Investigation of androgen receptor-dependent alternative splicing has identified a unique subtype of lethal prostate cancer / 亚洲男科学杂志(英文版)

A complete proteomics study characterizing active androgen receptor (AR) complexes in prostate cancer (PCa) cells identified a diversity of protein interactors with tumorigenic annotations, including known RNA splicing factors. Thus, we chose to further investigate the functional role of AR-mediated alternative RNA splicing in PCa disease progression. We selected two AR-interacting RNA splicing factors, Src associated in mitosis of 68 kDa (SAM68) and DEAD (Asp-Glu-Ala-Asp) box helicase 5 (DDX5) to examine their associative roles in AR-dependent alternative RNA splicing. To assess the true physiological role of AR in alternative RNA splicing, we assessed splicing profiles of LNCaP PCa cells using exon microarrays and correlated the results to PCa clinical datasets. As a result, we were able to highlight alternative splicing events of clinical significance. Initial use of exon-mini gene cassettes illustrated hormone-dependent AR-mediated exon-inclusion splicing events with SAM68 or exon-exclusion splicing events with DDX5 overexpression. The physiological significance in PCa was investigated through the application of clinical exon array analysis, where we identified exon-gene sets that were able to delineate aggressive disease progression profiles and predict patient disease-free outcomes independently of pathological clinical criteria. Using a clinical dataset with patients categorized as prostate cancer-specific death (PCSD), these exon gene sets further identified a select group of patients with extremely poor disease-free outcomes. Overall, these results strongly suggest a nonclassical role of AR in mediating robust alternative RNA splicing in PCa. Moreover, AR-mediated alternative spicing contributes to aggressive PCa progression, where we identified a new subtype of lethal PCa defined by AR-dependent alternative splicing.

Discussion on several statistical problems in establishing quality standards of standard decoctions / 中草药·英文版

Since 2016, a number of studies have been published on standard decoctions used in Chinese medicine. However, there is little research on statistical issues related to establishing the quality standards for standard decoctions. In view of the currently established quality standard methods for standard decoctions, an improvement scheme is proposed from a statistical perspective. This review explores the requirements for dry matter yield rate data and index component transfer data for the application of two methods specified in “Technical Requirements for Quality Control and Standard Establishment of Chinese Medicine Formula Granules,” which include the average value plus or minus three times the standard deviation (X-±3SD) or 70% to 130% of the average value (X-±30%X-). The square-root arcsine transformation method is used as an approach to solve the problem of unreasonable standard ranges of standard decoctions. This review also proposes the use of merged data to establish a standard. A method to judge whether multiple sets of standard decoction data can be merged is also provided. When multiple sets of data have a similar central tendency and a similar discrete tendency, they can be merged to establish a more reliable quality standard. Assuming that the dry matter yield rate and transfer rate conform to a binomial distribution, the number of batches of prepared slices that are needed to establish the standard decoction quality standard is estimated. It is recommended that no less than 30 batches of prepared slices should be used for the establishment of standard decoction quality standards.

Extracting Structured Genotype Information from Free-Text HLA Reports Using a Rule-Based Approach

BACKGROUND: Human leukocyte antigen (HLA) typing is important for transplant patients to prevent a severe mismatch reaction, and the result can also support the diagnosis of various disease or prediction of drug side effects. However, such secondary applications of HLA typing results are limited because they are typically provided in free-text format or PDFs on electronic medical records. We here propose a method to convert HLA genotype information stored in an unstructured format into a reusable structured format by extracting serotype/allele information.METHODS: We queried HLA typing reports from the clinical data warehouse of Seoul National University Hospital (SUPPREME) from 2000 to 2018 as a rule-development data set (64,024 reports) and from the most recent year (6,181 reports) as a test set. We used a rule-based natural language approach using a Python regex function to extract the 1) number of patients in the report, 2) clinical characteristics such as indication of the HLA testing, and 3) precise HLA genotypes. The performance of the rules and codes was evaluated by comparison between the extracted results from the test set and a validation set generated by manual curation.RESULTS: Among 11,287 reports for development set and 1,107 for the test set describing HLA typing for a single patient, iterative rule generation developed 124 extracting rules and 8 cleaning rules for HLA genotypes. Application of these rules extracted HLA genotypes with 0.892–0.999 precision and 0.795–0.998 recall for the five HLA genes. The precision and recall of the extracting rules for the number of patients in a report were 0.997 and 0.994 and those for the clinical variable extraction were 0.997 and 0.992, respectively. All extracted HLA alleles and serotypes were transformed according to formal HLA nomenclature by the cleaning rules.CONCLUSION: The rule-based HLA genotype extraction method shows reliable accuracy. We believe that there are significant number of patients who takes profit when this under-used genetic information will be return to them.

Equivalence of entrustable professional activities and context-dependent item sets as summative assessments in undergraduate physical therapy programs

Background@#Summative assessment of student performance should provide information on achievement of program outcomes to support evaluation decisions. Alternative approaches to the traditional assessment systems like the written licensure examinations in Physical Therapy (PT) should be explored to ensure valid measurement of achievement of these terminal outcomes. @*Objective@#The study aimed at establishing equivalence of two summative assessments new to PT in measuring achievement of the PT outcomes: work-based assessment using Entrustable Professional Activities (EPA) and knowledge-based assessment using Context-Dependent Item Sets (CDIS). @*Methodology@#Thirty-two newly graduated PT's underwent a one-week EPA assessment and took a 102-item CDIS test (based on 14 clinical vignettes). Qualitative data from blueprint review, group face-to-face interviews with participants and assessors, and field notes from observations, and quantitative data from EPA entrustment decisions and CDIS scores were utilized to ascertain their comparability in terms of Purpose, Administration, Quality and Decisions. This was used to determine the extent of equivalence of the two assessments. @*Results@#Review of both blueprints show alignment with PT outcomes, with integrative content motivating participants towards professional development. Administration were equally acceptable to users, though EPA had more practice opportunities with a longer assessment time. Entrustment decisions in EPA had a high inter-rater reliability, while CDIS had low reliability, with most items having poor discriminative power. Decisions of “pass” or “fail” had good concordance when high prevalence indices were considered. @*Conclusion@#There is high extent of equivalence in purpose of EPA and CDIS but are not equivalent in terms of administration. There is moderate equivalence in quality and decisions, with potential for increased concordance if improved quality of CDIS is attained.

The extension of the largest generalized-eigenvalue based distance metric D(ij)(γ₁) in arbitrary feature spaces to classify composite data points

Analyzing patterns in data points embedded in linear and non-linear feature spaces is considered as one of the common research problems among different research areas, for example: data mining, machine learning, pattern recognition, and multivariate analysis. In this paper, data points are heterogeneous sets of biosequences (composite data points). A composite data point is a set of ordinary data points (e.g., set of feature vectors). We theoretically extend the derivation of the largest generalized eigenvalue-based distance metric D(ij)(γ₁) in any linear and non-linear feature spaces. We prove that D(ij)(γ₁) is a metric under any linear and non-linear feature transformation function. We show the sufficiency and efficiency of using the decision rule δ(Ξi) (i.e., mean of D(ij)(γ₁)) in classification of heterogeneous sets of biosequences compared with the decision rules min(Ξi) and median(Ξi). We analyze the impact of linear and non-linear transformation functions on classifying/clustering collections of heterogeneous sets of biosequences. The impact of the length of a sequence in a heterogeneous sequence-set generated by simulation on the classification and clustering results in linear and non-linear feature spaces is empirically shown in this paper. We propose a new concept: the limiting dispersion map of the existing clusters in heterogeneous sets of biosequences embedded in linear and nonlinear feature spaces, which is based on the limiting distribution of nucleotide compositions estimated from real data sets. Finally, the empirical conclusions and the scientific evidences are deduced from the experiments to support the theoretical side stated in this paper.

Establishment of Rational Drug Use Evaluation Model Based on 360-degree Feedback Evaluation Method and Hesitant Fuzzy Sets Theory / 中国药房

OBJECTIVE： To establish a comprehensive and multi-angle evaluation model for rational drug use in medical institutions， and to provide support for rational drug use in medical institutions. METHODS： Referring to the phenomenon of irrational drug use and its influential factors in medical institutions， rational drug use evaluation indicator system， which contained 3 evaluation subjects， 6 first-level indicators and 15 second-level indicators， was established on the basis of 360-degree Feedback Method， with hospitals at the same level， superior regulation department and patient as subjects of multi-angle evaluation. At the same time， the linguistic information of vague and uncertain evaluation given by the evaluation subject was comprehensively quantified by Hesitant Fuzzy Sets Theory. The total evaluation score of rational drug use in the evaluated medical institutions was calculated by using the score function formula of hesitant fuzzy number； the level of rational drug use in medical institutions was determined according to the score （the higher the total score， the higher the comprehensive level of rational drug use）. RESULTS： An all-round and multi-angle evaluation model of rational drug use in medical institutions was established. According to the evaluation index system based on 360-degree feedback evaluation method， the evaluation subject and weight of evaluation index were determined， the grade of evaluation index was divided， the hesitant fuzzy numbers of each index were gathered， and the first-level index was weighted. Finally， the total evaluation score of rational drug use in medical institutions was calculated； the examples were set to prove the feasibility of the model. CONCLUSIONS： The established evaluation model for rational drug use in medical institutions based on 360-degree Feedback Method and Hesitant Fuzzy Sets Theory can comprehensively and effectively evaluate the rational drug use in medical institutions， and contribute to standardizing and improving clinical drug use behavior in medical institutions.

Analysis of traditional Chinese medicine treatment of asthma from different syndrome based on literature / 国际中医中药杂志

Objective To explore the rules of TCM treatment of Asthma on different syndromes. Methods We searched the modern clinical literature of asthma treated by TCM form Chinese Clinical Literature Database, SinoMed, CNKI, Wanfang Database and CQVIP from 1949-2017, collected key information such as diseases, syndromes, and drug composition by human-computer integration and constructed a database. We calculated the co-occurrence matrix of syndrome-herb and the frequent item sets of herb for different syndromes using TCM Miner (http://tcmminer.cintcm.com:8023/tcm/index.jsp). The prescription and treatment of asthma with different syndrome were analyzed, and a new medicine prescription was proposed for common five kinds of common syndromes. Results There were 234 articles containing 124 syllables, 1 337 prescriptions and 290 herbs. For different syndromes, the high-frequency medicine was obviously different, which reflected the important ideas of TCM syndrome differentiation. According to five common syndromes including fever syndrome, cold syndrome, lung-spleen qi deficiency syndrome and kidney-yang deficiency syndrome, five new drug prescriptions have evolved. Conclusions Analysis of TCM prescriptions based on differentiating syndromes can explore the essence of TCM and provided ideas and data support for researchers.

Analysis of traditional Chinese medicine treatment of asthma from different syndrome based on literature / 国际中医中药杂志

Objective@#To explore the rules of TCM treatment of Asthma on different syndromes.@*Methods@#We searched the modern clinical literature of asthma treated by TCM form Chinese Clinical Literature Database, SinoMed, CNKI, Wanfang Database and CQVIP from 1949-2017, collected key information such as diseases, syndromes, and drug composition by human-computer integration and constructed a database. We calculated the co-occurrence matrix of syndrome-herb and the frequent item sets of herb for different syndromes using TCM Miner (http://tcmminer.cintcm.com:8023/tcm/index.jsp). The prescription and treatment of asthma with different syndrome were analyzed, and a new medicine prescription was proposed for common five kinds of common syndromes.@*Results@#There were 234 articles containing 124 syllables, 1 337 prescriptions and 290 herbs. For different syndromes, the high-frequency medicine was obviously different, which reflected the important ideas of TCM syndrome differentiation. According to five common syndromes including fever syndrome, cold syndrome, lung-spleen qi deficiency syndrome and kidney-yang deficiency syndrome, five new drug prescriptions have evolved.@*Conclusions@#Analysis of TCM prescriptions based on differentiating syndromes can explore the essence of TCM and provided ideas and data support for researchers.

Summary of International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health core sets for individuals with autism spectrum disorders / 中华实用儿科临床杂志

Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental condition characterized by altered social communication,alongside restricted and stereotyped behaviors and interests,bringing a heavy burden to the family and society.International experts develop the International Classification of Functioning,Disability and Health (ICF) core sets for individuals with ASD.The ICF core sets for ASD will be a tool to describe individual functioning comprehensively.

Percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PCNL) with the single channel double sets of catheter sheath method in the management of complicated ureteric calculus / 中国内镜杂志

Objective To evaluate the effect of the percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PCNL) with the single channel double sets of catheter sheath method in the management of complicated ureteric calculus. Methods The clinical data of forty-eight cases with complicated ureteric calculus were retrospectively investigated. Among them, 18 cases with ipsilateral kidney calculus, 1 case with repeat renal deformity, within the ureteral calculus in upper kidney. Results 48 patients smoothly under ulime from ultrasound guided puncture percutaneous renal channel is established successfully, The establishing the channel to setting the double sheath to the ureteropelvic junction was (18.0 ± 5.0) min, the operation time was (59.0 ± 6.0) min, the stone free rate was 96.6% and no significant complications, such as septic shock, intraoperative or postoperative bleeding and damage to surrounding organs, were detected. The patients were followed up for 3 to 6 months, the degree of hydronephrosis significantly reduced and no ureteral stricture were developed during the period. Conclusion The percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PCNL) with the single channel double sets of catheter sheath method is safe and effective for complicated ureteral calculus.

Efficacy Observation of Extracorporeal Shock Wave Lithotripsy Combined Use Paishi Decoction in the Treatment of Kidney Stone / 中国药房

OBJECTIVE:To observe clinical efficacy of extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy combined with Paishi decoction in the treatment of kidney stone. METHODS:160 patients with kidney stone were selected and randomly divided into observation group and control group,with 80 cases in each group. Control group only received HB-ESWL-VG extracorporeal shock wave litho-tripsy;observation group additionally received Paishi decoction 300 ml,tid,for consecutive 1 week,on the basis of control group. Clinical efficacy was observed in 2 groups;the levels of serum inflammatory factor IL-2,IL-6,TNF-α,T lymphocyte subset CD3+,CD4+,CD8+ and CD4+/CD8+,erythrocyte immune function indicator C3b receptor rosette(C3bRR),immunity complex ro-sette(ICR)and tumor erythrocyte rosette(TER)level were detected in 2 groups before and after treatment. RESULTS:The effec-tive rate of observation group(98.75%)was significantly higher than that of control group(91.25%),with statistical significance (P0.05). CONCLUSIONS:The extracor-poreal shock wave lithotripsy combined with Paishi decoction can relieve inflammation reaction,enhance immune function and im-prove therapeutic efficacy.

Identification of certain cancer-mediating genes using Gaussian fuzzy cluster validity index.

In this article, we have used an index, called Gaussian fuzzy index (GFI), recently developed by the authors, based on the notion of fuzzy set theory, for validating the clusters obtained by a clustering algorithm applied on cancer gene expression data. GFI is then used for the identification of genes that have altered quite significantly from normal state to carcinogenic state with respect to their mRNA expression patterns. The effectiveness of the methodology has been demonstrated on three gene expression cancer datasets dealing with human lung, colon and leukemia. The performance of GFI is compared with 19 exiting cluster validity indices. The results are appropriately validated biologically and statistically. In this context, we have used biochemical pathways, p-value statistics of GO attributes, t-test and zscore for the validation of the results. It has been reported that GFI is capable of identifying high-quality enriched clusters of genes, and thereby is able to select more cancer-mediating genes.

Residues Determination of 5 Heavy Metal Elements in Single Use and Gravity Feed Infusion Sets and Intra-venous Infusion Needles by ICP-MS / 中国药师

Objective:To establish a method for the determination of residual 5 heavy metal elements in single use and gravity feed infusion sets and intravenous infusion needles, including Cd, Cr, Cu, Sn and Pb. Methods:After the pre-preparation,the sample was dissolved in 1% nitrate. The 5 heavy metal elements in the sample solution were determined by inductively coupled plasma mass spec-trometry (ICP-MS). Results:Under the ICP-MS assay conditions, each element showed good linearity within the range of 0-50 ng· ml-1(r>0. 999 0). The average recoveries were within the range of 92%-116% and 1. 6%-2. 9%, respectively (RSD<3,n=9). Conclusion:The operation is simple and can meet the demand for the analysis of heavy metal elements in single use and gravity feed infusion sets and intravenous infusion needles.

Application of Brief ICF Core Sets for Chinese Stroke Patients in Rehabilitation Assessment / 中国康复理论与实践

@#Objective To explore the application of Brief ICF Core Sets for Chinese Stroke Patients in rehabilitation assessment for patients with stroke. Methods 180 patients with stroke accepted routine rehabilitation for 2 months, and were assessed with ICF core set, Barthel Index (BI), Functional Comprehensive Assessment (FCA) and WHO Disability Assessment Schedule (WHODAS II) before, 2 and 6 months after treatment. Results The score of BI, FCA and WHODAS II correlated with that of ICF core sets (P<0.05). Conclusion ICF core sets can be used as a tool to assess the function of patients with stroke.

Application of Brief ICF Core Sets for Chinese Stroke Patients in Rehabilitation Assessment / 中国康复理论与实践

@#Objective To explore the application of Brief ICF Core Sets for Chinese Stroke Patients in rehabilitation assessment for patients with stroke. Methods 180 patients with stroke accepted routine rehabilitation for 2 months, and were assessed with ICF core set, Barthel Index (BI), Functional Comprehensive Assessment (FCA) and WHO Disability Assessment Schedule (WHODAS II) before, 2 and 6 months after treatment. Results The score of BI, FCA and WHODAS II correlated with that of ICF core sets (P<0.05). Conclusion ICF core sets can be used as a tool to assess the function of patients with stroke.

Research on Chinese Prescription Compatibility Based on Variable Precision Tolerance Model and Attribute Sensitivity Reduction / 世界科学技术-中医药现代化

Rough set theory is a powerful tool to deal with incomplete information system, which can be applied to prescription data analysis. In this paper, we suggested an improved rough set model called WVP-T model. The model combined the variable precision model with the tolerance relation model. It can overcome the shortcoming of classical model. Furthermore, attribute importance and entropy of information were combined as heuristic information. Medicine was mapped to rough set attribute in order to value its importance. Then, combined with curative effect, attribute reduction was used to investigate the relationship between prescription and medicine and the relationship between symptom and syndrome. The experimental results showed that algorithm proposed in this paper can be used in prescription data analysis and can accurately reveal the compatibility rules to guide the clinical medication.

A Review of Practical Use and Research Trends on Nursing Management Minimum Data Sets (NMMDS) / 간호행정학회지

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to review articles on Nursing Management Minimum Data Sets (NMMDS) and to suggest strategies to improve practical use of NMMDS in nursing management. METHODS: A systematic search for articles published until 2013 was undertaken using the following biomedical databases: CINAHL, PubMed, and Google scholar. Seventeen articles were fully reviewed. RESULTS: The results showed that studies were related to updating NMMDS reflecting current EHR use, mapping NMMDS to standardized national databases, and validating, translating and evaluating NMMDS for international uses. NMMDS has three dimensions and was developed reflecting the needs of nurse managers. CONCLUSION: The study findings provide a summary of recent trends in NMMDS. These results can serve as basic information to promote practical use of NMMDS in the healthcare organization to provide nursing management data for nurse managers.

Research on the Criterion-related Validity of Comprehensive ICF Core Sets for Stroke / 中国康复理论与实践

Objective To analyse the criterion-related validity of comprehensive ICF Core Sets for stroke. Methods Comparison of con-cepts of items among SF-36, Barthel index, Mini-mental State Examination, WHO quality of life-BREF, WHO Disability Assessment ScaleⅡ and Comprehensive ICF Core Sets for stroke had been conducted using the linking rules established by Cieza and Stucki. Field test had been conducted for 93 patients with stroke with the above 6 scales. Results 16 body function items and 27 activities and participation items matched with items of the selected functioning measurement scales (0.4

Classification of the severity of diabetic neuropathy: a new approach taking uncertainties into account using fuzzy logic

OBJECTIVE: This study proposes a new approach that considers uncertainty in predicting and quantifying the presence and severity of diabetic peripheral neuropathy. METHODS: A rule-based fuzzy expert system was designed by four experts in diabetic neuropathy. The model variables were used to classify neuropathy in diabetic patients, defining it as mild, moderate, or severe. System performance was evaluated by means of the Kappa agreement measure, comparing the results of the model with those generated by the experts in an assessment of 50 patients. Accuracy was evaluated by an ROC curve analysis obtained based on 50 other cases; the results of those clinical assessments were considered to be the gold standard. RESULTS: According to the Kappa analysis, the model was in moderate agreement with expert opinions. The ROC analysis (evaluation of accuracy) determined an area under the curve equal to 0.91, demonstrating very good consistency in classifying patients with diabetic neuropathy. CONCLUSION: The model efficiently classified diabetic patients with different degrees of neuropathy severity. In addition, the model provides a way to quantify diabetic neuropathy severity and allows a more accurate patient condition assessment.

A fuzzy system for cloacal temperature prediction of broiler chickens / Sistema fuzzy para a predição da temperatura cloacal de frangos de corte

Cloacal temperature (CT) of broiler chickens is an important parameter to classify its comfort status; therefore its prediction can be used as decision support to turn on acclimatization systems. The aim of this research was to develop and validate a system using the fuzzy set theory for CT prediction of broiler chickens. The fuzzy system was developed based on three input variables: air temperature (T), relative humidity (RH) and air velocity (V). The output variable was the CT. The fuzzy inference system was performed via Mamdani's method which consisted in 48 rules. The defuzzification was done using center of gravity method. The fuzzy system was developed using MAPLE® 8. Experimental results, used for validation, showed that the average standard deviation between simulated and measured values of CT was 0.13°C. The proposed fuzzy system was found to satisfactorily predict CT based on climatic variables. Thus, it could be used as a decision support system on broiler chicken growth.

A temperatura cloacal (TC) de frangos de corte é um importante parâmetro para classificar a sua condição de conforto, portanto, a sua predição pode ser usada no suporte à decisão de acionamento de sistemas de climatização. Objetivou-se com a presente pesquisa desenvolver e validar um sistema, utilizando a teoria dos conjuntos fuzzy para predição da TC de frangos de corte. O sistema fuzzy foi desenvolvido com base em três variáveis de entrada: temperatura do ar (T), umidade relativa (UR) e velocidade do ar (V), tendo, como variável de saída, a TC. A inferência fuzzy foi realizada por meio do método tipo Mamdani, que consistiu na elaboração de 48 regras e a defuzzificação por meio do método do Centro de Gravidade. O sistema fuzzy foi desenvolvido no ambiente computacional MAPLE® 8. Resultados experimentais, usados para a validação, mostraram que o desvio padrão médio entre os valores simulados e medidos de TC foi de 0,13°C. O sistema fuzzy proposto prediz satisfatoriamente a TC com base nas variáveis climáticas, podendo ser utilizado como suporte à decisão em sistemas de criação de frangos de corte.