Case report: A rare case of synchronous mucinous neoplasms of the renal pelvis and the appendix

BackgroundMucinous neoplasms are tumors arising in the epithelial tissue, characterized by excessive mucin secretion. They mainly emerge in the digestive system and rarely in the urinary system. They also seldom develop in the renal pelvis and the appendix asynchronously or simultaneously. The concurrence of this disease in these two regions has not yet been reported. In this case report, we discuss the diagnosis and treatment of synchronous mucinous neoplasms of the right renal pelvis and the appendix. The mucinous neoplasm of the renal pelvis was preoperatively misdiagnosed as pyonephrosis caused by renal stones, and the patient underwent laparoscopic nephrectomy. Herein, we summarize our experience with this rare case in combination with related literature.Case presentationIn this case, A 64‐year‐old female was admitted to our hospital with persistent pain in the right lower back for over a year. Computer tomography urography (CTU) showed that the patient was confirmed as right kidney stone with large hydronephrosis or pyonephrosis, and appendiceal mucinous neoplasm (AMN). Subsequently, the patient was transferred to the gastrointestinal surgery department. Simultaneously, electronic colonoscopy with biopsy suggested AMN. Open appendectomy plus abdominal exploration was performed after obtaining informed consent. Postoperative pathology indicated low-grade AMN (LAMN) and the incisal margin of the appendix was negative. The patient was re‐admitted to the urology department, and underwent laparoscopic right nephrectomy because she was misdiagnosed with calculi and pyonephrosis of the right kidney according to the indistinctive clinical symptoms, standard examination of the gelatinous material, and imaging findings. Postoperative pathology suggested a high‐grade mucinous neoplasm of the renal pelvis and mucin residing partly in the interstitium of the cyst walls. Good follow-up results were obtained for 14 months.ConclusionSynchronous mucinous neoplasms of the renal pelvis and the appendix are indeed uncommon and have not yet been reported. Primary renal mucinous adenocarcinoma is very rare, metastasis from other organs should be first considered, especially in patients with long-term chronic inflammation, hydronephrosis, pyonephrosis, and renal stones, otherwise, misdiagnosis and treatment delay may occur. Hence, for patients with rare diseases, strict adherence to treatment principles and close follow‐up are necessary to achieve favorable outcomes

Case Report: A MiT family translocation renal cell carcinoma in the renal pelvis, calyces and upper ureter misdiagnosed as upper tract urothelial carcinoma

BackgroundUpper tract urothelial carcinoma (UTUC) is the most common urothelial malignancy in the renal pelvis or ureter. Renal pelvic carcinoma accounts for 90% of all tumours in the renal pelvis, so the mass in the renal pelvis is usually considered a UTUC. Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) in the renal pelvis, calyces and upper ureter is extremely rare, especially MiT family translocation RCC, which makes this case even more uncommon.Case presentationWe report the case of a 54-year-old man had intermittent painless gross haematuria with occasional blood clots and urodynia for 2 years. Contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan showed an enlarged left kidney, and a soft tissue mass was seen in the renal pelvis, calyces and upper ureter. The patient’s urine-based cytology was positive three times. Due to the severity of the upper ureteral lumen stenosis, we did not perform pathological biopsy during ureteroscopy. In the current case, clinical symptoms, imaging examinations, urine-based cytology, and ureteroscopy were combined to obtain a preoperative diagnosis of UTUC. Therefore, robot-assisted laparoscopic left radical nephroureterectomy and retroperitoneal lymphadenectomy were performed. Unexpectedly, the patient was pathologically diagnosed with MiT family translocation RCC after surgery. The surgery was uneventful. There was no intestinal tube injury or other complications perioperatively. The postoperative follow-up was satisfactory.ConclusionMiT family translocation RCC in the renal pelvis, calyces and upper ureter is extremely rare, and can be easily confused with UTUC, resulting in the expansion of surgical scope. Preoperative ureteroscopy and biopsy or tumour punch biopsy should be used to obtain accurate pathology as far as possible, and the selection of correct surgical method is conducive to a good prognosis for patients

Preparation, structure and antimicrobial properties of modified gelatin composite hydrogel from chicken, bovine and porcine lung

In this paper, the reaction process parameters of the hydrogel produced by the modified gelatin from chicken, bovine and porcine lungs with carboxymethyl chitosan (CMCS) and oxidized glucomannan (OKGM) were optimized to produce Schiff base reaction. The results showed the properties of the three composite hydrogels are improved when the value of gelatin/CMCS/OKGM reached 1:2:2. The best modified gelatin/CMCS/OKGM of bovine lung composite hydrogel (COBH) had a gelatin strength of 8.14 N, a swelling rate of 257%, a water evaporation rate of 66.86%, and an antibacterial property of 38.02%. The properties of modified gelatin/CMCS/OKGM of chicken lung composite hydrogel (COCH) were similar to those of COBH. However, the water holding capacity of COCH was higher than that of COBH. The properties of the modified gelatin/CMCS/OKGM for porcine lung composite hydrogel (COPH) were significantly decreased over those of the other two. Therefore, COCH has potential applications in food coating and preservation

Uncovering lupus nephritis-specific genes and the potential of TNFRSF17-targeted immunotherapy: a high-throughput sequencing study

IntroductionLupus nephritis (LN) is a severe manifestation of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). This study aimed to identify LN specific-genes and potential therapeutic targets.MethodsWe performed high-throughput transcriptome sequencing on peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from LN patients. Healthy individuals and SLE patients without LN were used as controls. To validate the sequencing results, qRT-PCR was performed for 5 upregulated and 5 downregulated genes. Furthermore, the effect of the TNFRSF17-targeting drug IBI379 on patient plasma cells and B cells was evaluated by flow cytometry.ResultsOur analysis identified 1493 and 205 differential genes in the LN group compared to the control and SLE without LN groups respectively, with 70 genes common to both sets, marking them as LN-specific. These LN-specific genes were significantly enriched in the ‘regulation of biological quality’ GO term and the cell cycle pathway. Notably, several genes including TNFRSF17 were significantly overexpressed in the kidneys of both LN patients and NZB/W mice. TNFRSF17 levels correlated positively with urinary protein levels, and negatively with complement C3 and C4 levels in LN patients. The TNFRSF17-targeting drug IBI379 effectively induced apoptosis in patient plasma cells without significantly affecting B cells.DiscussionOur findings suggest that TNFRSF17 could serve as a potential therapeutic target for LN. Moreover, IBI379 is presented as a promising treatment option for LN

Leaf size of woody dicots predicts ecosystem primary productivity

A key challenge in ecology is to understand the relationships between organismal traits and ecosystem processes. Here, with a novel dataset of leaf length and width for 10 480 woody dicots in China and 2374 in North America, we show that the variation in community mean leaf size is highly correlated with the variation in climate and ecosystem primary productivity, independent of plant life form. These relationships likely reflect how natural selection modifies leaf size across varying climates in conjunction with how climate influences canopy total leaf area. We find that the leaf size–primary productivity functions based on the Chinese dataset can predict productivity in North America and vice-versa. In addition to advancing understanding of the relationship between a climate-driven trait and ecosystem functioning, our findings suggest that leaf size can also be a promising tool in palaeoecology for scaling from fossil leaves to palaeo-primary productivity of woody ecosystems

Involved-field irradiation or elective-nodal irradiation in neoadjuvant chemo-radiotherapy for locally-advanced esophageal cancer: comprehensive analysis for dosimetry, treatment-related complications, impact on lymphocyte, patterns of failure and survival

PurposeTo compare the differences between involved-field irradiation (IFI) and elective nodal irradiation (ENI) in selecting the optimal target area for neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (nCRT) in patients with locally advanced esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (LA-ESCC).Materials and methodsWe retrospectively analyzed 267 patients with LA-ESCC, of whom 165 underwent ENI and 102 underwent IFI. Dosimetry, treatment-related complications, pathological responses, recurrence/metastasis patterns, and survival were compared between the two groups.ResultsThe median follow-up duration was 27.9 months. The R0 resection rates in the IFI and ENI groups were 95.1% and 92.7%, respectively (p=0.441), while the pathological complete response (pCR) rates were 42.2% and 34.5%, respectively (p=0.12). The ENI group received higher radiation doses to the heart (HV30:23.9% vs. 18%, p=0.033) and lungs (LV30:7.7% vs. 4.9%, p<0.001) than the IFI group. Consequently, the ENI group showed a higher incidence of grade 2 or higher radiation pneumonitis (30.3% vs. 17.6%, p=0.004) and pericardial effusion (26.7% vs. 11.8%, p=0.021) than the IFI group. Post-operation fistulas were observed in 3 (2.9%) and 17 cases (10.3%) in the IFI and ENI groups, respectively (p=0.026). In the multivariate analysis, smoking, positive lymph node involvement (pN+), and anastomotic fistula were independent predictors of overall survival (OS). The pN+ patients exhibited a greater propensity for recurrence compared to pN- patients, especially in the first year of follow-up (6.67% vs. 0.56%, p=0.003).ConclusionThe ENI group had a higher incidence of radiation-induced adverse events compared to the IFI group, likely due to the higher radiation doses to normal tissues. Considering the similar disease-free survival (DFS) and OS rates in the two groups, IFI may be suitable for nCRT in patients with LA-ESCC, although further prospective studies are warranted

YhjX Regulates the Growth of Escherichia coli in the Presence of a Subinhibitory Concentration of Gentamicin and Mediates the Adaptive Resistance to Gentamicin

The mechanisms of adaptive resistance of Escherichia coli to aminoglycosides remain unclear. Our RNA-Seq study found that expression of yhjX was markedly upregulated during initial exposure to subinhibitory concentrations of gentamicin. The expression of yhjX was then downregulated dramatically during a second exposure to gentamicin compared to the first exposure. YhjX encodes a putative transporter of the major facilitator superfamily, which is known to be the sole target of the YpdA/YpdB two-component system, the expression of which is highly and specifically induced by pyruvate. To investigate the effect of yhjX on the adaptive resistance of E. coli, in the present study, we constructed yhjX deletion and complemented strains of E. coli ATCC25922. Changes in extracellular pyruvate levels of wide-type and yhjX mutant were measured to determine whether YhjX functions as a pyruvate transporter. The results showed that yhjX deletion improved the growth of E. coli in medium containing subinhibitory concentrations of gentamicin. The yhjX deletion mutant did not exhibit adaptive resistance to subinhibitory concentrations of gentamicin. YhjX might not function as a pyruvate efflux pump in E. coli but was associated with the decrease following a sharp increase in the extracellular pyruvate level. Our findings indicate that yhjX regulates the growth of E. coli in the presence of a subinhibitory concentration of gentamicin and mediates the adaptive resistance to gentamicin

Anti-resonance features of destructive quantum interference in single-molecule thiophene junctions achieved by electrochemical gating

基于单个有机分子来构筑电子器件为电子器件微型化提供潜在技术方案。本研究发展了可集成电化学门控的单分子电子器件测试芯片技术和科学仪器方法，在实验和理论两个层面对具有相消量子干涉效应的噻吩衍生物分子器件的电输运过程进行了电化学调控研究，从而首次在室温下实现了对单分子电子器件中量子干涉效应的反共振现象的直接观测和调控，为制备基于量子干涉效应的新型分子材料和器件提供了全新的设计思路和策略。该研究充分展示了电化学调控技术在信息材料和器件领域的重要应用潜力，也体现了我校固体表面物理化学国家重点实验室在电化学研究和科学仪器研发领域的技术积累，以及面向科学前沿开展交叉学科探索的研究特色。 该研究工作是在洪文晶教授、上海电力大学陈文博教授、英国兰卡斯特大学Colin Lambert教授指导下完成的。化学化工学院博士生白杰和李晓慧为论文的共同第一作者，刘俊扬副研究员、师佳副教授、研究生唐永翔、刘帅、黄晓娟、谭志冰和萨本栋微纳研究院的杨杨副教授等也参与了研究工作。田中群教授和毛秉伟教授为该工作提供了重要指导。【Abstract】Controlling the electrical conductance and in particular the occurrence of quantum interference in single-molecule junctions through gating effects, has potential for the realization of high-performance functional molecular devices. In this work, we used an electrochemically-gated, mechanically-controllable break junction technique to tune the electronic behaviour of thiophene-based molecular junctions that show destructive quantum interference (DQI) features. By varying the voltage applied to the electrochemical gate at room temperature, we reached a conductance minimum that provides direct evidence of charge transport controlled by an anti-resonance arising from DQI. Our molecular system enables conductance tuning close to two orders of magnitude within the non-faradaic potential region, which is significantly higher than that achieved with molecules not showing DQI. Our experimental results, interpreted using quantum transport theory, demonstrate that electrochemical gating is a promising strategy for obtaining improved in-situ control over the electrical performance of interference-based molecular devices.This research was supported by the National Key R&D Program of China (2017YFA0204902), National Natural Science Foundation of China (21722305, 21673195, 21503179, 21703188), the Program for Professor of Special Appointment (Eastern Scholar) at Shanghai Institutions of Higher Learning, Natural Science Foundation of Shanghai (17ZR1447100), Science and Technology Commission of Shanghai Municipality (14DZ2261000), China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (2017M622060) for funding work in Xiamen. It was also supported by EU Horizon 2020 project QuIET under grant agreement no. 767187EC FP7 ITN ‘MOLESCO’ project no. 606728 and UK EPSRC grants EP/N017188/1 and EP/M014452/1 and Leverhulme Trust (Leverhulme Early Career Fellowships no. ECF-2017-186 and ECF-2018-375) for funding instrumentation used in Lancaster. It was also supported by Hungarian and Czech Academies of Sciences (P2015-107) and Hungarian Research Foundation (OTKA 112034) for funding instrumentation used in Hungary. The authors thank Z.-Q. Tian and B.-W. Mao, Xiamen University, for useful discussions. 该工作获得科技部国家重点研发计划课题（2017YFA0204902），国家自然科学基金委优秀青年科学基金等项目（21722305、21673195、21703188、21503179）以及中国博士后科学基金（2017M622060）等项目的资助，也得到了固体表面物理化学国家重点实验室、能源材料化学协同创新中心的支持

Anti-resonance features of destructive quantum interference in single-molecule thiophene junctions achieved by electrochemical gating

Controlling the electrical conductance and in particular the occurrence of quantum interference in single-molecule junctions through gating effects has potential for the realization of high-performance functional molecular devices. In this work we used an electrochemically gated, mechanically controllable break junction technique to tune the electronic behaviour of thiophene-based molecular junctions that show destructive quantum interference features. By varying the voltage applied to the electrochemical gate at room temperature, we reached a conductance minimum that provides direct evidence of charge transport controlled by an anti-resonance arising from destructive quantum interference. Our molecular system enables conductance tuning close to two orders of magnitude within the non-faradaic potential region, which is significantly higher than that achieved with molecules not showing destructive quantum interference. Our experimental results, interpreted using quantum transport theory, demonstrate that electrochemical gating is a promising strategy for obtaining improved in situ control over the electrical performance of interference-based molecular devices. © 2019, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited