With the digitization of traditional medical records, medical institutions encounter difficult problems, such as electronic health record storage and sharing. Patients and doctors spend considerable ...time querying the required data when accessing electronic health records, but the obtained data are not necessarily correct, and access is sometimes restricted. On this basis, this study proposes a medical data sharing scheme based on permissioned blockchains, which use ciphertext-based attribute encryption to ensure data confidentiality and access control of medical data. Under premise of ensuring patient identity privacy, a polynomial equation is used to achieve an arbitrary connection of keywords, and then blockchain technology is combined. In addition, the proposed scheme has keyword-indistinguishability against adaptive chosen keyword attacks under the random oracle model. Analysis shows that the scheme has high retrieval efficiency.
N-nitrosamines, which are well-known pro-mutagens, are found in drugs, pickled food and tobacco. Therefore, controlling their concentrations is very important. When an HPLC, GC or NMR analysis is ...conducted to investigate certain asymmetrical N-nitrosamines, two sets of signals attributed to the asymmetric N-nitrosamine isomers are usually observed. However, few reports on the NMR assignment of asymmetrical N-nitrosamine isomers have been published. In this study, we investigated the NMR assignments of the Z/E isomers of six asymmetrical N-nitrosamines by means of density functional theory (DFT) calculations. The configuration of the major isomer of asymmetrical N-nitrosamine 3 was the Z-configuration. The configuration of the major isomers of asymmetrical N-nitrosamines 4–7 was the E-configuration. Then, we determined the Z/E ratios of these asymmetrical N-nitrosamines by means of variable temperature (VT) and room temperature (RT) 1H-NMR experiments. The ratios of the Z/E isomer 3 quickly increased beyond 100% in the VT 1H NMR experiments. The ratios of Z/E isomers 4–7 were increased in the range of 10–60% in the VT 1H NMR experiments. The results of this study indicate that identifying the isomers of asymmetrical N-nitrosamine is necessary to control the quality of N-nitrosamines for active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs).
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IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, UL, UM, UPUK
Worldwide, nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is a rare head and neck cancer; however, it is a common malignancy in southern China. Radiotherapy is the most important treatment strategy for NPC. However, ...although radiotherapy is a strong tool to kill cancer cells, paradoxically it also promotes aggressive phenotypes. Therefore, we mimicked the treatment process in NPC cells in vitro. Upon exposure to radiation, a subpopulation of NPC cells gradually developed resistance to radiation and displayed cancer stem-cell characteristics. Radiation-induced stemness largely depends on the accumulation of the antiapoptotic myeloid cell leukemia 1 (MCL-1) protein. Upregulated MCL-1 levels were caused by increased stability and more importantly, enhanced protein synthesis. We showed that repeated ionizing radiation resulted in persistently enhanced reactive oxygen species (ROS) production at a higher basal level, further promoting protein kinase B (AKT) signaling activation. Intracellular ROS and AKT activation form a positive feedback loop in the process of MCL-1 protein synthesis, which in turn induces stemness and radioresistance. AKT/MCL-1 axis inhibition attenuated radiation-induced resistance, providing a potential target to reverse radiation therapy-induced radioresistance.
A facile method for the synthesis of 4-chalcogenylated pyrazoles has been developed via electrophilic chalcogenation/cyclization of α,β-alkynic hydrazones. The cyclization of α,β-alkynic aldehyde ...hydrazones could be induced by using either sulfenyl chloride or the S-electrophiles generated in situ from the reaction of NCS and arythiol. The developed method was successfully applied to the synthesis of the sulfenyl analogue of celecoxib.
According to the literature and our experience, the most common sites of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) metastases include the brain, bone, liver, adrenal glands, contralateral lung and distant ...lymph nodes. Metastases to other organs are relatively rare. There have been numerous case reports and a few small case series of uncommon metastases derived from NSCLC.
We defined all organs except the common metastatic sites mentioned above as uncommon sites of metastasis. Patients with uncommon metastases among 2,872 consecutive NSCLC patients with stage IV disease at the Guangdong Lung Cancer Institute (GLCI) from 2006 to 2012 were included in this study. The diagnosis of uncommon metastases was based on pathology or imaging studies.
Uncommon metastases were diagnosed in 193 cases at anatomical sites such as the soft tissue, kidney, pancreas, spleen, peritoneum, intestine, bone marrow, eye, ovary, thyroid, heart, breast, tonsil and nasal cavity. Uncommon metastases were identified as independent poor prognostic factors through a multivariate analysis with a HR (hazard ratio) of 1.29 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.09-1.52, P < 0.01. Those patients who received systemic therapy plus local treatment had a better survival rate than did those who received systemic therapy only (P < 0.01); all patients received best supportive care.
Metastases to the above mentioned sites are infrequent. The presentation of uncommon metastases tends to indicate a poor outcome, and selected patients may benefit from local treatment.
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DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
The incidence of multiple primary malignancies (MPM) has increased sharply in recent decades. However, the clinical characteristics and prognosis of MPM patients involving lung cancer were not fully ...elucidated. This retrospective study was designed to explore the clinical characteristics and prognosis of MPM patients involving lung cancer in the People's Republic of China.
Of 5405 lung cancer cases diagnosed at the Guangdong Lung Cancer Institute between 2005 and 2013, we analyzed 185 patients (3.4 %) with MPM involving lung cancer.
Among 185 patients with MPM involving lung cancer, 10 (5.4 %)had three malignancies and 175 (94.6 %) had two malignancies. 10 patients with three malignancies were excluded from the analysis to avoid misunderstanding. Of 175 accompanying malignancies, 64 (36.6 %) were synchronous MPM patients and 111 (63.4 %) were metachronous MPM patients; 49 (28.0 %) were lung cancer first MPM patients and 126 (72.0 %) were other cancer first MPM patients. The most frequent accompanying malignancy was colon cancer (25/175), followed by rectal cancer (18/175), esophageal cancer (17/175), and thyroid cancer (13/175). Metachronous MPM patients showed significantly better overall survival (OS) than synchronous MPM, with a median OS of 72.8 (range 12.2-391.0) and 12.9 (range 0.8-86.3)months, respectively (P < 0.001). Cox regression analysis revealed that time of occurrence and stage were independent factors for OS.
Colorectal cancer, esophageal cancer, and thyroid cancer were the tumors that most frequently accompanying lung cancer. Metachronous MPM patients showed significantly better OS compared with synchronous MPM patients.
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A worth noticing pattern in current invasive biology is the clonal ability of many of the world's worst invasive plants. Selective placement of ramets (i.e. foraging behavior) can intensify ramet ...performance and allocation, and place more ramets in the more favorable microhabitats, which can maximum utilize resource and share risk in heterogeneous environments. Still little is known about whether invasive alien and native clonal plants differ in the selective placement patterns of ramets in invasive clonal plants or not.
We used five congeneric pairs of naturally co-occurring invasive alien and native clonal plant species in China. In a glasshouse, we grew all species in pots under a homogeneous and three heterogeneous conditions (i.e. light, soil nutrients or water) subjected to resource-high or -low patches.
All biomass parameters and number of ramets significantly increased in resource-high patches in all three types of heterogeneous environments. Interestingly, growth of invasive alien plants benefited significantly more from resource-high patches than native plants in all heterogeneous environments. Overall, invasive had higher biomass parameters per ramet than natives. Ramet parameters of invasive plants also benefited more from resource-low patches than natives. Three different selective placement patterns of ramets in resource-low patches were exhibited in invasive plants: ramet increasing shoot investment (above pattern), increasing root investment (below pattern) and increasing both investments (complete pattern) in the light, soil water and nutrient heterogeneity, respectively. Investment on less, larger ramet was the adaptive strategy of invasive plants in resource-poor patches.
The results suggest that adaptively selective placement patterns of ramets promote a higher morphology plasticity and performance in invasive clonal plants over natives. When alien clonal plants spread new areas with light, soil nutrients or water heterogeneity, selective placement patterns of ramets might play an important role in plant performance and competitive superior by capitalizing more on additional resources.
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•Selective replacement of ramets in clonal plants can maximum utilize resource and share risk in heterogeneous environments.•Invasives benefit more from resource-high and resource-low patches than natives in all heterogeneous environments.•Selective placement patterns promote higher morphological plasticity and performance for invasives than natives.•Selective placement patterns of ramets might play important role in alien clonal plant performance and competitive superior.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
The costs and benefits of spliceosomal introns in eukaryotes have not been established. One recognized effect of intron splicing is its known enhancement of gene expression. However, the mechanism ...regulating such splicing-mediated expression enhancement has not been defined. Previous studies have shown that intron splicing is a time-consuming process, indicating that splicing may not reduce the time required for transcription and processing of spliced pre-mRNA molecules; rather, it might facilitate the later rounds of transcription. Because the densities of active RNA polymerase II on most genes are less than one molecule per gene, direct interactions between the splicing apparatus and transcriptional complexes (from the later rounds of transcription) are infrequent, and thus unlikely to account for splicing-mediated gene expression enhancement.
The serine/arginine-rich protein SF2/ASF can inhibit the DNA topoisomerase I activity that removes negative supercoiling of DNA generated by transcription. Consequently, splicing could make genes more receptive to RNA polymerase II during the later rounds of transcription, and thus affect the frequency of gene transcription. Compared with the transcriptional enhancement mediated by strong promoters, intron-containing genes experience a lower frequency of cut-and-paste processes. The cleavage and religation activity of DNA strands by DNA topoisomerase I was recently shown to account for transcription-associated mutagenesis. Therefore, intron-mediated enhancement of gene expression could reduce transcription-associated genome instability.
Experimentally test whether transcription-associated mutagenesis is lower in intron-containing genes than in intronless genes. Use bioinformatic analysis to check whether exons flanking lost introns have higher frequencies of short deletions.
The mechanism of intron-mediated enhancement proposed here may also explain the positive correlation observed between intron size and gene expression levels in unicellular organisms, and the greater number of intron containing genes in higher organisms.
This article was reviewed by Dr Arcady Mushegian, Dr Igor B Rogozin (nominated by Dr I King Jordan) and Dr Alexey S Kondrashov. For the full reviews, please go to the Reviewer's Reports section.
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•An efficient and green DES-MAE method was developed for the rapid extraction of anthocyanins from Ribes nigrum L.•The average extraction yield of anthocyanins reached 2.03mg/g by ...optimizing the influential parameters systematically.•An efficient process of producing D3G, D3R, C3G, C3R was established by using D101 resin followed by flash chromatography.•This study could provide scientific strategy for scale-up separation and production of bioactive compounds from other plants.
This study explored an integrated strategy for extraction and preparative separation of four anthocyanins from Ribes nigrum L. using DES-based microwave assisted extraction and flash chromatography. The extraction yield of anthocyanins reached 2.03mg/g after optimization. An efficient preparative separation process of four main anthocyanins by macroporous resin and flash chromatography was established afterwards. The yields of D3G, D3R, C3G and C3R reached 0.32mg/g, 0.47mg/g, 0.18mg/g and 0.43mg/g with the purities of more than 95%, respectively. The developed procedure represents an efficient and convenient alternative for the systematic utilization of natural products from plant materials.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
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