Objective:To compare the adjuvant chemotherapy project and survival prognosis of patients with stage Ⅱ/Ⅲ colon cancer in different age groups.Methods:In this retrospective study, the clinical data of 770 colon cancer patients undergoing radical resection were collected in the First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University from Jan 2013 to Dec 2017. Patients were categorized into 3 groups based on age at onset of colon cancer: young group (18-49 years old, 112 cases), middle-aged group (50-64 years old, 351 cases) and older group (65-75 years old, 307 cases).Results:The young group had fewer complications, and the probability of cancer deposit, vascular tumor thrombus and nerve invasion was lower than the middle-aged and older group (12.5% vs. 15.4% vs. 14.3%; 7.1% vs. 9.4% vs. 8.5%; 2.7% vs .8.8% vs. 5.5%), but the probability of signet-ring cell carcinoma and mucinous adenocarcinoma was higher (5.4% vs. 1.4% vs. 1.6%; 14.3% vs. 11.4% vs. 13.4%), the proportion of patients with stage Ⅲ was greater (49.1% vs. 45.0% vs. 47.2%), and they were more willing to receive postoperative chemotherapy (83.9% vs. 81.8% vs. 60.3%). Among patients with stage Ⅱ and Ⅲ colon cancer, the young group and the middle-aged group were 3-4 times more likely to receive adjuvant chemotherapy than the elderly group [ OR=4.153 (95% CI:1.964-8.785), 2.906 (95% CI:1.845-4.579), 3.120 (95% CI:1.310-7.429), 3.588 (95% CI: 1.964-6.556)]. Of those patients who received chemotherapy, young and middle-aged patients had a higher percentage of multiagent regimen use than older patients [ OR=2.050 (95% CI:0.937-4.488), 2.750 (95% CI:1.536-4.923)]. Among patients treated with surgery alone, no significant differences were observed in survival among age groups. Among patients who received surgery and adjuvant chemotherapy, a significantly better survival was observed for young and middle-aged patients with stage Ⅲ [ HR=0.284 (95% CI:0.127-0.632), 0.521 (95% CI:0.333-0.816)] than their older counterparts. Conclusions:Among patients with stage Ⅱ/Ⅲ colon cancer, young and middle-aged patients are more likely to undergo adjuvant chemotherapy and use more radical chemotherapy regimen. Young and middle-aged patients with stage Ⅱ colon cancer had overuse of chemotherapy, but did not result in expected survival improvement.

Transcatheter intervention for congenital heart disease has been developed for 40 years in China, it has experienced the transition of learning to self-dependent innovation, and witnessed the intervention therapy system starting from scratch and gradually reaching the top level and gaining high achievements in the world scale. With the continuous development of interventional technology and devices, cutting-edge ideas and viewpoints are constantly discussed. This review summarized the development of intervention techniques and devices, hoping to provide some experience for the further development of transcatheter interventions for congenial heart disease.

Posttranslational modifications(PTMs)of proteins,particularly acetylation,phosphory-lation,and ubiquitination,play critical roles in the host innate immune response.PTMs'dynamic changes and the crosstalk among them are complicated.To build a comprehensive dynamic net-work of inflammation-related proteins,we integrated data from the whole-cell proteome(WCP),acetylome,phosphoproteome,and ubiquitinome of human and mouse macrophages.Our datasets of acetylation,phosphorylation,and ubiquitination sites helped identify PTM crosstalk within and across proteins involved in the inflammatory response.Stimulation of macrophages by lipopolysac-charide(LPS)resulted in both degradative and non-degradative ubiquitination.Moreover,this study contributes to the interpretation of the roles of known inflammatory molecules and the dis-covery of novel inflammatory proteins.

Objective To investigate the value of magnetic resonance imaging-proton density fat fraction (MRI-PDFF) and FibroScan in the quantitative evaluation of liver fat content in patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB). Methods A total of 96 patients with CHB who were hospitalized in Department of Hepatology, The Second Clinical Medical College of Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, from February 2017 to July 2020 were enrolled, and all patients were diagnosed based on liver pathological examination. MRI-PDFF and FibroScan were performed before surgery. According to the results of liver biopsy, the patients were divided into non-fatty liver disease group with 44 patients, mild fatty liver disease group with 33 patients, and moderate-to-severe fatty liver disease group with 19 patients. A one-way analysis of variance was used for comparison of normally distributed continuous data between multiple groups, and the least significant difference t -test was used for further comparison between two groups; the Kruskal-Wallis H test was used for comparison of non-normally distributed continuous data between multiple groups, and the Mann-Whitney U test was used for further comparison between two groups; Bonferroni correction was also performed. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was plotted to analyze the area under the ROC curve (AUC) of hepatic fat fraction (HFF) and controllable attenuation parameters (CAP) in the diagnosis of fatty liver disease and obtain their sensitivities, specificities, and optimal cut-off values. The intraclass correlation coefficient was used to investigate the consistency of MRI-PDFF data. Results The moderate-to-severe fatty liver disease group had a significant increase in MRI-PDFF HFF compared with the non-fatty liver disease group and the mild fatty liver disease group (all P < 0.05), and the mild fatty liver disease group had a significant increase in MRI-PDFF HFF compared with the non-fatty liver disease group( P < 0.05). The moderate-to-severe fatty liver disease group had a significant increase in FibroScan CAP compared with the non-fatty liver disease group and the mild fatty liver disease group (all P < 0.05), and the mild fatty liver disease group had a significant increase in FibroScan CAP compared with the non-fatty liver disease group ( P < 0.05). In the diagnosis of mild fatty liver disease, MRI-PDFF HFF had an AUC of 0.901 ( P < 0.001), a sensitivity of 90.9%, and a specificity of 82.7% at the optimal cut-off value of 5.1%, and in the diagnosis of moderate-to-severe fatty liver disease, MRI-PDFF HFF had an AUC of 0.972 ( P < 0.001), a sensitivity of 96.1%, and a specificity of 89.5% at the optimal cut-off value of 9.7%. In the diagnosis of mild fatty liver disease, FibroScan CAP had an AUC of 0.829 ( P < 0.001), a sensitivity of 77.3%, and a specificity of 78.8% at the optimal cut-off value of 258.5 dB/m, and in the diagnosis of moderate-to-severe fatty liver disease, FibroScan CAP had an AUC of 0.830 ( P < 0.001), a sensitivity of 76.6%, and a specificity of 78.9% at the optimal cut-off value of 285.5 dB/m. Conclusion Both MRI-PDFF and FibroScan can objectively evaluate the degree of fatty liver disease in patients with CHB. MRI-PDFF HFF and FibroScan CAP can be used as noninvasive markers for the quantitative analysis of CHB with hepatic steatosis, and MRI-PDFF HFF tends to have higher diagnostic efficiency.

Autoimmune diseases (ADs) increase the risk of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and contribute to poor prognosis of patients. However, the association between immunologic markers and clinical outcome has rarely been investigated. This study aims to analyze the prognostic value of pretreatment immunologic markers in newly diagnosed patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL). We retrospectively reviewed the data on 502 patients with DLBCL treated in our institution from January 2013 to March 2018. Survival functions were estimated using Kaplan-Meier method and Cox regression model. The 3-year progression free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) rates were 70.2% and 80.9%, respectively, and the complete remission (CR) rate was 78.1%. Among the patients, those with multiple ( ⩾ 3) abnormal immunologic markers had significantly shorter 3-year PFS (52.7% vs. 77.3%, P < 0.001) and OS (68.5% vs. 85.8%, P = 0.001) than those without multiple abnormal immunologic markers. Multivariate analysis revealed that the presence of multiple abnormal immunologic markers and the elevated serum levels of lactate dehydrogenase were the independent adverse prognostic factors for PFS (P = 0.008, P < 0.001) and OS (P = 0.003, P < 0.001). Meanwhile, advanced Ann Arbor stage was an independent adverse prognostic factor for PFS (P = 0.001) and age > 60 years for OS (P = 0.014). In conclusion, the immunologic status was closely related to lymphoma progression, and this study provides new insights into the risk stratification of patients with DLBCL.
Adult ; Aged ; Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols ; therapeutic use ; Biomarkers ; China ; Disease Progression ; Female ; Humans ; Immunotherapy ; methods ; Lymphoma, Large B-Cell, Diffuse ; mortality ; therapy ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Multivariate Analysis ; Prognosis ; Retrospective Studies ; Survival Analysis ; Survival Rate ; Young Adult

Objective: To evaluate the value of non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT) in pregnancies with anomaly in prenatal screening. Methods: This was a retrospective study of 2 837 singleton pregnancies who performed NIPT indicated by isolated anomaly in prenatal screening at Guangdong Women and Children Hospital between November 2014 and August 2016. All pregnancies were divided into 3 groups by single indication: advanced maternal age ( AMA, ≥35), abnormal multiples of the median (MoM) in standard screening, increased nuchal translucency thickness (NT, 2.5-3.0 mm). High risk results were verified by prenatal diagnosis. Low risk cases were followed by a 22-26 week anatomical ultrasound examination. All of the cases were followed up and the performance of NIPT for every single indication was evaluated. Results: There were total of 2 837 pregnant women who underwent NIPT. Twenty-five of 2 448 pregnancies indicated by AMA had high risk results, among which 17 were confirmed by invasive genetic testing, except 1 case rejecting prenatal diagnosis. In 351 pregnant women with abnormal MoM, NIPT found 3 cases of sex chromosome aneuploidies (SCA) and 2 of them were validated by invasive prenatal diagnosis. Increased NT group included 38 cases, NIPT found 1 case of trisomy 21 which was consistent with karyotype analysis. For common aneuploidies and SCA, the performance of NIPT in the pregnant women who indicated by AMA, abnormal MoM and increased NT were as the follows: the sensitivity were 17/17, 2/2 and 1/1 respectively, the specificity were 99.7% (2 423/2 431), 99.7% (348/349) and 100%(37/37), the positive predictive value were 68% (17/25), 2/3 and 1/1, the negative predictive value were 100% (2 423/2 423), 100% (348/348) and 100% (38/38), respectively. By follow-up survey, a total of 8 cases of abnormal fetus were recorded in NIPT low-risk women, including 5 cases of termination of pregnancy due to abnormal ultrasound findings, 2 cases of abortion as a result of severe obstetric complications and 1 case of stillbirth. Conclusions To the pregnant women who indicated by advanced maternal age, abnormal MoM and increased NT (2.5-3.0 mm), NIPT had satisfactory performance for common aneuploidies, and also had potential value for SCA, resulting in a significant reduction in diagnostic procedures. However, for NIPT low-risk pregnancies, routine antenatal examination and anatomical ultrasound detection would be highly necessary to avoid missing abnormal fetuses.(Chin J Lab Med, 2018, 41: 509-513)

Various genetic switches have been developed to let engineered cells perform designed functions. However, a sustained input is often needed to maintain the on/off state, which is energy-consuming and sensitive to perturbation. Therefore, we developed a set of transcriptional switches for cell states control that were constructed by the inversion effect of site-specific recombinases on terminators. Such a switch could respond to a pulse signal and maintain the new state by itself until the next input. With a bottom-up design principle, we first characterized the terminators and recombinases. Then the mutual interference was studied to select compatible pairs, which were used to achieve one-time and two-time state transitions. Finally, we constructed a biological seven-segment display as a demonstration to prove such switch's immense potential for application.
Recombinases ; metabolism

OBJECTIVETo study resistance evolution pathway of HIV-1 CRF_BC under drug selection pressure, and compare with B subtype.

METHODSBased on the reverse transcriptase region of CRF_ 97BC HIV-1 from 588 treatment-naive and 274 treatment patients, selection pressure based method was used to select resistance-associated mutations, and Bayesian network was used to construct the resistance evolutionary pathway under antiretroviral therapy. Meanwhile, it was constructed that the resistance evolutionary pathway for B subtype with the same regimens using the data from HIV resistance database, and made a comparison with CRF_07BC.

RESULTSThe major resistance mutations for CRF_07BC were identified including K103N, Q197K, V179D and Y188L. While for B subtype, the major resistance mutations include M184V, K103N,Y181C, T69N,G190A, K238T,Y188H and P225H. Much difference was observed between these two classes. However, the classical TMA1 (41L, 210W and 215Y) and TMA2 (67N, 70R and 219E/Q) pathways exist in both pathways. As different from B subtype, the predicted major drug resistance mutations for CRF_07BC did not contain TAM-related mutations, and nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor-related mutations and non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor-related mutations were mutually depending on each other.

CONCLUSIONHIV-1 CRF_07BC showed distinctive resistance evolutionary pathway, the mutations K103N,Q197K,V179D and Y188L were the major resistance mutations, and different resistance evolutionary pathways were observed between HIV-1 CRF_07BC and B subtype.

Anti-HIV Agents ; pharmacology ; Bayes Theorem ; Drug Resistance, Viral ; genetics ; Evolution, Molecular ; HIV-1 ; drug effects ; enzymology ; genetics ; Humans ; Mutation ; RNA-Directed DNA Polymerase ; genetics

Objective To study whether preoperative serum thyrotropin ( TSH) concentration can be used for risk prediction of papillary thyroid microcarcinoma ( PTMC ) . Methods The cohort of this retrospective study consisted of 1 707 patients who underwent surgery on thyroid nodules at Chinese PLA General Hospital from October 1999toFebruary2011. 37.32%(n=637)ofthesepatientssufferedfromdifferentiatedthyroidcancer(DTC),and 14. 18%(n=242) of patients with DTC suffered from PTMC. Results (1) The mean TSH level in patients with DTC was significantly higher than that in patients with benign thyroid nodules [(1. 99(1. 25-3. 19) vs 1. 48 (0. 85-2. 32) mU/L, P<0. 01]. DTC with diameter greater than 10 mm had higher serum TSH level compared with that in benign thyroid nodules[2. 04(1. 26-3. 36) vs 1. 45(0. 83-2. 30), P<0. 01]. Serum TSH level was not significantly raised in cases where-as the diameter of tumor was 10 mm or less. (2) With the increasing level of TSH, the prevalence of DTC and tumours with diameter greater than 10 mm rose significantly, but the increasing trend was not significant in PTMC. (3) Raised TSH level was an independent risk factor of DTC based on Binary logistic regression. Conclusions Serum TSH is an independent risk predictor of DTC, it is an independent risk predictor of the diameter of DTC greater than 10 mm, but it is not a good risk predictor in PTMC.

Thirty cases of pituitary stalk interruption syndrome were divided into normal height (group 1) and short stature (group 2).There was no significant difference in growth hormone or insulin-like growth factor-Ⅰ levels between two groups(P＞0.05).Expected height and body mass index in group 1 were higher than those in group 2,while testosterone,cortisol,and FT4 were lower.Height were positively correlated with age,expected height,birth weight,and body mass index.The height of patients with pituitary stalk interruption syndrome depended on both genetic factors and the hormones from pituitary-target gland.