Effect of biochar on biochemical properties of saline soil and growth of rice.

To amend physical properties of coastal saline soil for rice production, six biochar treatments (0, 0.5, 1, 2, 4 and 6 kg biochar per m2 soil) were set up as CK, T1, T2, T3, T4 and T5, respectively and their effect on the biochemical properties of coastal saline soil and rice growth characteristics were evaluated in a barrel planting experiment. The results showed that compared with CK (with no biochar added), the soil EC of T1 and T2-T5 was reduced by 11.5 %, but increased by 8.8-62.9 %, respectively. The available potassium and organic matter contents of T1-T5 increased ranging from 3.7-10.2 % to 8.0-46.8 %, respectively. With the increase of the biochar amount, the urease activity of soil in the 0-10 cm deep soil showed an increasing trend by 194.8-744.6 % with T1-T5, compared with that of the CK treatment. The activity of alkaline phosphatase in soil increased first and then decreased, and its increment with T1-T5 was between 28.2 and 64.8 % in comparison with that of CK. With more biochar added to soil, the leaf dry weight, root dry weight, total dry matter mass, total root length, single panicle quality and weight per 100 grains showed a trend of increase first and then decrease. The highest incremental values of all measurements were obtained with T1 by 21.8 %, 23.9 %, 13.8 %, 33.9 %, 30.8 % and 11.6 % respectively, compared with those with CK. However, adding biochar in soil demonstrated insignificant effect on the weight of single panicle, panicle length, stem thickness, tillers, setting rate, soil hydrolyzable nitrogen, available phosphorus content, rice protein, amylose, and taste quality among all treatments. In summary, the application of 0.5 kg m-2 biochar can improve the biochemical properties of saline soil and therefore increase rice yield.

Diagnosis of colorectal cancer based on folate receptor-positive circulating tumor cell analysis: a retrospective cohort study.

BACKGROUND: Early diagnosis and treatment are crucial to improve the prognosis of colorectal cancer (CRC). At present, there is a lack of an accurate CRC screening factor. We conducted folate receptor-positive circulating tumor cell analysis (FR + CTC analysis) in distinguishing CRC from benign colorectal diseases to evaluate the diagnostic efficiency. METHODS: Clinical data of patients admitted to The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University from January 2021 to July 2022 were retrospectively collected. Levels of FR + CTC and other indicators were analyzed. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis was performed to assess the diagnostic performance of these molecular biomarkers. RESULTS: Data of 103 patients with CRC and 54 patients with benign colorectal diseases were collected. FR + CTC levels were observed significantly higher in CRC patients than in patients with benign colorectal diseases (P < 0.001). FR + CTC level was correlated with tumor diameter, differentiation, T-stage, pathological stage, clinical stage, and intravascular tumor thrombus in patients with CRC (P < 0.05). The optimal cutoff value of FR + CTC level for diagnosing CRC patients was 7.66 FU/3 ml, with a sensitivity of 85.4%, a specificity of 74.1%, and an Area Under Curve (AUC) of 0.855 (95% CI 0.77-0.923). In < 50-years old patients with CRC, the diagnostic efficiency of FR + CTC was excellent, with an AUC of 0.936 (95% CI 0.877-0.995). CONCLUSION: FR + CTC counting has excellent diagnostic efficiency in screening of CRC. FR + CTC count can also predict the tumor stage of CRC patients before surgery, and guide the choice of treatment.

Efficacy and outcome of extensive intraoperative peritoneal lavage plus surgery vs surgery alone with advanced gastric cancer patients.

BACKGROUND: Gastric cancer (GC) is one of the most common malignant tumors. After resection, one of the major problems is its peritoneal dissemination and recurrence. Some free cancer cells may still exist after resection. In addition, the surgery itself may lead to the dissemination of tumor cells. Therefore, it is necessary to remove residual tumor cells. Recently, some researchers found that extensive intraoperative peritoneal lavage (EIPL) plus intraperitoneal chemotherapy can improve the prognosis of patients and eradicate peritoneal free cancer for GC patients. However, few studies explored the safety and long-term outcome of EIPL after curative gastrectomy. AIM: To evaluate the efficacy and long-term outcome of advanced GC patients treated with EIPL. METHODS: According to the inclusion and exclusion criteria, a total of 150 patients with advanced GC were enrolled in this study. The patients were randomly allocated to two groups. All patients received laparotomy. For the non-EIPL group, peritoneal lavage was washed using no more than 3 L of warm saline. In the EIPL group, patients received 10 L or more of saline (1 L at a time) before the closure of the abdomen. The surviving rate analysis was compared by the Kaplan-Meier method. The prognostic factors were carried out using the Cox appropriate hazard pattern. RESULTS: The basic information in the EIPL group and the non-EIPL group had no significant difference. The median follow-up time was 30 mo (range: 0-45 mo). The 1- and 3-year overall survival (OS) rates were 71.0% and 26.5%, respectively. The symptoms of ileus and abdominal abscess appeared more frequently in the non-EIPL group (P < 0.05). For the OS of patients, the EIPL, Borrmann classification, tumor size, N stage, T stage and vascular invasion were significant indicators. Then multivariate analysis revealed that EIPL, tumor size, vascular invasion, N stage and T stage were independent prognostic factors. The prognosis of the EIPL group was better than the non-EIPL group (P < 0.001). The 3-year survival rate of the EIPL group (38.4%) was higher than the non-EIPL group (21.7%). For the recurrence-free survival (RFS) of patients, the risk factor of RFS included EIPL, N stage, vascular invasion, type of surgery, tumor location, Borrmann classification, and tumor size. EIPL and tumor size were independent risk factors. The RFS curve of the EIPL group was better than the non-EIPL group (P = 0.004), and the recurrence rate of the EIPL group (24.7%) was lower than the non-EIPL group (46.4%). The overall recurrence rate and peritoneum recurrence rate in the EIPL group was lower than the non-EIPL group (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: EIPL can reduce the possibility of perioperative complications including ileus and abdominal abscess. In addition, the overall survival curve and RFS curve were better in the EIPL group.

Model established based on blood markers predicts overall survival in patients after radical resection of types II and III adenocarcinoma of the esophagogastric junction.

BACKGROUND: In recent years, the incidence of types II and III adenocarcinoma of the esophagogastric junction (AEG) has shown an obvious upward trend worldwide. The prognostic prediction after radical resection of AEG has not been well established. AIM: To establish a prognostic model for AEG (types II and III) based on routine markers. METHODS: A total of 355 patients who underwent curative AEG at The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University from January 2014 to June 2015 were retrospectively included in this study. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to identify the independent risk factors. A nomogram was constructed based on Cox proportional hazards models. The new score models was analyzed by C index and calibration curves. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to compare the predictive accuracy of the scoring system and tumor-node-metastasis (TNM) stage. Overall survival was calculated using the Kaplan-Meier curve amongst different risk AEG patients. RESULTS: Multivariate analysis showed that TNM stage (hazard ratio [HR] = 2.286, P = 0.008), neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (HR = 2.979, P = 0.001), and body mass index (HR = 0.626, P = 0.026) were independent prognostic factors. The new scoring system had a higher concordance index (0.697), and the calibration curves of the nomogram were reliable. The area under the ROC curve of the new score model (3-year: 0.725, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.676-0.777; 5-year: 0.758, 95%CI: 0.708-0.807) was larger than that of TNM staging (3-year: 0.630, 95%CI: 0.585-0.684; 5-year: 0.665, 95%CI: 0.616-0.715). CONCLUSION: Based on the serum markers and other clinical indicators, we have developed a precise model to predict the prognosis of patients with AEG (types II and III). The new prognostic nomogram could effectively enhance the predictive value of the TNM staging system. This scoring system can be advantageous and helpful for surgeons and patients.

A model established using marital status and other factors from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database for early stage gastric cancer.

Currently, the postoperative prognosis of early stage gastric cancer (GC) is difficult to accurately predict. In particular, social factors are not frequently used in the prognostic assessment of early stage GC. Therefore, this study aimed to combine the clinical indicators and social factors to establish a predictive model for early stage GC based on a new scoring system. A total of 3647 patients with early stage GC from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database were included in this study. A Kaplan-Meier survival analysis was used to compare differences in prognosis between different marital status, as an innovative prognostic indicator. Univariate and multivariate analyses were used to screen available prediction factors and then build a nomogram using the Cox proportional hazard regression model. The univariate analysis and multivariate analysis revealed that age at diagnosis, sex, histology, stage_T, surgery, tumor size, and marital status were independent prognostic factors of overall survival. Both the C-index and calibration curves confirmed that the nomogram had a great predictive effect on patient prognosis in training and testing sets. This nomogram based on clinical indicators and marital status can effectively help patients with early stage GC in the future.

Hydroxyapatite nanowires rich in [Ca-O-P] sites for ethanol direct coupling showing high C6-12 alcohol yield.

Herein, we have shown that the [Ca-O-P] sites exposed on hydroxyapatite are clearly responsible for C-C formation in ethanol direct-coupling, and their high density accelerates the C-C coupling rate and boosts C6-12 alcohol production. Notably, nanowire-like hydroxyapatite exhibited 30.4% selectivity to n-butanol and 63.9% selectivity to C6-12OH at a conversion of 45.7% at 325 °C, and thereby close to 30% yield of C6-12OH, which is greatly higher than that using the state-of-the-art catalysts (6%).