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Background: This study explores the significance of computed tomography (CT) radiomic features, along with inflammation and nutrition biomarkers, in the prognosis of postoperative patients with T3N0M0 esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). The study aims to construct a related nomogram. Methods: A total of 114 patients were enrolled and randomly assigned to training and validation cohorts in a 7:3 ratio. Radiomic features were extracted from their preoperative chest‐enhanced CT arterial images of the primary tumor, and inflammatory and nutritional indices, including neutrophil‐to‐lymphocyte ratio (NLR), lymphocyte‐to‐monocyte ratio (LMR), platelet‐to‐lymphocyte ratio (PLR), systemic immune‐inflammation index (SII), and prognostic nutritional index (PNI), were calculated based on laboratory data from the 3 days before surgery. Intra‐class correlations coefficient (ICC) and least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (Lasso) were applied to screen valuable radiomics features predicting overall survival (OS), and the Rad‐score was calculated. In the training cohort, univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses identified independent prognostic factors, which were adopted to establish the nomogram. Results: Eight radiomic features were selected for Rad‐score calculation. Multivariate Cox regression revealed Rad‐score, PNI, NLR, and PLR as independent prognostic factors for ESCC patients (p < 0.05). A nomogram was constructed based on these variables. The concordance index (C‐index) for the nomogram was 0.797 (95% CI: 0.726–0.868) in the training cohort and 0.796 (95% CI: 0.702–0.890) in the validation cohort. Calibration curves indicated good calibration ability, and the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis demonstrated superior discriminative ability for the nomogram in comparison to the Rad‐score alone. Decision curve analysis (DCA) confirmed the clinical utility of the nomogram. Conclusion: We developed and validated a nomogram for predicting the OS of postoperative T3N0M0 ESCC patients, integrating nutritional, inflammatory markers, and radiomic signature. The combined nomogram can serve as a robust tool for risk stratification and clinical management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective To investigate the effect of establishing clinical nurse educators in standardized training for newly recruited nurses. Methods Totally 88 nurses recruited in 2016 were set as the control group, another 121 nurses recruited in 2017 were set as the intervention group. The convention teaching method was adopted in the control group. In the intervention group, clinical nurse educators were established to regulate the standardized training. The outcomes of theoretical and practical arseesments of two groups were compared. Nurses-perceptions on normalization and quality of clinical standardized training were evaluated. Results Nurses in the intervention group achieved higher scores of theoretical and practical nseesments compared with those in the control group (P < 0.05). Standardized training organized by clinical nurse educators received higher ratings of normalization and quality (P < 0. 05). Cunclusion Establishment of clinical nurse educators can effectively improve the standardized training effect for newly recruited nurses, by improving their theoretical knowledge and practical skiils. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Aims: Single nucleotide polymorphisms in miRNA binding sites, which are located in mRNA 3' untranslated regions (3'-UTRs), were recently found to influence microRNA-target interactions. Specifically, such polymorphisms can modulatebinding affinity or create or destroy miRNA-binding sites;such variants have also been found to be associated with cancer risk. In this study, we explored the effect of a functional variant at the miR-214 binding site in the methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase gene (rs114673809) on gastric cancer (GC) risk in a hospital-based case-control study in a Chinese Han population. Methods and Results: We genotyped the rs114673809 polymorphism in 345 gastric cancer patients and 376 cancer-free controls using the polymerase chain reaction restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCRRFLP) technique. The functions of rs114673809 were investigated using a luciferase activity assay and validated by immunoblotting. We found that participants carrying the rs114673809 AA genotype or A allele had a significantly increased risk of gastric cancer (OR = 1.667, 95% CI = 1.044–2.660, P = 0.034; OR = 1.261, 95% CI = 1.017–1.563, P = 0.037, respectively) compared to those carrying the GG genotype and G allele. In addition, rs114673809 modified the binding of hsa-miR-214 to MTHFR as well as MTHFR protein levels in gastric cancer patients. Conclusion: Our data suggested that rs114673809, which is located at the miR- 214 binding site in the 3'-UTR of MTHFR, may play an important role in the development of gastric cancer in a Chinese Han population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Integrated photonics provides a miniaturized and potentially implantable platform to manipulate and enhance the interactions between light and biological molecules or tissues in in-vitro and in-vivo settings, and is thus being increasingly adopted in a wide cross-section of biomedical applications ranging from disease diagnosis to optogenetic neuromodulation. However, the mechanical rigidity of substrates traditionally used for photonic integration is fundamentally incompatible with soft biological tissues. Cytotoxicity of materials and chemicals used in photonic device processing imposes another constraint towards these biophotonic applications. Here we present thin film TiO2 as a viable material for biocompatible and flexible integrated photonics. Amorphous TiO2 films were deposited using a low temperature (<250 °C) sol-gel process fully compatible with monolithic integration on plastic substrates. High-index-contrast flexible optical waveguides and resonators were fabricated using the sol-gel TiO2 material, and resonator quality factors up to 20,000 were measured. Following a multi-neutral-axis mechanical design, these devices exhibit remarkable mechanical flexibility, and can sustain repeated folding without compromising their optical performance. Finally, we validated the low cytotoxicity of the sol-gel TiO2 devices through in-vitro cell culture tests. These results demonstrate the potential of sol-gel TiO2 as a promising material platform for novel biophotonic devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) is the most fatal malignancies in females worldwide, with increasing incidence recently in China. MiR-153 was reported to be dysregulated in some human cancers, including EOC. In this study, we explored the roles of miR-153 and its target AKT1 in regulating growth and migration in EOC. Cell proliferation was measured with a CCK-8 assay. Real-time quantitative RT-PCR was performed to investigate expression levels of miR-153. Cell cycle features were analyzed by Flow cytometry system. The direct target gene was confirmed by dual-luciferase reporter assay. We found the expression levels of miR-153 were generally lower in the EOC tissues than in the matched normal tissues. The miR-153 mimics caused significant G0/G1 arrest in A2780 cells. Overexpression of miR-153 suppressed cell proliferation and migration in ovarian cancer. Results of dual-luciferase reporter assay suggested that AKT1 was a direct target of miR-153 in ovarian cancer cells. Overexpression of AKT1 reverses the inhibition effect of miR-153 on cell proliferation. Introduction of miR-153 into EOC cell lines leaded to inhibition of cell proliferation and migration by directly targeting AKT1. MiR-153 may have prognostic or therapeutic value for the future management of ovarian cancer patients., Competing Interests: None., (IJCEP Copyright © 2017.)

As an influencing factor of visual quality, straylight is a functional measure of the effect of light scatter across the retina. The phenomenon depends on the refractive index and the turbidity of the ocular media. This light scattering reduces the contrast of the image projected on the retina, and thus decreases the quality of vision. The review focuses on the concept and classification of straylight, and the relationship between straylight and visual quality.

Gastric cancer (GC) is one of the most common malignancies and one of the major causes of cancer-related deaths worldwide. In the present study, we investigated the association between miR-449a rs112310158 SNP and GC risk. Our findings revealed that a variant GG genotype increased the risk of occurrence of GC compared to a wild type AA genotype (OR = 2.542, 95% CI: 1.304-4.954, P = 0.005). Specifically, the G allele reduced the risk of occurrence of cervical cancer in women compared to the A allele (OR = 1.279, 95% CI: 1.012-1.617, P = 0.043). In conclusion, our findings suggest that miR-449a rs112310158 is a genetic risk factor for GC.