[CK7+/CD117- low grade oncocytic tumor of the kidney: a clinicopathological analysis].

Objective: To investigate the clinicopathological, immunohistochemical and molecular characteristics of low grade oncocytic tumors (LOT) of the kidney with CK7+/CD117- staining pattern for enhancing the understanding of renal LOT. Methods: The clinical data, histological morphology and immunophenotypes of seven renal LOT cases diagnosed at the Department of Pathology, the First Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine from January 2017 to April 2021 were analyzed. The patients were followed up. Among the seven patients, five underwent high-throughput DNA targeted sequencing, and their molecular characteristics were analyzed. Results: The patients' age ranged 59-82 years, with an average of 70 years. There were 2 males and 5 females. The boundary of the tumor was clear. The tumor cells had homogeneous eosinophilic cytoplasm and round or oval nuclei, with a perinuclear halo. Small basophilic nucleoli were conspicuous (WHO/International Society of Urological Pathology grade 2). In the hypercellular areas, the tumor cells were mainly arranged in dense solid or nest. In the stroma, there were dilated veins, thick-walled arterioles and thick collagen fiber bundles that divided the cells into pseudonodules. In the sparsely cellular area, the tumor cells were arranged in the so-called "tissue culture" fashion. In addition, the stroma contained fresh hemorrhagic foci and lymphoid aggregates. High-throughput sequencing of 5 cases revealed that one case harbored mTOR gene missense mutation and another case harbored TSC1 frameshift mutation. Conclusions: LOT of the kidney is an indolent tumor with an overall good prognosis. Pathologists should not misdiagnose it as renal oncocytoma and chromophobe renal cell carcinoma.

MircoRNA-629 promotes proliferation, invasion and migration of nasopharyngeal carcinoma through targeting PDCD4.

OBJECTIVE: MicroRNAs (miRNA) have been demonstrated to be involved in the development and progression of several tumors, including nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). However, the expression and function of miR-629 in NPC have not been elucidated before. Here, we explored the role of miR-629 in NPC cells and investigated the possible underlying mechanism. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Quantitative Real Time-Polymerase Chain Reaction (qRT-PCR) was first utilized to detect the expression of miR-629 in NPC tissues and adjacent normal samples, as well as NPC cell lines and normal nasopharyngeal cell line NP69. MiR-629 mimics and inhibitor was transfected in NPC cells to up-regulate or down-regulate the expression of miR-629. MTT (3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide) assay and flow cytometry were used to explore the effects of miR-629 on the proliferation and cell circle of established NPC cells, respectively. Cell invasion and migration abilities were evaluated by transwell Matrigel assay and wound healing assay. Meanwhile, the underlying mechanism of miR-629 in NPC was detected using bioinformatics prediction and dual-luciferase analysis. In addition, Western blotting was employed to identify the expression of the miR-629 targeted protein. RESULTS: MiR-629 expression in NPC tissues was significantly higher than that of adjacent normal samples. Expression of miR-629 in NPC cells was significantly higher than that NP69 cells. Over-expressing miR-629 remarkably promoted 6-10B cell proliferation, while knocking down miR-629 significantly inhibited 5-8F cell growth compared with negative control group. Cell migration and invasion abilities were remarkably increased by miR-629 mimics transfection. However, the miR-629 inhibitor transfection in cells significantly decreased cell migration and invasion. Furthermore, dual-luciferase analysis verified that PDCD4 was a direct target gene of miR-629 in NPC cells. Knockdown of PDCD4 in cells over-expressing miR-629 restored cell proliferation and metastasis. CONCLUSIONS: In this study, the expression level of miR-629 was significantly increased in 83 NPC tissues and 4 cell lines. MiR-629 promoted NPC cell growth, migration, and invasion via repressing PDCD4 expression, which might provide a novel target for the future biotherapy for NPC.

Prevalence of pollen-induced allergic rhinitis with high pollen exposure in grasslands of northern China.

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of epidemiologic and physician-diagnosed pollen-induced AR (PiAR) in the grasslands of northern China and to study the impact of the intensity and time of pollen exposure on PiAR prevalence. METHODS: A multistage, clustered and proportionately stratified random sampling with a field interviewer-administered survey study was performed together with skin prick tests (SPT) and measurements of the daily pollen count. RESULTS: A total of 6043 subjects completed the study, with a proportion of 32.4% epidemiologic AR and 18.5% PiAR. The prevalence was higher in males than females (19.6% vs 17.4%, P = .024), but no difference between the two major residential and ethnic groups (Han and Mongolian) was observed. Subjects from urban areas showed higher prevalence of PiAR than rural areas (23.1% vs 14.0%, P < .001). Most PiAR patients were sensitized to two or more pollens (79.4%) with artemisia, chenopodium, and humulus scandens being the most common pollen types, which were similarly found as the top three sensitizing pollen allergens by SPT. There were significant regional differences in the prevalence of epidemiologic AR (from 18.6% to 52.9%) and PiAR (from 10.5% to 31.4%) among the six areas investigated. PiAR symptoms were positively associated with pollen counts, temperature, and precipitation (P < .05), but negatively with wind speed and pressure P < .05). CONCLUSION: Pollen-induced AR (PiAR) prevalence in the investigated region is extremely high due to high seasonal pollen exposure, which was influenced by local environmental and climate conditions.

[Investigation of human brucellosis diagnosis and report quality in medical institutions in key areas of Shanxi province].

Objective: To evaluate the accuracy of human brucellosis diagnosis and reporting in medical institutions in Shanxi province, and understand the performance of clinical doctors to diagnose human brucellosis according to diagnostic criteria. Methods: Field investigation was conducted in 6 medical institutions in the key areas of human brucellosis in Shanxi province. The diagnosis data of the reported brucellosis cases in 2015 were collected and reviewed retrospectively for the evaluation of the diagnosis accuracy with systematic sampling method. The database was established with Excel 2010 and the descriptive analysis and statistical test were conducted with software R 3.3.2. Results: The diagnosis consistent rate of the 377 brucellosis cases reviewed was 70.8% (267/377), the diagnosis consistent rates in medical institutions at city-level and country-level were 77.0% (127/165) and 66.0% (140/212) respectively, the differences had significance (χ(2)=5.4, P=0.02). Among the reviewed cases, the diagnosis consistent rate of laboratory diagnosis and clinical diagnosis were 87.1% (256/294) and 13.3% (11/83) respectively, and the differences had significance (χ(2)=170.7, P<0.001). Among the 21 investigated clinical doctors, the numbers of the doctors who correctly diagnosed the suspected cases, probable cases and lab-confirmed cases were only 3, 0 and 8 respectively. All of the clinical doctors knew that it is necessary to report the brucellosis cases within 24 hours after diagnosis. Conclusion: The accuracy of human brucellosis diagnosis in key areas of human brucellosis in Shanxi was low, and the performance of the clinical doctors to diagnose human brucellosis according to diagnostic and case classification criteria was unsatisfied.

[Expression and bioinformatics analysis of long-chain non-coding RNA PVT1 in tumors].

Objective: To study the expression and mechanism of long-chain non-coding RNA PVT1 in tumor by bioinformatics analysis and experimental verification, and to provide new ideas for the study of the pathogenesis of tumors. Methods: The expression of PVT1 in 14 common tumors was downloaded from starBase v2.0 public database, which also was verified by PVT1 RNA-in situ hybridization.The upstream transcription factors, the downstream target microRNA(miRNA) for PVT1 and the target genes for the target miRNAs were predicted and analyzed by using bioinformatics based on the database of UCSC Genome Browser, HMDD v2.0, miRTar Base, JASPAR databases. Results: StarBase database analysis and RNA in situ hybridization showed that PVT1 was highly expressed in kidney clear cell carcinoma and colon and rectal adenocarcinoma. PVT1 was regulated by the upstream transcription factors CREB1, Atf1, SP1, KLF5, STAT3, while it could control the expression of the downstream target miR-16. bcl-2, VEGFA, CCNE1, CCND1 and SHOC2 showed an interaction with the transcription factor of PVT1, which formed a feedback regulatory pathway. Conclusions: PVT1 is highly expressed in kidney clear cell carcinoma and colon and rectal adenocarcinoma.The predictive analysis of bioinformatics demonstrates that transcription factor/PVT1/miR-16/target gene signal axon may be an important molecular mechanism, which provide a valuable clue for further functional mechanism research of long-chain non-coding RNA.

Orbital angular momentum entanglement via fork-poling nonlinear photonic crystals.

We report a compact scheme for the generation and manipulation of photon pairs entangled in the orbital angular momentum (OAM) from the fork-poling quadratic nonlinear crystal. The χ(2)-modulation in this crystal is designed for fulfilling a tilted quasi-phase-matching geometry to ensure the efficient generation of entangled photons as well as for transferring of topological charge of the crystal to the photon pairs. Numerical results show that the OAM of photon pair is anti-correlated and the degree of OAM entanglement can be enhanced by modulating the topological charge of crystal, which indicates a feasible extension to high-dimensional OAM entanglement. These studies suggest that the fork-poling nonlinear photonic crystal a unique platform for compact generation and manipulation of high-dimensional and high-order OAM entanglement, which may have potential applications in quantum communication, quantum cryptography and quantum remote sensing.

Concurrent optical parametric down-conversion in χ(2) nonlinear photonic crystals.

We experimentally investigated concurrent parametric downconversion processes in a two-dimensional hexagonally poled lithium tantalate crystal. The substantial enhancement of parametric gain was observed when concurrent processes shared a common parametric beam. Both degenerate and nondegenerate concurrent parametric downconversion processes were studied. Analyses of the spatial forms and output angles showed a strong dependence on the working temperature, during which a well-defined beamlike parametric output was observed. Our results will stimulate the design for coherent high-gain generation of multiple parametric beams and also shed light on the compact engineering of path-entanglement with specific spatial forms based on concurrent spontaneous parametric downconversion processes.

Functional analysis of DNA methylation in lung cancer.

OBJECTIVES: We aimed to explore the DNA methylation difference between lung cancer samples and non-cancer lung samples, and to investigate the role of DNA methylation in the mechanism of lung cancer development. Besides, we analyzed the transcriptional regulation network of DNA methylation and the miRNAs regulated by DNA methylation. This study provides a framework for DNA methylation in other tumors or diseases. MATERIALS AND METHODS: DNA methylation and gene expression profiles used were obtained from Gene Expression Omnibus. Firstly, we identified differentially methylated genes (DMGs) by Student's t-test. Then we detected the biological processes and pathways changed in lung cancer by Gene Ontology (GO) and KEGG pathway enrichment analysis. The transcriptional factors in differential genes were identified and the microRNAs regulated by them were also obtained in TransmiR. RESULTS: We obtained 108 DMGs between lung cancer samples and non-cancer samples. Besides development related biological processes and pathways were dramatically disordered. For the DMGs, we identified 11 transcriptional factors regulating them. Moreover, we screened out 21 relationships between DMGs and their transcriptional targets. Five microRNAs are reported to be regulated by DNA methylation genes. Finally a regulation network of DNA methylation was constructed. CONCLUSIONS: DNA methylation participates in carcinogenesis at the transcriptional and post-transcriptional level. Aberrant DNA methylation will prevent its binding with the upstream regulatory proteins, inhibit the function of downstream target genes and regulate the expression of downstream miRNA, and consequently affect cell development, immunoresponse and apoptosis.

Heralded generation of multipartite entanglement for one photon by using a single two-dimensional nonlinear photonic crystal.

We propose a compact scheme for the heralded generation of single-photon multipartite entanglement by using a single two-dimensional nonlinear photonic crystal. Studies have shown that by appropriate structure design, the single-photon entanglement shared among three spatially distinct optical modes can be generated through three concurrent spontaneous parametric down-conversion processes by using the other photon in an identical spatial mode as a trigger. Furthermore, we analyze the entanglement of such heralded single-photon tripartite W-type state theoretically. This method can be expanded for the heralded single-photon N-partite entanglement generation. This compact and stable quantum light source may act as a key ingredient in quantum information science.

An improved method for the non-destructive characterization of radioactive waste by gamma scanning.

A method to improve the reliability and accuracy of activity results in segmented gamma scanning of radioactive waste drums with non-uniform isotope and matrix distribution has been developed. The improved method which is based on numerical simulations of the measured angular dependent count rate distribution during drum rotation in segmented gamma scanning has been validated through the measurement of Cs-137 and Co-60 activities in 13 real radioactive waste drums with heterogeneous activity and matrix distributions. The results were compared to that obtained for the conventional method assuming homogeneous activity and matrix distributions.

Protective action of piperine against experimental gastric ulcer.

AIM: To study the effects of piperine (Pip) on several experimental gastric ulcers in rats and mice. METHODS: The gastric mucosa damage was induced by stress, indometacin, HCl, and pyloric ligation in rats or mice. The number of gastric ulcers, the volume and acidity of gastric juices, and pepsin A activity were detected. RESULTS: Pip 25, 50, 100 mg/kg ig protected animals from gastric ulceration in a dose-dependent manner. The inhibitory rates were 16.9%, 36.0%, and 48.3% in stress ulcers; 4.4%, 51.1%, and 64.4% in indometacin ulcers; 19.2%, 41.5%, and 59.6% in HCl ulcers; 4.8%, 11.9%, and 26.2% in pyloric ligation ulcers, respectively; Pip inhibited the volume of gastric juice, gastric acidity, and pepsin A activity. CONCLUSION: Pip has the protective effects against gastric ulceration.

[Experimental study of the anti-tumor activity of CD3AK against human gastric cancer cell line in vitro and in vivo].

Human CD3AK and LAK cells were prepared from peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) by culturing them in recombinant IL-2 (rIL-2, 30 mu/ml) and anti-CD3 monoclonal antibody, and in rIL-2 alone (300/ml), respectively. By MTT assay, it was found that the PBMC, when cultured in the presence of anti-CD3/rIL-2, proliferated more actively and persistently than PBMC cultured in the presence of rIL-2 alone. In vitro cytotoxicity assay showed that CD3AK cells had stronger killing activity against a poorly differentiated human gastric adenocarcinoma cell line MNK 45 than LAK cells did. Winn's assay at an E/T ratio of 20 carried out in nude mice also indicated that CD3AK cells were more effective than LAK cells in tumor growth inhibition. When the nude mice were inoculated with MNK 45 admixed with CD3AK, none of them developed tumor whereas those inoculated with either MNK 45 or MNK 45 admixed with LAK cells all developed tumor. The results indicate that CD3AK would be a better choice than LAK for the adoptive immunotherapy of human stomach cancer.