Combination of Pre-Treatment DWI-Signal Intensity and S-1 Treatment: A Predictor of Survival in Patients with Locally Advanced Pancreatic Cancer Receiving Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy and Sequential S-1

OBJECTIVE: To identify whether the combination of pre-treatment radiological and clinical factors can predict the overall survival (OS) in patients with locally advanced pancreatic cancer (LAPC) treated with stereotactic body radiation and sequential S-1 (a prodrug of 5-FU combined with two modulators) therapy with improved accuracy compared with that of established clinical and radiologic risk models. METHODS: Patients admitted with LAPC underwent diffusion weighted imaging (DWI) scan at 3.0-T (b = 600 s/mm²). The mean signal intensity (SI_b = 600) of region-of-interest (ROI) was measured. The Log-rank test was done for tumor location, biliary stent, S-1, and other treatments and the Cox regression analysis was done to identify independent prognostic factors for OS. Prediction error curves (PEC) were used to assess potential errors in prediction of survival. The accuracy of prediction was evaluated by Integrated Brier Score (IBS) and C index. RESULTS: 41 patients were included in this study. The median OS was 11.7 months (2.8-23.23 months). The 1-year OS was 46%. Multivariate analysis showed that pre-treatment SI_b = 600 value and administration of S-1 were independent predictors for OS. The performance of pre-treatment SI_b = 600 and S-1 treatment in combination was better than that of SI_b = 600 or S-1 treatment alone. CONCLUSION: The combination of pre-treatment SI_b = 600 and S-1 treatment could predict the OS in patients with LAPC undergoing SBRT and sequential S-1 therapy with improved accuracy compared with that of established clinical and radiologic risk models.     

Seasonal Variation of Newly Notified Pulmonary Tuberculosis Cases from 2004 to 2013 in Wuhan,China

Background

Although there was a report about the seasonal variation in Wuhan city, it only analyzed the prevalence data of pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) cases, and just studied the seasonality by subgroup of smear positive and negative from 2006 to 2010 by spectral analysis. In this study, we investigated the seasonality of the total newly notified pulmonary TB cases by subgroups such as time period, sex, age, occupation, district, and sputum smear result from 2004 to 2013 in Wuhan by a popular seasonal adjustment model (TRAMO-SEATS).

Methods

Monthly pulmonary TB cases from 2004 to 2013 in Wuhan were analyzed by the TRAMO-SEATS seasonal adjustment program. Seasonal amplitude was calculated and compared within the subgroups.

Results

From 2004 to 2013, there were 77.76 thousand newly notified pulmonary TB cases in Wuhan, China. There was a dominant peak spring peak (March) with seasonal amplitude of 56.81% and a second summer peak (September) of 43.40%, compared with the trough month (December). The spring seasonal amplitude in 2004–2008 was higher than that of 2009–2013(P<0.05). There were no statistical differences for spring seasonal amplitude within subgroups of gender, age, district, and sputum smear result (P>0.05). However, there were significant differences in spring seasonal amplitude by occupation, with amplitude ranging from 59.37% to 113.22% (P<0.05). The summer seasonal amplitude in 2004–2008 was higher than that of 2009–2013(P<0.05). There were no statistical differences in summer seasonal amplitude within subgroups of gender, district, sputum smear result(P>0.05). There were significant differences in summer seasonal amplitude by age, with amplitude ranging from 36.05% to 100.09% (P<0.05). Also, there were significant differences in summer seasonal amplitude by occupation, with amplitude ranging from 43.40% to 109.88% (P<0.05).

Conclusions

There was an apparent seasonal variation in pulmonary TB cases in Wuhan. We speculated that spring peak in our study was most likely caused by the increased reactivation of the latent TB due to vitamin D deficiency and high PM2.5 concentration, while the summer peak was mainly resulted from the enhanced winter transmission due to indoor crowding in winter, overcrowding of public transportation over the period of the Spring Festival and health care seeking delay in winter.     

安徽产大戟属药用植物资源及其生物活性

对安徽产大戟属药用植物的资源状况及其生物活性进行了综述。安徽产大戟属药用植物约有9种,具有抗肿瘤、抗菌、抗氧化等生物活性,有些具有一定的毒性。     

Ni and Co Segregations on Selective Surface Facets and Rational Design of Layered Lithium Transition‐Metal Oxide Cathodes

The chemical processes occurring on the surface of cathode materials during battery cycling play a crucial role in determining battery's performance. However, the understanding of such surface chemistry is far from clear due to the complexity of redox chemistry during battery charge/discharge. Through intensive aberration corrected STEM investigation on ten layered oxide cathode materials, two important findings on the pristine oxides are reported. First, Ni and Co show strong plane selectivity when building up their respective surface segregation layers (SSLs). Specifically, Ni‐SSL is exclusively developed on (200)_m facet in Li–Mn‐rich oxides (monoclinic C2/m symmetry) and on (012)_h facet in Mn–Ni equally rich oxides (hexagonal R‐3m symmetry), while Co‐SSL has a strong preference to (20?2)_m plane with minimal Co‐SSL also developed on some other planes in Li–Mn‐rich cathodes. Structurally, Ni‐SSLs tend to form spinel‐like lattice while Co‐SSLs are in a rock‐salt‐like structure. Second, by increasing Ni concentration in these layered oxides, Ni and Co SSLs can be suppressed and even eliminated. The findings indicate that Ni and Co SSLs are tunable through controlling particle morphology and oxide composition, which opens up a new way for future rational design and synthesis of cathode materials.     

红薯对农田杂草群落及其多样性的影响

为了解红薯(Ipomoea batas)对农田杂草群落和生物多样性的影响, 作者研究了云南省东南部红河州建水县5种不同覆盖度红薯田的杂草种类、密度、重要值及多样性。结果表明, 5种红薯田共统计到25种杂草, 隶属18科。其中4种入侵植物藿香蓟(Ageratum conyzoides)、鬼针草(Bidens pilosa)、牛膝菊(Galinsoga parviflora)、牛筋草(Eleusine indica)和2种本地植物马齿苋(Portulaca oleracea)、马唐(Digitaria sanguinalis)的密度较高, 为红薯田杂草群落的优势物种。随红薯覆盖度增加, 杂草优势物种的密度和重要值显著降低(P<0.05), 然而2种本地物种打碗花(Calystegia hederacea)和早熟禾(Poa annua)密度却显著增加, 2种本地物种铁苋菜(Acalypha australis)和稗(Echinochloa crusgalli)重要值与红薯覆盖度成正相关(P<0.05)。红薯覆盖度为1-25%和26-50%时, 杂草群落的物种丰富度(23.5、24.5)、Simpson指数(0.89、0.85)、Shannon-Wiener指数(2.36、2.35)和Pielou均匀度指数(0.75、0.73)较高, 说明中低水平的红薯覆盖度有利于提高群落的物种多样性。可以推断, 红薯种植改变了农田杂草的群落结构, 有利于限制优势杂草和入侵杂草的发生危害, 中低水平的红薯覆盖度可作为一种有效的旱田替代化学除草剂的生态控草措施。     

Bacteria induce skin regeneration via IL-1β signaling

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