Changes of serum p53 antibodies and clinical signifi cance of radiotherapy for esophageal squamous cell carcinoma

AIM： To explore the relationship between serum p53 antibodies （p53-Abs） and clinicopathological characteristics and therapeutic effect in patients with esophageal carcinoma （EC）, and to investigate sequential changing regularity of serum pS3-Abs after radiotherapy. METHODS： The serum pS3-Ab levels were detected in 46 EC patients and 30 healthy adults by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay （ELISA）. The blood samples were collected on the day before radiotherapy and on the administration of an irradiation dose of 20 Gy/10 f/12 d, 40 Gy/20 f/24 d and 60 Gy/30 f/36 d after radiotherapy. RESULTS： The level and positive rate of serum pS3-Abs in EC patients were significantly higher than those in normal individuals （P 〈 0.05）. Serum anti-p53 antibodies were positive in 18 of 46 EC patients （39.1%）. The positive rate of pS3-Abs in EC was related to histological grade, disease stage and lymph node metastasis （P 〈 0.05）, but it was not significantly related to sex, age and to the size and site of tumor. The level and positive rate of p53-Abs had significant differences between before radiotherapy and after administration of an irradiation dose of 40 Gy/20 f/24 d and 60 Gy/30 f/36 d （P 〈 0.05 orP 〈 0.01）. The positive rate of p53-Abs in EC patients with effect was significantly lower than that in those without effect after radiotherapy （P 〈 0.0001）.CONCLUSION： Detection of serum p53-Abs is helpful to the diagnosis of esophageal carcinoma. Monitoring for sequential change of serum p53-Abs before and after radiotherapy in patients with esophageal carcinoma is also useful to evaluate the response to the treatment and prognosis of the patients.

Protoconodont fossils for refining the Cambrian bottom and the contribution to shale gas formation along the southwest margin of Yangtze Block

It has been an intense debate on the exact boundary between Ediacaran and Cambrian in the southwest Yangtze Block.The calibration of this critical boundary has a remarkable influence on the further investigation of the break-up of the Rodinia Supercontinent,the early life evolution,and the mechanism of the phosphorite deposit.Ediacaran and Cambrian strata and fossils are widely distributed in Anning,Yunnan Province in China.In recent years,the Xiaowaitoushan Member from the Lower Yuhucun Formation has been studied.Through this interval with continuous collections,the first appearance datums(FADs)of the protoconodont(Fomitchella cf.inchoate Yang et He,Protohertzina cf.anabarica Missarzhevsky)and globular embryos fossil(Olivooides sp.)earlier than these in the Lower Cambrian strata of the Meishucun Formation were discovered.This discovery indicates that the Xiaowaitoushan Member has included more FADs than the previously discovered single FAD of Anabarites primitivus Qian et Jiang,and the Ediacaran–Cambrian boundary in southwest China should be replaced below the Point“A”of the Meishucun Formation in Yunnan Province.The Point“B”of the Meishucun Formation is younger than the suggested age 541 Ma of the Ediacaran–Cambrian boundary and can no longer reference the Global Boundary Stratotype Section and Point(GSSP)correlation in southwest China.It can be suggested based on the previous stratigraphy and palaeontology studies from northern Sichuan and southern Shaanxi and the FAD of the globular embryos fossils that the Ediacaran‒Cambrian boundary in the southwest Yangtze Block should be placed at the base of the Xiaowaitoushan Member;other phosphorite strata refer to Xiaowaitoushan Member.The discovery of the FADs of the shelly fossils in the Xiaowaitoushan Member provides new evidence for the global correlation of the Ediacaran–Cambrian boundary in the southwest Yangtze Block.The conodont discoloration index(CAI)of the specimens in Anning is between 2 and 3,which indicates that the organic matter in Xiaowaitoushan Member is matured and has high potential to form a shale gas reservoir.

Adenovirus expressing p27^(kip1) suppresses growth of established esophageal carcinoma xenografts

AIM： TO investigate the growth suppression of adenovirus expressing p27^kip1 on established esophageal tumors in nude mice. METHODS： Esophageal carcinoma xenografts in nude mice were established by tumor tissue mass transplantation. The successfully constructed recombinant adenoviral vectors carrying p2^kip1 gene （Ad- p27^%kip1） were directly injected into the esophageal tumors in nude mice. Compared to control group, the growth curve of tumor was drawn and the growth inhibition rate of tumor was calculated. The histology of tumors was examined by hematoxylin and eosin （H＆E） staining. The expression of p27^kip1 and survivin was detected in tumors by immunohistochemical technique. RESULTS： The growth of tumors in gene therapy group with Ad-p27^kip1 was obviously suppressed compared to control group （0.42±0.08 g vs 1.17±0.30 g, t=6.39, P〈0.01）, the inhibition rate of tumor growth reached 64.1%. Pathological detection showed that the tumors in nude mice were poorly differentiated esophageal squarnous carcinoma. In addition, the expression of p27^kip1 was increased, while the expression of survivin was decreased in tumors after being transfected with Ad-p27^kip1. CONCLUSION： p27^kip1 gene therapy mediated by adenovirus vector has a significant inhibitory effect on esophageal carcinoma in vivo. Up-regulated p27^kip1 expression and down-regulated survivin expression may be its important mechanisms.

Geochemical characteristics and genetic type of a lithium ore (mineralized) body in the central Yunnan Province, China

Lithium ore (mineralized) bodies in the area A of central Yunnan Province belong to a sedimentary-type, which are controlled by stratum. The studied ore (mineralized) body mainly occurs in the Middle Permian Liangshan Formation. This work described the morphology, structures, main ore types and geochemical characteristics of this ore body in detail, and discussed the ore-forming material source, occurrence state of lithium and the formation mechanism of lithium ores to clarify the prospecting marks. In the further exploration, comprehensive evaluation of the lithium resources of known bauxite ore bodies in central Yunnan Province should be strengthened, and the exploration of hidden lithium ore bodies should be intensified in order to discover more large and super-large lithium orebodies, which will fill the gap of the national demand for lithium resources, and promote the national defense construction and new energy industry development.

NiO nanoparticles-decorated ZnO hierarchical structures for isopropanol gas sensing

In this paper,a three-dimensional(3D)hierar-chical ZnO structure consisting of nanosheets modified with ultrafine NiO particles was synthesized via a facile two-step chemical precipitate method.Various techniques characterized the as-synthesized ZnO/NiO composites and pure ZnO.The p-NiO/n-ZnO junctions formed between adjacent ZnO and NiO nanoparticles,improving the gas sensing performance.The ZnO/NiO composite with the Ni:Zn atomic ratio of 7.42:100 exhibited the best iso-propanol sensing properties.Compared to pure ZnO,it showed high selectivity and sensitivity(R_(a)/R_(g)=221.3 toward 400×10^(-6)isopropanol),fast response rate(less than 10 s),short recovery time,and simultaneously low operating temperature.Also,the ZnO/NiO composite exhibited a wide sensing range(1×10^(-6)-1000×10^(-6))to isopropanol and processed good long-term stability.The experimental results suggested the potential application in fabricating efficient isopropanol sensors using this ZnO/NiO composite.The enhanced isopropanol sensing mech-anism is also discussed in charge transfer between heterojunctions,surface area,and surface defects.

Probing top-philic new physics via four-top-quark production

We explore constraints on various new physics resonances from four top-quark production based on current experimental data.Both light and heavy resonances are studied in this work.A comparison of the full width effect and narrow width approximation is also presented.

Simulation and optimization of the boron-lined MWPC neutron detectors

Purpose Boron-lined gas detectors are prospective alternatives to helium-3-based neutron detectors.For boron-lined multiwire proportional chamber(MWPC)with neutron grazing incident angle geometry,high neutron detection efficiency and 3D position sensitive can be realized.In this paper,a multi-layer boron-lined MWPC was studied.Methods Influences of the boron coating thickness,coating layer numbers and neutron incident angle on the neutron detection efficiency were studied and optimized with Geant4 simulation.The output signal properties including induced signal width on the readout plane,the time resolution and gas gain uniformity of the detector were studied with Garfield program.Results and conclusion The results show that the neutron detection efficiency can be significantly increased by using neutron grazing incident geometry.For 4 layers of 10B4Cwith thickness of 1μm,the neutron detection efficiency can reach to 54.56%,49.17%and 44.36%when neutron incident angle is 6°,8°and 10°,respectively.For detector with curved geometry,the gas gain is nonuniform among the anode wires,and using separate high voltage for each anode wire or wires group can effectively reduce the nonuniform of the gas gain.The results of this work can be used to optimize the detector design.