Influence of the pace of El Nino decay on tropical cyclone frequency over the western north pacific during decaying El Nino summers

本文分析了El Nino事件衰减速度的差异对衰退年夏季西北太平洋热带气旋(tropical cyclone,TC)频数的不同影响。按照ElNiio事件衰减速度不同,将其划分为迅速衰减(rapid decaying,RD)和缓慢衰减(slowdecaying,SD)的El Nino事件.SD(RD)El Nino事件的衰退年夏季,赤道中东太平洋海温仍维持正异常(衰减为负异常).与SD El Nino事件相比,RDElNino事件衰退年夏季西北太平洋TC频数显著减少.进一步的分析揭示了导致TC频数差异的大尺度环境要素,指出热带印度洋-太平洋海温异常密切相关的西北太平洋低层反气旋异常在其中起到了关键作用。

Detection of telomerase activity in biopsy samples for predicting prognosis in cirrhotic patients with hepatocellular carcinoma after laparoscopic radiofrequency ablation therapy

Objective: To explore the role of telomerase activity detected in biopsy samples for evaluating the efficacy of lapa- roscopic radiofrequency ablation (RFA) therapy in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and liver cirrhosis. Methods: From August 2001 to October 2004, 34 cirrhotic patients with HCC were treated by laparoscopic RFA under general anesthe- sia. A total of 34 tumors, with a mean maximum tumor diameter of 4.0 ± 1.0 cm, were all located on the liver surface or adja- cent to the gallbladder. Laparoscopic ultrasound-guided core biopsy for liver lesions was performed before and immediately after RFA therapy. In these biopsy samples, telomerase activity was detected by the ELISA-based telomeric repeat amplifica- tion protocol (ELISA-TRAP) assay, and pathological examination was routinely performed. Results: Laparoscopic RFA was successfully performed in all the 34 patients. A complete tumor necrosis was achieved in all patients on the contrast-enhanced helical CT scanning one month after laparoscopic RFA. The positive rates of telomerase activity and histopathologic diagnosis in biopsy samples were 91.2% (31/34) and 100% (34/34) respectively before RFA, and 26.5% (9/34) and 0% respectively after RFA. During a median follow-up period of 35 months (range, 18–51 months), the rates of local tumor recurrence at the ablation sites in post-RFA telomerase-positive and negative patients were 88.9% (8/9) and 4% (1/25) respectively (P < 0.01), and the rates of distant recurrence within the livers were 0% (0/9) and 12% (3/25) respectively (P > 0.05). Conclusion: For cirrhotic patients with HCC treated by laparoscopic RFA, detection of telomerase activity in biopsy samples may be useful for evaluating the therapeutic efficacy of RFA and predicting postoperative local tumor recurrence.

The Influence of the Microstructure of W/O Emulsion of Waxy Crude Oil on Its Rheology

In this article, the viscosity-temperature characteristics of W/O waxy crude oil emulsion under different microstructures were studied, and the characteristics of the microstructure were described by the analysis of the dispersed phase parameters including the average particle size, the degree of dispersion, and the nonuniformity of average particle size. On this basis, we discuss the effects of temperature, shear rate and the microstructure on the apparent viscosity of Daqing crude oil emulsion. The results showed that with the increasing of stirring speed, the number of droplets and the degree of dispersion phase dispersion increased, average droplet size and nonuniformity of average particle size reduced;the average particle size of the dispersed phase decreased by 0.5 μm, and the abnormal point increased by about 1°C. For emulsions with the same microstructure, as the temperature or shear rate rising, the rate and percentage of the reduction in apparent viscosity decreased. At the same temperature or shear rate, the reduction rate in apparent viscosity increases with the average particle size of dispersed phase decreases, in contrast to the percentage of reduction in apparent viscosity, which revealed a definitive correlation between average particle size of dispersed phase and the apparent viscosity in the non-Newtonian fluid that from 34°;C to 48°;C;the absolute value of Pearson’s correlation coefficient was above 0.8, which was highly negatively correlated;as the temperature rose, the absolute value of Pearson’s correlation coefficient decreased from 0.839 to 0.216.

Mesenchymal stromal cells in hepatic fibrosis/cirrhosis:from pathogenesis to treatment

Hepatic fibrosis/cirrhosis is a significant health burden worldwide,resulting in liver failure or hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC)and accounting for many deaths each year.The pathogenesis of hepatic fibrosis/cirrhosis is very complex,which makes treatment challenging.Endogenous mesenchymal stromal cells(MsCs)have been shown to play pivotal roles in the pathogenesis of hepatic fibrosis.Paradoxically,exogenous MsCs have also been used in clinical trials for liver cirrhosis,and their effectiveness has been observed in most completed clinical trials.There are still many issues to be resolved to promote the use of MsCs in the clinic in the future.In this review,we will examine the controversial role of MsCs in the pathogenesis and treatment of hepatic fibrosis/cirrhosis.We also investigated the clinical trials involving MsCs in liver cirrhosis,summarized the parameters that need to be standardized,and discussed how to promote the use of MsCs from a clinical perspective.

Clinical and pathological features of miR-10b and RHOC gene expression in hepatocellular carcinoma

Aberrant expression of microRNAs(miRNAs)was reported frequently in different human cancers.The major role of miRNA is targeting 30-UTR of coding gene and causing translational repression or mRNA degradation.miR-10b overexpression was reported to promote breast cancer metastasis by up-regulating RHOC expression.But its expression in hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC)remains unclear.Our study indicated that the expression of miR-10b was different in HCC and adjacent tissue samples,and reduced expression of miR-10b in HCC was related tovein invasion.High-level expression of RHOC was also related to vein invasion in HCC.But no correlation was found between miR-10b and RHOC expression.These results suggest that miR-10b and RHOC are independent predictors of HCC invasion and metastasis.