Value of endobronchial ultrasound-transbronchial needle aspiration biopsy for diagnosis of PET-CT positive mediastinal lymph nodes / 中华肿瘤杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To evaluate the clinical value of endobronchial ultrasound-transbronchial needle aspiration (EBUS-TBNA) biopsy for diagnosis of PET-CT positive mediastinal lymph nodes.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>One hundred and twenty-six patients with lung cancer undergoing both PET-CT scanning and EBUS-TBNA biopsy in the First Affiliated Hospital of Guanzhou Medical College from July 2008 to August 2010 were included in this study. There were 89 male and 37 female patients with a mean age of 56.3 years (range 34 to 81 years). (18)FDG-PET was considered positive in mediastinal nodes if the PET-CT reported hypermetabolic activity consistent with malignant disease (standardized uptake value > 2.5). All of the patients were clinically followed up.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Among the 126 patients, 185 stations of lymph nodes were punctured. The mean diameter of the nodes was 13.6 mm and the range was 6 - 23 mm. There were no procedural complications. The diagnostic accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity of EBUS-TBNA were 95.7%, 95.7%, and 100%, respectively.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>EBUS-TBNA is a minimally invasive, highly effective and accurate, practical and safe procedure for diagnosis of PET-CT positive mediastinal lymph nodes.</p>

Injection of activated carbon nanoparticles for guiding lymphadenectomy during minimal invasive surgery in lung cancer / 中华肿瘤杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To evaluate the clinical value of activated carbon nanoparticles for guiding lymphadenectomy in lung cancer.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Fourty-two lung cancer patients were divided into two groups: the control group (22 cases) and experiment group (20 cases) who received activated carbon nanoparticles injection around the tumor either by endoscopic injection or intraoperative subserosal injection. The number of dissected lymph node, black-stained lymph node, positive lymph node and the side effect of the procedure were analyzed, respectively.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>No severe complication was observed in the experiment group. The operative time was not prolonged significantly in the experiment group either. However, the number of average lymph nodes dissected in the experiment group (25.5) was significantly more than that in the control group (14.6) (P <0.01).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Local injection of activated carbon nanoparticles around the tumor during surgical exploration is effective, safe and easy to do for guiding lymphadenectomy in lung cancer patient.</p>

Methane monooxygenases hydroxylase from a type II methanotroph: purification and physical-chemical properties / 生物工程学报

Methanotrophs can catalyze hydroxylate of methane and some hydrocarbon. Which play an important role in mitigating global warming and have also potential significance for industrial applications or bioremediation. A high activity of hydroxylase, a crucial component in sMMO, from Methylosinus trichosporium IMV 3011 has been purified to homologues by using chromatographic techniques. The molecular weight of the hydroxylase determined by gel filtration is 201.3 kD, and SDS-PAGE showed that hydroxylase consists of three subunits(alpha beta gamma) with molecular weights of 58kD, 36kD and 23kD respectively, drawing a comparison both methods indicated that the hydroxylase is a homodimer with an (alpha beta gamma)2 configuration. Purified hydroxylase has a pI at 5.2 judged by thin layer isoelectric focusing. The purified hydroxylase contains 3.02 mol of iron per mol of protein. The stability pH for the hydroxylase in solution is 5.8-8.0 and the stability temperature is below 35 degrees C. The cells form show a long, bent, and rod-shaped with even surface observed by scanning electron microscopy.

Continuous biosynthesis of epoxypropane in a methanotrophic attached-films reactor / 生物工程学报

Using a fluidized bed as immobilization system, mixed culture methanotrophic attached-films were developed on diatomite particles. The Methane Monooxygenase (MMO) activity was found to increase obviously as soon as the lag phase ended. Greater than 90% of the MMO activity in the bed was attached. Biofilm concentration of 3.3-3.7 mg dry weight cell/g DS was observed. Batch experiments were performed to explore the possibility of producing epoxypropane by a cooxidation process. The effect of methane on the oxidation of propene to epoxypropane and the effect of propene on the growth of methanotroph were also studied. In continuous experiments, optimum mixed gaseous substrates (methane: 35%; propene: 20%; oxygen: 45%) were continuously circulated through the fluidized bed reactor to remove product. Initial epoxypropane productivity was 110-150 mumol/d. The bioreactor operated continuously for 25 d without obvious loss of epoxypropane productivity.