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Sepsis is a life-threatening condition in which an uncontrolled inflammatory host response is triggered. The exact pathogenesis of sepsis remains unclear. The aim of the present study was to identify key genes that may aid in the diagnosis and treatment of sepsis. mRNA expression data from blood samples taken from patients with sepsis and healthy individuals was downloaded from the Gene Expression Omnibus database and differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between the two groups were identified. Gene Ontology and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway analysis, and protein-protein interaction (PPI) network construction, was performed to investigate the function of the identified DEGs. Furthermore, for validation of these results, the expression levels of several DEGs were analyzed by reverse transcription quantitative-polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) in three patients with sepsis and three healthy blood samples to support the results obtained from the bioinformatics analysis. Receiver operating characteristic analyses were also used to analyze the diagnostic ability of the identified DEGs for sepsis. The results demonstrated that a total of 4,402 DEGs, including 1,960 upregulated and 2,442 downregulated genes, were identified between patients with sepsis and healthy individuals. KEGG pathway analysis revealed that 39 DEGs were significantly enriched in toll-like receptor signaling pathways. The top 20 upregulated and downregulated DEGs were used to construct the PPI network. Hub genes with high degrees, including interleukin 1 receptor-associated kinase 3 (IRAK3), S100 calcium-binding protein (S100)A8, angiotensin II receptor-associated protein (AGTRAP) and S100A9, were demonstrated to be associated sepsis. Furthermore, RT-qPCR results demonstrated that IRAK3, adrenomedullin (ADM), arachidonate 5-lipoxygenase (ALOX5), matrix metallopeptidase 9 (MMP9) and S100A8 were significantly upregulated, while ectonucleoside triphosphate diphosphohydrolase 1 (ENTPD1) was upregulated but not significantly, in blood samples from patients with sepsis compared with healthy individuals, which was consistent with bioinformatics analysis results. Therefore, AGTRAP, IRAK3, ADM, ALOX5, MMP9, S100A8 and ENTPD1 were identified to have potential diagnostic value in sepsis. In conclusion, dysregulated levels of the AGTRAP, IRAK3, ADM, ALOX5, MMP9, S100A8 and ENTPD1 genes may be involved in sepsis pathophysiology and may be utilized as potential diagnostic biomarkers or therapeutic targets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Growing evidence indicates that micro RNA (mi RNA) play vital roles in glioma progression by directly regulating multiple targets. Here, we found that miR-105 expression was significantly decreased and inversely correlated with SOX9 mRNA expression in glioma tissues. SOX9 was identified as a direct target of miR-105. miR-105 up-regulation repressed the expression of SOX9, TCF4, c- MYC, cyclin D1, and AXIN2 and suppressed glioma cell progression. Restoration of SOX9 or TCF4 abolished the effect of miR-105 on glioma cell progression. SOX9 down-regulation had similar effects as miR-105 up-regulation on glioma progression. Moreover, TCF4 restoration rescued the effect of SOX9 down-regulation on glioma progression. Altogether, these findings suggested that miR-105 functions as a potential tumor suppressor by regulating the SOX9/ TCF4 axis in glioma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The estrogen receptor (ER) serves as a pivotal indicator for assessing endocrine therapy efficacy and breast cancer prognosis. Invasive biopsy is a conventional approach for appraising ER expression levels, but it bears disadvantages due to tumor heterogeneity. To address the issue, a deep learning model leveraging mammography images was developed in this study for accurate evaluation of ER status in patients with breast cancer., Objectives: To predict the ER status in breast cancer patients with a newly developed deep learning model leveraging mammography images., Materials and Methods: Datasets comprising preoperative mammography images, ER expression levels, and clinical data spanning from October 2016 to October 2021 were retrospectively collected from 358 patients diagnosed with invasive ductal carcinoma. Following collection, these datasets were divided into a training dataset (n = 257) and a testing dataset (n = 101). Subsequently, a deep learning prediction model, referred to as IP-SE-DResNet model, was developed utilizing two deep residual networks along with the Squeeze-and-Excitation attention mechanism. This model was tailored to forecast the ER status in breast cancer patients utilizing mammography images from both craniocaudal view and mediolateral oblique view. Performance measurements including prediction accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, and the area under the receiver operating characteristic curves (AUCs) were employed to assess the effectiveness of the model., Results: In the training dataset, the AUCs for the IP-SE-DResNet model utilizing mammography images from the craniocaudal view, mediolateral oblique view, and the combined images from both views, were 0.849 (95% CIs: 0.809-0.868), 0.858 (95% CIs: 0.813-0.872), and 0.895 (95% CIs: 0.866-0.913), respectively. Correspondingly, the AUCs for these three image categories in the testing dataset were 0.835 (95% CIs: 0.790-0.887), 0.746 (95% CIs: 0.793-0.889), and 0.886 (95% CIs: 0.809-0.934), respectively. A comprehensive comparison between performance measurements underscored a substantial enhancement achieved by the proposed IP-SE-DResNet model in contrast to a traditional radiomics model employing the naive Bayesian classifier. For the latter, the AUCs stood at only 0.614 (95% CIs: 0.594-0.638) in the training dataset and 0.613 (95% CIs: 0.587-0.654) in the testing dataset, both utilizing a combination of mammography images from the craniocaudal and mediolateral oblique views., Conclusions: The proposed IP-SE-DResNet model presents a potent and non-invasive approach for predicting ER status in breast cancer patients, potentially enhancing the efficiency and diagnostic precision of radiologists., Competing Interests: None., (AJTR Copyright © 2024.)

Background and Aims: Surgery is pivotal in the management of neuroblastoma (NB), particularly in patients with Image-Defined Risk Factors (IDRFs). The International Neuroblastoma Surgical Report Form (INSRF) was introduced to enhance surgical reporting quality and analyze the defining role of extensive surgery in NB. This study reports our experience with INSRF and explores new criteria for evaluating the extent of surgical resection., Methods: INSRF was deployed to critically analyze 166 patients with abdominal or pelvic NB who underwent surgery at our department between October 2021 and June 2023. Patient demographics, clinical characteristics, surgical datasets, and postoperative complications were described in detail. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were used to explore a new method to evaluate the extent of resection. A questionnaire was formulated to obtain attitudes/feedback and commentary from surgical oncologists with INSRF., Results: 166 neuroblastoma patients with a median disease age 36.50 months. This study collated 320 INSRF reports. Among the 166 index cases, 137 were documented by two surgeons, with a concordance rate of 16.78%. Items with high inconsistency were (i) the extent of tumor resection (29.20%), (ii) renal vein involvement (25.55%), (iii) abdominal aorta encasement (16.79%), and (iv) mesenteric infiltration (17.52%). According to INSRF, the extent of resection was complete excision in 86 (51.81%) patients, minimal residual tumor < 5 cm3 in 67 (40.36%) patients, and incomplete excision > 5 cm3 in 13 (7.83%) patients. In ROC curve analysis, the number of vessels encased by tumors > 3 had a high predictive value in determining that a tumor could not be completely resected (AUC 0.916, sensitivity 0.838, specificity 0.826) using INSRF as the gold standard reference. The questionnaires showed that surgeons agreed that the extent of resection and tumor involvement of organ/vascular structures were important, while the definition and intervention(s) of intraoperative complications were less operational and understandable., Conclusions: INSRF has significant clinical application in neuroblastoma surgery. The extent of resection can be predicted based on the number of tumor-encased blood vessels. Supplementary information should be considered with the INSRF to aid practitioner reporting. Multicenter studies are needed to explore the defining role of INSRF in NB surgical management., (Copyright © 2024 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.)

Cupronickel alloys have been broadly utilized in various fields due to their excellent properties. In this paper, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and potentiodynamic polarization (PDP) curves were used to study the impact of different Mn contents on the corrosion resistance of 90/10 cupronickel alloy. Surface morphology, electronic structure, and phase composition of the film formed on different Mn content 90/10 cupronickel alloy immersed in 3.5% NaCl solution for 30 days were investigated using SEM, EDS, Mott-Schottky, XRD, XPS, etc. , revealing that adding an appropriate amount of Mn to the 90/10 cupronickel alloy can change the corrosion resistance of the alloy. The corrosion resistance first increases and then decreases with the addition of Mn content. Among them, the sample with 0.87% Mn addition has the best corrosion resistance, the corrosion product film is more complete, no cracks appear, and the corrosion product binding force is stronger. The addition of Mn promotes the filling of cation vacancies by Ni and generates more NiO, which enhances the stability of the corrosion product film., Competing Interests: The authors declare no financial or commercial conflict of interest., (This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry.)

Objective: To study the effects of high volume hemofiltration (HVHF) according to pulse-indicated continuous cardiac output (PiCCO) on patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS)., Methods: A prospective randomly controlled trial was conducted. 163 patients with ARDS admitted to Taizhou People's Hospital, Medical College, Nantong University, between February 2011 and January 2014, were enrolled. The patients were randomly divided into conventional therapy group (n=50), HVHF group (n=55), and PiCCO + HVHF group (n=58) by random number table. The patients in conventional therapy group received routine treatment including mechanical ventilation and drug treatment according to ARDS treatment guideline. The patients in the HVHF group received HVHF treatment of 18 hours per day on 1, 3, 5, 7 days on the basis of conventional therapy. Patients in the PiCCO + HVHF group received HVHF treatment according to PiCCO. The indexes of lung function and PiCCO monitoring were recorded at intensive care unit (ICU) admission (before) and 4 days and 7 days after treatment. The serum levels of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and interleukin-1β (IL-1β) were determined by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), and the prognosis of patients was recorded., Results: In three groups, oxygenation index (PaO₂/FiO₂), static lung compliance (Cs) were gradually increased, and respiratory rate (RR), lactic acid (Lac) were gradually decreased. The indicators in HVHF and PiCCO + HVHF groups were significantly improved compared with conventional therapy group. The indexes in PiCCO + HVHF group were significantly increased or decreased compared with those in HVHF group, and the statistical differences were found on the 7th day after treatment [PaO₂/FiO₂(mmHg, 1 mmHg=0.133 kPa): 189.3 ± 36.8 vs. 166.3 ± 36.1, Cs (mL/cmH₂O): 76.7 ± 18.9 vs. 67.0 ± 18.2, RR (times/min): 16.4 ± 5.2 vs. 19.2 ± 5.4, Lac (mmol/L): 1.20 ± 0.41 vs. 1.41 ± 0.43, all P<0.01]. In PiCCO + HVHF group, cardiac index (CI) was gradually increased, and extra vascular lung water index (EVLWI) and intra thoracic blood volume index (ITBVI) were gradually decreased. There were significant differences in the indexes 4 days and 7 days after treatment compared with those before treatment [CI (L × min⁻¹ m⁻²): 4.62 ± 1.13, 4.83 ± 1.10 vs. 4.01 ± 1.02, EVLWI (mL/kg): 7.6 ± 2.7, 6.5 ± 2.6 vs. 12.4 ± 2.9, ITBVI (mL/m²): 801.3 ± 120.9, 785.4 ± 118.7 vs. 980.1 ± 168.6, all P<0.01]. After treatment, the serum levels of TNF-α and IL-1β in three groups were gradually decreased. Compared with the conventional therapy group, the serum levels of TNF-α and IL-1β on 4 days and 7 days in the HVHF and PiCCO + HVHF groups were significantly decreased, and the statistical differences were found on 7 days [TNF-α (ng/L): 68.35 ± 12.63, 67.54 ± 12.90 vs. 85.35 ± 13.70; IL-1β (ng/L): 424.6 ± 142.9, 412.2 ± 140.2 vs. 895.2 ± 187.7, all P<0.01]. Compared with the HVHF group, the serum levels of TNF-α and IL-1β in the PiCCO + HVHF group were slightly decreased without statistical differences. Compared with the conventional therapy group, the number of organ failure, duration of mechanical ventilation, the length of stay in ICU and hospital mortality in HVHF group and PiCCO + HVHF group were lowered, and the statistical differences were found in PiCCO + HVHF group compared with HVHF group [number of organ failure: 2.41 ± 0.79 vs. 2.72 ± 0.80, duration of mechanical ventilation (days): 4.8 ± 2.0 vs. 5.7 ± 2.1, the length of stay in ICU (days): 11.5 ± 3.4 vs. 13.1 ± 3.6, hospital mortality: 31.0% (18/58) vs. 41.8% (23/55), all P<0.05]., Conclusions: Levels of inflammatory factors in patients with ARDS could be reduced by HVHF. The oxygenation and compliance of lung can be improved, the number of organ failure can be lowered, the duration of mechanical ventilation and the length of stay in ICU can be shortened, and the hospital mortality could be declined by PiCCO guided HVHF.