Effect of acupotomy combined with electroacupuncture on knee function of patients with knee osteoarthritis. / åˆƒé’ˆç»“åˆç”µé’ˆæ²»ç–—å¯¹è†å ³èŠ‚éª¨å ³èŠ‚ç‚Žæ‚£è€ è†å ³èŠ‚åŠŸèƒ½çš„å½±å“.

OBJECTIVES: To compare the clinical effect of combined therapy of acupotomy and electroacupuncture (EA) with the simple application of EA on knee osteoarthritis (KOA), and their influence on knee function. METHODS: Sixty-eight KOA patients were randomly divided into 2 groups, an acupotomy group and an EA group. In the acupotomy group, the combined therapy of acupotomy and EA was adopted. In the EA group, EA was simply used, delivered once every two days, 3 treatments a week；and the duration of treatment was 4 weeks. In the acupotomy group, besides the treatment as the EA group, acupotomy was combined once weekly, and the duration of treatment was 4 weeks. Separately, before and after treatment, and in 4 and 12 weeks after treatment completion (1-month and 3-month follow-up), the results of the timed up and go test (TUG), the 9-step stair climb test (9-SCT) and the knee function (Western Ontario and McMaster University osteoarthritis index visualization scale ［WOMAC］) were measured in the two groups. RESULTS: By the intention-to-treat analysis, the results of TUG, 9-SCT and WOMAC scores were reduced after treatment and in 1-month and 3-month follow-up when compared with those before treatment in the patients of the two groups (P<0.05). Compared with the EA group at the same time point, TUG results were decreased after treatment and in 1-month follow-up, and WOMAC score was reduced after treatment in the acupotomy group. WOMAC score in 1-month follow-up was reduced when compared with that before treatment within the acupotomy group (P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Either the simple application of EA or the combined therapy of acupotomy and EA can improve knee function, but the combined therapy obviously increases the walking speed and relieves the symptoms such as joint pain and morning stiffness. The treatment with acupotomy and EA is safe and effective on KOA and the long-term effect is satisfactory.

Characteristics of TP53 germline variants and their correlations with Li-Fraumeni syndrome or Li-Fraumeni-like syndrome in Chinese tumor patients.

Li-Fraumeni syndrome (LFS), a rare autosomal-dominant inheritance condition, is associated with a family cancer history as well as pathogenic/likely-pathogenic TP53 germline variants (P/LP TP53 GV). The current clinical methods for detecting LFS are limited. Here, we retrospectively investigate P/LP TP53 GV among Chinese cancer patients by next-generation sequencing and evaluate its relationship with a family cancer history. A total of 270 out of 19,226 cancer patients have TP53 GV, including 53 patients with P/LP TP53 GV. Patients with P/LP TP53 GV are mainly found in male with glioma, lung cancer or sarcoma. The median age of diagnosis for P/LP TP53 GV patients is significantly lower than that of non-P/LP TP53 GV patients (31-years vs. 53-years; P < 0.01). One LFS patient and 3 Li-Fraumeni-like syndrome (LFL) patients are among the 26 followed-up P/LP TP53 GV patients. Among 25 types of P/LP TP53 GV, the highest variant frequencies occurred at codon 175 and 248. p.M237I, p.R158H, p.C238Y and p.C275R, are firstly identified among the Chinese LFS/LFL patients. This study reports the (P/LP) TP53 GV characteristics of Chinese pan-cancer patients. These findings suggest analyzing the P/LP TP53 GV in cancer patients is an effective strategy for identifying cancer predisposition syndrome.

Targeting the EphB4 receptor tyrosine kinase sensitizes HER2-positive breast cancer cells to Lapatinib.

Clinical data analysis reveals that the expression of the EphB4 receptor tyrosine kinase is significantly elevated in HER2-positive breast cancer and high levels of EphB4 strongly correlate with poor disease prognosis. However, the impact of EphB4 activation on HER2-positive breast cancer cells and the potential of EphB4 as a therapeutic target remain to be explored. Here, we show that EphB4 overexpression confers gain-of-function activities to HER2-positive breast cancer cells, rendering resistance to a HER2/EGFR inhibitor Lapatinib. Furthermore, using integrated transcriptomic and tyrosine phosphoproteomic analyses, followed by biochemical confirmation, we establish that EphB4 activation engages the SHP2/GAB1-MEK signaling cascade and downstream c-MYC activation, and thereby limits the overall drug responses to Lapatinib. Finally, we demonstrate that, in HER2-positive breast tumors, inhibition of EphB4 combined with Lapatinib is more effective than either alone. These findings provide new insights into the signaling networks dictating therapeutic response to Lapatinib as well as a rationale for co-targeting EphB4 in HER2-positive breast cancer.

Inhibition of BTF3 sensitizes luminal breast cancer cells to PI3Kα inhibition through the transcriptional regulation of ERα.

Selective phosphatidylinositol 3 kinase (PI3K) inhibitors are being actively tested in clinical trials for ERα-positive (ER+) breast cancer due to the presence of activating PIK3CA mutations. However, recent studies have revealed that increased ERα transcriptional activity limits the efficacy of PI3K inhibitor monotherapy for ER + breast cancers. Herein, we report the identification of BTF3 as an oncogenic transcription factor that regulates ERα expression in luminal breast cancers. Our TCGA analysis reveals high expression levels of BTF3 in luminal/ER + breast cancer and cell line models harboring ERα overexpression. Concordantly, BTF3 expression is highly and strongly associated with ESR1 expression in multiple breast cancer cohorts. We further show that BTF3 promotes the proliferation, survival and migration of ER + breast cancer cells by modulating ESR1 expression and ERα-dependent transcription. Moreover, BTF3 knockdown sensitizes ER + breast cancer cells to the PI3Kα inhibitor BYL-719 in both in vitro and in vivo models. Together, our findings highlight a novel role of BTF3 in modulation of ERα-dependent transcriptional activity and its potential as a predictive marker for the response to PI3K-targeted therapy in ER + breast cancer.

Clinical significance of detecting CSF-derived tumor cells in breast cancer patients with leptomeningeal metastasis.

Despite marked advances in breast cancer therapy, breast cancer-associated leptomeningeal metastasis (LM), a particularly aggressive syndrome with multifocal seeding of the leptomeninges by tumor cells, still carries an abysmal prognosis. A major problem with breast cancer LM surveillance is the lack of an effective and sensitive means to track dynamic changes of the disease. Cytology detection of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) is considered the gold standard for LM diagnosis but has a high false-negative rate with a limited sensitivity. Here we applied subtraction enrichment and immunostaining-fluorescence in situ (SE-i•FISH) method, a technique previously used for isolating circulating tumor cells (CTCs) from the peripheral blood, to detect, enumerate, and track cerebrospinal fluid-derived tumor cells (CSFTCs) in CSF samples from 8 breast cancer patients. Comparing with cytology test, we found SE-i•FISH method can accurately and feasibly detect CSFTCs for the diagnosis of breast cancer-associated LM and monitor the disease progression. We also isolated and cultured CSFTCs from these cancer patients and performed genomic sequencing on CSFTCs of two patients. Genomic analysis of CSFTCs against corresponding archival primary breast tumors revealed clonal relationships with some ongoing evolution. Further drug sensitivity test on cultured CSFTCs based on genomic analysis data helped identify promising treatment options for the patient tested. Together, our results suggest that CSFTCs detection using SE-i•FISH platform could serve as a sensitive and accurate method to make the diagnosis and a promising approach to monitor tumor dynamics and treatment response for breast cancer-associated LM.

[Clinical study of the combination of acupoint catgut-embedding therapy and auricular point pressure in the treatment of insomnia of spleen and stomach disharmony pattern].

OBJECTIVE: To observe the differences in the clinical therapeutic effects on insomnia of spleen and stomach disharmony pattern in comparison of the combination of acupoint catgut-embedding therapy and auricular point pressure with the simple application of auricular point pressure. METHODS: One hundred and eighty patients of insomnia of spleen and stomach disharmony pattern were randomized into an observation group (93 cases) and a control group (87 cases). In the observation group, the combination of acupoint catgut-embedding therapy and auricular point pressure was adopted. The acupoint catgut-embedding therapy was applied at Zhongwan (CV 12), Anmian (Extra), Xinshu (BL 15), Pishu (BL 20), Weishu (BL 21), Zusanli (ST 36), Yinlingquan (SP 9) and Sanyinjiao (SP 6), once every two weeks. The auricular point pressure was applied to Shenmen (TF4), Pizhixia (AT4), Xin (CO15), Pi (CO13), Wei (CO4) on both sides alternatively, twice a week. The duration of treatment was 2 months for the two groups. In the control group, the auricular point pressure was simply used with the same points, manipulation and treatment duration as the observation group. After treatment, the clinical therapeutic effects were observed in the patients of the two groups. The Pittsburgh sleep quality index (PSQI) score was compared before and after treatment in the two groups. The recurrence was followed up in 3 months after the end of treatment. RESULTS: It was observed that 2 cases were dropped out in the observation group, 4 cases in the control group. The dropped out cases were considered to be ineffective. After treatment, the total effective rate was 92.5% (86/93) in the observation group and was 80.5% (70/87) in the control group. The result in the observation group was better than that in the control group (P<0.05). After treatment, PSQI scores were all reduced apparently in the two groups as compared with those before treatment (both P<0.05). The score after treatment and the different value before and after treatment in the observation group were lower than those in the control group (both P<0.05). In 3-month follow-up after treatment, the recurrence rate was 3.2% (3/93) in the observation group, which was lower than 13.8% (12/87) in the control group (P<0.05). CONCLUSION: In the treatment of insomnia of spleen and stomach disharmony pattern, the acupoint catgut-embedding therapy combined with auricular point pressure are superior to the simple application of auricular point pressure in the clinical therapeutic effects, improving sleep quality and reducing the recurrence rate.

[Determination of chlorophyll a and b using absorption spectrum].

Chlorophyll a and chlorophyll b play a significant role in the plant growth process. Precise determination of its content could provide the scientific basis for the corps growth state, the plant pathology diagnosis and so on, and is the key point of implementing accurate agriculture. The authors transfered the absorption spectrum experiment data of chlorophyll a and chlorophyll b determined by predecessor into a transmission spectrum. Observing the transmission spectrum using human eyes, the color of chlorophyll a and chlorophyll b was obtained. Thus, according to the predecessor's experiment curve of absorption spectrum of chlorophyll a and chlorophyll b, combining the three primary color principles of colorimetry, and choosing a standard light source with spectrum power distribution similar to D65 as the illumination, the authors determined their chromaticity coordinates in the 1931CIE-x, y chromaticity diagram: Chlorophyll a is (0.198 1, 0.334 1), which falls in the cyan color region; Chlorophyll b is (0. 270 4, 0. 566 3), which falls in the yellowish green region. The main point of above processing is: reducing the spectrum curves of chlorophyll a and the chlorophyll b to coordinates on the chromaticity diagram, and the result could offer the essential theoretical support for a new non-contact, long-distance and non-damage technology to determine the pigment content in single leaf or mass.

[Theoretical analysis of wavelength choice in tri-wavelength method of temperature measurement].

In this paper, a non-dimensional emissivity model with universality is established. For the tri-wavelength method of temperature measurement, based on the non-dimensional emissivity, the applicable measurement condition and theoretical analysis of wavelength choice are mainly introduced. In the discussion of theoretical analysis of wavelength choice, by optimizing the analysis of measurement method and the concept of isothermal line induced by the measurement coordinates, two kinds of ideal choice rules of measurement wavelength are put forward, which will be necessary to the technology application of this tri-wavelength method. Meanwhile the optimizing idea is also applicable to multi-wavelength method of temperature measurement.

[Optimization analysis based on wavelength bandwidth for multi-band pyrometry].

The present paper establishes the optimization criteria for achieving the optimum measurements in three-band pyrometry under the assumption of linear emissivity model and the sensor design with Gaussian distribution. By varying the FWHM of Gaussian distribution, the optimization analysis is investigated with the choice of the wavelength bandwidth in three-band pyrometry. For specific cases, the simulation results present the optimum bandwidth distribution. Therefore, the discussions in this paper will provide significant theoretical instructions for the design of radiation pyrometer.