[Survival and prognosis analysis of patients with Hodgkin lymphoma treated with standard treatment paradigm].

Objective: To analyze the survival and prognosis of Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) patients receiving standard first-line therapy. Methods: Data of clinical characteristics and treatment outcomes of patients with HL diagnosed in Cancer Hospital Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences (CHCAMS) from January 1st, 2000 to December 31st, 2018 who received standard first-line treatment were retrospectively analyzed and compared with that of HL patients who received treatment in the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) database in the United States during the same period. Factors associated with freedom from progression (FFP) of patients in CHCAMS were analyzed. Treatment and survival data of patients with relapsed/refractory HL (r/rHL) who had failed the standard first-line treatment during the corresponding period in CHCAMS were collected to analyze the outcomes of salvage therapy. Results: A total of 764 HL patients in CHCAMS were included in this study. The median age was 30 years (range, 14-83 years), with 424 males and 340 females. By February 26th, 2022, the patients were followed-up for a median time of 111 months(range, 0.3-262.0 months). Lymphoma-specific survival (LSS) rate and overall survival (OS) rate at 10 years for HL patients in CHCAMS was 91.7% (95%CI: 89.5%-93.9%) and 87.1% (95%CI: 84.5%-89.8%), respectively. LSS and OS rate at 10 years for HL patients from SEER database was 86.8% (95%CI: 86.3%-87.2%) and 79.0% (95%CI: 78.5%-79.5%), respectively. The unadjusted LSS and OS rate for patients in CHCAMS were higher than those for patients from SEER database (both P<0.001). No significant difference was observed in LSS and OS rate (both P>0.05) between the two groups after adjustment. European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer staging system (early-stage unfavorable: HR=2.35, 95%CI: 1.13-4.89, P=0.023; advanced stage: HR=5.44, 95%CI: 2.62-11.30, P<0.001) and serum ß2 microglobulin (HR=1.67, 95%CI: 1.08-2.58, P=0.021) were influencing factors of FFP for patients in CHCAMS. The complete remission rate, median progression-free survival (PFS), 5-year PFS rate and 5-year OS rate for the 116 patients with r/rHL was 37.9% (95%CI: 29.6%-47.0%), 15.0 months (95%CI: 9.9-20.1 months), 29.9% (95%CI: 20.9%-38.9%) and 62.9% (95%CI: 54.1%-71.7%), respectively. Conclusions: The outcomes of HL patients receiving standard first-line treatment are excellent. However, the therapeutic effect of HL patients who incurrs disease progression or relapse after standard first-line treatment is not satisfying.

[The value of left ventricular longitudinal strain in the diagnosis and differential diagnosis of myocardial amyloidosis].

Objective: To investigate the characteristics of left ventricular longitudinal strain (LS) in myocardial amyloidosis (CA), hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) and Fabry disease (FD), as well as the correlation between left ventricular LS and these diseases. Methods: A total of 14 CA patients, 28 HCM patients and 5 FD patients who visited the Department of Cardiology of the First Affiliated Hospital of Suzhou University from June 2017 to November 2019 were retrospectively included. EchoPAC software was used to analyze left ventricular LS, and univariate logistic regression analysis was used to analyze the correlation between echocardiographic LS indexes and various myocardial hypertrophy diseases. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to assess the sensitivity and specificity of echocardiograph LS indexes in the diagnosis of various myocardial hypertrophy diseases. Results: There were significant differences in LS of left ventricular basal segment, inferior wall, posterior wall, lateral wall and posterior septum among the three groups (P<0.05). The absolute value of LS in the left ventricular basal segment decreased in the CA group; the absolute value of LS in left ventricular posterior wall and lateral wall decreased significantly in the FD group (P<0.05); the absolute values of LS in left ventricular basal segment, inferior wall, posterior septum, lateral wall and posterior wall increased significantly in the HCM group (P<0.05). The absolute value of LS < 7.9% in the left ventricular basal segment, or > 13.2% in the inferior wall and > 9.2% in the basal segment, or < 8.3% in the lateral wall and < 7.9% in the posterior wall were the indicators of high sensitivity and specificity in the diagnosis of CA, HCM and FD, respectively. Conclusions: Left ventricular LS was an important index to differentiate myocardial hypertrophy. Combined with their respective clinical characteristics, it could provide certain reference value for clinical practice.

The significance of phase reversion-induced nanograined/ultrafine-grained structure on the load-controlled deformation response and related mechanism in copper-bearing austenitic stainless steel.

The ingenious concept of phase reversion annealing involving cold deformation of parent austenite to strain-induced martensite, followed by annealing was used to obtain nano-grained/ultrafine-grained (NG/UFG) structure in a Cu-bearing biomedical austenitic stainless steel resulting in high strength-high ductility combination. Having employed the concept effectively, the primary objective of this study is to critically analyze the interplay between the load-controlled deformation response, strain-rate sensitivity and deformation mechanism of NG/UFG austenitic stainless steel via nanoscale deformation experiments and compare with its coarse-grained (CG) counterpart. The study demonstrated that the strain-rate sensitivity of NG/UFG was ~1.5 times that of the CG structure. Post-mortem electron microscopy of plastic zone surrounding the indents indicated that the active deformation mechanism was nanoscale twinning with typical characteristics of a network of intersecting twins in the NG/UFG structure, while strain-induced martensite transformation was the effective deformation mechanism for the CG structure. The fracture morphology was also different for the two steels, essentially ductile in nature, and was characterized by striations marking the line-up of voids in NG/UFG steel and microvoid coalescence in CG counterpart. The differences in deformation mechanisms between the NG/UFG and CG structure are attributed to the austenite stability - strain energy relationship. Furthermore, the presence of ~3 wt % Cu in austenitic stainless steel had somewhat moderate effect on strain-rate sensitivity and activation volume at similar level of grain size in its Cu-free counterpart. Specifically, in the NG/UFG structure, the nanoscale twin density was noticeably higher in Cu-bearing austenitic stainless steel as compared to Cu-free counterpart, as Cu is known to increase the stacking fault energy.

Community-based active case finding for tuberculosis in rural western China: a cross-sectional study.

SETTING: Current passive case finding strategies are not effective at identifying tuberculosis (TB) patients in rural China. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate a community-based, active case finding (ACF) scheme in identifying symptomatic individuals with TB. DESIGN: We conducted door-to-door household visits of all residents aged 15 years at two rural sites to screen for TB symptoms. Individuals with symptoms were enrolled and asked to provide three sputum samples. All participants underwent chest X-ray, and microbiologic detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis from sputum samples using microscopy, solid culture and Xpert® MTB/RIF was performed. RESULTS: Among the 19 334 residents screened for TB symptoms, 865 (4.5%) reported having 1 symptom. A total of 52 TB cases were detected, 11 of whom had microbiologic confirmation. Xpert identified all five M. tuberculosis culture-positive cases and yielded an additional three diagnoses. Prevalence of newly detected TB at the two sites through ACF was respectively 475 and 196 per 100 000 population. These estimates are respectively four and eight times, on average, higher than those identified through passive surveillance during the previous 5-year period for the two sites. CONCLUSION: Community-based symptom screening followed by laboratory tests was found to be feasible and effective in increasing TB case finding in rural China.

Targeting palmitoyl acyltransferase ZDHHC21 improves gut epithelial barrier dysfunction resulting from burn-induced systemic inflammation.

Clinical studies in burn patients demonstrate a close association between leaky guts and increased incidence or severity of sepsis and other complications. Severe thermal injury triggers intestinal inflammation that contributes to intestinal epithelial hyperpermeability, which exacerbates systemic response leading to multiple organ failure and sepsis. In this study, we identified a significant function of a particular palmitoyl acyltransferase, zinc finger DHHC domain-containing protein-21 (ZDHHC21), in mediating signaling events required for gut hyperpermeability induced by inflammation. Using quantitative PCR, we show that ZDHHC21 mRNA production was enhanced twofold when intestinal epithelial cells were treated with TNF-α-IFN-γ in vitro. In addition, pharmacological targeting of palmitoyl acyltransferases with 2-bromopalmitate (2-BP) showed significant improvement in TNF-α-IFN-γ-mediated epithelial barrier dysfunction by using electric cell-substrate impedance-sensing assays, as well as FITC-labeled dextran permeability assays. Using acyl-biotin exchange assay and click chemistry, we show that TNF-α-IFN-γ treatment of intestinal epithelial cells results in enhanced detection of total palmitoylated proteins and this response is inhibited by 2-BP. Using ZDHHC21-deficient mice or wild-type mice treated with 2-BP, we showed that mice with impaired ZDHHC21 expression or pharmacological inhibition resulted in attenuated intestinal barrier dysfunction caused by thermal injury. Moreover, hematoxylin and eosin staining of the small intestine, as well as transmission electron microscopy, showed that mice with genetic interruption of ZDHHC21 had attenuated villus structure disorganization associated with thermal injury-induced intestinal barrier damage. Taken together, these results suggest an important role of ZDHHC21 in mediating gut hyperpermeability resulting from thermal injury.NEW & NOTEWORTHY Increased mucosal permeability in the gut is one of the major complications following severe burn. Here we report the novel finding that zinc finger DHHC domain-containing protein-21 (ZDHHC21) mediates gut epithelial hyperpermeability resulting from an experimental model of thermal injury. The hyperpermeability response was significantly attenuated with a pharmacological inhibitor of palmitoyl acyltransferases and in mice with genetic ablation of ZDHHC21. These findings suggest that ZDHHC21 may serve as a novel therapeutic target for treating burn-induced intestinal barrier dysfunction.

[Application of whole genome sequencing technology in the epidemiology of tuberculosis].

Objective: To delineate the application of whole genome sequencing technology in the epidemiology of tuberculosis. Methods: From 2009 to 2012, nine Mycobacterium tuberculosis that sharing identical variable number of tandem repeats genotype (VNTR) patterns were reported from two TB cases designated hospitals. Both whole-genome sequencing analysis (WGS) and epidemiologic investigations were performed to describe the transmission patterns of these Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Results: By WGS analysis, two genomic clusters including 7 and 2 Mycobacterium tuberculosis were noticed, respectively. The cluster of 2 cases possessed more than 15 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) when compared to the cluster of 7 cases and suggesting that the transmission route was independent. The transmission chain based on the SNPs difference showed the process of the propagation direction and the accumulation of drug resistance mutations in each cluster. Conclusion: Using a WGS-based genomic epidemiologic approach, we were able to reconstruct the tuberculosis transmission network, tracing the putative source of the transmission and determining the transmission direction or the missing links.

Note: measurement for the disturbance of discharge medium in pulsed gas laser.

In this paper, a single-filament schlieren system equipped with a four-element photodiode was developed to investigate the disturbance in the discharge region of a pulsed gas laser. This method showed a high sensitivity in measuring weak disturbance left in the test region. Therefore, it was applied in a discharge-pumped ArF excimer laser for the acquiring of optical disturbance of the gas medium in the directions of pulsed discharge and gas flow simultaneously. Time-resolved signals of the optical disturbance were recorded for each pulse. A quantitative evaluation for the strength of residual disturbance was obtained from the differential output of the four-element photodiode, and the influence of the disturbance on the pulsed energy was also analyzed. It showed that this method can be easily applied in pulsed gas laser to study the effect of the gas non-uniformity on beam parameters.

Determination of Genetic Diversity among Korean Hanwoo Cattle Based on Physical Characteristics.

This study was conducted to establish genetic criteria for phenotypic characteristics of Hanwoo cattle based on allele frequencies and genetic variance analysis using microsatellite markers. Analysis of the genetic diversity among 399 Hanwoo cattle classified according to nose pigmentation and coat color was carried out using 22 microsatellite markers. The results revealed that the INRA035 locus was associated with the highest Fis (0.536). Given that the Fis value for the Hanwoo INRA035 population ranged from 0.533 (white) to 1.000 (white spotted), this finding was consistent with the loci being fixed in Hanwoo cattle. Expected heterozygosities of the Hanwoo groups classified by coat colors and degree of nose pigmentation ranged from 0.689±0.023 (Holstein) to 0.743±0.021 (nose pigmentation level of d). Normal Hanwoo and animals with a mixed white coat showed the closest relationship because the lowest DA value was observed between these groups. However, a pair-wise differentiation test of Fst showed no significant difference among the Hanwoo groups classified by coat color and degree of nose pigmentation (p<0.01). Moreover, results of the neighbor-joining tree based on a DA genetic distance matrix within 399 Hanwoo individuals and principal component analyses confirmed that different groups of cattle with mixed coat color and nose pigmentation formed other specific groups representing Hanwoo genetic and phenotypic characteristics. The results of this study support a relaxation of policies regulating bull selection or animal registration in an effort to minimize financial loss, and could provide basic information that can be used for establishing criteria to classify Hanwoo phenotypes.

Polaron spin-lattice relaxation time in pi-conjugated polymers from optically detected magnetic resonance.

We describe a method for obtaining the polaron spin-lattice relaxation time T{SL} in pi-conjugated polymers by measuring the optically detected magnetic resonance (ODMR) dynamics as a function of microwave power and laser intensity. The peculiar ODMR dynamics is well described by a spin dependent recombination model where both recombination and spin relaxation rates determine together the response dynamics. We apply this method to the spin 1/2 ODMR in films of pristine 2-methoxy-5-(2{'}-ethylhexyloxy) phenylene vinylene [MEH-PPV] polymer, as well as MEH-PPV doped with various concentrations of radical impurities. We obtained T{SL} approximately 30 micros in pristine MEH-PPV, but substantially shorter when the magnetic impurities are added.

Enantioselective synthesis for the (-)-antipode of the pyrazinone marine alkaloid, hamacanthin A.

A short enantioselective total synthesis for the (-)-antipode of the antifungal marine alkaloid, hamacanthin A, (6R)-3,6-bis(6-bromoindol-3-yl)-5,6-dihydro-2(1H)-pyrazinone, is described. This synthesis proceeds through the coupling of 3-indolyl-alpha-oxoacetyl chloride and 3-indolyl azidoethylamine, followed by intramolecular aza-Wittig type cyclization. A concise and useful approach for the synthesis of (1R)-1-(indol-3-yl)-2-azidoethylamine using the Sharpless asymmetric dihydroxylation reaction followed by stereospecific azidation is also presented.

Synthesis of novel analogues of marine indole alkaloids: mono(indolyl)-4-trifluoromethylpyridines and bis(indolyl)-4-trifluoromethylpyridines as potential anticancer agents.

Mono(indolyl)-4-trifluoromethylpyridines and bis(indolyl)-4-trifluoromethylpyridines were synthesized using Suzuki cross-coupling reaction between 2-chloro-4-trifluoromethylpyridine 9, 2,6-dichloro-4-trifluoromethylpyridine 6 or 2,6-dichloro-3-cyano-4-trifluoromethylpyridine 23 and N-tosyl-3-indolylboronic acid 10. They were evaluated for cytotoxic activity against P388 and A-549 cells with IC(50) values. 4-Trifluoromethyl-2,6-bis[3'-(N-tosyl-6'-methoxylindolyl)]pyridine 18 was identified as the most potent in this series.

Synthesis and cytotoxicity evaluation of novel indolylpyrimidines and indolylpyrazines as potential antitumor agents.

Novel indolylpyrimidines and indolylpyrazines have been synthesized as potential antitumor agents. They were screened in a panel of 60 human tumor cell lines in vitro. Compounds 7, 9, 10, 15, 21 exhibited efficiently cytotoxic activities with GI(50) values in the low micromolar range against a variety of human cancer cell lines. 2,4-Bis(3'-indolyl)pyrimidine 8 displayed selective cytotoxic activity against IGROV1 tumor cell line with the GI(50) value below 0.01 microM.

Synthesis and antitumor evaluation of novel monoindolyl-4-trifluoromethylpyridines and bisindolyl-4-trifluoromethylpyridines.

A series of novel monoindolyl-4-trifluoromethylpyridines and bisindolyl-4-trifluoromethylpyridines was designed and synthesized as potential antitumor agents. They were evaluated for preliminary cytotoxic activity against P388 and A-549 cells with IC50 values. 4-Trifluoromethyl-2,6-bis[3'-(N-tosyl-6'-methoxyl-indolyl)] pyridine was identified as the most potent in this series.

Expectancy of working life of mine workers in Hunan province.

From demographic mortality and disability of, in total, 424965 y from workers in 29 coal or coloured/metal mines in Human province of China during the period 1980-1984, we calculated the length of expected working life (EWL) as well as the life expectancy (EL) of the workers in the different types of mines and between those working on the surface and those working underground. The average life expectancy in the coal mines for those starting work at 15 y was found to be 58.91 y and 49.23 y for surface and underground workers respectively. In the coloured/metal mines they were 60.24 y and 56.55 y respectively. If only the mortality data was taken into account; for the coal mines, the EWL at the age of 15 y of surface workers and underground workers was 48.46 and 45.10 y respectively; whilst in the coloured/metal mines the figures were 48.25 and 45.99 y respectively. If both mortality and morbidity data is used the EWL at the same age and in the same population is for the coal mines 39.42 (surface workers) 25.54 (underground workers) and for the coloured/metal mines 42.05 (surface workers) and 30.02 (underground workers). The main causes of the lowered EWL of the underground workers were industrial accidents and pneumoconiosis which indicates that safety measures need to be increased and working conditions improved to protect underground workers.

Experience with Lithostar shock wave lithotripsy for the treatment of upper urinary tract stone.

The experiment of Lithostar, an electromagnetic generator of the second-generation extracorporeal shock wave lithotriptor is presented. From August 2, 1988 to April 4, 1989, 387 treatments in 333 cases were conducted by Lithostar. Among all patients, the overall stone-free rate is 71.9% in which the ureteral stone-free rate (87.7%) is higher than the renal (66.3%) and 19.5% of the patients need additional procedures. This Lithostar proves to be easy in operation, bathless, requires less anesthesia, and may be used in combination with other procedures. It can also make higher average shock number than Dornier HM-3 lithotriptor because of its milder shock wave pressure.

[TLC-densitometric determination of sarsasapogenin in Anemarrhena asphodeloides Bge].

The sarsasapogenin content in Anemarrhena asphodeloides and its preparations was assayed by TLC-densitometric method. The developing solvent used was benzene-acetone (9:1). The chromatographic plate was sprayed with a mixture of 8% vanillin in alcoholic solution-70% H2SO4 solution (0.5:5). This plate was scanned using 445 nm as wavelength lambda s and 600 nm as wavelength lambda s.