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Additional file 1: Table S1. Definitions of variables in two-level random intercept model.

Objective To assess the effects of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) on the survival of patients with liver cirrhosis (LC) in Southwest China. Design Single-center, ambispective cohort study conducted from 2012 to 2019. Setting Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital of Dianjiang Chongqing, Southwest China. Main outcome measure The primary outcome was the effect of TCM on the survival of patients with LC, as assessed with survival analysis and Cox regression model. Results Among the 691 patients with LC, 364 (52.68 %) received TCM treatment. The mean (standard deviation) follow-up period was 3.53 (1.62) years for non-TCM users and 4.17 (1.53) years for TCM users (P = 0.184). Multivariate analysis revealed that the use of TCM was associated with a significantly decreased risk of mortality (adjusted hazard ratio [HR] = 0.41, 95 % confidence interval [CI] = 0.30 - 0.54) compared with no TCM use. Similarly, the cumulative mortality rates were significantly lower among TCM users, across various subgroups of LC aetiologies. Among the commonly used TCM prescriptions, Xiao Chaihu Tang (XCHT, adjusted HR = 0.17, 95 % CI = 0.07 - 0.42), Yinchen Wuling San (adjusted HR = 0.31, 95 % CI = 0.14 - 0.66), Biejia Ruan Gan Jian (adjusted HR = 0.31, 95 % CI = 0.13 - 0.75), and Chaihu Shu Gan San (adjusted HR = 0.33, 95 % CI = 0.19 - 0.57) were the most effective in improving survival. Conclusions Our results provide evidence for supporting that adjunctive TCM therapy may potentially improve the survival of patients with liver cirrhosis, and XCHT was the most effective TCM prescription in this study.

From the perspective of waste utilization, the invasive species, Eupatorium adenophorum was used to prepare biochar, which was then loaded with iron/nickel bimetals. Compared with pure biochar, the biochar-loaded nano-iron/nickel bimetals have a significant effect on the removal of 2,4,6-trichlorophenol (2,4,6-TCP) from water, and their degradation rate can be increased by 39.7%-71.6% under different conditions. Several factors can influence the removal of 2,4,6-TCP, including the load ratio, pH of the solution, concentration of 2,4,6-TCP, and coexisting ions in water (HCO3−, SO42−, NO3−). Based on the density functional model (DET), Ni can activate H2 (produced in the reaction between nano-Fe and H2O) to convert to H*, which can then substitute Cl. The activation energy is 109.5 kJ/mol, indicating the reaction is easy to take place.

Additional file 4: Table S4. Further pairwise multiple comparisons between patients with different DGC-related muscular dystrophies.

According to the recent government reports, China has gradually entered an aging society. Pension problem is a vital problem to face. Therefore, it will be very useful to monitor the health status of elderly people who live alone at home. To evaluate the abilities of elderly people in daily life, the activities of daily living (ADL) is used. In this work, we propose a novel machine learning approach for ADL recognitions by considering the location context information of the elder. With the popularity of smart phones, motion recognition can be done by the embedded sensors such as acceleration sensors and. However different ADL models possibly have the same movement to a certain degree, which will affect the classification performance. We append the location information as an additional feature to detect ADL. Furthermore, we propose a hierarchical Extreme Learning Machine (ELM) to classify the ADL. With the experiment and test, the algorithm described in this paper can achieve obvious performance in ADL recognition.

The development of intelligent drug delivery system that can efficiently deliver doxorubicin (DOX) to tumor site with controlled drug release performance and enhanced therapeutic efficacy is of great significance for cancer chemotherapy. In this report, a nano-prodrug system was prepared successfully by conjugating DOX to pH-sensitive amphiphilic diblock copolymer poly (ethylene glycol) methyl ether‑b‑poly (β‑amino esters) through acid-labile cis‑aconityl moiety (mPEG-b-PAE-cis-DOX). The resultant complex copolymer-drug was able to self-assemble into polymeric micelles (PMs) in an aqueous solution at low concentration, and the critical micelle concentration (CMC) was 3.6 mg/L which was increased as decrease of pH value. H-nuclear magnetic resonance (1H NMR), Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR), dynamic light scattering (DLS), transition electron microscopy (TEM), and classic acid-base titration were combined to confirm and characterize the chemical structure of the copolymer/drug conjugates and the physicochemical properties of the prodrug system. The DOX loading capacity, drug delivery and therapeutic efficacy of the conjugates were evaluated in vitro and in vivo. Notably, the antitumor experiments in tumor-bearing mice demonstrated that the pH-responsive nano-prodrug system effectively enhanced the therapeutic efficacy in comparison to free drug. All above results suggested that pH-responsive prodrug system has the potential to be effective carrier for the DOX delivery and pH-triggered controlled release.

Hepatocellular carcinoma is a common solid tumor worldwide and represents the third leading cause of cancer death. Patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) have poor prognosis because of frequent multi-centric (MC) and intrahepatic metastasis (IM). The discrimination between MC and IM is profoundly important for interpreting tumorigenesis and treatment decision making. However, it is difficult to correctly estimate by histological. Previous studies suggest that HBV integration sites, mitochondrial D-loop mutations, microsatellite loss of heterozygosity (MSI LOH) may provide more accurate information. Paired two tumor lesions and adjacent non-tumor tissues from 10 HBV-position patients were collected for whole genome sequencing. The proportion of shared somatic SNV among the tumor lesions was used to separate MC and IM groups. 4 of 10 patients with shared mutation rate higher than 10% (15.89-49.48%) were identified as IMs. 6 patients with shared mutation rate lower than 10% (0.33-1.97%) were identified as MCs. We also used shared HBV integration rate, mitochondrial D-loop, MSI LOH, diameter ratio to identify IM and MC. The coincidence rates between shared mutation rate and shared HBV integration rate, mitochondrial D-loop, MSI LOH, diameter ratio is 88.89%, 77.78%, 88.89%, and 90%, respectively. It suggests that the diameter ratio of multiple HCCs provide a no-invasion method in clonality analysis. Finally, we developed a panel covering 1M regions to replace whole-genome sequencing to identify IM and MC. We validated the shared mutation rate of target panel region in another 19 whole-genome sequencing HCC patients with multiple tumor lesions from ICGC. A consistent rate of 94.74% in shared mutation rate between target panel region and whole genome region, indicated that for patients with resectable multiple HCCs, sequencing-based molecular diagnosis using somatic single nucleotide variation information showed higher sensitivity compared to previous techniques. And a smaller size of target panel contains adequate information is more cost-effective approach for clinical decision making. Citation Format: Pinghua Yang, Shilei Bai, Yanpeng Zhang, Zhihao Xie, Zhangjun Cheng, Jie Yang, Jun Li, Jiaqian Wang, Zhengqing Lei, Yong Xia, Kui Wang, Zheng Li, Baohua Zhang, Xuying Wan, Mengchao Wu, Feng Shen. Diagnosis of intrahepatic metastasis (IM) and multi-entric (MC) carcinogenesis by novel mutational signature in patients with multiple and recurrent hepatocellular carcinomas [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2019; 2019 Mar 29-Apr 3; Atlanta, GA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2019;79(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 3394.

As the capability of an individual Web service is limited, it’s necessary to create new functionalities with existing Web services. Web services composition is the ability to create a new value-added service by incorporating some existing web services together. A model based colored Petri net (CPN) to provide semantic support for web service composition is proposed. The basic composite constructs in the model are sequence, concurrent, choice and loop. A closed composing algebra is defined to obtain a framework which enables declarative composition of web services. Finally modeling composite processes of Web services based on CPN is applied to a case of naval vessel command and control system.

The interspecific interactions between the rotifer Brachionus plicatilis and two harmful algal blooms (HAB) species were investigated experimentally by single culture method. B. plicatilis population and the growth of the two algae were compared at different algal cell densities. The results demonstrated that the B. plicatilis obtained sufficient nutrition from Prorocentrum donghaiense to support net population increase. With exposure to 2.5×104 cells mL−1 of P. donghaiense, the number of B. plicatilis increased faster than it did when exposed to other four algal densities (5, 10, 15 and 20 ×104 cells mL−1), and the increase rate of B. plicatilis population (r) at this algal density was 0.104 ± 0.015 rd−1. Cell densities of P. donghaiense decreased due to the grazing of B. plicatilis. In contrast, Heterosigma akashiwo had an adverse effect on B. plicatilis population and its growth was largely unaffected by rotifer grazing. In this case, B. plicatilis population decreased and H. akashiwo grew at a rate similar to that of the control.

Experiments were carried out to investigate interspecific interactions between the rotifer Brachionus plicatilis and two harmful algal bloom (HAB) species using single and mixed culture methods. B. plicatilis populations and the growth of two algae were compared at different algal cell densities. The results demonstrate that B. plicatilis obtained sufficient nutrition from Alexandrium tamarense to support net population increase. When exposed to a density of 8 × 104 cells ml−1 A. tamarense, the number of B. plicatilis increased faster than it did when exposed to other four algal densities (16 × 104, 24 × 104, 32 × 104, and 40 × 104 cells ml−1). Cell densities of A. tamarense decreased due to the grazing of B. plicatilis. In contrast, Heterosigma akashiwo had an adverse effect on the B. plicatilis population and its growth was largely unaffected by rotifer grazing. In this case, the B. plicatilis population decreased and H. akashiwo grew at a rate similar to that of a control without addition of rotifers. Mixed culture experiments showed that A. tamarense could partly counteract the effect of H. akashiwo in limiting the rate of population increase of rotifer. In addition, the effect of different initial cell densities on interspecific competition between A. tamarense and H. akashiwo in mixed culture(s) was also investigated. The results show that A. tamarense competed very successfully when the inoculation proportions of A. tamarense and H. akashiwo were 40:5 and 40:30.

To compare short-term outcomes of laparoscopic vs. open intestinal resection in patients with Crohn's disease (CD) under enhanced recovery after surgery(ERAS) program.Clinical data of 51 CD patients receiving laparoscopic surgery under ERAS program at our IBD center between January 2013 and March 2014 were retrospectively analyzed. Laparoscopic cases were matched to those undergoing open surgery from June 2011 to December 2012 with age, gender, location and behavior of disease. Intraoperative and postoperative data were collected.Fifty-one laparoscopic cases were matched with 51 open cases. Laparoscopic group had a shorter median length of postoperative hospital stay (7 d vs. 9 d, P=0.034), shorter median time to first passage of gas(45 h vs. 59 h, P=0.024), shorter time to bowel movement(58 h vs. 76 h, P=0.018), less intraoperative estimated blood loss (35 ml vs. 75 ml, P=0.034) and longer median operative time (145 min vs. 105 min, P=0.003). Postoperative complications, reoperation and 30-day re-admission rates were similar and there was no mortality in the two groups.Laparoscopic surgery is a safe and acceptable option for CD patients, and it promotes recovery of gastrointestinal movement and shortens postoperative hospital stay.

Enhanced solar ultraviolet-B (UV-B) irradiation resulted from the stratospheric ozone depletion has adverse impacts on the primary productivity of marine algae. The effects of UV-B enhancement on marine algae include reduction in photosynthesis and biomass, alteration in species competition, impaired chloroplast function, and damage to DNA. Harmful algal blooms (HAB) are an ubiquitous natural phenomenon caused by the excessive growth of phytoplankton. Many studies have examined the influence of supplemental UV-B irradiation on different algae, but the effects of UV-B irradiation on the interspecific growth interaction of HAB species has received little attention. In this study, Heterosigma akashiwo and Prorocentrum donghaiense were chosen to investigate the effect of UV-B irradiation on the growth interaction between two HAB species by a co-culture method. In a mixed culture experiment, H. akashiwo inhibited the growth of P. donghaiense in an inoculum dependent manner. In the absence of UV-B irradiation, H. akashiwo dominated the competition with P. donghaiense under different inoculation proportions. Surprisingly, supplemental UV-B irradiation alters the growth interaction between the two HAB species. P. donghaiense dominated the competition at the inoculation proportion of H: P = 1: 4. Supplemental UV-B irradiation also weakens the competition dominance of H. akashiwo at the inoculation proportion of H: P = 1: 1 or H: P = 4: 1. (© 2006 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)