Inflammatory pseudotumors (IPT) are soft tissue tumors that include a diverse group of lesions characterized by inflammatory cell infiltration and variable fibrotic responses. Idiopathic orbital inflammatory pseudotumors (IOIP) are IPTs of unknown etiology that develop in the orbit. Due to the lack of well-defined pathogenic mechanisms, diagnosis and treatment of this disease remain a significant challenge. Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection, which causes significant lymphocyte infiltration, has been proposed to be involved in IOIP. This study tries to validate the relationship between EBV infection and the development of IOIP. Sixteen IOIP tissue samples were obtained from patients during surgical resection of the lesion. One Graves' ophthalmopathy tissue sample and 20 normal donors' plasma serves as controls. The plasma level of five EBV antibodies, including VCA-IgG, VCA-IgA, VCA-IgM, EA-IgG and EBNA1-IgG were examined. All plasma samples were EB-VCA-IgG positive and EB-VCA-IgM negative, suggesting that all people tested had been infected with EBV but not in the acute infection stage. EBV-DNA was detected in 15/16 (94%) of IOIP tissue samples despite different levels of lymphocyte infiltration and 5/16 plasma samples (31%) were detected EBV DNA positive which is higher than the normal controls (10%). Percent of positive plus suspected positive samples with one or more of the three important risk markers (VCA-IgA, EA-IgG, EBV-DNA) is 50% of the patients (8/16) which is much higher compare with the normal controls (20%). The results further reveal the relationship between IOIP and EBV infection.

Background: The global pandemic coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has become a major public health problem and presents an unprecedented challenge. However, no specific drugs were currently proven. This study aimed to evaluate the comparative efficacy and safety of pharmacological interventions in patients with COVID-19. Methods: Medline, Embase, the Cochrane Library, and clinicaltrials.gov were searched for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) in patients infected with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)/SARS-CoV. Random-effects network meta-analysis within the Bayesian framework was performed, followed by the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation system assessing the quality of evidence. The primary outcome of interest includes mortality, cure, viral negative conversion, and overall adverse events (OAEs). Odds ratio (OR) with 95% confidence interval (CI) was calculated as the measure of effect size. Results: Sixty-six RCTs with 19,095 patients were included, involving standard of care (SOC), eight different antiviral agents, six different antibiotics, high and low dose chloroquine (CQ_HD, CQ_LD), traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), corticosteroids (COR), and other treatments. Compared with SOC, a significant reduction of mortality was observed for TCM (OR = 0.34, 95% CI: 0.20–0.56, moderate quality) and COR (OR = 0.84, 95% CI: 0.75–0.96, low quality) with improved cure rate (OR = 2.16, 95% CI: 1.60–2.91, low quality for TCM; OR = 1.17, 95% CI: 1.05–1.30, low quality for COR). However, an increased risk of mortality was found for CQ_HD vs . SOC (OR = 3.20, 95% CI: 1.18–8.73, low quality). TCM was associated with decreased risk of OAE (OR = 0.52, 95% CI: 0.38–0.70, very low quality) but CQ_HD (OR = 2.51, 95% CI: 1.20–5.24) and interferons (IFN) (OR = 2.69, 95% CI: 1.02–7.08) vs . SOC with very low quality were associated with an increased risk. Conclusions: COR and TCM may reduce mortality and increase cure rate with no increased risk of OAEs compared with standard care. CQ_HD might increase the risk of mortality. CQ, IFN, and other antiviral agents could increase the risk of OAEs. The current evidence is generally uncertain with low-quality and further high-quality trials are needed.

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Cynodon dactylon (L.) Pers. (common Bermuda grass) has a limited capacity to grow at low temperatures, which limits its geographical range. Exploring its evolutionary relationship across different environmental gradients is necessary to understand the effects of temperature change on the genetics of common Bermuda grass. In this study, high-throughput transcriptome sequencing was performed on 137 samples of C. dactylon from 16 latitudinal gradients to explore the differential molecular markers and analyze genetic diversity and structure along latitudinal gradients at different temperatures. We primarily sampled more high-quality single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) from populations at lower and middle latitudes. Greater intraspecific genetic variation at each level of temperature treatment could be due to factors such as wind pollination and asexual breeding. Populations of C. dactylon at high latitudes differed from populations at middle and low latitudes, which was supported by a principal component analysis (PCA) and genetic structure analysis, performed at different temperatures. We observed more genetic variation for low-latitude populations at 5 °C, according to an analysis of three phylogenetic trees at different temperature levels, suggesting that low temperatures affected samples with low cold resistance. Based on the results of phylogenetic analysis, we found that samples from high latitudes evolved earlier than most samples at low latitudes. The results provide a comprehensive understanding of the evolutionary phenomenon of landscape genetics, laying the groundwork for future structural and comparative genomic studies of C. dactylon.

Background and aims: It remains unclear whether patients presenting with large vessel occlusion strokes and mild symptoms benefit from mechanical thrombectomy (MT). The purpose of the present study was to compare outcomes in acute ischemic stroke patients with intracranial vessel occlusions and minor stroke symptoms (NIHSS 5 or lower) treated with MTwith those who treated with intravenous thrombolysis (IVT) alone. Methods: In a prospective observational study at Oslo University Hospital, we assessed the outcome in patients admitted with minor stroke (NIHSS 5 or lower), premorbid modified Rankin Scale 0-2, middle cerebral-M1/M2, intracranial carotid, anterior cerebral or basilar artery occlusions. Groups receiving MT and IVT only were compared. Clinical outcome with improvement of NIHSS from baseline to 24 hours and modified Rankin Scale at 3 months were compared as well as MT safety. Results: Among 323 consecutive patients treated with EVT in 2017-18 48 (15.1%) had mild strokes with NIHSS 5 or lower at admission. All patients were assessed with perfusion imaging before MT. Median NIHSS was 1 after 24 hours and median mRS after three months was 0 (range 0-3) in patients with NIHSS 5 or lower who were treated with MT. In the group of consecutive patients with NIHSS 5 or lower who were treated with IVT, median NIHSS after 24 hours was 1 (range 0-5) and median mRS 0 (range 0-3). Conclusion: Thrombectomy in selected patients with low NIHSS is safe and can increase the chance of excellent clinical outcome after 3 months. Larger prospective studies are needed. Trial registration number: N/A

Cynodon dactylon (L.) Pers. (commonly known as bermudagrass) is a member of the family Poaceae. It is a C4 grass that can grow annually and perennially with clone reproduction and seed-setting. It is not only used as forage but also as a weed in many crops. It grows along roadsides, in barren lands, irrigated lands, and seacoasts, where soil salinity is a major problem. Although bermudagrass is distributed worldwide, it shows limited growth under saline conditions. Under salt stress, the whole-plant growth is disturbed and the forage quality is compromised morphologically. At the physiological level, shoot development is affected owing to the resultant oxidative stress, although the total rate of photosynthesis is not greatly affected. Biochemical changes include a change in the K+/Na+ ratio; antioxidant enzymes such as superoxide dismutase and peroxide dismutase increase, while catalase activity slows down. The anatomical changes are visible as salt crystals on the leaf surface and salt glands on the mesophyll surface. In this paper, the morphological, physiological, biochemical, and proteomic mechanisms of bermudagrass under salt stress are discussed, drawing a study of several genes such as ECA4, RAN1, MHX1, psbA1, psbB1, psbP, and psbY at the molecular level. Therefore, the current review aims to understand how bermudagrass grows and adapts well under salt conditions.

AIM: To evaluate the survival outcomes of patients with lacrimal gland adenoid cystic carcinoma who underwent eye-sparing surgery combined with 125I seed implantation radiotherapy or local external γ-ray radiotherapy. METHODS: In this retrospective comparative case series, the clinical records of 27 primary and 8 recurrent patients were reviewed. Univariate and multivariate analyses were used to identify risk factors associated with distant metastasis (DM), and the overall survival (OS) after the initial surgery was analyzed. RESULTS: The median follow-up after radiotherapy was 36mo (range 6-120mo). At the last follow-up after radiotherapy, 26 (74.3%) patients had no evidence of disease, 7 (20%) patients had DM, 2 (5.9%) patients died of DM, and 1 patient with DM was lost to follow-up. Univariate analyses showed that duration of symptoms, bone destruction, T stage classification, and wide excision surgery were risk factors influencing DM (P<0.05). The 5-year and 10-year OS rates after the initial surgery were 95.8% and 79.9%, respectively. The 5-year DM-free survival and disease-free survival rates after radiotherapy were 66.4% and 52.7%, respectively. CONCLUSION: 125I seed radiotherapy and local external γ-ray radiotherapy may have similar therapeutic effects in preventing DM. Patients with T1/T2 stage disease have a better prognosis than those with T3/T4 stage disease.

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