Abstract Background Field bindweed (Convolvulus arvensis L.) is a hardy perennial weed currently threatening many agroecosystems and orchard ecosystems in China. It can be spread farther by seed with a long dormancy. Objective This study aimed to evaluate the seasonal changes in germinability, dormancy and viability of field bindweed seeds in the unique arid environment in northwest China. Methods Seeds were subject to burial at various depths in the field, outdoor and indoor storage, or dry- and wet-cold stratification (5 C) treatments for 12 months. Seed germinability was tested at monthly intervals. Results No seed at 0- or 1-cm burial depths germinated in situ. Seeds buried at 3-20 cm started to germinate after 4 months, with steady increase in germination in situ over the next 7-month burial period. Some ungerminated seeds under field conditions released dormancy and could germinate ex situ under optimal laboratory conditions. The rapid dormancy release occurred under outdoor storage conditions and 13%–30% seed germinated ex situ. However, seeds from the indoor storage maintained a high level of dormancy with germination less than 12%. The dry/cold stratification was more effective in breaking seed dormancy than the wet/cold treatment. Most of the seeds (> 87%) retained their viability during the 12-month period. Conclusions Low temperature could partially break seed dormancy of field bindweed. The optimal emergence depth was 3–5 cm and the best time to control this weed species was from April to October. In view of the high seed viability, late season weed control is necessary to stop seedset.

OBJECTIVES: Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide. However, factors associated with the survival of patients with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who received only hospice care are largely unclear. In this study, we aimed to determine the prognostic factors correlated with survival in patients with advanced NSCLC who had undergone hospice care only. METHODS: A total of 102 patients with recurrent stage III/IV NSCLC after traditional treatment failure were investigated. Survival was measured from the date of enrollment to December 2019 or the time of death. Tumor tissues were collected, and DNA sequencing was performed to identify somatic mutations. Data on clinical factors of patients were collected and analyzed by univariate and multivariate analyses. Overall survival analysis was conducted using the Kaplan-Meier method. RESULTS: The 6-month, 1-year, and 2-year overall survival rates of the 102 patients with metastatic NSCLC were 17.65%, 3.92%, and 0.98%, respectively. The median overall survival of the 102 patients was 3.15 months. Tumor location in the peripheral lung, epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) inhibitor history, low tumor mutation load, adenocarcinoma, and poor performance status score were associated with prolonged survival compared with tumor location in the central lung, no EGFR inhibitor history, high tumor mutation load, squamous cell carcinoma, and good performance status score (p=0.045, p=0.003, p=0.045, p=0.021, and p=0.0003, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: EGFR inhibitor treatment history and tumor mutation load are risk factors for the overall survival of patients with stage III/IV NSCLC who have undergone only hospice care. These results provide a critical clinical basis for further study of nontraditional anti-tumor responses induced by EGFR inhibitors.

Abstract The aim of this study was to investigate whether the S100B polymorphisms are associated with systemic lupus erythematous (SLE) in a Chinese population. A total of 313 SLE patients and 396 control subjects were enrolled in the present study. The genotypes of three SNPs (rs9722, rs881827 and rs1051169) in S100B gene were detected by single base extension polymerase chain reaction (SBE-PCR). Serum S100B levels were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Rs1051169 was associated with an increased risk of SLE (C vs. G: adjusted OR=1.46, 95% CI, 1.18-1.80, p=0.001; CC vs. GG: adjusted OR=1.99, 95% CI, 1.32-3.02, p=0.001; CC+GC vs. GG: adjusted OR=1.54, 95% CI, 1.13-2.11, p=0.007; CC vs. GC+GG: adjusted OR=1.67, 95% CI, 1.16-2.42, p=0.006). Haplotype analysis showed that the G-G-C haplotype was associated with an increased risk of SLE (OR=1.50, 95% CI, 1.14-1.98, p=0.004). Stratified analyses showed that the rs1051169 polymorphism was associated with an increased risk of neurologic disorder in SLE patients (C vs. G: OR=1.78, 95% CI, 1.22-2.59, p=0.003; GC vs. GG: OR=2.33, 95% CI, 1.14-4.77, P=0.019; CC vs. GG: OR=3.02, 95% CI, 1.39-6.53, p=0.004; CC+GC vs. GG: OR=2.57, 95% CI=1.31-5.04, p=0.005). In addition, SLE patients with neurologic disorder carrying the rs1051169 GC/CC genotypes present a higher serum S100B levels compared with that carrying the GG genotype (p < 0.05). Our results indicate that the rs1051169 polymorphism may be involved in the pathogenesis of SLE.

Hyperthermia is one of the most effective adjuvant treatments for various cancers with few side effects. However, the underlying molecular mechanisms still are not known. N-myc downstream-regulated gene 2 (NDRG2), a tumor suppressor, has been shown to be involved in diverse cellular stresses including hypoxia, lipotoxicity, etc. In addition, Ndrg2 has been reported to be related to progression of gastric cancer. In the current study, our data showed that the apoptosis rate of MKN28 cells increased relatively rapidly to 13.4% by 24 h after treatment with hyperthermia (42°C for 1 h) compared to 5.1% in control cells (P < 0.05). Nevertheless, there was no obvious change in the expression level of total Ndrg2 during this process. Further investigation demonstrated that the relative phosphorylation levels of Ndrg2 at Ser332, Thr348 increased up to 3.2- and 1.9-fold (hyperthermia groupvs control group) at 3 h in MKN28 cells, respectively (P < 0.05). We also found that heat treatment significantly increased AKT phosphorylation. AKT inhibitor VIII (10 µM) decreased the phosphorylation level of Ndrg2 induced by hyperthermia. Accordingly, the apoptosis rate rose significantly in MKN28 cells (16.4%) treated with a combination of AKT inhibitor VIII and hyperthermia compared to that (6.8%) of cells treated with hyperthermia alone (P < 0.05). Taken together, these data demonstrated that Ndrg2 phosphorylation could be induced by hyperthermia in an AKT-dependent manner in gastric cancer cells. Furthermore, AKT inhibitor VIII suppressed Ndrg2 phosphorylation and rendered gastric cancer cells susceptible to apoptosis induced by hyperthermia.

OBJETIVO: Avaliar as diferenças de aberrações de frente de onda, em diferentes condições pupilares: sob cicloplegia, escotópica e fotópica. MÉTODOS: Um total de 174 olhos de 105 pacientes foram avaliados utilizando o sensor de frente de onda (WaveScan® 3.62) em diferentes condições pupilares: sob cicloplegia 8,58 ± 0,54 mm (6.4 mm-9.5 mm), escotópica 7,53 ± 0,69 mm (5,7 mm - 9,1 mm) e fotópica 6,08 ± 1,14 mm (4,1 mm - 8,8 mm). Diâmetro da pupila, coeficientes de Zernike, RMS ("Root Mean Square") das aberrações de alta ordem e as aberrações dominantes foram comparados entre as condições sob cicloplegia e escotópica, e entre as condições escotópica e fotópica. RESULTADOS: O diâmetro da pupila foi 7,53 ± 0.69 mm sob a condição escotópica e atingiu a exigência de cerca de 6,5 mm de zona óptica na cirurgia baseada em análise de frentes de ondas, evitando erros de medição consequentes à mudança de centroide pupilar provocada por midriáticos. A dilatação farmacológica da pupila induziu aumento dos coeficientes de Zernike Z3-3, Z4(0) e Z5-5. As aberrações de mais alta ordem (terceira, quarta, quinta e sexta ordem) e a aberração esférica aumentaram de forma estatisticamente significativa, em comparação com a condição escotópica (P<0,010). Quando a condição escotópica se mudou para a condição fotópica, os coeficientes de Zernike Z4(0), Z4², Z6-4, Z6-2, Z6² e todas as aberrações de alta ordem diminuíram de forma estatisticamente significativa (P<0,010), demonstrando que a miose acomodativa pode significativamente melhorar a visão sob a condição fotópica. Sob as três condições, a aberração coma vertical apareceu mais frequentemente dentro das aberrações dominantes, sem influência significativa da variação do tamanho da pupila, e a proporção de aberração esférica diminuiu com a diminuição do tamanho da pupila. CONCLUSÕES: As aberrações de frente de onda são significativamente diferentes sob cicloplegia, condições escotópica e fotópica. O uso do sensor de frentes de onda (VISX WaveScan) para medir as aberrações de frente de onda escotópicas é uma opção viável para a cirurgia refrativa baseada em análise de frentes de onda.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the differences of wavefront aberrations under cycloplegic, scotopic and photopic conditions. METHODS: A total of 174 eyes of 105 patients were measured using the wavefront sensor (WaveScan® 3.62) under different pupil conditions: cycloplegic 8.58 ± 0.54 mm (6.4 mm - 9.5 mm), scotopic 7.53 ± 0.69 mm (5.7 mm - 9.1 mm) and photopic 6.08 ± 1.14 mm (4.1 mm - 8.8 mm). The pupil diameter, standard Zernike coefficients, root mean square of higher-order aberrations and dominant aberrations were compared between cycloplegic and scotopic conditions, and between scotopic and photopic conditions. RESULTS: The pupil diameter was 7.53 ± 0.69 mm under the scotopic condition, which reached the requirement of about 6.5 mm optical zone design in the wavefront-guided surgery and prevented measurement error due to the pupil centroid shift caused by mydriatics. Pharmacological pupil dilation induced increase of standard Zernike coefficients Z3-3, Z4(0) and Z5-5. The higher-order aberrations, third-order aberration, fourth-order aberration, fifth-order aberration, sixth-order aberration, and spherical aberration increased statistically significantly, compared to the scotopic condition (P<0.010). When the scotopic condition shifted to the photopic condition, the standard Zernike coefficients Z4(0), Z4², Z6-4, Z6-2, Z6² decreased and all the higher-order aberrations decreased statistically significantly (P<0.010), demonstrating that accommodative miosis can significantly improve vision under the photopic condition. Under the three conditions, the vertical coma aberration appears the most frequently within the dominant aberrations without significant effect by pupil size variance, and the proportion of spherical aberrations decreased with the decrease of the pupil size. CONCLUSIONS: The wavefront aberrations are significantly different under cycloplegic, scotopic and photopic conditions. Using the wavefront sensor (VISX WaveScan) to measure scotopic wavefront aberrations is feasible for the wavefront-guided refractive surgery.