, although the response values were lower than that to its own major component. In field tests, the specific components Z9-14:OH and Z11-16:OAc of S. exigua strongly inhibited the male catches of S. litura to its conspecific sex pheromone, while specific component Z9,E11-14:OAc of S. litura significantly reduced the male catches of S. exigua to its sex pheromone. Furthermore, the combined lure of the two species completely inhibited male catches of S. litura, and significantly decreased the male catches of S. exigua, compared to the species-specific lure alone. The results demonstrated that males of the two sibling species could perceive the specific components of its counterpart, suggesting that mutual recognition of pheromone components may function to strengthen the behavioral isolation between the two species. Our study has added new knowledge to the reproductive isolation via sex pheromone communication system in sympatric moth species, and provided a base for designing of mating disruption tactics targeting multispecies by using insect sex pheromones.

The spin-dependent Seebeck effect and the charge and spin figure of merit in a hybrid structure of single-walled carbon nanotubes and zigzag-edge graphene nanoribbons.

A hybrid structure of carbon nanotubes and graphene nanoribbons was predicted and synthesized (Y. Li et al., Nat. Nanotechnol., 2012, 7, 394-400; P. Lou, J. Phys. Chem. C, 2014, 118, 4475-4482). Herein, using the non-equilibrium Green's function (NEGF) combined with density functional theory (DFT), the thermal spin transport properties and the figure of merit (a material constant proportional to the efficiency of a thermoelectric couple made with the material) of a composite of single-walled carbon nanotubes and zigzag-edge graphene nanoribbons, labeled (6,6)SWCNT/n-ZGNR, are investigated for n = 1, 2, 3, and 8. The results manifest that spin-dependent currents with opposite flow directions were generated when a temperature gradient was applied between two electrodes, indicating the occurrence of the spin-dependent Seebeck effect (SDSE). Remarkably, when n = 3, the charge current is equal to zero, meaning that a perfect SDSE is observed. Moreover, a pure spin-dependent Seebeck diode (SDSD) effect can be observed. Finally, we notice that the device presents an n-type characteristic when n = 1, while the device has a p-type feature when n = 2. In particular, the spin-up thermopower is equal to the spin-down thermopower when n = 3; as a consequence, the charge thermopower is equal to zero, further demonstrating that a perfect SDSE is generated. These discoveries indicate that the (6,6)SWCNT/n-ZGNR is a promising candidate for spin caloritronics devices.

Metal-free magnetism, spin-dependent Seebeck effect, and spin-Seebeck diode effect in armchair graphene nanoribbons.

Metal-free magnetism and spin caloritronics are at the forefront of condensed-matter physics. Here, the electronic structures and thermal spin-dependent transport properties of armchair graphene nanoribbons (N-AGNRs), where N is the ribbon width (N = 5-23), are systematically studied. The results show that the indirect band gaps exhibit not only oscillatory behavior but also periodic characteristics with E 3p > E3p+1 > E3p+2 (E 3p , E3p+1 and E3p+2 are the band gaps energy) for a certain integer p, with increasing AGNR width. The magnetic ground states are ferromagnetic (FM) with a Curie temperatures (T C ) above room temperature. Furthermore, the spin-up and spin-down currents with opposite directions, generated by a temperature gradient, are almost symmetrical, indicating the appearance of the perfect spin-dependent Seebeck effect (SDSE). Moreover, thermally driven spin currents through the nanodevices induced the spin-Seebeck diode (SSD) effect. Our calculation results indicated that AGNRs can be applied in thermal spin nanodevices.

[Effect of naloxone on expression of Bcl-2 protein and tumor necrosis factor-alpha in rats with acute myocardial ischemia/reperfusion injury].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of naloxone on myocardial cell apoptosis and apoptosis-related gene Bcl-2 in rats with acute myocardial ischemia/reperfusion (AMIR) injury, and explore the mechanism of protective effect of naloxone on myocardium. METHODS: Thirty SD rats were randomly divided into three groups (n=10): ischemia/reperfusion group, naloxone preconditioning group (naloxone was injected intraperitoneally 10 minutes before ischemia and 2 hours after reperfusion), and normal control group. The left anterior descending branch (LAD) of rat coronary artery was tied and un-tied in ischemia/reperfusion group and naloxone preconditioning group to establish the AMIR model in rats. The animals were then sacrificed and hearts were harvested. The expression of Bcl-2 protein was observed by immunohistochemical technique. Radioimmunoassay (RIA) was used to determine tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) in serum. RESULTS: In the normal control group, there was no Bcl-2 expression and TNF-alpha level was (0.39+/-0.06) mug/L. Higher expression of Bcl-2 and increased TNF-alpha levels were found in ischemia/reperfusion group. The expression of Bcl-2 protein increased significantly [(+++) vs. (+)], and TNF-alpha was significantly lower in naloxone preconditioning group than those in the normal control group [(0.55+/-0.12) microg/L vs. (0.86+/-0.11) microg/L, P<0.01]. CONCLUSION: Naloxone can protect myocardium from AMIR injury by inhibiting the apoptosis of cardiomyocytes induced by TNF-alpha and up-regulating protein expression of bcl-2 gene.