bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
RNA-seq Identifies circRNAs Expression Profiles and Potential Biomarkers for Intracerebral Hemorrhage
Authors: Bai Cong-xia , Liu Ting-ting , Sun Ying-ying , Li Hao , Xiao Ning , Zhang Mei-jun , Feng Yan-jie , Xu Hao-chen , Ge Jing , Wang Xu-liang , Song Li , Ping Jie-dan , Chen Jing-zhou
Published: November 2020

Background: Circular RNAs (circRNAs) have shown promise as biomarkers because of their stability in peripheral blood, and they participate in various pathological processes of ischemic stroke; however, their expression profiles and the potential functions for intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) stroke remain unclear. Methods: RNA sequencing was used to investigate the expression profiles of circRNA in a discovery sample of 129 subjects (44 patients with ICH, 42 hypertension (HTN) controls, and 43 patients with cerebral infarction (CI)), and an independent validation sample of 54 subjects (20 patients with ICH, 18 HTN controls, and 16 patients with CI). Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction was used to validate the circRNA expression levels. Logistic regression models were conducted to assess circRNAs as potential biomarkers for ICH. Bioinformatics analysis was performed to identify potential functions of circRNAs.Results: We found that 15 circRNAs including 5 upregulated circRNAs and 10 downregulated circRNAs were consistently altered only after ICH (fold change >1.5 and FDR < 0.05). We validated that hsa_circ_0001240 and hsa_circ_0001947 were upregulated and that hsa_circ_0001386 was downregulated in ICH compared with HTN and CI. The combination of 3 circRNAs showed an area under the curve of 0.92 with a sensitivity of 86% and a specificity of 88% for diagnosing ICH. Together with ICH risk factors, the circRNAs showed an area under the curve of 0.97 in diagnosing ICH. Functional analysis revealed circRNA target miRNA and mRNA are mainly involved in fatty acid biogenesis, lysine degradation, integrin cell surface interactions and the immune system.Conclusion: This is the first report to study the expression profile of circRNAs in peripheral blood after ICH, and a set of 3 circRNAs could serve as potential biomarkers for predicting and diagnosing ICH.
Comparative Evaluation of Methods for Isolating Small Extracellular Vesicles Derived from Pancreatic Cells
Authors: Wang Jie-Min , Li Yong-Jiang , Wu Jun-Yong , Cai Jia-Xin , Wen Jing , Xiang Da-Xiong , Hu Xiong-Bin , Li Wen-Qun
Published: November 2020

Background: Small extracellular vesicles (sEVs) are nanosized vesicles involved in cell-to-cell communication. sEVs have been widely studied for clinical applications such as early detection of diseases and as therapeutics. Various methods for sEVs isolation have been using, but different methods may result in different qualities of sEVs and impact downstream analysis and applications. Here, we compared current isolation methods and performed a comparative analysis of sEVs derived from pancreatic cancer cells.Results: Ultracentrifugation, ultrafiltration and co-precipitation as concentration methods were firstly evaluated for yield, size, morphology and protein level of pellets. Then, isolate sEVs obtained by four different purification methods: size exclusion chromatography, density gradient ultracentrifugation, ultracentrifugation, and immunoaffinity capturing, were analysed and compared. For the concentration process, ultracentrifugation method obtained high quality and concentration pellets. For the purification process, immunoaffinity capturing method obtained the purest sEVs with less contaminants, while density gradient ultracentrifugation-based method obtained sEVs with the smallest size. Proteomic analysis revealed distinct protein contents of purified sEVs. Conclusions: For isolating sEVs derived from pancreatic cancer cells, ultracentrifugation-based method is recommended for concentration of sEVs, density gradient ultracentrifugation-based method may be suitable for isolation of sEVs for therapeutic study, immunoaffinity capturing may be applied for studies exploring sEVs as biomarkers.
Increased PD1 and Glycolysis in CD4+ T Cell Promotes Lymph Node Metastasis in Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma Patients
Authors: Wu Kun , Han Nan-nan , Zhang Sheng , Li Yan
Published: November 2020

Background: The presence of cervical lymph node metastasis is one of the poorest prognostic factors in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) with 50% reduction in survival of patients with lymph node positive involvement compared to those without. However, it is unknown whether immune checkpoint contributed to metastatic lymph nodes in OSCC patients. Results: We found that frequency of CD4+ T cells decreased in metastatic lymph nodes (p = 0.0019). In following experiments, immune checkpoints (PD1, PDL1 and CTLA4) of CD4+ T cells were detected in metastatic lymph node (LN+) and paired negative lymph node (LN-) of OSCC patients. The PD1 expression of LN+ was increased markedly compared to LN- (p = 0.0205). Similarly, the PD1 of CD4+ T cells in LN+ was increased significantly compared to LN-. We also found that glycolysis related enzymes levels in CD4+ T cells from LN+ were elevated dramatically compared to LN-. Moreover, PD1 and Hk2 expression of CD4+ T cells was increased in metastatic lymph nodes of OSCC patients with prior surgical treatment compared to those without. Conclusions: These findings suggested that increased PD1 and glycolysis in CD4+ T cell may serve as a pivotal regulator of OSCC metastatic lymph nodes via elevating glycolysis related enzymes level, especially in Hk2.
Sex Differences in Neuropeptide Y Serum, But Not in Fat Intake and Body Mass Index
Authors: Sari Dina Keumala , Ichwan M. , Masyithah Dewi , Dharmajaya Ridha , Khatib Alfi
Published: November 2020

Background: One’s appetite has a role in controlling food intake and maintaining energy balance, but its effect on body metabolism related to obesity is still questionable. The purpose of this study was to determine the levels of neuropeptide Y in healthy people and to see differences in gender and anthropometric parameters. The hypothesis of this study was that there would be differences in neuropeptide Y levels in groups with gender and anthropometric parameter differences. Methods: This study was a cross-sectional study involving 62 study subjects, male and female, who did not have chronic diseases or metabolic disorders. This research was conducted from April to September 2020. The parameters examined in this study were neuropeptide Y levels and anthropometric parameters. The statistical analysis performed was the Mann-Whitney test to see the differences between groups. Results: The mean age of the research subjects was 40.48 ± 10.85 years, with the same ethnic distribution. The distribution of men and women was more women than men. Based on anthropometric examination, it was found that obesity nutritional status was more common in the female group than in the male group; however, serum neuropeptide Y levels were found to be significantly different between male and female groups (male group was higher). Conclusions: The study found significant differences in serum neuropeptide Y levels in male and female groups.
Association Between Tumor Mutation Burden (TMB) and immune microenvironment in lung squamous cell carcinoma
Authors: Yan Dan , Chen Yi
Published: November 2020

Background Tumor mutational burden (TMB) is an emerging biomarker for selecting patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) for immunotherapy. And many studies have revealed high-TMB may be significantly associated with response to PD-1 and PD-L1 blockade immunotherapy.Methods The RNA-seq transcriptome profiling, simple nucleotide variation and corresponding clinicopathological information of patients with lung squamous cell carcinoma were obtained from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA). We classified samples into the low-TMB group and the high-TMB group based on somatic mutation data from TCGA. KEGG pathways analysis was used to analyze the enriched pathways between two groups. Wilcoxon test was used to analyze the correlation between TMB and clinical pathology. CIBERSORT was used to calculate the immune cell infiltration among different risk groups.Result Single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP), missense mutation and C > A was most common in patients with lung squamous cell carcinoma. Top 10 most common mutated genes were TTN, TP53, MUC16, CSMD3, RYR2, LRP1B, USH2A, SYNE1, ZFHX4, KMT2D. High-TMB group conferred better one-year overall survival. KEGG pathways analysis revealed that DEGs were mainly involved in regulation of lymphocyte activation, lymphocyte proliferation, leukocyte proliferation and mononuclear cell proliferation. Infiltration levels of CD8 + T cell, M1 macrophages, follicular helper T cells and activated NK cells in high-TMB group were higher than that in low-TMB group.Conclusion High TMB correlated with positive one-year survival outcomes. With the development of tumor, TMB increased gradually. TMB might influence the immune infiltrates on patients with lung squamous cell carcinoma.
Transcatheter Closure of Atrial Septal Defect in Children: Short and Long Term Follow-up Results
Authors: Ozbay Yesfa Sebnem , Nişli Kemal
Published: November 2020

Background: Atrial septal defect (ASD) is a congenital heart disease which is usually diagnosed in childhood. However the large part of studies in literature include adults. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the follow-up results of patients who had transcatheter closure of ASD to understand the factors effected success and complications of this procedure in children. Methods: 232 patient files were evaluated retrospectively. 24 of the patients excluded from the study as the files of these patients could not be found in archive or the data needed to be evaluated was missing. Demographical data, family history, accompanying syndromes, complaints of patients, symptoms, echocardiographical (ECO) findings, transesophageal echocardiogram (TEE) findings if performed, the size of defect in balloon-sizing, the size of device used in procedure, major and minor complications evaluated. Results: In our study, 208 children [39.9% (n = 83) male, 60.1% (n = 125) female] included who were diagnosed with ASD. The mean age of the patients are 88,06 ± 56,52 months (3 days to 220 months). When the family history is examined; heart disease was not found in 87.0% (n = 181) of the patients whereas 13.0% (n = 27) of the patients had family history of heart disease. 81.7% of the patients (n = 170) had no complaint and 18.3% (n = 38) had complaints. There was a statistically significant correlation between diameter and length of defect measured with ECO, TEE and by balloon-sizing. Success rates of procedure found to be 95.7%. While the major complication of the procedure was device embolization; arrythmia was the most common minor complication. None of our patients died due to device embolization. The procedure complication rate is not statistically different according to the device type. (p = 0.075; p> 0.05) Conclusion: In our study, we found that device diameters measured by different methods correlated with each other. The procedure complication rates do not differ according to the device type. When the transcatheter ASD closure process is performed with an experienced and qualified team; mortality and morbidity rates compatible with developed countries can be achieved.
Effects of Cardiac Surgery and Surgical Procedures on Neurocognitive Function in Patients with Congenital Heart Disease: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis
Authors: Su Xiaoqi , Xu Cheng , Ma Siyu , Pu Yiwei , Wang Zhiqi , Yang Zhaocong , Mo Xuming
Published: November 2020

Objective: To determine the neurodevelopmental function in patients with congenital heart disease (CHD) after cardiac surgery and the influence of surgical repair versus transcatheter repair on neurodevelopment.Methods: We searched PUBMED, EMBASE and Cochrane Controlled Trials (Central) in September 2019 by using Medical Subject Headings. We extracted data using a customized data extraction sheet and employed standard methodological procedures as expected by Cochrane. We used a fixed-effect or random-effect model for meta-analysis. Results: We included a total of seven articles. The assessed neurodevelopment outcomes were the full intelligence quotient (full IQ), verbal intelligence quotient (verbal IQ) and performance intelligence quotient (performance IQ). The intelligence quotient was statistically significant after cardiac surgery compared with that of the normal control (full IQ: mean difference = -5.79 [95% CIs -10.14, -1.44], P = 0.009, I2=71%; verbal IQ: mean difference = -4.46 [95% CIs -7.99, -0.93], P = 0.01, I2=56%; performance IQ: mean difference = -7.13 [95% CIs -10.90, -3.35], P =0.0002, I2=64%). The neurodevelopment functions were no different after surgical repair versus transcatheter repair (full IQ: mean difference = 0.19 [95% CIs -4.10, 4.49], P = 0.93, I2=0%; verbal IQ: mean difference = 2.29 [95% CIs -1.60, 6.18], P = 0.25, I2=0%; performance IQ: mean difference = -2.49 [95% CIs -6.49, 1.52], P = 0.22, I2=0%).Conclusion: We found that patients with CHD undergoing cardiac surgery may exhibit a negative effect on neurodevelopment, and there may be no difference in the effects of the two different surgical methods on neurodevelopment.
Hand Washing Practice and Associated Factors among Primary School Children in Damot Woide Woreda of Wolaita Zone, South Ethiopia: A Cross-sectional study
Authors: Admasie Amha , Guluma Alemu , Debebe Ashenafi
Published: November 2020

Background: Diarrhea and respiratory infections are respectively the leading causes of childhood mortality globally. Hand washing at schools with soap could substantially reduce diarrhea and respiratory infections among school-age children, however in developing countries it is still being practiced to a very low extent in particular critical moments such as before eating and after using sanitation facilities including toilet. Therefore, the main aim of this study was to determine the level of hand washing practice and associated factors among primary school children in Damot Woide Woreda, Wolaita zone, South Ethiopia.Methods: School based cross sectional study was conducted from January, 2018-February, 2018 using multistage cluster sampling technique and 580 students from six primary schools of grade 5-8 were included in the study and simple random sampling was employed to select study participants. Data was collected by using interviewer administered structured and pre-tested questionnaires by trained data collectors. Data entered in to Epi Data version 3.1 and exported into SPSSv20 for analysis. Both bivariate and multivariable logistic regression analyses were used.Result: Twenty eight point one percent (28.10% of [95% CI: 24.5-31.7]) students had practiced proper hand washing. The multivariate model depicted that being grade 8th[AOR =3.44, 95% CI:1.52, 8.23], urban residence[AOR =18.84, 95% CI:14.02,23.29], having parents [AOR = 10.74; 95% CI 8.80 to 12.36], teachers as a role models [AOR =6.45; 95% CI 5.52 to 8.99] and health professionals as a role models [AOR = 9.62; 95% CI 2.70 to 14.19], and presence of hand washing facility in school [OR =3.84, 95% CI:3.60, 4.07] were found to be significantly associated with proper hand washing practice. Conclusion: Proper hand washing practice among school children was found to be low. Therefore, promoting and enhancing hand washing practices and preparing hand-washing facilities in schools is mandatory to addressing the gap on hand washing practice among primary school students in the study area.
Multi-GPU simulation of turbulent square duct flow under high Reynolds number in lattice Boltzmann method
Authors: Wang Limin , Hu Tao , Xiang Xing , Ge Wei
Published: November 2020

Using multi-GPU in lattice Boltzmann method (LBM), fully developed turbulent flow in a square duct at the friction Reynolds numbers (Reτ) of 300, 600, 1200 and 1800 are simulated. Through simulation of three-dimensional lid-driven cavity flow under different Reynolds number (Re), the accuracy of lattice Bhatnager-Gross-Krook (LBGK) multi-GPU program is validated. For turbulent flow in a square duct, all mean velocity, secondary flows, root mean square (rms) of pulsating velocity and Reynolds shear stress predicted by LBGK under the lower Reτ agree well with the literature results, which further verified the effectiveness of the LBGK. In addition, fully developed turbulent flow in a square duct with Reτ up to 1800 predicted by LBGK with 600 million grids provides a reference for turbulent flows under high Reτ . Numerical results show that the LBGK model with low accuracy successfully captures turbulent characteristics for flows at high Re by increasing the grid size, indicating the feasibility and practicality of multi-GPU LBM for modeling industrial flows.
Radiomics Based on Multiparametric MRI for Extrathyroidal Extension Feature Prediction in Papillary Thyroid Cancer
Authors: Wei Ran , Wang Hao , Wang Lanyun , Hu Wenjuan , Sun Xilin , Dai Zedong , Zhu Jie , Li Hong , Ge Yaqiong , Song Bin
Published: November 2020

Purpose: To determine the predictive capability of MRI-based radiomics for extrathyroidal extension detection in papillary thyroid cancer (PTC) pre-surgically.Methods: The present retrospective trial assessed individuals with thyroid nodules examined by multiparametric MRI and subsequently administered thyroid surgery. Diagnosis and extrathyroidal extension (ETE) feature of PTC were based on pathological assessment. The thyroid tumors underwent manual segmentation, for radiomic feature extraction. Participants were randomized to the training and testing cohorts, at a ratio of 7:3. The mRMR (maximum correlation minimum redundancy) algorithm and the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) were utilized for radiomics feature selection. Then, a radiomics predictive model was generated via a linear combination of the features. The model’s performance in distinguishing the ETE feature of PTC was assessed by analyzing the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve. Results: Totally 132 patients were assessed in this study, including 92 and 40 in the training and test cohorts, respectively). Next, the 16 top-performing features, including 4, 7 and 5 from diffusion weighted (DWI), T2-weighted (T2 WI), and contrast-enhanced T1-weighted (CE-T1WI) images, respectively, were finally retained to construct the radiomics signature. There were 8 RLM, 5 CM, 2 shape, and 1 SZM features. The radiomics prediction model achieved AUCs of 0.96 and 0.87 in the training and testing sets, respectively.Conclusions: Our study indicated that MRI radiomics approach had the potential to stratify patients based on ETE in PTCs preoperatively.
Comprehensive Analysis of Coding and Non-coding RNA Transcriptomes Related to Hypoxic Adaptation in Tibetan Chickens
Authors: Zhang Ying , Su Woyu , Zhang Bo , Ling Yao , Kim Woo Kyun , Zhang Hao
Published: November 2020

Background: Tibetan chickens, a unique native breed in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau of China, have a suite of adaptive features to tolerate the high-altitude hypoxic environment. Increasing evidence suggests that long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) and microRNAs (miRNAs) have roles in the hypoxic adaptation of high-altitude animals, although their exact involvement remains unclear.Results: This study aimed to elucidate the global landscape of mRNAs, lncRNAs, and miRNAs using transcriptome sequencing in order to construct a regulatory network of competing endogenous RNAs (ceRNAs) and thus provide insights into the hypoxic adaptation of Tibetan chicken embryos. In total, 354 differentially expressed genes (DEGs), 389 differentially expressed lncRNAs (DELs), and 73 differentially expressed miRNAs (DEMs) were identified between Tibetan (TC) and Chahua chickens (CH). Functional analysis revealed that several important DEMs and their target DELs and DEGs are involved in angiogenesis (including blood vessel development and blood circulation) and energy metabolism (including glucose, carbohydrate, and lipid metabolism). The ceRNA network was then constructed with the predicted DEGs-DEMs-DELs interactions, which further revealed the regulatory roles of these differentially expressed RNAs during hypoxic adaptation of Tibetan chickens.Conclusions: These transcriptomic data revealed several key candidate ceRNAs that may play high-priority roles in the hypoxic adaptation of Tibetan chickens by regulating angiogenesis and energy metabolism. These results provide insight into the molecular mechanisms of hypoxic adaptation regulatory networks from the perspective of coding and non-coding RNAs.
Assisted Birth Delivery In Ghana: Evidence From Ghana Demographic And Health Survey 1988 - 2014
Authors: Oteng Kenneth Fosu , Aboagye-Mensah Richard , Dickson Kwamena Sekyi
Published: November 2020

Background: Assistance during birth delivery is an essential reproductive care given to women during pregnancy. Even with the best possible antenatal care, any delivery can become a complicated one; therefore, skilled assistance is essential to safe delivery care. Proven health care interventions such as skilled assistance during childbirth can prevent or manage these complications. Methods: The study used secondary data from all the six rounds of the Ghana Demographic and Health Survey (GDHS). Bivariate, multivariate and binary logistic regression models were applied to examine the association between some background characteristics and assisted birth delivery. Results: The results showed that birth delivery is generally assisted by Nurses/Midwives over the period under review. The proportion of women who were not assisted during delivery declined over the period. Similarly, there was a decline in the percentage of women who were assisted by traditional birth attendants. In addition, it was observed that older women were more likely to be assisted by doctors during delivery as compared with younger women. Women with secondary education were more likely to utilize the services of nurses/midwives during delivery compared with those with no education. Women from the rural areas were more likely to receive delivery assistance from Traditional Birth Attendants compared with those from urban areas. Conclusion: These findings heighten that future successful interventions for skilled birth attendants should prioritise the identified groups who were more likely to utilize the services of TBAs.
SHED Cells Labeled with MIRB can be Tracked in Repairing Periodontal Bone Defects in Rats
Authors: Zhang Nan , Xu Li , Song Hao , Bu Chunqing , Kang Jie , Zhang Chuanchen , Yang Xiaofei , Han Fabin
Published: November 2020

Background: Chronic periodontitis could lead to alveolar bone resorption and even tooth loss. Stem cells from exfoliated deciduous teeth (SHED) are the proper seed cells for bone regeneration because of their potential in osteogenic differentiation. However tracking the survival, migration and differentiation of the transplanted stem cells is necessary to improve the transplantation success. Methods: Superparamagnetic iron oxide particles (SPIO) Molday ION Rhodamine-BTM (MIRB) were used for labeling and monitoring SHED cells in vivo by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Proper labeling concentration of MIRB was determined by cell viability, proliferation, osteogenic differentiation and MRI analysis in vitro after SHED cells were labeled with MIRB at different concentration of 12.5, 25, 50, 100μgFe/mL. MIRB labeled SHED were transplanted to the periodontal bone defect model in rats and tracked by MRI in vivo. The regeneration of periodontal bone were calculated with HE and immunohistochemical analysis. The survival of transplanted SHED cells in vivo was verified with Prussian blue staining.Results: After testing 25μg Fe/mL MIRB was used in vivo cells tracking. After transplanted to the periodontal bone defect model in rats, the MIRB labeled SHED could be tracked in vivo through the artifact of the low intensity signal caused by Fe3+ at 6 and 9 weeks post-surgery. HE and immunohistochemical analysis showed that both SHED labeled and unlabeled with MIRB could promote regeneration of periodontal bone defect. Prussian blue staining further verified the survival of transplanted SHED cells in vivo. Conclusions: Overall, SHED cells could promote the regeneration of periodontal bone in rats and the survival of SHED cells could be tracked by labeling with MIRB in vivo. However the distribution of the positive cells at the edge of the regenerated new bone remind us the SHED cell could promote the regeneration of new bone by factors section.
Primary High-Grade Serous Carcinoma of Fallopian Tube, an Incidental Intraoperative Finding: A Case Report
Authors: Shokouhi Nasim , Saeedi Sara , Sarmadi Soheila , Moradi Behnaz , Feizabad Elham
Published: November 2020

Background: Primary carcinoma of fallopian tube is a rare but deadly gynecologic cancer, In addition, its preoperative diagnosis is strict due to the lack of specific symptoms and signs and in most patients, it is an intraoperative finding.Case presentation: A 55-year-old patient, G3Ab1P2 referred to urogynecology clinic of our hospital with chief complaint about heavy, prolonged menstrual bleeding and a permanently abnormal yellow discharge that could not be distinguished from its urinary or vaginal source.After complete diagnostic work-up, the patient became a candidate for hysterectomy due to the drug (Megestrol Acetate) -resistant abnormal vaginal bleeding, her abnormal vaginal bleeding, positive family history of malignancy, and abnormal vaginal discharge.Laparotomy revealed unusual left fallopian tube feature (Large, bulky, and vegetative feature), suspected to malignancy. Intraoperative frozen-section analysis of the left fallopian tube and ovary specimens detected the mass as a high-grade serous carcinoma of fallopian tube. Total abdominal hysterectomy, bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy, and partial omentectomy were performed. The definitive histopathological diagnosis was high-grade serous carcinoma of the left fallopian tube stage 2b with omental involvement without any evidence of lymph-vascular invasion.Conclusions: High-grade serous carcinoma of fallopian tube is likely to present nonspecific symptoms, which may cause considerable delay in diagnosis and treatment. This consequently, affects the prognosis and survival of the patient.
Clinical Significance of Weight Changes in Malnutrition After Oesophagectomy for Cancer
Authors: Fan Jun , Liu jinyuan , zhao fei , Lin haoran , Xue Lei , zhen fuxi , Ding mengqi , chen liang , Luo Jinhua
Published: November 2020

PurposeThis aim of study was to evaluate the potential effect of differences in body mass index (BMI) on nutritional status of patients after esophagectomy. METHODSWe retrospectively analyzed the association of BMI changes associated with nutritional dysfunction among esophageal cancer patients who received R0 esophagectomy from 2018 to 2019. The odd ratio (ORs) of factors related to more than 15% weight loss compared with the body weight at the discovery of the esophageal cancer and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were estimated via binary logistic regression models after adjusting possible confounders. RESULTSThis study included 145 patients with median age at surgery 59 (interquartile range [IQR] 28–81 years), 44 female (43.6%), and mean BMI 25.1 ± 5.3 Kg/m2 at the onset of the disease. At 1-year follow-up, 33 patients (22.8%) experienced ≥ 15% weight loss: 20 among the 52 patients with BMI ≥ 25 kg/m2 and 13 among the 93 patients with BMI < 25 kg/m2 at the onset of the disease (P = 0.023). After adjustment for potential confounders, initial overweighting as well as advanced tumour p-stage were independent risk factors for higher risk of 1-year ≥ 15% weight loss (OR 2.07, 95%CI (1.39, 3.08); P=0.041; OR 2.58, 95% CI (1.64, 4.06); P=0.032). CONCLUSIONAssociation exists between overweighting at the onset of the disease and postoperative ≥ 15% weight loss risk in patients with oesophagectomy, highlighting the modulation and control of body weight to reduce the risk of malnutrition following oesophagectomy.
Survival Analysis of Extramammary Paget’s Disease (EMPD) in Taiwan 
Authors: Chang Yu-Wei , Ma Hsu , LIAO WEN-CHIEH
Published: November 2020

Background: This study aimed to investigate the survival analysis of extramammary Paget’s disease (EMPD) in a Taiwanese population and to provide data for comparison with other studies in various locations and racial populations.Methods: We retrospectively analyzed the medical records of 63 patients with EMPD who were surgically treated from 2002 to 2019 at a single institution. The primary endpoint was the 5-year overall survival rate of EMPD, and the secondary endpoint was recurrence-free 5-year survival. Independent variables included patients’ demographic data, concurrent malignancy (i.e., non-EMPD-related cancers), tumor size, distant metastasis, and surgery and/or radiation.Results: Of all the 63 patients, 8 cases were excluded. A total of 43 patients (78.18%) were male, and 12 were female, with a mean age of 72.67 years (range: 44–89 years).The most common affected anatomic site was the penoscrotal region (22 patients, 40.00%), followed by the perianal and perineal regions (17 patients, 30.91%). Among the 55 patients, 41 patients (74.55%) were diagnosed with at least one underlying disease, whereas the most common underlying disease was cardiovascular disease (30 patients, 54.55%). EMPD with deep dermal invasion was a significant poor prognostic factor of overall survival in multivariate Cox regression (hazard ratio(HR): 5.167, p = 0.0015). The overall survival rate was 80.00% at 36 months and 65.45% at the end of follow up. The patients 75 years old or older had poorer outcome than those younger than 65 years old (HR: 7.676, p = 0.0496). Patients with regional metastasis or distant metastasis had poorer prognosis of 5-year survival (HR: 4.020 and 5.147, p = 0.0320 and 0.0118, respectively). The limitations of this study include its retrospective nature and sample size.Conclusions: In our series, EMPD with metastasis and deep dermal invasion were the signiﬁcant harmful factors in both overall 5-year survival and 5-year recurrence-free survival. The surgical excision is not associated with a low risk of local recurrence or overall survival, and long-term follow up is still needed.
Prognostic Factors and Diseases-Specific Survival Outcome in Patients with Glioblastoma: A Population-Based Study
Authors: Wu Lihua , Song Jianbo , Zhang Junping , Yang Wenhui , Zhang Mengxian , Wei Jing
Published: November 2020

ObjectiveThis study aimed to determine the prognostic factors for disease-specific survival (DSS) of glioblastoma (GBM) and establish a corresponding effective nomogram for clinical prediction.Methods This study was based on Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database between 2004 and 2015. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis was used to evaluate the effect of various prognostic factors on DSS. Lasso regression was used to determine the independent prognostic factors of DSS and multivariate cox regression analysis was performed correspondingly. Additional restricted cubic spline cox regression was used to analyze the trend of the risk effect (hazard ratio) of continuous variables on DSS. Based on the multivariate cox regression model, a nomogram was established to predict DSS. ResultsThe average age at diagnosis of all enrolled patients was 59.8±12.2 years, of which 40.5% were women and 59.5% were men. Lasso regression analysis showed that age at diagnosis, sex, marital status, race, tumor size, primary site, laterality, surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy, radiotherapy sequence with surgery, and year of diagnosis were independent prognostic factors for DSS. Multivariate cox regression analysis showed that elderly, males, unmarried status, larger tumors were all risk factors for DSS. Restricted cubic spline cox regression showed that the risk of death from GBM was significantly increased for the elderly, especially older than 75 years. When the tumor was smaller than 75mm, an increasing risk linearly was associated with DSS, but the risk effect remained constant after 75mm. Constructing the nomogram to predict the DSS probability of 1-, 3- and 5-year respectively, and its good predictive performance was proved by the calibration curve.ConclusionThe advanced age was one of the significant risk factors for GBM. How the change of tumor size affected DSS needed further study and discussion. The established nomogram was robust in predicting 1-, 3-, and 5- year DSS.
Diagnostic Value of MRI for Detecting Recurrent Soft-Tissue Sarcoma in a Long-Term Analysis at a Multidisciplinary Sarcoma Center
Authors: Sedaghat Sam , Sedaghat Maya , Meschede Jens , Jansen Olav , Both Marcus
Published: November 2020

Background: To assess the long-term diagnostic accuracy of MRI for detecting recurrent soft-tissue sarcoma at a multidisciplinary sarcoma center.Methods: In all, 1055 postoperative follow-up MRIs of 204 patients were included in the study. MRI follow-up scans were systematically reviewed for true-positive/-negative and false-positive/-negative results in detecting recurrent tumor. Available pathological reports and follow-up MRIs were set as reference. Results: The median age of the patients was 55.3±18.2 years. Of the patients, 34.8% presented with recurrences. Here, 65 follow-up scans were true positive, 23 false positive, 6 false negative, and 961 true negative. The overall sensitivity and specificity of MRI for detecting recurrences were 92% and 98%, respectively, with an accuracy of 97%. For intramuscular lesions and after surgery alone the sensitivity was higher (95% and 97%) than for subcutaneous lesions and surgery with additional radiation therapy (83% and 86%, respectively), at similarly high specificities (96-98%). The 6 false-negative results were found in streaky (n=2) and small ovoid/nodular (n=4) recurring lesions. The false-positive lesions imitated streaky (n=14), ovoid/nodular (n=8), and polycyclic/multilobulated recurring tumors (n=1). All false-positive results were found in patients in whom the primary tumors were polycyclic/multilobulated in appearance.Conclusion: MRI shows a high diagnostic accuracy for detecting recurrent STS, with a high sensitivity and specificity. The diagnostic accuracy decreases in subcutaneous lesions and after surgery with radiation therapy, compared to intramuscular lesions and surgery alone. Radiologists should pay particular attention to streaky and small ovoid/nodular recurring lesions and patients with polycyclic/multilobulated primary tumors.
Early Experience of Ramucirumab Therapy in Japanese Patients With Unresectable Hepatocellular Carcinoma in Real-World Practice
Authors: Hayakawa Yuka , Tsuchiya Kaoru , Kurosaki Masayuki , Yasui Yutaka , Kaneko Shun , Inada Kento , Kirino Sakura , Yamashita Koji , Osawa Leona , Sekiguchi Shuhei , Higuchi Mayu , Takaura Kenta , Maeyashiki Chiaki , Tamaki Nobuharu , Nakanishi Hiroyuki , Itakura Jun , Takahashi Yuka , Takahashi Daiei , Asahina Yasuhiro , Okamoto Ryuichi , Izumi Namiki
Published: November 2020

BackgroundWe aimed to investigate the efficacy and safety of ramucirumab therapy in Japanese patients with unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (u-HCC) in real-world practice.MethodsA total of 16 patients with u-HCC were treated with ramucirumab of ≥2 cycles between July 2019 and April 2020. Modified response evaluation criteria in solid tumors (RECIST) and RECIST version 1.1 were used to evaluate radiological responses.ResultsThe patients received ramucirumab as second-line (n = 4), third-line (n = 2), and fourth-line (n = 10). Median observation period was 3.7 months and 3 patients treated as fourth-line died from HCC progression. According to modified RECIST, the objective response rate (ORR) and disease control rate (DCR) were 27.2% and 81.8%, respectively. ORR and DCR by RECIST version 1.1 were 9.1 % and 72.7%, respectively. PFS at 3 months was 68.2%. Drug discontinuation caused by adverse events (AEs) was reported in 7 patients treated as fourth-line and 1 patient as third-line. Pretreatment creatinine (Cr) and estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) were significantly higher in patients with discontinuation owing to AEs (P = 0.01 and P = 0.02). Urine protein-to-creatine ratio after 4 weeks was significantly higher in patients with impaired renal function than patients with preserved renal function (0.93 vs. 0.14; P = 0.017).ConclusionRamucirumab therapy was found to have similar radiological responses between u-HCC patients with single and multiple experiences of TKI therapies. The pretreatment factors would be associated with the incidence of AEs during the therapy.
Peptide Receptor Radionuclide Therapy with 177Lu-DOTATATE in Advanced Neuroendocrine Tumours (NETs) in a Limited Resource Environment
Authors: Kalantarhormozi Mohammadreza , Hassanzadeh Samaneh , Rekabpour Seyed Javad , Ravanbod Mohammad Reza , Jafari Esmail , Amini AbdulLatif , Dadgar Habibollah , Mahmoudppour Mehdi , Nabipour Iraj , Jokar Narges , Assadi Majid
Published: November 2020

BackgroundWe decided to evaluate the clinical efficacy and safety of peptide receptor radionuclide therapy (PRRT) with 177-DOTATATE in patients with neuroendocrine tumors (NETs).MethodsSixteen patients with pathologically verified NETs including eight females and eight males were enrolled in this study. Before PRRT for evaluation of somatostatin receptor expressing, the patients underwent 68Ga-DOTATATE PET-CT or 99mTc-octreotide scintigraphy. The treatment response was assessed according to the response evaluation criteria in solid tumors (RECIST) which was classified into complete response (CR), partial response (PR), stable disease (SD) and progressive disease (PD). In addition, for evaluation of toxicity, monthly blood analysis was performed including hematology, renal function (creatinine), liver status. The Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) status performance was applied for estimating the patients’ general condition including 0 (fully active) to 5 (dead). In addition, overall survival (OS) was calculated as the time interval between start of PRRT to death from any reason.ResultsSixteen patients including eight females and eight males with median age of 60.5 years old with range of 24-74 were enrolled in this study. The patients underwent PRRT with median cycles of 3.5 with range of 1-7 and median dose of 20.35 with range of 7.4 to 49.95 GBq. At the end of data collection, 11/16 patients had PR, 2/16 showed CR, 1/16 showed SD and 2/16 showed PD according to the RECIST. 3 patients were expired during and after the PRRT period time. Before PRRT, the medians of ECOG and KPS were 1.5 and 75 which after treatment were, significantly, improved to 1 and 80, respectively (p<0.05). According to the Kaplan-Meier test, the median of OS was obtained 23 months (95%CI:7.90-38.09). According to the CTCAE, 3 patients showed grade I and 3 other showed grade II leucopenia. Furthermore, 3 and 7 patients had grade II and grade I anemia, respectively.ConclusionIt can be concluded that, since PRRT with 177Lu-DOTATATE in NETs has favorable response rate, few adverse effects and leads to improvement in QOL, it can be used as an effective therapeutic option specially in nonoperative, metastatic and progressive NETs.
Green Synthesis of Nanostructured Silver Metal Particals and Catalytic Degradation of Toxic Methylene Blue Dye
Authors: Kedar Jyoti , Kasar Ajinkya , Pardeshi Neha , Tiwari Pradhumna , Bhosale Suyash
Published: November 2020

The growth and development of bio-synthesized noble metal nanoparticles have attracted great amount of interest in field of nanotechnology due to their potential use for human benefits. The fungal synthesis of noble metal nanoparticles like silver nanoparticle is a sustainable, eco- friendly and green chemistry approach that amalgamate Mycology, Biotechnology and nanotechnology. Accordingly silver nanoparticles (silver nanoparticles) can be synthesized by physical, chemical and biological methods respectively. The aim of this research is to carry green synthesis of silver nanoparticles (silver nanoparticle) i.e. biological method using aqueous fungal extract of penicillium rubens. The aqueous fungal extract was added to silver nitrate solution where the color of the silver nitrate reaction medium was changed from Pale yellow to brown which indicates reduction of silver ions to silver nanoparticles. Thus synthesized silver nanoparticles were characterized by UV-Visible spectroscopy, which shows characterized peak between 400-420 nm. In order to classify the effective functional molecules responsible for the reduction and stabilization of fungal synthesized silver nanoparticles, the FTIR spectrum was examined. Optimization of production of silver nanoparticles was done by changing parameters such as pH, temperature and concentration of silver nitrate solution and determined by absorbance in UV-Visible spectrophotometer. Thus, it is concluded that the biosynthesis of silver nanoparticles using extracellular fungal filtrate was simple, eco-friendly and robust. Also the dye reduction capabilities of silver nanoparticles were examined. Effective degradation of Methylene blue dye was observed giving 97 % efficiency in 90 minutes of exposure time.
National Early Warning Scores (NEWS2) and component physiology in COVID-19 positive hospitalised patients in the West of England
Authors: Scott Lauren J , Tavaré Alison , Hill Elizabeth M , Jordan Lesley , Juniper Mark , Srivast Seema , Redfern Emma , Little Hannah , Pullyblank Anne
Published: November 2020

Background: COVID-19 is an infectious disease, typically characterised by a dry cough, shortness of breath, fever, fatigue, and/or loss of taste and smell. National Early Warning Scores (NEWS2) are used to detect deterioration in hospital and out-of-hospital settings. The Royal College of Physicians (RCP) recommend NEWS2 for management of COVID-19 patients, but there is little evidence to support this.Aim: To investigate the relationship between NEWS2 values (and component scores) and hospital mortality in hospitalised COVID-19 patients in the West-of-England.Methods: Electronically recorded, routinely collected, observational physiological measurements (e.g. pulse, temperature, etc) were collated on all adult patients in participating hospitals between March and June 2020. First and maximum NEWS2 values, and their component scores, were calculated from the physiological measurements. Mortality status was presented by first and maximum NEWS2 and component scores, and areas under the curve (AUC) for 2, 7 and 30-day mortality were calculated.Results: Of 1,263 patients, 26% died during their hospital admission, 7% were admitted to ICU and subsequently discharged from hospital, and 67% were discharged without ICU.Most patients had low first NEWS2 values: 50% NEWS2=0-2, 27% NEWS2=3-4, 14% NEWS2=5-6, and 9% NEWS2=7+. However, many patients had a high maximum score: 14% NEWS2=0-2, 22% NEWS2=3-4, 17% NEWS2=5-6, and 47% NEWS2=7+. Patients with higher first and maximum scores were more likely to die, require ICU admission, and have longer length of stay. The AUCs for 2-day, 7-day and 30-day mortality were 0.77, 0.70 and 0.65, respectively. An increase in most first and maximum component scores were associated with an increased risk of mortality.Conclusion: NEWS2 is a reasonably good predictor of short-term mortality in this population, and the respiratory components are of the most value individually. These findings support the RCP’s recommendations to use NEWS2, alongside clinical judgement, in the assessment of COVID-19 patients.
COVID-19 morbidity and mortality forecast in megalopolis: a data approach to public health management in São Paulo, Brazil
Authors: Barcellos Demian da Silveira , Fernandes Giovane Matheus Kayser , Souza Fabio Teodoro de
Published: November 2020

The need for a scientific approach that can provide subsidies to governments and public health authorities in decision making to face pandemics, epidemics and endemics was one of the aspects recognized worldwide with the first wave of COVID-19. This article presents a methodology for the application of data mining as a support tool for coping with epidemic diseases. The methodological approach was applied in the city of São Paulo, Brazil, with the aim of predicting the evolution of COVID-19 in the metropolis and identifying air quality and meteorological variables correlated with confirmed cases and deaths from the coronavirus. Forecasting public health conditions is useful for preparing health teams in advance for a pandemic to prevent the system from collapsing. The statistical analyzes indicated the most important explanatory environmental variables, while the cluster analyzes showed which are the best input variables for the forecasting models. The forecast models were built by two different algorithms, J48 (C4.5) and CBA, and their results have been compared. The models developed can be used to predict new cases and deaths by COVID-19 in São Paulo. The methodological approach can be applied in other cities and for other epidemic diseases.
Identification of a four‑gene panel predicting overall survival for lung adenocarcinoma
Authors: Chunyu Li , Qizhong Long , Danni Zhang , Jun Li , Xianming Zhang
Published: November 2020

Background: Lung cancer is the most frequently diagnosed carcinoma and the leading cause of cancer-related mortality. Although molecular targeted therapy and immunotherapy have made great progress, the overall survival (OS) is still poor due to a lack of accurate and available prognostic biomarkers. Therefore, in this study we aimed to establish a multiple-gene panel predicting OS for lung adenocarcinoma.Methods: We obtained the mRNA expression and clinical data of lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) from TCGA database for further integrated bioinformatic analysis. Lasso regression and Cox regression were performed to establish a prognosis model based on a multi-gene panel. A nomogram based on this model was constructed. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve and the Kaplan–Meier curve were used to assess the predicted capacity of the model. The prognosis value of the multi-gene panel was further validated in TCGA-LUAD patients with EGFR, KRAS and TP53 mutation and a dataset from GEO. Gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) was performed to explore potential biological mechanisms of a novel prognostic gene signature.Results: A four-gene panel (including DKK1, GNG7, LDHA, MELTF) was established for LUAD prognostic indicator. The ROC curve revealed good predicted performance in both test cohort (AUC = 0.740) and validation cohort (AUC = 0.752). Each patient was calculated a risk score according to the model based on the four-gene panel. The results showed that the risk score was an independent prognostic factor, and the high-risk group had a worse OS compared with the low-risk group. The nomogram based on this model showed good prediction performance. The four-gene panel was still good predictors for OS in LUAD patients with TP53 and KRAS mutations. GSEA revealed that the four genes may be significantly related to the metabolism of genetic material, especially the regulation of cell cycle pathway.Conclusion: Our study proposed a novel four-gene panel to predict the OS of LUAD, which may contribute to predicting prognosis accurately and making the clinical decisions of individual therapy for LUAD patients.
A novel variant in PAX6 as the cause of aniridia in a Chinese family
Authors: Jin Xin , Liu Wei , Huang HouBin
Published: November 2020

Background: Aniridia is a kind of congenital human panocular anomaly, which is related to PAX6 commonly. Methods: A Chinese Aniridia pedigree underwent ophthalmic examinations, including visual acuity, slit lamp and fundoscopy examination. The targeted next-generation sequencing of Aniridia genes was used to identify the causative mutation. Results: A novel heterozygous PAX6 nonsense mutation c.619A>T (p.K207*) was identified in the Chinese autosomal dominant family with aniridia. Phenotypes related to the novel mutation include nystagmus, iris defect, cataract and absence of macular fovea. Conclusion: The novel nonsense mutation in PAX6 was responsible for aniridia phenotype in the family. which expands the spectrum of the PAX6 mutation and its associated phenotype.