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Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most malignant diseases worldwide. The unfavorable clinical outcome and poor prognosis are due to high rates of recurrence and metastasis after treatments. Some scholars of traditional Chinese medicine suggested that endogenous wind-evil had played an important role in metastasis of malignant tumor. Therefore, the drug of dispelling wind-evil could be used to prevent cancer metastasis and improve the poor prognosis. So we wondered whether Scorpion, one of the most important wind calming drugs, has antitumor effect especially in epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT) and metastasis of HCC in this research. We found that Scorpion-medicated serum could inhibit proliferation, induce apoptosis, and decrease migration and invasion capacity of Hepa1-6 cells in vitro. Meanwhile, we observed that water decoction of Scorpion restrained tumor growth and metastasis in nude mouse of HCC metastasis models. Further experiments showed that Scorpion could suppress EMT, which is characterized by increased epithelial marker E-cadherin expression and decreased mesenchymal markers N-cadherin and Snail expression following Scorpion treatment both in vitro and in vivo. These results suggested that the Scorpion could inhibit Hepa1-6 cells’ invasion and metastasis in part by reversing EMT and providing a possible potential approach for preventing HCC metastasis. Impact statement The unfavorable clinical outcome and poor prognosis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) are due to high rates of recurrence and metastasis after treatments. Here we found Scorpion, one of the most important wind calming drugs, has antitumor effect. Scorpion-medicated serum inhibited the proliferation, induced apoptosis, and decreased migration and invasion capacity of Hepa1-6 cells in vitro. Water decoction of Scorpion restrained tumor growth and metastasis in nude mouse of HCC metastasis models. Further experiments showed that Scorpion could suppress EMT of HCC both in vitro and in vivo. Our results suggested that the Scorpion could inhibit Hepa1-6 cells’ invasion and metastasis in part by reversing EMT and providing a possible potential approach for preventing HCC metastasis.

On the background of high morbidity and mortality of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and rapid development of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), we conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized clinical trials (RCTs) according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) statement to assess the clinical effectiveness and safety of traditional insect Chinese medicine and related preparation for non-surgical HCC. RCTs were searched based on standardized searching rules in mainstream medical databases from the inception up to May 2016. Ultimately, a total of 57 articles with 4,651 patients enrolled in this meta-analysis. We found that traditional insect Chinese medicine and related preparation combined chemotherapy show significantly effectiveness and safety in objective response rate (P P P P P P P P P = 0.04); gastrointestinal adverse reactions (P

The collaborative filtering (CF) technique has been widely used recently in recommendation systems. It needs historical data to give predictions. However, the data sparsity problem still exists. We propose a new item-based restricted Boltzmann machine (RBM) approach for CF and use the deep multilayer RBM network structure, which alleviates the data sparsity problem and has excellent ability to extract features. Each item is treated as a single RBM, and different items share the same weights and biases. The parameters are learned layer by layer in the deep network. The batch gradient descent algorithm with minibatch is used to increase the convergence speed. The new feature vector discovered by the multilayer RBM network structure is very effective in predicting a rating and achieves a better result. Experimental results on the data set of MovieLens show that the item-based multilayer RBM approach achieves the best performance, with a mean absolute error of 0.6424 and a root-mean-square error of 0.7843.

Most classic network entity sorting algorithms are implemented in a homogeneous network, and they are not applicable to a heterogeneous network. Registered patent history data denotes the innovations and the achievements in different research fields. In this paper, we present an iteration algorithm called inventor-ranking, to sort the influences of patent inventors in heterogeneous networks constructed based on their patent data. This approach is a flexible rule-based method, making full use of the features of network topology. We sort the inventors and patents by a set of rules, and the algorithm iterates continuously until it meets a certain convergence condition. We also give a detailed analysis of influential inventor’s interesting topics using a latent Dirichlet allocation (LDA) model. Compared with the traditional methods such as PageRank, our approach takes full advantage of the information in the heterogeneous network, including the relationship between inventors and the relationship between the inventor and the patent. Experimental results show that our method can effectively identify the inventors with high influence in patent data, and that it converges faster than PageRank.

Background. Atopic dermatitis (AD) has become a common skin disease that requires systematic and comprehensive treatment to achieve adequate clinical control. Traditional Chinese medicines and related treatments have shown clinical effects for AD in many studies. But the systematic reviews and meta-analyses for them are lacking. Objective. The systematic review and meta-analysis based on the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) statement were conducted to evaluate the efficacy and safety of traditional Chinese medicines and related treatments for AD treatment. Methods. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) were searched based on standardized searching rules in eight medical databases from the inception up to December 2016 and a total of 24 articles with 1,618 patients were enrolled in this meta-analysis. Results. The results revealed that traditional Chinese medicines and related treatments did not show statistical differences in clinical effectiveness, SCORAD amelioration, and SSRI amelioration for AD treatment compared with control group. However, EASI amelioration of traditional Chinese medicines and related treatments for AD was superior to control group. Conclusion. We need to make conclusion cautiously for the efficacy and safety of traditional Chinese medicine and related treatment on AD therapy. More standard, multicenter, double-blind randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of traditional Chinese medicine and related treatment for AD were required to be conducted for more clinical evidences providing in the future.

High-strength steel pipes have excellent strength but have poor fracture arrest. By finite-element analysis involving fluid-structure interaction (FSI) method, models of high-strength steel pipe with three kinds of defects (triangle, rectangle and semi-ellipse) were built to determine the concentrated stress based on the working conditions of X70 pipelines in the West-to-East Natural Gas Transmission Project, and the simulation results were compared with the field test results measured by an X-ray stress analyzer. With the same defect width (2 mm), the triangular defect (40°) had a greater influence on the concentrated stress in the pipe than rectangular and semi-elliptic defects. The results can be taken as references of the damage failure process of the defect in pipes in operating conditions as well as a theoretical basis for the fracture arrest of pipes in field operation.

Document similarity computation is an exciting research topic in information retrieval (IR) and it is a key issue for automatic document categorization, clustering analysis, fuzzy query and question answering. Topic model is an emerging field in natural language processing (NLP), IR and machine learning (ML). In this paper, we apply a latent Dirichlet allocation (LDA) topic model-based method to compute similarity between documents. By mapping a document with term space representation into a topic space, a distribution over topics derived for computing document similarity. An empirical study using real data set demonstrates the efficiency of our method.

Many applications today need to manage uncertain data, such as information extraction (IE), data integration, sensor RFID networks, and scientific experiments. Top-k queries are often natural and useful in analyzing uncertain data in those applications. In this paper, we study the problem of answering top-k queries in a probabilistic framework from a state-of-the-art statistical IE model-semi-conditional random fields (CRFs)-in the setting of probabilistic databases that treat statistical models as first-class data objects. We investigate the problem of ranking the answers to probabilistic database queries. We present an efficient algorithm for finding the best approximating parameters in such a framework for efficiently retrieving the top-k ranked results. An empirical study using real data sets demonstrates the effectiveness of probabilistic top-k queries and the efficiency of our method.

The top-k ranking is based on some scoring function in deterministic applications. However, in uncertain applications, such a clean definition does not exist, since the process of reporting a tuple in a top-k answer does not depend only on its score but also on its membership probability. This work introduces an approach to processing top-k queries based on statistical information extraction model, which enables us to determine the probability that an observed extraction is correct. We validate the performance of the model empirically on the task of extracting information from two data sets.

OBJECTIVE To investigate the effects of Baobaole oral liquid on neuronal excitability in lateral hypothalamic area (LHA) and ventromedial hypothalamic nuclear (VMN) in anorectic rats. METHODS The anorectic rat model was established by feeding with special prepared forage for a week, and then Baobaole oral liquid, a liquid extract of a compound traditional Chinese medicine for activating spleen, was administered once a day for 3 weeks. Finally, extracellular recording from LHA and VMN neurons in rats were made in order to characterize their responses to gastric vagal nerve stimulation and intravenous injection of glucose in the normal, untreated, and Baobaole-treated groups. RESULTS There was no statistical difference in response characteristics of LHA neurons to gastric vagal stimulation among 3 groups. The duration of VMN neuron excitation response to gastric vagal nerve stimulation in the untreated group was significantly longer than that of the normal control group (P

Saikosaponin a (SSa), a main constituent of the Chinese herbBupleurum chinenseDC., has been demonstrated to have antiepileptic activity. Recent studies have shown that SSa could inhibit NMDA receptor current and persistent sodium current. However, the effects of SSa on potassium (K+) currents remain unclear. In this study, we tested the effect of SSa on 4AP-induced epileptiform discharges and K+currents in CA1 neurons of rat hippocampal slices. We found that SSa significantly inhibited epileptiform discharges frequency and duration in hippocampal CA1 neurons in the 4AP seizure model in a dose-dependent manner with anIC50of 0.7 μM. SSa effectively increased the amplitude ofITotalandIA, significantly negative-shifted the activation curve, and positive-shifted steady-state curve ofIA. However, SSa induced no significant changes in the amplitude and activation curve ofIK. In addition, SSa significantly increased the amplitude of 4AP-sensitive K+current, while there was no significant change in the amplitude of TEA-sensitive K+current. Together, our data indicate that SSa inhibits epileptiform discharges induced by 4AP in a dose-dependent manner and that SSa exerts selectively enhancing effects onIA. These increases inIAmay contribute to the anticonvulsant mechanisms of SSa.

Many applications today need to manage data that is uncertain, such as information extraction (IE), data integration, sensor RFID networks, and scientific experiments. Top- k queries are often natural and useful in analyzing uncertain data in those applications. In this paper, we study the problem of answering top- k queries in a probabilistic framework from a state-of-the-art statistical IE model-semi-Conditional Random Fields (CRFs)-in the setting of Probabilistic Databases that treat statistical models as first-class data objects. We investigate the problem of ranking the answers to Probabilistic Databases query. We present efficient algorithm for finding the best approximating parameters in such a framework to efficiently retrieve the top- k ranked results. An empirical study using real data sets demonstrates the effectiveness of probabilistic top- k queries and the efficiency of our method.

Many applications today need to manage data that is uncertain, such as information extraction (IE), data integration, sensor RFID networks, and scientific experiments. Top-k queries are often natural and useful in analyzing uncertain data in those applications. In this paper, we study the problem of answering top-k queries in a probabilistic framework from a state-of-the-art statistical IE model-semi-Conditional Random Fields (CRFs)-in the setting of Probabilistic Databases that treat statistical models as first-class data objects. We investigate the problem of ranking the answers to Probabilistic Databases query. We present efficient algorithm for finding the best approximating parameters in such a framework to efficiently retrieve the top-k ranked results. An empirical study using real data sets demonstrates the effectiveness of probabilistic top-k queries and the efficiency of our method.

To study the effect of 1-tetrahydropalmatine (1-THP) on the spontaneous electric discharge (SED) induced by chronic dorsal root ganglion neurons compression.Using single fiber recording method, the SED of 84 neurons class A induced by compression were recorded. The effect of 1-THP on the SEDs and its relation with concentration were observed.In the 84 SED of neurons, 25 showed periodical rhythmicity (PR) and 59 showed non-periodic rhythmicity (non-PR). 1-THP (100 micromol/L) inhibited SED in 16.0% (4/25) of neurons with PR and 67.8% (40/59) of neurons with non-PR (P0.01) in an effect-dose dependent manner, the higher the concentration of 1-THP, the more the inhibition, with quicker inhibiting in initiation and longer time needed for recovery. SED in 57.1% neurons were recovered 20 min after elution, but unrecovered even after 3 h in the others.1-THP shows inhibitory effect on the A-fiber SED induced by chronic dorsal root ganglion neurons compression.

Rough set theory is an efficient information processing tool used in the discovery of data dependencies. It evaluates the importance of attributes, discovers the patterns of data, reduces all redundant objects and attributes, and seeks the minimum subset of attributes. This paper presents a method for attribute reduction on combination of rough set and neighborhood systems. Neighborhood decision system is investigated by considering relation between two ways and introducing two neighborhood approximation operators. Illustrative results for some databases in UCI repository of machine learning databases provided good results.

To evaluate the prognostic value of plasma brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) and C-reactive protein (CRP) in patients with acute coronary syndromes (ACS) underwent percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI).Patients with ACS underwent PCI in our hospital from December 2004 to September 2005 were included in this study. Plasma BNP (n = 189) and CRP (n = 141) were measured at a median of (34.2 +/- 16.3) hours from symptom onset, total mortality and the risk for major adverse cardiac events (MACE, including death, recurrent MI, recurrent angina, heart failure, readmission for any reason) at 30 days and at 3 months was analyzed.Patients were divided into 4 groups according to their BNP levels (BNPor= 100 ng/L, BNP100 ng/L toor= 300 ng/L, BNP300 ng/L toor= 600 ng/L and BNP600 ng/L) and the 3-month mortality was 0%, 1.4%, 7.7%, 48.3% and 3-month incidence of MACE was 7.9%, 17.1%, 57.7%, 79.3% respectively. Multivariate logistic regression analyses showed that the plasma BNP level predicted 30-day (r = 0.8515, P0.01) and 3-month (r = 0.9201, P0.01) mortality and 30-day (r = 0.7066, P0.01) and 3-month (r = 0.7090, P0.01) incidence of MACE independent of other known prognostic factors such as age, gender, family heredity, hypercholesterolemia diabetes, hypertension, smoking and LVEF. Patients were divided into 3 groups according to their CRP levels (CRPor= 8.0 mg/L, CRP8.0 mg/L toor= 32.0 mg/L, CRP32.0 mg/L) and 3-month mortality was 2.7%, 7.7% and 28.6% and 3-month incidence of MACE was 28.4%, 41.0% and 60.7% respectively. CRP predicted 30-day (r = 0.5882, P = 0.0044) and 3-month (r = 0.5235, P = 0.0038) mortality independent of traditional risk factors, and predicted 30-day (r = 0.2705, P = 0.0380) and 3-month (r = 0.2290, P = 0.0429) incidence of MACE after adjustment for patient age. CRP lost its predictive value after BNP was introduced into the model, while BNP was still an independent predictor for mortality and incidence of MACE at 30 days and 3 months in ACS patients underwent PCI.Both plasma BNP and CRP are good predictors for early mortality and MACE incidence in ACS patients underwent PCI.

To confirm the effect of Er'bao granule (EBG) on the sensitivity to peripheral afferent signal of neurons in lateral hypothalamic area (LHA) to illustrate the central mechanism of EBG in promoting ingestion behavior.The anorexia rat model was established by feeding special prepared forage for one week, and all the model rats were administrated with EBG by gavage for 3 weeks. The spontaneous discharge of LHA neurons was recorded using electro-physiological extracellular recording method, and its response to electrical stimulus on gastric vagus nerve and intravenous injection of glucose were observed and compared among the normal, model and treated groups.As compared with the normal group, among the LHA neurons responding to afferent gastric vagal impulse, the proportion of glycemia-sensitive neurons in the model group was significantly decreased (P0.01), but insignificant difference was shown in comparison between the treated group and the normal group.EBG play a role in regulating the sensitivity of LHA neurons to peripheral afferent signal and thus to influence the multi-afferent information integration of ingestion central neurons.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the value of sixteen-detector row computed tomography angiography (CTA) for the assessment of coronary artery bypass graft (CABG).Sixty-two consecutive patients undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting were recruited. Among them, 6 patients were excluded from the study due to unfavorable control of heart rate. A total of 56 patients with 152 coronary artery bypass grafts (internal mammary artery, n = 48; saphenous venous grafts, n = 104) were examined by computed tomography angiography (CTA) with sixteen-detector row CT and by conventional invasive coronary angiography (CAG). All CT procedures were performed with retrospective electrocardiogram gating method. The patients' mean heart rate was 58 +/- 6 beats/minute. 120 ml of Visipaque 320 were continuously injected with the rate of 4.0 ml/sec during the procedure. The patency and the stenosis of coronary artery bypass grafts were evaluated by two experienced readers.All the coronary artery bypass grafts were visualized by CTA, and all the proximal bypass anastomoses and 71% of the distal bypass anastomoses were also visualized by CTA. Furthermore, 29 occlusions and 13 significant stenoses of coronary artery bypass grafts were detected by CTA. The comparison of the results between CTA and CAG showed that among all the 42 occluded and stenosed coronary artery bypass grafts detected by CTA, 34 were confirmed by CAG; among all the 110 normal coronary artery bypass grafts detected by CTA, 108 were confirmed by CAG. There were 8 false positive and 2 false negative findings, resulting in a sensitivity of 94%, a specificity of 95%, a positive predictive value of 86%, and a negative predictive value of 99%.Sixteen-detector row CTA technology may provide a reliable visualization and higher diagnostic accuracy of coronary artery bypass grafts lesions. This technique can be used as a noninvasive procedure for the diagnosis of suspected coronary artery bypass grafts dysfunction.

To study the role of cholecystokinin octapeptide (CCK-8),beta endorphin (beta EP), and gastrin in an anorexic infantile rat model and no subsequent regulation of nose peptides by the Yunpi complex prescription ErBao Granule.We fed infantile rats with special prepared forage. A liquid extract of ErBao Granule was administered to the rats daily for 3 weeks, CCK-8, beta-EP, and gastrin concentrations in hypothalamus, gastric antrum, and plasma of the rats were measured by radioimmunoassay, and were compared with controls.Treatment of rats with ErBao Granule inhibited CCK-8 secretion and increased beta-EP and gastrin secretion. CCK-8 concentration in hypothalamus and plasma of model control group increased significantly and correlated negatively with food intake of models, respectively. beta-EP concentration in gastric antrum and plasma of model control group decreased significantly and showed a positive correlation with food intake of models, respectively. Hypothalamus concentration of beta-EP was similar in models and controls. Gastrin concentration in gastric antrum of models was lower than in the blank control group, and correlated positively to food intake of models. Finally, CCK-8 concentrations in plasma of rats showed a positive correlation with plasma beta-EP (r=-0.68, P0.05).The increased plasma and hypothalamus concentration of CCK-8, decreased gastric antrum and plasma level of beta-EP, and decreased gastric antrum concentration of gastrin are associated significantly with the anorexia of infantile anorexic rat models produced by special for-age. ErBao Granule can reverse these changes, which may be the major mechanisms of ErBao Granule simulating feeding.