MRI Tumor Regression Response to Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy Alone without Radiation for Rectal Adenocarcinoma.

Background Neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NCT) is gaining acceptance for the management of locally advanced rectal cancer (LARC) in patients without negative prognostic factors. However, the value of MRI in evaluating tumor response after NCT remains unclear. Purpose To investigate the accuracy of MRI in assessing pathologic complete response in participants with LARC who underwent surgery after NCT without radiation.

Systems metabolic engineering of Escherichia coli for hyper-production of 5‑aminolevulinic acid.

Background: 5-Aminolevulinic acid (5-ALA) is a promising biostimulant, feed nutrient, and photodynamic drug with wide applications in modern agriculture and therapy. Although microbial production of 5-ALA has been improved realized by using metabolic engineering strategies during the past few years, there is still a gap between the present production level and the requirement of industrialization.

Results: In this study, pathway, protein, and cellular engineering strategies were systematically employed to construct an industrially competitive 5-ALA producing Escherichia coli.

Immunogenicity and safety of BNT162b2 mRNA vaccine in Chinese adults: A phase 2 randomised clinical trial.

Background: BNT162b2, an mRNA vaccine against COVID-19, is being utilised worldwide, but immunogenicity and safety data in Chinese individuals are limited.

Methods: This phase 2, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial included healthy or medically stable individuals aged 18-85 years enrolled at two clinical sites in China. Participants were stratified by age (≤55 or >55 years) and randomly assigned (3:1) by an independent randomisation professional to receive two doses of intramuscular BNT162b2 30 μg or placebo, administered 21 days apart.

Prophylactic Antitubercular Therapy Is Associated With Accelerated Disease Progression in Patients With Crohn's Disease Receiving Anti-TNF Therapy: A Retrospective Multicenter Study.

Introduction: Prophylactic antitubercular therapy (ATT) is widely prescribed in patients with Crohn's disease (CD) receiving antitumor necrosis factor (anti-TNF) treatment. However, antitubercular agents have been demonstrated to possess profibrotic effects. We aimed to evaluate whether ATT accelerated disease progression in patients with CD receiving anti-TNF treatment.

Association Between Time to Endovascular Therapy and Outcomes in Patients With Acute Basilar Artery Occlusion.

Objective: To characterize the association of onset to puncture time (OPT) with clinical outcomes among patients with acute basilar artery occlusion receiving endovascular therapy (EVT) in clinical practice.

Methods: Using the EVT for Acute Basilar Artery Occlusion (BASILAR) study, we identified consecutive patients with acute basilar artery occlusion receiving EVT in 47 comprehensive stroke centers in China from January 2014 to May 2019. The primary outcome was favorable functional outcome (defined as modified Rankin Scale score [mRS] 0-3) at 90 days.

Accuracy of Intraocular Lens Calculation Formulas in Patients Undergoing Combined Phakic Intraocular Lens Removal and Cataract Surgery.

Purpose: To investigate the prediction accuracy of intraocular lens (IOL) calculation formulas, and the impact of anterior chamber depth (ACD) and lens thickness (LT) measurement errors on IOL power calculation in patients undergoing combined phakic IOL (PIOL) removal and cataract surgery.

Design: Retrospective, consecutive case series study.

Methods: Thirty-six PIOL implanted eyes (12 anterior chamber PIOLs and 24 posterior chamber PIOLs [PC-PIOL]) undergoing cataract surgery were included.

A Trial of Lopinavir-Ritonavir in Adults Hospitalized with Severe Covid-19.

Background: No therapeutics have yet been proven effective for the treatment of severe illness caused by SARS-CoV-2.

Methods: We conducted a randomized, controlled, open-label trial involving hospitalized adult patients with confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection, which causes the respiratory illness Covid-19, and an oxygen saturation (Sao) of 94% or less while they were breathing ambient air or a ratio of the partial pressure of oxygen (Pao) to the fraction of inspired oxygen (Fio) of less than 300 mm Hg. Patients were randomly assigned in a 1:1 ratio to receive either lopinavir-ritonavir (400 mg and 100 mg, respectively) twice a day for 14 days, in addition to standard care, or standard care alone.

Real-Time Motor Cortex Mapping for the Safe Resection of Glioma: An Intraoperative Resting-State fMRI Study.

Background And Purpose: Resting-state functional MR imaging has been used for motor mapping in presurgical planning but never used intraoperatively. This study aimed to investigate the feasibility of applying intraoperative resting-state functional MR imaging for the safe resection of gliomas using real-time motor cortex mapping during an operation.

Materials And Methods: Using interventional MR imaging, we conducted preoperative and intraoperative resting-state intrinsic functional connectivity analyses of the motor cortex in 30 patients with brain tumors.

[Scientific connotation of processing Bombyx Batryticatus under high temperature].

The aim of this study was to elucidate the scientific connotation of Bombyx Batryticatus processing with wheat bran under high temperature. The contents of soluble protein extracted from Bombyx Batryticatus and its processed products and the limited content of AFT in Bombyx Batryticatus and the processed one were compared. The concentration of protein was measured with the Bradford methods and the difference of protein between Bombyx Batryticatus and its processed products was compared by SDS-PAGE analysis.

17β-Estradiol Enhances ASIC Activity in Primary Sensory Neurons to Produce Sex Difference in Acidosis-Induced Nociception.

Sex differences have been reported in a number of pain conditions. Women are more sensitive to most types of painful stimuli than men, and estrogen plays a key role in the sex differences in pain perception. However, it is unclear whether there is a sex difference in acidosis-evoked pain.

Distinct Regulatory Changes Underlying Differential Expression of TEOSINTE BRANCHED1-CYCLOIDEA-PROLIFERATING CELL FACTOR Genes Associated with Petal Variations in Zygomorphic Flowers of Petrocosmea spp. of the Family Gesneriaceae.

CYCLOIDEA (CYC)-like genes, belonging to the plant-specific TCP transcription factor family that is named after TEOSINTE BRANCHED1 (TB1) from maize (Zea mays), CYC from Antirrhinum majus, and the PROLIFERATING CELL FACTORS (PCF) from rice (Oryza sativa), have conserved dorsal identity function in patterning floral zygomorphy mainly through specific expression in dorsal petals of a flower. Their expression changes are usually related to morphological diversity of zygomorphic flowers. However, it is still a challenge to elucidate the molecular mechanism underlying their expression differentiation.

[Simultaneous production of hydrogen and volatile fatty acid from Macrocystis pyrifera].

Batch experiments were conducted to analyze the effects of pretreatment conditions, inoculum-substrate ratio (ISR) and initial pH on the hydrogen and volatile fatty acid (VFA) production from anaerobic digestion of Macrocystis pyrifera biomass. The results indicated that M. pyrifera could produce hydrogen and VFA simultaneously.

[Phylogenetic analysis of methanogenic corn stalk degrading microbial communities].

Methanogenic corn stalk degrading enrichment cultures were constructed using corn stalk as the sole carbon source and eight types of environmental samples as inocula. All the cultures could degrade corn stalk within 30-50 days and the total solids (TS) removal rates were in the range of 30%-40%. In six out of eight cultures, the cumulative methane yields per gram TS were 62.

[Mercury and copper accumulation during last fifty years and their potential ecological risk assessment in sediment of mangrove wetland of Shenzhen, China].

The processes of sediment transport and deposition can record some relative anthropogenic information in gulf region. Chronological analysis of the sediment core collected from mangrove wetland in Shenzhen Bay showed that the sedimentation rate was about 1.38 cm x a(-1).

[Characteristics of the extracellular polymeric substances of a heterotrophic nitrifying bacterium strain].

To study the variation of extracellular polymers substances (EPS) composition of the heterotrophic denitrifying bacteria (Acinetobacter sp. YY-5) at different growth stages, The EPS of YY-5 was extracted by thermal, and the composition of protein, polysaccharides, nucleic acid and free amino acids were analyzed at different growth stages. Subsequently, the proteins in extracts were hydrolyzed into amino acids, the amino acid's changes and effect on physical and chemical properties of proteins were investigated.

[Horizontal and vertical distribution of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) in river sediment from a typical electrical equipment industrial area].

Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) were determined in sediment collected from a river in a typical electrical equipment industrial area, Ronggui, Foshan. Eight samples were collected from river sediment. The results indicated that PBDEs were presented in all samples.

[Direct determination of copper, iron and sodium in high-purity alumina by slurry introduction furnace atomic absorption spectrometry with Smith-Hieftje background correction].

Direct determination of copper, iron and sodium in high-purity alumina was performed by slurry-furnace atomic absorption spectrometry with Smith-Hieftje background correction (S-H-GFAAS). Instrument conditions of GFAAS such as pyrolysis, atomization and hollow cathode lamp current by S-H background correction were optimized, and the optimal experimental conditions were selected. Calibration was performed using aqueous standards method for sample analysis.

[Adsorption of fluoride ions on a Ca-deficient hydroxyapatite].

A Ca-deficient hydroxyapatite (d-HAp) from the by-product of phosphate wastewater treatment has been used to remove fluoride ions. The effects of pH, coexistent calcium and magnesium ions, and chloride ions on the adsorption efficiency were investigated for the system. The results showed that d-HAp adsorbed F- efficiently within a wide pH range (4-7), and the defluoridation capacity of d-HAp remained 85%.

[Solubility peak and dielectric requirement of Buyang Huanwu docoction].

Objective: To study the solubility peak and dielectric requirement of the Buyang Huanwu docoction materials, and provide theoretical and experimental foundation for selecting extraction solvent for extracting traditional Chinese drugs (TCD).

Method: 11 types of solvents were employed as single or complex solvent systems, whose solubility parameter and dielectric constant were from 14.11 to 47.

[Accumulation of flavonoids and chlorogenic acid in callus and suspension cell of Eucommia ulmoides].

Objective: To analyze and compare the cell growth and accumulation of flavonoids and chlorogenic acid in the callus and suspension cell of Eucommia ulmoides.

Method: The callus induced from the leaf of E. ulmoides seedlings were suspended in liquid medium.

[Comparative study on trace elements in Elsholtzia bodineri Vaniot. from Honghe by FAAS].

In the present paper, the authors prepared all the samples by the same method, and optimized the work conditions for flame qtomic absorption spectrometry. FAAS was applied to determine the trace elements, such as Pb, Cr, Cd, Cu, Zn, Hg, Se etc, in Elsholtzia bodineri Vaniot. from Mengzi, Shiping, Mile and Jianshui located in Honghe state.

[Characteristics of PAHs in the ecosystem of Deep Bay and their ecological risk].

Seawater, suspended particulate matter (SPM), surface sediment and core sediment samples from Deep Bay in 2004 were collected and 15 PAH isomers concentrations and relative parameters were analyzed, while the age of core sediment was also detected by use of the 210Pb dating method. The results demonstrated that total PAHs concentrations in seawater, SPM, surface sediment and core sediment were (69.4 +/- 24.

[Effects of methyl jasmonat on accumulation and release of tanshinones in suspension cultures of Salvia miltiorrhiza hairy root].

Objective: To study the effects of methyl jasmonate (MJ) on the accumulation and release of tanshinones in suspension cultures of Salvia miltiorrhiza hairy roots.

Method: After 18 day's suspension culture of S. miltiorrhiza hairy roots induced by Agrobacterium rhizogenes ATCC15834, the chemical elicitor--methyl jasmonat was added into 6-7V suspension cultures and at the same time, tanshinones contents (including cryptotanshinone and tanshinone II(A)) on the day 2, 6 and 9, after dealing with MJ, was quantified by HPLC.