Innate and adaptive immune escape mechanisms of hepatitis B virus

Chronic hepatitis B virus(HBV)infection is an international health problem with extremely high mortality and morbidity rates.Although current clinical chronic hepatitis B(CHB)treatment strategies can partly inhibit and eliminate HBV,viral breakthrough may result due to non-adherence to treatment,the emergence of viral resistance,and a long treatment cycle.Persistent CHB infection arises as a consequence of complex interactions between the virus and the host innate and adaptive immune systems.Therefore,understanding the immune escape mechanisms involved in persistent HBV infection is important for designing novel CHB treatment strategies to clear HBV and achieve long-lasting immune control.This review details the immunological and biological characteristics and escape mechanisms of HBV and the novel immune-based therapies that are currently used for treating HBV.

Microstructure and mechanical properties of a low activation cast WTaHfTiZr refractory high-entropy alloy

In the face of the requirement that nuclear fusion reactor materials exhibit more excellent thermal,mechanical and physical properties,a novel refractory highentropy alloy,WTaHfTiZr was proposed.The constituent elements were selected in consideration of low activation,high melting point and high thermostability.The alloys were prepared by arc melting.The as-cast alloy shows a dendrite microstructure with two disordered BCC phases,which caused by the preferential nucleation of W and Ta with much higher melting points during solidification.It exhibits a high compressive yield strength of 1,900 MPa and fracture strain of 8.1% at room temperature,and its yield strengths are up to 612 MPa at 700 ℃ and 203 MPa at 1,000 ℃,respectively.The high strengths are attributed mainly to solid solution strengthening and second phase strengthening.This alloy shows great promise as one of the next-generation nuclear fusion reactor materials.

Available Evidence of Association between Zika Virus and Microcephaly

Objective：To clarify the possible association between the Zika virus （ZIKV） and microcephaly and understand where we are in terms of research and the debate on the causation between mild maternal clinical features and severe fetal microcephaly.Data Sources：We did a comprehensive literature review with the keywords ＂zika＂ and/or ＂microcephaly＂ from inception to May 27,2016,with PubMed.Study Selection：Studies were included and analyzed if they met all of the following criteria：＂probable or confirmed infant microcephaly＂ and ＂probable or confirmed ZIKV infection among mothers or infants＂.Results：We emphasize the diagnosis of ZIKV infection,including maternal clinical manifestations,maternal and fetal laboratory confirmation,and possible autopsy if need.Other confounders that may lead to microcephaly should be excluded from the study.We presented the results from clinical manifestations of ZIKV infection,testing methods evolving but the mechanism of microcephaly uncertain,flexible definition challenging the diagnosis ofmicrocephaly,and limited causal reference on pregnant women.We made analog comparison of severe acute respiratory syndrome and chikungunya virus in terms of DNA mutation and global movement to provide further research recommendation.The chance of catch-up growth may decrease the number of pervious ＂diagnosed＂ microcephaly.Conclusions：There are some evidence available through mice models and direct isolation of ZIKV in affected pregnancies on kindly causal relationship but not convincible enough.We analyzed and presented the weakness or limitation of published reports with the desire to shed light to further study directions.

Innovative analysis of predictors for overall survival from systemic non-Hodgkin T cell lymphoma using quantile regression analysis

Background:Non-Hodgkin T/NK cell lymphoma is a rare and widely variable type of lymphoma with the most dismal prognosis. This study aimed to investigate varied impact of the clinical indicators to the overall survival (OS).Methods:We conducted a retrospective study to identify the non-invasive clinical features of T cell lymphoma that can predict prognosis with an innovative analysis method using quantile regression. A total of 183 patients who visited a top-tier hospital in Beijing, China, were enrolled from January 2006 to December 2015. Demographic information and main clinical indicators were collected including age, erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), survival status, and international prognostic index (IPI) score.Results:The median age of the patients at diagnosis was 45 years. Approximately 80% of patients were at an advanced stage, and the median survival time after diagnosis was 5.1 months. Multivariable analysis of the prognostic factors for inferior OS associated with advanced clinical staging [HR=3.16, 95%CI (1.39-7.2)], lower platelet count [HR=2.57, 95%CI (1.57-4.19), P<0.001] and higher IPI score [HR=1.29, 95%CI (1.01-1.66), P=0.043]. Meanwhile, T cell lymphoblastic lymphoma [HR=0.40, 95%CI (0.20-0.80), P=0.010], higher white blood cell counts [HR=0.57, 95%CI (0.34-0.96), P=0.033], higher serum albumin level [HR=0.6, 95%CI (0.37-0.97), P=0.039], and higher ESR [HR=0.53, 95%CI (0.33-0.87), P=0.011] were protective factors for OS when stratified by hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH). Multivariable quantile regression between the OS rate and each predictor at quartiles 0.25, 0.5, 0.75, and 0.95 showed that the coefficients of serum β2-microglobulin level and serum ESR were statistically significant in the middle of the coefficient curve (quartile 0.25-0.75). The coefficient of IPI was negatively associated with OS. The coefficients of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) and no clinical symptoms were higher at the middle of the quartile level curve but were not statistically significant.Conclusions:The IPI score is a comparatively robust indicator of prognosis at 3 quartiles, and serum ESR is stable at the middle 2 quartiles section when adjusted for HLH. Quantile regression can be used to observe detailed impacts of the predictors on OS.

Domain wall dynamics driven by a circularly polarized magnetic field in ferrimagnet:effect of Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction

In this work,we study the domain wall motion in ferrimagnet driven by a circularly polarized magnetic field using the collective coordinate theory and atomistic micromagnetic simulations,and we pay particular attention to the effect of Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction(DMI).Similar to the case of antiferromagnetic domain wall,ferrimagnetic wall moves at a speed which is linearly dependent on the DMI magnitude.In addition,it is revealed that the DMI plays a role in modulating the domain wall dynamics similar to that of the net spin density,which suggests another internal parameter for controlling domain wall in ferrimagnets.Moreover,the results show that the domain wall dynamics in ferrimagnets is much faster than that in ferromagnets,which confirms again the great potential of ferrimagnets in future spintronic applications.