Synergistic effect of a combination of granulocyte macrophage colony-stimulating factor and thymosin α1 on Lewis lung cancer transplanted tumor in mice

Purpose: To study the synergistic effect of a combination of granulocyte-macrophage colonystimulating factor and thymosin-α1 on the treatment of Lewis lung cancer transplanted tumor.Methods: C57BL/6 mice were used. A mouse model of Lewis lung cancer was established using Lewis lung cancer cell lines. The mice were randomly divided into blank control group, polyene taxol (DTX) group, DTX thymosin α1 (Tα-1) group, and DTX granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) group, with 8 mice per group. The degree of tumor inhibition, thymus mass, thymus index, spleen mass, spleen index, IL-6, TNF-1, IFN-1, CD4+, CD8+ T cells and the ratio of CD4+/CD8+ were determined by ELISA and flow cytometry.Results: Body mass, thymus mass, thymus index, spleen mass, spleen index, IL-6, TNF-1, IFN-1, CD4+, CD8+ T cells and the ratio of CD4+/CD8+ in DTX + Tα-1 group, DTX + GM-CSF group and DTX + Tα-1 + GM-CSF group were significantly elevated (p < 0.05), relative to the corresponding levels in DTXmice (p < 0.05). Body mass, degree of tumor inhibition, thymus mass, thymus index, spleen mass, spleen index, IL-6, TNF-1, IFN-1, CD4, CD8 T cells and CD4+/CD8+ ratio in DTX + Tα-1 + GM-CSF mice were significantly elevated, relative to the DTX + Tα-1 and DTX + GM-CSF groups (p < 0.05). Thestate of the tumor was significantly improved in the DTX + Tα-1 and DTX + GM-CSF mice.Conclusion: A combination treatment of GM-CSF, Tα-1 and DEX effectively enhances the resistance of mice and suppresses chemotherapy-induced decrease in body weight. This finding may be of clinical significance. Keywords: Granulocyte macrophage, Colony-stimulating factor, Thymosin, Docetaxel, Lewis lung cancer, Transplanted tumo

Intrathoracic Endotracheal Metastasis from Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma: A First Case Report and Review of the Literature

Intrathoracic endotracheal metastasis from a very distant site is extremely rare. We report the first case of such a disease in a 68-year-old man with nasopharyngeal carcinoma who presented with a cough and hemoptysis 34 months after finishing radiotherapy. Prior to tracheal metastasis, he developed a solitary metastasis in the lung and underwent chemotherapy followed by radiotherapy. Computed tomography showed the presence of an enlarged lymph node in the para-aortic arch. Fiberoptic bronchoscopy revealed an endotracheal tumor 1 cm above the carina. Histological and immunohistochemical analyses confirmed its nasopharyngeal origin. He was treated with conventional radiotherapy and three-dimensional conformal radiotherapy; complete tumor remission was achieved. He died of nonmalignant disease with no signs of tumor recurrence 2 years after treatment completion. Radiotherapy may be an appropriate management approach to achieve long-term tumor control for this disease

Development and validation of a predictive nomogram for lower extremity deep vein thrombosis dislodgement in orthopedic patients

ObjectiveTo analyze the risk factors of lower extremity deep venous thrombosis (DVT) detachment in orthopedic patients, and to establish a risk nomogram prediction model.MethodsThe clinical data of 334 patients with orthopedic DVT admitted to the Third Hospital of Hebei Medical University from January 2020 to July 2021 were retrospectively analyzed. General statistics included gender, age, BMI, thrombus detachment, inferior vena cava filter window type, filter implantation time, medical history, trauma history, operation, use of tourniquet, thrombectomy, anesthesia mode, anesthesia grade, operative position, blood loss during operation, blood transfusion, immobilization, use of anticoagulants, thrombus side, thrombus range, D-dimer content before filter implantation and during removal of inferior vena cava filter. Logistic regression was used to perform univariate and multivariate analysis on the possible factors of thrombosis detachment, screen out independent risk factors, establish a risk nomogram prediction model by variables, and internally verify the predictability and accuracy of the model.ResultsBinary logistic regression analysis showed that Short time window filter (OR = 5.401, 95% CI = 2.338–12.478), lower extremity operation (OR = 3.565, 95% CI = 1.553–8.184), use of tourniquet (OR = 3.871, 95% CI = 1.733–8.651), non-strict immobilization (OR = 3.207, 95% CI = 1.387–7.413), non-standardized anticoagulation (OR = 4.406, 95% CI = 1.868–10.390), distal deep vein thrombosis (OR = 2.212, 95% CI = 1.047–4.671) were independent risk factors for lower extremity DVT detachment in orthopedic patients (P < 0.05). Based on these six factors, a prediction model for the risk of lower extremity DVT detachment in orthopedic patients was established, and the risk prediction ability of the model was verified. The C-index of the nomogram model was 0.870 (95% CI: 0.822–0.919). The results indicate that the risk nomogram model has good accuracy in predicting the loss of deep venous thrombosis in orthopedic patients.ConclusionThe nomogram risk prediction model based on six clinical factors, including filter window type, operation condition, tourniquet use, braking condition, anticoagulation condition, and thrombosis range, has good predictive performance

Frizzled-7 Identifies Platinum-Tolerant Ovarian Cancer Cells Susceptible to Ferroptosis

Defining traits of platinum-tolerant cancer cells could expose new treatment vulnerabilities. Here, new markers associated with platinum-tolerant cells and tumors were identified using in vitro and in vivo ovarian cancer (OC) models treated repetitively with carboplatin and validated in human specimens. Platinum-tolerant cells and tumors were enriched in ALDH(+) cells, formed more spheroids, and expressed increased levels of stemness-related transcription factors compared to parental cells. Additionally, platinum-tolerant cells and tumors exhibited expression of the Wnt receptor Frizzled 7 (FZD7). Knockdown of FZD7 improved sensitivity to platinum, decreased spheroid formation, and delayed tumor initiation. The molecular signature distinguishing FZD7(+) from FZD7(−) cells included epithelial-to-mesenchymal (EMT), stemness, and oxidative phosphorylation-enriched gene sets. Overexpression of FZD7 activated the oncogenic factor Tp63, driving upregulation of glutathione metabolism pathways, including glutathione peroxidase 4 (GPX4), which protected cells from chemotherapy-induced oxidative stress. FZD7(+) platinum-tolerant OC cells were more sensitive and underwent ferroptosis after treatment with GPX4 inhibitors. FZD7, Tp63, and glutathione metabolism gene sets were strongly correlated in the OC Tumor Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database and in residual human OC specimens after chemotherapy. These results support the existence of a platinum-tolerant cell population with partial cancer stem cell features, characterized by FZD7 expression and dependent on FZD7-β-catenin-Tp63-GPX4 pathway for survival. The findings reveal a novel therapeutic vulnerability of platinum-tolerant cancer cells and provide new insight into a potential “persister cancer cell” phenotype

Cell transcriptomic atlas of the non-human primate Macaca fascicularis.

Studying tissue composition and function in non-human primates (NHPs) is crucial to understand the nature of our own species. Here we present a large-scale cell transcriptomic atlas that encompasses over 1 million cells from 45 tissues of the adult NHP Macaca fascicularis. This dataset provides a vast annotated resource to study a species phylogenetically close to humans. To demonstrate the utility of the atlas, we have reconstructed the cell-cell interaction networks that drive Wnt signalling across the body, mapped the distribution of receptors and co-receptors for viruses causing human infectious diseases, and intersected our data with human genetic disease orthologues to establish potential clinical associations. Our M. fascicularis cell atlas constitutes an essential reference for future studies in humans and NHPs.We thank W. Liu and L. Xu from the Huazhen Laboratory Animal Breeding Centre for helping in the collection of monkey tissues, D. Zhu and H. Li from the Bioland Laboratory (Guangzhou Regenerative Medicine and Health Guangdong Laboratory) for technical help, G. Guo and H. Sun from Zhejiang University for providing HCL and MCA gene expression data matrices, G. Dong and C. Liu from BGI Research, and X. Zhang, P. Li and C. Qi from the Guangzhou Institutes of Biomedicine and Health for experimental advice or providing reagents. This work was supported by the Shenzhen Basic Research Project for Excellent Young Scholars (RCYX20200714114644191), Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Single-Cell Omics (ZDSYS20190902093613831), Shenzhen Bay Laboratory (SZBL2019062801012) and Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Genome Read and Write (2017B030301011). In addition, L.L. was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31900466), Y. Hou was supported by the Natural Science Foundation of Guangdong Province (2018A030313379) and M.A.E. was supported by a Changbai Mountain Scholar award (419020201252), the Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (XDA16030502), a Chinese Academy of Sciences–Japan Society for the Promotion of Science joint research project (GJHZ2093), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (92068106, U20A2015) and the Guangdong Basic and Applied Basic Research Foundation (2021B1515120075). M.L. was supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2021YFC2600200).S

Capacity Maximized Linear Precoder Design for Spatial-Multiplexing MIMO VLC Systems

© 2013 IEEE. This paper proposes a novel linear precoder design based on the singular value decomposition (SVD) for multi-input multi-output visible light communications (MIMO VLC). We provide an analytical expression on power allocation subject to the function of maximizing the lower bound of capacity according to the optical wireless communication channel model. The expression is rather different from the radio frequency (RF) communications due to the non-negativity of the transmitted signals in VLC. Furthermore, we design an adaptive bit loading scheme for sub-streams with consideration of the tremendous gain difference among subchannels. Performances of the proposed adaptive power and bits allocation strategy are evaluated in two traditional MIMO VLC scenarios, i.e., a practical 2× 2 indoor scenario and a classical 4×4 system that is generated according to the MIMO model. In simulations, the techniques of unipolar M-level pulse amplitude modulation (M-PAM) and spatial-multiplexing (SMP) are employed, and the performance comparison with other SVD-based linear precoders is also given. Simulation results show that the proposed approach can effectively improve the spectral efficiency and guarantee the bit error rate (BER) performance under the same constraints of aggregate optical power budget and non-negativity included by the intensity modulation. It indicates that the strategy of uneven bits and power allocation with full consideration of the ill-conditioned characteristics of subchannels performs better than that based on equal bits transmission in VLC systems

Chitooligosaccharide as A Possible Replacement for Sulfur Dioxide in Winemaking

Sulfur dioxide (SO2) has been used for centuries as a preservative in winemaking. However, the addition of SO2 is associated with allergic reactions and can negatively affect wine quality. In our work, chitooligosaccharide (COS) was applied as an alternative to SO2 in winemaking, and its antimicrobial activity during winemaking was investigated in comparison with the action of SO2. The optimal concentration of COS was identified as 500 mg/L. The antimicrobial effect of COS was evaluated using known and our own separated wine spoilage organisms. The antimicrobial effect of 500 mg/L COS was found to be comparable with that of 100 mg/L SO2. Furthermore, using 500 mg/L COS as an additive during winemaking did notinfluence the cell growth of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Therefore, COS can be used as an additive in winemaking

Impacts of Ce dopants on the hydrogen storage performance of Ti-Cr-V alloys

Vanadium-based alloys are considered to be one of the most promising hydrogen storage materials due to their high hydrogen storage capacity under ambient conditions. However, their complex activation at high temperature and poor stability pose serious challenges for large-scale applications. In this work, a series of TiCr3V16Cex (x = 0, 0.1, 0.2, 0.4, 1) hydrogen storage alloys were developed with different Ce contents using arc melting. The hydrogen storage and desorption performance, activation mechanism, and hydrogen ab-sorption mechanism of the prepared alloys were investigated. Physical characterization confirms that the alloy is body-centered cubic (BCC) with Ce dopants, which exist in the form of oxides. The pressure-composition-temperature (PCT) test showed that the hydrogen storage plateau pressure of the Ce-doped alloy is increased compared to the Ce-free counterparts, while the hydrogen storage capacity decreased slightly with increasing Ce content. In addition, the influence of Ce doping on the alloy kinetics and ther-modynamics is also discussed. The results showed that the TiCr3V16Cex (x = 0.2, 0.4, 1) alloys could absorb and release hydrogen at room temperature without activation. As an optimum, the TiCr3V16Ce0.2 alloy shows a hydrogen absorption rate of up to 3.69 wt%, and an effective hydrogen desorption capacity of 2.29 wt% at 25 degrees C. After hydrogen absorption and desorption cycles, the alloy almost maintains its original capacity. The Ce-doped BCC alloy developed in this work provides a new route to achieve high hydrogen storage performance under mild conditions.(c) 2022 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved