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Background: In recent years, fatty acid oxidation has been considered as an important energy source for tumorigenesis and development. There are extensive studies on CPT1A, a kind of fatty acid oxidation rate-limiting enzyme. However, prognostic value and regulatory network of another subtype CPT1B in AML remains elusive. This submission aims to clarify the independent prognostic role of the metabolic molecule CPT1B in CN-AML from cilinical data and molecule levels including mRNA, miRNA and lncRNA. Method: First, we analysed the CPT1B expression in AML conhort via online database “GEPIA”. Following the assessments on differential mRNA, miRNA, lncRNA expression analysis on the paired CPT1B high and low expression groups, there were abnormal changes at different molecular levels. Moreover, we determine the preliminary predictions on the regulatory network of CPT1B in AML by constructing miRNA-mRNA and ceRNA networks. The study had yielded a series of molecules that potentially proved the prognostic prediction and metabolic function of CPT1B from the side. Finally, we analysed the CPT1B expression in our own conhort to make a verification. Result: Notably, there was a significantly high expression of CPT1B in AML patients than normal people and was associated with the poor outcome. Molecules from different levels verified our finding and revealed the possible regulatory mechanism of CPT1B in AML. Conclusion: CPT1B is a potential prognostic factor as well as a therapeutic target of AML.

Bi2Te3 based alloys have been the most widely used thermoelectric material at low temperature for many decades. Here we report Se doped n-type Mg3Bi2 based materials with a thermoelectric figure-of-merit ZT of 0.82 at 300 K and a peak ZT of 1.24 at 498 K, which is comparable to the n-type Bi2Te3 and Te doped Mg3Bi1.4Sb0.6. The improved thermoelectric performance is benefited from the high carrier concentration and mobility as well as the thermal conductivity reduction. The reduced resistivity increased the power factor at all measured temperatures, leading to a higher engineering ZT (ZTeng) and engineering power factor (PFeng) for n-type Mg3Bi2. The n-type Mg3Bi1.4Sb0.6 materials are promising for thermoelectric power generation and cooling applications near room temperature.

In recent years, deep learning-based steganalyzers far outperformed handcrafted feature-based steganalyzers. However, a large amount of data is needed to train deep learning networks. For steganalysis tasks, the steganographic traces are subtle and the steganographic signals are difficult to be captured when the number of cover/stego pairs in the training set is insufficient. Data augmentation has been proved to be effective in improving accuracy and generalization for deep learning models. Yet not all data augmentation methods are universal for all tasks. When performing data augmentation, we argue that data distribution under the target tasks should be maintained. Since the steganalysis task is more concerned with the high-frequency signals of the images, if the high-frequency signals are unchanged, the data distribution from the perspective of steganalysis will remain largely unchanged. Based on this principle, we designed a neural network called cover augmentation network, which enriches the dataset by intelligently adding noise to the original cover to generate the augmented cover. Further, we designed a whole process of data augmentation based on the cover augmentation network. Experimental results show that the proposed data augmentation method can effectively improve the performance of steganalysis networks, and the advantage is significant at low payloads.

Objective To provide an understanding of important aspects of the participant recruitment and data collection, become aware of any potential problems, and obtain necessary information in order to design a large-scale randomized controlled trial (RCT) for lung cancer and colorectal cancer (CRC) screening in China. Methods This feasibility study was a multicentered, open-label, pilot randomized trial. A total of 2696 participants who were at high risk of lung cancer were recruited from three screening centers and randomly allocated to arm 1 (n=894), annual low-dose computed tomography (LDCT) plus a baseline colonoscopy; arm 2 (n=902), biennial LDCT plus annual fecal immunochemical test (FIT) with OC-Sensor (OC-FIT); and arm 3 (n=900), annual Insure-FIT plus Septin 9 blood test. Information on randomization, compliance, positivity rate, cancer case detection, and contamination with screening for lung cancer and CRC were collected. Results Participant characteristics were similar across study arms. The compliance rate of annual LDCT screening in arm 1 was 86.4% (95% CI: 83.9%, 88.5%) at baseline (T0), and 69.0% (95% CI: 65.8%, 72.0%) and 70.7% (95% CI: 67.6%, 73.7%) are at the following two rounds (T1 and T2). The compliance rates of biennial LDCT screening in arm 2 were similar to those in arm 1 in the corresponding rounds. The compliance rate was 55.5% (95% CI: 52.2%, 58.8%) for colonoscopy in arm 1, while the compliance rates of OC-FIT, Insure-FIT, and the Septin 9 test in arms 2 and 3 were all approximately 90% at T0, decreasing to 65%–80% at T1 and T2. The positivity rate, cancer case detection rate, and contamination rate of screening for lung cancer and CRC were also reported. Conclusion In this pilot study, the feasibility of an RCT in China of lung cancer and CRC screening was demonstrated.

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are anticipated to be integrated into the next generation wireless networks as new aerial mobile nodes, which can provide various live streaming applications such as surveillance, reconnaissance, etc. For such applications, due to the dynamic characteristics of traffic and wireless channels, how to guarantee the quality of service (QoS) is a challenging task. In this paper, with recent advances in scalable video coding (SVC), we study energy-efficient secure video streaming in rotary-wing UAV-enabled wireless networks. By jointly optimizing video levels selection, power allocation, and the UAV’s trajectory, we intend to maximize the long-term energy efficiency that is defined as the ratio of video quality to power consumption. Meanwhile, secrecy timeout probability is considered as a constraint cost to guarantee time delays requirements in a long run perspective. Our problem is modeled as a constrained Markov decision process (CMDP) and solved by safe deep Q-learning network (safe-DQN), where a safe policies set induced by constructing a Lyapunov function is dynamically adjusted to satisfy the constraint conditions of the CMDP. Extensive simulation results with different system parameters show the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm compared with other existing reinforcement learning algorithms.

Aim To introduce the novel use of lauromacrogol for cesarean scar pregnancy (CSP), and to compare the clinical efficacy and safety of curettage combined with ultrasound-guided sclerosant injection (USI) and curettage following uterine artery embolization (UAE) in the treatment of CSP. Methods CSP patients undergoing curettage combined with USI (n = 72) from December 2014 to May 2020 were compared to patient with curettage following UAE (n = 72).The basic clinical findings and clinical outcomes were reviewed between the two groups. Results For USI group, 69 patients underwent successful treatment (95.8% success rate), while the number of cured patients for the UAE group was 70 (97.2% success rate). Differences between USI group and UAE group in intraoperative blood loss (10.0 [10.0-20.0] vs. 10.0 [10.0-20.0] mL) and time for serum β human chorionic gonadotropin (β-hCG) to reduce to normal (28.0 [21.0-40.0] vs. 28.0 [21.0-35.0] days) were not statistically significant. The hospital stay for USI group was significantly shorter than that for UAE group (4.0 [4.0-6.0] vs. 6.0 [5.0-7.0] days, respectively). Statistically significant decreases were noted in hospitalization expenses and adverse events in USI group, compared to UAE group. There was no difference in live birth rate between the two groups with fertility intentions during the follow-up. Conclusion For treatment of CSP, curettage combined with USI yielded clinical results comparable to those of curettage following UAE. Curettage combined with USI was associated with lower hospitalization expenses, shorter hospital stay and less complications, and it merited an effective and safe treatment for CSP.

Aneurysm wall permeability has recently emerged as an in vivo marker of aneurysm wall remodeling. We sought to study the spatial relationship between hemodynamic forces derived from 4D-flow MRI and aneurysm wall permeability by DCE-MRI in a region-based analysis of unruptured saccular intracranial aneurysms (IAs). We performed 4D-flow MRI and DCE-MRI on patients with unruptured IAs of ≥ 5 mm to measure hemodynamic parameters, including wall shear stress (WSS), oscillatory shear index (OSI), WSS temporal (WSSGt) and spatial (WSSGs) gradient, and aneurysm wall permeability (Ktrans) in different sectors of aneurysm wall defined by evenly distributed radial lines emitted from the aneurysm center. The spatial association between Ktrans and hemodynamic parameters measured at the sector level was evaluated. Thirty-one patients were scanned. Ktrans not only varied between aneurysms but also demonstrated spatial heterogeneity within an aneurysm. Among all 159 sectors, higher Ktrans was associated with lower WSS, which was seen in both Spearman’s correlation analysis (rho = − 0.18, p = 0.025) and linear regression analysis using generalized estimating equation to account for correlations between multiple sectors of the same aneurysm (regression coefficient = − 0.33, p = 0.006). Aneurysm wall permeability by DCE-MRI was shown to be spatially heterogenous in unruptured saccular IAs and associated with local WSS by 4D-flow MRI.

Graphical abstract, Introduction The development and prognosis of HCC involve complex molecular mechanisms, which affect the effectiveness of its treatment strategies. Tumor mutational burden (TMB) is related to the efficacy of immunotherapy, but the prognostic role of TMB-related genes in HCC has not yet been determined clearly. Objectives In this study, we identified TMB-specific genes with good prognostic value to build diagnostic and prognostic models and provide guidance for the treatment of HCC patients. Methods Weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) was applied to identify the TMB-specific genes. And LASSO method and Cox regression were used in establishing the prognostic model. Results The prognostic model based on SMG5 and MRPL9 showed patients with higher prognostic risk had a remarkedly poorer survival probability than their counterparts with lower prognostic risk in both a TCGA cohort (P

Purpose As health screening continues to increase in China, there is an opportunity to integrate a large number of demographic as well as subjective and objective clinical data into risk prediction modeling. The aim of this study was to develop and validate a prediction model for chronic kidney disease (CKD) in Chinese health screening examinees with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Methods We conducted a retrospective cohort study consisting of 2051 Chinese T2DM patients between 35 and 78 years old who were enrolled in the XY3CKD Follow-up Program between 2009 and 2010. All participants were randomly assigned into a derivation set or a validation set at a 2:1 ratio. Cox proportional hazards regression model was selected for the analysis of risk factors for the development of the proposed risk model of CKD. We established a prediction model with a scoring system following the steps proposed by the Framingham Heart Study. Results The mean follow-up was 8.52 years, with a total of 315 (23.20%) and 189 (27.27%) incident CKD cases in the derivation set and validation set, respectively. We identified the following risk factors: age, gender, body mass index, duration of type 2 diabetes, variation of fasting blood glucose, stroke, and hypertension. The points were summed to obtain individual scores (from 0 to 15). The areas under the curve of 3-, 5- and 10-year CKD risks were 0.843, 0.799 and 0.780 in the derivation set and 0.871, 0.803 and 0.785 in the validation set, respectively. Conclusions The proposed scoring system is a promising tool for further application of assisting Chinese medical staff for early prevention of T2DM complications among health screening examinees.

BACKGROUND. Drug-eluting bead transarterial chemoembolization (DEB-TACE) has emerged as an alternative to conventional TACE (cTACE) for treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), although selecti...

Building information modeling (BIM) has been advocated as a potential solution to many challenges of asset management, such as missing data, incompatible software, and unclear business process. However, its current implementation in infrastructure projects has only accounted for technology application and digital information delivery without considering system compatibility or information need. More significantly, BIM implementation requires compatible development of various aspects of a business, a gap in which can lead to different implementation levels or even project failure. Limited research is available on the key factors and challenges of BIM implementation in infrastructure projects. Therefore, this study aims to present a case study with particular emphasis on interviews with key stakeholders to explore the main challenges and solutions of BIM implementation. It starts with the development of interview questionnaires based on literature review and feedback from a research team composed of key stakeholders. Interviews were conducted with 37 professionals from stakeholders of the owner, designers, contractors, and software vendors. Four main factors and challenges, along with potential solutions, were identified from content analysis of the interviews: (i) isolation of project phases (process factor), (ii) incompatibility of project technologies and interfaces (technology factor), (iii) unclear definition of requirements and responsibilities of project stakeholders (people factor), and (iv) imperfect information collection and sharing (information factor). The four factors dictate “when,”“how,” and “what” information should be collected and communicated by “whom,” which are mutually interdependent, and focusing on limited factors instead of all four can compromise the successful implementation of BIM.

Cardiovascular disease is a major disease affecting human health, and its pathogenesis is caused by many factors. Through the use of "omics" technology, precision medicine is playing an increasingly important role in the prevention and treatment of cardiovascular diseases. Dialectical treatment with traditional Chinese medicine (TCM will result in personalized treatment, which is consistent with precision medicine to a certain extent. However, due to the multitarget, multipath, and multistep characteristics of TCM, its mechanism of action is not easy to elucidate. Network pharmacology can be used to predict the mechanism, toxicity and metabolic characteristics of TCM. This review summarizes commonly used bioinformatics resources for cardiovascular diseases and TCM, as well as the opportunities and challenges of TCM in cardiovascular precision medicine, with special emphasis on network pharmacology methods.

Background A population-based cancer screening program in rural China, targeting three types of cancer that are most prevalent in these areas, including esophageal, stomach, and liver cancer was awarded by the government in China since 2007. A two-step design with cancer risk assessment based on questionnaire interview and HBsAg test strip and subsequent clinical intervention for high-risk populations was adopted with free of charge at the local hospitals designated in the program. The participate rate including high-risk rates and screening rates was important to find appropriate strategies to improve the overall awareness of the program. Methods Data from the cancer screening program between 2010 and 2016 were used to calculate higher rate (high-risk population/ participants recruited) and screening rate (participants received screening/ high-risk population). Results From 2010 to 2016, 1,637,429 residents were recruited in the program and filled the questionnaires, 350,646 (21.4%) for esophagus cancer, 273,715 (16.7%) for stomach cancer and 1,013,068 (61.9%) for liver cancer. 471,974 participants were assessed as high-risk population including 114,786 (24.3%) high risk for esophagus cancer, 161,809 (34.3%) high risk for stomach cancer and 195,379 (41.4%) high risk for liver cancer, respectively. 249,185 (52.8%) participants who were assessed as high risk received clinical screening. There were 64,710 (26.0%) for esophagus cancer screening, 71,365 (28.6%) for stomach cancer screening and 113,110 (45.4%) for liver cancer screening, respectively. Conclusion Our findings will provide important references for designing effective population-based screening strategies to enhance the screening acceptance by health action plan in the future.

Familial risk of lung cancer has been widely studied but whether this association holds in non-smoking females is largely unknown. We sought to determine the relationship between a family history of cancer and lung cancer risk among Chinese non-smoking females based on a multi-center prospective population-based cohort study involving 547,218 individuals between 2013 and 2019. A total of 1620 lung cancer cases occurred during a median follow-up of 3.9 years. Multivariable Cox regression showed that a family history of lung cancer in first-degree relatives significantly increased the risk of lung cancer (HR: 1.50, 95%CI: 1.29, 1.75, P

Background Lung cancer is the most prevalent cancer, and the leading cause of cancer-related deaths in China. The aim of this study was to estimate the direct medical expenditure incurred for lung cancer care and analyze the trend therein for the period 2002–2011 using nationally representative data in China Methods This study was based on 10-year, multicenter retrospective expenditure data collected from hospital records, covering 15,437 lung cancer patients from 13 provinces diagnosed during the period 2002–2011. All expenditure data were adjusted to 2011 to eliminate the effects of inflation using China’s annual consumer price index. Results The direct medical expenditure for lung cancer care (in 2011) was 39,015 CNY (US$6,041) per case, with an annual growth rate of 7.55% from 2002 to 2011. Drug costs were the highest proportionally in the total medical expenditure (54.27%), followed by treatment expenditure (14.32%) and surgical expenditure (8.10%). Medical expenditures for the disease varied based on region, hospital level, type, and stage. Conclusion The medical expenditure for lung cancer care is substantial in China. Drug costs and laboratory test are the main factors increasing medical costs.

Epigenetic regulation plays critical roles in cancer progression, and high-frequency mutations or expression variations in epigenetic regulators have been frequently observed in tumorigenesis, serving as biomarkers and targets for cancer therapy. Here, we aimed to explore the function of epigenetic regulators in breast cancer. The mutational landscape of epigenetic regulators in breast cancer samples was investigated based on datasets from the Cancer Genome Atlas. The Kaplan–Meier method was used for survival analysis. RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) in MCF-7 cells transfected with control siRNA or KMT2C siRNA was performed. Quantitative reverse transcription-PCR and chromatin immunoprecipitation were used to validate the RNA-seq results. Among the 450 epigenetic regulators, KMT2C was frequently mutated in breast cancer samples. The tumor mutational burden (TMB) was elevated in breast cancer samples with KMT2C mutations or low KMT2C mRNA levels compared to their counterparts with wild-type KMT2C or high KMT2C mRNA levels. Somatic mutation and low expression of KMT2C were independently correlated with the poor overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) of the breast cancer samples, respectively. RNA-seq analysis combined with chromatin immunoprecipitation and qRT-PCR assays revealed that the depletion of KMT2C remarkably affected the expression of DNA damage repair-related genes. More importantly, the low expression of KMT2C was related to breast cancer cell sensitivity to chemotherapy and longer OS of breast cancer patients who underwent chemotherapy. We conclude that KMT2C could serve as a potential biomarker of prognosis and chemotherapy sensitivity by affecting the DNA damage repair-related genes of breast cancer.

Benefiting from the rapid development of nanotechnology, photodynamic therapy (PDT) is arising as a novel non-invasive clinical treatment for specific cancers, which exerts direct efficacy in destroying primary tumors by generating excessive cytotoxic reactive oxygen species (ROS). Notably, PDT-induced cell death is related to T cell-mediated antitumor immune responses through induction of immunogenic cell death (ICD). However, ICD elicited via PDT is not strong enough and is limited by immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment (ITM). Therefore, it is necessary to improve PDT efficacy through enhancing ICD with the combination of synergistic tumor therapies. Herein, the recent progress of nanomaterials-based PDT combined with chemotherapy, photothermal therapy, radiotherapy, and immunotherapy, employing ICD-boosted treatments is reviewed. An outlook about the future application in clinics of nanomaterials-based PDT strategies is also mentioned.

The well factory mode can effectively reduce the drilling, platform and fracturing cost in shale gas development. The scale effect is an important factor affecting the flowback fluid treatment cost, and the number of wells covered on the platform directly affects the flowback fluid treatment scale. Based on this knowledge, multi-objective optimization of water resources management is carried out to study the optimal balance between economic cost and environmental impact under given conditions. The result of numerical example analysis shows that increasing the number of wells per platform can significantly reduce 25.02% of water resources management cost and 27.2% of sewage discharge. Based on it, the optimization model of platform position under well factory mode is established. The proposed model studies the relationship among water resources management cost, drilling cost and platform position. At the same time, according to the genetic algorithm, this paper develops a strategy to solve the optimization model. The case study indicates that the optimization model can reduce the platform amount in a given area and increase the number of wells per platform. The study demonstrates that the proposed model can give full play to the technical advantages of the well factory, which significantly reduces the cost of shale gas development by 12.67% and 27.2% of sewage discharge.

Background Risk‐stratified endoscopic screening (RSES), which offers endoscopy to those with a high risk of esophageal cancer, has the potential to increase effectiveness and reduce endoscopic demands compared with the universal screening strategy (i.e., endoscopic screening for all targets without risk prediction). Evidence of RSES in high‐risk areas of China is limited. This study aimed to estimate whether RSES based on a 22‐score esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) risk prediction model could optimize the universal endoscopic screening strategy for ESCC screening in high‐risk areas of China. Methods Eight epidemiological variables in the ESCC risk prediction model were collected retrospectively from 26,618 individuals aged 40‐69 from three high‐risk areas of China who underwent endoscopic screening between May 2015 and July 2017. The model's performance was estimated using the area under the curve (AUC). Participants were categorized into a high‐risk group and a low‐risk group with a cutoff score having sensitivities of both ESCC and severe dysplasia and above (SDA) at more than 90.0%. Results The ESCC risk prediction model had an AUC of 0.80 (95% confidence interval: 0.75–0.84) in this external population. We found that a score of 8 (ranging from 0 to 22) had a sensitivity of 94.2% for ESCC and 92.5% for SDA. The RSES strategy using this threshold score would allow 50.6% of endoscopies to be avoided and save approximately US$ 0.59 million compared to universal endoscopic screening among 26,618 participants. In addition, a higher prevalence of SDA (1.7% vs. 0.9%), a lower number need to screen (60 vs. 111), and a lower average cost per detected SDA (US$ 3.22 thousand vs. US$ 5.45 thousand) could have been obtained by the RSES strategy. Conclusions The RSES strategy based on individual risk has the potential to optimize the universal endoscopic screening strategy in ESCC high‐risk areas of China., Universal endoscopy screening is recommended for all aged 40‐69 years in high‐risk areas of China to control esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). This study estimated risk‐stratified endoscopic (RSES) strategies based on a previously developed ESCC prediction model in a representative Chinese population from high‐risk areas. RSES would be a feasible strategy to optimize the current universal endoscopic screening strategy in high‐risk areas by increasing efficiency and decreasing screening costs.

Purpose To develop and validate a radiomic nomogram based on arterial phase of CT to discriminate the primary ovarian cancers (POCs) and secondary ovarian cancers (SOCs). Methods A total of 110 ovarian cancer patients in our hospital were reviewed from January 2010 to December 2018. Radiomic features based on the arterial phase of CT were extracted by Artificial Intelligence Kit software (A.K. software). The least absolute shrinkage and selection operation regression (LASSO) was employed to select features and construct the radiomics score (Rad-score) for further radiomics signature calculation. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was used to develop the predicting model. The predictive nomogram model was composed of rad-score and clinical data. Nomogram discrimination and calibration were evaluated. Results Two radiomic features were selected to build the radiomics signature. The radiomics nomogram that incorporated 2 radiomics signature and 2 clinical factors (CA125 and CEA) showed good discrimination in training cohort (AUC 0.854), yielding the sensitivity of 78.8% and specificity of 90.7%, which outperformed the prediction model based on radiomics signature or clinical data alone. A visualized differential nomogram based on the radiomic score, CEA, and CA125 level was established. The calibration curve demonstrated the clinical usefulness of the proposed nomogram. Conclusion The presented nomogram, which incorporated radiomic features of arterial phase of CT with clinical features, could be useful for differentiating the primary and secondary ovarian cancers.

Substantial progress has been made in cancer screening in China due to the substantial efforts of all levels of the government. Four large-scale population-based screening programs have been launched since 2005. In these programs, individuals at high risk for the most common types of cancer are screened with no cost. However, there are still wide gaps remaining between the cancer screening objectives and reality. In this review, we summarize the current status of cancer screening, identify the major achievements and challenges of cancer screening, and propose some suggested improvements based on the existing evidence. The main challenges include low participation rates, the uneven distribution of medical sources, inadequate funding, and insufficient screening quality. Some suggestions that should be considered to improve the quality of cancer screening include advertising to increase awareness, providing universal training of staff involved in screening programs, optimizing the definition of high-risk populations, integrating new technologies into cancer screening programs, and implementing appropriate management measures among individuals with positive screening results.

The low permeability of coal seams is a key factor restricting gas extraction. The multiscale pores in low-permeability coal make coal permeability present the multiscale characteristics. However, ...

In this article, we present a new method to construct a family of 2 N + 2 -point binary subdivision schemes with one tension parameter. The construction of the family of schemes is based on repeated local translation of points by certain displacement vectors. Therefore, refinement rules of the 2 N + 2 -point schemes are recursively obtained from refinement rules of the 2 N -point schemes. Thus, we get a new subdivision scheme at each iteration. Moreover, the complexity, polynomial reproduction, and polynomial generation of the schemes are increased by two at each iteration. Furthermore, a family of interproximate subdivision schemes with tension parameters is also introduced which is the extended form of the proposed family of schemes. This family of schemes allows a different tension value for each edge and vertex of the initial control polygon. These schemes generate curves and surfaces such that some initial control points are interpolated and others are approximated.

We propose to use information regarding the fab's future state for Overhead Hoist Transport (OHT) dispatching, which is named as ‘predictive dispatching’ in this paper. Unlike conventional dispatch...

We described the spatial and temporal trends of the annual leukemia incidence, prevalence, mortality, and disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) from 1990 to 2017. Leukemia case numbers and age-standardized rates (ASRs) were extracted from the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) study 2017. The estimated annual percentage change (EAPC) in the ASR was calculated using a generalized linear model with a Gaussian distribution. The risk factors for death and DALYs due to leukemia were estimated within the comparative risk assessment framework of the GBD study. Globally, the prevalence, age-standardized prevalence rate (ASPR), and EAPC in leukemia cases in 2017 were 2.43 (95% uncertainty interval (UI) 2.19 to 2.59) million, 32.26 (95% UI 29.02 to 34.61), and 0.22% (95% CI 0.13 to 0.31, P

Gastric cancer shows a strong male predominance, and sex steroid hormones have been hypothesized to explain this sex disparity. Previous studies examining the associations between sex hormones and sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG) and risk of gastric cancer come primarily from western populations and additional studies in diverse populations will help us better understand the association. We performed a nested case–control study in Linxian Nutrition Intervention Trials cohorts to evaluate the associations among Chinese men, where we had sufficient cases to perform a well-powered study. Using radioimmunoassays and immunoassays, we quantitated androgens, estrogens, and SHBG in baseline serum from 328 men that developed noncardia gastric cancer and matched controls. We used multivariable unconditional logistic regression to calculate ORs and 95% confidence intervals (CI) and explored interactions with body mass index (BMI), age, alcohol drinking, smoking, and follow-up time. Subjects with SHBG in the highest quartile, as compared with those in the lowest quartile, had a significantly increased risk of gastric cancer (OR = 1.87; 95% CI, 1.01–3.44). We found some evidence for associations of sex steroid hormones in men with lower BMI. Our study found a novel association suggesting that higher serum concentrations of SHBG may be associated with risk of gastric cancer in men. We found no overall associations with sex hormones themselves, but future studies should expand the scope of these studies to include women and further explore whether BMI modifies a potential association. Prevention Relevance: It was the first study to investigate the association of gastric cancer with prediagnostic sex steroid hormones and SHBG in an Asian male population. Although there were no overall associations for sex steroid hormone concentrations, higher concentrations of SHBG was associated with increased risk of noncardia gastric cancer.

PurposeThe purpose is two-fold: (1) to explore the interactions of robotic systems and lean construction in the context of offsite construction (OC) that were addressed in the literature published between 2008 and 2019 and (2) to identify the gaps in such interactions while discussing how addressing those gaps can benefit not only OC but the architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) industry as a whole.Design/methodology/approachFirst, a systematic literature review (SLR) identified journal papers addressing the interactions of automation and lean in OC. Then, the researchers focused the analysis on the under-researched subtopic of robotic systems. The focused analysis includes discussing the interactions identified in the SLR through a matrix of interactions and utilizing literature beyond the previously identified articles for future research directions on robotic systems and lean construction in OC.FindingsThe study found 35 journal papers that addressed automation and lean in the context of OC. Most of the identified literature focused on interactions of BIM and lean construction, while only nine focused on the interactions of robotic systems and lean construction. Identified literature related to robotic systems mainly addressed robots and automated equipment. Additional interactions were identified in the realm of wearable devices, unmanned aerial vehicles/automated guided vehicles and digital fabrication/computer numerical control (CNC) machines.Originality/valueThis is one of the first studies dedicated to exploring the interactions of robotic systems and lean construction in OC. Also, it proposes a categorization for construction automation and a matrix of interactions between construction automation and lean construction.

Objectives This study aimed to investigate the cooccurrence of chronic pain (CP), depressive symptoms, and poor sleep quality in terms of prevalence and associated factors in a nationwide health check-up population in China. Methods This multicenter cross-sectional survey was performed in 2017. All the participants aged ≥18 years from eight health check-up institutions in 6 provinces and cities were invited to complete a self-report health questionnaire through online resources. Results 132,444 participants completed the online survey and the overall prevalence of CP and that of the three symptoms were 11.0% (95% confidence interval [95% CI]: 10.8–11.1) and 2.7% (95% CI: 2.6–2.8), respectively. The cooccurrence of all three symptoms increased with age, being higher in the female, widowed, unemployed, and lower education level groups. The respondents with multiple symptoms reported poorer self-rated health. Binary logistic regression analyses identified female sex (adjusted odds ratio [aOR]: 1.51; 95% CI: 1.42–1.62), a widowed status (aOR: 1.39; 95% CI: 1.04-1.84), a lower education level (aORs ranging from 1.46 to 2.47), and having one or more chronic diseases (aORs ranging from 1.43 to 2.02) to be significantly associated with reporting all three symptoms (all P ˂0.05). While long-term medication and regular exercise were the protective factors. Conclusion This study suggests that the cooccurrence of the three symptoms accounts for a certain proportion of the Chinese health check-up population. Integrated interventions that address CP and mental health cooccurrence may be an essential target for heath management in this population to tackle this considerable burden.

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common arrhythmia and potentially increase the risk of embolic stroke and aggravate progressive heart failure in patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). Recent studies demonstrated that epicardial adipose tissue (EAT) was closely associated with AF in general population. However, the relationship between EAT and AF in HCM patients remains unclear. A total of 93 consecutive patients with hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy (HOCM) at Fuwai Hospital were enrolled in our study. There were 18 patients with AF and 75 patients without it. Cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) imaging was performed in all participants. EAT volume (EATV) and left atrial volume (LAV) were determined by E-3D medical model software. HOCM patients with AF had significantly greater EATV index (EATVI, P

Unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) relay can effectively improve the coverage and performance of land communications, which makes it prospective to be deployed in various applications. However, there exist some practical challenges we have to face in UAV-enabled communication system designing, such as secrecy and wiretapping threats due to the air-to-ground line-of-sight communication link, and energy consumption issues because of the limitation in energy-constraint. To deal with these two key issues, we develop a novel UAV swarm assisted multi-hop mobile relay system which can be applied in special scenarios with severe blockage or long distance to enhance communication performance. An effective cooperative transmission scheme is proposed to address the security issues in a physical layer security perspective, where several UAVs serve as multi-hop relays forwarding information between ground users and the other UAVs are employed as friendly jammers confusing the ground eavesdroppers. The minimum secrecy energy efficiency (MSEE), namely the minimum achievable secrecy rate per energy consumption unit over legitimate links, is designed as the performance indicator to quantify the secure and energy-efficient transmission. Subject to information-causality, transmit power, and mobility constraints, the UAV swarm assisted MSEE maximization transmission scheme is formulated into a complicated non-convex problem. To solve the non-convex fractional optimization problem, we decouple the original problem into sub-problems and further propose an efficient algorithm by applying the block coordinate descent method, successive convex approximation (SCA) techniques, and Dinkelbach method. Numerical results demonstrate that the proposed scheme achieves considerable performance enhancement on MSEE compared with benchmark schemes.

Background Substantial studies have demonstrated that left atrial (LA) enlargement was a robust predictor of atrial fibrillation (AF) and obesity was a modifiable risk factor for cardiovascular diseases. However, the role of body mass index (BMI) on LA dimension in hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy (HOCM) remains unclear. Methods A total of 423 HOCM patients (average BMI 25.4 ± 3.4 kg/m2) were recruited for our study. Participants were stratified into three groups based on BMI: normal weight (BMI < 23 kg/m2), overweight (BMI 23–27.5 kg/m2), and obesity (BMI ≥ 27.5 kg/m2). Results Compared with normal weight, patients with obesity had significantly lower prevalence of syncope (p = 0.007) and moderate or severe mitral regurgitation (p = 0.014), and serum NT-proBNP (p = 0.004). Multiple linear regression analysis indicated that BMI (β = 0.328, p < 0.001), log NT-proBNP (β = 0.308, p < 0.001), presence of AF (β = 0.209, p = 0.001), and left ventricular diastolic diameter index (β = 0.142, p = 0.019) were independently related with LA diameter. However, BMI was not an independent predictor of the presence of AF on multivariable binary logistical regression analysis. Conclusions BMI was independently associated with LA diameter; however, it was not an independent predictor of prevalence of AF. These results suggest that BMI may promote incidence of AF through LA enlargement in HOCM.

Objective Population-level economic burden is essential for prioritizing healthcare resources and healthcare budget making in the future. However, little is known about the economic burden of lung cancer in China. Methods A prevalence-based approach was adopted to estimate the economic burden of lung cancer, including direct expenditure (medical and non-medical) and indirect cost (disability and premature death). Data on direct expenditure and work-loss days per patient in each year post-diagnosis were obtained from two primary surveys. Other parameters were obtained from literatures and official reports. Projections were conducted based on varying parameters. All expenditure data were reported in United States dollars (USD) using 2017 value (exchange rate: 1 USD= 6.760 CNY), with the discount rate of 3%. Results The total economic burden of lung cancer was estimated to be 25,069 million USD in China in 2017 (0.121% of gross domestic productivity, GDP). The estimated direct expenditure was 11,098 million USD, up to 1.43% of total healthcare expenditure for China, covering 10,303 million USD and 795 million USD for medical and non-medical expenditure, respectively. The estimated indirect cost was 13,971 million, including 1,517 million USD due to disability and 12,454 million USD due to premature death. Under current assumptions, the projected total economic burden would increase to 30.1 billion USD, 40.4 billion USD, and 53.4 billion USD in 2020, 2025, and 2030, accounting for 0.121%, 0.131%, and 0.146% of China's GDP, respectively. However, if China meets the United Nation sustainable development goal of reducing premature death from non-communicable diseases by one-third by 2030, the total economic burden in 2030 would be 31.9 billion USD, 0.087% of China's GDP. Conclusions The economic burden of lung cancer in China in 2017 is substantial and more likely to increase significantly in the future. Policy makers need to take urgent actions in budget making for health systems. The economic burden could be alleviated by reducing the disease burden of lung cancer via effective control and prevention actions.

Case Presentation A 55-year-old Chinese man without significant medical history presented with progressive chest discomfort and night sweats for the past 2 months. He experienced nonexertional chest tightness and palpitation at night, not associated with dyspnea. These symptoms usually lasted for a few minutes and resolved spontaneously. He also reported night sweats but denied fever, chills, or weight change. He had never smoked and denied recent contact with anyone known to be ill.

Purpose: The study aimed to establish a prognostic prediction model and an artificial neural network (ANN) model to determine who will benefit from transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) monotherapy for patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) invading portal vein. Methods: Treatment-naïve patients with HCC and portal vein invasion who were treated with TACE monotherapy at hospital A as training cohort and hospital B as validation cohort were included. The primary endpoint was overall survival (OS). In training cohort, independent risk factors associated with OS were identified by univariate and multivariate analysis. The prognostic prediction (PP) and ANN models based on the independent risk factors were established to find out who will benefit most from TACE monotherapy. The type of portal vein tumor thrombosis was classified based on the Cheng’s Classification. The accuracy of the models was validated in validation cohort. Results: Totally, 242 patients (training cohort: n ​= ​159; validation cohort: n ​= ​83) were included. The median OS was 7.1 and 8.5 months in training and validation cohort, respectively. In training cohort, the PP model was established based on the following five independent risk factors: Cheng’s Classification, Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group score, maximum tumor size, number of HCC nodules, and Child-Pugh stage. PP score of 17.5 was identified as cut-off point and patients were divided into two groups by PP score 17.5 in survival benefit and prognostication (8.8 vs. 5.5 months; P ​

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a chronic idiopathic disorder causing inflammation in the gastro-intestinal tract, which is lack of effective drug targets and medications. To identify novel therapeutic agents against consistent targets, we exploited a systems pharmacology-driven framework that incorporates drug-target networks of natural product and IBD disease genes. Our in silico approach found that Ligustilide (LIG), one of the major active components of Angelica acutiloba and Cnidium Officinale, potently attenuated IBD. The following in vivo and in vitro results demonstrated that LIG prevented experimental mice colitis induced by dextran sulfate sodium (DSS) via suppressing inflammatory cell infiltration, the activity of MPO and iNOS, and the expression and production of IL-1β, IL-6, and TNF-α. Subsequently, the network analysis helped to validate that LIG alleviated colitis by inhibiting NF-κB and MAPK/AP-1 pathway through activating PPARγ, which were further confirmed in RAW 264.7 cells and bone marrow-derived macrophages in vitro. In summary, this study reveals that LIG activated PPARγ to inhibit the activation of NF-κB and AP-1 signaling thus eventually alleviated DSS-induced colitis, which has promising activities and may serve as a candidate for the treatment of IBD.Graphical abstract This study suggested novel computational and experimental pharmacology approaches to identify potential IBD therapeutic agents by exploiting polypharmacology of natural products. We demonstrated that LIG could attenuate inflammation in IBD by inhibiting NF-κB and AP-1 pathways via PPARγ activation to reduce the expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines in macrophages. These findings offer comprehensive pre-clinical evidence that LIG may serve as a promising candidate for IBD therapy in the future. Graphical headlights: 1. Systems pharmacology uncovered Ligustilide attenuates experimental colitis in mice. 2. Network-based analysis predicted the mechanism of Ligustilide against IBD, which was validated by inhibiting PPARγ-mediated inflammation pathways. 3. Ligustilide activated PPARγ to inhibit NF-κB and AP-1 activation thus eventually alleviated DSS-induced colitis.4. Ligustilide has promising activities and may serve as a candidate for the treatment of IBD.

In this paper, we investigate the effective deployment of millimeter wave (mmWave) in unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)-enabled wireless powered communication network (WPCN). In particular, a novel framework for optimizing the performance of such UAV-enabled WPCN in terms of system throughput is proposed. In the considered model, multiple UAVs monitor in the air along the scheduled flight trajectory and transmit monitoring data to micro base stations (mBSs) with the harvested energy via mmWave. In this case, we propose an algorithm for jointly optimizing transmit power and energy transfer time. To solve the non-convex optimization problem with tightly coupled variables, we decouple the problem into more tractable subproblems. By leveraging successive convex approximation (SCA) and block coordinate descent techniques, the optimal solution is obtained by designing a two-stage joint iteration optimization algorithm. Simulation results show that the proposed algorithm with joint transmit power and energy transfer time optimization achieves significant performance gains over Q-learning method and other benchmark schemes.

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to investigate the pulmonary function of patients with 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19)-induced pneumonia. METHODS: A retrospective analysis of 137 patients with COVID-19-induced pneumonia who were discharged from the Enze Hospital, Taizhou Enze Medical Center (Group) from January 31 2020 to March 11 2020 was conducted. Follow-up occurred 2 weeks after hospital discharge, during which patients underwent a pulmonary function test. RESULTS: Of the 137 patients who underwent a pulmonary function test 2 weeks after discharge, 51.8% were male, and the mean age was 47 years. Only 19.7% of the patients were identified as having severe COVID-19-induced pneumonia. The pulmonary function tests showed that for a small number of patients the forced expiratory volume in one second/forced vital capacity ratio (FEV1/FVC)/% values were

Although previous studies have shown a decreased incidence of prostate cancer in men with HIV/AIDS, the consensus has not been reached. Our aim is to conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis to assess the risk of prostate cancer among people with HIV/AIDS. We systematically searched PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, and Cochrane Library until March 2020. Cohort studies were included if they compared the prostate cancer risk between people with HIV/AIDS and uninfected controls or the general population. The summary standardized incidence ratio (SIR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) were calculated using a random-effects model. A total of 27 studies were included for analysis, with more than 2780 males with HIV/AIDS developing prostate cancer. The results showed that HIV infection was associated with a decreased risk of prostate cancer incidence (SIR, 0.76; 95% CI, 0.64–0.91; P = 0.003), with significant heterogeneity (P

The traditional steady-state method and transient method are unable to measure the permeability in the matrix micropores of low-permeability coal seam, particle coal cannot be used as the object of...

The mortality benefit of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) screening has been reported in several studies; however, the results of ESCC screening programs in China are suboptimal. Our study aimed to develop an ESCC risk prediction model to identify high-risk individuals for population-based esophageal cancer screening. In total, 86 745 participants enrolled in a population-based esophageal cancer screening program in rural China between 2007 and 2012 were included in the present study and followed up until December 31, 2015. Models for identifying individuals at risk of ESCC within 3 years were created using logistic regressions. The area under the receiver operating curve (AUC) was determined to estimate the model's overall performance. A total of 298 individuals were diagnosed with ESCC within 3 years after baseline. The model of ESCC included the predictors of age, sex, family history of upper gastrointestinal cancer, smoking status, alarming symptoms of retrosternal pain, back pain or neck pain, consumption of salted food and fresh fruits and disease history of peptic ulcer or esophagitis (AUC of 0.81; 95% confidence interval: 0.78-0.83). Compared to the current prescreening strategy in our program, the cut-off value of 10 in the score-based model could result in 3.11% fewer individuals subjected to endoscopies and present higher sensitivity, slightly higher specificity and lower number needed to screen. This score-based risk prediction model of ESCC based on eight epidemiological risk factors could increase the efficiency of the esophageal cancer screening program in rural China.

PD-1/PD-L1 blockade therapy is a promising cancer treatment strategy, which has revolutionized the treatment landscape of malignancies. Over the last decade, PD-1/PD-L1 blockade therapy has been trialed in a broad range of malignancies and achieved clinical success. Despite the potentially cure-like survival benefit, only a minority of patients are estimated to experience a positive response to PD-1/PD-L1 blockade therapy, and the primary or acquired resistance might eventually lead to cancer progression in patients with clinical responses. Accordingly, the resistance to PD-1/PD-L1 blockade remains a significant challenge hindering its further application. To overcome the limitation in therapy resistance, substantial effort has been made to improve or develop novel anti-PD-1/PD-L1 based immunotherapy strategies with better clinical response and reduced immune-mediated toxicity. In this review, we provide an overview on the resistance to PD-1/PD-L1 blockade and briefly introduce the mechanisms underlying therapy resistance. Moreover, we summarize potential predictive factors for the resistance to PD-1/PD-L1 blockade. Furthermore, we give an insight into the possible solutions to improve efficacy and clinical response. In the following research, combined efforts of basic researchers and clinicians are required to address the limitation of therapy resistance.

Conduct disorder (CD) is a common psychiatric disorder defined by a repetitive and persistent pattern of aggressive and antisocial behaviors. Although numerous task-based and resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rsfMRI) studies have emphasized the disrupted functional connectivity in CD, the CD-related alterations in functional interactions between the bilateral cerebral hemispheres are rarely investigated directly. In this study, a voxel-mirrored homotopic connectivity (VMHC) method based on rsfMRI was employed for the first time to examine the abnormalities of interhemispheric functional connectivity in patients with CD. The VMHC was compared between eighteen pure CD patients and eighteen typically developing (TD) healthy controls. In CD patients, reduced homotopic connectivity was observed relative to TDs in the middle occipital gyrus (MOG), pre- and postcentral gyrus, rolandic operculum and paracentral lobe (PCL) which were the components of visual and motor networks. Furthermore, the VMHC of the MOG and PCL was found to be negatively correlated with clinical scores in the CD group. Moreover, the regions with altered VMHC exhibited a relative good and robust ability to discriminate CD patients from TDs. This study provided a novel angle to identify the important role of interhemispheric coordination in the pathophysiology underlying CD and further indicated that the aberrant homotopic connectivity could be a potential clinical neural marker for CD diagnosis.

Background The increasing global cancer incidence corresponds to serious health impact in countries worldwide. Knowledge-powered health system in different languages would enhance clinicians’ healthcare practice, patients’ health management and public health literacy. High-quality corpus containing cancer information is the necessary foundation of cancer education. Massive non-structural information resources exist in clinical narratives, electronic health records (EHR) etc. They can only be used for training AI models after being transformed into structured corpus. However, the scarcity of multilingual cancer corpus limits the intelligent processing, such as machine translation in medical scenarios. Thus, we created the cancer specific cross-lingual corpus and open it to the public for academic use. Methods Aiming to build an English-Chinese cancer parallel corpus, we developed a workflow of seven steps including data retrieval, data parsing, data processing, corpus implementation, assessment verification, corpus release, and application. We applied the workflow to a cross-lingual, comprehensive and authoritative cancer information resource, PDQ (Physician Data Query). We constructed, validated and released the parallel corpus named as ECCParaCorp, made it openly accessible online. Results The proposed English-Chinese Cancer Parallel Corpus (ECCParaCorp) consists of 6685 aligned text pairs in Xml, Excel, Csv format, containing 5190 sentence pairs, 1083 phrase pairs and 412 word pairs, which involved information of 6 cancers including breast cancer, liver cancer, lung cancer, esophageal cancer, colorectal cancer, and stomach cancer, and 3 cancer themes containing cancer prevention, screening, and treatment. All data in the parallel corpus are online, available for users to browse and download (http://www.phoc.org.cn/ECCParaCorp/). Conclusions ECCParaCorp is a parallel corpus focused on cancer in a cross-lingual form, which is openly accessible. It would make up the imbalance of scarce multilingual corpus resources, bridge the gap between human readable information and machine understanding data resources, and would contribute to intelligent technology application as a preparatory data foundation e.g. cancer-related machine translation, cancer system development towards medical education, and disease-oriented knowledge extraction.

This study aimed to investigate the efficacy, safety, and prognostic factors of drug-eluting beads transarterial chemoembolization (DEB-TACE) in treating Chinese patients with liver cancer. A total of 367 liver cancer patients from 24 medical centers were consecutively enrolled in this multiple-center, prospective cohort study, including 275 hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cases, 37 intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC) cases, and 55 secondary liver cancer cases. All the patients received CalliSpheres® DEB-TACE treatment. Treatment response, overall survival (OS), change of liver function, and adverse events (AEs) were assessed. DEB-TACE treatment achieved 19.9% complete response (CR) and 79.6% objective response rate (ORR), with mean OS of 384 days [95% confidence interval (CI): 375‐393 days]. CR and ORR were both higher in HCC patients compared with primary ICC patients and secondary liver cancer patients, while no difference was discovered in OS. Portal vein invasion was an independent risk factor for CR, while portal vein invasion, previous conventional TACE (cTACE) treatment, and abnormal blood creatinine (BCr) were independent risk factors for ORR. In addition, largest nodule size ≥5.0 cm, abnormal albumin (ALB), and abnormal total bilirubin (TBIL) independently correlated with unfavorable OS. Most liver function indexes were recovered to baseline levels at 1‐3 months after DEB-TACE. Common AEs were pain, fever, vomiting, and nausea; most of them were at mild grade. CalliSpheres® DEB-TACE is efficient and well tolerated in Chinese liver cancer patients. Portal vein invasion, previous cTACE treatment, largest nodule size, abnormal BCr, ALB, and TBIL correlate with worse prognosis independently.

Background Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is highly prevalent in patients with hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy (HOCM). Inflammatory responses are increased in patients with OSA, meanwhile, inflammation is also associated with adverse outcomes in HOCM. Hypothesis To investigate the association between severity of OSA and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) in patients with HOCM. Methods Three hundred and ninteen patients with HOCM who underwent sleep evaluations at Fuwai Hospital were retrospectively included between February 2010 and December 2018. Data from baseline clinical characteristics and polysomnography studies were collected. Results OSA was present in 168 (52.7%). Patients with OSA were older, more likely to be male, had a higher body mass index and more clinical comorbidities. Patients with OSA had enlarged left ventricular diameter and similar left ventricular outflow tract obstruction compared with those without. In multivariate logistic analysis, apnea-hypopnea index (OR, 1.024; 95% CI, 1.005-1.044; P = .014), oxygen desaturation index (OR, 1.025; 95% CI, 1.004-1.046; P = .018) and lowest oxygen saturation (OR, 0.951; 95% CI, 0.915-0.989; P = .011) were independently associated with high risk hs-CRP (>3 mg/L) after adjusting for confounders. In addition, decreasing lowest oxygen saturation (β = -.159, P = .004) was also independently correlated with increasing hs-CRP concentrations in multivariate linear analysis after adjusting for confounders. Conclusions Severity of OSA was independently associated with elevated hs-CRP levels in patients with HOCM. Further studies are needed to evaluate the effects of treating OSA on hs-CRP as well as clinical outcomes in these patients.

Since angiogenesis has an indispensable effect in the development and progression of tumors, in this study we aimed to identify angiogenic genes closely associated with prognosis of HCC to establish diagnostic, prognostic, and recurrence models. We analyzed 132 angiogenic genes and HCC-related RNA sequence data from the TCGA and ICGC databases by Cox and least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) regression, and identified four angiogenic genes (ENFA3, EGF, MMP3 and AURKB) to establish prognosis, recurrence and diagnostic models and corresponding nomograms. The prognostic and recurrence models were determined to be independent predictors of prognosis and recurrence (P < 0.05). And compared with the low-risk group, patients in the high-risk group had worse overall survival (OS) rates in training cohort (P < 0.001) and validation cohort (P < 0.001), and higher recurrence rates in training cohort (P

Background This study aimed to explore the efficacy and safety of drug-eluting beads-transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (DEB-TACE) with or without iodine-125 (125I) seed implantation in treating advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients. Methods A total of 25 advanced NSCLC patients underwent DEB-TACE were consecutively enrolled, among which 17 cases also received 125I seed implantation post DEB-TACE treatment. Treatment response, overall survival (OS), biochemical indexes and safety profiles were recorded and analyzed. Results Zero (0.0%), 13 (54.2%), 9 (37.5%) and 2 (8.3%) patients realized complete response (CR), partial response (PR), stable disease (SD) and progression disease (PD) respectively, and the objective response rate (ORR) and disease control rate (DCR) were 54.2% and 91.7%. The median OS was 12.6 (95% CI: 7.8–17.5) months. No difference of treatment response or OS was observed between DEB-TACE treatment alone and DEB-TACE plus 125I seed implantation. Predictive factors analysis revealed that tumor size correlated with worse OS. Besides, chest distress grade and dyspnea grade were decreased after DEB-TACE procedure, while clinical symptoms were not changed after 125I seed implantation. The common adverse events (AEs) were fever (32.0%), pain (12.0%) by DEB-TACE treatment, and common AE was pain (26.7%) by 125I seed implantation. Conclusions DEB-TACE with or without 125I seed implantation is effective and tolerable in treating advanced NSCLC patients.

Studies have shown that diabetes is an important risk factor for cognitive dysfunction, also called diabetic encephalopathy (DE). Quercetin has been reported to be effective in improving cognitive dysfunction in DE. But its detailed mechanism is still ambiguous. In this study, we used db/db mice to investigate whether quercetin could activate SIRT1 and inhibit ER pathways to improve DE. Behavioral tests (Morris water maze and new objects) showed that quercetin (70 mg/kg) can effectively improve the learning and memory ability in db/db mice. OGTT and ITT tests indicated that quercetin could alleviate impaired glucose tolerance and insulin resistance in db/db mice. Western blot analysis and Nissl staining showed that quercetin can improve the expression of nerve and synapse-associated proteins (PSD93, PSD95, NGF and BDNF) and inhibit neurodegeneration. Meanwhile, quercetin up-regulates SIRT1 protein expression and inhibits the expression of ER signaling pathway-related proteins (PERK, IRE-1α, ATF6, eIF2α, BIP and PDI). In addition, oxidative stress levels were significantly reduced after quercetin treatment. In conclusion, current experimental results indicated that SIRT1/ER stress is a promising mechanism involved in quercetin-treated diabetic encephalopathy.