Search

Identification of long‐term calcium channel blocker (CCB) responders with acute vasodilator challenge is critical in the evaluation of patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension. Currently there is no standardized approach for use of supplemental oxygen during acute vasodilator challenge. In this retrospective analysis of patients identified as acute vasoresponders, treated with CCBs, all patients had hemodynamic measurements in three steps: (1) at baseline; (2) with 100% fractional inspired oxygen; and (3) with 100% fractional inspired oxygen plus inhaled nitric oxide (iNO). Those meeting the definition of acute vasoresponsiveness only after first normalizing for the effects of oxygen in step 2 were labeled "iNO Responders." Those who met the definition of acute vasoresponsiveness from a combination of the effects of 100% FiO2 and iNO were labeled "oxygen responders." Survival, hospitalization for decompensated right heart failure, duration of CCB monotherapy, and functional data were collected. iNO responders, when compared to oxygen responders, had superior survival (100% vs. 50.1% 5‐year survival, respectively), fewer hospitalizations for acute decompensated right heart failure (0% vs. 30.4% at 1 year, respectively), longer duration of CCB monotherapy (80% vs. 52% at 1 year, respectively), and superior 6‐min walk distance. Current guidelines for acute vasodilator testing do not standardize oxygen coadministration with iNO. This study demonstrates that adjusting for the effects of supplemental oxygen before assessing for acute vasoresponsiveness identifies a cohort with superior functional status, tolerance of CCB monotherapy, and survival while on long‐term CCB therapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: This study investigated the differences in target volumes between preoperative magnetic resonance imaging (MRIpre) and postoperative MRI (MRIpost) for breast radiotherapy after breast‐conserving surgery (BCS) using deformable image registration (DIR). Methods and Materials: Seventeen eligible patients who underwent whole‐breast irradiation in the prone position after BCS were enrolled. On MRIpre, the gross tumor volume (GTV) was delineated as GTVpre, which was then expanded by 10 mm to represent the preoperative lumpectomy cavity (LC), denoted as LCpre. The LC was expanded to the clinical target volume (CTV) and planning target volume (PTV) on the MRIpre and MRIpost, denoted as CTVpre, CTVpost, PTVpre, and PTVpost, respectively. The MIM software system was used to register the MRIpre and MRIpost using DIR. Differences were evaluated regarding target volume, distance between the centers of mass (dCOM), conformity index (CI), and degree of inclusion (DI). The relationship between CILC/CIPTV and the clinical factors was also assessed. Results: Significant differences were observed in LC and PTV volumes between MRIpre and MRIpost (p < 0.0001). LCpre was 0.85 cm3 larger than LCpost, while PTVpre was 29.38 cm3 smaller than PTVpost. The dCOM between LCpre and LCpost was 1.371 cm, while that between PTVpre and PTVpost reduced to 1.348 cm. There were statistically significant increases in CI and DI for LCpost–LCpre and PTVpost–PTVpre (CI = 0.221, 0.470; DI = 0.472, 0.635). No obvious linear correlations (p > 0.05) were found between CI and GTV, primary tumor volume‐to‐breast volume ratio, distance from the primary tumor to the nipple and chest wall, and body mass index. Conclusions: Despite using DIR technology, the spatial correspondence of target volumes between MRIpre and MRIpost was suboptimal. Therefore, relying solely on preoperative diagnostic MRI with DIR for postoperative LC delineation is not recommended. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Thymic epithelial tumors (TETs) are rare malignant tumors with limited treatment options. No established second‐line treatment regimen is available following the preferred first‐line chemotherapy, resulting in unsatisfactory efficacy and poor prognosis for patients with advanced TETs. This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of small molecule multitarget antiangiogenic inhibitors as well as the prognostic factors for advanced TETs. Methods: A retrospective study was conducted using data from a real‐world database. Clinical information and survival follow‐up data were collected from 52 patients with advanced TETs who received small molecule multitarget antiangiogenic inhibitors at Zhejiang Cancer Hospital between August 10, 2016 and August 10, 2022. The short‐term efficacy of the treatments, survival time of the patients, and relevant prognostic factors of advanced TETs were analyzed. Results: Out of the 52 patients included in this study, 16 had thymoma and 36 had thymic carcinoma. The 52 patients had an overall response rate of 21.1% and a disease control rate of 94.2%. In addition, the median progression‐free survival (PFS) was 8.05 months, and the overall survival (OS) was 25.00 months. Apatinib was given to 33 patients, anlotinib to 15 patients, and sunitinib or lenvatinib to four patients. Only seven patients received antiangiogenic inhibitors as their first‐line therapy, 27 patients as their second‐line therapy, and 18 patients as third‐line or subsequent therapy. Meanwhile, 42 patients received monotherapy with an antiangiogenesis inhibitor, while 10 patients received combination therapy. Univariate analysis indicated that the combined treatment was associated with a superior OS (p = 0.044); multivariate analysis indicated that the combined treatment was an independent prognostic factor for PFS (p = 0.014) and OS (p = 0.012). Conclusion: The findings suggest that small molecule multitarget antiangiogenic inhibitors are efficacious as second or post‐line treatments as a viable alternative treatment option for patients with advanced TETs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Alzheimer's disease (AD), a persistent neurological dysfunction, has an increasing prevalence with the aging of the world and seriously threatens the health of the elderly. Although there is currently no effective treatment for AD, researchers have not given up, and are committed to exploring the pathogenesis of AD and possible therapeutic drugs. Natural products have attracted considerable attention owing to their unique advantages. One molecule can interact with multiple AD-related targets, thus having the potential to be developed in a multi-target drug. In addition, they are amenable to structural modifications to increase interaction and decrease toxicity. Therefore, natural products and their derivatives that ameliorate pathological changes in AD should be intensively and extensively studied. This review mainly presents research on natural products and their derivatives for the treatment of AD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Traffic flow detection provides significant information for intelligent transportation systems. However, as the mainstream research direction, vision-based traffic flow detection methods currently face the challenges of a trade-off between accuracy and speed. Furthermore, it is crucial that modularization be incorporated into the system design process to enhance the maintainability and flexibility of the system. To achieve this, we propose a modular design method that divides this task into three parts: vehicle detecting, vehicle tracking, and vehicle counting. As an important link of the system, vehicle detection greatly influences the accuracy and speed of the system. We therefore introduce a lightweight network called feature adaptive fusion-YOLOX, which is based on YOLOX. Specifically, in order to eliminate redundant information brought by bilinear interpolation, we propose a feature-level upsampling method called channel to spatial, which enables upsampling without additional calculations. Based on this module, we design a lightweight, multi-scale feature fusion module, feature adaptive fusion pyramid network (FAFPN). Compared with PA-FPN, FAFPN reduces FLOPs by 61% and parameters of the neck by 50% while maintaining comparable or even slightly improved performance. Through experimental tests, the traffic flow detection method proposed in this paper achieves high accuracy and adaptability in a series of traffic surveillance videos in different types of weather and perspectives and can realize traffic flow detection in real time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Interpreting natural language is an increasingly important task in computer algorithms due to the growing availability of unstructured textual data. Natural Language Processing (NLP) applications rely on semantic networks for structured knowledge representation. The fundamental properties of semantic networks must be taken into account when designing NLP algorithms, yet they remain to be structurally investigated. We study the properties of semantic networks from ConceptNet, defined by 7 semantic relations from 11 different languages. We find that semantic networks have universal basic properties: they are sparse, highly clustered, and many exhibit power-law degree distributions. Our findings show that the majority of the considered networks are scale-free. Some networks exhibit language-specific properties determined by grammatical rules, for example networks from highly inflected languages, such as e.g. Latin, German, French and Spanish, show peaks in the degree distribution that deviate from a power law. We find that depending on the semantic relation type and the language, the link formation in semantic networks is guided by different principles. In some networks the connections are similarity-based, while in others the connections are more complementarity-based. Finally, we demonstrate how knowledge of similarity and complementarity in semantic networks can improve NLP algorithms in missing link inference. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Stress urinary incontinence during pregnancy is closely related to the occurrence of postpartum and long-term urinary incontinence. Early pelvic floor management is of great significance in promoting the recovery of pelvic floor tissues in pregnant women. However, effective management of urinary incontinence is far from achievable owing to the low adherence of pregnant women in partaking in pelvic floor rehabilitation. As a comprehensive framework for behavioural theory, the Theoretical Domain Framework allows for comprehensive identification of behavioural determinants. Using Theoretical Domain Framework, this study aimed to identify barriers and enablers of pelvic floor rehabilitation behaviours in pregnant women with stress urinary incontinence. Methods: A descriptive, qualitative design was used in this study. Face-to-face semi-structured interviews were conducted with pregnant women with stress urinary incontinence based on the Theoretical Domain Framework. The data were analysed using a combination of inductive and deductive methods. Results: Twenty pregnant women with stress urinary incontinence were interviewed. Seven themes were summarised and used to explain the pelvic floor rehabilitation behaviours of pregnant women with stress urinary incontinence. The seven themes were (1) individual knowledge and experience of pelvic floor management, (2) judgments about expected outcomes, (3) interactions of interpersonal situations, (4) environment, resources, and decision-making processes, (5) personal goal-setting and efforts towards behaviour change, (6) emotional influences on decision-making, and (7) personal characteristics. Besides the "Optimism" domain, 13 of the 14 Theoretical Domains Framework domains were found to influence pregnant patients' pelvic floor rehabilitation behaviours after deductive mapping of themes to the Theoretical Domains Framework. In addition, the inductive analysis generated a theme of personal characteristics that did not map to any of the Theoretical Domains Framework domains. Conclusions: The pelvic floor rehabilitation behaviours of pregnant women with stress urinary incontinence are complex and are affected by many factors. The findings confirm the need for multiple interventions to support pelvic floor management in pregnant women with stress urinary incontinence, focusing on enhancing knowledge and skills in pelvic floor care and using appropriate behaviour change techniques (such as prompts) to provide a supportive environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulator (TENS) has been demonstrated to be beneficial in glycemic control in animal models, but its application in humans has not been well studied. We randomly assigned 160 patients with type 2 diabetes on oral antidiabetic drugs 1:1 to the TENS study device (n = 81) and placebo (n = 79). 147 (92%) randomized participants (mean [SD] age 59 [10] years, 92 men [58%], mean [SD] baseline HbA1c level 8.1% [0.6%]) completed the trial. At week 20, HbA1c decreased from 8.1% to 7.9% in the TENS group (− 0.2% [95% CI − 0.4% to − 0.1%]) and from 8.1% to 7.8% in the placebo group (− 0.3% [95% CI − 0.5% to − 0.2%]) (P = 0.821). Glycemic variability, measured as mean amplitude of glycemic excursion (MAGE) at week 20 were significantly different in the TENS group vs. the placebo group (66 mg/dL [95% CI 58, 73] vs. 79 mg/dL [95% CI 72, 87]) (P = 0.009). Our study provides the clinical evidence for the first time in humans that TENS does not demonstrate a statistically significant HbA1c reduction. However, it is a safe complementary therapy to improve MAGE in patients with type 2 diabetes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The superior cervical ganglion (SCG) is part of the autonomic nervous system providing sympathetic innervation to the head and neck, and has been regularly used to prepare postnatal neuronal cultures for cell biological studies. We found that during development these neurons change tau expression from the low molecular weight (LMW) isoforms to Big tau, with the potential to affect functions associated with tau such as microtubule dynamic and axonal transport. Big tau contains the large 4a exon that transforms tau from LMW isoforms of 45–60 kDa to 110 kDa. We describe tau expression during postnatal development reporting that the transition from LMW tau to Big tau which started at late embryonic stages is completed by about 4–5 weeks postnatally. We confirmed the presence of Big tau in dissociated postnatal SCG neurons making them an ideal system to study the function of Big tau in neurons. We used SCG explants to examine the response of SCG neurons to lesion and found that Big tau expression returned gradually along the regrowing neurites suggesting that it does not drives regeneration, but facilitates the structure/function of mature SCG neurons. The structural/functional roles of Big tau remain unknown, but it is intriguing that neurons that express Big tau appear less vulnerable to tauopathies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. Periodontitis is considered to be the leading cause of tooth loss in adults, and it interacts with some serious systemic diseases. Periodontal basic therapy is the cornerstone of periodontal disease treatment and long-term maintenance and has a positive impact on the treatment of systemic diseases. Aim. To explore the potential gene targets of periodontitis therapies by bioinformatics method. Methods. We analyzed the expression database (GSE6751) downloaded from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) with weighted gene coexpression network analysis (WGCNA) to confirm the functional gene modules. Pathway enrichment network analyses the key genes in functional modules and verified the candidate genes from the samples in peripheral blood sources of GSE43525. Moreover, we confirmed the expression of target protein in the periodontal tissues of experimental periodontitis-afflicted mice using western blotting. Results. The functional gene modules were found to have biological processes, and ARRB2, BIRC3, CD14, DYNLL1, FCER1G, FCGR1A, FCGR2B, FGR, HCK, and PRKCD were screened as candidates' genes in functional modules. The 921 DEG from GSE43525 and 418 DEG is from the green module of GSE6751 and identified AMICA1, KDELR1, DHRS7B, LMNB1, CTSA, S100A12, and FCGR1A as target genes. Finally, FCGR1A (CD64) was confirmed as the key gene that affects periodontal treatment. Western blot analysis showed an increasing trend in the expression level of FCGR1A protein in the periodontal tissues of experimental periodontitis mice compared to normal mice. Conclusions. FCGR1A (CD64) may be a key gene target for periodontal therapy in patients with periodontitis and other systemic diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The field of urban morphology, crucial for understanding the evolutionary trajectories of cityscapes, has traditionally depended on manual classification methods. The surge in deep learning and computer vision technologies presents an opportunity to automate and enhance urban typo-morphology studies. This research addresses three critical shortcomings in the current body of work: the neglect of urban fabric's three-dimensional qualities, the homogeneity of spatial scales in dataset creation and the dependence on a single-perspective for urban fabric classification. A novel deep learning-based model, UrbanClassifier, is introduced, trained on a substantial dataset that encapsulates the three-dimensionality of urban fabric along with morphological types and development periods. Extensive experimentation across four European cities highlights the model's ability to incorporate diverse spatial scales and viewpoints in urban fabric analysis. The UrbanClassifier exemplifies a method integrating features from various scales and perspectives, thus laying the groundwork for scalable and accessible urban typo-morphology studies, aiding practitioners in discerning the spatio-temporal evolution of urban fabric. • Merges open-source data for detailed 3D urban morphology and historical period labels. • Innovative assimilation of multi-scale, multi-view features for classifying urban typologies. • Facilitates scalable studies, aiding visualization of global urban growth patterns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Students' mental health has always been a hot topic in colleges and universities. How to make students integrate into the collective and society faster and better is also one of the most difficult problems for educators. Students want to improve their competitiveness; not only must they have superb professional skills, but at the same time, they must have good social adaptability. Only in this way can they quickly complete their identity change and quickly adapt to workplace life. Students' social adaptability is not innate, but gradually formed through long-term positive mental health education. Considering the relationship between psychoeducation and social adaptability, in general, a good psychoeducation system is conducive to the development of students' social adaptability, and they promote each other. Good mental health education is multifaceted and sustainable for the development of social adaptability. In this context, it is necessary to formulate a targeted positive mental health education plan according to the actual situation of students, so as to comprehensively improve the comprehensive quality of students in this way. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: Unfractionated heparin (UFH) has been the primary anticoagulant of choice on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO). However, it is debatable whether bivalirudin (BIV), a direct thrombin inhibitor, may be considered a better alternative anticoagulant option. Methods: We searched Embase, Pubmed, Cochrane library, Clinicaltrials.gov, CNKI and Wanfang databases up to 15 June 2021. Randomized controlled trials and observational studies were considered eligible for inclusion. Random‐effects meta‐analyses, including subgroup analyses, were conducted. Results: A total of 9 studies containing 994 patients were enrolled. All articles were retrospective cohort studies. Compared with UFH, BIV was associated with lower risks of major bleeding (risk ratio [RR]: 0.32, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.22–0.49), ECMO in‐circuit thrombosis (RR: 0.57, 95% CI 0.43–0.74), stroke (RR: 0.52, 95% CI 0.29–0.95) and in‐hospital mortality (RR: 0.82, 95% CI 0.69–0.99), and higher rates of survival to ECMO decannulation (RR: 1.18, 95% CI 1.03–1.34). Pooled risk estimates did not show a significant association with clinical thrombotic events (RR: 0.69, 95% CI 0.45–1.07). Moreover, BIV was associated with a lower risk of ECMO in‐circuit thrombosis and in‐hospital mortality in the adult subgroup but not in the paediatric subgroup. However, leave‐one‐out sensitivity analyses indicated that the results of stroke, survival to ECMO decannulation and in‐hospital mortality should be interpreted with caution. Conclusion: BIV appears to be a potential alternative to UFH in paediatric and adult patients requiring ECMO. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Although with the impressive efficacy, several patients showed intrinsic resistance or an unsatisfactory response to Osimertinib. We aim to explore the impact of clinical and molecular features on efficacy and outcome of patients with EGFR T790M-mutation non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) receiving second-line Osimertinib.Methods: Patients with EGFR T790M-mutant NSCLC who had acquired resistance to the first-generation EGFR TKI and then received Osimertinib as second-line treatment were included. Patients' demographic and clinical information, as well as molecular data were extracted from electronic medical records. The impact of clinical and molecular features on treatment response and patients' outcome were assessed.Results: Among the 99 patients, 60 patients were tissue/pleural effusion T790M positive and 69 patients were plasma positive with a median PFS of 12.1 m and 9.9 m (P = 0.25), respectively. In addition, median PFS were similar between patients of plasma T790M + and patients of plasma T790M- (P = 0.94). The Pearson correlation test showed no significant relationship between plasma T790M abundance and PFS (r = 0.074, P = 0.546). In subgroup analyses, PFS was significantly improved in elder patients (P = 0.009) and patients with longer PFS to the first-generation EGFR TKI (P = 0.0008), while smokers tended to have worse PFS compared with non-smokers (P = 0.064). PARP1 mutant-type patients had a worse PFS compared with wild-type group (P = 0.0003). Patients with MYC amplification also had a worse PFS than MYC wild-type patients (P = 0.016). A significant PFS shrinkage was observed in TMB-High group as 6.77 m, compared with 19.10 m in TMB-Low group. The multivariate Cox analysis revealed that years ≥ 65 was an independent positive feature for PFS, while PARP1 mutation and TMB-H were negative features for PFS.Conclusion: In conclusion, our findings in this study demonstrated that clinical and molecular features can be served as predictive biomarkers to stratify patients with EGFR T790M-mutant NSCLC receiving second-line Osimertinib. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cancers are immunologically heterogeneous. A range of immunotherapies target abnormal tumor immunity via different mechanisms of actions (MOAs), particularly various tumor-infiltrate leukocytes (TILs). We modeled loss of function (LOF) in four common anti-PD-1 antibody-responsive syngeneic tumors, MC38, Hepa1-6, CT-26 and EMT-6, by systematical depleting a series of TIL lineages to explore the mechanisms of tumor immunity and treatment. CD8+-T-cells, CD4+-T-cells, Treg, NK cells and macrophages were individually depleted through either direct administration of anti-marker antibodies/reagents or using DTR (diphtheria toxin receptor) knock-in mice, for some syngeneic tumors, where specific subsets were depleted following diphtheria toxin (DT) administration. These LOF experiments revealed distinctive intrinsic tumor immunity and thus different MOAs in their responses to anti-PD-1 antibody among different syngeneic tumors. Specifically, the intrinsic tumor immunity and the associated anti-PD-1 MOA were predominately driven by CD8+ cytotoxic TILs (CTL) in all syngeneic tumors, excluding Hepa1-6 where CD4+ Teff TILs played a key role. TIL-Treg also played a critical role in supporting tumor growth in all four syngeneic models as well as M2-macrophages. Pathway analysis using pharmacodynamic readouts of immuno-genomics and proteomics on MC38 and Hepa1-6 also revealed defined, but distinctive, immune pathways of activation and suppression between the two, closely associated with the efficacy and consistent with TIL-pharmacodynamic readouts. Understanding tumor immune-pathogenesis and treatment MOAs in the different syngeneic animal models, not only assists the selection of the right model for evaluating new immunotherapy of a given MOA, but also can potentially help to understand the potential disease mechanisms and strategize optimal immune-therapies in patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the stage of vehicle demonstration and development, equipment finalization test, and equipment service, an important role is played by the mobility prediction and evaluation method of tracked vehicles under complex road conditions, in which vehicle vibration response evaluation is the main content of off-road mobility prediction and evaluation. In this paper, based on the principle of multibody dynamics, a high-speed tracked vehicle action system model was established by using the simulation analysis method. The vibration response of the vehicle on uneven pavement was evaluated from four aspects: driver comfort, driver absorbed power, occupant handling efficiency, and suspension dynamic travel. Simultaneously, the shock vibration peak value was utilized to evaluate the vibration response of the vehicle during obstacle crossing. Three fitting methods, namely polynomial response surface, Kriging method, and radial basis function neural network, were used to establish approximate models between the design variables and the objective function, respectively. The pros and cons of each approximate model were analyzed by comparing the approximate errors between the predicted values of the fitting model and the actual response values of the simulation model. The results of this paper are of reference significance for the prediction and evaluation of the off-road mobility of high-speed tracked vehicles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Urinary incontinence is a common and distressing condition affecting women worldwide. However, urinary incontinence during pregnancy was less studied. The study aims to investigate the prevalence and risk factors of urinary incontinence during pregnancy, its impact on health-related quality of life as well as associated help-seeking behavior.Methods: Eligible women were enrolled in the obstetric wards of a tertiary maternity hospital. Urinary incontinence, generic and specific health-related quality of life were assessed using the International Consultation on Incontinence Modular Questionnaire-Urinary Incontinence Short Form (ICIQ-UI SF), the 12-Item Short Form Health Survey version 2 (SF-12v2), Urogenital Distress Inventory short form (UDI-6) and Incontinence Impact Questionnaire short form (IIQ-7), respectively. Multiple logistic regression and multiple linear regression analysis were used to examine risk factors of urinary incontinence during pregnancy and the impact of incontinence on health-related quality of life of pregnant women, respectively.Results: A total of 1243 women were enrolled in the study. The prevalence of urinary incontinence during pregnancy was 52.0%. Most women suffered from mild or moderate incontinence. Five risk factors were identified by multiple logistic regression. Urinary incontinence before pregnancy was the strongest predictor for incontinence during pregnancy (OR = 4.178, 95% CI = 2.690-6.490), followed by history of vaginal birth, coffee consumption, childhood enuresis and history of urinary tract infection. Urinary incontinence had significant impact on health-related quality of life during pregnancy. Only 14.8% of pregnant women sought professional help for urinary symptoms.Conclusions: Urinary incontinence was highly prevalent in pregnant women, with a broad detrimental effect on health-related quality of life. Five factors were confirmed to be associated with increasing the risk of developing urinary incontinence during pregnancy. The help-seeking behavior during pregnancy was discouraging. Targeted interventions are warranted to facilitate the prevention of urinary incontinence and improvement of health-related quality of life in pregnant women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of dietary supplementation of Bacillus licheniformis derived-protease, alone or in combination with valine to low protein diet on growth performance, nutrient digestibility and carcass quality grade in growing-finishing pigs. A total of 180 crossbred ([Landrace × Yorkshire] × Duroc) growing pigs with an initial body weight of 22.56 ± 1.59 kg were used in a 17-week feeding trial. Pigs were randomly allotted into three treatments: CON, basal diet; PROT, low protein diet with 0.05% protease; PROTV, PROT diet with 0.08% valine. During the finishing phase (wk 7–17) and overall period (wk 0–17), gain: feed (G:F) ratio was increased (P < 0.05) in pigs fed the PROTV diet compared with those fed the CON diet. Although the supplementation of B. licheniformis derived-protease in combination with valine to low protein diet increased the G:F ratio of finishing phase and overall, compared with CON, other indexes of growth performance, nutrient digestibility and carcass quality grade were not impacted. Dietary supplementation with a combination of B. licheniformis derived-protease and valine in a low crude protein diet had no deleterious effects on growth performance, nutrient digestibility and carcass quality grade in growing-finishing pigs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Chemoradiotherapy (CRT) is the standard treatment for limited-stage small cell lung cancer (LS-SCLC), which can exert anti-tumor effects by regulating immune cells. Different immune cell subsets are associated with a specific sensitivity to CRT. The purpose of this study was to characterize the proportion or composition of peripheral lymphocytes in patients with LS-SCLC before and after CRT, and evaluate their prognostic value. Methods: A total of 98 patients with LS-SCLC were enrolled. The expression of CD3, CD4, CD8, CD45RA, CD45RO, CD38, CD56, and CD19 on the surface of peripheral blood cells was detected by flow cytometry and retrospectively analyzed. The relationship between the proportion of lymphocyte subsets, progression-free survival (PFS), and overall survival (OS) was evaluated using a log-rank test and Cox regression model. Results: The median PFS was 12.3 months and the median OS was 21.7 months. Compared with the pre-treatment specimens, post-treatment lymphocytes had increased proportions of CD3+, CD3+CD8+, CD8+CD38+ T cells, and NKT cells, and a decreased proportion of CD3+CD4+ T cells, CD4+CD45RA+ T cells, B cells, NK cells, and CD4/CD8 ratio. Univariate and multivariate analyses showed that prophylactic cranial irradiation, high percentages of CD4+CD45RA+, CD8+CD38+ T cells after CRT independently predicted superior PFS. Male patients with a high baseline CD4+CD45RO+ T cell ratio predicted a poor OS. Conclusions: CRT induced changes in the proportion of circulating lymphocyte subsets in LS-SCLC, which is helpful for designing a regimen of immune drugs to be combined with CRT. The prognostic value of the proportion of lymphocytes aids in understanding the role of peripheral immune profiles in LS-SCLC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intravenous ibuprofen, a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug, is widely used as an antipyretic and analgesic in adults and children. This study was designed to evaluate ethnic differences by comparing the pharmacokinetics of intravenous ibuprofen in Caucasian and Chinese populations using physiologically based pharmacokinetics (PBPK) modeling and simulation. A PBPK model for intravenous ibuprofen was developed in adults and children utilizing the Simcyp Simulator. The model was tested and verified against published literature and unpublished data obtained from the Caucasian adult population, Caucasian pediatric population and Chinese adult population. The developed PBPK model could adequately pilot the pharmacokinetics of intravenous ibuprofen, and the major observed values were within the 90% prediction interval in both adults and children. Both folding errors of the maximum peak concentration (C max) and area under the concentration–time curve (AUC) were 1.5-fold less in the Caucasian and Chinese populations. In addition, no significant differences in weight-normalized C max and AUC were observed between the Caucasian and Chinese adult populations. Moreover, there were no obvious pharmacokinetic differences between the Caucasian and Chinese pediatric populations with intravenous infusion (10 minutes) of 10 mg/kg by age group. This study indicates that the pharmacokinetic profile and the parameters of intravenous ibuprofen are analogous in Caucasian and Chinese populations, either adults or children. In addition, this study provides effective evidence that the dosing scheme of intravenous ibuprofen in Chinese children can remain the same as the regimen that the original company (Caldolor®) provided. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: CPGs are not uniformly successful in improving care and several instances of implementation failure have been reported. Performing a comprehensive assessment of the barriers and enablers is key to developing an informed implementation strategy. Our objective was to investigate determinants of guideline implementation and explore associations of self-reported adherence to guidelines with characteristics of participants in China.Methods: This is a cross-sectional survey, using multi-stage stratified typical sampling based on China's economic regional divisions (the East, the Middle, the West and the Northeast). 2-5 provinces were selected from each region. 2-3 cities were selected in each province, and secondary and tertiary hospitals from each city were included. We developed a questionnaire underpinned by recommended methods for the design and conduct of self-administered surveys and based on conceptual framework of guideline use, in-depth related literature analysis, guideline development manuals, related behavior change theory. Finally, multivariate analyses were performed using logistic regression to produce adjusted odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI).Results: The questionnaire consisted of four sections: knowledge of methodology for developing guidelines; barriers to accessing guideline; barriers to guideline implementation; and methods for improving guideline implementation. There were 1732 participants (87.3% response rate) from 51 hospitals. Of these, 77.2% reported to have used guidelines frequently or very frequently. The key barriers to guideline use were lack of education or training (46.2%), and overly simplistic wording or overly broad scope of recommendations (43.8%). Level of adherence to guidelines was associated with geographical regions (the northeast P < 0.001; the west P = 0.02; the middle P < 0.001 compared with the east), hospital grades (P = 0.028), length of practitioners' practice (P = 0.006), education background (Ph.D., P = 0.027; Master, P = 0.002), evidence-based medicine skills acquired in work unit (P = 0.012), and medical specialty of practitioner (General Practice, P = 0.006; Surgery, P = 0.043).Conclusion: Despite general acknowledgement of the importance of guidelines, the use of guidelines was not as frequent as might have been expected. To optimize the likelihood of adherence to guidelines, guideline implementation should follow an actively developed dissemination plan incorporating features associated with adherence in our study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cyclical fluctuations of the ovarian hormones estrogen (E2) and progesterone (PROG) have multiple effects on reproduction and development. However, little is known about the roles of E2 and PROG in women's social behaviors. Here, based on evolutionary theory suggesting social sensitivity and inhibition ability are conductive to maintaining social relationships, we provide evidence for the association between menstrual phases and social orientation. In Study 1, 78 women provided saliva samples and reported their intensity of behavioral activation/inhibition system (BAS/BIS) and interpersonal sensitivity at either of two phases of the menstrual cycle: late follicular phase (FP), and mid-luteal phase (LP). A significant between-subject association emerged, revealing that women with higher PROG levels reported higher levels of social feedback sensitivity, and women with relatively high PROG levels showed a positive association between their E2 levels and inhibitory response. In Study 2, 30 women reported their interpersonal anxiety and finished the social value orientation (SVO) measures at both late FP and mid-LP. A significant within-person effect emerged: women in the mid-LP, which is characterized by higher PROG levels, reported higher levels of interpersonal anxiety and SVO. In sum, these findings revealed that women's social orientation could fluctuate naturally with ovarian hormones across the menstrual cycle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims Vascular calcification is highly prevalent in atherosclerosis, diabetes, and chronic kidney disease. It is associated with increased morbidity and mortality in patients with cardiovascular disease. Matrix metalloproteinase 3 (MMP-3), also known as stromelysin-1, is part of the large matrix metalloproteinase family. It can degrade extracellular matrix components of the arterial wall including elastin, which plays a central role in medial calcification. In this study, we sought to determine the role of MMP-3 in medial calcification. Methods and results We found that MMP-3 was increased in rodent models of medial calcification as well as in vascular smooth muscle cells (SMCs) cultured in a phosphate calcification medium. It was also highly expressed in calcified tibial arteries in patients with peripheral arterial disease (PAD). Knockdown and inhibition of MMP-3 suppressed phosphate-induced SMC osteogenic transformation and calcification, whereas the addition of a recombinant MMP-3 protein facilitated SMC calcification. In an ex vivo organ culture model and a rodent model of medial calcification induced by vitamin D3, we found that MMP-3 deficiency significantly suppressed medial calcification in the aorta. We further found that medial calcification and osteogenic transformation were significantly reduced in SMC-specific MMP-3-deficient mice, suggesting that MMP-3 in SMCs is an important factor in this process. Conclusion These findings suggest that MMP-3 expression in vascular SMCs is an important regulator of medial calcification and that targeting MMP-3 could provide a therapeutic strategy to reduce it and address its consequences in patients with PAD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: This study aimed to identify the disease‐causing mutation of congenital cataract disease in a large northeastern Chinese family. Materials and Methods: The subjects' peripheral blood was collected, their genomic DNA was extracted, mutation screening of candidate genes was performed using polymerase chain reaction, and the amplified products were sequenced. Recombinant C‐terminal enhanced green fluorescent protein‐tagged wild‐type or mutant CRYGD was expressed in HEK293T cells, and the expression pattern was observed under a fluorescence microscope. The CRYGD protein mutation was analyzed via bioinformatics analysis. Results: c.475delG, a novel frameshift mutation in CRYGD, was identified in the affected family members. This mutation causes premature termination of the polypeptide, resulting in truncated p.(Ala159ProfsTer9). According to the bioinformatics analysis results, compared with wild‐type CRYGD, p.(Ala159ProfsTer9) exhibits significantly decreased hydrophilicity. Fluorescence microscopy revealed that p.(Ala159ProfsTer9) aggregates in the cell in the form of granular deposits. Conclusion: In this study, the novel frameshift mutation c.475delG, p.(Ala159ProfsTer9) in CRYGD was identified to cause congenital cataracts in a large Chinese family; increased hydrophobicity of p.(Ala159ProfsTer9) protein may be the underlying mechanism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The behavioral activation system (BAS) and the behavioral inhibition system (BIS) have been proposed to relate to stable traits that predict inter-individual differences in motivation. Prior reports point dopamine (DA) pathways, mainly including ventral tegmental area (VTA) and substantia nigra (SN), implicate in subserving reward-related functions associated with BAS and inhibitory functions related with BIS. However, as an important factor that affects DA releasing, it remains an open question whether the ovarian hormones may also be related to BIS/BAS. Here, to investigate effects of the estradiol (E2) and progesterone (PROG) on BIS/BAS and related DA pathways, we employed a BIS/BAS scale and the resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) during the late follicular phase (FP) and the mid-luteal phase (LP). On the behavioral level, when women had high PROG levels, their E2 levels were found positively correlated with BIS scores, but those women whose PROG levels were low, their E2 levels were negative correlation with BIS scores. On the neural level, we demonstrated BAS was related with the VTA pathway, included brain reward regions of nucleus accumbens (NAc) and orbitofrontal cortex (OFC). Meanwhile, the BIS was correlated with the SN-dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC) pathway. ROI-based resting-state functional connectivity (RSFC) analyses further revealed that, RSFC between the SN and dlPFC was modulated by ovarian hormones. With higher PROG levels, increased E2 levels among women were accompanied by stronger RSFC of the SN-dlPFC, but when PROG levels were low, E2 levels were negatively correlated with the SN-dlPFC RSFC. These findings revealed a combined enhancement effect of E2 and PROG on BIS, and the SN-dlPFC pathway was mainly involved in this process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A correction to this paper has been published: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00262-021-02929-0 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. Both experimental and clinical studies have shown that electroacupuncture (EA) administration ameliorates chronic inflammatory pain (CIP). However, the multifaceted mechanism underlying the effects of EA on CIP is poorly understood. In this study, the mRNA transcriptome was used to study various therapeutic targets of EA. Methods. Using RNA-sequencing, protein-coding mRNA expression profiles of the L4-L5 dorsal root ganglion (DRG) were examined in the control (CN), complete Freund's adjuvant- (CFA-) induced CIP, and EA-treated CIP groups. A series of bioinformatics analyses was performed; "EA-reversed upregulated genes with CIP" (up-DEGs) and "EA-reversed downregulated genes with CIP" (down-DEGs) were identified. Thereafter, based on up-DEGs and down-DEGs, biological functions and signaling pathways were enriched using gene ontology (GO) and Kyoto encyclopedia of genes and genomes (KEGG) pathway analyses. Results. In total, 189 DEGs were identified, including 134 up- and 55 down-DEGs, which were enriched in arachidonic acid metabolism (rno00590), glutamatergic synapse (rno04724), serotonergic synapse (rno04726), FoxO signaling pathway (rno04068), insulin signaling pathway (rno04910), amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (rno05014), cholinergic synapse (rno04725), ECM-receptor interaction (rno04512), and choline metabolism in cancer (rno05231). Conclusion. We identified a few GOs, pathways, and genes that could play key roles in the amelioration of CIP by EA. Hence, this study may provide a theoretical basis for CIP amelioration by EA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: We carried out a meta-analysis of case-control studies to determine whether epoxide hydrolase 1 (EPHX1) gene polymorphism rs1051740 was related to the risk of ovarian cancer. Methods: Electronic databases were searched for relevant articles published in English or Chinese language. We calculated crude odds ratios (ORs) with their 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) to assess the relationship of EPHX1 polymorphism rs1051740 with ovarian cancer risk. In addition, subgroup analyses were also conducted based on ethnicity and control source. Between-study heterogeneity was inspected with Q test and I2 statistic. Results: Five eligible studies with a total of 1919 ovarian cancer patients and 1829 controls were ultimately included in the present meta-analysis. Overall results demonstrated that the association between EPHX1 polymorphism rs1051740 and ovarian cancer risk had no statistical significance either in total analysis or in subgroup analyses by ethnicity and source of control. Conclusion:EPHX1 polymorphism rs1051740 may have no independent effect on ovarian cancer susceptibility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dissolved gas analysis (DGA) is an effective technique to evaluate the operation status of the power transformer, and to guarantee the safe operation of the power system. Using density functional theory (DFT), we proposed the application of Pd-doped SnS2 (Pd-SnS2) monolayer as a sensing material to detect H2 and C2H2 in transformer oil. The electronic and geometric structures of Pd-doping behavior on SnS2 were also analyzed to give insight into the physicochemical property of the active surface. The adsorption configuration, density of state (DOS), frontier molecular orbital theory as well as recovery property of the adsorption systems were comprehensively studied to estimate the suitability of our proposed material for sensing application. Our calculations showed that Pd-doping exerts some deformations on the SnS2 monolayer and leads to the narrowed bandgap of such surface. Meanwhile, Pd-SnS2 monolayer has stronger adsorption performance upon C2H2 compared to H2. And the desirable interaction with C2H2 makes it possible for application of a resistance-type sensor given the good electrical response and recovery property. Our calculations are meaningful to suggest novel sensing material for application in the field of electrical engineering. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wastewater treatment is a complex process that involves many uncertainties, leading to fluctuations in effluent quality and costs, and environmental risks. Artificial intelligence (AI) can handle complex nonlinear problems and has become a powerful tool for exploring and managing wastewater treatment systems. This study provides a summary of the current status and trends in AI research as applied to wastewater treatment, based on published papers and patents. Our results indicate that, at present, AI is primarily used to evaluate removal of pollutants (conventional, typical, and emerging contaminants), optimize models and process parameters, and control membrane fouling. Future research will likely continue to focus on removal of phosphorus, organic pollutants, and emerging contaminants. Moreover, analyzing microbial community dynamics and achieving multi-objective optimization are promising directions of research. The knowledge map shows that there may be future technological innovation related to predicting water quality under specific conditions, integrating AI with other information technologies and utilizing image-based AI and other algorithms in wastewater treatment. In addition, we briefly review development of artificial neural networks (ANNs) and explore the evolutionary path of AI in wastewater treatment. Our findings provide valuable insights into potential opportunities and challenges for researchers applying AI to wastewater treatment. [Display omitted] • Utilizing patents and papers of AI in wastewater treatment for data-driven analysis. • Analysis of the current state of research through bibliometrics. • Analyzed the technological evolution of AI in wastewater treatment. • The future trends and technological innovation directions are foreseen. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report a 36-year-old male patient died of V. vulnificus-induced septicaemia and multiple organ failure syndrome after oyster consumption at a restaurant. We isolated and identified V. vulnificus vv16015 from the patient's blood sample and antibiotic susceptibility tests indicated sensitivity to all 21 antibiotics. Oyster samples were subsequently collected from the restaurant's supplier and three strains of V. vulnificus were isolated. Whole genome sequencing and analysis revealed vv16015 to be distantly related to these strains and confirmed that V. vulnificus contamination was present in the seafood of the restaurant and supplier. Using a Galleria mellonella larvae infection model, the virulence of vv16015 was determined to be higher than that of comparison strains isolated from a surviving patient (vv15018) and an oyster (vv220015). The human and environment distribution of V. vulnificus in Shenzhen is sporadic and heterogeneous, and vv16015 is highly virulent compared to other strains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents an average dwell-time method for fault-tolerant control of a class of uncertain switched linear time-delay systems and also designs an algorithm to determine the parameters pertaining to the dwell-time condition. Compared to the literature results, this paper features the following: 1) the proposed method is independent of switching polices if switchings are slow enough in the average sense; 2) the proposed control design guarantees exponential stabilization of this class of time-delay linear systems with actuator faults; and 3) this method treats all actuators in a unified manner without a need to identify which are faulty or healthy actuators. The proposed method is applied to the water pollution control problem, for the first time, to deal with different ratios of stream flow rates to effluent flow rates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vulnerability segmentation (VS), an important mechanism for protecting plants from drought, hypothesizes that the distal organs of a plant should be more susceptible to embolism than the basal organs. However, experimental studies testing the VS hypothesis for trees are limited and have reached inconsistent conclusions. Here, we tested the VS hypothesis with three angiosperms and four conifers co-existing in a temperate forest in northeastern China. The results showed that the difference in vulnerability to cavitation between leaves and branches (P 50leaf–branch) was positive for the conifers but negative for the angiosperms, implying that the conifers rather than the angiosperms exhibited VS. The conifers had lower leaf hydraulic safety margins and more embolism-resistant branches than the angiosperms. Although the angiosperms did not display VS, they took a hydraulic compensatory strategy (e.g. great leaf and branch hydraulic conductivities) to maintain the water supply of their leaves. In addition, we found a significant trade-off between the sapwood-specific hydraulic conductivity (K SS) and xylem pressure inducing 50% loss of hydraulic conductivity (P 50branch) across all species. Both K SS and P 50branch increased with the area-based light-saturated photosynthetic rate (A area), suggesting that increased embolism resistance of branches comes at the cost of reduced hydraulic efficiency, which in turn constrains the photosynthesis. A area was negatively correlated with P 50leaf–branch, further indicating that the conifers had strong VS and were associated with a conservative strategy. Conversely, the angiosperms displayed an acquisitive strategy, tending to have higher A area, leaf and branch hydraulic conductivities, but lower embolism resistance. These differentiations in the functional traits between the angiosperms and conifers provide potential mechanisms for their co-existence in this temperate forest community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract We show that a regular (paratopological) semitopological group G admits a homeomorphic embedding as a subgroup into a product of strongly metrizable (paratopological) semitopological groups if and only if G is strictly ω -balanced with a countable index of regularity. Also, we prove that a topological group G admits a homeomorphic embedding as a subgroup into a product of strongly metrizable groups if and only if G is strictly ω -balanced. Using this fact we obtain a characterization of closed subgroups of a product of strongly metrizable groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Graphical abstract Highlights • Liposomal drug delivery systems have shown good encapsulation efficiency for curcumin. • Liposomal curcumin ideally overcomes the low solubility issues with natural curcumin. • Liposomal curcumin provides extended release providing improved patient compliance. • The curcumin liposomes showed suppression of important pro-inflammatory markers. • Molecular modelling data reveals the formation of liposomal structure. Abstract Curcumin a component of turmeric, which is derived from Curcuma longa is used as a colouring agent and as a dietary spice for centuries. Extensive studies have been done on the anti-inflammatory activity of curcumin along with its molecular mechanism involving different signalling pathways. However, the physicochemical and biological properties such as poor solubility and rapid metabolism of curcumin have led to low bioavailability and hence limits its application. Current therapies for asthma such as bronchodilators and inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) are aimed at controlling disease symptoms and prevent asthma exacerbation. However, this approach requires lifetime therapy and is associated with a constellation of side effects. This creates a clear unmet medical need and there is an urgent demand for new and more-effective treatments. The present study is aimed to formulate liposomes containing curcumin and evaluate for its anti-inflammatory effects on lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced inflammation on BCi-NS1.1 cell line. Curcumin and salbutamol liposomes were formulated using lipid hydration method. The prepared liposomes were characterized in terms of particle size, zeta potential, encapsulation efficiency and in-vitro release profile. The liposomes were tested on BCI-NS1.1 cell line to evaluate its anti-inflammatory properties. The various pro-inflammatory markers studied were Interleukin-6 (IL-6), Interleukin-8 (IL-8), Interleukin-1β (IL-1β) and Tumour Necrosis Factor-a (TNF-a). Additionally, molecular mechanics simulations were used to elucidate the positioning, energy minimization, and aqueous dispersion of the liposomal architecture involving lecithin and curcumin. The prepared curcumin formulation showed an average size and zeta potential of 271.3 ± 3.06 nm and −61.0 mV, respectively. The drug encapsulation efficiency of liposomal curcumin is 81.1%. Both curcumin-loaded liposomes formulation (1 μg/mL, 5 μg/mL) resulted in significant (p < 0.05) reduction in the level of pro-inflammatory marker expression such as IL-6, IL-8, IL-1β and TNF-a compared to positive control group. Liposomal curcumin with the dose of 1 μg/mL reduced the inflammatory markers more effectively compared to that of 5 μg/mL. Liposomal curcumin could be a promising intervention for asthma therapy showing their efficacy in suppressing the important pro-inflammatory markers involved in the pathogenesis of asthma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although small talk has conventionally been treated as marginal and unimportant compared with core business talk, its value in understanding institutional norms and power relations has been recognized in many workplace contexts. However, in-depth analysis of the dynamics of small talk is still under-researched in clinical contexts. This paper explores where and how small talk is positioned, initiated, and closed between participants in two types of medical practices that co-exist in China: Traditional Chinese Medicine and Western Medicine. Analysis of 69 consultations suggests that small talk permeates into the boundaries of talk. The findings also demonstrate a marked clinical difference in relation to the distribution and discourse functions of small talk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Glycerol, which is an inevitable by-product of biodiesel production, is an ideal carbon source for the production of carotenoids due to its low price, good availability and chemically reduced status, which results in a low requirement for additional reducing equivalents. In this study, an alternative carbon-utilization pathway was constructed in Escherichia coli to enable more efficient β-carotene production from glycerol. An aldehyde reductase gene (alrd) and an aldehyde dehydrogenase gene (aldH) from Ralstonia eutropha H16 were integrated into the E. coli chromosome to form a novel glycerol-utilization pathway. The β-carotene specific production value was increased by 50% after the introduction of alrd and aldH. It was found that the glycerol kinase gene (garK), alrd and aldH were the bottleneck of the alternative glycerol metabolic pathway, and modulation of garK gene with an mRS library further increased the β-carotene specific production value by 13%. Finally, co-modulation of genes in the introduced aldH-alrd operon led to 86% more of β-carotene specific production value than that of the strain without the alternative glycerol-utilization pathway and the glycerol-utilization rate was also increased. In this work, β-carotene production of E. coli was significantly improved by constructing and optimizing an alternative glycerol-utilization pathway. This strategy can potentially be used to improve the production of other isoprenoids using glycerol as a cheap and abundant substrate, and therefore has industrial relevance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The hematogenous metastatic pattern of gastric cancer (GC) was not fully explored. Here we analyzed the frequency and clinicopathological features of metastasis to liver, lung, bone, and brain from GC patients. Data queried for this analysis included GC patients from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Program database from 2010 to 2014. All of statistical analyses were performed using the Intercooled Stata 13.0 (Stata Corporation, College Station, TX). All statistical tests were two‐sided. Totally, there were 19 022 eligible patients for analysis. At the time of diagnosis, there were 7792 patients at stage IV, including 3218 (41.30%) patients with liver metastasis, 1126 (14.45%) with lung metastasis, 966 (12.40%) with bone metastasis and 151 (1.94%) with brain metastasis. GC patients with lung or liver metastasis have a higher risk of bone and brain metastasis than those without lung nor liver metastasis. Intestinal subtype had significantly higher rate of liver and lung metastasis, while diffuse type was more likely to have bone metastasis. Proximal stomach had significantly higher risk to develop metastasis than distal stomach. African‐Americans had the highest risk of liver metastasis and Caucasian had the highest prone to develop lung and brain metastasis. The median survival for patients with liver, lung, bone, and brain metastasis was 4 months, 3 months, 4 months and 3 months, respectively. It is important to evaluate the status of bone and brain metastasis in GC patients with lung or liver metastasis. Knowledge of metastatic patterns is helpful for clinicians to design personalized pretreatment imaging evaluation for GC patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Crizotinib is an anti‑cancer drug with a substantial beneficial effect in advanced non‑small‑cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients harboring anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) rearrangement. However, the real‑world data currently available on this drug are limited. Thus, the present study aimed to retrospectively examine the treatment patterns and survival outcome of 83 advanced NSCLC patients with ALK rearrangement in a single center in China. Of the 83 patients enrolled, 33 (39.8%) patients received crizotinib and the remaining 50 (60.2%) patients received chemotherapy as the initial therapy. The first‑line use of crizotinib prolonged the PFS1 (progression‑free survival to the first detection of subsequent disease progression) compared with chemotherapy (median, 18.5 vs. 4.9 months; P<0.001), however, it did not prolong the overall survival (OS; P=0.802). At the last follow up, 71 (85.5%) patients had received crizotinib and 12 (14.5%) patients were crizotinib‑naive. Patients who had received crizotinib exhibited a significantly longer OS as compared with those who were crizotinib‑naive [hazard ratio (HR) for mortality, 0.279; 95% confidence interval, 0.107‑0.727; P<0.05). Among the 71 patients who had received crizotinib, this was administered as a first‑line therapy in 33 (46.5%) cases, as a second‑line therapy in 22 (31.0%) cases and after the second‑line therapy in 16 (22.5%) cases. No significant difference in the OS among the three groups was observed (P=0.577). The Cox multivariate analysis identified the following independent negative prognostic factors for OS: Smoking history (HR=4.565), liver invasion at diagnosis (HR=4.294) and bone invasion at diagnosis (HR=2.587). In addition, the use of crizotinib (HR=0.319) was identified as a positive prognostic factor for OS. In conclusion, the present real‑world study revealed that the use of crizotinib improved the long‑term survival of patients with ALK‑positive advanced NSCLC. There was no difference in survival outcome between patients with initial use of crizotinib and those with subsequent use of crizotinib after first‑line therapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Six new polyoxygenated seco-cyclohexenes, artahongkongenes A–F ( 1–6 ), together with six known analogues ( 7–12 ) were isolated from the stems and leaves of Artabotrys hongkongensis . Their structures were elucidated by extensive spectroscopic methods. All new compounds were evaluated for their cytotoxicities against five human cancer cell lines: HL-60, SMMC-7721, A-549, MCF-7 and SW480 in vitro . New seco-cyclohexenes 1–6 showed significant inhibitory effects against various human cancer cell lines with IC 50 values ranging from 0.26 to 16.58 μM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: This study aimed to investigate the causal interaction between significant sensorimotor network (SMN) regions and other brain regions in Parkinson's disease patients with drooling (droolers). Methods: Twenty‐one droolers, 22 PD patients without drooling (non‐droolers), and 22 matched healthy controls underwent 3T‐MRI resting‐state scans. We performed independent component analysis and Granger causality analysis to determine whether significant SMN regions help predict other brain areas. Pearson's correlation was computed between imaging characteristics and clinical characteristics. ROC curves were plotted to assess the diagnostic performance of effective connectivity (EC). Results: Compared with non‐droolers and healthy controls, droolers showed abnormal EC of the right caudate nucleus (CAU.R) and right postcentral gyrus to extensive brain regions. In droolers, increased EC from the CAU.R to the right middle temporal gyrus was positively correlated with MDS‐UPDRS, MDS‐UPDRS II, NMSS, and HAMD scores; increased EC from the right inferior parietal lobe to CAU.R was positively correlated with MDS‐UPDRS score. ROC curve analysis showed that these abnormal ECs are of great significance in diagnosing drooling in PD. Conclusion: This study identified that PD patients with drooling have abnormal EC in the cortico‐limbic‐striatal‐cerebellar and cortio‐cortical networks, which could be potential biomarkers for drooling in PD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The synthesis of ultrathin magnetic nanosheets is significant for the development of next-generation nanodevices but remains to be a big challenge. Herein, we present facile approaches for large-scaled production of cell-unit-thick single-crystalline iron oxide nanostructures. The ultrathin hematite (α-Fe 2 O 3 ) nanosheets with unit-cell thickness of 1.3 nm are firstly synthesized using a metal-ion-intervened hydrothermal method. Then the α-Fe 2 O 3 nanosheets are converted to magnetic maghemite ( γ -Fe 2 O 3 ) nanosheets with unit-cell thickness of 0.8 nm by a simple calcination process. The Li-ion battery studies reveal that unit-cell-thick γ-Fe 2 O 3 nanosheets exhibit great enhanced electrochemical performances with high specific capacitance approaching to its theoretical value and excellent cycling stability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Embryonic stem cells (ESCs) are characterized by their ability of unlimited self-renewal in vitro and pluripotent developmental potential, which endows them with great values in basic research and future clinical application. However, realization of full potential of ESCs is dependent on the elucidation of molecular mechanisms governing ESCs, among which signaling pathways play critical roles. A great deal of efforts has been made in the past decades to understand what and how signaling pathways contribute to the establishment and maintenance of pluripotency. In this review, we discuss signaling networks in both mouse and human ESCs, focusing on signals involved in the control of self-renewal and differentiation. In addition, the modulation of signaling pathways by pluripotency-associated transcription factors is also briefly summarized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To investigate the value of carbon nanoparticles in identifying sentinel lymph nodes in early-stage cervical cancer. Methods: From January 2014 to January 2016, 40 patients with cervical cancer stage IA2–IIA, based on the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) 2009 criteria, were included in this study. The normal cervix around the tumor was injected with a total of 1 mL of carbon nanoparticles (CNP)at 3 and 9 o'clock. All patients then underwent laparoscopic pelvic lymph node dissection and radical hysterectomy. The black-dyed sentinel lymph nodes were removed for routine pathological examination and immunohistochemical staining. Results: Among the 40 patients, 38 patients had at least one sentinel lymph node (SLN). The detection rate was 95% (38/40). One hundred seventy-three SLNs were detected with an average of 3.9 SLNs per side. 25 positive lymph nodes, which included 21 positive SLNs, were detected in 8 (20%) patients. Sentinel lymph nodes were localized in the obturator (47.97%), internal lilac (13.87%), external lilac (26.59%), parametrial (1.16%), and common iliac (8.67%) regions. The sensitivity of the SLN detection was 100% (5/5), the accuracy was 97.37% (37/38), and the negative predictive value was 100. 0% and the false negative rate was 0%. Conclusions: Sentinel lymph nodes can be used to accurately predict the pathological state of pelvic lymph nodes in early cervical cancer. The detection rates and accuracy of sentinel lymph node were high. Carbon nanoparticles can be used to trace the sentinel lymph node in early cervical cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we consider the problem of inserting semi-continuous maps with values into some ordered topological vector spaces in a monotone fashion. We answer the questions of K. Yamazaki and provide a new characterization of stratifiable spaces, semi-stratifiable spaces, countably paracompact spaces, countably metacompact spaces, perfect spaces, and perfectly normal spaces during this process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recurrent aphthous ulcers are the most common recurrent oral mucosal lesions characterized by recurrence and pain. The aim of this research is to evaluate the short-term curative effect of the traditional Chinese medicine “Pudilan anti-inflammatory oral liquid” on mild recurrent aphthous ulcers. A total of 234 patients were divided into a treatment group and a control group. Both groups used vitamin B2 as the basis of treatment. The treatment group took a Pudilan anti-inflammatory oral solution for 8 days while the control group was given a liquid placebo. The ulcer size, pseudomembrane, peripheral congestion, and pain scores of the treatment group were lower than before treatment. The curative effect on the Pudilan group was statistically significant compared with the control group. The final therapeutic effect on the treatment group was better than that on the control group. The healing time of mild recurrent aphthous ulcers can be shortened by Pudilan anti-inflammatory oral liquid, and pain is relieved without adverse reactions. Pudilan provides a new reference drug for the treatment of mild recurrent oral ulcers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose. To investigate the visual quality after SMILE and Femto-LASIK. Methods. About 123 eyes from 63 patients were enrolled in this study. The parameters were measured preoperatively and 1 week, 1 month, and 3 months postoperatively using Sirius System. Results. The MTF curve increase slightly from low to high frequency at 3 mm and 6 mm pupil diameter after SMILE surgery (P<0.05) during the follow-up time comparing with the preoperative values. And the SR has a significant increase at various pupil diameters as well (P<0.05). However, there was little increase for MTF at intermediate to high frequency at 3 mm pupil diameter after Femto-LASIK procedure (P<0.05). And the SR had only significant increase at 3 mm pupil diameter. Between SMILE and Femto-LASIK, there was no statistic difference both in MTF and SR (P>0.05) at 3 mm pupil diameter at vertical and horizontal meridian. However, significant difference was found in MTF at low to mediate frequency at 6 mm pupil diameter at vertical meridian at 1 week postoperatively (P<0.05). Conclusions. Both SMILE and Femto-LASIK show a great improvement in optical quality at small diameter. It was found that SMILE shows better optical quality than Femto-LASIK at larger pupil diameter, which might be good for the night vision. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Protein phosphorylation is one of the most important post-translational modifications catalyzed by protein kinases in living organisms. The advance of genome sequencing provided the information of protein kinase families in many organisms, including both model and non-model plants. The development of proteomics technologies also enabled scientists to efficiently reveal a large number of protein phosphorylations of an organism. However, kinases and phosphorylation targets are still to be connected to illustrate the complicated network in life. Results: Here we adapted Pro-Q® Diamond (Pro-Q® Diamond Phosphoprotein Gel Stain), a widely used phosphoprotein gel-staining fluorescence dye, to establish a rapid, economical and non-radioactive fluorescence detection in tube (FDIT) method to analyze phosphorylated proteins. Taking advantages of high sensitivity and specificity of Pro-Q® diamond, the FDIT method is also demonstrated to be rapid and reliable, with a suitable linear range for in vitro protein phosphorylation. A significant and satisfactory protein kinase reaction was detected as fast as 15 min from Wheat Kinase START 1.1 (WKS1.1) on a thylakoid ascorbate peroxidase (tAPX), an established phosphorylation target in our earlier study. Conclusion: The FDIT method saves up to 95% of the dye consumed in a gel staining method. The FDIT method is remarkably quick, highly reproducible, unambiguous and capable to be scaled up to dozens of samples. The FDIT method could serve as a simple and sensitive alternative procedure to determine protein kinase reactions with zero radiation exposure, as a supplementation to other widely used radioactive and in-gel assays. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]