Area under the curve of methotrexate and creatinine clearance are outcome - determining factors in primary CNS lymphomas

Although high-dose methotrexate(HD-MTX)is the most effective drug against primary CNS lymphomas(PCNSL),outcome-de-termining variables related to its administration schedule have not been defined.The impact on toxicity and outcome of the area under thecurve(AUC(MTX)),dose intensity(DI(MTX))and infusion rate(IR(MTX))of MTX and plsamatic creatinine clearance(CL(crea))was investigated in a retrospective series of 45 PCNSL patients treated with three different HD-MTX-basedcombinations.Anticon-vulsants were administered in 31 pts(69%).Age>60 years,anticonvulsant therapy,slow IR(MTX)(

Lyme Borrelia as the etiological factor in three cases of primary inflammatory choriocapillaropathies

Citation： Jovanovic SV, Petrovic NT, Zivkovic MLJ, Toncic ZG, Sarenac Vulovic TS. Lyme Borrelia as the etiological factor in three cases of primary inflammatory choriocapillaropathies, lnt J Ophthalmo12017 ; 10（12）：1940-1944

Effects of Environmental Conditions and Aboveground Biomass on CO2 Budget in Phragmites australis Wetland of Jiaozhou Bay,China

Estuarial saline wetlands have been recognized as a vital role in CO_2 cycling.However,insufficient attention has been paid to estimating CO_2 fluxes from estuarial saline wetlands.In this study,the static chamber-gas chromatography(GC) method was used to quantify CO_2 budget of an estuarial saline reed(Phragmites australis) wetland in Jiaozhou Bay in Qingdao City of Shandong Province,China during the reed growing season(May to October) in 2014.The CO_2 budget study involved net ecosystem CO_2 exchange(NEE),ecosystem respiration(Reco) and gross primary production(GPP).Temporal variation in CO_2 budget and the impact of air/soil temperature,illumination intensity and aboveground biomass exerted on CO_2 budget were analyzed.Results indicated that the wetland was acting as a net sink of 1129.16 g/m^2 during the entire growing season.Moreover,the values of Reco and GPP were 1744.89 g/m^2 and 2874.05 g/m^2,respectively;the ratio of Reco and GPP was 0.61.Diurnal and monthly patterns of CO_2 budget varied significantly during the study period.Reco showed exponential relationships with air temperature and soil temperature at 5 cm,10 cm,20 cm depths,and soil temperature at 5 cm depth was the most crucial influence factor among them.Meanwhile,temperature sensitivity(Q10) of Reco was negatively correlated with soil temperature.Light and temperature exerted strong controls over NEE and GPP.Aboveground biomass over the whole growing season showed non-linear relationships with CO_2 budget,while those during the early and peak growing season showed significant linear relationships with CO_2 budget.This research provides valuable reference for CO_2 exchange in estuarial saline wetland ecosystem.

Responses of Grassland Net Primary Productivity to Environmental Variables in Northern China

Various environmental factors affect net primary productivity （NPP） of grassland ecosystem. Extensive reports on the effects of environmental variables on NPP can be found in literature. However, the agreement on the relative importance of various factors in shaping the spatial pattern of grassland NPP has not yet been reached. Here a grassland in situ NPP database comprising 602 samples in northern China for 1980-1999 was developed based on a literature review of published biomass and forage yield field measurements. Correlation analyses and dominance analysis were used to quantify the separate and combined effects of environmental variables （climate topography and soil） on spatial variation in NPP separately. Grassland NPP ranged from 4.76 g C m-2a-1 to 975.94gCm-2a-1, showing significant variations in space. NPP increased with annual precipitation and declined with annual mean temperature significantly. Specifically, precipitation had the greatest impact on deserts, followed by steppes and meadows. Grassland NPP decreased with increasing altitude because of water limitation, and positively correlated with slope, but weakly correlated with aspect. Soil quality showed positive effects on NPP. Annual precipitation was the dominant factor affecting the spatial variability of net primary productivity, followed by elevation.

Potentials for Saving Energy and CO_2-Emission Through the Use of EPM Technologies

The paper demonstrates how electromagnetic processing of materials(EPM)provides significant opportunities for saving primary energy and reducing carbon emissions in industrial thermal processes.Potentially electricity can replace up to 100%of other energy carriers currently used for process heat.For the time horizon from now to the year 2050 a transition scenario is developed and described.In this scenario the industrial processes are gradually switched from the actual situation to a situation with 100%electrically operated industrial processes.The developed scenarios take into account the most energy intensive industrial thermal processes,which could be replaced by electrothermal technologies and offer obviously the biggest future potential in terms of saving of primary energy and reducing of carbon emissions.As the average primary energy factor(PEF)gradually decreases from 2.5 currently,to 1 for a 100%renewable electricity system,the benefits of EPM will gradually increase.For each step in the development of the PEF the annual primary energy savings and annual reductions in greenhouse gas emissions are calculated and described in this paper.