Clinical effectiveness of fluorouracil and cisplatin intraperitoneal perfusion combined with intravenous chemotherapy for peritoneal metastasis in gastric cancer.

OBJECTIVE: Gastric cancer (GC) is one of the most common malignancies worldwide, often accompanied by peritoneal metastasis. This work aimed to investigate the clinical efficacy of intraperitoneal perfusion of fluorouracil and cisplatin combined with intravenous chemotherapy for the treatment of peritoneal metastasis in GC. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A total of 286 patients with primary GC admitted to the hospital from March 2017 to December 2020 were recruited in the study. A 1:1 matched case-control study was conducted, with the normal control (NC) group and experimental (E) group being composed of patients who underwent the corresponding treatment for primary GC with surgery within 2 months and the same pathological tumor-node-metastasis (pTNM) stage. The NC group consisted of 143 patients receiving only intravenous chemotherapy, while the E group consisted of 143 patients receiving intraperitoneal perfusion of fluorouracil and cisplatin combined with intravenous chemotherapy. Baseline characteristics, clinical efficacy, complications, peritoneal recurrence and metastasis, disease-free survival (DFS), and overall survival (OS) of the patients, as well as their quality of life (QoL) after chemotherapy, were compared between groups. RESULTS: After six cycles of chemotherapy, DFS was observed in both groups (70% vs. 59%; 48% vs. 29.7%; p<0.05), so did OS (85.7% vs. 85.4%; 73.1% vs. 69.3%; p>0.05). The total effective rate of treatment in the E group (46.15%) was drastically superior to that in the NC group (27.97%), and the total recurrence and metastasis rate of the E group (23.08%) was markedly inferior to that of the NC group (83.9%) (p<0.05). The total incidence of adverse reactions in the E group (11.89%) was considerably inferior to that in the NC group (35.66%) (p<0.05). In addition, the E group had markedly superior scores for physical function (PF), emotional function (EF), role function (RF), social function (SF), and cognitive function (CF) than the NC group (p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Intraperitoneal perfusion of fluorouracil and cisplatin combined with intravenous chemotherapy for the treatment of peritoneal metastasis in GC had certain benefits for patients and is worth applying in clinical practice.

The potential pigmentation-related genes in spider mites revealed by comparative transcriptomes of the red form of Tetranychus urticae.

Colouration in spider mites is due to the presence of carotenoids with diverse colours, including yellows, oranges and reds. Tetranychus urticae has two main colour forms, red and green. Although a ketolase has been implicated in determining the colour, the underlying genetic basis of body colour divergence between the two forms has remained unclear. Based on a combination of comparative transcriptomes and RNA interference, we found that a gene encoding a cytochrome P450 enzyme of the CYP4 clan (CYP389B1) had remarkably high expression in adult females of the red T. urticae, as well as in hybrids obtained by crossing the red and green forms. Down-regulation of this gene by RNA interference resulted in decreased accumulation of red pigment. Up-regulation of the expressions of a scavenger receptor gene (SCARB1) and a mitochondrial glycine transporter (SLC25A38) also strongly contributed to red colour development in adult females. Suppressing the mRNA levels of these genes also resulted in reduced accumulation of red pigment in the three other spider mites with red body colour. Our results provide evidence that the body colour divergence between the two forms is caused by different expressions of pigmentation-related genes, and point to a possible role of a novel cytochrome P450 gene (CYP389B1) in regulating red-orange body colour. These findings expand the number of candidate cytochrome P450 genes involved in endogenous pigmentation and will help to understand their roles in determining colour patterns in mites and other species.

[Effect of non-invasive NAVA on the patients with acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease].

Objective: To observe the effect of non-invasive neurally adjusted ventilatory assist (NIV-NAVA) on patient-ventilator synchrony and effect of gas exchange in patients with acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease compared with NIV-pressure support ventilation (PSV). Methods: This was a prospective study of 40 patients with AECOPD given 30-min trials of NIV with NIV-PSV group (n=20) and NAVA group (n=20) in random order. Arterial blood gas analysis (ABGs), main asynchrony events and asynchrony index were quantified. Results: There were no significant difference between the two groups on effect of gas exchange (P>0.05). Main asynchrony events during NIV-NAVA including autotriggering, ineffective efforts and double triggering were less frequent than NIV-PSV (P<0.05). The trigger delay in the NIV-NAVA group was markedly shorter than the NIV-PSV (62.20±8.91 vs 112.65±15.10)ms (P<0.001). The inspiratory/expiratory off-cycle delay was significantly shorter in the NIV-PSV group than that in the NIV-NAVA group (73.00±18.27 vs 187.95±39.24)ms (P<0.001). The occurrence of severe asynchrony (AI>10%) was also less under NAVA (P<0.05). Conclusions: Both NIV-NAVA and NIV-PSV can improve gas exchange. As compared with NIV-PSV, NIV-NAVA can reduce main asynchrony events, improve patient-ventilator synchrony in patients with AECOPD.

[Construction of linkage map and mapping resistance gene of Scterotinia scterotiorum in Brassica napus].

Scterotinia scterotiorum (Lib.) de by is a world-wide disease, which seriously decreases the yield and the quality of oil of rapeseed. Mapping resistance genes of S. scterotiorum is of vital effect to breed new elite cultivars resisting the disease. In this paper, we reported that a RAPD linkage map was constructed, including 193 RAPD markers, 19 linkage groups and covering 1,324 cM, by using Mapmaker 3.0. On the basis of map, and resistance genes, Sc1, Sc2 and Sc3, were located in 4th, 8th and 18th linkage groups. Among three QTLs, Sc2 has the characteristics of major gene with explained 29%. The three QTLs together explained about 56% of phenotypic variation.

Manipulation for cervical spinal dislocation under general anaesthesia: serial review for 4 years.

Manipulation under anaesthesia is an important method to reduce cervical spinal dislocations in the acute stage. Causes of failure have not been clearly identified and neurological complications can be the major concern. All cervical dislocations have been traditionally treated by manipulation under anaesthesia in the Christchurch Spinal Injuries Unit as the primary treatment. We reviewed all 31 patients treated from 1991-1995, with detailed documentation of neurological progression and final outcome. Three patterns were identified: bilateral dislocation, unifacet dislocation and fracture dislocation. Most of the dislocations (74%) were successfully reduced by manipulation alone with minimum complications. The remaining 26% patients required open reduction. The predominant causes of failure of reduction by manipulation were co-existing fractures. The success rate of reduction by manipulation was 90% for pure bifacet and unifacet dislocations, but was only 22% for the fracture dislocations. The study concluded that manipulation under anaesthesia is a safe and effective procedure for pure cervical spinal dislocations. Fractures related to the dislocation should be identified early and open reduction be considered.