A Case of a Eustachian Tube Hairy Polyp Misdiagnosed as an Adenoid Residual in a Child.

Hairy polyps, considered a highly unusual congenital anomaly of the pharynx, are believed by many scholars to arise from the ectoderm and mesoderm during the embryonic stage. These growths often have a pear or sausage shape, are pedunculated, and their size ranges between 0.5 and 6 cm. They are typically grayish white or pink in color. This article discusses a 12-year-old female who had a growth at the Eustachian tube's entrance on the left side of the nasopharyngeal wall, as identified by a computed tomography scan of the neck soft tissue; it was suspected to be a hairy polyp originating from the left Eustachian tube. The diagnosis of a hairy polyp was confirmed through pathology. The hairy polyp at the Eustachian tube, in this case, showed an irregular form with a wide base, making it look similar to an adenoid; thus, increasing the risk of it being misdiagnosed as residual adenoid tissue.

[Adsorption Properties of Magnetic Phosphorous Camellia Oleifera Shells Biochar to Sulfamethoxazole in Water].

Magnetic phosphorous biochar （MPBC） was prepared from Camellia oleifera shells using phosphoric acid activation and iron co-deposition. The materials were characterized and analyzed through scanning electron microscopy （SEM）， X-ray diffractometry （XRD）， specific surface area and pore size analysis （BET）， Fourier infrared spectroscopy （FT-IR）， and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy （XPS）. MPBC had a high surface area （1 139.28 m2·g-1） and abundant surface functional groups， and it could achieve fast solid-liquid separation under the action of an external magnetic field. The adsorption behavior and influencing factors of sulfamethoxazole （SMX） in water were investigated. The adsorbent showed excellent adsorption properties for SMX under acidic and neutral conditions， and alkaline conditions and the presence of CO32- had obvious inhibition on adsorption. The adsorption process conformed to the quasi-second-order kinetics and Langmuir model. The adsorption rate was fast， and the maximum adsorption capacity reached 356.49 mg·g-1. The adsorption process was a spontaneous exothermic reaction， and low temperature was beneficial to the adsorption. The adsorption mechanism was mainly the chemisorption of pyrophosphate surface functional groups （C-O-P bond） between the SMX molecule and MPBC and also included hydrogen bonding， π-π electron donor-acceptor （π-πEDA） interaction， and a pore filling effect. The development of MPBC adsorbent provides an effective way for resource utilization of waste Camellia oleifera shells and treatment of sulfamethoxazole wastewater.

AKBA inhibits radiotherapy resistance in lung cancer by inhibiting maspin methylation and regulating the AKT/FOXO1/p21 axis.

Acetyl-keto-b-boswellic acid (AKBA) functions in combating human malignant tumors, including lung cancer. However, the function of AKBA in regulating the radioresistance of lung cancer and its underlying mechanism still need to be elucidated. Radiation-resistant lung cancer cells (RA549) were established. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (QRT-PCR) and Western blot were employed to examine the messenger RNA (mRNA) and protein expressions. After being treated with AKBA and different doses of X-ray, cell proliferation and survival were examined using colony formation assay and cell-counting kit-8 (CCK-8) assay. The cellular localization of Forkhead box 1 (FOXO1) was measured by immunofluorescence (IF). Flow cytometry was employed to analyze cell cycle and apoptosis. In addition, in vivo experiment was performed to determine the effect of AKBA on the sensitivity of tumors to radiation. Herein, we found that AKBA could enhance the radiosensitivity in RA549, suppress cell proliferation, induce cell apoptosis and arrest cell cycle. It was observed that maspin was lowly expressed and hypermethylated in RA549 cells compared to that in A549 cells, while these changes were all eliminated by AKBA treatment. Maspin knockdown could reverse the regulatory effects of AKBA on radioresistance and cellular behaviors of RA549 cells. In addition, we found that AKBA treatment could repress the phosphorylation of Serine/Threonine Kinase (AKT), and FOXO1, increase the translocation of FOXO1 and p21 level in RA549 cells, which was abolished by maspin knockdown. Moreover, results of tumor xenograft displayed that AKBA could enhance the sensitivity of tumor to radiation through the maspin/AKT/FOXO1/p21 axis. We discovered that AKBA enhanced the radiosensitivity of radiation-resistant lung cancer cells by regulating maspin-mediated AKT/FOXO1/p21 axis.

Platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio and the first occurrence of peritonitis in peritoneal dialysis patients.

BACKGROUND: Platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR) has been used as a potential biomarker of inflammation-related diseases, but its role in the peritoneal dialysis-related peritonitis (PDRP) is still uncertain. This study was aimed to investigate the association between PLR and the new-onset PDRP in peritoneal dialysis (PD) patients. METHODS: In this multicenter retrospective study, 1378 PD Chinese PD patients were recruited from four centers, who were divided into the high PLR group (HPG) and the low PLR group (LPG) according to the cutoff value of PLR. The correlation between PLR and the new-onset PDRP was assessed using the Cox regression model analysis. RESULTS: During follow-up, 121 new-onset PDRP events were recorded. Kaplan-Meier survival curve showed a higher risk of new-onset PDRP in the HPG (log-rank test, P < 0.001). After adjusting for confounding factors, the Cox regression model showed the risk of new-onset PDRP was higher in the HPG than that in the LPG (HR 1.689, 95%CI 1.096-2.602, P = 0.017). Competitive risk model analysis showed that significant differences still existed between the two PLR groups in the presence of other competitive events (P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: PLR is independently associated with the new-onset PDRP in PD patients.

The relationship between the prognostic nutritional index and new-onset pneumonia in peritoneal dialysis patients.

PURPOSE: As an indicator of nutrition and immunity, the prognostic value of the prognostic nutritional index (PNI) has been confirmed in various diseases. However, the relationship between PNI and the incidence of pneumonia in peritoneal dialysis (PD) patients remains unknown. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between PNI and new-onset pneumonia in patients undergoing PD. METHODS: Thousand two hundred and nighty eight patients were enrolled in this multicenter retrospective study from February 1, 2010, to February 28, 2020. A total of 899 patients were included in the final statistical analysis. The patients were stratified into two groups by PNI quartiles. The primary endpoint was a new-onset pneumonia event. Cox regression model analysis was used to explore the association between PNI and the first occurrence of pneumonia. RESULTS: During a mean follow-up of 41.43 months, 147 patients developed new-onset pneumonia. Kaplan-Meier survival curves showed a significant difference in the incidence of the first presentation of pneumonia between the two groups, that patients in the low PNI group had a higher risk of pneumonia (P = 0.016). By adjusting for demographic parameters, comorbidities, and laboratory indicators, the Cox regression model showed that the high PNI group had less risk compared to the low PNI group (HR 0.479 95% CI 0.297-0.772, P = 0.003). There were no interactions in the subgroups as follows: diabetes, hypertension, age, and sex. CONCLUSIONS: Low PNI levels were independently associated with the first occurrence of pneumonia in PD patients. PNI was an independent predictor of new-onset pneumonia in PD patients.

A Synergistic Anti-Cancer Effect of Troglitazone and Lovastatin in a Human Anaplastic Thyroid Cancer Cell Line and in a Mouse Xenograft Model.

Anaplastic thyroid cancer (ATC) is a malignant subtype of thyroid cancers and its mechanism of development remains inconclusive. Importantly, there is no effective strategy for treatment since ATC is not responsive to conventional therapies, including radioactive iodine therapy and thyroid-stimulating hormone suppression. Here, we report that a combinational approach consisting of drugs designed for targeting lipid metabolism, lovastatin (an inhibitor of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase, HMGCR) and troglitazone (an agonist of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma, PPARγ), exhibits anti-proliferation in cell culture systems and leads to tumor regression in a mouse xenograft model. The composition contains a sub-lethal concentration of both drugs and exhibits low toxicity to certain types of normal cells. Our results support a hypothesis that the inhibitory effect of the combination is partly through a cell cycle arrest at G0/G1 phase, as evidenced by the induction of cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitors, p21cip and p27kip, and the reduction of hyperphosphorylated retinoblastoma protein (pp-Rb)-E2F1 signaling. Therefore, targeting two pathways involved in lipid metabolism may provide a new direction for treating ATC.

Studies on the cytotoxicity and anticancer performance of heterocyclic hypervalent organobismuth(III) compounds.

Novel organobismuth(III) complex of 5H-dibenzo[c,f][1,5]oxabismocin-12(7H)-yl nitrate (C2) was synthesized and characterized by spectral and elemental analysis. It was compared with other five C,E,C-chelating (E = N, O, S) organobismuth(III) complexes against human adenocarcinoma alveolar basal epithelial cells (A549), human liver cancer cell line (SMCC7721), human gastric cancer cell line (SGC-7901), human colon adenocarcinoma cell line (SW480) and healthy human bronchial cell line (16HBE14o-) in vitro. It was found that C2 exhibited the best anticancer activity. Further mechanistic investigation indicated that toxicological activity of C2 was ascribable to apoptosis rather than anti-proliferative activity. Apoptosis was induced through up-regulating the level of Bcl-2/Bax as well as the activation of caspase-3. The results demonstrate that heterocyclic organobismuth(III) complexes of this type have great potential in the treatment of cancer.

A study on the recycling of scrap integrated circuits by leaching.

In order to minimize the problem of pollution and to conserve limited natural resources, a method to recover the valuable metals such as gold, silver and copper) present in the scrap integrated circuits (ICs) was developed in the present study. Roasting, grinding, screening, magnetic separation, melting and leaching were adopted to investigate the efficiency of recovery of gold, silver and copper from scrap ICs. The collected scrap IC samples were roasted at 850 °C to destroy their plastic resin sealing material, followed by screening and magnetic separation to separate the metals from the resin residue. The non-ferrous materials (0.840 mm) were mainly composed of copper and could be melted into a copper alloy. Non-ferrous materials containing gold (860.05 ppm), silver (1323.12 ppm) and copper (37259.7 ppm) (size less than 50 mesh) were recovered 100% by a leaching process and thiourea was used as a leaching reagent.

[Effect and signal transduction mechanism of active components of Buyang Huanwu Decoction on vascular adhesion molecule expression].

OBJECTIVE: To explore the effect and possible cell signal transduction mechanism of active components (alkaloids and glucosides) of Buyang Huanwu Decoction (BHD) on the vascular adhesion molecule (VAM) expression induced by thrombin (Thr). METHODS: (1) Endothelial cells (ECV-304) were cultured in vitro and stimulated by Thr, then cultured in media containing BHD whole recipe (BHDw), its alkaloids (BHDa) or glycosides (BHDg), respectively. The expressions of E-selectin, CD31, CD54, and protein Kinase Calpha PKCa) were detected by immunocytochemical method. (2) Cultured ECV-304 cells were treated with Thr, Thr + 1-(5-isoquinolinesulfonyl)-2-mythylpiperazine dihydrochloride (H7), phorbol myristate acetate (PMA), PMA + H7, Thr + cathepsin-6 (CATG) as well as Thr plus BHDw, BHDa, and BHDg, respectively after then, changes of PKCalpha, phospho-p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (p-p38MAPK), phospho-extracellular signal regulated kinase (p-ERK) and nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-kappaB) expressions were observed. RESULTS: (1) Expressions of PECAM-1, ICAM-1 and E-selectin in ECV-304 cells were significantly enhanced after thrombin stimulation (P < 0.05). When compared with the thrombin group, the three expressions were lower in the BHDw treated group (P < 0.05); while in groups treated with BHDa and BHDg, only expressions of PECAM-1 and ICAM-1 were lower (P < 0.05), but no obvious difference in E-selectin was shown. (2) Expression of endothelial PKCalpha increased after thrombin stimulation (P < 0.01), which could be enhanced by PMA (PKC activator, P < 0.01); but inhibited by PMA + H7 (PKC inhibitor), CATG (PAR-1 inhibitor, P < 0.05) as well as by BHDw, BHDa and BHDg (P < 0.05). (3) Expressions of p-p38 MAPK and p-ERK in ECV-304 cells showed no remarkable change after thrombin stimulation, or after reacted with PMA, H7, CATG, BHDw, BHDa and BHDg. (4) Similar to that of p-p38MAPK and p-ERK, NF-kappaB was unchanged in all the reactions. CONCLUSIONS: BHD could down-regulate the increasing of VAM expression induced by thrombin in VECs; BHDa and BHDg might be the active components in the recipe. The effect of thrombin is mainly mediated through activation of PKC; while p-p38MAPK, ERK or NF-kappaB are not the chief signal transduction pathways. And BHD and its effective components may antagonize the thrombin activation on VECs through inhibiting the activation of PKCalpha.

Three-dimensional reconstruction of the pancreas and its surrounding structures.

In order to establish a visible three-dimensional model of the pancreas and its surrounding structures, successive cross-sectional images were retrieved from the first data set of a visible Chinese woman, and a visible model of the pancreas and its surrounding structures was established. Finally three-dimensional reconstruction of the pancreas and its surrounding structures was carried out. The reconstructed, three-dimensional model of the pancreas and its surrounding structures can reveal both single and multiple organs with some of the structures being transparent. Moreover, the model can be rotated and sliced successively in any direction.