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Glioblastoma (GBM) is the most common primary malignant brain tumor in adults and carries a dismal prognosis. The gene is among the most commonly deranged genes in GBM and thus an important therapeutic target. We report the case of a young female with heavily pretreated -mutated GBM, for whom we initiated osimertinib, an oral, third-generation tyrosine kinase inhibitor that irreversibly inhibits EGFR and has significant brain penetration. We then review some of the main challenges in targeting EGFR, including lack of central nervous system penetration with most tyrosine kinase inhibitors, molecular heterogeneity of GBM and the need for enhanced specificity for the mutations relevant in GBM.

Nerve growth is regulated by attractive and repulsive factors in the nervous system. Microscopic gradients of Collapsin-1/Semaphorin III/D (Sema III) and myelin-associated glycoprotein trigger repulsive turning responses by growth cones of cultured Xenopus spinal neurons; the repulsion can be converted to attraction by pharmacological activation of the guanosine 3′,5′-monophosphate (cGMP) and adenosine 3′,5′-monophosphate signaling pathways, respectively. Sema III also causes the collapse of cultured rat sensory growth cones, which can be inhibited by activation of the cGMP pathway. Thus cyclic nucleotides can regulate growth cone behaviors and may be targets for designing treatments to alleviate the inhibition of nerve regeneration by repulsive factors.

In steel squeeze casting process, the working condition of a punch was very rigorous. The abnormal failure models of an H13 punch, such as plastic rubbed damnification, could not be avoided easily. Based on the analysis of the flow stress and the friction-shearing stress of an H13 punch in steel squeeze casting process, the following results were obtained： if the flow stress of an H13 punch was smaller than its friction-shearing stress, these abnormal failures could not be avoided; and if there were some protection measures that enable the flow stress to have a greater value than its friction-shearing one, the abnormal failures would not occur. In the production of 45^# steel valves and catenary system components, the flow stress of a lateral H13 punch without any protection measure was about 29 MPa and its friction-shearing stress was about 51 MPa, then, the abnormal failures occurred; however, when the protection measures of the punch enabled its working temperature to have a value below 682 ℃ its flow stress was greater than its friction-shearing stress, and the abnormal failures were avoided.

China had been free of wild-type poliovirus transmission and infection for nearly 20 years when a 2011 outbreak of imported wild-type poliovirus was identified in Xinjiang. Efforts to control the outbreak are described, including the administration of 44 million doses of vaccine. The World Health Assembly established the Global Polio Eradication Initiative in 1988. 1 , 2 The World Health Organization (WHO) Western Pacific region, including China, was certified as a poliomyelitis-free region in 2000. 3 However, the transmission of wild-type poliovirus has not yet been stopped in Afghanistan, Pakistan, or Nigeria. Globally, some countries have had outbreaks of imported wild-type poliovirus, and in others the circulation of outbreak strains has been reestablished. 4 China has the world's largest population (1.347 billion in 2011). 5 By 1963, live, attenuated oral poliovirus vaccine (OPV) was being administered in annual campaigns conducted during the winter. OPV has been included . . .

After being polio free for more than 10 years, an outbreak following importation of wild poliovirus (WPV) was confirmed in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, China, in 2011. A cross-sectional study was conducted prior to supplementary immunization activities (SIAs), immediately after the confirmation of the WPV outbreak. In selected prefectures, participants aged ≤ 60 years old who visited hospitals at county-level or above to have their blood drawn for reasons not related to the study, were invited to participate in our study. Antibody titers ≥ 8 were considered positive. Among the 2,611 participants enrolled, 2,253 (86.3%), 2,283 (87.4%), and 1,989 (76.2%) were seropositive to P1, P2 and P3 respectively, and 1744 (66.8%) participants were seropositive to all the three serotypes. Lower antibody seropositivities and geometric mean titers were observed in children <1 year of age and in adults aged 15-39 years. Serosurveys to estimate population immunity in districts at high risk of polio importation might be useful to gauge underlying population immunity gaps to polio and possibly to guide preparedness and response planning. Consideration should be given to older children and adults during polio risk assessment planning and outbreak response.

As ethnic medicine, the whole grass of plants in Cirsium was used as antimicrobial. This review focuses on the antimicrobial activity of plants in Cirsium , including antimicrobial components, against different types of microbes and bacteriostatic mechanism. The results showed that the main antimicrobial activity components in Cirsium plants were flavonoids, triterpenoids and phenolic acids, and the antimicrobial ability varied according to the species and the content of chemicals. Among them, phenolic acids showed a strong antibacterial ability against Acinetobacter baumannii, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Enterococcus faecium . The antibacterial mechanisms include: (1) damaging the cell membrane, cell walls, mitochondria and nucleus of bacteria; (2) inhibiting the synthesis of proteins and nucleic acids; (3) suppressing the synthesis of enzymes for tricarboxylic acid cycle pathways and glycolysis, and then killing the bacteria via inhibition of energy production. Totally, most research results on antimicrobial activity of Cirsium plants are reported based on in vitro assays. The evidence from clinical data and comprehensive evaluation are needed.

The possibility of the 2 h oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) as an alternative to the 3 h OGTT was investigated based on data from a national survey on pregnancy-associated diabetes. Data were retrieved from 4179 pregnant women who had OGTT performed after an abnormal 50 g glucose challenge test (GCT). All of the 4 glucose levels during their OGTT were collected and analyzed. According to American Diabetes Association (ADA) gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) diagnostic criteria, among the 4179 pregnant women who required OGTT, 3429 (82.1%) were normal and 750 (17.9%) were diagnosed as GDM. If the 3rd h glucose levels were omitted from OGTT, 79 cases of GDM (10.5%) would be overlooked. No trend was shown where women with more risk factors were more likely to be overlooked if the 3rd h test was omitted ( χ 2 for trend= 0.038, P>0.05). No significant differences were found in the rate of cesarean section (CS), preterm births or macrosomia between the 79 cases and those with normal OGTT results and in the gestational weeks when OGTT was performed. It shows that in order to diagnose one woman with GDM, another 52 pregnant women would have an innocent 3rd h glucose test. Omission of the 3rd h glucose test in OGTT might be reasonable due to its convenience, better compliance and a small number of possibly miss-diagnosed cases, and their pregnancy outcomes have no significant difference from those of normal pregnant women.

The present study investigated the effect of transplanting endothelial progenitor cells （EPCs） transfected with the vascular endothelial growth factor gene （VEGF165） into the corpora cavernosa of rats with diabetic erectile dysfunction （ED）. A rat model of diabetic ED was constructed via intraperitoneal injection of streptozotocin. After streptozotocin treatment, pre-treated EPCs from each of three groups of rats were transplanted into their corpora cavernosa. Our results, following intracavernosal pressure （ICP） monitoring, showed that ICP increased significantly among rats in the trial group when compared to the results from rats in the blank-plasmid and control groups during basal conditions and electrical stimulation （P〈O.01 for both comparisons）. Histological examination revealed extensive neovascularisation in the corpora cavernosa of rats in the trial group. Fluorescence microscopy indicated that many of the transplanted EPCs in the trial group survived, differentiated into endothelial cells and integrated into the sites of neovascularisation. Based on the results of this study, we conclude that transplantation of VEGF165-transfected EPCs into the corpora cavernosa of rats with diabetic ED restores erectile function.