Relationship Between the Expression of LC3 (Microtubule-Associated Protein 1A/1B-Light Chain 3) in Nasal Mucosa and Serum IL-5 and IL-4 Concentrations in Allergic Rhinitis Mice.

Objective: To investigate the expression and correlation of autophagy-related microtubule-associated protein 1 light chain 3 beta LC3 and interleukin-5 IL-5 in allergic rhinitis AR. Methods: Fifty-six 7-week-old BALC/C mice were randomly divided into experimental group (n = 56) and control group (n = 8). The experimental group used Dermatophagoides farinae (Der f) for AR modeling, and control group used PBS solution. As the experimental group sampled at 6 time points, and 8 mice were sacrificed each time, while the control group was sacrificed 24 hours after the last dose. The contents of serum IL-4, IL-5, and dust mite specific IgE HDM-sIgE in mice were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay ELISA, and the morphological changes of nasal mucosa were detected by a hematoxylin-eosin H&E staining. The expression of LC3 in mouse nasal mucosa was detected by immunohistochemical staining. Spearman correlation coefficient was used to assess the relationship between LC3 and IL-5 levels. Results: In AR mice modelled with dust mites, the serum levels of IL-4 and HDM-sIgE increased gradually, and the serum IL-5 concentration had a peak at the early intraperitoneal administration stage similar to that at the end of modelling. The LC3 level in nasal mucosa of AR mice modelled with dust mites increased gradually in the early stages, but stabilized in the later stages. The expression of LC3 level in nasal mucosa was a positively correlated ration between serum IL-5 level in AR mice. Conclusion: In the early stage of AR mice, the level of nasal mucosal autophagy and serum IL-5 levels were significantly increased and correlated, suggesting that nasal mucosal autophagy played a promoting role in the early stage of AR.

Prognostic value of preoperative lymphocyte-to-monocyte ratio in gallbladder carcinoma patients and the establishment of a prognostic nomogram.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the potential prognostic value of preoperative lymphocyte-to-monocyte ratio (LMR) and establishment of a prognostic nomogram in post surgical patients with gallbladder carcinoma (GBC).Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis was performed to determine the optimal cut-off value of LMR. The correlation between preoperative LMR and overall survival (OS) was analyzed using univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses. A relevant prognostic nomogram was established.Three hundred fifteen GBC patients were retrospectively enrolled. Based on receiver operating characteristic curve analysis, the optimal cutoff value of LMR was 2.685. Patients were categorized into high-LMR group (n = 143) or low-LMR group (n = 172). Low-LMR value was significantly associated with elderly age, advanced tumor, and the performance of a palliative cholecystectomy. The results of the univariate and multivariate analyses eliminated the degree of tumor differentiation, tumor-node-metastasis stages, surgery types, and LMR as independent predictors of OS. Based on those independent predictors, a predictive nomogram for OS was generated with an accuracy of 0.848.Based on our findings, the predictive nomogram should be included in the routine assessment of GBC patients.

[Health Risk Assessment of Microcystins from Drinking Water Source by Monte Carlo Simulation Method].

To investigate the microcystins(MCs:MC-RR, MC-LR and MC-YR) exposure from drinking water source and to assess the health risk using Monte Carlo simulation method. 90 samples randomly collected from five sample points set along the river were determined using the national standard method (GB/T 20466-2006) during the period of January to June 2016. Professional risk assessment software@Risk7.0 was used to evaluate the dietary intake (exposure) risk of MCs based on building a nonparametric probabilistic evaluation model. First, 90 samples with the MCs were collected for fitting of distribution and the optimal fitting distribution model was selected from the results of three statistical test methods:the Chi-Squared test, the Anderson-Darling test and the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test. Of the 90 water samples tested, the most frequently detectable MCs was MC-RR with the detectable rate of up to 51.11% within the content range of 0.0017-0.3863 µg·L-1, followed by 47.78% of MC-LR within the range of 0.0285-0.2796 µg·L-1, and 21.11% of MC-YR within 0.0030-0.1362 µg·L-1. These results indicated that vast majority of MCs in testing samples were at relatively low levels with the highest concentration of MC-RR at 0.3863 µg·L-1 and MC-YR concentration was the lowest from drinking water source. The fit distribution of MC-LR concentration was the ExtValueMin(0.11391, 0.098462) and that of MC-RR was Logistic(0.058064, 0.053044)(the first number was µ as the position parameter, the second number was σ as the scale parameter). The result indicated that health risks of MC-LR from drinking water source were higher than those of MC-RR and MCs pollution and would lead to high potential health risks especially for children. The health risks caused by the MC-LR from drinking water source for children were significantly higher than the maximum allowance levels recommended by USEPA(1×10-4), and the health risks caused by the MC-LR from drinking water source for adults were significantly higher than the maximum allowance levels recommended by ICRP(5×10-5). Therefore, it is necessary to strengthen the protection and monitoring of drinking water source for effective control of water pollution and protection of human health.

Comparison of first-line chemotherapy based on irinotecan or other drugs to treat non-small cell lung cancer in stage IIIB/IV: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: To compare the efficacy and toxicity of irinotecan-based chemotherapy (IBC) and non-irinotecan-based chemotherapy (NIBC) as first-line treatment for stage IIIB/IV non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). METHODS: PubMed, EMBASE, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), abstracts from the annual meetings of ASCO and the ESMO up to 2014 were searched for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that compared IBC with NIBC. Data on overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) were meta-analyzed to provide hazard ratios (HRs), while data on overall response rate (ORR) and frequencies of toxicity were meta-analyzed to provide relative risk ratios (RR). RESULTS: Seven RCTs (6 RCTs from Asian population and 1 from non-Asian population) involving 1473 patients with previously untreated stage IIIB/IV NSCLC were included in the meta-analysis. IBC and NIBC were associated with similar ORR (RR: 1.08, 95%CI: 0.94 to 1.23, p=0.30), OS (HR: 0.97, 95%CI: 0.88 to 1.07, p=0.56), and PFS (HR: 1.02, 95%CI: 0.97 to 1.08, p=0.38). However, the subgroups between Asian and non-Asian patients differed significantly in OS (HR: 0.94 vs 1.87, p=0.007). There was no significant difference for hematological toxicity (RR: 0.79, 95%CI: 0.60 to 1.04, p=0.09) and significant worse for non-hematological toxicity (RR: 2.28, 95%CI: 1.60 to 3.24, p<0.001), when IBC compared to NIBC. CONCLUSIONS: As the available evidence suggests that IBC and NIBC are equivalent in terms of ORR, PFS, OS, at least in Asian patients, we recommend that IBC be considered as a first-line treatment in Asian patients with stage IIIB/IV NSCLC. However, the non-hematological toxicity of IBC must be considered.

[Effects of absorption on photo-reduction of Cr (VI) by UV/TiO2 process and its elimination].

Reduction of Cr(VI) in aqueous solution were studied by the UV/TiO2 photo-reduction process. The results show that the photo-reduction of Cr(VI) ion by UV/TiQ2 agrees with Langmuir-Hinshelwood equation well. In absence of organic matters, absorption of TiO2 is the key step for this process, and optimal condition is pH = 1.5-2.5. The initial reduction rate correlate with pH value within pH = 1.5-10. The ability to competitively absorb to the surface of TiO2 can be ordered by PO4(3-) > SO4(2-) > Cl- > NO3-. Photoreduction rate and efficiency can be enhanced greatly with synergia of formaldehyde or formic acid, meanwhile synergia eliminate the effect of absorption. But synergic effects were reduced with phosphate.

Studies on characteristics of nanostructure of N-TiO2 thin films and photo-bactericidal action.

Pseudomonas aeruginosa strain (AS1.50) and Bacillus subtilis strain (AS1.439) from Ming lake were decomposed by photocatalytic nanostructure N-TiO(2) thin films in a photo-reactor under UV irradiation. The different thickness nanostructure N-TiO(2) thin films coated on mesh grid were prepared by sol-gel method and immobilized at 500 degrees C (films A) or 350 degrees C (films B) for 1 h in a muffle furnace. The results showed that N-TiO(2) thin film B (8.18 nm thickness, 2.760 nm height and 25.15 nm diameter) has more uniform granular nanostructure and thinner flat texture than N-TiO(2) thin film A (12.17 nm thickness, 3.578 nm height and 27.50 nm diameter). The bactericidal action of N-TiO(2) thin film A and film B for Pseudomonas aeruginosa strain (AS1.50) and Bacillus subtilis varniger strain (AS1.439) were investigated in this work. More than 95% of photocatalytic bactericidal efficiency for Pseudomonas aeruginosa strain (AS1.50) and 75% for Bacillus subtilis strain (AS1.439) were achieved by using N-TiO(2) thin films-B for 70-80 min of irradiation during the photo-bactericidal experimental process. The results indicated that the photo-induced bactericidal efficiency of N-TiO(2) thin films probably depended on the characteristics of the films.

The characteristics of Chinese agrammatic aphasics' comprehension and production of general and wh-questions / 中华物理医学与康复杂志

Objective To investigate question comprehension and production among agrammatic aphasics, and to explore the mechanisms of any dysfunction in questioning.Methods Twenty aphasics were recruited in this study.According to the Chinese Agrammatism Battery,10 were classified as agrammatic (the agrammatic group) and 10 as non-agrammatic (the non-agrammatic group).Ten normal subjects served as a control group.All the subjects were tested in terms of their comprehension and production of questions using a set of general and what-where-who- why questions (wh-questions).Results No significant difference was found between the two experimental groups with regard to the correct comprehension and production of both general and wh-questions.However,there was a sig- nificant difference in correctness between comprehension and production.The performance of the agrammatic aphasics was worse than that of the non-agramatics and the normal subjects.Conclusion The impaired question comprehen- sion and production of Chinese agrammatic aphasics has its own characteristies which can form a basis for rehabilita- tion planning and outcome prediction.