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Background The AQP4-AS1/miR-4476-ALOX15 regulatory axis was discovered in previous studies. We aimed to investigate the regulatory mechanism of the ferroptosis-related regulator ALOX15 by AQP4-AS1 and miR-4476 in lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) and find new targets for clinical treatment.

This paper presents a straightforward approach for determining the low-cycle fatigue (LCF) crack propagation rate in stiffened plate structures containing cracks. The method relies on both the crack tip opening displacement (CTOD) and the accumulative plastic strain, offering valuable insights for ship structure design and assessing LCF strength. Meanwhile, the LCF crack growth tests for the EH36 steel were conducted on stiffened plates with single-side cracks and central cracks under different loading conditions. The effects of stress amplitude, stress ratio, and stiffener position on the crack growth behavior were examined. Fitting and verifying analyses of the test data were employed to investigate the relationship between CTOD and the crack growth rate of EH36 steel under LCF conditions. The results showed that the proposed CTOD-based prediction method can accurately characterize the LCF crack growth behavior for stiffened plate of EH36 steel for use in ship structures.

Engineering vehicle recognition based on video surveillance is one of the key technologies to assist illegal land use monitoring. At present, the engineering vehicle recognition mainly adopts the traditional deep learning model with a large number of floating-point operations. So, it cannot be achieved in edge devices with limited computing power and storage in real time. In addition, some lightweight models have problems with inaccurate bounding box locating, low recognition rate, and unreasonable selection of positive training samples for the small object. To solve the problems, the article proposes an improved lightweight Yolo-Fastest V2 for engineering vehicle recognition fusing location enhancement and adaptive label assignment. The location-enhanced feature pyramid network structure combines deep and shallow feature maps to accurately localize bounding boxes. The grouping k-means clustering strategy and adaptive label assignment algorithm select an appropriate anchor for each object based on its shape and Intersection over Union. The study was conducted on Raspberry Pi 4B 2018 using two datasets and different models. Experiments show that our method achieves the optimal combination in speed and accuracy. Specifically, the mAP50 is increased by 7.02% with the speed of 11.24 fps under the engineering vehicle data obtained by video surveillance in a rural area of China.

Cerebral neoplasms like gliomas may cause intracranial pressure increasing, neural tract deviation, infiltration, or destruction in peritumoral areas, leading to neuro-functional deficits. Novel tracking technology, such as DTI, can objectively reveal and visualize three-dimensional white matter trajectories; in combination with intraoperative navigation, it can help achieve maximum resection whilst minimizing neurological deficit. Since the reconstruction of DTI raw data largely relies on the technical engineering and anatomical experience of the operator; it is time-consuming and prone to operator-induced bias. Here, we develop new user-friendly software to automatically segment and reconstruct functionally active areas to facilitate precise surgery. In this pilot trial, we used an in-house developed software (DiffusionGo) specially designed for neurosurgeons, which integrated a reliable diffusion-weighted image (DWI) preprocessing pipeline that embedded several functionalities from software packages of FSL, MRtrix3, and ANTs. The preprocessing pipeline is as follows: 1. DWI denoising, 2. Gibbs-ringing removing, 3. Susceptibility distortion correction (process if opposite polarity data were acquired), 4. Eddy current and motion correction, and 5. Bias correction. Then, this fully automatic multiple assigned criteria algorithms for fiber tracking were used to achieve easy modeling and assist precision surgery. We demonstrated the application with three language-related cases in three different centers, including a left frontal, a left temporal, and a left frontal-temporal glioma, to achieve a favorable surgical outcome with language function preservation or recovery. The DTI tracking result using DiffusionGo showed robust consistency with direct cortical stimulation (DCS) finding. We believe that this fully automatic processing pipeline provides the neurosurgeon with a solution that may reduce time costs and operating errors and improve care quality and surgical procedure quality across different neurosurgical centers.

Increasing evidence shows that the early onset of puberty in female offspring may be caused by maternal prenatal exposure to bisphenol A (BPA) during pregnancy; however, the critical time window of maternal prenatal BPA exposure remains unknown. Here, we identify the critical time window of gestational BPA exposure that induces early onset of puberty in female offspring. Pregnant CD-1 mice were gavaged with BPA (8 mg/kg) daily during the early gestational stage (GD1–GD6), middle gestational stage (GD7–GD12) or late gestational stage (GD13–GD18). We show that maternal BPA exposure during the early and middle gestational stages could advance the vaginal opening time and increase the serum levels of kisspeptin-10 and GnRH in the female offspring at PND 34. Mechanistically, maternal BPA exposure during early and middle gestation could significantly increase CpG island methylation in the Eed gene promoters but reduce the mRNA expression of Eed in the hypothalamus tissues of the female offspring. In conclusion, the critical period of maternal BPA exposure-induced early onset of puberty in female offspring is early and middle gestation; this BPA-induced early onset of puberty might be partly attributed to epigenetic programming of the Eed gene in the hypothalamus. This study provides important insights regarding the relationship and the mechanisms between BPA and offspring pubertal development.

Abstract Purpose Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related mortality. STEAP1 and STEAP2 are overexpressed in various cancers. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the expression and prognostic value of STEAP1 and STEAP2 in patients with lung cancer. Methods The mRNA expression and protein expression of STEAP1 and STEAP2 and their prognostic characteristics were examined using Oncomine, GEPIA, and Kaplan-Meier (KM) plotters. The correlation analysis of STEAP1 and STEAP2 gene and protein levels was conducted using GeneMANIA and STRING. KEGG pathway analysis was used to explore the related signal pathways of STEAP 1 and STEAP2. Immunohistochemical methods were used to compare the expression of STEAP2 in normal lung and non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) tissues. Real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction, western blotting, and immunocytochemistry were used to evaluate the expression of STEAP1 and STEAP2 in three lung cancer cell lines and normal lung epithelial cell lines. Results Analysis of the Oncomine database and GEPIA showed that STEAP1 was upregulated and STEAP2 was downregulated in lung cancer tissue, and both expressions were related to the clinical stage of lung cancer. Immunohistochemical analysis showed that STEAP1 protein expression was significantly upregulated in lung cancer compared to that in adjacent tissues. The expression of STEAP1 was positively correlated with the migration and invasion abilities of lung cancer cells. Compared with paracancer tissues, the expression of STEAP2 protein in lung cancer was significantly downregulated and was correlated with the histological grade of squamous cell carcinoma, pathological classification of adenocarcinoma, tumor, lymph node, and metastasis clinical stage, and lymph node metastasis. The expression of STEAP2 was negatively correlated with the migration and invasion abilities of lung cancer cells. The KM curve showed that the downregulation of STEAP1 expression and upregulation of STEAP2 expression were related to a good lung cancer prognosis. Conclusion STEAP1 and STEAP2 are expected to be potential diagnostic and prognostic markers for lung cancer, which may provide more accurate prognostic indicators for lung cancer.

A new series of nortopsentin analogs, in which the central imidazole ring of the natural lead was replaced by a 1,3,4-oxadiazole or 1,3,4-thiadiazole moiety, was efficiently synthesized. The antiproliferative activity of all synthesized derivatives was evaluated against five pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) cell lines, a primary culture and a gemcitabine-resistant variant. The five more potent compounds elicited EC50 values in the submicromolar–micromolar range, associated with a significant reduction in cell migration. Moreover, flow cytometric analysis after propidium iodide staining revealed an increase in the G2-M and a decrease in G1-phase, indicating cell cycle arrest, while a specific ELISA demonstrated the inhibition of CDK1 activity, a crucial regulator of cell cycle progression and cancer cell proliferation.

Ti-bearing blast furnace slag is an important reproducible Ti resource. The effective recovery of the Ti component from this slag can not only alleviate the resultant environmental problems but also overcome the shortage of Ti resources. In this study, the mineral and element of Ti-bearing blast furnace slag were analyzed and adjusted according to the gravity center rule of CaO–SiO2–TiO2 ternary phase diagram. The Ti component in the Ti-bearing blast furnace slag was enriched into the perovskite phase by preoxidation treatment and high-temperature selective enrichment & precipitation. The results indicate that, the preoxidized slag was obtained with adding 2.54% of CaO to the original slag at 1025 °C for 30 min. Subsequently, the preoxidized slag with 1.0% of Fe2O3 was melted at 1470 °C for 40 min, and the temperature was thereupon reduced to 1320 °C at 0.5 °C/min and kept constant for 90 min. The modified slag exhibited obvious enrichment and precipitation of perovskite, which had a crystal size of 63.17 μm and a crystallization volume of 30.62%. The perovskite phase was observed to exhibit mainly an orderly cross-shaped, granular, and beaded arrangement. During the selective enrichment and precipitation process, the fine-grain perovskite crystals fused together, and the concentrations of Ca2+ and TiO32− surrounding the perovskite crystals decreased, which restricted the crystal growth and led to necking. Changes in the surface tension caused the melting point to drop, thereby facilitating remelting and resulting in narrower necking.

Microalgae are the important part of carbon cycle in the nature, and they could utilize the carbon resource in water and soil efficiently. The abilities of microalgae to mitigate CO2 emission and produce oil with a high productivity have been proven. Hence, this third-generation biodiesel should be popularized. This review firstly introduce the basic characteristics and application fields of microalgae. Then, the influencing parameters and recent advanced technologies for the microalgae biodiesel production have been discussed. In influencing parameters for biodiesel production section, the factors of microalgae cultivation, lipid accumulation, microalgae harvesting, and lipid extraction have been summarized. In recent advanced technologies for biodiesel production section, the microalgae cultivation systems, lipid induction technologies, microalgae harvesting technologies, and lipid extraction technologies have been reviewed. This review aims to provide useful information to help future development of efficient and commercially viable technology for microalgae-based biodiesel production.

Fatigue damage caused by cyclic loading is a major concern in engineering applications. Cracks propagated by cyclic loading can lead to catastrophic failure, which can have severe consequences in safety-critical systems. The main objective of the paper is to investigate the residual strength of cracked plate considering fatigue crack propagation under cyclic loading. In this study, a cracked plate model is proposed to study the difference of compressive and tensile residual strength with pre-crack and fatigue crack. The influence factors such as crack length, number of cycles, tensile/compressive cyclic loads, and out-of-plane deformation are considered in the residual strength study of cracked plate. The numerical results can gain insight into the effect of crack propagation on the structural residual strength, with the aim of providing guidance for evaluating the residual strength of cracked components.

This paper presents an experimental and numerical investigation on failure behavior and ultimate strength of fiber-reinforced sandwich composite structures. Tests were conducted on the sandwich L-joints with Glass Fiber-Reinforced Polymer (GFRP) face sheet and Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) foam core. In the numerical simulation, a progressive damage method is established to simulate the strength and failure behavior of sandwich L-joint, different failure criteria are used to deal with the various failure modes of GFRP laminates. Cohesive zone model and viscoelastic material model are combined to model the face-core adhesive interface, hence the influence of fracture and debonding of adhesive to the total strength of sandwich joints is considered by the numerical modelling. On the base of these theories, the finite element model of sandwich L-joint has been successfully established, and the numerical predictions present a good agreement with the test results on both structural strength and failure process.

Pelvic inflammatory disease is an infection of a woman’s reproductive organs, which can lead to a series of sequelae if not properly treated. Sequelae of pelvic inflammatory disease may seriously threaten the health of women and increase financial burden to the family and society. The syndrome of sequelae of pelvic inflammatory disease can be differentiated into four types: dampness-heat attacking lower energizer, Qi stagnation and blood stasis syndrome, cold-dampness stagnation syndrome and Qi deficiency and blood stasis syndrome. The main Traditional Chinese Medicine nursing techniques have been applied are Intermediate frequency electrotherapy, ultrasound drug penetration, acupoint application, Traditional Chinese Medicine soaking, Traditional Chinese Medicine enema, auricular point sticking, Traditional Chinese Medicine cupping therapy and so on. Based on the syndrome differentiation, a set of nursing intervention including body posture nursing, emotional nursing, medication service, symptom assessment, dietary instruction, exercise instruction, defecation instruction, etc, is required to improve the rehabilitation of patients. (盆腔炎性疾病是指女性上生殖道及其周围组织的一组感染性疾病, 若未得到及时正确的治疗, 可导致一系列的后遗症, 即盆腔炎性疾病后遗症。盆腔炎性疾病后遗症严重影响妇女健康, 增加家庭和社会的经济负担。本病中医辨证分为湿热瘀结证、气滞血瘀证、寒湿凝滞证、气虚血瘀证4型, 应用的主要中医护理技术包括中频电疗、超声药物透入、穴位贴敷、中药泡洗、中药灌肠、耳穴埋豆、拔罐疗法等。同时, 治疗期间应开展辨证施护, 包括体位护理、情志护理、服药护理、症状评估、辨证饮食指导、活动指导、排便指导等。)

Abstract Esophageal cancer is still one of the most common cancers in the world. We review the appropriate treatments at different stages of esophageal cancer and also analyze the advantages and disadvantages of these treatments. The prognosis and recovery of different treatment regimens are further discussed. In particular, post-operative complications are the major causes of high mortality derived from the esophageal cancer. Therefore, we particularly discuss the main complications resulting in high mortality after surgery of esophageal cancer, and summarize their risk factors and treatment options. Background As the common cancer, the complications of esophageal cancer after surgery have been not obtained systematic treatment strategy, focusing on treatment regimens based on the different stages of esophageal cancers. Methods and overview This paper systematically summarizes the appropriate treatment strategies for different stages of esophageal cancers, and their advantages and disadvantages. We particularly focus on the postoperative survival rate of patients and postoperative complications, and discuss the causes of high mortality risk factors after surgery. The risk factors of death and corresponding treatment methods are further summarized in this study. Conclusion Postoperative complications is the main cause responsible for the hard cure of esophageal cancers. The existing literatures indicate that postoperative anastomotic fistula is one of the most important complications leading to death, while it has not received much attention yet. We suggest that anastomotic fistula should be detected and dealt with early by summarizing these literatures. It is, therefore, necessary to develop a set of methods to predict or check anastomotic fistula in advance.

Gliomas exhibit high intra-tumoral histological and molecular heterogeneity. Introducing stereotactic biopsy, we achieved a superior molecular analysis of glioma using O-(2-18F-fluoroethyl)-L-tyrosine (FET)-positron emission tomography (PET) and diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (DWI). Patients underwent simultaneous DWI and FET-PET scans. Correlations between biopsy-derived tumor tissue values, such as the tumor-to-background ratio (TBR) and apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC)/exponential ADC (eADC) and histopathological diagnoses and those between relevant genes and TBR and ADC values were determined. Tumor regions with human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT) mutation had higher TBR and lower ADC values. Tumor protein P53 mutation correlated with lower TBR and higher ADC values. α-thalassemia/mental-retardation-syndrome-X-linked gene (ATRX) correlated with higher ADC values. 1p/19q codeletion and epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutations correlated with lower ADC values. Isocitrate dehydrogenase 1 (IDH1) mutations correlated with higher TBRmean values. No correlation existed between TBRmax/TBRmean/ADC/eADC values and phosphatase and tensin homolog mutations (PTEN) or O6-methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase (MGMT) promoter methylation. Furthermore, TBR/ADC combination had a higher diagnostic accuracy than each single imaging method for high-grade and IDH1-, hTERT-, and EGFR-mutated gliomas. This is the first study establishing the accurate diagnostic criteria for glioma based on FET-PET and DWI.

The crack closure phenomenon significantly influences low cycle fatigue (LCF) crack growth. The crack closure theory deems that a crack can grow only when the applied load is greater than the fatigue crack opening and closing loads. The revised crack closure theory proposed in this paper provides a new understanding of crack growth: It is no longer the range of stress intensity factor ΔK that controls the crack growth rate, but the effective stress intensity factor ΔKeff. Therefore, it is of great importance to study the crack closure phenomenon of LCF. A combination of experiments and the finite element method (FEM) was used to study the effect of overload on the crack closure effect, and the study was carried out using compact tensile (CT) specimens made of AH32 steel. The FEM was used to obtain the stress changes near the crack tip and the opening displacement changes in the crack trailing area after a single tensile overload, to study the intrinsic mechanism of overload on crack closure, and to obtain the LCF crack opening and closing loads by the nodal displacement method. The effect of overload on crack morphology was observed by using high-magnification electron microscopy in combination with testing.

Glioblastoma is the most common primary brain malignancy with limited treatment options. EphA2 is a tumor-associated-antigen overexpressed in glioblastoma. Pre-clinical studies have demonstrated the promise of EphA2-redirected CAR T-cells against glioblastoma. We conduct the first-in-human trial of EphA2-redirected CAR T-cells in patients with EphA2-positive recurrent glioblastoma and report the results of three patients enrolled as the first cohort receiving the starting dosage (1×106 cells/kg). A single infusion of EphA2-redirected CAR T-cells was administrated intravenously, with the lymphodepletion regimen consisting of fludarabine and Cyclophosphamide. In two patients, there was grade 2 cytokine release syndrome accompanied by pulmonary edema, which resolved completely with dexamethasone medication. Except that, there was no other organ toxicity including neurotoxicity. In both the peripheral blood and cerebral-spinal-fluid, we observed the expansion of CAR T-cells which persisted for more than four weeks. In one patient, there was a transit diminishment of the tumor. Among these three patients, one patient reported SD and two patients reported PD, with overall survival ranging from 86 to 181 days. At the tested dose level (1×106 cells/kg), intravenously infusion of EphA2-rediretected CAR T-cells were preliminary tolerable with transient clinical efficacy. Future study with adjusted dose and infusion frequency of CAR T-cells is warranted.Trial Registration NumbersNCT 03423992

In this paper, the low cycle fatigue failure and ratcheting behavior, as well as their interaction of AH32 steel were experimentally investigated under uniaxial cyclic loading. The effects of mean stress, stress amplitude and stress ratio on the low cycle fatigue life and ratcheting strain were discussed. It was found that the ratcheting strain increased while the fatigue life decreased with the increase of mean stress and stress amplitude, and the increasing stress ratio would result in smaller ratcheting and larger fatigue life. Two kinds of failure modes, i.e. low cycle fatigue failure due to crack propagates and ratcheting failure due to large plastic strain will take place respectively. Based on the experimental results, considered the effect of ratcheting on fatigue life, a model with the maximum stress and ratcheting strain rate was proposed. Comparison with the experimental result showed that the new model provided a good prediction for AH32 steel. Keywords: Low cycle fatigue, Ratcheting, Cyclic loading, AH32 steel

Background. The role of miR-223-3p in dendritic cells (DCs) is unknown. This study is aimed at investigating the effect of miR-223-3p on the antigen uptake and presentation capacities of DCs and the underlying molecular mechanism. Methods. FITC-OVA antigen uptake and cell surface markers in bone marrow-derived DCs (BMDCs) were analyzed by flow cytometry. BMDCs were transfected with the miR-223-3p mimic or inhibitor. Cytokine levels were determined by ELISA. CD4+ T cell differentiation was determined by mixed lymphocyte culture assay. Results. OVA treatment significantly downregulated miR-223-3p in BMDCs. The miR-223-3p mimic significantly inhibited OVA-induced antigen uptake and surface expression of MHC-II on BMDCs (P

Abstract Background Self-harm (SH) is an emerging problem among Chinese adolescents. The present study aimed to measure the prevalence of SH behaviours and to explore the relationship between childhood adversity and different SH subtypes among Chinese adolescents. Methods A total of 5726 middle school students were randomly selected in three cities of Anhui province, China, using a stratified cluster sampling method. SH was categorized into five subtypes (highly lethal self-harm, less lethal self-harm with visible tissue damage, self-harm without visible tissue damage, self-harmful behaviours with latency damage and psychological self-harm). Multivariate logistic regression was used to explore the relationships between childhood adversity and different subtypes of adolescent SH. Results The prevalence rates of highly lethal self-harm, less lethal self-harm with visible tissue damage, self-harm without visible tissue damage, self-harmful behaviours with latency damage and psychological self-harm were 6.1, 20.4, 32.0, 20.0 and 23.0%, respectively. Childhood sexual abuse and physical peer victimization were associated with each SH subtype with adjusted odds ratios (AORs) ranging from 1.23 to 1.76. Highly lethal self-harm was associated with childhood physical peer victimization, sexual abuse, emotional abuse, and emotional neglect. The less lethal SH subtypes (i.e., less lethal self-harm with visible tissue damage, self-harm without visible tissue damage, self-harmful behaviours with latency damage and psychological self-harm) were associated with childhood peer victimization, family life stress event scores and childhood sexual abuse. Conclusions A high prevalence of SH exists among Chinese adolescents. The association of childhood adversity with SH merits serious attention in both future research and preventive interventions.

A frequency-domain method is proposed for wideband radar echo simulation of high-speed moving targets. Based on the physical process of electromagnetic waves observing a moving target, a frequency-domain echo model of wideband radar is constructed, and the block diagram of the radar echo simulation in frequency-domain is presented. Then, the impacts of radial velocity and slant range on the matching filtering of LFM radar are analyzed, and some quantitative conclusions on the shift and expansion of the radar profiles are obtained. Simulation results illustrate the correctness and efficiency of the proposed method.

Intraoperative neurophysiological monitoring (IONM) is the gold standard of the intraoperative functional brain mapping. It employs various electrophysiological methods such as awake craniotomy, intraoperative somatosensory and motor evoked potentials monitoring, intraoperative cortical stimulation and sub⁃cortical stimulation to accurately map the cortical and sub⁃cortical nervous pathways so that the continuous assessment and real ⁃ time protection of the functional integrity of certain neural structures can be achieved during surgery. Based on decades of clinical practice, the Department of Neurosurgery of Shanghai Huashan Hospital has set up an "IONM clinical practice guideline" used in the institute. The clinical practice guideline covers technical and operation standards of IONM in all kinds of common neurosurgery diseases and does improve the clinical efficacy in neurosurgical procedures. DOI：10.3969/j.issn.1672⁃6731.2012.06.007

Objective To evaluate the efficacy of combined multiple intraoperative monitoring techniques including transcranial Doppler (TCD), indocyanine green angiography (ICGA) and neuroelectrophysiological monitoring consisting of somatosensory evoked potential (SEP) and motor evoked potential (MEP) in the surgical management of anterior communicating aneurysm. Methods Clinical data were analyzed for the 23 patients who underwent microsurgery for anterior communicating aneurysms with assistance of combined multiple intraoperative monitoring techniques. Twenty⁃three patients [12 males, 11 females; mean age 52 (range 44-63 years)] underwent aneurysm clipping via modified pterional approach. Total vein anaesthesia was used for all patients. Propofol, fentanyl and scoline were administrated before intubation. Remifentanil and propofol were used throughout the procedure. Internal carotid artery and A1 segment of anterior cerebral artery were exposed successively. The parent artery, perforating artery and aneurysm were carefully recognized after the A1 segment was temporarily occluded. The temporary clip was removed after the aneurysm being clipped. Neuroelectrophysiological monitoring, ICGA and TCD were applied for intraoperative monitoring. Results All of the 23 aneurysms were successfully clipped. MEP changes were seen in 6 patients during the temporary occlusion of A1 segment, which directed neurosurgeon to pause for its recovery. TCD and ICGA detected A2 segment or anterior communicating artery stenosis in 2 patients and residual aneurysm in 1 patient during clipping procedure, which directed neurosurgeons to readjust aneurysmal clips. Postoperative transient hemiparalysis were observed in 1 patient with modified Rankin Scale level 1 at discharge. No hemorrhagic or ischemic events were observed in other 22 patients with modified Rankin Scale level 0 at discharge. Conclusion Combined multiple intraoperative monitoring techniques may provide important information for the tolerance of A1 segment temporary occlusion, residual aneurysms and ischemic events in the parent or perforating arteries in microsurgery of anterior communicating aneurysms. DOI：10.3969/j.issn.1672⁃6731.2012.01.004

Chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) is a frequently occurring chronic respiratory disease. There is evidence that effective treatment of CRS can improve patients' quality of life, but the data regarding the extent to which CRS impairs patients' quality of life (QoL) is sparse. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of self-reported CRS on health-related QoL and to determine whether the influence was associated with gender, age and socio-economic status. A four-stage random sampling method was used to select the participants from the general population in Guangzhou, China. All participants were interviewed face-to-face at their homes using a standardized questionnaire. The health-related QoL of each participant was assessed using the SF-36 Health Survey. The scores of the SF-36 after adjusting for gender, age, socioeconomic conditions, smoking and some important comorbid conditions were compared between the CRS group and the non-CRS group using analysis of covariance. A multiple linear regression model with interaction terms was established to determine whether CRS affected QoL to the same degree across the different subpopulations. Among a total of 1,411 participants aged at least 15 years, 118 persons (8.4%) had self-reported CRS. Subjects with CRS had an increased prevalence of allergic rhinitis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and gout than subjects without CRS. The CRS group had lower scores in all eight domains and the physical and mental component summary than those without CRS (P

Objective. Ceruloplasmin was elevated in patients with coronary heart disease, but the relationship between ceruloplasmin and heart failure was still unknown. We aimed to evaluate ceruloplasmin in heart failure patients and assess association between ceruloplasmin and the extent of heart failure. Methods and Results. 202 heart failure patients were divided into ischemic (78 with coronary stenosis) and nonischemic groups (124 without coronary stenosis). 94 subjects without heart failure were included as controls. The extent of heart failure was defined according to NYHA classification. Ceruloplasmin levels in ischemic (P

BACKGROUND: It has been controversial whether abciximab offered additional benefits for diabetic patients who underwent percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) with thienopyridines loading. METHODS: MEDLINE, EMBASE, the Cochrane library clinical trials registry, ISI Science Citation Index, ISI Web of Knowledge and China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) were searched, supplemented with manual-screening for relevant publications. Quantitative meta-analyses were performed to assess differences between abciximab groups and controls with respect to post-PCI risk of major cardiac events (MACEs), angiographic restenosis and bleeding complications. RESULTS: 9 trials were identified, involving 2,607 diabetic patients receiving PCI for coronary artery diseases. Among those patients who underwent elective PCI or primary PCI, pooling results showed that abciximab did not significantly reduce risks of MACEs (for elective-PCI patients: RR(1-month): 0.93, 95% CI: 0.60-1.44; RR(1-year): 0.95, 95% CI: 0.81-1.11; for primary-PCI patients: RR(1-month): 1.05, 95% CI: 0.70-1.57; RR(1-year): 0.98, 95% CI: 0.80-1.21), nor all-cause mortality, re-infarction and angiographic restenosis in either group. The only beneficial effect by abciximab appeared to be a decrease 1-year TLR (target lesion revascularization) risk in elective-PCI patients (RR1-year: 0.83, 95% CI: 0.70-0.99). Moreover, occurrence of minor bleeding complications increased in elective-PCI patients treated with abciximab (RR: 2.94, 95% CI: 1.68-5.13, P