Positive impact of adding No.14v lymph node to D2 dissection on survival for distal gastric cancer patients after surgery with curative intent

Background： D2 lymphadenectomy has been increasingly regarded as standard surgical procedure for advanced gastric cancer （GC）, while the necessity of No.14v lymph node （14v） dissection for distal GC is still controversial. Methods： A total of 920 distal GC patients receiving at least a D2 lymph node dissection in Department of Gastric Cancer, Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute and Hospital were enrolled in this study, of whom, 243 patients also had the 14v dissected. Other 677 patients without 14v dissection were used for comparison. Results： Forty-five （18.5%） patients had 14v metastasis. There was no significant difference in 3-year overall survival （OS） rate between patients with and without 14v dissection. Following stratified analysis, in TNM stages I, II, IIIa and IV, 14v dissection did not affect 3-year OS; in contrast, patients with 14v dissection had a significant higher 3-year OS than those without in TNM stages IIIb and IIIc. In multivariate analysis, 14v dissection was found to be an independent prognostic factor for GC patients with TNM stage IIIb/IIIc disease [hazard ratio （HR）, 1.568; 95% confidence interval （CI）： 1.186-2.072; P=0.002]. GC patients with 14v dissection had a significant lower locoregional, especially lymph node, recurrence rate than those without 14v dissection （11.7 % vs. 21.1%, P=0.035）. Conclusions： Adding 14v to D2 lymphadenectomy may be associated with improved 3-year OS for distal GC staged TNM IIIb/IIIc.

Elevated preoperative plasma D-dimer dose not adversely affect survival of gastric cancer after gastrectomy with curative intent: A propensity score analysis

Objective： Elevated plasma D-dimer has been reported to be associated with advanced tumor stage and poor survival in several types of malignancies. The purpose of this study was to assess the potential impact of preoperative plasma D-dimer level（PDL） on overall survival（OS） of gastric cancer（GC） patients undergoing curative surgery by applying propensity score analysis.Methods： A total of 1,025 curatively resected GC patients in Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute ＆Hospital were enrolled. Patients were categorized into two groups based on preoperative PDL： the elevated group（EG） and the normal group（NG）. To overcome bias due to the different distribution of covariates for the two groups, a one-to-one match was applied using propensity score analysis, after matching, prognostic factors were analyzed.Results： In analysis for the whole study series, patients in the EG were more likely to have a larger proportion of tumor size ≥5 cm（67.5% vs. 55.8%, P=0.006）, elder mean age（64.0±10.8 years vs. 60.5±11.6 years, P〈0.001） and advanced tumor（T）, node（N）, and TNM stage. Patients with elevated PDL demonstrated a significantly lower 5-year OS than those with normal PDL（27.0% vs. 42.6%, P〈0.001）, however, the PDL was not an independent prognostic factor for OS in multivariate analysis [hazard ratio： 1.13, 95% confidence interval（95% CI）： 0.92–1.39,P=0.236]. After matching, 163 patients in the EG and 163 patients in the NG had the same characteristics. The 5-year OS rate for patients in the EG was 27.0% compared with 25.8% for those in the NG（P=0.809, log-rank）.Conclusions： The poor prognosis of GC patients with elevated preoperative PDL was due to the advanced tumor stage and elder age rather than the elevated D-dimer itself.

High Efficiency Hypocrellin Production by a Novel Mutant Isolated from Shiraia bambusicola

The fungus Shiraia bambusicola GZ19 M1 is biotechnologically important due to its ability to biosynthesis the pigment hypocrellins.Results showed that ethyl methane sulfonate( EMS) was effective mutagenic agent for strain and potentially produced large numbers of random mutations broadly and uniformly over the whole genome to generate unique strains. Wild-type cultures of S. bambusicola GZ19 were subjected to EMS( 80 mM) induction targeted at approximately 20% spores' survival. When surviving spores were selected in sufficient numbers and cultured on PDA medium for 7 d at 26℃,five novel mutagenized S. bambusicola strains were obtained. A mutant GZ19 M1 that exhibited an activity of more than two times over the wild strain was obtained. Also,batch experiments were carried out to achieve the suitable conditions for hypocrellin. Glucose and rice extract were the most favorable carbon and nitrogen sources for hypocrellin production by submerged culture of S. bambusicola GZ19 M1,and initial glucose and rice extract concentrations were at 35 and 250 g/L,respectively. The optimal surfactant were found to be 0. 008 V/V Tween 80,it was added into cultivation medium at 24 h. Hypocrellin concentration reached 498. 89 mg/L under optimal nutritional conditions,an increment of about 8. 70 times of hypocrellins production was observed compared with that of in non-optimized medium by the wild strain.

Relations between sedimentary sequence and paleoclimatic changes during last 200 ka in the southern South China Sea

Core NS-93-5 was taken from the mild slope terrace of the southern South China Sea (SCS), which has preserved the steadiness depositional record of the normal marine environment since late Quaternary. Sedimentary sequence and oxygen isotopic stratigraphy of high resolution in the near 200 ka of the southern SCS has been established. By the comparative analysis with GISP2’s ice core, the depositional record of D/O’s events 1-21 and Heinrich’s events H1-H6 in the southern SCS that reflected the quick climate change in short time scale since the last interglacial stage is revealed, which indicates that in the last 200 ka in the southern SCS and the Arctic area there was tele-connection of paleoclimate and the unstability of the Western Pacific Warm Pool. This note shows that the sedimentary layers order of this sea area classified by color identification and by oxygen isotope stratum has the very good corresponding relation. The color feature of sediment changes along with the climate and the former

Heinrich layer in Antarctic marine sediments and its significance to global changes

Results of grain size analysis and rock magnetic measurements of core NP95-1 from Prydz Bay, Antarctica revealed two series of ice-rafted detritus layers, which correspond to cold climatic events, Younger Dryas and Heinrich event 1, occurring at about 11.7-10.3 and 14.3-13.6 kaB.P. respectively. Studies also show that the sequence of paleoclimatic changes in Antarctica can be correlated with that in other parts of the world, and that the millennial climate of the earth could change synchronously and globally. In addition, magnetic fabric analysis also shows a close relationship between paleoclimatic change and ocean circulation re-assemblage.