Y. Chen’s research while affiliated with Zhengzhou University and other places

ESR seems to be a promising way to produce hydrogen which has been proposed as the most desirable energy carriers to overcome the problem of fossil fuels shortage. The ESR mechanism on the optimized Co10|α-Al2O3 (0001) surface is investigated by means of DFT calculations. The results show that oxidation state of Co cluster and micro-chemical environment plays an important role in the ESR reaction. C-C bond scission is favored on the Co⁰ site while C-O bond scission is likely to happen on the Cox+ site, and the energy barrier is influenced by the number of hydrogen and oxygen atoms that bonded with C/O atom. ESR reaction is initiated by the O-H bond scission of ethanol on the Cox+ site: CH3CH2OH*→ CH3CH2O*→CH3*+CH2O*→CH2O*+OH*→H2COOH*→COOH*+H2*→CO*+H2*with the dehydrogenation of H2COO* as the rate-determining step.

Purpose/Objective(s) The recommendation of PCI for limited-stage small cell lung cancer (LS-SCLC) with good response to chemoradiotherapy is primarily based on the evidence from the pre-magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) era. However, as the MRI fidelity improves and stereotactic radiosurgery advances, the role of PCI for LS-SCLC becomes uncertain. This study aims to compare the contemporary survival outcomes of PCI versus active surveillance in patients with LS-SCLC. Materials/Methods We conducted a retrospective cohort study in which 1068 patients with LS-SCLC who achieved good response to first-line chemoradiotherapy were consecutively enrolled from 5 tertiary hospitals between June 2009 and June 2019. Of these, 440 patients received PCI while 628 received active surveillance with PCI omission. Propensity score matching in a 1:1 ratio with a caliper of 0.2 was performed to balance baseline characteristics of the two groups. The endpoints of this study were overall survival (OS) and the incidence of brain metastases (BM). Results In total, 324 LS-SCLC patients with PCI were matched to 324 with active surveillance. Baseline characteristics were generally well balanced between the two matched groups. At a median follow up of 64.5 months (range 2-190), patients with PCI had a significantly lower risk for BM than those with active surveillance. The 3-year cumulative incidence rate of BM was 28.2% (95% CI 22.5%-33.8%) in the PCI group and 38.5% (95% CI 32.6%-44.5%) in the surveillance group (Gray's p=0.002). However, the lower incidence of BM in the PCI group did not translate into a significant extension of OS. The median OS was 35.8 months (95% CI 27.6-44.0 months) in the PCI group versus 32 months (95% CI 26.4-37.6 months) in the surveillance group (HR 0.90, 95% CI 0.74-1.10, p=0.29). Conclusion Collectively, PCI reduces the risk for BM but did not substantially prolong OS compared with active surveillance. A Phase 3, prospective clinical trial (NCT04829708) we initiated is currently underway, which is expected to corroborate our results.

This study aimed to evaluate the effects of different feed restriction methods on growth performance, slaughter performance, meat quality, serum immune and lipid indexes, intestinal morphology and cecal microflora of Fujian white rabbits. A total of 300 healthy 4-week-old Fujian white rabbits with similar body weight were randomly divided into 5 groups with 3 replicates per group and 20 rabbits per replicate (half male and half female). Rabbits in group A (control group) ad libitum intake, the others in feed restriction groups (groups B, C, D and E) were restricted by 80% of the average daily feed intake of group A the day before, and the feed restriction methods were fed once every day (fed 100% at 08:00, group B), fed once every day (fed 100% at 16:00, group C), fed twice every day (fed 50% at 08:00 and 50% at 16:00, group D) and fed twice every day (fed 70% at 08:00 and 30% at 16:00, group E), respectively. The experimental period lasted for 9 weeks, including 1 week of pre-experimental period and 8 weeks of formal experimental period. The growth performance of all groups was measured, and the slaughter performance, meat quality, serum immune and lipid indexes, intestinal morphology and cecal microflora of groups A, C and D were measured. The results showed as follows: 1) the final body weight, average daily gain, average daily feed intake and feed to gain ratio of groups B, C, D and E were significantly lower than those of group A (P<0.01). The diarrhea rate of group A was significantly higher than that of groups C, D and E (P<0.05 or P<0.01), and the mortality rate was significantly higher than that of groups D and E (P<0.05). 2) The pre-slaughter body weight, all carcass weight, half carcass weight, abdominal fat weight and abdominal fat rate of groups C and D were significantly lower than those of group A (P<0.01). 3) The longissimus dorsi ether extract content of group A was significantly higher than that of groups C and D (P<0.01). 4) The contents of immunoglobulin M (IgM) and immunoglobulin A (IgA) in serum of groups C and D were significantly higher than those of group A (P< 0.05 or P<0.01), and the contents of total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG) and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) in serum were significantly higher than those of group A (P<0.01). 5) The villus length in duodenum and jejunum of group D was significantly higher than that of group A (P<0.01). 6) The Shannon index of group A was significantly higher than that of group D (P<0.05), and the Simpson index was significantly lower than that of group D (P<0.05). The cecal Ruminococcaceae_NK4A214_group relative abundance of group D was significantly higher than that of groups A and C (P<0.05), and the cecal Marvinbryantia relative abundance was significantly lower than that of groups A and C (P<0.05). In conclusion, the feed restriction of 80% free feed intake can improve the intestinal morphology and cecal microflora of Fujian white rabbits, promote the intestinal health, increase the serum immunoglobulin content, decrease the serum lipid content, muscle ether extract content, feed to gain ratio, diarrhea rate and mortality rate, and the feed restriction method of feeding twice every day (fed 50% at 08:00 and 50% at 16:00) has the best comprehensive effects.

Ice formation on the surfaces of high-voltage wires could result in disaster. Superhydrophobic (SHP) treatment of the wire surfaces to reduce the icing adhesion is considered as a promising anti-icing strategy. Thus, the microscopic mechanism of icing adhesion needs to be investigated, including the icing process on a solid surface with different morphology and proper chemical doping among some others. In order to understand this ice adhesion at atomistic scale, nanoscale ice pulling and shearing on Al-terminated α-Al2O3(0001) surface with different morphology and doped atoms are evaluated by means of molecular dynamics simulations. The results show that the ice stress on surface is anisotropic and related to the solvent accessible surface area (Π) and non-bonded interaction. For all the surfaces, the largest stress is the shearing in perpendicular to the groove direction, whereas the smallest one is the pulling stress in normal to a surface. In particular, the ice adhesion induced stress seems to be proportional to parameter Π. Furthermore, it is suggested that the Fe-doping onto the Al-surface can reduce the non-bonded interaction and also Π, and thus the ice adhesion stress. The results are confirmed with anti-icing experiments at the same time, which help to understand the microscopic mechanism of ice adhesion on surfaces with different roughness, and provide new insights onto anti-icing technology.

Objective: To explore the molecular mechanism of cleft palate in mice induced by 2, 3, 7, 8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD). Methods: The pregnant mice were randomly divided into TCDD-treated group (n=42) and control group (n=42). TCDD-treated group was given by gavage a single dose of TCDD (64 μg/kg) at 8: 00 AM on gestation day 10 (GD10) and the control group was given by gavage the isopyknic corn oil. At GD13-GD15, the fetal mice palate development was observed by HE staining. The mouse embryonic palatal mesenchymal cell proliferation was detected by 5-bromo-2-deoxyuridine (BrdU) immunofluorescence. The localization and expression of maternally expressed gene3 (MEG3) in mouse embryonic palatal mesenchymal cells was detected by situ hybridization and real-time PCR (RT-PCR). The key protein expressions of transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β)/Smad signaling pathway in mouse embryonic palatal mesenchyme were analyzed by Western blotting. The interaction of MEG3 and TGF-β receptor Ⅰ (TGF-βRⅠ) was examined by RNA binding protein immunoprecipitation (RIP). Results: At GD13 and GD14, compared with the control group, the ratio of BrdU-positive cells in the palatal mesenchyme of TCDD-treated fetuses decreased significantly (GD13, t=6.66, P=0.003; GD14, t=6.56, P=0.003). However, at GD15, the ratio of BrdU-positive cells was significantly increased (t=-5.98, P=0.004). MEG3 was mainly expressed in the nuclei of fetal mouse palatal mesenchymal cells, and the expression of MEG3 in TCDD group was significantly increased at GD13, GD14 and GD15(GD13, t=39.28, P =0.012; GD14, t=18.75, P =0.042; GD15, t=28.36, P =0.045). At GD14, TCDD decreased the levels of p-Smad2 and Smad4 in embryonic palate mesenchymal cells (p-Smad2, t=9.48, P=0.001;Smad4, t=63.10, P=0.001), whereas the expression of Smad7 was significantly increased at GD14 (t=30.77, P<0.001). The results of the RIP experiment showed that the amount of TGF-βRⅠ-bound MEG3 in mouse embryonic palatal mesenchymal cells in the TCDD group (23.940±1.301) was higher than that in the control group (8.537±1.523)(t=24.55, P<0.001). Conclusions: MEG3 is involved in the suppression of mouse embryonic palatal mesenchymal cell proliferation, functioning at least in part via interacting with the TGF-βRⅠ protein and thereby suppressing Smad signaling in the context of TCDD induced cleft palate.

Treatment and recycling of high concentrations of ammonia nitrogen (NH4+–N) and tatal phosphorus (TP) is a major challenge in today’s wastewater industry, while microalgae not only captures CO2, but also provide a safe and cost-effective alternative to wastewater treatment according to its growth characteristics. However, we found that excessive NH4+–N is harmful to microalgae. Significantly higher accumulation rate of the biomass and chlorophyll, as well as removal rate of ammonia nitrogen and phosphorus were observed in an acclimated strain of Chlorella vulgaris (HPN-3#) compared to those of the original strain (CK). The results of photosynthetic performance indicated that although photosystem of both strains were inhibited by the stress of high concentration of NH4+–N. The photosynthetic efficiency of HPN-3# was also higher than that of CK. The results of chlorophyll fluorescence transients and parameters suggested that HPN-3# showed better performance of energy flux regulation and electron transportation that mitigates NH4+–N inhibition, whereas the mixotrophic cultivation strategy using additional carbon source also reduced the stress and helped to maintain the accumulation of microalgae. In addition, acidified environment has a negative effect on the luxury uptake of P, and subsequently reduced its removal efficiency.

Purpose/Objective(s) The standard treatment for locally advanced cervical cancer was concurrent chemoradiotherapy. The effect of concurrent chemoradiotherapy was poor in locally advanced cervical cancer (lump ≥4 cm) (LACC) (lump ≥4 cm). We conduct this research in order to explore the role of neoadjuvant chemotherapy combined with concurrent radiotherapy in LACC (lump ≥4 cm). Materials/Methods A phase III, prospective, randomized controlled clinical trial was conducted at Guizhou Cancer Hospital. LACC (lump ≥4 cm) (FIGO 2018) were randomly divided into two groups, neoadjuvant chemotherapy combined with concurrent chemoradiotherapy (NACT+CCRT) group and concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CCRT) group. In NACT+CCRT group, patients were treated with paclitaxel cisplatin (TP) for 2 cycles, then they received concurrent chemoradiotherapy with TP for 2 cycles. In CCRT group, the patients were treated concurrent chemoradiotherapy with TP for 2 cycles. Tumor volume shrinkage, response rate and toxicity were the primary endpoints. Progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) were the second endpoints. Results Between March 2019 and December 2020, 97 patients randomly assigned (52 patients in the NACT+CCRT group and 45 patients in the CCRT group). In the NACT+CCRT group, after NACT, of evaluable 52, 52 responded: complete response (CR) 1(1.92%) and partial response (PR) 24(46.15%), stable disease (SD) 27(51.92%) and progressive disease (PD) 0(0%). 52 patients have completed CCRT, after NACT+CCRT, of evaluable 52, 52 responded: CR17(32.69%) and PR 35(67.31%), SD 0 and PD 0. In the CCRT group, 5 patients have not completed CCRT (because of the large tumor and concurrent radiotherapy not be tolerated), of evaluable 40, 40 responded: CR 8(20.00%) and PR 32(80.00%), SD 0 and PD 0. The immediate CR rate was better in NACT+CCRT than in the CCRT (P = 0.001). Treatment completion status: in the NACT+CRT group, all the patients (100%) have completed the NACT+CCRT, there were 40 (88.89%) patients have completed treatment (P = 0.013). In the tumor shrinkage, the median tumor volume after NACT was 33.91cm3 and 79.74cm3 in the CCRT group. There was significant difference between two groups (P = 0.000). Adverse event Hematological and gastrointestinal toxicity were most common. The Acute toxicities were hematological toxicity, gastrointestinal toxicity, there was no significant difference between two groups in the NACT+CCRT group versus the CCRT group (P>0.05). Conclusion NACT can minify the tumor volume of LACC (lump≥4cm) before CCRT and reduce the radiation dose of normal organs around the target area, thereby improved the completion rate of concurrent radiotherapy treatment. After NACT+CRT, the immediate response rate was improved significantly, especially the CR. However, there were more significant adverse events during NACT+CRT but it was well tolerated by patients. The high efficiency can be transformed into the advantage of prolonging survival or not, longer follow up and further research is needed. Author Disclosure F. Li: None. J. Li: None. S. Yin: None. F. Mei: None. Y. Du: None. L. Hu: None. X. Tian: None. W. Hong: None. L. Shan: None. M. Liu: None. Y. Chen: None. W. Mao: None. J. Mu: None. B. Lu: None.