Bench‐scale tests to study the effect of water mist on burning solid poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) were carried out with a cone calorimeter. Water mist was discharged from a small nozzle under two operating pressures, 0.4 and 0.7 MPa. The corresponding water flow rates were 103.5 and 134 mL/min, respectively. The cone angle of the discharged water spray was 90°, and the volume mean diameter of the mist was about 90 μm. The results were useful in understanding the effects of discharging water mist to suppress the diffusion flame from burning PVC. The reignition process also was studied. The testing method was appropriate for studying the interaction between water mist with smaller droplets and the diffusion flame in a confined space. There, the combined effects of oxygen displacement, gas phase, and fuel surface cooling were the key extinguishing mechanisms. The critical water mist application rate on burning PVC under different thermal radiative heat fluxes was able to be determined. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 99: 2520–2527, 2006

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The programmed death-1 (PD-1) is a potent immunoregulatory molecule which is responsible for the negative regulation of T-cell activation and peripheral tolerance. In order to investigate the association between polymorphisms of PD-1 and breast cancer, a case-control study was conducted in Chinese female population consisting of 490 cases with breast cancer and 512 age-matched healthy individuals from Heilongjiang Province of China. Four polymorphisms of the PD-1 gene, including rs36084323 (PD-1.1), rs7421861, rs2227982 (PD-1.9), and rs2227981 (PD-1.5), were selected and genotypes were determined by the polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP). The frequencies of PD-1.1 GG genotype and PD-1.5 CT genotype were significantly lower in cases compared with controls (P = 0.020 and 0.004, respectively), and PD-1.5 CC genotype and C allele had higher frequencies in cases (P = 0.003 and 0.010). In haplotype analysis, we observed that the frequencies of ATTC and GTCT haplotypes were lower in cases than those of in controls (P = 0.0055 and 0.0012, respectively), whereas the GTCC and ATCC haplotypes had higher frequencies in cases (P = 0.0040 and 0.00008037, respectively). Additionally, strong association was showed between PD-1.1 and P53, and haplotype CCTA was associated with ER status. These results primarily suggest that PD-1 gene polymorphisms may affect the breast cancer risk and prognosis in Chinese Han females of Heilongjiang Province in Northeast China.

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B and T lymphocyte attenuator (BTLA) is an immunoinhibitory receptor with the ability to deliver inhibitory signals for suppressing lymphocyte activation. To identify the influences of BTLA gene polymorphisms on the risk of sporadic breast cancer, a case-control study was conducted in women from northeast of China, Heilongjiang Province. We genotyped five SNPs (rs9288952, rs2931761, rs2633562, rs2705535 and rs1844089) in BTLA gene among exons and introns. Our research groups consist of 592 patients with breast cancer and 506 age/sex-matched healthy controls. Genotypes were determined by the polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) and polymerase chain reaction with confronting two-pair primer (PCR-CTPP) methods. Data were analyzed using the chi-square test by EXCEL, SPSS and Haploview softwares. The frequencies of BTLA rs1844089 CT and rs2705535 AG were higher in patients than in controls (P = 0.0164; P = 0.0031), and rs1844089 CC, rs2705535 GG and rs9288952 CC genotypes had lower incidences in patients than in controls (P = 0.0483; P = 0.0098; P = 0.0400). The frequency of haplotype CAAAT was significantly higher in patients (P = 0.0112). Strong association was shown between five SNPs of BTLA gene and tumor size, estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR), C-erbB-2 and P53 statuses. Strong association was observed between tumor size, ER, PR, P53 and the CAGAT(P = 0.012), TAAGT(P = 0.0378), CAGAT(P = 0.0013), CAAGT(P = 0.0373) and CAAAT(P = 0.0306) haplotypes. These results primarily suggested that BTLA gene polymorphisms may affect the sporadic breast cancer risk and prognosis in Chinese women in northeast of Heilongjiang Province.

Secreted protein, acidic and rich in cysteine (SPARC) is expressed in numerous types of tumors and is suggested to have prognostic value. Moreover, because of its strong affinity for albumin, and hence albumin-bound drugs, SPARC has increasingly become a focus for research. In this study, we aimed to determine SPARC expression in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and investigate the association of SPARC with disease prognosis. Tissue microarrays were constructed with specimens from 105 patients with NSCLC treated at Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center, and immunohistochemical analysis was performed on these tissue microarrays to assess SPARC expression. Our results showed that SPARC expression status did not significantly relate with age, gender, and tumor stage. However, SPARC was expressed more frequently in squamous cell carcinoma than in adenocarcinoma (75% vs. 43.5%, P = 0.004). Patients with smoking history had higher SPARC expression than non-smokers (68.2% vs. 33.3%, P = 0.002). In both univariate and multivariate analyses, SPARC was a prognostic factor of overall survival (HR = 0.32; 95% CI: 0.16–0.65) but not disease-free survival. Our study indicates that SPARC expression is higher in squamous cell carcinoma than in adenocarcinoma in NSCLC. Most notably, SPARC can be used as a prognostic factor for NSCLC.

BackgroundThe interaction of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) with its receptors: TNFRSF1A and TNFRSF1B is critical for the promotion of tumor growth, invasion and metastasis. To better understand the roles of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the TNF-α, TNFRSF1A and TNFRSF1B genes in the development of breast cancer, we explored the associations between SNPs in these three genes and breast cancer susceptibility in northeast Chinese Han women.Methodology/Principal FindingsThis case-control study was conducted among 1016 breast cancer patients and 806 age-matched healthy controls. Seven SNPs in the TNF-α (rs1800629, rs361525), TNFRSF1A (rs767455, rs4149577 and rs1800693) and TNFRSF1B (rs1061622 and rs1061624) genes were genotyped by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) method. In TNFRSF1B, the rs1061622 GT genotype and the G allele conferred a reduced susceptibility to breast cancer (P = 0.000662, OR = 0.706, 95% CI: 0.578–0.863; P = 0.002, OR = 0.769, 95% CI; 0.654–0.905, respectively). Moreover, the AG genotype, the AA genotype and the A allele in rs1061624 conferred an increased risk of breast cancer (P = 0.007, OR = 1.470, 95% CI:1.112–1.943; P = 0.00109, OR = 1.405 95% CI:1.145–1.724; P = 0.001, OR = 1.248 95% CI:1.092–1.426, respectively). These two SNPs also had associations with breast cancer risk under the dominant model. In haplotype analysis, the CTA (rs767455 C-rs4149577 T-rs1800693 A) haplotype in TNFRSF1A and the TA (rs1061622 T-rs1061624 A) haplotype in TNFRSF1B had higher frequencies in breast cancer patients (P = 0.00324; P = 0.000370, respectively), but the frequency of GG (rs1061622 G-rs1061624 G) haplotype in TNFRSF1B was lower in breast cancer patients (P = 0.000251). The associations of the three haplotypes remained significant after correcting for multiple testing. In addition, significant associations were also observed between TNFRSF1A polymorphisms and lymph node metastasis, P53, estrogen receptor (ER) and progesterone receptor (PR) statuses.ConclusionsOur results suggest that rs1061622 and rs1061624 in TNFRSF1B may affect breast cancer risk, and SNPs in TNFRSF1A are associated with the clinical features of breast cancer.

Cytotoxic T lymphocyte antigen-4 (CTLA-4) is an inhibitory molecule that plays a pivotal role in downregulating T-cell mediated immune responses. To determine the role of CTLA-4 in tumor immunity, and to validate previous results as well, we investigated four tag single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of CTLA-4 in a relatively large Chinese Han cohort from northeastern China. Genotypes were determined by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) in 581 patients and 566 age-matched controls. Our data indicated that compared with the common genotype and allele of each SNP, the -1722 CC genotype and C allele showed an increased risk of breast cancer (P = 0.030, odds ratio (OR) = 1.457, 95% confidence internal (CI) 1.036-2.051; P = 0.024, OR = 1.214, 95% CI 1.026-1.436, respectively). The -1661 GG genotype and G allele were also associated with an increased risk of breast cancer (P = 0.018, OR = 1.396, 95% CI 1.058-1.843; P = 0.013, OR = 1.353, 95% CI 1.066-1.717, respectively). In the haplotype analysis, the CAAA haplotype showed a higher frequency in cases (P = 0.004), and this association remained significant after correcting the P value for multiple testing. Associations were shown between the SNPs of CTLA-4 and lymph node metastasis, estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR) and P53 statuses. These results indicate that some SNPs in the CTLA-4 gene may affect the risk of breast cancer and show that some SNPs are associated with breast cancer characteristics in Han women in northeastern China.