Change of the peripheral blood immune pattern and its correlation with prognosis in patients with liver cancer treated by sorafenib

AbstractObjectiveTo study the change of the peripheral blood immune pattern and its correlation with prognosis in patients with liver cancer after treated by sorafenib.MethodsPatients with advanced liver cancer admitted in our hospital were enrolled and treated with sorafenib. After two months of the treatment, their peripheral blood was collected. The immune cell subset and cytokines level were determined by flow cytometry and luminex technology. According to the reaction expressed by patients towards sorafenib, patients were divided into the response group and the no response group. The changes of the peripheral blood immune pattern and its correlation with prognosis of patients in the two groups were compared.ResultsBefore and after treatment of sorafenib, there was no significant difference in the ratios of T cells, NK cells and their subtypes in peripheral blood of patients between the two groups; while after treatment the ratio of B cells and regulatory B cells (Breg) of patients in the response group was significant higher than that of the no response group (P < 0.05), and the prognosis conditions of patients with decreased ratio of Breg cells were better than other patients after undergoing chemotherapy. The levels of plasma cytokines IL-6, IL-10, IL-12, IL17, FIL-3L, IFN-γ, TNF-α, MCP-1 and VEGF showed no significant differences.ConclusionsAfter treatment of sorafenib, the prognosis conditions of patients of advanced liver cancer with a reduced Breg ratio are better than patients with an unaltered or increased Breg ratio. The ratio of Breg in peripheral blood may be considered as early biological indicator for the prediction of the curative effects of sorafenib

Ground Movement Analysis Based on Stochastic Medium Theory

In order to calculate the ground movement induced by displacement piles driven into horizontal layered strata, an axisymmetric model was built and then the vertical and horizontal ground movement functions were deduced using stochastic medium theory. Results show that the vertical ground movement obeys normal distribution function, while the horizontal ground movement is an exponential function. Utilizing field measured data, parameters of these functions can be obtained by back analysis, and an example was employed to verify this model. Result shows that stochastic medium theory is suitable for calculating the ground movement in pile driving, and there is no need to consider the constitutive model of soil or contact between pile and soil. This method is applicable in practice

The LAMOST Survey of Background Quasars in the Vicinity of the Andromeda and Triangulum Galaxies -- II. Results from the Commissioning Observations and the Pilot Surveys

We present new quasars discovered in the vicinity of the Andromeda and Triangulum galaxies with the LAMOST during the 2010 and 2011 observational seasons. Quasar candidates are selected based on the available SDSS, KPNO 4 m telescope, XSTPS optical, and WISE near infrared photometric data. We present 509 new quasars discovered in a stripe of ~135 sq. deg from M31 to M33 along the Giant Stellar Stream in the 2011 pilot survey datasets, and also 17 new quasars discovered in an area of ~100 sq. deg that covers the central region and the southeastern halo of M31 in the 2010 commissioning datasets. These 526 new quasars have i magnitudes ranging from 15.5 to 20.0, redshifts from 0.1 to 3.2. They represent a significant increase of the number of identified quasars in the vicinity of M31 and M33. There are now 26, 62 and 139 known quasars in this region of the sky with i magnitudes brighter than 17.0, 17.5 and 18.0 respectively, of which 5, 20 and 75 are newly-discovered. These bright quasars provide an invaluable collection with which to probe the kinematics and chemistry of the ISM/IGM in the Local Group of galaxies. A total of 93 quasars are now known with locations within 2.5 deg of M31, of which 73 are newly discovered. Tens of quasars are now known to be located behind the Giant Stellar Stream, and hundreds behind the extended halo and its associated substructures of M31. The much enlarged sample of known quasars in the vicinity of M31 and M33 can potentially be utilized to construct a perfect astrometric reference frame to measure the minute PMs of M31 and M33, along with the PMs of substructures associated with the Local Group of galaxies. Those PMs are some of the most fundamental properties of the Local Group.Comment: 26 pages, 6 figures, AJ accepte

Prognostic significance of the novel nutrition-inflammation marker of lymphocyte–C-reactive protein ratio in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma receiving concurrent chemoradiotherapy

BackgroundRecent studies indicate that the novel lymphocyte–C-reactive protein ratio (LCR) is strongly associated with the survival of various tumors, but its prognostic value in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is understudied. This study aimed to explore the relationship between LCR and overall survival (OS) in NPC and develop a predictive model.MethodsA total of 841 NPC patients who received concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CCRT) between January 2010 and December 2014 were retrospectively enrolled and randomly divided into a training cohort (n = 589) and a validation cohort (n = 252), and 122 patients between January 2015 and March 2015 were included as an additional validation cohort. Univariate and multivariate Cox analyses were performed to identify variables associated with OS and construct a predictive nomogram. The predictive accuracy of the nomogram was evaluated and independently validated.ResultsThe LCR score differentiated NPC patients into two groups with distinct prognoses (HR = 0.53; 95% CI: 0.32–0.89, P = 0.014). Multivariate analysis showed that age, T stage, N stage, EBV-DNA status, and LCR score were independently associated with OS, and a predictive nomogram was developed. The nomogram had a good performance for the prediction of OS [C-index = 0.770 (95% CI: 0.675–0.864)]. and outperformed the traditional staging system [C-index = 0.589 (95% CI: 0.385–0.792)]. The results were internally and additionally validated using independent cohorts.ConclusionThe pretreatment LCR could independently predict the overall survival in NPC patients. A novel LCR-based prognostic model of an easy-to-use nomogram was established, and it outperformed the conventional staging system in terms of predictive power. Further external verification remains necessary

Chronic Monoarthritis Pain Accelerates the Processes of Cognitive Impairment and Increases the NMDAR Subunits NR2B in CA3 of Hippocampus from 5-month-old Transgenic APP/PS1 Mice

Many factors impact cognitive impairment; however, the effects of chronic pain and the mechanisms underlying these effects on cognitive impairment are currently unknown. Here we tested the hypothesis that chronic pain accelerates the transition from normal cognition to mild cognitive impairment (MCI) in 5-month-old transgenic APP/PS1 mice, an animal model of Alzheimer’s disease (AD), and that neurotoxicity induced by N-methyl-D-aspartic acid receptor (NMDAR) subunits may be involved in this process. Chronic monoarthritis pain was induced in transgenic APP/PS1 mice and 5-month-old wild-type (WT) mice by intra- and pre-articular injections of Freund’s complete adjuvant (FCA) into one knee joint. Pain behavior, learning and memory function, and the distribution and quantity of NMDAR subunits (NR1, NR2A and NR2B) in hippocampal CA1 and CA3 regions were assessed. Our results showed that although persistent and robust monoarthritis pain was induced by the FCA injections, only the transgenic APP/PS1 mice with chronic monoarthritis pain exhibited marked learning and memory impairments. This result suggested that chronic monoarthritis pain accelerated the cognitive impairment process. Furthermore, only transgenic APP/PS1 mice with chronic monoarthritis pain exhibited an overexpression of NR2B and an increased NR2B/NR2A ratio in the hippocampus CA3. These findings suggest that chronic pain is a risk factor for cognitive impairment and that increased neurotoxicity associated with NMDAR subunit activation may underpin the impairment. Thus, NMDARs may be a therapeutic target for the prevention of chronic pain-induced cognitive impairment

How to design high quality acupuncture trials—a consensus informed by evidence

An international panel including patients, clinicians, researchers, acupuncture and surgery trialists, statisticians, and experts in clinical epidemiology and methodology have developed new guidance for randomised controlled trials in acupuncture. It addresses the most prevalent and critical concerns of current acupuncture trials and will help funding agencies, trial registers, and journal editors to evaluate the relevance, importance, and quality of submitted trial proposals and completed trial

A genetic variation map for chicken with 2.8 million single-nucleotide polymorphisms

We describe a genetic variation map for the chicken genome containing 2.8 million single-nucleotide polymorphisms ( SNPs). This map is based on a comparison of the sequences of three domestic chicken breeds ( a broiler, a layer and a Chinese silkie) with that of their wild ancestor, red jungle fowl. Subsequent experiments indicate that at least 90% of the variant sites are true SNPs, and at least 70% are common SNPs that segregate in many domestic breeds. Mean nucleotide diversity is about five SNPs per kilobase for almost every possible comparison between red jungle fowl and domestic lines, between two different domestic lines, and within domestic lines - in contrast to the notion that domestic animals are highly inbred relative to their wild ancestors. In fact, most of the SNPs originated before domestication, and there is little evidence of selective sweeps for adaptive alleles on length scales greater than 100 kilobases