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Although intestinal microbiota plays crucial roles in fish digestion and health, little is known about intestinal fungi in fishes. This study investigated the intestinal fungal diversity of three coral reef fishes (Lates calcarifer, Trachinotus blochii and Lutjanus argentimaculatus) from the South China Sea using a culturable method. A total of 387 isolates were recovered and identified by sequencing their internal transcribed spacer sequences, belonging to 29 known fungal species. The similarity of fungal community in intestines of the three fishes verified the fungal colonization may be influenced by their surrounding environments. Furthermore, the fungal communities in different intestines of some fishes were significantly different, and the number of yeasts in hindgut was less than that in fore- and mid-intestine, suggesting that the distribution of fungi in fishes intestines may be related to the physiological functions of various intestinal segment. In addition, 51.4% tested fungal isolates exhibited antimicrobial activity against at least one marine pathogenic microorganisms. Notably, isolate Aureobasidium pullulans SCAU243 exhibited a strong antifungal activity against Aspergillus versicolor, and isolate Schizophyllum commune SCAU255 displayed extensive antimicrobial activity against four marine pathogenic microorganisms. This study contributed to our understanding of intestinal fungi in coral reef fish and further increasing the library of fungi available for natural bioactive product screening.

Objective There is strong evidence that the body composition can affect the progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) in patients with a variety of cancers. The main objective of this study was to investigate the effect of body composition on the prognosis of patients with advanced gastrointestinal and colorectal cancers who received first-line palliative chemotherapy. Methods Patients who were newly-diagnosed with advanced gastrointestinal or colorectal cancer and received standard first-line palliative chemotherapy from January 2017 to December 2018 were included in this retrospective study. An analysis of computed tomography images was performed to determine the skeletal muscle index (SMI), which reflects the skeletal muscle mass and skeletal muscle density (SMD) related to muscle strength. A Kaplan-Meier survival analysis and log-rank test were used to compare the survival relationships among groups stratified by the SMI, and a Cox proportional hazard model was used for a multivariate analysis. Results A total of 108 patients met the inclusion criteria, including 41 cases of gastric cancer, 46 cases of left colorectal cancer, and 21 cases of right colon cancer. In patients with gastric cancer, the OS of women was significantly shorter than that of men. The OS of patients with a low SMI, low SMD, and low phase angle (PA) was significantly shorter than that of patients with high values (P ≤ 0.05). In the multivariate analysis, the SMD was significantly associated with the patients' long-term survival [Hazard Ratio (HR) = 0.904, 95% CI: 0.840~0.974, P = 0.008]. For patients with a low SMI and PA, the PFS was significantly shorter than that of patients with high values (P ≤ 0.05). In patients with left colon cancer, the PA and SMD were both independent risk factors for a poorer long-term prognosis (HR = 0.375, 95% CI: = 0.167~0.840, P = 0.017; HR = 0.887, 95% CI: 0.824~0.954, P = 0.001). Among right colon cancer patients, the PFS and OS of those with a low SMD were significantly lower than those for patients with high values (P ≤ 0.05). Conclusion The PA is an independent risk factor for the OS of left colon cancer patients; the SMD is an independent risk factor for the survival of patients with gastric cancer, left colon cancer, and right colon cancer.

Sacrococcygeal pilonidal sinus is one of common diseases in general department. However, it is characterised, for surgeons, by high post‐surgical recurrence and high incidence of post‐surgical wound complications. Due to that fact, this retrospective randomised clinical study was designed to evaluate the surgical procedure effect of Z‐plasty (ZP), compared with convention simple excision (SE). A total of 67 patients from May 2015 to May 2019 in our department were studied into two groups randomly, the group of ZP and the group of SE. The patients' characteristics, surgical data, hospital length of stay (LOS), and post‐surgery complications were recorded. Statistical approaches were proceed with P‐value analysis. The results are as follows. No significant differences were found between these two groups of the ages, gender distribution, Body Mass Index (BMI), smoking history, diabetes mellitus, and blood hypertension. The estimated blood loss, specimen volume, distance to anus, and drain output on the first day of post‐surgery between the two groups were not statistically significant, either. However, surgical time in the ZP group was longer than that in the SE group (P

Additional file 1.

BackgroundThe risk of spontaneous abortion in patients with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) undergoing assisted reproductive treatment (ART) is higher than that in patients without PCOS, however, no definitive risk factors have been confirmed to associate with the high spontaneous abortion rate in PCOS patients undergoing ART. This study was performed to assess the impact of relevant risk factors on spontaneous abortion in patients with PCOS. Clinical questions were formulated and organized according to the PICOS principle.MethodsA systematic review and meta-analysis were conducted on all published studies on PCOS and spontaneous abortion in Embase, PubMed, Web of Science and Cochrane Library. Related risk factors included body mass index (BMI), age, insulin resistance (IR), hyperandrogenism, and chromosome aberrations. All patients were diagnosed as PCOS using the Rotterdam criteria. The primary endpoint was miscarriage and live birth rate. Fixed-effect models were used to analyze homogeneous data, and subgroup and sensitivity analyses were performed on heterogeneous data. The source of heterogeneity was evaluated, and the random effect model was used to summarize the heterogeneity.ResultsAmong 1836 retrieved articles, 22 were eligible and included in the analysis with 11182 patients. High BMI (OR = 1.48, 95% CI [1.32, 1.67], MD = 1.35, 95% CI [0.58,2.12]) and insulin resistance (MD = 0.32, 95% CI [0.15, 0.49]) were associated with an increased risk of spontaneous abortion in PCOS patients undergoing ART. Older age (OR = 0.29, 95% CI [0.29, 0.44], MD = 2.01, 95% CI [0.04, 4.18]), embryonic chromosomal aberrations (OR = 0.75, 95%CI [0.31,1.77]), and hyperandrogenism (MD = 0.10, 95% CI [- 0.02, 0.22]) were not associated with the high spontaneous abortion rate in patients with PCOS. A subgroup analysis of BMI showed that there was no statistically significant difference in the effect between overweight and obesity on spontaneous abortion in PCOS patients undergoing ART (OR = 1.34, 95% [0.97, 1.85]).ConclusionHigh BMI and insulin resistance are two risk factors for an increased risk of spontaneous abortion in PCOS patients undergoing ART, and losing weight and mitigating insulin resistance may decrease the spontaneous abortion rate in these patients undergoing ART.

Background Retinoblastoma is the most common primary intraocular tumor and more and more attention has been paid to the developing countries. This study was aimed to evaluate the clinical features, treatment, and prognosis of retinoblastoma patients with central nervous system (CNS) metastasis in Beijing Tongren Hospital, one of the largest tertiary eye centers in China. Methods Clinical data of 31 consecutive retinoblastoma patients with CNS metastases, who were diagnosed at the Department of Pediatrics in Beijing Tongren Hospital between September 2005 and December 2015, were retrospective analyzed. Results The median age at presentation was 29 months (range from 5 to 108 months). Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) results indicated that 16 patients (56.6%, 16/31) presented with meningeal involvement, 12 (38.7%, 12/31) presented with intracranial mass, 11 (35.5%, 11/31) presented with thickened optic nerve, and 5 (16.1%, 5/31) presented with concurrent meningeal and spinal cord membrane involvement. Retinoblastoma cells were detected in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of 12 patients (44.4%, 12/27). Laboratory examinations on the blood and CSF were performed for 11 patients who had received six cycles of systemic chemotherapy, indicated that the serum level of neurone-specific enolase (NSE) after chemotherapy was significantly lower than that before chemotherapy (P

To reveal the modulating effects of the solar activity on ionospheric TEC, the long-term characteristics of TEC were analyzed. The analysis was based on the data of the sunspot and data of GPS observation provided by IGS analysis centers from 1999 to 2011. The results showed that the variation of monthly mean TEC was of significant regularity. The regularity was caused mainly modulation action of solar activity. In view of the spatial variation of TEC, the monthly mean TEC can be well described for modeling and prediction on base of relationship between TEC and latitude.

Interconnect power is the factor that dominates the power consumption on the on-chip memory architecture. Almost all dedicated wires and buses are replaced with packet switching interconnection networks which have become the standard approach to on-chip interconnection. Unfortunately, rapid advances in technology are making it more difficult to assess the interconnect power consumption of NoC. To resolve this problem, a new evaluating methodology for interconnect power evaluation based on topology of on-chip memory (IP-ETOM) is proposed in this paper. To validate this method, two multicore architectures 2D-mesh and triplet-based architecture (TriBA) are evaluated in this research work. The on-chip memory network model is evaluated based on characteristics of on-chip architecture interconnection. MATLAB is used for conducting the experiment that evaluates the interconnection power of TriBA and 2D-mesh.

The aim of the present study was to assess the toxicity and efficacy of autologous peripheral blood stem cell (APBSC) transplantation in children with advanced malignant solid tumors. The outcomes of 38 children with advanced malignant solid tumor, who were treated with high-dose chemotherapy and autologous peripheral blood stem cell transplantation in Beijing Tongren Hospital (Capital Medical University, Beijing, China) between September 2005 and November 2011, were retrospectively analyzed. The effects of treatment were evaluated according to the standard Bearman's criteria. The mean count of collected mononuclear cells and the cluster of differentiation 34(+) cell count from 38 patients was 5.6A‚±2.2AƒÂ—10(8)/kg and 3.8A‚±2.6AƒÂ—10(6)/kg, respectively. From these 38 patients, the number of stem cells collected from 31 cases (81.6%) accorded with the transplantation standards. Three and 14 days after pretreatment in these 38 cases, there were 19 cases of grade I, 11 cases of grade II, five cases of grade III and three cases of grade IV (one case succumbed) adverse reaction. Following the treatment (23-40 days after pretreatment, during organ injury recovery), 37 cases obtained bone marrow reconstitution with a mean time of 12.3A‚±3.1 days after APBSC reinfusion. The median survival time of the 37 patients was 49 months, and the survival rate at one, three and five years post-treatment was 91.9, 68.2 and 36.6%, respectively.

To retrospectively summarize the clinical features, diagnosis and treatment of retinoblastoma (RB) patients in the children aged 5 years or above.This was a case-series study. Total of 92 patients (107 eyes) with RB aged 5 years or above in Department of Pediatric,Beijing Tongren Hospital from September 2005 to May 2010 were included in the study. The diagnosis of RB was established using clinical examination and histopathology analysis.Statistical analysis in the characteristics of disease and initial symptoms was performed in 92 cases. Kaplan-Meier curve was employed to analyze the survival function.(1) The medium age of the patients was 6.25-year. Male accounted for 66.30% (61/92) and female was 33.69% (31/92) . According to the results of statistical scatter diagram, the age of the disease onset was ranged from 5.00 to 8.33 years. Percentile for age 5.77, 5.83 and 7.85 years were the 25th, 50th, 75th respectively. (2) In 92 cases, 83.69% (77/92) of the patients were unilateral RB and 16.31% (15/92) were bilateral RB. (3) Leukocoria was the most common manifestation in the diagnosis early RB, accounting for 55.43% (51/92) .Secondary symptoms were blurred vision, eye redness and photophobia, accounting for 23.91% (22/92). Other symptoms included strabismus, proptosis, glaucoma and the abnormal in fundus examination, accounting for 20.64% (19/92) .No family history of RB was found in all of cases studied. (4) Among 107 eyes with RB, 76 eyes were enucleated up to February 2013. The rate of enucleation was 71.02%. (5) By February 2013, the average following-up time was 39 months, during the time 1 case was lost, 6 cases were dead, the overall survival rate was 93.46% (85/92) . The result of Kaplan-Meier curve showed that the estimates of 5-year expected average total survival time was (72.61 ± 1.89) months(95%confidence interval was 68.9-76.3 months).Unilateral RB are the most common cases in the age of 5 years or above, and the most common symptom is Leukocoria.Overall survival rate of older RB patient is high with comprehensive treatment.

Objective: This study aimed to investigate the effect of multimodality treatment of advanced paediatric hepatoblastoma (HB) and the factors affecting prognosis. Methods: A total of 35 children underwent multimodality treatments consisting of chemotherapy, surgery, interventional therapy, and autologous peripheral blood stem cell transplantation. The patients were followed up every month. Results: Serum AFP levels in 33 out of 35 patients in this study were significantly increased ( P = 0.0002). According to the statistical scatter plot, the values of serum AFP on the 25th, 50th, and 75th percentages were 1,210, 1,210 and 28,318 ng/dl, respectively. Of the 35 cases, 21 were stage IV. 18 cases were treated with systemic chemotherapy before surgery, and 3 cases with locally interventional chemotherapy before surgery. Statistical analysis showed that the preferred interventional treatment affected prognosis, and that there was a statistically significant difference ( P = 0.024). Some 33 patients completed the follow-up, of which 17 were in complete remission (CR), 5 were in partial remission (PR), 1 became disease progressive (DP) , and 10 died. The remission and overall survival rates were 66.7% (22/33) and 69.7% (23/33), respectively. Patients with the mixed HB phenotypes had worse prognoses than the epithelial phenotype (P < 0.001), and patients in stage IV had a lower survival rate than those in stage III (P < 0.001). Conclusion: Multimodality treatment can effectively improve remission rate and prolong the survival of children with advanced HB. In addition, alpha-fetoprotein (AFP), a tumor marker of liver malignant tumors, HB pathological classification, and staging are highly useful in predicting prognosis.

Etoposide and cisplatin (EP) chemotherapy is the most frequently used regimen in extensive-stage small-cell lung cancer (SCLC) patients, although the side effects (e.g., neutropenia) are high. This study investigates the association of the MDM2 rs2279744 and TP53 rs1042522 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) with EP-induced grade III/IV neutropenia and with response to EP in extensive-stage SCLC patients.Blood samples from 119 extensive-stage SCLC patients were subjected to genotyping of these 2 SNPs, using the allele-specific matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time-of-flight (MALDI-TOF) mass spectrometry for determining the association with neutropenia in the patients.The data showed that patients carrying the MDM2 rs2279744-GG genotype were associated with a lower incidence of grade III/IV neutropenia in the recessive and additive models, while the TP53 rs1042522-CC genotype was associated with a higher incidence in the recessive model. Furthermore, the combination of the MDM2 rs2279744-TT+TG and the TP53 rs1042522-CC genotype was associated with a significantly higher incidence of grade III/IV neutropenia. And the combination of the MDM2 rs2279744-GG and the TP53 rs1042522-GG+GC genotype was associated with the lowest incidence of grade III/IV neutropenia.MDM2 rs2279744 and TP53 rs1042522 SNPs were associated with EP-induced high-grade neutropenia in extensive-stage SCLC patients. Further studies are needed to investigate the underlying mechanisms.

Yb3+ /Ho3+, Yb3+ /Tm3+ and Yb3+ /Ho3+ /Tm3+ co-doped tellurite glasses were prepared by melt-quenching method. Under the excitation of 980 nm laser, Yb3+ /Ho3+/Tm3+ co-doped glass sample shows strong blue, green and red emissions, corresponding to the transitions 1G4 --3H6 of Tm3+, 5F4 (5S2) --5 I8 of Ho3+, as well as 5F5 --5 I8 of Ho3+ and 1G4 --3F4 of Tm3+ ions, respectively. It was found that the integrated emission intensity ratio of the red to green in Yb3+/Ho3+ /Tm3+ co-doped sample (3.95) is greater than that in Yb3+/Ho3+ co-doped sample (1.69) due to the cross-relaxation between Ho3+ and Tm3+ ions : 3H4 (Tm3+) + 5 I6 (Ho3+) --3F4 (Tm3+) + 5F5 (Ho3+), and 3F4 (Tm3+ ) + 5 I8 (Ho3+) --3H6 (Tm3+) +5 I7 (Ho3+). When the pump power density is 8.2 W x cm(-2), the calculated color coordinates of Yb3+ /Ho3+ /Tm3+ co-doped sample are x = 0.345, y = 0.338, which is very close to the equal energy white light (x = 0.333, y = 0.333).

To investigate the efficacy of high dose chemotherapy combined with autologous peripheral blood stem cell transplantation (APBSCT) for the treatment of neural ectodermal solid tumor originated from neural crest in children.Twenty-three children at a medium age of 5.8 + or - 3.5 years with neural ectodermal solid tumor originated from neural crest were enrolled. Of the 23 children, 20 with stage IV neuroblastoma (9 were in complete remission, 7 were in partial remission and 4 were in progressive disease), 2 with stage IV primitive neuroectodermal tumor (PNET) in complete remission, and 1 with retinoblastoma in partial remission. Before APBSCT the children received 8.0 + or - 4.3 courses of chemotherapy. During chemotherapy the autologous peripheral blood stem cells were harvested and the tumor excision was performed. Then APBSCT was performed.The reconstruction of the hematopoietic system was noted in 19 of 20 children with stage IV neuroblastoma 16.5 + or - 0.9 days after transplantation. A follow-up (median 15.8 months) was done in these children. The follow-up showed that the survival rate in children in complete remission before transplantation was 100%, 57% in those in partial remission, and none of children in progressive disease survived (P0.05). The total survival rate was 67% in children with neuroblastoma. The child with retinoblastoma had complete remission in a 6-months follow-up. The tumors recurred in children with PNET 5 to 8 months after transplantation and all died within one year after transplantation.High dose chemotherapy combined with APBSCT can result in a good outcome in children with neural ectodermal solid tumor originated from neural crest in complete remission before transplantation and can improve the outcome in patients in partial remission before transplantation. However, the children with PNET, even in complete remission before transplantation, do not respond to the therapy.

e15106 Background: Despite the availability of multiple treatment strategies, patients with gastric carcinoma (GC) have a dismal prognosis. Cellular immunotherapy (CIT) with multiple autologous non...