Accumulating evidences have suggested that percutaneous cryoablation could be a valuable alternative ablation therapy for HCC but there has been no large cohort-based analysis on its long-term ...outcomes.
A series of 866 patients with Child-Pugh class A-B cirrhosis and HCC within Milan criteria who underwent percutaneous cryoablation was long-term followed. The safety, efficacy, 5-year survival, and prognostic factors of percutaneous cryoablation in the treatment of HCC were analyzed.
A total of 1197 HCC lesions were ablated with 1401 cryoablation sessions. Complete response (CR) was achieved in 1163 (97.2%) lesions and 832 (96.1%) patients with 34 (2.8%) major complications, but no treatment-related mortality. After a median of 30.9 months follow-up, 502 (60.3%) patients who achieved CR developed different types of recurrence. The cumulative local tumor recurrence rate was 24.2% at 5-years. Multiple tumor lesions, tumor size > 3 cm, and repeated ablation of same lesion were independent risk factors associated with local recurrence. The 5-year overall survival (OS) rates were 59.5%. Age < 36 years, HCC family history, baseline hepatitis B virus DNA >106 copies/ml, and three HCC lesions were independently and significantly negative predictors to the post-cryoablation OS.
Percutaneous cryoablation is an effective therapy for patients with HCC within Milan criteria, with comparable efficacy, safety and long-term survival to the reported outcomes of radiofrequency ablation.
Summary
Atherosclerosis is a chronic inflammatory disease. Recently, a growing body of evidence emphasizes that the monocyte and macrophage differentiation and activation are key processes in the ...development of atherosclerosis. However, the regulatory mechanism that manipulates the function of monocyte and macrophage is still unclear. Recent years, epigenetic mechanisms have received a wide attention and bring us a new field of vision. More and more evidence shows that epigenetics weighs heavily in atherosclerosis by regulating the function and differentiation states of monocyte and macrophage. In this review, we illuminate the epigenetic regulation mechanisms in monocyte and macrophage and their contributions to inflammatory processes of atherosclerosis to provide new thoughts and find novel targets or biomarkers for atherosclerosis.
Inference of colour patterning in extinct dinosaurs has been based on the relationship between the morphology of melanin-containing organelles (melanosomes) and colour in extant bird feathers. When ...this relationship evolved relative to the origin of feathers and other novel integumentary structures, such as hair and filamentous body covering in extinct archosaurs, has not been evaluated. Here we sample melanosomes from the integument of 181 extant amniote taxa and 13 lizard, turtle, dinosaur and pterosaur fossils from the Upper-Jurassic and Lower-Cretaceous of China. We find that in the lineage leading to birds, the observed increase in the diversity of melanosome morphologies appears abruptly, near the origin of pinnate feathers in maniraptoran dinosaurs. Similarly, mammals show an increased diversity of melanosome form compared to all ectothermic amniotes. In these two clades, mammals and maniraptoran dinosaurs including birds, melanosome form and colour are linked and colour reconstruction may be possible. By contrast, melanosomes in lizard, turtle and crocodilian skin, as well as the archosaurian filamentous body coverings (dinosaur 'protofeathers' and pterosaur 'pycnofibres'), show a limited diversity of form that is uncorrelated with colour in extant taxa. These patterns may be explained by convergent changes in the key melanocortin system of mammals and birds, which is known to affect pleiotropically both melanin-based colouration and energetic processes such as metabolic rate in vertebrates, and may therefore support a significant physiological shift in maniraptoran dinosaurs.
Malachite green (MG), N-methylated diaminotriphenylmethane, is one of the most common dyes in textile industry and has also been used as an effective antifungal agent. However, due to its negative ...impact on the environment and carcinogenic effects to mammalian cells, there is a significant interest in developing microbial agents to degrade this type of recalcitrant molecules. Here, an Exiguobacterium sp. MG2 was isolated from a river in Yunnan Province of China as one of the best malachite green degraders. This strain had a high decolorization capability even at the concentration of 2500 mg/l and maintained its stable activity within the pH range from 5.0 to 9.0. High-pressure liquid chromatography, liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry were employed to detect the catabolic pathway of MG. Six intermediate products were identified and a potential biodegradation pathway was proposed. This pathway involves a series of reactions of N-demethylation, reduction, benzene ring-removal, and oxidation, which eventually converted N-methylated diaminotriphenylmethane into N, N-dimethylaniline that is the key precursor to MG. Furthermore, our molecular biology experiments suggested that both triphenylmethane reductase gene tmr and cytochrome P450 participated in MG degradation, consistent with their roles in the proposed pathway. Collectively, our investigation is the first report on a biodegradation pathway of triphenylmethane dye MG in bacteria.
A new fossil salamander,
(gen. et sp. nov.), is named and described based on specimens from the Lower Cretaceous Guanghua Formation of Inner Mongolia, China. The new discovery documents a far ...northern occurrence of Early Cretaceous salamanders in China, extending the geographic distribution for the Mesozoic fossil record of the group from the Jehol area (40th-45th parallel north) to near the 49th parallel north. The new salamander is characterized by having the orbitosphenoid semicircular in shape; coracoid plate of the scapulocoracoid greatly expanded with a convex ventral and posterior border; ossification of two centralia in carpus and tarsus; and first digit being about half the length of the second digit in both manus and pes. The new salamander appears to be closely related to hynobiids, although this inferred relationship awaits confirmation by research in progress by us on a morphological and molecular combined analysis of cryptobranchoid relationships. Comparison of adult with larval and postmetamorphic juvenile specimens provides insights into developmental patterns of cranial and postcranial skeletons in this fossil species, especially resorption of the palatine and anterior portions of the palatopterygoid in the palate and the coronoid in the mandible during metamorphosis, and postmetamorphic ossification of the mesopodium in both manus and pes. Thus, this study provides a rare case study of developmental features in a Mesozoic salamander.
Hynobiidae are a clade of salamanders that diverged early within the crown radiation and that retain a considerable number of features plesiomorphic for the group. Their evolutionary history is ...informed by a fossil record that extends to the Middle Jurassic Bathonian time. Our understanding of the evolution within the total group of Hynobiidae has benefited considerably from recent discoveries of stem hynobiids but is constrained by inadequate anatomical knowledge of some extant forms. Pseudohynobius is a derived hynobiid clade consisting of five to seven extant species living endemic to southwestern China. Although this clade has been recognized for over 37 years, osteological details of these extant hynobiids remain elusive, which undoubtedly has contributed to taxonomic controversies over the hynobiid complex Liua‐Protohynobius‐Pseudohynobius. Here we provide a bone‐by‐bone study of the cranium in the five extant species of Pseudohynobius (Ps. flavomaculatus, Ps. guizhouensis, Ps. jinfo, Ps. kuankuoshuiensis and Ps. shuichengensis) based on x‐ray computer tomography data for 18 specimens. Our results indicate that the cranium in each of these species has a combination of differences in morphology, proportions and articulation patterns in both dermal and endochondral bones. Our study establishes a range of intraspecific differences that will serve as organizing hypotheses for future studies as more extensive collections of these species become available. Morphological features in the cranium for terrestrial ecological adaptation in Hynobiidae are summarized. Based on the results, we also discuss the evolution and development of several potential synapomorphies of Hynobiidae, including features of the orbitosphenoid and articular.
Our bone‐by‐bone study on the cranium of five species in a rare hynobiiid salamander genus, Pseudohynobius, not only reveal several morphological features for terrestrial adaptation in hynobiids, but also found several potential synapomorphies uniting crown or stem and crown Hynobiidae. Our findings are essential in understanding the palaeoecology and character evolution in hynobiid salamanders along with accumulating fossil discoveries of this clade in the Mesozoic Era.
The fossils of the Cretaceous Jehol Biota exhibit excellent preservation and extraordinary diversity. Terrestrial fossils, including plants, insects, dinosaurs, birds, mammals and freshwater ...invertebrates have been discovered from the Dabeigou, Yixian and Jiufotang Formations (and correlative strata) in Central and East Asia. Significant specimens have been recovered from the Yixian Formation of Inner Mongolia, Hebei Province, western Liaoning Province of NE China. The Yixian Formation is generally divided (from bottom to top) into the Lujiatun Unit, Lower Lava Unit, Jianshangou Unit, Upper Lava Unit, Dawangzhangzi Unit and Jingangshan Unit. However, previously reported age data obtained through a range of methods and applied to different units of the Yixian Formation do not consistently integrate with the Yixian's commonly accepted stratigraphic interpretation. Here we summarize previous age data for the Yixian Formation and recalibrate previously reported 40Ar/39Ar ages by using new age interpretations for the same standard (i.e. FCs=28.294). We also present new high-precision 40Ar/39Ar ages of 125.8±1.0Ma and 126.0±0.8Ma for two basaltic samples from the Lujiatun Unit, a unit of previously uncertain age. The new age data and re-calibrated published data indicate that the Lujiatun Unit was deposited contemporaneously with the Jianshangou Unit. The widely accepted stratigraphic column for the Yixian Formation therefore requires reinterpretation. Our study provides significant clues for reconstructing sedimentary environment for the fossil-rich Yixian deposits and allows to constrain evolutionary rates for early mammals, primitive birds and feathered dinosaurs.
•We report robust 40Ar/39Ar age for samples from a dinosaur-rich outcrop.•The stratigraphic correlation for the Yixian Formation is wrong.•Our data allow reconstructing stratigraphic column around the classic Jehol outcrops.•Our study allows constraining evolutionary rates for Jehol animals.
Salamanders are a model system for studying the rates and patterns of the evolution of new anatomical structures. Recent discoveries of abundant Late Jurassic and Early Cretaceous salamanders are ...helping to address these issues. Here we report the discovery of well-preserved Middle Jurassic salamanders from China, which constitutes the earliest known record of crown-group urodeles (living salamanders and their closest relatives). The new specimens are from the volcanic deposits of the Jiulongshan Formation (Bathonian), Inner Mongolia, China, and represent basal members of the Cryptobranchidae, a family that includes the endangered Asian giant salamander (Andrias) and the North American hellbender (Cryptobranchus). These fossils document a Mesozoic record of the Cryptobranchidae, predating the previous record of the group by some 100 million years. This discovery provides evidence to support the hypothesis that the divergence of the Cryptobranchidae from the Hynobiidae had taken place in Asia before the Middle Jurassic period.Amphibia Linnaeus, 1758Lissamphibia Haeckel, 1866Caudata Scopoli, 1777Urodela Dumeril, 1806Cryptobranchoidea Dunn, 1922Cryptobranchidae Fitzinger, 1826Chunerpeton tianyiensis gen. et sp. nov.
Biomaterial-induced osteogenesis is mainly related to hierarchically porous structures and bioactive components. Rare earth elements are well known to promote osteogenesis and stimulate bone repair; ...however, the underlying biological effects of gadolinium (Gd) element on bone regeneration are not yet known.
In this study, we successfully fabricated gadolinium-doped bioglass (Gd-BG) scaffolds by combining hollow mesoporous Gd-BG microspheres with chitosan and evaluated in vitro effects and underlying mechanisms with Cell Counting Kit-8, scanning electron microscopy, alkaline phosphatase, Alizarin red staining, and polymerase chain reaction. Cranial defect model of rats was constructed to evaluate their in vivo effects.
The results indicated that Gd-BG scaffolds could promote the proliferation and osteogenic differentiation of human bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (hBMSCs). Mechanistically, the Akt/GSK3β signaling pathway was activated by the Gd-BG scaffolds. The enhancing effect of Gd-BG scaffolds on the osteogenic differentiation of hBMSCs was inhibited by the addition of LY294002, an inhibitor of Akt. Moreover, the in vivo cranial defect model of rats indicated that the Gd-BG scaffolds could effectively promote bone regeneration.
Both in vitro and in vivo results suggested that Gd-BG scaffolds have promising applications in bone tissue engineering.
Fluorescent silver nanoclusters (Ag NCs) that are capable of emitting green light have been synthesized using a peptide derived from the C terminal of silk fibroin heavy chain (CSH)
a one-pot, green, ...and facile synthesis method. The emission was also found to be stable at the excitation wavelength and the fluorescence quantum yield of Ag NCs was measured to be 1.1%. Matrix assisted laser desorption ionization time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) indicated the presence of a range of Ag species that correspond to Ag1, Ag2, Ag3 and Ag4. Transmission electron microscopic analyses suggested that the formed particles are uniform and well dispersive with an average diameter of 2.5 nm. The Ag NCs were successfully applied to cell imaging in murine preosteoblast MC3T3-E1 cells. Finally, Ag NCs observed by MTT exhibited distinct cytotoxicity at CSH-Ag NCs concentrations of 600 μM. Based on the concept of utilizing a functional peptide from nature, this study demonstrates a novel approach to fabricate aqueous metal nanoclusters for tracking applications in bioimaging.
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