Clypeasterol, a novel aromatic ergosterol skeleton from the mushroom Entoloma clypeatum.

Chemical investigation of the wild mushroom Entoloma clypeatum led to the isolation of one new A-nor B-aromatic C28 steroid (1), along with eight known compounds (2-9) from this mushroom. As far as we know, compound 1 represents an unprecedented type of natural product. The structure of the new compound was elucidated based on extensive spectroscopic data analysis of HR-ESI-MS, 1D, and 2D NMR, while the relative configuration was confirmed by NOESY correlations. In addition, the anti-inflammatory activity of compound 1 was evaluated against LPS induced NO production in RAW 264.7 macrophages. Compound 1 exhibited a moderate anti-inflammatory activity with an IC50 value of 24.56 ± 1.72 µM.

Site-selective S-gem-difluoroallylation of unprotected peptides with 3,3-difluoroallyl sulfonium salts.

Bench-stable 3,3-difluoroallyl sulfonium salts (DFASs), featuring tunable activity and their editable C-ß and gem-difluoroallyl group, proved to be versatile fluoroalkylating reagents for site-selective S-gem-difluoroallylation of cysteine residues in unprotected peptides. The reaction proceeds with high efficiency under mild conditions (ambient temperature and aqueous and weak basic conditions). Various protected/unprotected peptides, especially bioactive peptides, are site-selectively S-gem-difluoroallylated. The newly added gem-difluoroallyl group and other functional groups derived from C-ß of DFASs are poised for ligation with bio-functional groups through click and radical chemistry. This stepwise "doubly orthogonal" modification of peptides enables the construction of bioconjugates with enhanced complexity and functionality. This proof of principle is successfully applied to construct a peptide-saccharide-biotin chimeric bioconjugate, indicating its great potential application in medicinal chemistry and chemical biology.

Hemolysis attributed to high dose vitamin C: Two case reports.

BACKGROUND: High-dose vitamin C treatment (HVCT) can reduce the adverse effect of chemotherapy and enhance the effect of antitumor therapy, which has been considered one of the safest alternative treatments. However, the severity of its adverse effects may have been underestimated. The most serious adverse effect is hemolysis, which may result in acute kidney injury or death. Although glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) deficiency is considered to be the main cause, the probability and pathological mechanism are not completely understood, leading to a lack of effective and standardized treatment methods. CASE SUMMARY: Two patients with colorectal cancer developed hemolytic anemia after using 1 g/kg HVCT. In contrast to previous cases, the lowest hemoglobin level in the two cases was < 50 g/L, which was lower than previously reported. This may be because Case 1 had chronic hepatitis B for many years, which caused abnormal liver reserve function, and Case 2 had grade II bone marrow suppression. Both patients improved and were discharged after blood replacement therapy. Our cases had the most severe degree of hemolysis but the best prognosis, suggesting that our treatment may be helpful for rescue of drug-induced hemolysis. This is the first review of the literature on hemolysis caused by HVCT, and we found that all patients with G6PD deficiency developed hemolysis after HVCT. CONCLUSION: G6PD deficiency should be considered as a contraindication to HVCT, and it is not recommended for patients with bone marrow suppression, moderate-to-severe anemia, hematopoietic abnormalities, or abnormal liver and kidney function. Early blood purification and steroid therapy may avoid acute kidney injury or death caused by HVCT-related hemolytic anemia.

Longevity factor FOXO3a: A potential therapeutic target for age-related ocular diseases.

The forkhead box protein O3 (FOXO3a) belongs to the subgroup O of the forkhead transcription factor family and plays an important role in regulating the aging process by participating in the regulation of various life processes, including cell cycle arrest, apoptosis, autophagy, oxidative stress, and DNA repair. The eye is an organ that is affected by aging earlier. However, the functional role and potential clinical applications of FOXO3a in age-related eye diseases have not received widespread attention and lacked comprehensive and clear clarification. In this review, we demonstrated the relationship between FOXO3a and visual system health, summarized the functional roles of FOXO3a in various eye diseases, and potential ocular-related therapies and drugs targeting FOXO3a in visual system diseases through a review and summary of relevant literature. This review indicates that FOXO3a is an important factor in maintaining the normal function of various tissues in the eye, and is closely related to the occurrence and development of ophthalmic-related diseases. Based on its vital role in the normal function of the visual system, FOXO3a has potential clinical application value in related ophthalmic diseases. At present, multiple molecules and drugs targeting FOXO3a have been reported to have the potential for the treatment of related ophthalmic diseases, but further clinical trials are needed. In conclusion, this review can facilitate us to grasp the role of FOXO3a in the visual system and provide new views and bases for the treatment strategy research of age-related eye diseases.

Porous Polypyrrolidines for Highly Efficient Recovery of Precious Metals through Reductive Adsorption Mechanism.

The recycling and utilization of precious metals have emerged as a critical research focus in advancing the development of the circular economy. Among numerous methods for recovering precious metals such as gold, adsorbents with both high adsorption selectivity and capacity have become key technologies. This article incorporated the N-phenylpyrrolidine into a flexible porous polynorbornene backbone to create a class of distinctive porous organic polymers, named BIT-POP-14-BIT-POP-17. Through a reductive capture mechanism, the reductive adsorption sites of N-phenylpyrrolidine coordinate selectively with precious metals, the reduced metal is captured by the hierarchically porous polymers with flexible backbone. This approach leads to remarkable gold recovery efficiency, achieving a record of 2321 mg g-1 at ambient conditions, and 3020 mg g-1 under UV light, surpassing the theoretical limit. The porous polymers are filled in a column for a continuous uptake of gold from waste printed circuit boards (PCBs), showing recovery efficiency toward gold as high as 95% after 84 h. Overall, this work offers a new perspective on designing novel adsorbents for precious metal recovery, providing inspiration for researchers to explore novel adsorption modes and contribute to the advancement of the circular economy.

Dynamics and scale variations of blooms of Phaeocystis globosa "giant colony" ecotype and key environmental factors in the Beibu Gulf, China.

The Beibu Gulf has experienced blooms of Phaeocystis globosa "giant colony" ecotype (PGGCE), with noticeable variations in bloom scale across years. However, driving environmental factors and their roles remain poorly understood. In this study, we quantified dynamics of PGGCE cells in 2016-2017 and 2018-2019, and analyzed their correlations with environment factors. The results revealed that PGGCE blooms primarily occurred in Guangxi coast and western waters of Leizhou Peninsula during winter months, exhibiting distinct developmental processes. Bloom intensity, duration, and distribution differed significantly between two bloom events. In 2016-2017, peak PGGCE density exceeded 2.0 × 105 cells L-1 nearly double that of 2018-2019. Furthermore, bloom sustained five months during 2016-2017, compared to three months during 2018-2019. Prolonged period of low temperatures and elevated nitrate concentrations favored PGGCE growth and colony formation, resulting in a larger scale bloom during winter 2016 as opposed to winter 2018.

BDNF mimetics recover palmitic acid-induced injury in cardiomyocytes by ameliorating Akt-dependent mitochondrial impairments.

Cardiac lipotoxicity is a prevalent consequence of lipid metabolism disorders occurring in cardiomyocytes, which in turn precipitates the onset of heart failure. Mimetics of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), such as 7,8-dihydroxyflavone (DHF) and 7,8,3'-trihydroxyflavone (THF), have demonstrated significant cardioprotective effects. However, it remains unclear whether these mimetics can protect cardiomyocytes against lipotoxicity. The aim of this study was to examine the impact of DHF and THF on the lipotoxic effects induced by palmitic acid (PA), as well as the concurrent mitochondrial dysfunction. H9c2 cells were subjected to treatment with PA alone or in conjunction with DHF or THF. Various factors such as cell viability, lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) release, death ratio, and mitochondrial function including mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP), mitochondrial-derived reactive oxygen species (mito-SOX) production, and mitochondrial respiration were assessed. PA dose-dependently reduced cell viability, which was restored by DHF or THF. Additionally, both DHF and THF decreased LDH content, death ratio, and mito-SOX production, while increasing MMP and regulating mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation in cardiomyocytes. Moreover, DHF and THF specifically activated Akt signaling. The protective effects of DHF and THF were abolished when an Akt inhibitor was used. In conclusion, BDNF mimetics attenuate PA-induced injury in cardiomyocytes by alleviating mitochondrial impairments through the activation of Akt signaling.

ATP6AP2, a regulator of LRP6/ß-catenin protein trafficking, promotes Wnt/ß-catenin signaling and bone formation in a cell type dependent manner.

Wnt/ß-catenin signaling is critical for various cellular processes in multiple cell types, including osteoblast (OB) differentiation and function. Exactly how Wnt/ß-catenin signaling is regulated in OBs remain elusive. ATP6AP2, an accessory subunit of V-ATPase, plays important roles in multiple cell types/organs and multiple signaling pathways. However, little is known whether and how ATP6AP2 in OBs regulates Wnt/ß-catenin signaling and bone formation. Here we provide evidence for ATP6AP2 in the OB-lineage cells to promote OB-mediated bone formation and bone homeostasis selectively in the trabecular bone regions. Conditionally knocking out (CKO) ATP6AP2 in the OB-lineage cells (Atp6ap2Ocn-Cre) reduced trabecular, but not cortical, bone formation and bone mass. Proteomic and cellular biochemical studies revealed that LRP6 and N-cadherin were reduced in ATP6AP2-KO BMSCs and OBs, but not osteocytes. Additional in vitro and in vivo studies revealed impaired ß-catenin signaling in ATP6AP2-KO BMSCs and OBs, but not osteocytes, under both basal and Wnt stimulated conditions, although LRP5 was decreased in ATP6AP2-KO osteocytes, but not BMSCs. Further cell biological studies uncovered that osteoblastic ATP6AP2 is not required for Wnt3a suppression of ß-catenin phosphorylation, but necessary for LRP6/ß-catenin and N-cadherin/ß-catenin protein complex distribution at the cell membrane, thus preventing their degradation. Expression of active ß-catenin diminished the OB differentiation deficit in ATP6AP2-KO BMSCs. Taken together, these results support the view for ATP6AP2 as a critical regulator of both LRP6 and N-cadherin protein trafficking and stability, and thus regulating ß-catenin levels, demonstrating an un-recognized function of osteoblastic ATP6AP2 in promoting Wnt/LRP6/ß-catenin signaling and trabecular bone formation.

Ubiquitin-specific protease-7 promotes expression of airway mucin MUC5AC via the NF-κB signaling pathway.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and other respiratory diseases frequently present with airway mucus hypersecretion, which not only affects the patient's quality of life but also poses a constant threat to their life expectancy. Ubiquitin-specific protease 7 (USP7), a deubiquitinating enzyme, affects cell differentiation, tissue growth, and disease development. However, its role in airway mucus hypersecretion induced by COPD remains elusive. In this study, USP7 expression was significantly upregulated in airway epithelial samples from patients with COPD, and USP7 was also overexpressed in mouse lung and human airway epithelial cells in models of airway mucus hypersecretion. Inhibition of USP7 reduced the expression of nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB), phosphorylated-NF-κB (p-NF-κB), and phosphonated inhibitor of nuclear factor kappa B (p-IκBα), and alleviated the airway mucus hypersecretion in vivo and in vitro. Further research revealed that USP7 stimulated airway mucus hypersecretion through the activation of NF-κB nuclear translocation. In addition, the expression of mucin 5AC (MUC5AC) was suppressed by the NF-κB inhibitor erdosteine. These findings suggest that USP7 stimulates the NF-κB signaling pathway, which promotes airway mucus hypersecretion. This study identifies one of the mechanisms regulating airway mucus secretion and provides a new potential target for its prevention and treatment.

MFPINC: prediction of plant ncRNAs based on multi-source feature fusion.

Non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) are recognized as pivotal players in the regulation of essential physiological processes such as nutrient homeostasis, development, and stress responses in plants. Common methods for predicting ncRNAs are susceptible to significant effects of experimental conditions and computational methods, resulting in the need for significant investment of time and resources. Therefore, we constructed an ncRNA predictor(MFPINC), to predict potential ncRNA in plants which is based on the PINC tool proposed by our previous studies. Specifically, sequence features were carefully refined using variance thresholding and F-test methods, while deep features were extracted and feature fusion were performed by applying the GRU model. The comprehensive evaluation of multiple standard datasets shows that MFPINC not only achieves more comprehensive and accurate identification of gene sequences, but also significantly improves the expressive and generalization performance of the model, and MFPINC significantly outperforms the existing competing methods in ncRNA identification. In addition, it is worth mentioning that our tool can also be found on Github ( https://github.com/Zhenj-Nie/MFPINC ) the data and source code can also be downloaded for free.

Deep learning assists detection of esophageal cancer and precursor lesions in a prospective, randomized controlled study.

Endoscopy is the primary modality for detecting asymptomatic esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) and precancerous lesions. Improving detection rate remains challenging. We developed a system based on deep convolutional neural networks (CNNs) for detecting esophageal cancer and precancerous lesions [high-risk esophageal lesions (HrELs)] and validated its efficacy in improving HrEL detection rate in clinical practice (trial registration ChiCTR2100044126 at www.chictr.org.cn). Between April 2021 and March 2022, 3117 patients ≥50 years old were consecutively recruited from Taizhou Hospital, Zhejiang Province, and randomly assigned 1:1 to an experimental group (CNN-assisted endoscopy) or a control group (unassisted endoscopy) based on block randomization. The primary endpoint was the HrEL detection rate. In the intention-to-treat population, the HrEL detection rate [28 of 1556 (1.8%)] was significantly higher in the experimental group than in the control group [14 of 1561 (0.9%), P = 0.029], and the experimental group detection rate was twice that of the control group. Similar findings were observed between the experimental and control groups [28 of 1524 (1.9%) versus 13 of 1534 (0.9%), respectively; P = 0.021]. The system's sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy for detecting HrELs were 89.7, 98.5, and 98.2%, respectively. No adverse events occurred. The proposed system thus improved HrEL detection rate during endoscopy and was safe. Deep learning assistance may enhance early diagnosis and treatment of esophageal cancer and may become a useful tool for esophageal cancer screening.

Construed Organizational Ethical Climate and Whistleblowing Behavior: The Moderated Mediation Effect of Person-Organization Value Congruence and Ethical Leader Behavior.

An organizational ethical climate enhances the degree of collaboration and cohesion among employees and facilitates the development and interests of organizations. Such roles lead to organizational sustainable development and survival. Therefore, the importance of ethical climate in organizations is becoming increasingly apparent. In this background, this study aims to explore whether an organizational ethical climate can improve whistleblowing behavior and the mediating role of organizational identification in promoting whistleblowing behavior. Most previous studies have only focused on the mediating or moderating role of the model. This study expands the research field, adds the dual moderation of person-organization value congruence and leader ethical behavior, and verifies two moderated mediation models. Overall, the purpose of this study is to determine the behavior of employees under the influence of an organizational ethical climate and, on this basis, propose suggestions for strengthening organizational ethical climate, expanding the scope of research on organizational climate and providing a theoretical basis for related research. In order to achieve the research goals, the data were collected from 344 Chinese SMEs for empirical analysis. The results showed that an organizational ethical climate has no direct impact on whistleblowing behavior but could have a positive effect on whistleblowing formation through the mediating variable of organizational identification. In addition, person-organization value congruence and leader ethical behavior significantly moderated the mediating role of organizational identification between organizational ethical climate and whistleblowing behavior. Finally, the directions that can contribute to future research were suggested.

[Analysis of the Jumping Characteristics and Influencing Factors of Ozone Pollution in Beijing].

Based on environmental monitoring data and meteorological observation data from 2016 to 2022 in Beijing, combined with backward trajectory clustering and potential source area contribution analysis, the characteristics, meteorological impacts, and potential source areas of ozone (O3) pollution were analyzed. The results showed that there was a total of 41 O3 pollution processes with jumping characteristics in Beijing from 2016 to 2022, with an average of 5.9 times a year. The occurrence time was concentrated in May to July, and the day of the jump (OJD2) was higher than the day before the jump (OJD1). The average value of ρ(O3-8h) was 78.3% higher, and the peak concentration was 78.9% higher. The high O3 concentration zone in the OJD2 region exhibited a characteristic of advancing from south to north. The main reasons for the occurrence of jumped O3 pollution in Beijing could be summarized as local accumulation caused by unfavorable meteorological conditions and regional transmission impact. The occurrence of jump-type ozone pollution was characterized by an increase in southerly wind frequency, temperature rise, pressure decrease, and precipitation decrease. The increase in southerly wind frequency provided conditions for the transport of O3 and its precursors, and rapid photochemical reactions occurred under local high temperatures, with less superimposed precipitation, comprehensively pushing up the ozone concentration level of OJD2. Six air mass transporting pathways were identified through clustering analysis; the air mass from the direction north of OJD2 decreased by 11.2%, whereas the air mass from the south and east directions increased by 6.7% and 4.4%, respectively, with the air masses mainly transmitting over short distances. The ozone concentration corresponding to the south and east directions was relatively high, making a significant contribution to Beijing's pollution. The analysis of potential source areas revealed that the main potential source areas of OJD2 ozone pollution were the central, southern, and eastern parts of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei, which contributed 82.6% to the pollution trajectory. There was a significant contribution of regional transport during jump-type ozone pollution, and it is necessary to strengthen joint prevention and control in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Region.

Late-stage gem-difluoroallylation of phenol in bioactive molecules and peptides with 3,3-difluoroallyl sulfonium salts.

An efficient method for the late-stage selective O-fluoroalkylation of tyrosine residues with a stable yet highly reactive fluoroalkylating reagent, 3,3-difluoroallyl sulfonium salts (DFASs), has been developed. The reaction proceeds in a mild basic aqueous buffer (pH = 11.6) with high efficiency, high biocompatibility, and excellent regio- and chemoselectivity. Various oligopeptides and phenol-containing bioactive molecules, including carbohydrates and nucleosides, could be selectively O-fluoroalkylated. The added vinyl and other functional groups from DFASs can be valuable linkers for successive modification, significantly expanding the chemical space for further bioconjugation. The synthetic utility of this protocol has been demonstrated by the fluorescently labeled anti-cancer drug and the synthesis of O-link type 1,4,7,10-tetraazacyclododecane-N,N',N,N'-tetraacetic acid-tyrosine3-octreotate (DOTA-TATE), showing the prospect of the method in medicinal chemistry and chemical biology.

Clinical sequencing defines the somatic and germline mutation landscapes of Chinese HER2-Low Breast Cancer.

More than half of the breast cancer initially labeled as human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-negative actually exhibited low HER2 levels (IHC 1+ or IHC 2+/FISH-) and were classified as HER2-low breast cancer. Previous research emphasized the significant biological heterogeneity in HER2-low breast cancer, highlighting the importance of accurately characterizing HER2-low tumors to promote the precise management of antibody‒drug conjugates. In this study, we established a large-scale targeted sequencing cohort (N = 1907) representing Chinese HER2-low breast cancer patients with detailed clinical annotation. Our research findings revealed that HER2-low breast cancer demonstrated distinct clinical pathological characteristics and mutation landscapes compared to HER2-zero group. When compared to HER2-zero tumors, HER2-low tumors exhibited a higher proportion of Luminal B subtypes and better disease-free survival. In hormone receptor (HR)-positive breast cancer, HER2-low group showed a higher frequency of GATA3 somatic mutations, BRCA2 germline mutations, and mutations in the DNA damage repair pathway. In contrast, in HR-negative breast cancer, the HER2-low group displayed a higher frequency of PIK3CA mutations and PI3K pathway alterations. These findings offered valuable insights for the precise targeted treatment of HER2-low breast cancer in different HR statuses.

Efficacy of Fire-Needle Therapy in Improving Neurological Function Following Cerebral Infarction and Its Effect on Intestinal Flora Metabolites.

Objective: This study was to investigate the mechanism of action and clinical efficacy of fire-needle therapy in improving neurological function in patients with acute cerebral infarction (identified as a wind-phlegm-blood stasis syndrome in traditional Chinese medicine). Methods: We included patients diagnosed with acute cerebral infarction (wind-phlegm-blood stasis syndrome) admitted to the Encephalopathy and Acupuncture Center of the Second Affiliated Hospital of Tianjin University of Chinese Medicine. We randomly allocated them into the treatment and control groups, with 45 cases in each group. Acupuncture treatments that focused on regulating the mind and dredging the collaterals were used in the control group, while the treatment group additionally received fire-needle therapy. Our indicators included the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) scores, the Fugl-Meyer Assessment (FMA) scale, peripheral blood tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin-17 (IL-17), hypersensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), and intestinal metabolites short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs). We measured these indicators before treatment and 14 days after treatment. Results: The post-treatment NIHSS scores of the two groups were significantly reduced (P < 0.05), and the treatment group showed a more significant decline in the score when compared to the control group (P < 0.05). The treatment group showing significant improvement in the domains of reflex activity, mobility, cooperative movement, and finger movement (P < 0.05). Both groups showed a significant decrease in the IL-17 and hs-CRP levels (P < 0.05), with the treatment group demonstrating a significant declining trend when compared to the control group (P < 0.05). The levels of acetic acid, propionic acid, butyric acid, and valeric acid all increased significantly in the two groups (P < 0.05), with acetic acid and butyric acid increasing significantly in the treatment group when compared to the control group (P < 0.05). Clinical efficacy rate: 78.6% of patients in the treatment group had an excellent rate, whereas it was 30.0% in the control group, and the difference was statistically significant (P < 0.001). Conclusion: Fire-needle therapy was effective in upregulating the SCFA content in patients with acute cerebral infarction (wind-phlegm-blood stasis syndrome), inhibiting the level of the inflammatory response, and improving the recovery of neurological functions. Clinical registration number: Registration website link: https://www.chictr.org.cn. Registration date: 2022/9/27. Registration number: ChiCTR2200064122.

Predicting abiotic stress-responsive miRNA in plants based on multi-source features fusion and graph neural network.

BACKGROUND: More and more studies show that miRNA plays a crucial role in plants' response to different abiotic stresses. However, traditional experimental methods are often expensive and inefficient, so it is important to develop efficient and economical computational methods. Although researchers have developed machine learning-based method, the information of miRNAs and abiotic stresses has not been fully exploited. Therefore, we propose a novel approach based on graph neural networks for predicting potential miRNA-abiotic stress associations. RESULTS: In this study, we fully considered the multi-source feature information from miRNAs and abiotic stresses, and calculated and integrated the similarity network of miRNA and abiotic stress from different feature perspectives using multiple similarity measures. Then, the above multi-source similarity network and association information between miRNAs and abiotic stresses are effectively fused through heterogeneous networks. Subsequently, the Restart Random Walk (RWR) algorithm is employed to extract global structural information from heterogeneous networks, providing feature vectors for miRNA and abiotic stress. After that, we utilized the graph autoencoder based on GIN (Graph Isomorphism Networks) to learn and reconstruct a miRNA-abiotic stress association matrix to obtain potential miRNA-abiotic stress associations. The experimental results show that our model is superior to all known methods in predicting potential miRNA-abiotic stress associations, and the AUPR and AUC metrics of our model achieve 98.24% and 97.43%, respectively, under five-fold cross-validation. CONCLUSIONS: The robustness and effectiveness of our proposed model position it as a valuable approach for advancing the field of miRNA-abiotic stress association prediction.

A systematic review of qualitative research on the self-management experience of breast cancer patients.

OBJECTIVE: To integrate the qualitative research on the self-management experience of breast cancer patients and conduct a systematic review of their self-management experience. METHODS: Using a computer to search a series of databases such as CNKI, Wanfang, VIP, and China Biomedical Database, systematically collect and integrate qualitative research on the self-management experience of breast cancer patients, and the search time is limited to January 2010 to December 2022. The qualitative research quality evaluation standard of the Joanna Briggs Institute Centre for Evidence-Based Health Care in Australia was used as the evaluation standard of this project to complete the accurate evaluation of the literature; Meta-analysis was used to complete the effective integration of the results. RESULTS: 17 pieces of literature were included in this project, and 37 research results with strong integrity were extracted accordingly. On this basis, 7 different categories were summarised, and three integrated results were obtained: the experience of maintaining self-management, symptom recognition, and self-management. CONCLUSION: In the different stages of self-management of breast cancer patients, medical staff should give targeted guidance to help patients obtain a good prognosis.

Evaluation of retinal structural and functional changes after silicone oil removal in patients with rhegmatogenous retinal detachment: a retrospective study.

BACKGROUND: To evaluate retinal structural and functional changes after silicone oil (SO) removal in eyes with macula-off rhegmatogenous retinal detachment (RRD). METHODS: Best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) testing, microperimetry, and optical coherence tomography angiography were performed in 48 eyes with macula-off RRD before and 3 months after SO removal. The values of healthy contralateral eyes were used as control data. Correlations between retinal vessel density (VD), retinal nerve fiber layer thickness (RNFLT), the interval between retinal detachment and surgery, the duration of SO tamponade, the follow-up time after SO removal, and visual function were analyzed. RESULTS: Significant increases in 2˚ fixation rate (FR), 4˚ FR, 2˚ mean retinal sensitivity (MRS), 6˚ MRS, parafoveal superficial capillary plexus VD and RNFLT were observed after SO removal (all P < 0.05). The increase of 2˚ MRS and 6˚ MRS were correlated with the duration of SO tamponade and the follow-up time after SO removal respectively (all P < 0.05). The last 2˚ MRS and 6˚ MRS were correlated with the duration of SO tamponade, the interval between retinal detachment and surgery, and the follow-up time after SO removal (all P < 0.01). The last FR in RRD eyes was close to that of contralateral eyes (P > 0.05). CONCLUSION: Retinal structure and function improved to different degrees after SO removal. Fixation stability and retinal sensitivity increased more than BCVA postoperatively. Retinal sensitivity, which was affected by the interval between retinal detachment and surgery and the duration of SO tamponade, gradually recovered after SO removal.

Camrelizumab in combination with neoadjuvant chemotherapy in resectable locally advanced esophageal squamous carcinoma cancer: Results from a retrospective study.

This study aimed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of camrelizumab combined with chemotherapy during preoperative neoadjuvant therapy in patients with locally advanced resectable esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) of clinical Stages II and III. The patients received camrelizumab plus chemotherapy regimen on Day 1 for up to three to four cycles (3 weeks per cycle). The probabilities of overall survival (OS) were 55.6% at 12 months and 35.6% at 18 months (45 patients). The disease-free survival (DFS) rates were 70.0% at 12 months and 63.3% at 18 months (30 patients). The median OS and DFS were not reached. The proportion of patients at postneoadjuvant pathological tumor stages ypT0, ypT2, and ypT3 were 10 (33.3%), 14 (46.7%), and 6 (20.0%), respectively, and those at stages ypN0 and ypN1 were 19 (63.3%) and 11 (36.7%), respectively. Additionally, the pathological complete response rate was 33.3% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.154-0.512), and the major pathologic response rate was 46.7% (95% CI: 0.277-0.656). Grade ≥3 adverse events (AEs) were reported in five patients (11.1%), with vomiting being the most common AE (three patients; 3.3%). Other common AEs of any grade included decreased lymphocyte count (48.9%), reactive capillary endothelial proliferation (46.7%), decreased white blood cell count (40.0%), anemia (31.1%), and vomiting (31.1%). The combination of camrelizumab and neoadjuvant chemotherapy in patients with locally advanced resectable ESCC demonstrated promising efficacy and acceptable safety.