Observational studies have shown alcohol drinking behaviors may be associated with the risk of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), but contradictory findings have emerged, and whether such an association is causal is unclear. We here investigate the causal relationship between alcohol consumption and ALS. By leveraging instruments from large‐scale genome‐wide association studies, we performed a comprehensive Mendelian randomization analysis and found alcohol consumption was causally associated with ALS, leading to ∼1.5‐fold (95% confidence interval = 1.4–3.4) higher risk of ALS for each ∼10g/day increase in alcohol intake. Our findings suggest accumulative alcohol consumption may serve as a crucial risk factor in the pathogenesis of ALS. ANN NEUROL 2020 ANN NEUROL 2020;88:195–198

Immunonutritional status is associated with the survival of DLBCL. This multicenter retrospective study aimed to explore the prognostic value of Prognostic Nutrition Index (PNI) in DLBCL patients by using propensity score matched analysis (PSM). Methods: A total of 990 DLBCL cases were recruited from 5 centers of Huaihai Lymphoma Working Group (HHLWG). A 1:1 PSM analysis was performed using the nearest-neighbor method, with a caliper size of 0.02. Cox regression analysis was used to examine factors associated with survival. Results:The median age at diagnosis was 62 years and 52.5% were males, with the 3-y overall survival of 65.1%. According to the MaxStat analysis, 44 was the optimal cutoff point of PNI. After PSM analysis, a total of 282 patients in PNI < 44 group could be propensity matched to PNI ≥ 44 patients, creating a group of 564 patients. Multivariable analysis revealed that PNI, age, central nervous system involvement and International Prognostic Index (IPI) were independent prognostic factors for DLBCL. Kaplan-Meier analysis indicated that patients with low PNI in Ann Arbor Stage (III/VI), ECOG (<2), IPI (LR+LIR), GCB, and BCL-2 negative groups had a poor prognosis. Discussion: PNI could accurately stratify the prognosis of DLBCL after PSM analysis.

Elevated Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) DNA load is common in lymphomas. However, it remains unclear whether the disparity in viral load and its prognostic value in lymphomas are correlated with Epstein-Barr encoding region (EBER) status. In this retrospective multicenter study, we collected the data of pretreatment whole blood EBV DNA (pre-EBV DNA) and EBER status and evaluated their disparity and prognostic values in lymphomas. A total of 454 lymphoma patients from December 2014 to August 2020 were retrospectively retrieved. Mann-Whitney U test, Kruskal-Wallis test and Bonferroni's adjustment were used to explore the disparity of EBV DNA and EBER status in lymphomas. Time-dependent receiver operating characteristic analysis and MaxStat analysis were used to determine optimal cutoff points of pre-EBV DNA load. Univariable and multivariable Cox proportional hazards models were established for the estimation of prognostic factors. The positive rate of EBV DNA in natural killer T-cell lymphoma (NKTL) patients was higher than that in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL), follicular lymphoma (FL) and Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) patients, and the median positive pre-EBV copy number of NKTL was also higher than that of FL and DLBCL. EBV DNA could clearly distinguish the prognosis of DLBCL, NKTL, HL and peripheral T-cell lymphoma, and the integration of EBER status and EBV DNA could differentiate the prognosis of HL patients. Multivariable results revealed that pre-EBV DNA load had an effect on the prognosis of NKTL, FL and DLBCL. The status of pre-EBV DNA and EBER were disparate. Whole blood pre-EBV DNA predicted the

Background: Geriatric nutritional risk index (GNRI) and prognostic nutritional index (PNI) are associated with prognosis of various malignancies. Although GNRI and PNI indicates prognosis in some clinical settings, the values of GNRI and PNI on the prognosis of geriatric patients with Diffuse Large B‐Cell Lymphoma (DLBCL) is unclear. This retrospective analysis aimed to explore the prognostic values of GNRI and PNI in elderly DLBCL patients. Methods: A total of 133 geriatric patients with DLBCL were recruited from Affiliated Hospital of Xuzhou Medical University, and clinicopathological variables were analyzed. X-Tile program, restricted cubic spline (RCS) and time-dependent receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis were used to determine optimal cut-off points of GNRI, PNI and other continuous variables; univariate and multivariate Cox proportional hazards analyses were used for variables selection; Kaplan‐Meier curve was utilized to analyze the influence of variables on prognosis; log-rank test was performed for difference evaluation between groups. Results: The optimal cut-off points for GNRI and PNI were 106.26 and 47 by using RCS. Multivariate analysis showed that PNI, age, hemoglobin, liver invasion and central nervous system invasion were independent prognostic factors for elderly patients with DLBCL, and PNI was ( P = 0.001, HR = 0.413, 95% CI (0.240-0.710) a stronger predictor. Low PNI could predict worse prognosis independently of elderly patients of DLBCL and could re-stratify patients in GCB group, CD5 positive group BCL-2 positive group, and BCL-6 positive group. Conclusions: PNI was an independent adverse factor for elderly DLBCL and patients with low PNI in GCB group, CD5 positive group and BCL-6 positive group were with poor survival.

Early response could be obtained in most patients with relapsed or refractory B cell lymphoblastic leukemia (R/R B-ALL) treated with chimeric antigen receptor T-cell (CAR-T) therapy, but relapse occurs in some patients. There is no consensus on treatment strategy post CAR-T cell therapy. In this retrospective study of humanized CD19-targeted CAR-T cell (hCART19s) therapy for R/R B-ALL, we analyzed the patients treated with allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT) or received a second hCART19s infusion, and summarized their efficacy and safety. We retrospectively studied 28 R/R B-ALL patients treated with hCART19s in the Affiliated Hospital of Xuzhou Medical University from 2016 to 2020. After the first hCART19s infusion, 10 patients received allo-HSCT (CART+HSCT group), 7 patients received a second hCART19s infusion (CART2 group), and 11 patients did not receive HSCT or a second hCART19s infusion (CART1 group). The safety, efficacy, and long-term survival were analyzed. Of the 28 patients who received hCART19s treatment, 1 patient could not be evaluated for efficacy, and 25 (92.6%) achieved complete remission (CR) with 20 (74.7%) achieving minimal residual disease (MRD) negativity. Seven (25%) patients experienced grade 3-4 CRS, and one died from grade 5 CRS. No patient experienced ≥3 grade ICANS. The incidence of second CR is higher in the CART+HSCT group compared to the CART2 group (100% vs. 42.9%, p=0.015). The median follow-up time was 1,240 days (range: 709–1,770). Significantly longer overall survival (OS) and leukemia-free survival (LFS) were achieved in the CART+HSCT group (median OS and LFS: not reached, p=0.006 and 0.001, respectively) compared to the CART2 group (median OS: 482; median LFS: 189) and the CART1 group (median OS: 236; median LFS: 35). In the CART+HSCT group, the incidence of acute graft-versus-host disease (aGVHD) was 30% (3/10), and transplantation-related mortality was 30% (3/10). No chronic GVHD occurred. Multivariate analysis results showed that blasts ≥ 20% in the bone marrow and MRD ≥ 65.6% are independent factors for inferior OS and LFS, respectively, while receiving allo-HSCT is an independent factor associated with both longer OS and LFS. In conclusion, early allo-HSCT after CAR-T therapy can achieve long-term efficacy, and the adverse events are controllable.

With the progressive scale-down of semiconductor's feature size, people are looking forward to More Moore and More than Moore. In order to offer a possible alternative implementation process, people are trying to figure out a feasible transfer from silicon to molecular computing. Such transfer lies on bio-based modules programming with computer-like logic, aiming at realizing the Turing machine. To accomplish this, the DNA-based combinational logic is inevitably the first step we have taken care of. This timely overview paper introduces combinational logic synthesized in DNA computing from both analog and digital perspectives separately. State-of-the-art research progress is summarized for interested readers to quick understand DNA computing, initiate discussion on existing techniques and inspire innovation solutions. We hope this paper can pave the way for the future DNA computing synthesis.

OBJECTIVE:  To investigate the prevalence of peptic ulcers and Helicobactor pylori reinfection 5 years after H. pylori eradication. METHODS:  One thousand and six adults were randomly sampled from the general population in a high‐incidence region of gastric cancer. Of these, 552 subjects were confirmed to be H. pylori‐positive by using both the rapid urease test and the Warthin−Starry stain. All H. pylori‐positive subjects were randomly divided into two groups: (i) the eradication group, who received 1 week of omeprazole‐based triple therapy; and (ii) the control group, who received placebo tablets. Four weeks after the cessation of treatment, 13C‐urea breath tests demonstrated that H. pylori had been successfully eradicated in 88.9% of patients in the eradication group, whereas 96.4% of patients remained H. pylori positive in the control group. Subjects in both groups were followed up using endoscopy at the end of the first and fifth year after treatment. The H. pylori infection status was determined by using the rapid urease test and Warthin−Starry staining. RESULTS:  The response rates to endoscopy at the end of the first and fifth year were 89.3 and 83.11%, respectively. The prevalence of peptic ulcers in the eradication group and control group were 9.87 and 7.61% before treatment, 3.70 and 12.58% 1 year after treatment (P < 0.05), and 5.86 and 14.93% 5 years after treatment (P < 0.05), respectively. The recurrence rates of peptic ulcers in the eradication group and the control group were 3.70 and 38.10% 1 year after treatment, and 14.81 and 42.86% 5 years after treatment, respectively. The rates of H. pylori infection 1 and 5 years after treatment in the eradication group were 13.58, and 19.82%, respectively. In the control group, the rates of H. pylori infection were 91.97 and 83.26% 1 and 5 years after treatment, respectively. CONCLUSIONS:  The prevalence of peptic ulcers decreased significantly after the eradication of H. pylori. The reinfection rate after H. pylori eradication was 4−5% per year. Helicobacter pylori infection status remained constant in almost 85% of cases.

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