Prognostic significance of circulating tumor cell measurement in the peripheral blood of patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma

Objective: Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma (NPC) is lethal cancer. Typically, relapse and metastasis are the outcomes of most patients. Against this backdrop, this study aimed to investigate the correlation between Circulating Tumor Cell (CTC) profiles and clinicopathological features in patients with NPC. Patients and methods: A total of 119 blood samples from 79 patients were collected from patients with NPC during treatment. CanPatrolTM CTC enrichment and RNA In Situ Hybridization (RNA-ISH) were used to characterize CTCs, including epithelial, Mesenchymal (MCTCs), and epithelial/mesenchymal mixed types according to their surface markers. Results: The number of CTCs and MCTCs in the pre-treatment group was significantly higher than that in the post-treatment group (p < 0.05). The total number of CTCs and MCTCs cell numbers was significant correlation with Tumor-Node-Metastasis (TNM) staging (p < 0.05), Progression-Free Survival (PFS), and Overall Survival (OS). The PFS of patients with > 7 CTCs or > 5 MCTCs per 5 mL blood was significantly shorter PFS than those patients with ≤ 7 CTCs or ≤ 5 MCTCs (p < 0.05). Patients treated with targeted therapy combined with chemoradiotherapy had poorer PFS and OS rates than those treated with chemoradiotherapy (p < 0.05). The Kaplan-Meier survival analysis also demonstrated that patients with changes in CTC > 4 were strongly associated with PFS and OS rates (p < 0.05). Conclusion: CTC and MCTC number detection in patients with NPC is a useful biomarker for predicting patient progress. Patients with more than 7 CTCs or 5 MCTCs in 5 mL of blood had shorter PFS and OS rates. CTC and MCTC count changes were also significantly associated with the patient's therapy

Identifying barriers to the care of the rheumatoid hand in China: comparing attitudes of rheumatologists and hand surgeons

AimIn China, hand surgeons treat fewer rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients compared to other countries. We investigated whether physician and surgeon knowledge, attitudes and practices regarding RA hand deformities reflect current evidence and may contribute to the low utilization of surgery.MethodWe surveyed hand surgeons and rheumatologists at three tertiary hospitals in Beijing, China. Questionnaires were developed from literature and expert review to assess their knowledge, attitudes and practice patterns related to rheumatoid hand surgery.ResultsThirtyâ five hand surgeons and 59 rheumatologists completed the survey. Roughly oneâ third felt that the rheumatologists and hand surgeons agree on how to manage RA hand deformities. Oneâ fifth of rheumatologists and 29% of hand surgeons believed that drug therapy can correct hand deformities, which contradicts current evidence. Likewise, 30% and 14%, respectively, recommended surgery for earlyâ stage hand sequelae that do not meet current indications for surgery. Over 80% of surgeons and rheumatologists had no exposure to the other specialty during training and felt their training on the treatment of rheumatoid hand deformities was inadequate.ConclusionAlthough we found similar interspeciality disagreement in China as is seen in the United States, there appears to be less interaction through training and consultations. Our results also indicate potential deficits in training and unawareness of evidence and indications for rheumatoid hand surgery. These findings help to explain why surgery for rheumatoid hand deformities is rare in China; doctors have fewer opportunities to collaborate across specialties and may not be able to select appropriate candidates for surgery.Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/147075/1/apl12971.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/147075/2/apl12971_am.pd

Fig. 2. Key 1H–1H in Spirostane saponins with a rearranged A/B ring system isolated from the rhizomes of Ophiopogon japonicus

Fig. 2. Key 1H–1H COSY (1–3) and HMBC (1–4) correlations.Published as part of Liu, Bo, Li, Bingxin, Chen, Gang, Pan, Yingni, Zhou, Di & Li, Ning, 2022, Spirostane saponins with a rearranged A/B ring system isolated from the rhizomes of Ophiopogon japonicus, pp. 1-9 in Phytochemistry (112975) 193 on page 3, DOI: 10.1016/j.phytochem.2021.112975, http://zenodo.org/record/819441

Retrieval of Sea Surface Wind Speeds from Gaofen-3 Full Polarimetric Data

In this paper, the sea surface wind speed (SSWS) retrieval from Gaofen-3 (GF-3) quad-polarization stripmap (QPS) data in vertical-vertical (VV), horizontal-horizontal (HH), and vertical-horizontal (VH) polarizations is investigated in detail based on 3170 scenes acquired from October 2016 to May 2018. The radiometric calibration factor of the VV polarization data is examined first. This calibration factor generally meets the requirement of SSWS retrieval accuracy with an absolute bias of less than 0.5 m/s but shows highly dispersed characteristics. These results lead to SSWS retrievals with a small bias of 0.18 m/s, but a rather high root mean square error (RMSE) of 2.36 m/s when compared with the ERA-Interim reanalysis model data. Two refitted polarization ratio (PR) models for the QPS HH polarization data are presented. Based on a combination of the incidence angle-dependent and azimuth angle-dependent PR model and CMOD5.N, the SSWS derived from the QPS HH data shows a bias of 0.07 m/s and an RMSE of 2.26 m/s relative to the ERA-Interim reanalysis model wind speed. A linear function relating SSWS and the normalized radar cross section (NRCS) of QPS VH data is derived. The SSWS data retrieved from the QPS VH data show good agreement with the WindSat SSWS data, with a bias of 0.1 m/s and an RMSE of 2.02 m/s. We also apply the linear function to the GF-3 Wide ScanSAR data acquired for the typhoon SOULIK, which yields very good agreement with the model results. A comparison of SSWS retrievals among three different polarization datasets is also presented. The current study and our previous work demonstrate that the general accuracy of the SSWS retrieval based on GF-3 QPS data has an absolute bias of less than 0.3 m/s and an RMSE of 2.0 ± 0.2 m/s relative to various datasets. Further improvement will depend on dedicated radiometric calibration efforts

Hypoxia-inducible factor-1α and interleukin 33 form a regulatory circuit to perpetuate the inflammation in rheumatoid arthritis.

Hyperplasia of synovial fibroblasts, infiltration with inflammatory cytokines, and tissue hypoxia are the major characteristics of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Interleukin 33 (IL-33) is a newly identified inflammatory cytokine exacerbating the disease severity of RA. Hypoxia-inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α) showed increased expression in RA synovium and could regulate a number of inflammatory cytokine productions. Nevertheless, its correlation with IL-33 remains largely unknown. Here, we showed that elevated levels of IL-33 were demonstrated in RA patient synovial fluids, with upregulated expression of HIF-1α and IL-33 in the synovial fibroblasts. Knocking down HIF-1α compromised IL-33 expression in rheumatoid arthritis synovial fibroblasts (RASF), while enforcing HIF-1α expression in RASF substantially upregulated IL-33 levels. HIF-1α promoted the activation of the signalling pathways controlling IL-33 production, particularly the p38 and ERK pathways. Moreover, we showed for the first time that IL-33 in turn could induce more HIF-1α expression in RASF, thus forming a HIF-1α/IL-33 regulatory circuit that would perpetuate the inflammatory process in RA. Targeting this pathological pathway and HIF-1α may provide new therapeutic strategies for overcoming the persistent and chronic inflammatory disease

Multipurpose Research from a Native Woody Oil Plant <i>Xanthoceras sorbifolia</i> in China

Xanthoceras sorbifolia Bunge, an indigenous oilseed tree from China, is a major woody energy plant that has been used for biodiesel production for a long time. In the past decade, X. sorbifolia has become a hot research topic due to its diverse bioactivities, which include improving learning and memory deficits, killing sperm, stabilizing capillaries, lowering cholesterol, and rheumatism. This review aims to analyze a comprehensive appraisal of X. sorbifolia, including its history, traditional uses, biological activities, food value, economic value, and current applications, and provide instruction for promoting the multipurpose utilization of X. sorbifolia