Cycle number of neoadjuvant chemotherapy might influence survival of patients with T1-4N2-3M0 nasopharyngeal carcinoma

Objective： Stage N2-3 nasopharyngeal carcinoma（NPC） shows a high risk of distant metastasis, which will finally cause death. This study aimed to evaluate the impact of neoadjuvant chemotherapy（NACT） of various cycles before radical radiotherapy on distant metastasis and survival of patients with stage N2-3 diseases.Methods： In this study, a total of 1,164 consecutive patients with non-metastatic N2-3 NPC were recruited and prospectively observed. Then 231 patients who received NACT of 4 cycles（NACT=4 group） were matched 1：2：1 to 462 patients treated with NACT of 2 cycles（NACT=2 group） and 231 patients treated without NACT（NACT=0 group）, according to age, histological subtype, N stage and NACT regimen. Five candidate variables（sex, T stage, concurrent chemotherapy, intensity-modulated radiation therapy and cycle number of NACT） were analyzed for their association with patients＇ survival.Results： After matching, the overall survival（OS）, disease-free survival（DFS）, local-recurrence-free survival（RFS） and distant-metastasis-free survival（MFS） of the NACT=4 group（89.2%, 81.0%, 83.3% and 84.8%,respectively） were better than those of the NACT=2 group（83.3%, 72.5%, 81.2% and 77.9%, respectively） and the NACT=0 group（74.0%, 63.2%, 74.0% and 68.8%, respectively）. In multivariate analysis, the cycle number of NACT maintained statistical significance on the OS, DFS, RFS and MFS（all P〈0.05）.Conclusions： For N2-3 NPC, cycle number of NACT appeared to be an independent factor associated with an improvement of survival.

Change of Phosphate Fraction during Composting of Fresh Waste Leaves of Tobacco

Environmental issue has concerned the public with the build-up of soil phosphorus(P) following application of organic manure.This demands a fully understanding of the change of phosphorus during composting of fresh waste leaves of tobacco and finding out the status of P fertilizer in leaf-made manure.This study had shown that water-soluble and HCl-soluble phosphon were the dominant fractions of P in the compost of fresh waste leaves,in the ranges of 19%-41% and 17%-43%,respectively.However,the former declined progressively upon composting time,but the latter increased,indicating transformation of the more vulnerable water soluble P to the more recalcitrant HCl-extractable P.

Geographical Indication of Unique Production Technology of Bahu Lotus Root

Bahu lotus root is a specialty of Hedong District,Linyi City,Shandong Province.It was recognized as a national product of geographical indication in 2011.This article describes the specific production area,unique production environment,rich cultural history and unique quality of Bahu lotus root,and summarizes its unique production from four aspects:selection of origin,selection of variety,production management and timely harvest,aiming to maintain the brand of Bahu lotus root to the greatest extent and further enhance the brand value and influence.

Inorganic hollow mesoporous spheres-based delivery for antimicrobial agents

Microorganisms coexist with human beings and have formed a complex relationship with us.However,the abnormal spread of pathogens can cause infectious diseases thus demands antibacterial agents.Currently available antimicrobials,such as silver ions,antimicrobial peptides and antibiotics,have diverse concerns in chemical stability,biocompatibility,or triggering drug resistance.The“encapsulate-and-deliver”strategy can protect antimicrobials against decomposing,so to avoid large dose release induced resistance and achieve the controlled release.Considering loading capacity,engineering feasibility,and economic viability,inorganic hollow mesoporous spheres(iHMSs)represent one kind of promising and suitable candidates for real-life antimicrobial applications.Here we reviewed the recent research progress of iHMSs-based antimicrobial delivery.We summarized the synthesis of iHMSs and the drug loading method of various antimicrobials,and discussed the future applications.To prevent and mitigate the spread of an infective disease,multilateral coordination at the national level is required.Moreover,developing effective and practicable antimicrobials is the key to enhancing our capability to eliminate pathogenic microbes.We believe that our conclusion will be beneficial for researches on the antimicrobial delivery in both lab and mass production phases.

优化围栏管理措施以实现青藏高原可持续发展目标

The Tibetan Plateau is characterized by extreme weather,harsh environment,and high sensitivity to climate warming and human activities[1].Once degraded,it is difficult to rehabilitate the ecosystems in this region because of the unique environment.Consequently,alpine grassland ecosystems of the Tibetan Plateau play important roles in regional ecological security and economic development.Nevertheless,alpine grasslands have been experiencing serious degradation owing to the escalating impact of overgrazing and climate change in recent years[2].

Vegetation distribution pattern in the dam areas along middle-low reach of Lancang-Mekong River in Yunnan Province, China

Lancang-Mekong River Basin is one of ecoregions with rich biodiversity and high ecological values in the world. The basin has been strongly affected by human activities, particularly by dam construction. This study was conducted to investigate the vegetation distribution patterns in the dam areas along middle-low reach of the Lancang-Mekong River in Yunnan Province of China, where eight cascade dams have been planned or are being constructed. To identify the vegetation composition and structure, we sampled 126 quadrats along the transects arrayed vertically to both side of river channel from the year of 2004 to 2010. We found that the forest, shrub and grass communities were widely spread along the riverside. In low reach watershed of the Lancang-Mekong River, the dominated vegetations were grasses and shrubs which were severely disturbed by human activity. In middle reach of the Lancang-Mekong River, the dry-hot valley vegetation was found in the low valley. At high altitude, the pine forest and semi-evergreen seasonal forest were found. As a result of dam construction and operation, the structure and compositions of riparian vegetation were strongly changed. Some plants declined or disappeared due to the alteration of their habitats. The protection or restoration interventions are urgently needed to mitigate the risk of vegetation damage associated with dam projects along middle and low reach of the Lancang-Mekong River.

Overexpression of amplified in breast cancer 1 (AIB1) gene promotes lung adenocarcinoma aggressiveness in vitro and in vivo by upregulating C-X-C motif chemokine receptor 4

Background:We previously found that overexpression of the gene known as amplified in breast cancer 1(AIB1)was associated with lymph node metastasis and poor prognosis in patients with lung adenocarcinoma.However,the role of AIB1 in that malignancy remains unknown.The present study aimed to investigate the function of AIB1 in the process of lung adenocarcinoma cell metastasis.Methods:A series of in vivo and in vitro assays were performed to elucidate the function of AIB1,while real-time PCR and Western blotting were utilized to identify the potential downstream targets of AIB1 in the process of lung adenocarcinoma metastasis.Rescue experiments and in vitro assays were performed to investigate whether the invasive-ness of AIB1-induced lung adenocarcinoma was mediated by C-X-C motif chemokine receptor 4(CXCR4).Results:The ectopic overexpression of AIB1 in lung adenocarcinoma cells substantially enhanced cell migration and invasive abilities in vitro and tumor metastasis in vivo,whereas the depletion of AIB1 expression substantially inhibited lung adenocarcinoma cell migration and invasion.CXCR4 was identified as a potential downstream target of AIB1 in lung adenocarcinoma.The knockdown of AIB1 greatly reduced CXCR4 gene expression at both the transcription and protein levels,whereas the knockdown of CXCR4 in cells with AIB1 ectopic overexpression diminished AIB1-induced migration and invasion in vitro and tumor metastasis in vivo.Furthermore,we found a significant positive association between the expression of AIB1 and CXCR4 in lung adenocarcinoma patients(183 cases),and the co-overexpression of AIB1 and CXCR4 predicted the poorest prognosis.Conclusions:These findings suggest that AIB1 promotes the aggressiveness of lung adenocarcinoma in vitro and in vivo by upregulating CXCR4 and that it might be usable as a novel prognostic marker and/or therapeutic target for this disease.

隐匿性板栗刺眼外伤导致坏死性巩膜炎3例

病例1患者男性,57岁。因左眼被板栗砸伤红痛20d后于2020年9月27日就诊于华中科技大学同济医学院附属同济医院眼科。患者右眼裸眼视力0.8,左眼0.4;右眼眼压18 mmHg(1 mmHg=0.133 kPa),左眼23 mmHg。左眼睑高度肿胀,球结膜弥漫性充血水肿,部分颞上方结膜脱出至睑裂外,压痛(+),角膜中央可见一根板栗刺扎入深层,伤口周围角膜水肿混浊,前房深度正常,房水闪辉(+),瞳孔不圆,直径约2.5 mm,瞳孔区见少许渗出,对光反射迟钝。

Toward a sustainable grassland ecosystem worldwide

Globally,grasslands,covering about 40%of the Earth’s land area,are vital for supporting important ecosystem functions,services,and livelihoods of millions of humans.Currently,grassland degradation is a major threat to the maintenance of ecological services,1 food security,and sustainable development,and directly hinders the global efforts with meeting goals and targets such as the The UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration and Sustainable Development Goals(SDGs).Remote sensing approaches have the advantages of spanning large geographical areas withmultiple spatial,spectral,and temporal resolutions.In global scale,remote sensing methods used normalized difference vegetation index to determine net primary productivity(NPP),which still is the effectivemethod to indicate grassland conditions.To master the general situation of grassland,we analyzed the global spatial-temporal variation of NPP from 2001 to 2019 at the pixel level across the globe.As presented in Figure 1A,the NPP values of global grasslands showed an obvious variation trend,which indicated a considerable distribution pattern of spatial heterogeneity.The decreasing and increasing trend in grassland NPP covered approximately 25.3%and 74.5%of the total grassland area,respectively.