Solitary pulmonary mass in a patient with a history of lymphoma: a case report

INTRODUCTION: With the progress made in treatments, the survival rate for patients with malignant lymphoma in the last 30 years has significantly improved. However, the risk of experiencing a second primary malignancy or other disease has increased significantly. CASE PRESENTATION: A 44-year-old Mongolian man with a large mass in his right lower abdomen was admitted to our hospital 15 years previously. The mass was removed, and confirmed via pathological examination to be a malignant B-cell lymphoma in the appendix and distal small bowel. Post-operative chemotherapy with standard cyclophosphamide, hydroxydaunomycin, vincristine (Oncovin®) and prednisolone regimen was given for six cycles. No obvious recurrence was detected over the following 12 years. Subsequently, a mass in the right lung was found on a regular X-ray follow-up; our patient did not report chills, fever or cough. Chest computed tomography and positron emission tomography scans confirmed the mass. A primary lung carcinoma was considered to be the most likely diagnosis. However, after an exploratory thoracotomy and right upper lobectomy was performed a pathological examination of tissue samples demonstrated a lung cryptococcal granuloma, with positive staining for periodic acid Schiff and periodic acid-silver metheramine. CONCLUSIONS: Compared to the normal population, second primary malignancy (in particular leukaemia and lung cancer) in patients with malignant lymphoma during their long-term survival has been seen occasionally. However, other diagnoses should also be considered such as pulmonary cryptococcosis. Other than computed-tomography-guided needle biopsy, surgery for some patients is a much more appropriate choice, which could also help attain correct diagnosis and treatment

In Situ Structure Characterization in Slot-Die-Printed All-Polymer Solar Cells with Efficiency Over 9%

Herein, high-performance printed all-polymer solar cells (all-PSCs) based on a bulk-heterojunction (BHJ) blend film are demonstrated using PTzBI as the donor and N2200 as the acceptor. A slot-die process is used to prepare the BHJ blend, which is a cost-effective, high-throughput approach to achieve large-area photovoltaic devices. The real-time crystallization of polymers in the film drying process is investigated by in situ grazing incidence wide-angle X-ray scattering characterization. Printing is found to significantly improve the crystallinity of the polymer blend in comparison with spin coating. Moreover, printing with 1,8-diiodooctane as the solvent additive enhances the polymer aggregation and crystallization during solvent evaporation, eventually leading to multi-length-scale phase separation, with PTzBI-rich domains in-between the N2200 crystalline fibers. This unique morphology achieved by printing fabrication results in an impressively high power conversion efficiency of 9.10%, which is the highest efficiency reported for printed all-PSCs. These findings provide important guidelines for controlling film drying dynamics for processing all-PSCs

(2R,4R)-3-(tert-But­oxy­carbon­yl)-2-(3-chloro­phen­yl)-1,3-thia­zolidine-4-carb­oxy­lic acid monohydrate

In the title compound, C15H18ClNO4S·H2O, the thia­zolidine ring displays a half-chair conformation. In the crystal, the water mol­ecules are linked to the organic acid mol­ecules via inter­molecular O—H⋯O hydrogen bonds

Long-Term Nucleos(t)ide Analogues Therapy for Adults With Chronic Hepatitis B reduces the Risk of Long-Term Complications: a meta-analysis

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The effect of antiviral therapy in chronic hepatitis B (CHB) on reducing the risk of long-term complications (LTCs) remains unclear so far. To study whether long-term nucleos(t)ide analogues therapy can reduce the risk of long-term complications.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We searched MEDLINE, EMBASE, OVID, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials. Relative risks (RRs) of long-term complications with or without treatment were studied. Also subgroup analyses including the status of drug-resistance, HBeAg and pre-existing compensated cirrhosis were done using relative risks of long-term complications either with or without treatment or among nucleos(t)ide analogues treatment groups.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Six eligible studies (3644 patients in all) were included. Data showed the incidence of long-term complications in treatment groups was induced by 74%(RR:0.26, 95% CI: 0.15-0.47) compared with no treatment. Whether drug-resistant happened or not during the long-term therapy, the incidence of long-term complications was still significantly induced respectively by 45%(RR: 0.55,95%CI:0.40-0.76) and 78% (RR:0.22, 95%CI: 0.13-0.36). For both different status of HBeAg and pre-existing compensated cirrhosis, there was significant lower incidence of long-term complications in treatment groups compared with no treatment, too. Moreover, among the NA treatment groups, patients with drug-resistance had 2.64 times (RR:2.64, 95%CI: 1.58-4.41) higher chance of developing to long-term complications, and patients with pre-existing compensated cirrhosis also had 3.07 times (RR:3.07, 95%CI: 1.04-9.11) higher chance of developing to long-term complications.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Long-term nucleos(t)ide analogue therapy for adults with CHB prevents or delays the development of long-term complications including decompensated cirrhosis, CHB-related death or CHB-related HCC in patients with CHB. The patients who need take antiviral drugs should receive the antiviral therapy as soon as possible.</p

Trends in Optical Nonlinearity and Thermal Stability in Electrooptic Chromophores Based upon the 3-(Dicyanomethylene)-2,3-dihydrobenzothiophene-1, 1-dioxide Acceptor

A series of new thiophene-bridged chromophores based on the powerful heterocyclic acceptor 3-(dicyanomethylene)-2,3-dihydrobenzothiophene-1,1-dioxide has been synthesized; the dependence of the linear and second-order nonlinear optical properties and thermal stability of these species upon the donor group and the bridging group have been studied. In addition, the synthesis of a related new acceptor, not containing the fused benzene ring, is described and a chromophore based upon this acceptor is studied

HCN2 channels in the ventral tegmental area regulate behavioral responses to chronic stress

Dopamine neurons in the ventral tegmental area (VTA) are powerful regulators of depression-related behavior. Dopamine neuron activity is altered in chronic stress-based models of depression, but the underlying mechanisms remain incompletely understood. Here, we show that mice subject to chronic mild unpredictable stress (CMS) exhibit anxiety- and depressive-like behavior, which was associated with decreased VTA dopamine neuron firing in vivo and ex vivo. Dopamine neuron firing is governed by voltage-gated ion channels, in particular hyperpolarization- activated cyclic nucleotide-gated (HCN) channels. Following CMS, HCN-mediated currents were decreased in nucleus accumbens-projecting VTA dopamine neurons. Furthermore, shRNA-mediated HCN2 knockdown in the VTA was sufficient to recapitulate CMS-induced depressive- and anxiety- like behavior in stress-naı ̈ve mice, whereas VTA HCN2 overexpression largely prevented CMS- induced behavioral deficits. Together, these results reveal a critical role for HCN2 in regulating VTA dopamine neuronal activity and depressive-related behaviors

Spectrum-effect relationships between high performance liquid chromatography fingerprint and analgesic property of Anisodus tanguticus (Maxim) Pascher (Solanaceae) roots

Purpose: To investigate the spectrum-effect relationships between high performance liquid chromatography with photodiode array detection (HPLC-DAD) fingerprint and analgesic activity of Anisodus tanguticus (Maxim.) Pascher (Solanaceae) (AT)  roots.Methods: Analgesic activity of AT roots was evaluated by acetic acid-induced writhing test in mice. Fingerprint of AT roots was established by HPLC-DAD. After oral administration of AT roots extract, intra-gastric contents of caffeoylputrescine, anisodine, fabiatrin, scopolin, scopolamine, anisodamine and atropine in mice were determined by HPLC-DAD. Spectrum-effect relationships between HPLCDAD fingerprint and analgesic activity were investigated using bivariate correlation analysis.Results: Following treatment with different batches of AT roots extract, acetic acid-induced writhing responses in mice were inhibited significantly (p &lt; 0.05 or 0.01), with inhibitions of 26.62 - 55.13 %, relative to the control group. Sixteen common peaks were obtained by fingerprint analysis. Peaks 1, 2, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 12 were identified as caffeoylputrescine, anisodine, fabiatrin, scopolin, scopolamine, anisodamine and atropine, respectively. Bivariate correlation analysis between analgesic activity of AT roots and 16 common peaks areas indicated the  contributions of 16 common peaks to analgesic activity of AT roots. Surprisingly, bivariate correlation analysis between analgesic activity of AT roots and intragastric contents of above-named 7 constituents revealed that the contributions of the 7 constituents to analgesic activity of AT roots were different from those based on their peak areas.Conclusion: This study provides scientific justification for the investigation of the active constituents of AT root with a view to its standardization.Keywords: Anisodus tanguticus root, Analgesic activity, HPLC-DAD fingerprint,  Bivariate correlation analysi