Surgical Treatment and Follow-up Results of Pituitary ACTH Microadenoma: 18 Years' Experience

ObjectiveTo review retrospectively our clinical experience with surgical treatment and follow-up of pituitary adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) microadenomas at Rui Jin Hospital of Shanghai Second Medical University.MethodsEighty-seven patients with ACTH microadenomas underwent surgery via the transsphenoidal approach. Preoperative computed tomography and/or magnetic resonance imaging revealed microadenomas in only 46 patients and was negative in the remaining 41 patients, which were classified as microadenoma grade 0. High-dose dexamethasone (Dx) suppression testing was positive in 86% of patients and low-dose Dx suppression testing was negative in all patients.ResultsHistological confirmation of ACTH microadenoma was made in all 87 cases, with a minimum tumour size of only 1 to 2 mm in diameter. The remission rate was 82% for grade I and 92% for grade 0 microadenomas during 2 to 18 years of follow-up.ConclusionsNeuroimaging studies have limited value in diagnosing ACTH grade 0 microadenoma. Clinical manifestation combined with positive Dx suppression testing is decisive in these circumstances. Surgical intervention could achieve a high relief rate for ACTH microadenomas, especially in grade 0 group

Alterations of dendritic cell subsets in the peripheral circulation of patients with cervical carcinoma

Patients with cervical carcinoma (CC) are frequently immunocompromised. Dendritic cells (DCs) are potent antigen-presenting cells. Using multicolor flow cytometry, the percentages of CD11c+ (DC1) and CD123+ (DC2) subsets, were determined in the peripheral blood of 37 patients with cervical carcinoma (CC), 54 patients with CIN, and 62 healthy individuals. A substantial reduction of circulating dendritic cells and accordingly immunodepression may be associated with increased IL-6 and TGF-β in serum. These findings could give expression to the immunosuppression of circulating dendritic cells in patients with CC and CIN, thus, may indicate novel aspects of cervical carcinoma immune evasion

Influence of Pre-bottleneck Diversion Devices on Pedestrian Flow

The existence of bottlenecks often leads to the stagnation of pedestrian gatherings, which seriously affects the efficiency of traffic and reduces the flow of pedestrians. Some studies have shown that setting devices in front of bottlenecks can promote pedestrian evacuation under certain conditions. In this paper, the effect of setting diversion devices in front of the exit on pedestrian flow is studied. From our observation, these diversion devices can form a buffer zone before the exit and affect pedestrian behaviors. The evacuation times are found to decrease as the devices became farther away from the exit. In our experiments, it is found that the effect of shunt piles on evacuation is better than in the case of safety barriers and without device conditions. Under the condition of setting up safety barriers approximately 1m and 3m in front of the exit, the evacuation times are extended by 0.88% and 2.67%. For shunt piles, the evacuation times are 11.53% and 14.96% shorter than that of those without a device regarding the different distances to exit (1m and 3m, respectively). In addition, setting up shunt piles reduces the time interval between two consecutive pedestrians. To sum up, in our experimental settings, the diversion devices can effectively improve the average speed ahead of the exit and promote evacuation to become more orderly, which reduces the congestion in the later period of evacuation. In other words, this study demonstrates that a reasonable layout of facilities can not only meet the daily functional requirements but also improve the efficient use of space in emergencies, reducing the probability of crowd conventions and jams

Genetic transformation of cotton with a harpin-encoding gene hpaXoo confers an enhanced defense response against different pathogens through a priming mechanism

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The soil-borne fungal pathogen <it>Verticillium dahliae </it>Kleb causes <it>Verticillium </it>wilt in a wide range of crops including cotton (<it>Gossypium hirsutum</it>). To date, most upland cotton varieties are susceptible to <it>V. dahliae </it>and the breeding for cotton varieties with the resistance to <it>Verticillium </it>wilt has not been successful.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Hpa1_Xoois a harpin protein from <it>Xanthomonas oryzae </it>pv. <it>oryzae </it>which induces the hypersensitive cell death in plants. When <it>hpa1</it>_{<it>Xoo </it>}was transformed into the susceptible cotton line Z35 through <it>Agrobacterium</it>-mediated transformation, the transgenic cotton line (T-34) with an improved resistance to <it>Verticillium dahliae </it>was obtained. Cells of the transgenic T-34, when mixed with the conidia suspension of <it>V. dahliae</it>, had a higher tolerance to <it>V. dahliae </it>compared to cells of untransformed Z35. Cells of T-34 were more viable 12 h after mixing with <it>V. dahliae </it>conidia suspension. Immunocytological analysis showed that Hpa1_Xoo, expressed in T-34, accumulated as clustered particles along the cell walls of T-34. In response to the infection caused by <it>V. dahliae</it>, the microscopic cell death and the generation of reactive oxygen intermediates were observed in leaves of T-34 and these responses were absent in leaves of Z35 inoculated with <it>V. dahliae</it>. Quantitative RT-PCR analysis indicated that five defense-related genes, <it>ghAOX1, hin1, npr1, ghdhg-OMT</it>, and <it>hsr203J</it>, were up-regulated in T-34 inoculated with <it>V. dahliae</it>. The up-regulations of these defense-relate genes were not observed or in a less extent in leaves of Z-35 after the inoculation.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Hpa1_Xooaccumulates along the cell walls of the transgenic T-34, where it triggers the generation of H₂O₂as an endogenous elicitor. T-34 is thus in a primed state, ready to protect the host from the pathogen. The results of this study suggest that the transformation of cotton with <it>hpa1</it>_{<it>Xoo </it>}could be an effective approach for the development of cotton varieties with the improved resistance against soil-borne pathogens.</p

Thermal transport properties of IrSbSe

We report a thermal transport study of IrSbSe, which crystallizes in a noncentrosymmetric cubic structure with the $P2_13$ space group and shows a narrow-gap semiconducting behavior. The large discrepancy between the activation energy for conductivity [$E_\rho$ = 128(2) meV] and for thermopower [$E_S$ = 17.7(9) meV] from 200 to 300 K indicates the polaronic transport mechanism. Electrical resistivity varies as $exp(T_0/T)^{1/4}$ and thermopower varies as $T^{1/2}$ at low temperatures, indicating that it evolves into the Mott's variable-range hopping dominant conduction with decreasing temperature. IrSbSe shows relatively low value of thermal conductivity ($\sim$ 1.65 W/K$\cdot$m) and thermopower of about 0.24 mV/K around 100 K, yet poor electrical conductivity. On the other hand, high vacancy defect concentration on both Ir and Sb atomic sites of up to 15\%, suggests high defect tolerance and points to possibility of future improvement of carrier density by chemical substitution or defect optimization