[The effect of the ratio of aneurysm sac diameter to patient age on the long-term efficacy of different surgical methods for infrarenal abdominal aortic aneurysm].

Objective: To investigate the effect of the ratio of the maximum diameter of aneurysm sac to age (R) on the long-term efficacy of endovascular aneurysm repair (EVAR) and open surgical repair (OSR) in patients with infrarenal abdominal aortic aneurysm (IAAA). Methods: This is a retrospective cohort study.The clinical data of 317 patients with IAAA who underwent surgical repair in the Department of Vascular Surgery,the Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-Sen University from January 2016 to October 2022 were retrospectively collected.There were 266 males and 51 females,aged (69.7±8.3) years (range:37 to 87 years).The R value of the patient was calculated and the receiver operating characteristic(ROC) curve was used to establish a model to calculate the optimal cut-off value.The propensity score matching method was used to match the baseline data of patients in the EVAR and OSR group by 3∶1 (the caliper value was 0.05),and the patients were stratified according to the cutoff value of R, and the postoperative efficacy and survival of the patients were analyzed.The primary endpoint was the total mortality rate,and the secondary endpoints included the occurrence of postoperative complications and reintervention.Pearson χ2 or Fisher 's exact test was used for categorical variables, and independent sample t test or Wilcoxon rank sum test was used for continuous variables to compare differences between groups.The survival curves of the two groups were described by Kaplan-Meier method. Results: After propensity score matching,198 cases were in the EVAR group and 66 cases were in the OSR group.The ROC model showed that the best cut-off value of R value was 0.90,and the two groups were divided into two layers:R<0.90 and R≥0.90.Among them,112 patients with R<0.90 (84 cases of EVAR,28 cases of OSR);there were 152 patients with R≥0.90 (114 cases of EVAR and 38 cases of OSR).The follow-up time was (23.6±1.6) months (range:1 to 70 months).In the R≥0.90 stratification,the total mortality (26.3% vs.5.3%,χ2=7.600，P=0.006),complication rate (44.7% vs.26.3%, χ2=4.025，P=0.045), and secondary intervention rate (31.6% vs.13.2%, χ2=4.910，P=0.027) in the EVAR group were higher than those in the OSR group.In the R<0.90 stratification,there was no significant difference in the total mortality rate (13.1% vs.10.7%, χ2=0.109，P=0.741), complication rate (28.6% vs.35.7%, χ2=0.507，P=0.477) and secondary intervention rate (14.3% vs.21.4%, χ2=0.353，P=0.552) between the two groups. Conclusions: When R≥0.90 in IAAA patients,OSR maybe more beneficial to patients in terms of survival rate,postoperative complication rate and secondary intervention rate than EVAR.When R<0.90,there are no significant differences in survival rate,complication rate and secondary intervention rate between the two surgical methods.

[The protective effect of optimized target delineation in intensity modulated radiation therapy on swallowing function in patients with different TNM staging of nasopharyngeal carcinoma].

Objective:To investigate the protective effect of optimized target delineation in intensity modulated radiation therapy(IMRT) on swallowing function in patients with different TNM staging of nasopharyngeal carcinoma.Method:Fifty patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma were enrolled in this study. They were randomly divided into 25 cases of experimental group and 25 cases of control group by random number table and received IMRT treatment. Patients in control group only received routine delineation of target areas, the patients in experimental group were given the delineation of the relevant parts of the swallowing on the basis of the control group.And then, the degree of dysphagia, xerostomia, weight loss, and quality of life were assessed in the two groups of patients during and after IMRT.Result:There was no significant change in the degree of dysphagia in stage Ⅱ patients during radiotherapy, but the degree of dysphagia in stage Ⅲ and Ⅳ patients increased with the increase of radiotherapy time. After the end of radiotherapy, there was no significant change in the degree of dysphagia in the control group of patients. Compared with the 0th week after the end of radiotherapy, the stage Ⅱ patients in experimental group showed significant improvement in week 12(P<0.05), while the stage Ⅲ and Ⅳ patients showed significant improvement in week 24 after radiotherapy(P<0.05). The degree of xerostomia of two groups of patients continued to increase with varying degrees during and after IMRT(P<0.05 or P<0.01). The weight of the two groups of patients during radiotherapy continued to decrease with the increase of radiotherapy time,and gradually recovered after the end of radiotherapy.And in the experimental group, the weight loss was significantly lower in week 12 and week 24 than in the control group (P<0.05). During radiotherapy, the quality of life scores of the two groups became lower and lower with the increase of radiotherapy time compared with the 0th week of radiotherapy. After the end of radiotherapy, the quality of life began to gradually improve, and in week 24 after the end of radiotherapy, the quality of life of the experimental group of patients was significantly higher than that of the control group (P<0.05).Conclusion:During radiotherapy of patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma, the structural organs associated with swallowing function are given individualized target delineation can reduce the occurring of dysphagia due to radiotherapy and improve the quality of life of patients after radiotherapy.

Band tail-induced photoluminescence broadening in heavily In-doped n-type ZnO nanowires.

We have demonstrated that photoluminescence (PL) is a non-damaging and powerful tool for the characterization of heavily-doped semiconductor nanostructures such as n-ZnO nanowires. The PL shows a redshift and a Gaussian-shaped low-energy wing, indicating a broadening mechanism governed by the impurity band. The electron concentration can be estimated from the PL linewidth.

Mg composition dependent band offsets of Zn(1-x)Mg(x)O/ZnO heterojunctions.

The valence band offsets (ΔEV) of Zn(1-x)Mg(x)O/ZnO heterojunctions grown by plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy were measured by photoelectron spectroscopy. From the directly obtained ΔEV values, the related conduction band offsets (ΔEC) were deduced. All the Zn(1-x)Mg(x)O/ZnO heterojunctions exhibit a type-I band alignment with the ΔEC/ΔEV estimated to be 1.5, 1.8, 2.0 for x = 0.10, 0.15 and 0.20, respectively. The band offsets of Zn(1-x)Mg(x)O/ZnO heterojunctions depend on Mg composition. The accurate determination of energy band alignment of Zn(1-x)Mg(x)O/ZnO is helpful for designing ZnO based optoelectronic devices.

Negative thermal quenching of photoluminescence in zinc oxide nanowire-core/graphene-shell complexes.

Graphene is an atomic thin two-dimensional semimetal whereas ZnO is a direct wide band gap semiconductor with a strong light-emitting ability. In this paper, we report on photoluminescence (PL) of ZnO-nanowires (NWs)-core/Graphene-shell heterostructures, which shows a negative thermal quenching (NTQ) behavior both for the near band-edge and deep level emission. The abnormal PL behavior was understood through the charging and discharging processes between ZnO NWs and graphene. The NTQ properties are most possibly induced by the unique rapidly increasing density of states of graphene as a function of Fermi level, which promises a higher quantum tunneling probability between graphene and ZnO at a raised temperature.

Occurrence of Grapevine Trunk Disease Caused by Botryosphaeria rhodina in China.

In the early summer of 2009, grapevine (Vitis vinifera), an important fruit crop in China, declined in most of the vineyards in Hunan, Hubei, and Zhejiang provinces. Characteristic symptoms of Botryosphaeria canker were apparent, including trunk cankers (visible in cross-section), leaf drop, shriveling and drying of fruit clusters, and berry rot (1). To identify the causal pathogen, we tested 126 samples by attempting to culture the pathogen from a small piece of tissue from the canker margin between the necrotic and apparently healthy tissue. Plant tissue was surface sterilized by placing it in 75% ethanol for 1 min and rinsed with sterilized water three times before culturing to potato dextrose agar (PDA) at 28°C. Five days later, the cultures were hyphal-tip purified and then single-spore isolates were used for identification. On the basis of colony characteristics in PDA, these colonies were identified as Botryosphaeria spp. (2). They were grayish white, becoming dark brown with age, and pycnidia were formed after incubation for approximately 9 days. Conidia measured 11 to 15 × 22 to 28 µm. A subset of isolates were used for rDNA ITS (internal transcribed spacer) sequence analysis with primers ITS1 and ITS4 (3). PCR products were separated by electrophoresis and bands were purified (Qiagen Plasmid Mini Kit; Qiagen, Valencia, CA) for sequencing (Sunbiotech Company, Beijing). BLAST searches of three ITS sequences (Accession Nos. GU226851, GU226853, and GU226856) had 100% identity to B. rhodina. EF1-α and ß-tubulin sequence analysis gave similar results. Koch's postulates were completed in the laboratory on grape shoots inoculated with two isolates of B. rhodina, originally isolated from plants in the field with symptoms of Botryosphaeria canker. Isolates were incubated on PDA at 25°C for 1 week. Inoculations were made on green shoots of V. vinifera cvs. Muscat Hamburg and Crimson Seedless. Five shoots per cultivar were inoculated per isolate by wounding with a 4-mm cork borer (2 mm deep), placing a colonized agar plug on the wound, and wrapping the wound with Parafilm. Controls were mock inoculated with an agar plug from sterile PDA. Inoculated shoots were incubated in the laboratory in the dark under moist conditions for 10 days at 25°C. Inoculated shoots had necrotic cankers after 10 days and B. rhodina was recovered from each canker margin. The results suggest that some grapevines in China with symptoms of Botryosphaeria canker were indeed infected by B. rhodina. To our knowledge, this is the first report of this pathogen on grapevine in China. References: (1) J. Luque et al. Mycologia 97:1111, 2005. (2) J. M. Niekerk et al. Mycologia 96:781, 2004. (3) T. J. White et al. Page 315 in: PCR Protocols: A Guide to Methods and Applications. Academic Press, San Diego, 1990.

Phosphorus doped Zn(1-x)Mg(x)O nanowire arrays.

We demonstrate the growth of phosphorus doped Zn(1-x)Mg(x)O nanowire (NW) using pulsed laser deposition. For the first time, p-type Zn(0.92)Mg(0.08)O:P NWs are likely obtained in reference to atomic force microscopy based piezoelectric output measurements, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and the transport property between the NWs and a n-type ZnO film. A shallow acceptor level of approximately 140 meV is identified by temperature-dependent photoluminescence. A piezoelectric output of 60 mV on average has been received using the doped NWs. Besides a control on NW aspect ratio and density, band gap engineering has also been achieved by alloying with Mg to a content of x = 0.23. The alloyed NWs with controllable conductivity type have potential application in high-efficiency all-ZnO NWs based LED, high-output ZnO nanogenerator, and other optical or electrical devices.

Stilbene C-glucosides from Cissus repens.

Four new stilbene C-glucosides, namely trans-3-O-methyl-resveratrol-2-C-beta-glucoside (1), cis-3-O-methyl-resveratrol-2-C-beta-glucoside (2), trans-3-O-methyl-resveratrol-2-(2-p-coumaric)-C-beta-glucoside (cissuside A) (3), and trans-3-O-methyl-resveratrol-2-(3-p-coumaric)-C-beta-glucoside (cissuside B) (4), were isolated from the aerial parts of Cissus repens, along with known trans-resveratrol (5), trans-resveratrol-2-C-beta-glucoside (6) and cis-resveratrol-2-C-beta-glucoside (7). Their structures were established by spectroscopic methods. Stilbene C-glucosides were found in the genus Cissus for the first time.

Characterization of diatomaceous silica by Raman spectroscopy.

The network characteristic of a selection of diatomaceous silica derived from China has been investigated using Raman spectroscopy. Before any thermal treatment of the sample, two prominent bands of 607 and circa 493 cm(-1) are resolved in the Raman spectra of diatomaceous silica, corresponding to the (SiO)3-ring breathing mode of D2-line and the O3SiOH tetrahedral vibration mode of D1-line, respectively. This is more similar to the pyrogenic silica rather than the silica gel. For the latter, to obtain a (SiO)3-ring, the sample must be heated between 250 and 450 degrees C. Significant difference is also found between the diatomaceous silica and other natural silicas, e.g. in the Raman spectra of sedimentary and volcanic opals, neither D1 nor D2 band is detected in previous reports.

Location and migration of cations in Cu(2+)-adsorbed montmorillonite.

Locations of Cu2+ ion in Cu(2+)-adsorbed montmorillonite have been studied by electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR), supplemented by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and differential thermal analysis (DTA). In the EPR spectra of Cu(2+)-adsorbed montmorillonite, three signals, corresponding to Cu2+ ion, have been simultaneously recorded. Some Cu2+ ions seemed to replace the original interlayer metal cations and some entered into the hexagonal cavities. A small fraction of Cu2+ ions penetrated into the octahedral vacancies. There were two ways for the adsorption of Cu2+ ion by montmorillonite--exchangeable and specific. On heating, the hydrated Cu2+ ion in the interlayer loses the coordinating water and then enters into the hexagonal cavities. When the heating temperature further increased, dehydroxylation occurs, which facilitates Cu2+ ion in the hexagonal cavities to penetrate into the octahedral vacancies.

New diterpene alkaloids from the roots of Spiraea japonica.

Chemical investigation on an ethanol extract from the roots of Spiraea japonica var. acuta resulted in the isolation of three new diterpene alkaloids named spiramide (1) and spiratine A (2) and spiratine B (3). Structures of 1-3 were elucidated primarily on the basis of 1D and 2D NMR experiments.

Double-bullet radioimmunotargeting therapy in 31 primary liver cancer patients.

AIM: To observe the effect of double bullet immunotargeting therapy with chemotherapy and internal radiotherapy on primary liver cancer. METHODS: The polyclonal horse antibody against human AFP (anti-AFPAb) and the monoclonal murine antibody against human AFP (anti-AFPMcAb) were used as carriers, and (131)I and mitomycin C (MMC) were used as warheads to form double bullet, i.e. (131)I anti-AFPMcAb-MMC (double bullet 1) and (131)I anti-AFPAb-MMC (double bullet 2) prepared using the modified chloramine T method. Double bullet targeting therapy was administered by intravenous drip once a month in 31 patients (treatment group) with unresectable primary liver cancer. Among them, 4, 17 and 10 patients were administered 1, 2 and 3 times, and the median radiation dose (MBq/case) was 193.5 ± 37.74; 651.9 ± 232.4, and 992.0 ± 230.5 respectively. METHODS: Tumor shrinkage, decrease in AFP, and 1 and 2 -year survival rates were significantly higher than the control groups who received transarterial infusion (TAI) or transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) at the same time (50.0%, 15/30 vs 30.0%, 9/30, P < 0.05; 66.7%, 18/27 vs 28.0%, 7/25, P < 0.01 and 50.0%, 34.0% vs 33.0%, 3.3%, P < 0.01, respectively). Furthermore, the tumor progression rate (10%) in the treatment group was significantly lower than that of the control group (40.0%, P < 0.01). CONCLUSION: Double bullet target therapy is more effective than traditional therapies due to the synergistic effects of the antibody, radioisotope, and anticancer agents, which together, enhance tumor killing.