Multiple myeloma with cardiac amyloidosis and secondary adrenal cortical dysfunction: a case report

Multiple myeloma is a malignant proliferative disease of plasma cells, and some patients may develop systemic amyloidosis. Cardiac amyloidosis is a common cause of death in these patients. Secondary adrenal insufficiency is caused by dysfunction of the hypothalamus and/or the pituitary gland, and multiple myeloma cases combined with secondary adrenal cortical dysfunction have been rarely reported in China. The patient, 55-year-old, male, was admitted to the Emergency Department of Shenzhen Luohu People's Hospital on June 5, 2018 due to "repeated chest tightness and fatigue for 7 months, and fainting for 1 hour". Later, he was transferred to Department of Hematology and was diagnosed as having multiple myeloma (λ light chain type) with systemic amyloidosis through bone marrow puncture and other examinations. The first course regimen of chemotherapy was bortezomib, cyclophosphamide, and dexamethasone. After the course, the patient was infected with a mixture of bacteria and fungi in the lung and had improvement after treatment. Then the regimen was adjusted to bortezomib and dexamethasone from the second course. After the fourth course, the patient achieved complete remission of multiple myeloma. After the fifth course, the patient experienced severe pulmonary-mixed infection again, which was improved after treatment. Thereafter, the patient presented with refractory hypotension, and decreased levels of cortisol and adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH), which was diagnosed as secondary adrenal cortical dysfunction. Hydrocortisone replacement therapy was administered. After 9 courses of chemotherapy, the patient received maintenance treatment with ixazomib. Multiple myeloma was evaluated as a stringent complete response. Cardiac amyloidosis was evaluated as a very good partial response, and secondary adrenal cortical dysfunction was treated with hydrocortisone maintenance therapy and with the cortisol level in the normal range

Gossip Consensus Algorithm Based on Time-Varying Influence Factors and Weakly Connected Graph for Opinion Evolution in Social Networks

We provide a new gossip algorithm to investigate the problem of opinion consensus with the time-varying influence factors and weakly connected graph among multiple agents. What is more, we discuss not only the effect of the time-varying factors and the randomized topological structure but also the spread of misinformation and communication constrains described by probabilistic quantized communication in the social network. Under the underlying weakly connected graph, we first denote that all opinion states converge to a stochastic consensus almost surely; that is, our algorithm indeed achieves the consensus with probability one. Furthermore, our results show that the mean of all the opinion states converges to the average of the initial states when time-varying influence factors satisfy some conditions. Finally, we give a result about the square mean error between the dynamic opinion states and the benchmark without quantized communication

Effect of in vitro gastrointestinal digestion on the chemical composition and antioxidant properties of Ginkgo biloba leaves decoction and commercial capsules

In this study Ginkgo biloba leaves (GBL) decoction and commercial capsules were digested using an in vitro model. Thirty-six active compounds were identified and quantified by HPLC-ESI-MS analysis based on the MS/MS patterns (precursor ions and product ions) and retention times, in comparison with reference standards. Most compounds in GBL showed a significant decrease during intestinal digestion, with an exception of vanillic acid and biflavonoids. Bioaccessibility values of chemical compositions varied between decoction and capsules samples. Also, significant reductions of total flavonoids and total phenolic content was observed after in vitro digestion. Both, 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and 2,2′-azino-bis (3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid (ABTS) scavenging capacity decreased after gastric digestion, but increased during intestinal digestion. Nevertheless, different behaviour was observed in reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) assay. Compared to the pH of digestion, the influence of digestive enzymes on the chemical composition and antioxidant activity of GBL was relatively minor. Overall, these results may help provide a valid foundation for further investigations on bioactive compounds and the pharmacodynamics of GBL

A Collaborative Jamming Algorithm Based on Multi-UAV Scheduling

In this paper, we consider the problem of multi-unmanned aerial vehicles' scheduling for cooperative jamming, where UAVs equipped with directional antennas perform collaborative jamming tasks against several targets of interest. To ensure effective jamming towards the targets, we formulate it as an non-convex optimization problem, aiming to minimize the communication performance of the targets by jointly optimizing UAVs' deployment and directional antenna orientations. Due to the unique structure of the problem, we derive an equivalent transformation by introducing a set of auxiliary matrices. Subsequently, we propose an efficient iterative algorithm based on the alternating direction method of multipliers, which decomposes the problem into multiple tractable subproblems solved in closed-form or by gradient projection method. Extensive simulations validate the efficacy of the proposed algorithm

Potentials of neuron-specific enolase as a biomarker for gastric cancer

Purpose: To investigate the potentials of neuron-specific enolase (NSE) as a biomarker for gastric cancer (GC). Methods: Gastric cancer (GC) patients (n = 412) who underwent gastrectomy were recruited over a 3- year period for this study. Their clinicopathological data such as age, sex, histological type, depth, tumor invasion, lymph node metastasis, and distant metastasis were analyzed. The patients were followed up for four years and the outcomes were also assessed. Histological changes in biopsies and levels of expression of NSE in biopsies and serum of patients were determined using immunohistochemical staining, western blotting and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), respectively. Results: Immunohistochemical staining showed that NSE was differentially expressed in the cytoplasm of GC cells. Histological changes in biopsies of patients in the overexpression group were not significantly different from those of patients in under-expression group (p > 0.05). In NSE overexpression group, the number of patients in early stage GC subgroup (n = 186, 86.10 %, T1) were significantly higher than that in advanced GC subgroup (n = 124, 62.20 % T2–T4) (p < 0.05). However, in NSE under-expression group, there were more patients in advanced GC subgroup (n = 72, 37.70 %) than in early GC subgroup (n = 30, 13.80 %) (p < 0.05). Patients in NSE overexpression group survived longer than those in NSE under-expression group (p < 0.05). The level of expression of NSE significantly decreased with increase in TNM stage (p < 0.05). There was no significant difference in serum NSE level between GC patients and healthy control (p > 0.05). The results of the correlation analysis indicated that NSE levels were positively associated with GC. Conclusion: The results obtained in this study suggest that NSE could serve as a potential biomarker for GC. Keywords: Biomarker, Gastric cancer, Neuron-specific enolase, Overexpression, TNM stagin

Intracellular Detection of ATP Using an Aptamer Beacon Covalently Linked to Graphene Oxide Resisting Nonspecific Probe Displacement

This document is the Accepted Manuscript version of a Published Work that appeared in final form in Analytical Chemistry copyright © American Chemical Society after peer review and technical editing by publisher. To access the final edited and published work see Liu, Z., Chen, S., Liu, B., Wu, J., Zhou, Y., He, L., … Liu, J. (2014). Intracellular Detection of ATP Using an Aptamer Beacon Covalently Linked to Graphene Oxide Resisting Nonspecific Probe Displacement. Analytical Chemistry, 86(24), 12229–12235. https://doi.org/10.1021/ac503358mFluorescent aptamer probes physisorbed on graphene oxide (GO) have recently emerged as a useful sensing platform. A signal is generated by analyte-induced probe desorption. To address nonspecific probe displacement and the false positive signal, we herein report a covalently linked aptamer probe for adenosine triphosphate (ATP) detection. A fluorophore and amino dual modified aptamer was linked to the carboxyl group on GO with a coupling efficiency of ∼50%. The linearity, specificity, stability, and regeneration of the covalent sensor were systematically studied and compared to the physisorbed probe. Both sensors have similar sensitivity, but the covalent one is more resistant to nonspecific probe displacement by proteins. The covalent sensor has a dynamic range from 0.125 to 2 mM ATP in buffer at room temperature and is resistance to DNase I. Intracellular ATP imaging was demonstrated using the covalent sensor, which generated a higher fluorescence signal than the physisorbed sensor. After the cells were stimulated with 5 mM Ca2+ for ATP production, the intracellular signal enhanced by 31.8%. This work highlights the advantages of covalent aptamer sensors using GO as both a quencher and a delivery vehicle for intracellular metabolite detection.National Natural Science Foundation of China || Grant No. 81301258, 21301195 Hunan Provincial Natural Science Foundation of China || Grant No. 13JJ4029 Specialized Research Fund for the Doctoral Program of Higher Education of China || Grant No. 20130162120078 Postdoctoral Science Foundation of Central South University and China || Grant No. 124896 China Postdoctoral Science Foundation || Grant No. 2013M540644 International Postdoctoral Exchange Fellowship Program ||Grant No. 20140014 Shenghua Scholar Foundation || Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council |

Neutralizing the anticoagulant activity of ultra-low-molecular-weight heparins using N -acetylglucosamine 6-sulfatase

Heparin has been the most commonly used anticoagulant drug for nearly a century. The drug heparin is generally categorized into three forms according to its molecular weight (MW), unfractionated (UF, average MW 13,000), low molecular weight (LMW, average MW 5,000), and ultra-low molecular weight heparin (ULMWH, average MW 2,000). Overdose of anticoagulant heparin can lead to very dangerous bleeding in patients. Protamine sulfate can be administered as an antidote to reverse heparin’s anticoagulant effect. There is not an effective antidote for ULMWH. In the current study, we examine human N-acetylglucosamine 6-sulfatase (NG6S), expressed in Chinese hamster ovary cells as a reversal agent for ULMWH. NG6S removes a single 6-O-sulfo group at the non-reducing end of the ULMWH Arixtra® (fondaparinux) effectively removing its ability to bind to antithrombin and preventing its inhibition of coagulation factor Xa. These results pave the way to develop human NG6S as an antidote for neutralizing the anticoagulant activity of ULMWHs