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Background: Body water measured by bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) predicts the outcomes of many diseases. This study aimed to evaluate the relationship between body water and the prognosis of cancer patients with sarcopenia. Methods: This study employed 287 cancer patients with sarcopenia underwent BIA from a prospective multicenter study of patients with cancer in China from 2013 to 2020. The primary outcome of interest was all-cause mortality presented as the longest time to follow-up available. Eight indicators of body water [total body water, extracellular water, intracellular water, free fat mass, active cell mass, extracellular water/intracellular water, extracellular water/total body water (ECW/TBW), and intracellular water/total body water] were included in the research. Neutrophil–lymphocyte ratio (NLR) = neutrophil (× 109)/lymphocyte (× 109). The discriminatory ability and prediction accuracy of each factor were assessed using the C-index. The hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated using the Cox proportional hazard model. Results: The median age was 65 years old, and 138 (48%) patients were men. During a mean follow-up of 46 months, 140 deaths were recorded, resulting in a rate of 204.6 events per 1000 patient-years. ECW/TBW showed the best predictive accuracy (C-index = 0.619) compared to the other indicators [p = 0.004, adjusted HR (95% CI) 1.70 (1.18,2.44)]. In the middle tertile (0.385–0.405), ECW/TBW had a strong independent negative association with patient survival [adjusted HR (95% CI) 2.88 (1.39–5.97), p = 0.004]. Patients who had a high ECW/TBW (ECW/TBW ≥ 0.395) combined with a high NLR had 3.84-fold risk of mortality (p < 0.001, 95% CI 1.99,7.38). Conclusions: ECW/TBW was better than other indicators in predicting survival of cancer patients with sarcopenia. High ECW/TBW combined with high NLR would further increase the risk of mortality. Trial registration: The Investigation on Nutrition Status and Clinical Outcome of Common Cancers (INSCOC) (Chinese Clinical Trial Registry: ChiCTR1800020329, URL of registration: http://www.chictr.org.cn/showprojen.aspx?proj=31813). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Purpose. The vascular morphology in crowd with family history of stroke remains unclear. The present study clarified the characteristics of the intracranial vascular CoW and prevalence of intracranial aneurysms in subjects with family history of stroke. Methods. A stratified cluster, random sampling method was used for subjects with family history of stroke among rural residents in Jixian, Tianjin, China. All the subjects underwent a physical examination, head computed tomography (CT) scan, and cephalic and cervical computed tomography angiography (CTA) scan. Anatomic variations in the Circle of Willis and cerebrovascular disease in this population were analyzed. Results. In the crowd with similar living environment, stable genetic background, and family history of stroke and without obvious nerve function impairment (1) hypoplasia or absence of A1 segment was significantly different in gender (male versus female: 9.8% versus 18.8%, p=0.031), especially the right-side A1 (male versus female: 5.9% versus 16.4%, p=0.004). (2) Hypoplasia or absence of bilateral posterior communicating arteries was more common in men than women (58.2% versus 45.3%, p=0.032). Unilateral fetal posterior cerebral artery was observed more often in women than men (17.2% versus 8.5%, p=0.028). (3) The percentage of subjects with incomplete CoW did not increase significantly with age. Compared to healthy Chinese people, the crowd had a higher percentage of incomplete CoW (p<0.001). (4) No obvious correlation between risk factors and CoW was found. (5) The prevalence of aneurysm was 10.3% in the special crowd. Conclusions. The certain variations of CoW showed significant relation to gender, but not to age in people with family history of stroke. The incomplete circle may be a dangerous factor that is independent of common risk factors for stroke and tend to lead to cerebral ischemia in the crowd with family history of stroke. The prevalence of intracranial aneurysm is comparatively high in the present subjects compared to other people. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the study was to explore the coping strategy and the effects of self-efficacy of Chinese undergraduate nursing students when they face the stress in clinical practice. Convenience sampling was used to recruit undergraduate nursing students in Mainland China who have practiced 3 months in hospitals in their final college year. Self-report questionnaires including demographics, Perceived Stress Scale, coping behaviour inventory and Generalized Self- Efficacy Scale were collected. The results showed that during clinical practice, assignments and workload were the most common stress to students; transference was the most frequently used coping strategy by students. Self-efficacy not only had a positive main effect in predicting the frequency of use of staying optimistic and problem solving strategies but also moderated the effects of stress from taking care of patients on transference strategy, as well as stress from assignments and workload on problem solving strategy. It is essential to bolster the students' self-efficacy to reduce stress and adopt positively the coping strategies during clinical practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The incidence and radiological patterns of eosinophilic granuloma (EG) in China is not clear. We described the incidence, presentation, and imaging characteristics of Chinese EG patients in a tertiary hospital. Methods: A retrospective chart review was performed from January 2004 to October 2017 at a single tertiary general hospital. Seventy-six patients were pathologically identified as EG. Besides, 60 patients with preoperative imaging diagnosis of "EG" were analyzed to reveal the radiological patterns and their diagnostic power. Results: Fifty-three male and 23 female EG patients with a mean age of 18.1 ± 16.7 years (range 1–58 years) were retrospectively included. Significant differences were observed in gender (male to female = 2.3:1) and age (the highest incidence at the age of 0~5 years) for EG. EG predominantly involved the skeletal system: flat bones (31.43%) > irregular bones (24.76%) > long bones (22.86%) > other organs (20.95%). No obvious relationships between season, biochemical markers, and EG incidence were observed. The common presenting symptoms were pain followed with local mass, and most patients underwent surgical resection. Among 60 imagingly diagnosed "EG" patients from April 2009 to October 2017, only 22 were with histological confirmation. The correct diagnosis rates were 37.1% (13 out of 35), 16.7% (5 out of 30), and 22.2% (8 out of 36) for plain radiography, computed tomography (CT), and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), respectively. Conclusions: Chinese EG has a varied presentation, age distribution, and gender difference. EG diagnosis is still based on biopsy or histopathology instead of imaging techniques. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel nor-lupane triterpenoid, 3-oxo-29 α -hydroxy-17 β ,20-epoxy-28-norlupane ( 1 ), and two new guaiane sesquiterpenoids, schvenols A–B ( 2 – 3 ), has been isolated from leaves of Schefflera venulosa . Structures of the new compounds were elucidated on the basis of their spectroscopic methods, including 1D and 2D NMR techniques. And the structure of 1 was further confirmed by the X-ray diffraction analysis. None of the compounds showed inhibitory effects on NO release in LPS-stimulated RAW 264.7 macrophage cell line. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Ethnopharmacological relevance: Caesalpinia sappan is a medicinal plant native to China popularly used to treat chronic pelvic inflammation, dysmenorrhea and hysteromyoma. Its main bioactive component is brazilin which had presented antibacterial, anti-inflammatory and anti-platelet aggregation activities. To establish a sensitive, selective, reproducible, and accurate high performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) method for the quantitative determination of brazilin in plasma, and study the pharmacokinetics of brazilin in rats after intravenous administration of brazilin. Materials and methods: Rats received intravenous injection of 25, 50 and 100mg/kg of brazilin. Concentrations of brazilin in plasma were determined by HPLC method at different time points and all pharmacokinetic parameters were estimated by non-compartmental analysis with WinNonLin 6.2 software. Results: After single intravenous doses of 25, 50 and 100mg/kg brazilin in rats, the main PK parameters were as follows: C max were 18.1±4.1, 46.7±8.7 and 82.2±9.6µg/mL; AUC0–24 were 20.4±4.3, 48.7±6.8 and 90.4±10.3µgh/mL; and t 1/2 were 5.4±1.5, 5.8±0.9 and 6.2±1.2h, respectively. Conclusion: It showed that the brazilin was eliminated moderately in rat by intravenous injection route with t 1/2 of 6h and showed a dose-dependence profile of C max and AUC0–24 at the doses of 25~100mg/kg of brazilin for injection in rats. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]