Advances in medical treatment for pancreatic neuroendocrine neoplasms.

Pancreatic neuroendocrine neoplasms (PanNENs) are rare neoplasms with strong heterogeneity that have experienced an increasing incidence rate in recent years. For patients with locally advanced or distant metastatic PanNENs, systemic treatment options vary due to the different differentiations, grades and stages. The available options for systemic therapy include somatostatin analogs, mole-cularly targeted agents, cytotoxic chemotherapeutic agents, immune checkpoint inhibitors, and peptide receptor radionuclide therapy.

Clinicopathological characteristics and prognosis of 232 patients with poorly differentiated gastric neuroendocrine neoplasms.

Background: Poorly differentiated gastric neuroendocrine neoplasms (PDGNENs) include gastric neuroendocrine carcinoma (NEC) and mixed adenoneuroendocrine carcinoma, which are highly malignant and rare tumors, and their incidence has increased over the past few decades. However, the clinicopathological features and outcomes of patients with PDGNENs have not been completely elucidated.

Aim: To investigate the clinicopathological characteristics and prognostic factors of patients with PDGNENs

Methods: The data from seven centers in China from March 2007 to November 2019 were analyzed retrospectively.

Clinicopathological characteristics and prognosis of 77 cases with type 3 gastric neuroendocrine tumours.

Background: For the rarity of type 3 gastric neuroendocrine tumours (g-NETs), their clinicopathological characteristics and prognosis are not well illustrated.

Aim: To describe the clinicopathological features and outcome of type 3 g-NETs in the Chinese population.

Methods: Based on the 2019 WHO pathological classification, the clinicopathological characteristics and prognosis of patients with type 3 g-NETs in China were retrospectively analysed.

A Ki-67 Index to Predict Treatment Response to the Capecitabine/Temozolomide Regimen in Neuroendocrine Neoplasms: A Retrospective Multicenter Study.

Objective: The efficacy of the capecitabine/temozolomide (CAPTEM) regimen has been demonstrated in metastatic neuroendocrine neoplasms (NENs), but because of varying response rates among the patients, biomarkers to predict its response are greatly needed. Here, we investigated the clinical utility of a Ki-67 index to predict the CAPTEM regimen objective responses and select patients who could benefit from this regimen.

Methods: Metastatic NENs patients treated with the CAPTEM regimen from 4 high-volume medical centers were selected and grouped in a training and validation cohort.

Clinicopathological characteristics and risk factors for recurrence of well-differentiated pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors after radical surgery: a case-control study.

Background: Well-differentiated pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (PanNETs) usually have a good prognosis; however, there are patients that experience recurrence after curative resection.

Aim: To explore recurrence-related risk factors by analyzing clinicopathological data of PanNETs after radical surgery.

Methods: Clinical and pathological data from 47 patients with well-differentiated PanNETs at China-Japan Friendship Hospital from January 2012 to March 2016 were analyzed retrospectively.

[Expression of connective tissue growth factor in colorectal cancer and its association with prognosis].

Objective: To investigate the expression of connective tissue growth factor (CTGF) in colorectal cancer(CRC) and its association with clinicopathologic parameters and overall survival rate.

Methods: Fresh tumor tissues and matched distal normal colon tissues were collected from 92 patients diagnosed as CRC by surgical operation. The expression level of CTGF mRNA was quantified by quantitative reverse transcription PCR.

[Short-term effects of understory vegetation removal on nutrient cycling in litter layer of Chinese fir plantation].

A short-term understory vegetation removal experiment was conducted at three experimental sites of Chinese fir (Cunninghamia lanceolata) plantation in Huitong of Hunan Province, South-central China to examine the short-term effects of the absence of understory vegetation on litter decomposition. In the plantation, the standing stock of the litter in L layer (un-decomposed litter), F layer (semi-decomposed litter), and H layer (decomposed litter) under understory intact condition was (123.7 +/- 46.

[A new assessment method for the quality of ecological monitoring data: taking CERN's tree growth dataset as a case].

This paper presented a new and simple assessment method for the quality of ecological monitoring data. This method theorized the associations between the data reliability as an ordinal variable with different number of classes and the data sources such as natural main ecological processes, secondary ecological processes, and extraneous and exotic processes, and offered a new data quality index to estimate the quality of the whole dataset by using the reasonableness ratio of observations. The assessment results provided the reliability class of each dataset, good explanations for outlier (or error data) flagging decisions, and quality value of the whole dataset.

[Application of indicator species in predicting forest management effect on forest species diversity and community composition].

By using indicator species analysis (ISA) method, this paper studied the feasibility of using indicator species to reflect the responses of species diversity and community composition of subtropical forests in Huitong of China to forest management. Ninety-four significant indicator species from 357 understory species were identified, and a new indicator species dataset (community level) was constructed to examine the association between indicator species dataset and original community dataset, and to evaluate the predictive potential of indicator species in reflecting forest management effect. There existed a strong association between the two datasets (Mantel r = 0.

Preparation and characterization of LiFe0.975Rh0.025PO4 nanorods using the hydrothermal method.

An effective method for the synthesis of LiFe(0.975)Rh(0.025)PO(4) nanorods to serve as a cathode material for lithium-ion batteries is described.

[Impact of fragile histidine triad gene transfection on the proliferation and apoptosis of human colorectal cancer cell].

Objective: To investigate the effect of fragile histidine triad (FHIT) gene transfection on human colorectal cancer cell line SW480 through up-regulation of caspase-8 expression.

Methods: The eukaryotic expression plasmid containing FHIT, pRc/CMV2-FHIT was prepared and purified, and then identified by restrictive enzyme digestion. pRc/CMV2-FHIT was transfected into SW480 cells, and positive cell clones (SW480-FHIT, study group) were selected and amplified.

[Impact of heavy snow storm and freezing rain disasters on soil fauna in Chinese fir plantation in southern China].

In January 2008, southern China suffered an unusual heavy snowstorm and freezing rain over a large area for almost a month long. This catastrophic event was the worst one in past 50 years, which brought the area a serious impact on the infrastructure, ecology, and environment. To understand the long-term impact of this catastrophic event on the forest ecosystems in this area, a field investigation was conducted on the soil fauna in a pure Chinese fir plantation and a mixed Chinese fir plantation-alder plantation in Huitong County of Hunan Province on March 23, 2008, the date 40 days after the heavy snowstorm and freezing rain.