Objective To study the chemical constituents of the South China Sea black coral Amtipathes dichotoma. Methods Compounds were isolated and purified by repeated column chromatography on silica gel and their structures were identified by spectral analyses and compared with literatures. Results Ten compounds were obtained from A. dichotoma and characterized as stigma-7,22-dien-3?,5?,6?-triol (Ⅰ),5,8-epidioxycampesta-6,22-dien-3-ol (Ⅱ),cholesterol (Ⅲ),(2S,3R,4E,8E)-2-N-(2'-hydroxyhexadecanoyl) hexadecasphinga-4,8-diene (Ⅳ),(2S,3R,4E)-2-N-(2'-hydroxytetracosanoyl) octadecasphinga-4-ene (Ⅴ),batyl alcohol (Ⅵ),thymine (Ⅶ),thymidine (Ⅷ),uracil (Ⅸ),and guanine (Ⅹ). Conclusion All compounds are obtained from Amtipathes dichotoma. for the first time.

In this article, an acetone-enhanced negative photoionization (AENP) source based on a 10. 6 eV vacuum ultraviolet ( VUV) lamp was developed and coupled to a home-made time-of-flight mass spectrometer for rapid detection of trace explosives. In the AENP source, acetone molecules absorbed 10. 6 eV photons and were ionized by single photon ionization to emit photoelectrons. The photoelectrons reacted with O2 , CO2 , etc. in the atmosphere to produce mainly CO-3 negative reactant ions. With this ionization source, common explosives, N-nitrobiz ( 2-hyolorolroxy ethyl )-amine dinitrate ( DINA ) , Tetryl, trinitrotoluene ( TNT ) and hexahydro-1,3,5-trinitro-1,3,5-triazine (RDX), could be detected sensitively, and the limit of detection of 2 pg ( TNT) with a linear range of 3 orders of magnitude was achieved. The simple structure, high sensitivity characteristics make the AENP source as a promising ionization source for mass spectrometry.

OBJECTIVE: To observe the expression of EphA2, and investigate its correlation with the development, progression, invasion, metastasis, angiogenesis and prognosis in nasopharyngeal carcinoma(NPC). METHOD: Immunohistochemical staining was used to determine the expression level of EphA2 protein in 61 cases NPC and 20 cases chronic nasopharyngitis samples. The clinically pathological data and results of follow-up were collected. Microvessel density (MVD) was also measured by immunohistochemical staining method with CD34 in NPC. RESULT: The positive rate of EphA2 protein staining in NPC was 60.66% (37/61), while that in nasopharyngitis samples was 10.0% (2/20). The positive rates of EphA2 protein in NPC were 27.27% (3/11) in stage I, 56.25% (9/16) in stage II, 68.19% (15/22) in stage III, and 83.33% (10/12) in stage IV. The positive expressions of EphA2 in T1 + T2 and T3 + T4 with neck lymph node and distant metastasis were 58.33% (7/12) and 88.89% (16/18) respectively, while those in T1 +T2 and T3 + T4 without metastasis were 31.25% (5/16) and 50.00% (6/12) respectively. The cumulative survival of patients in the EphA2 positive group at 5 years was only 0.324 (12/37), while 0.500 (12/24) in the EphA2 negative group. The positive expression of EphA2 protein was correlated with the clinical stage, the neck lymph node metastasis and distant metastasis, and prognosis of NPC, respectively (P < 0.05). MVD in EphA2 protein positive group (45.32 +/- 4.91) was significantly higher than that in EphA2 protein negative group (28.69 +/- 3.99, P < 0.01). CONCLUSION EphA2 may play an important role in the development and progression of NPC. It is closely associated with the invasion, metastasis, angiogenesis and prognosis of NPC.
Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Carcinoma ; Female ; Humans ; Lymphatic Metastasis ; Male ; Microvessels ; Middle Aged ; Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma ; Nasopharyngeal Neoplasms ; blood supply ; metabolism ; pathology ; Neoplasm Staging ; Neovascularization, Pathologic ; pathology ; Prognosis ; Receptor, EphA2 ; metabolism ; Young Adult