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Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) has a high degree of malignancy and poor prognosis. Treatment options for patients with advanced HCC are limited. There is currently no evidence to approve the accumulation of targeted therapies for HCC to support the inhibition of the PI3K/Akt/mTOR signaling pathway as an effective therapeutic strategy. We report on a patient with advanced HCC carrying the TSC1 gene mutation who responded well to the mammalian target of rapamycin inhibitor everolimus. Computed tomography revealed tumor shrinkage and maintenance of partial remission after everolimus treatment for >12.3 months. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first clinical case report showing benefit from everolimus treatment in HCC patients with TSC1 gene mutations. Therefore, everolimus may be used as a potential targeted therapy for HCC with TSC1 gene mutation.

Aims To evaluate the effectiveness and safety of cryoballoon ablation (CBA) compared with radiofrequency ablation (RFA) for symptomatic paroxysmal or drug-refractory persistent atrial fibrillation (AF). Methods and results Prospective cluster cohort study in experienced CBA and RFA centres. Primary endpoint was ‘atrial arrhythmia recurrence’, secondary endpoints were as follows: procedural results, safety, and clinical course. A total of 4189 patients were included: CBA 2329 (55.6%) and RFA 1860 (44.4%). Cryoballoon ablation population was younger, with fewer comorbidities. Procedure time was longer in the RFA group (P = 0.01). Radiation exposure was 2487 (CBA) and 1792 cGycm2 (RFA) (P Conclusions The primary endpoint did not differ between CBA and RFA. Cryoballoon ablation was completed rapidly; the radiation exposure was greater. Rehospitalization due to re-ablations and adverse events during follow-up were observed significantly less frequently after CBA than after RFA. Subgroup analysis suggested a lower risk of recurrence after CBA in paroxysmal AF. Trial Registration ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT01360008), https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT01360008.

Objective To systematically evaluate the clinical efficacy and safety of acupuncture in the treatment of Tic Disorders (TD) in children, and to clarify the current evidence regarding the clinical application of acupuncture in the treatment of TD. Methods Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) comparing acupuncture treatment with pharmaceutical treatment for TD were included in this review. A comprehensive search of 6 electronic literature databases was conducted, and the retrieval date was from the establishment of the database to April 2020. The Cochrane Collaboration’s bias risk assessment tool was used to evaluate the bias risk of the included literature, and adopted the Review Manager 5.3 was used for statistical analysis of the data in the included literature. Results A total of 22 RCTs (1668 participants) were included in this review. Meta-analysis indicated that acupuncture showed superior effects in the following aspects, including higher overall effective rate [RR = 1.20,95 % CI(1.09,1.20),P＜0.00001], significant reduction in Yale Global Tic Severity Scale (YGTSS) scores [MD=-2.79,95 %CI(-4.75,-0.82),P = 0.005], lower incidence of adverse effects [RR = 0.26,95 %CI(0.17,0.41),P＜0.00001], and reduced recurrence rate [RR = 0.28,95 %CI(0.17,0.46),P＜0.00001]. Conclusion Acupuncture treatment alone is more effective in the treatment of TD than pharmaceutical treatment, as seen in the reduction of YGTSS scores, fewer adverse effects and lower recurrence rates.

Objectives We assessed the effectiveness and safety of cryoballoon ablation (CBA) in the Chinese population with paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (AF) with a 1-year follow-up and determined the association of early recurrence of atrial tachyarrhythmias (ERAT) with late recurrence (LR). Methods A total of 114 patients (age 61 ± 10 years, 78 males) with paroxysmal AF who underwent CBA were consecutively enrolled. After procedures, patients were observed for 3 days with continuous electrocardiogram monitoring in the hospital with routine follow-up visits at 3 months, 6 months, and 1 year. Documented atrial tachyarrhythmia >30 seconds was defined as recurrence. ERAT was defined as any recurrence during the first 3 months, and LR was recurrence between 3 and 12 months. Results With the first 3 months as blanking period, 76% of patients were free of LR at 12 months. Five patients (4%) experienced complications, including phrenic nerve palsy, stroke, and groin complications. Forty-five percent of patients had ERAT in the first 3 months and 31% of patients had ERAT in the first 3 days. Patients with ERAT had higher LR rate (LRR) than those without ERAT (43% vs 8%, P

An increasing amount of evidence shows that childhood leukemia is initiated in utero. Birth characteristics initiated in utero, such as gestational age, may play a role in leukemogenesis. The purpose of our meta-analysis is to explore the association between gestational age and childhood leukemia.Relevant studies up to 21 April 2017 were collected by searching PubMed and EMBASE databases. Subgroup analysis, sensitivity analysis and publication bias assessment were conducted.A total of 13 studies were included. Pooled odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for preterm birth and postterm birth were 1.06 (0.98, 1.13) and 1.01 (0.90, 1.13) for childhood leukemia, 1.04 (0.97, 1.11) and 1.03 (0.95, 1.12) for acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL), 1.20 (1.00, 1.44) and 1.20 (1.00, 1.43) for acute myeloid leukemia (AML), compared with full-term birth. Study type and study region were the reasons behind the heterogeneity. In subgroup analyses, the summary ORs with 95% CI for childhood leukemia and ALL were 1.23 (1.07, 1.41) and 1.21 (1.06, 1.39) for postterm birth in cohort studies. No significant changes in sensitivity analyses and no publication bias were observed in our analysis.Our results suggest that both preterm and postterm infants have an elevated risk of developing AML. In addition, postterm birth increased the risk of childhood leukemia and ALL in cohort studies. However, more studies are warranted to validate these results and explore the biologic mechanisms underlying these relationships.

The concentration of fourteen environmentally important trace elements (Be, V, Cr, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Mo, Sn, Ba, Tl, Pb, Th and U) was studied in thirteen coal samples from Xinan coalfield, Henan province. In addition, virtrinite reflectance analysis, proximate analysis and elemental analysis were also conducted on these samples. The vitrinite reflectance values (Ro) ranges from 2% to 2.35%, revealing that these samples are lean coal. The coals have low moisture content, with Madvalue ranging from 0.57 to 0.95%. The ash and volatile matter content vary between 8.11-22.61% and 10.36-14.64%, respectively. Carbon, hydrogen, sulphur and nitrogen content vary between 71.51-83.54%, 3.068-3.879%, 0.494-2.326% and 0.953-1.38%, respectively. In comparison with the crustal average (Clarke value), some potentially hazardous elements are moderately enriched in the coals from Xinan coalfield, such as Pb, Th, U, Sn and Mo. The average concentration of most of the elements in Xinan coalfield coals is in the range of Chinese coals and world coals. No elements with the abnormally high concentrations analyzed are found.

As a renewable, clear and inexhaustible energy, solar energy receives much more attention and has partly substituted traditional energies in many fields. Multi-crystalline silicon plays an important role for its low cost, abundant reserves and excellent photoelectric conversion in solar cells. Mixed acid etching is an effectively method to texture the morphology on the surface of mc-Si, While stochastic etching between silicon and acids results in irregular texturing and high reflectivity. In this paper, ultrasonic standing wave is introduced into acid solution, which aid wet etching to texture on the surface of mc-Si by controlling distribution of atoms of acids. Scanning electron microscope experiment shows that the morphology on the surface of mc-Si textured by this method is similar to that of mono-crystalline silicon. And the average reflectivity is 8%, much lower than mixed acid etching.

The renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS) plays a key role in atrial structural and electrical remodeling. The aim of this study was to investigate the potential associations of angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) gene insertion/ deletion (I/D) and aldosterone synthase (CYP11B2) gene −344T/C polymorphisms with the risk and recurrence of lone atrial fibrillation (AF). One hundred and ninety-three patients who underwent successful catheter ablation for lone AF were recruited. Two hundred and ninety-seven sinus rhythm subjects without a history of arrhythmia served as controls. The subjects were genotyped for ACE gene I/D and CYP11B2 gene −344T/C polymorphisms. Results showed that the ACE gene DD genotype and D allele were associated with a greater prevalence of lone AF (both P

Background The objective of the study was to explore the clinical expression, radiological and pathological features, differential diagnosis, and biological behavior of a clear cell myomelanocytic tumor. In a case involving a clear cell myomelanocytic tumor located in the hepatic falciform ligament, we evaluated clinical expression, radiological characteristics, histopathology, immunohistochemistry, and biological behavior; we also reviewed the relevant literature. Case presentation Clear cell myomelanocytic tumor is a benign soft-tissue neoplasm that often occurs in women, and is expressed as a painless mass. The falciform ligament is its most frequent site of occurrence. The imaging characteristics of this lesion were uneven enhancement in the arterial phase, continuing to strengthen in the venous phase, and equal density in the balance phase. Histological and immunohistochemical analysis revealed the main transparent epithelioid cells and smooth muscle spindle cells to be HMB-45(+), smooth muscle actin(+), and melan-A (+). Conclusion Hepatic vascular epithelioid cell tumors are very rare mesenchymal neoplasms. Few studies have investigated this tumor in the hepatic falciform ligament; consequently, its diagnosis and the selection of an appropriate treatment and follow-up protocol are challenging. Treatment outcome remains unpredictable. Therefore, clear cell myomelanocytic tumor should be viewed as a tumor with uncertain malignant potential requiring long-term follow-up.

Surface texturing of silicon can reduce the reflectance of incident light and increase the conversion efficiency of solar cells. Many approaches have been present in texturing silicon solar cell. In this paper, ultrasound is introduced into acid solution to texture the surface of multicrystalline silicon (mc-Si) solar cell. The morphology images are obtained by scanning electron microscope (SEM), more holes and regular distributed morphology for the presented method can be observed. Antireflectance of the mc-Si surface is measured by spectrophotometer, and the reflectance of 10.2% is obtained for the presented method, which is much less than that of acid etching.

Nowadays solar energy receives more and more attention for its clear, non-pollutant and renewable characteristics. Although the production cost of electricity by solar cell is much higher than those by fossil fuels currently, solar cell has partly substituted traditional energy and be used in some fields. Silicon wafer surface texture act an important role in solar cell, which can trap the incident lights and influence the photoelectric conversion. In this paper, a new method using ultrasonic standing wave is present based on the previous researches. The acid molecules are droved to distribute regularly in terms of the standing wave. Then regular morphology can be textured on the surface of mc-Si by the acid molecules etching with silicon. SEM experiment illustrate the present method can texture regular morphology on the surface of multi-crystalline silicon (mc-Si) , also the antireflection of 9.4% is much lower than that of traditional acid etching.

The numerical simulation analysis, by using senior nonlinear finite element analysis software MSC.Marc, was achieved in this paper for the tie-replacing procedures of a steel tube tied-arch filled with concrete. Through this analysis, the control parameters were accurately determined for the installing of new ties and the removing of old ties. Results of numerical analysis ensured the bridge structure stable during the replacement, made the construction of safe and convenient, and played a guiding role in the maintenance and reinforcement. The successful experience could be referenced by other similar projects.

Roughness parameters such as the root-mean-square (RMS) roughness in super smooth surfaces are heavily influenced by evaluation ways and measuring method. With the help of CCI6000, relationships were investigated respectively between the RMS roughness with the instrument parameter set and cutoff wavelength. The study revealed that there was an optimal set of measurement parameters and a dynamic cutoff wavelength that would identify different wavelength regimes when measuring super smooth surfaces. It was found that the proposed scheme greatly reduced the influences of CCI instrument parameters and cutoff length on RMS roughness in the measurement of hard disk surfaces. RMS roughness exhibited a steady-state trend and the processed surface morphology conformed to the arrangement of atoms and the polishing feature of CMP technique.

Surface texturing of silicon can reduce the reflectance of incident light and hence increase the conversion efficiency of solar cells. Many approaches have been present in texturing silicon solar cell. As a practical method, chemical wet etching has been widely used in monocrystalline silicon and multicrystalline silicon (mc-Si), but the cost and high reflectance hamper its widely used. In this paper, a new approach is present by using ionized bubble to texture multicrystalline solar cell. The electric field and ultrasonic wave is introduced into traditional chemical wet etching. After mixed solution ionized by electrolysis and gasified by the ultrasonic wave, the ionized bubble is formed. The movement of ionized bubble is observed to study the impact on the surface of mc-Si solar cell. At last, a spectrophotometer was used to measure mc-Si surface reflectance to test the efficiency of two methods. The result express that the reflectance of mc-Si surface textured by ionized bubble is much low than that of chemical mixed acid etching.

Traffic incident influences the security of people in the popularity of navigation. It is urgently necessary to develop intelligent vehicles by using new technologies and advanced methodologies. In this paper, a new approach based on holonic conception is presented to study the intelligent control in vehicle tool. The control structure in car is divided into three levels and is defined three holonary, the function of every holon level is discussed, then a distributed multilevel intelligent control architecture in car based on holon is developed. The cooperation relation is analyzed between different levels; the cooperative model is established to study cooperation mechanisms among different holon level, which will help to improve the intelligent control and vehicle security for car.

In microfluidic chips, most micro-channel cross-section shapes are rectangular or triangular in existing chip fabricating technologies, including hot embossing, lithography, etching, injection molding, etc. However, compared with the above micro-channel shapes, a circular shape has advantages in aspects of fluid flow, droplet generation, heat transfer and blood vessel replication. This paper presents a sandwich-like microfluidic chip with circular cross-section micro-channels. The sandwich-like structure includes three layers. The top and bottom layers are PDMS material while the middle layer is composed of micron glass capillaries (used as micro-channels) with circular cross-sections. The glass capillaries are made of borosilicate tube by a glass heating process. Sphere shaped paraffin wax is used as a sacrificial material to form micro-channel junctions. To test the functions of the fabricated micro sandwich-like microfluidic chip, a droplet generating experiment was conducted in the T-junction chip. The droplet size can be controlled in the range of 20–400 [Formula: see text]m by varying the water and oil flow rates. This proposed microfluidic chip structure has the advantages of short processing cycle, low cost and small flow resistance.

With the rapid development of information technology, ontology is gradually used for knowledge engineering and information science sphere. Agricultural Ontology mainly is composed of the concept and relationship between concepts in agricultural knowledge, as well as the computer can identify the composition of the formal description language. The goal of build the agricultural ontology is to form a common understanding of the agricultural information organizational structure, to known and analysis of knowledge in the field of agriculture so as to further establish the foundation for the agriculture semantic web. In this paper, we present a design principles and implementation process in vegetable products domain ontology. Through the collection and analysis of the field of vegetable products information as well as the use of inference engine, used to build vegetable domain ontology with OWL. In the information extraction prototype system, we achieved a semi-automatic filled with examples of vegetable products domain ontology. Through compared to the results before and after the use of inference engine, it show that vegetables and semi-automatic domain ontology building methods is feasible.

Background Cancer-testis antigen (CTA) is a family of the most noticeable tumor antigens which could be potential tumor markers for cancer diagnosis.In this research we aimed to investigate the expression of SSX-1 and NY-ESO-1 mRNA,two members of the CTA family,in tissue and peripheral blood of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) to assess their feasibility for the immunotherapy and diagnosis of HCC and the association of their expression levels with diverse clinical indicators. Methods Thirty-six north Chinese patients with HCC and 30 normal controls were enrolled in this study.Reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was used to detect the expression of SSX-1 and NY-ESO-1 mRNA in tumor tissues and corresponding levels in peripheral blood of patients. Results The positive rates of SSX-1 and NY-ESO-1 mRNA expression were 61.1% (22/36) and 11.1% (4/36), respectively,in cancer tissues;38.9% (14/36) and 5.6% (2/36),respectively,in the corresponding peripheral blood samples.No positive expression of either SSX-1 or NY-ESO-1 mRNA was detected in the samples of cancer-adjacent tissues,cirrhotic tissues,normal liver tissue or the peripheral blood of control patients.No significant relationship was found between the expression of these two genes and clinical indicators such as age,gender,tumor size,extent of differentiation,serum a-fetoprotein (AFP) level or infection with hepatitis B virus (P0.05).The short term recurrence rate was 46.2% (6/13) in patients whose peripheral blood expressed SSX-1 mRNA,while the recurrence rate in patients with negative SSX-1 mRNA was 28.6% (4/14). Conclusions SSX-1 and NY-ESO-1 antigens might be new potentially promising targets for antigen-specific immunotherapy for HCC.High specific expression of SSX-1 and NY-ESO-1 mRNA suggested that we could apply them as tumor markers.The short term recurrence rate was significantly higher in patients whose peripheral blood expressed SSX-1 mRNA,suggesting that SSX-1 mRNA could be used as indicator for recurrence,metastasis and prognosis of HCC. Chin Med J 2007;120(12):1042-1046

Emerging opportunities are placing greater demands on device fabrication: next-generation microelectronics will need minimum features of less than 100 nm, high-throughput drug screening will require facile methods to incorporate sensitive biological components into microelectromechanical systems (MEMS), and implantable devices will need to be built from biocompatible materials. Increasingly, these emerging demands are being addressed by combining traditional microfabrication methods with 'biofabrication': namely, the use of biologically derived materials and biocatalysts. Recent fabrication techniques are using biological construction materials as process aids or structural components, and enzymes are being considered for their potential to fabricate devices with high selectivity under mild conditions. If incompatibilities between biology and microfabrication can be eliminated, then biofabrication will be poised to emerge as the standard for nanoscale construction.

Background We studied the relationships among Cx43, CD105, and VEGF in specimens of hepatitis B virus (HBV)-related hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) with different serum AFP levels with respect to recurrence and metastasis. Methods Expressions of Cx43, CD105, and VEGF in 234 HCC tissue specimens were examined using tissue microarray and immunohistochemistry. Cx43 mRNA expression was examined in 38 frozen HCC specimens using RT-PCR. Correlations between these expressions and tumor recurrence, metastasis, and prognosis were analyzed using Kaplan–Meier and Cox regression analyses. Results Cx43 expression correlated with early tumor recurrence (P = 0.001), disease-free survival (P = 0.026), and overall survival (P = 0.000) in patients with serum AFP P = 0.018 and 0.023, respectively), histological differentiation (P = 0.002), vessel tumor embolism (P = 0.029), and focal number (P = 0.017). Immunohistochemistry showed that Cx43 expression in patients with low AFP was lower in patients with distant metastases than in those with no metastasis or those with liver metastasis. Patients with early recurrence expressed less Cx43 mRNA than did those with no recurrence (χ2 = 9.827, P = 0.002). Conclusions Cx43 expression can delay early HCC recurrence, metastasis, and poor prognosis after radical hepatectomy in patients with HBV-related HCC and low AFP.

MicroRNAs are important regulators of gene expression, including those involving electrical remodeling in atrial fibrillation (AF). Recently, KCNN3, the gene that encodes the small-conductance calcium-activated potassium channel 3 (SK3), was found to be strongly associated with AF.To evaluate the changes in atrial myocardial microRNAs in patients with permanent AF and to determine the role of microRNA on the regulation of cardiac SK3 expression.Atrial tissue obtained during cardiac surgery from patients (4 sinus rhythm and 4 permanent AF) was analyzed by using microRNA arrays. Potential targets of microRNAs were predicted by using software programs. The effects of specific microRNAs on target gene expression were evaluated in HL-1 cells from a continuously proliferating mouse hyperplastic atrial cardiomyocyte cell line. Interactions between microRNAs and targets were further evaluated by using luciferase reporter assay and by using Argonaute pull-down assay.Twenty-one microRNAs showed significant (2-fold) changes in AF. MicroRNA 499 (miR-499) was upregulated by 2.33-fold (P.01) in AF atria, whereas SK3 protein expression was downregulated by 46% (P.05). Transfection of miR-499 mimic in HL-1 cells resulted in the downregulation of SK3 protein expression, while that of miR-499 inhibitor upregulated SK3 expression. Binding of miR-499 to the 3' untranslated region of KCNN3 was confirmed by luciferase reporter assay and by the increased presence of SK3 mRNA in Argonaute pulled-down microRNA-induced silencing complexes after transfection with miR-499.Atrial miR-499 is significantly upregulated in AF, leading to SK3 downregulation and possibly contributing to the electrical remodeling in AF.

Pulmonary embolism, a medical emergency for pulmonary physicians, is defined as a blockage of the main artery of the lung or one of its branches by embolism, from many sources, such as thrombus, air, amniotic fluid, tumor, or fat.[1][1] A good clinician, especially a pulmonary or critical care

The high postoperative recurrence of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a problem that would benefit from the identification of indicators of recurrence and prognosis. In the past few years, research has shown that E-cadherin and CD34 can be used as indicators of the invasion of malignant tumors. In the present study, we investigated the expression of E-cadherin and CD34 in HCC patients.Expression levels of E-cadherin and CD34 in 41 HCC samples were detected using two-step immunohistochemical methods and compared with clinical pathological parameters and survival rate.The positive rates of E-cadherin and CD34 expression in 41 HCC cases were 48.78% and 100%, respectively. Expression of E-cadherin was significantly lower in patients with larger tumors, a high risk invasion and Edmondson classification III or IV (p0.05). There was a significant relationship between CD34 expression and age and tumor invasiveness (p0.05). There was no significant relationship between expression of CD34 and E-cadherin by Spearman statistical analysis (p0.05). The survival rate in patients with negative expression of E-cadherin was significantly lower.The expression of CD34 cannot be used singly as a prognostic indicator for HCC patients. The co-expression of E-cadherin and CD34 cannot be used as a prognostic indicator for HCC patients. Clin Chem Lab Med 2008;46:1122-6.

To evaluate the clinical value of serum CA19-9 levels in predicting the respectability of pancreatic carcinoma according to receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis.Serum CA19-9 levels were measured in 104 patients with pancreatic cancer which were possible to be resected according to the imaging. ROC curve was plotted for the CA19-9 levels. The point closest to the upper left-hand corner of the graph were chosen as the cut-off point. The sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values of CA19-9 at this cut-off point were calculated.Resectable pancreatic cancer was detected in 58 (55.77%) patients and unresectable pancreatic cancer was detected in 46 (44.23%) patients. The area under the ROC curve was 0.918 and 95% CI was 0.843-0.992. The CA19-9 level was 353.15 U/mL, and the sensitivity and specificity of CA19-9 at this cut-off point were 93.1% and 78.3%, respectively. The positive and negative predictive value was 84.38% and 90%, respectively.Preoperative serum CA19-9 level is a useful marker for further evaluating the resectability of pancreatic cancer. Obviously increased serum levels of CA19-9 (353.15 U/mL) can be regarded as an ancillary parameter for unresectable pancreatic cancer.

Background and Objectives Laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC) may result in the incidental diagnosis of early stage (T1 and T2) gallbladder cancer. LC is useful for T1 patients, however, its role in T2 patients remains controversial. We sought to determine the effect of initial LC on patient outcome in early-stage gallbladder cancer. Methods Twenty-nine patients with T1 or T2 disease were reviewed retrospectively to assess preoperative diagnosis, intraoperative findings, and outcomes. Results Diagnoses included gallbladder stones (5), gallstones with polyps (5), and gallbladder polyps (19). Malignancy was suspected in 15 patients (14 polyp lesions and 1 gallbladder stone with wall thickening). After frozen sections, two T2 patients were immediately treated with radical operation owing to positive margins. Of 14 patients diagnosed by pathology, 4 T2 patients with positive margins underwent a second radical operation. Five-year survival rate was 100% and 49.6 % (T1 and T2 patients). No mortality or recurrence was detected in T1 patients (mean follow-up, 45.8 months; range, 6–98 months). Three T2 patients died, and one T2 patient relapsed after LC. No port site metastasis was detected. Conclusions LC for T1a and T1b gallbladder cancer needs no additional treatment, however, radical operation for T2 patients is recommended, regardless of the margin condition. J. Surg. Oncol. 2005;91:253–257. © 2005 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Objective To observe the therapeutic effects of moxibustion for chronic cough in children. Methods 68 child cases of chronic cough were treated by moxibustion. Results 54 cases were cured, 13 cases improved, and one case failed. The cure rate was 79.2%, with a total effective rate of 98.5%. Conclusion The moxibustion therapy has definite therapeutic effect for children chronic cough.