Postoperative serum squamous cell carcinoma antigen and carcinoembryonic antigen predict overall survival in surgical patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma

BackgroundTumor markers are routinely used in clinical practice. However, for resectable patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC), they are applied infrequently as their prognostic significance is incompletely understood.MethodsThis historical cohort study included 2769 patients with resected ESCC from 2011 to 2018 in a high-risk area in northern China. Their clinical data were extracted from the Electronic Medical Record. Survival analysis of eight common tumor markers was performed with multivariable Cox proportional hazards regressions.ResultsWith a median follow-up of 39.5 months, 901 deaths occurred. Among the eight target markers, elevated postoperative serum SCC (Squamous cell carcinoma antigen) and CEA (Carcinoembryonic antigen) predicted poor overall survival (SCC HRadjusted: 2.67, 95% CI: 1.70-4.17; CEA HRadjusted: 2.36, 95% CI: 1.14-4.86). In contrast, preoperative levels were not significantly associated with survival. Stratified analysis also demonstrated poorer survival in seropositive groups of postoperative SCC and CEA within each TNM stage. The above associations were generally robust using different quantiles of concentrations above the upper limit of the clinical normal range as alternative cutoffs. Regarding temporal trends of serum levels, SCC and CEA were similar. Their concentrations fell rapidly after surgery and thereafter remained relatively stable.ConclusionPostoperative serum SCC and CEA levels predict the overall survival of ESCC surgical patients. More importance should be attached to the use of these markers in clinical applications

Promote cohesive solid flow in a screw feeder with new screw designs

Screw feeders are widely used in industries to transfer granular materials at relatively precise rates. Often, granular materials can have a certain level of cohesiveness which can significantly affect the transport among other factors. The critical mechanism that can stop granular flow is the formation of bridge or arching. In this work, novel screw designs are proposed to promote cohesive solid flows in a screw feeder. First, through a numerical model based on the discrete element method, it is demonstrated that the new designs are effective. Then, the underlying mechanism is analyzed both macroscopically in terms of particle flow pattern, velocity field and the motion of screw and microscopically in terms of temporal and spatial variations of contact force between particles. It is revealed that the new screw designs can induce a bulk perturbation to the granular material in the bin in addition to the existing local perturbation by the screw blade. Thus, the formation of bridge can be deterred, and the cohesive solid flow is promoted. It is suggested that such designs could also be effective to non-cohesive granular materials. Further study should be conducted to optimize the designs

Multiwater Index Synergistic Monitoring of Typical Wetland Water Bodies in the Arid Regions of West-Central Ningxia over 30 Years

The Shapotou National Nature Reserve in the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region is a typical arid region in China. There is an exceptionally serious problem of surface water resource conservation, and dynamic monitoring of surface water with the help of water indices can help to elucidate its change patterns and impact mechanisms. Here, we analysed the characteristics of interannual variation in surface water area in the study area from 1992–2021. The correlation coefficients of the surface water area in the previous year and the contemporaneous water bodies of the Yellow River with the total surface water area (TSWA) were calculated. The results show the following: ① In terms of the classification accuracy of the two methods, water indices and support vector machine classification, water indices are more suitable for water body extraction in the study area. In particular, the three water indices, NDWI, MNDWI and AWEIsh, were more effective, with average overall accuracies of 90.38%, 90.33% and 90.36% over the 30-year period, respectively. ② From the TSWA extraction results from the last 30 years, the TSWA showed an increasing trend with an increase of 368.28 hm2. Among the areas, Tenggeli Lake contributed the most to the increase in TSWA. ③ The highest correlation between the TSWA and the previous year’s TSWA was 0.89, indicating that the better way to protect the water body is to maintain water surface stability year-round. The surface water area of the Yellow River and TSWA also showed a strong correlation, indicating that the rational use of Yellow River water is also an important direction for the future conservation of water resources in the study area

Proteomic analysis of prolactinoma cells by immuno-laser capture microdissection combined with online two-dimensional nano-scale liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry

Abstract Background Pituitary adenomas, the third most common intracranial tumor, comprise nearly 16.7% of intracranial neoplasm and 25%-44% of pituitary adenomas are prolactinomas. Prolactinoma represents a complex heterogeneous mixture of cells including prolactin (PRL), endothelial cells, fibroblasts, and other stromal cells, making it difficult to dissect the molecular and cellular mechanisms of prolactin cells in pituitary tumorigenesis through high-throughout-omics analysis. Our newly developed immuno-laser capture microdissection (LCM) method would permit rapid and reliable procurement of prolactin cells from this heterogeneous tissue. Thus, prolactin cell specific molecular events involved in pituitary tumorigenesis and cell signaling can be approached by proteomic analysis. Results Proteins from immuno-LCM captured prolactin cells were digested; resulting peptides were separated by two dimensional-nanoscale liquid chromatography (2D-nanoLC/MS) and characterized by tandem mass spectrometry. All MS/MS spectrums were analyzed by SEQUEST against the human International Protein Index database and a specific prolactinoma proteome consisting of 2243 proteins was identified. This collection of identified proteins by far represents the largest and the most comprehensive database of proteome for prolactinoma. Category analysis of the proteome revealed a widely unbiased access to various proteins with diverse functional characteristics. Conclusions This manuscript described a more comprehensive proteomic profile of prolactinomas compared to other previous published reports. Thanks to the application of immuno-LCM combined with online two-dimensional nano-scale liquid chromatography here permitted identification of more proteins and, to our best knowledge, generated the largest prolactinoma proteome. This enlarged proteome would contribute significantly to further understanding of prolactinoma tumorigenesis which is crucial to the management of prolactinomas.</p

Vascular Risk Factors, Imaging, and Outcomes in Transient Ischemic Attack/Ischemic Stroke Patients with Neuroimaging Evidence of Probable/Possible Cerebral Amyloid Angiopathy

Background. In TIA/ischemic stroke patients, the clinical significance of lobar microbleeds potentially indicating cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA) is unknown. We assessed vascular risk factors and outcomes, including cognition, in TIA/ischemic stroke patients with neuroimaging evidence of probable/possible CAA. Methods. This prospective cohort was conducted from August 2015 and January 2018 at 40 centers. 2625 participants were collected. Eligible participants were aged at least 55 years. Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) score is less than or equal to 26. A total of 1620 patients were included. 1604 (99.0%) and 1582 (97.7%) participants are followed up at 3 and 12 months. The primary outcomes were death or disability (mRS score, 3-6) and Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) at 3 months and 12 months. Demographic and vascular risk factors were measured at baseline (smoking, alcohol, diabetes, atrial fibrillation, hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, coronary artery disease, ischemic stroke, and transient ischemic attack). Blood samples were collected within 24 hours of admission. MRI was recommended for all patients. MoCA score was evaluated at baseline and follow-up. Results. In total, 291/1620 patients with ischemic stroke/TIA (32.7% female and mean age, 67.8 years) had neuroimaging evidence of probable/possible CAA. Higher age, history of hypertension, atrial fibrillation, ischemic stroke, alcohol, and high glucose at the admission were more common in the patients. Mean MoCA changed from 21.4 at 3 months (SD 5.2) to 22.3 at 12 months (SD 4.7), difference 0.3 (SD 3.8). At the 3-month and 12-month follow-up, there were significant differences in age, education level, and sex among different cognitive groups. Higher age, lower education (less than high school), and female sex were the predictors of changing in MoCA score from 3 months to 12 months. Moreover, age (more than 66 years) and education (less than high school) are strongly associated with MoCA at 3- and 12-month follow-up. 30 of 286 (10.5%) and 37 of 281 (13.2%) patients had poor outcome of death or disability (modified Rankin Scale score, 3-6) at follow-up 3 and 12 months. Cortical superficial siderosis (cSS) was associated with higher mRS at follow-up. cSS status, cSS count 1-2, cSS strictly lobar, and strictly deep might be the risks of outcomes in adjusted analyses. Conclusion. This study suggested that an increasing number of vascular risk factors and imaging markers were significantly associated with outcomes of TIA/ischemic stroke patients with CAA pattern. Male, young patients with high education should get better cognitive recovery