Clinical efficacy and safety of erlotinib combined with chemotherapy in the treatment of advanced pancreatic cancer: A meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Advanced pancreatic cancer is resistant to chemotherapeutic drugs, resulting in limited treatment efficacy and poor prognosis. Combined administration of the chemotherapeutic gemcitabine and erlotinib is considered a potential first-line treatment for advanced pancreatic cancer. However, their comparative benefits and potential risks remain unclear. AIM: To assess the clinical efficacy and safety of erlotinib combined with other chemotherapy regimens for the treatment of advanced pancreatic cancer. METHODS: Literature on the clinical efficacy and safety of erlotinib combined with chemotherapy for advanced pancreatic cancer was retrieved through an online search. The retrieved literature was subjected to a methodological qualitative assessment and was analyzed using the RevMan 5.3 software. Ten randomized controlled trials involving 2444 patients with advanced pancreatic cancer were included in the meta-analysis. RESULTS: Compared with chemotherapeutic treatment, erlotinib combined with chemotherapy significantly prolonged the progression-free survival time of pancreatic cancer patients [hazard ratio (HR) = 0.78, 95%CI: 0.66-0.92, P = 0.003]. Meanwhile, the overall survival (HR= 0.99, 95%CI: 0.72-1.37, and P = 0.95) and disease control rate (OR = 0.93, 95%CI: 0.45-0.91, P = 0.84) were not significantly favorable. In terms of safety, the erlotinib and chemotherapy combination was associated with a significantly higher risk of diarrhea (OR = 3.59, 95%CI: 1.63-7.90, P < 0.05) and rash (OR = 3.63, 95%CI: 1.64-8.01, P < 0.05) compared with single-agent chemotherapy. Moreover, the risk of vomiting (OR = 1.27, 95%CI: 0.62-2.59, P = 0.51), regurgitation/anorexia (OR = 1.61, 95%CI: 0.25-10.31, P = 0.62), and infection (OR = 0.72, 95%CI: 0.28-1.87, P = 0.50) were not significant in either group. CONCLUSION: Compared with a single chemotherapeutic modality, erlotinib combined with gemcitabine can prolong progression-free survival in pancreatic cancer, but does not improve survival benefit or disease control rate, and can increase the risk of diarrhea and rash.

Understanding phosphorus fractions and influential factors on urban road deposited sediments.

Phosphorus (P) is a primary pollutant that builds-up on urban road surfaces. Understanding the fraction and load characteristics of P, as well as their relationship with urban factors, is helpful for assessing the ecological risk of urban receiving water bodies. This study presents the characteristics of build-up loads of P fractions in road-deposited sediments (RDS) in Guangzhou, China, analyzes their correlation with three urban factors (road, traffic, and land-use area), and then estimates the exceedance probability of P in stormwater runoff over the past 10 years. The results showed that detrital apatite phosphorus (De-P) performed the highest build-up load on urban road surfaces, followed by apatite phosphorus (Ca-P), iron-bound phosphorus (Fe-P), exchangeable phosphorus (Ex-P), aluminum-bound phosphorus (Al-P), organophosphorus (POP), dissolved inorganic phosphorus (DIP), occluded phosphorus (Oc-P), and dissolved organic phosphorus (DOP). Depression depth, road materials, and land-use fractions affected the P fractions. The P in the RDS may have originated from three distinct sources: road background, domestic waste, and untreated wastewater discharge. In the most recent 10 years, the event mean concentrations of total P in the RDS have had a 30 % probability of exceeding 0.4 mg L-1, which indicates a serious threat of P to receiving water bodies. The outcomes of this study are expected to provide valuable guidance for elucidating the principal categories of urban non-point source P pollution and enhancing the ecological health of urban water environments.

Association of agression and angry expression category perception under social exclusion among male students in reform school / 中国学校卫生

Objective@#To explore the relationship between aggression and category perception of angry expression in reform school students under social exclusion, so as to provide reference for the reform school students mental health promotion.@*Methods@#In May 2023, 144 students were randomly selected from a reform school in Guizhou Province, and were divided into high and low aggression groups(77 and 67 students) by Aggression Questionnaire. Cyberball game was used to induce social exclusion and acceptance, subjects were divided into high aggressive exclusion group ( n =42), high aggressive acceptance group ( n =35), low aggressive exclusion group ( n =37) and low aggressive acceptance group ( n =30). All the participants completed the discrimination and identification tasks of category perception paradigm, and the relationship between aggression and category perception of angry expression of reform school students under social exclusion was analyzed by using category turning point, identification curve and analysis of variance.@*Results@#The total score of aggression(97.34±8.00) and four dimensions (physical aggression: 29.75± 4.61, verbal aggression:17.19±2.58, anger:22.29±3.66, hostility:28.10±3.54) in the high aggression group were higher than those in the low aggression group(74.10±9.02，21.09±4.98，14.30±2.66，17.16±3.83，21.55±3.88), and the differences were statistically significant ( t =16.38, 10.85, 6.62, 8.20, 10.59, P <0.01). For identifying the turning point of the fear anger continuum, the social exclusion group（2.58±0.07）was significantly smaller than the social acceptance group（2.79±0.07）( F =4.85, η 2=0.07, P < 0.05 ）, and the social exclusion group had a tendency to shift the category boundary to the fear side. For identifying the slope at the angry happiness continuum category boundary curve, the high aggression group (0.63±0.03) was significantly higher than the low aggression group (0.53±0.03)( F =5.38, η 2=0.08, P <0.05). In the fear anger continuum,the high aggression group[(694.86± 78.29 )ms] reacted more quickly than the low aggression group[(660.70±79.86)ms]( F =5.08, η 2=0.05， P <0.05) In the angry happiness continuum, there was no statistical significance of social exclusion and aggression( P >0.05).@*Conclusions@#The suggests that social exclusion can lead to hostility attribution bias in individuals, while aggression can make individuals more sensitive to angry expression. The mechanisms by which social exclusion and aggression affect expression category perception are independent rather than interactive. The society should give tolerance and acceptance to reform school students, reduce exclusion and discrimination, and the reform education department should correct the aggressive behavior of reform school students and promote their mental health.

A study on different types of moral courage and coping styles of clinical nurses: based on potential profile analysis.

BACKGROUND: In professional ethics-related events, there are various unpleasant and complex ethical issues that require strong moral courage. Our aim is to identify and describe the potential categories of moral courage among nurses and to clarify the coping styles of nurses under different categories. METHOD: A cross-sectional study was conducted using three data collection tools: a self-designed general information questionnaire, a Chinese version of the Moral Courage Scale, and a Trait Coping Style Questionnaire. Three hundred fourteen nurses from a tertiary hospital in Heilongjiang Province, China, were analysed using potential profile analysis, descriptive analysis, and Mann-Whitney U test data. RESULT: The latent profile analysis (LPA) results indicate that the two-profile model is the most suitable and supports the existence of two different moral courage profiles: the low moral courage group (60.51%) and the high moral courage group (39.49%), with a high relative entropy value (0.922). The results point to a good profile solution, and there are significant differences between the two profiles. The Mann-Whitney U-test results showed that the positive coping scores of the high moral courage group were significantly higher than those of the low moral courage group, and the negative coping scores of the high moral courage group were significantly lower than those of the low moral courage group. CONCLUSION: Our results reveal the heterogeneity of moral courage in the nurse sample and indicate that nurses in the high moral courage group tend to choose positive coping styles, while nurses in the low moral courage group are more likely to develop negative coping emotions. This provides important significance and reference value for nursing managers, who can propose customised management plans based on the types of moral courage of the nursing community and the coping styles under different categories.

An autonomous driven DNA walker-based electrochemical aptasensor for on-site detection of Ochratoxin A.

Herein, an autonomous driven DNA walker-based aptasensor is proposed for the detection of Ochratoxin A (OTA). A nanoscale metal-organic framework (MOF) is synthesized and used to load Mn2+, a cofactor for DNAzyme. The DNA walker and Mn2+@MOF are assembled on the Au surface, integrating the DNA walker and metal auxiliary ions. The proposed sensor avoids the addition of metal auxiliary ions of DNAzyme from the external environment, which achieves the fully autonomous driving of DNA walker and facilitates the on-site detection of OTA. In addition, the substrate strands are modified with a newly synthesized tetraferrocene signal marker, further achieving signal amplification. The sensor demonstrates a sensitivity of 0.289 pg/mL and is successfully applied to real food sample analysis.

Phase retrieval for objects in rain based on a combination of variational image decomposition and variational mode decomposition in FPP.

As far as we know, there is no paper reported to retrieve the phase of an object in rain by the fringe projection profilometry (FPP) method. The fringe projection pattern taken in rain contains much rain noise, which makes it difficult to accurately retrieve the phase of the object. In this paper, we focus on the phase retrieval of the object in rain by the FPP method. We first decompose the original fringe projection pattern into a series of band-limited intrinsic mode functions by the two-dimensional variational mode decomposition (2D-VMD) method. Then we screen out fringe-associated modes adaptively based on mutual information and reconstruct the fringe projection pattern. Next, we decompose the reconstructed fringe projection pattern by the TGV-Hilbert-BM3D variational model to obtain the de-rained fringe component. Finally, we use the Fourier transform method, phase unwrapping method, and carrier-removal method to obtain the unwrapped phase. We test the proposed method on three fringe projection patterns taken in simulated rain weather, and we compare our proposed method with the phase-shifting method, windowed Fourier method, morphological operation-based bidimensional empirical mode decomposition method, 2D-VMD method, and the TGV-Hilbert-BM3D method. The experimental results demonstrate that, for the first time to our knowledge, our method can effectively retrieve the phase of an object in rain from a single fringe projection pattern.

A self-powered and reagent-less electrochemical aptasensor based on a DNA walker and tetraferrocene for the detection of aflatoxin B1.

We constructed a self-powered and reagent-less electrochemical aptamer sensor for sensitive detection of aflatoxin B1 (AFB1). Here, the metal ion Mn2+ required for the DNAzyme to drive a DNA walker is wrapped in UIO-66(Zr)-(COOH)2 and AFB1 triggers the DNAzyme walking strands to automatically and continuously cut the tetraferrocene-labeled substrate strands, which results in a significant decrease in the electrochemical signal. Under the optimal conditions, the concentration dependence of AFB1 is linear in the concentration range of 0.1 pg mL-1 to 0.195 µg mL-1, and the limit of detection is as low as 4.8 fg mL-1. The sensor displayed good performance even for samples with a complex matrix, such as a peanut sample. The recoveries of AFB1 obtained ranged from 95.5 to 106.8%. The developed sensing platform is reagent-less, self-powered, and highly sensitive. It holds great potential for detection of AFB1 in environmental and food samples.

An electrochemical DNA sensor based on an integrated and automated DNA walker.

As an artificial nanomachine, a DNA walker demonstrates the potential for biosensing. In this study, a highly integrated, biostable, and autonomous electrochemical DNA walker sensor was rationally designed by a simple assembly of a Mn2+-dependent DNAzyme-powered DNA walker with nanoscale Mn2+ @MOFs containing free carboxylic acid groups UiO-66(Zr)-(COOH)2. In this study, the release of Mn2+ from Mn2+@MOFs was exploited to drive the autonomous and progressive operation of the DNA walker, and the DNAzyme-driven DNA walker was constructed by the co-modification of walking strands and track strands onto the gold electrode (GE) surface. The walking strand was a single-stranded DNA containing a DNAzyme sequence, which was pre-silenced by the locking strand. The track strand was a specially designed DNA sequence that the target can hybridize with the locking strand; hence, the walking strand is unlocked, and the liberated DNAzyme catalyzes the cleavage of track strands to drive the DNA walker operation, shifting tetraferrocene away from the electrode and producing a significant signal change. A detection limit of 38 fM was obtained with our new system, exhibiting a wide linear range from 1.5625 × 10-9 M to 1 × 10-13 M. The proposed approach provided a novel means for constructing an highly integrated, automated, and DNAzyme-driven DNA walker for bioanalysis.

Hydrogen sulfide treatment increases the antioxidant capacity of fresh Lingwu Long Jujube (Ziziphus jujuba cv. Mill) fruit during storage.

Hydrogen sulfide (H2S) has been identified as an important gaseous signal molecule in plants. Here, we investigated the effects of H2S on postharvest senescence and antioxidant metabolism of Lingwu Long Jujube (Ziziphus jujuba cv. Mill) fruits (LLJF). Fumigation of Jujube fruits with H2S released from 0.4 mm NaHS could significantly prolong the postharvest shelf life of jujube fruits, reduce the decay rate of fruit, the weight loss of fruit, and inhibit the fruit loss, hardness, color, soluble solids, and titratable acidity. Compared with the control group, exogenous H2S fumigation significantly decreased the loss of chlorophyll, carotenoids, soluble protein, ascorbic acid, phenols, and flavonoids in jujube fruits during post-harvest storage. At the same time, H2S could significantly delay the accumulation of malondialdehyde (MDA), hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and superoxide anion (O2 ∙-) and promote catalase (CAT), superoxide dismutase (SOD), ascorbate peroxidase (APX), peroxidase (POD) activity, and inhibit polyphenol oxidase (PPO) activity. To summarize, H2S can effectively alleviate postharvest senescence and decay of jujube fruits by regulating the ROS accumulation and antioxidant enzymes, and prolong the storage period of postharvest.

Variational image decomposition model TGV-Hilbert-BM3D for phase retrieval in FPP and its application for an on-site wall surface bulge.

Mass loss from wall surface bulge deformation can be used to estimate the strength loss of reinforcement, bond reduction, and ductility degradation, so it is very important to accurately measure the three-dimensional (3D) shape of on-site wall surface bulge. In this paper, we try to solve the problem by use of fringe projection profilometry. In the fringe projection patterns of wall surface bulge, the contrast of the fringes is very weak, and there are sometimes cracks in patterns. We first present a preprocessing method to inpaint fringes if there are damaged fringes caused by cracks. Then we propose a new, to the best of our knowledge, image decomposition model, total generalized variation (TGV)-Hilbert-block-matching (BM)3D, to effectively extract the fringe component. Finally, we use Fourier transform, phase unwrapping, and carrier-removal methods to obtain the unwrapped phase. We test the proposed method on a simulated fringe projection pattern and two real fringe projection patterns of wall surface bulge. We compare our method with the advanced total variation space-generalized functions space-BM3D, TV-Hilbert-L2, and Beppo-Levi-space-Hilbert-BM3D methods. In addition, we perform ablation experiments to prove that our preprocessing method is necessary. The experimental results demonstrate that our method can effectively measure the 3D shape of wall surface bulge from a single fringe projection pattern for the first time, to our knowledge.

Immobilization-free electrochemical DNA sensor based on signal cascade amplification strategy.

The development of convenient and efficient strategies without using complex nanomaterials or enzymes for signal amplification is very important for bioanalytical applications. Herein, a novel electrochemical DNA sensor was developed by harnessing the signal amplification efficiency of catalytic hairpin assembly (CHA) and a brand-new signal marker tetraferrocene. The prepared sensor had both ends of the probe H2 labeled with tetraferrocene; both ends have a large number of unhybridized T bases, which cause tetraferrocene to move closer to the electrode surface, generating a high-efficiency amplification signal. In the presence of target DNA, it induced strand exchange reactions promoting the formation of double-stranded DNA and recycling of target DNA. Under optimal conditions, the sensor showed a good linear correlation between the peak currents and logarithm of target DNA concentrations (ranging from 0.1 fM to 0.3125 pM) with a detection limit of 0.06 fM, which is obtained by a triple signal-to-noise ratio. Additionally, the prepared sensor possesses excellent selectivity, reproducibility, and stability, demonstrating efficient and stable DNA detection methodology.

Three-dimensional self-powered DNA walking machine based on catalyzed hairpin assembly energy transfer strategy.

Herein, catalyzed hairpin assembly is implemented as an automated strategy, which can respond in living cells to detect specific target DNA. Using the principle of catalyzed hairpin assembly (CHA), the auxiliary chain connects the fuel and starting chain to form a triple-stranded DNA to complete such a single system. Hundreds of single systems are modified on gold nanoparticles as DNA orbitals. Through the specific recognition of base complementation, the target DNA can realize the automatic walking of the three-dimensional fluorescence machine. This is a novel walking nanomachine that has a simple structure and can independently exist in cells to achieve automatic operation.

Integrating Tank Model and adsorption/desorption characteristics of filter media to simulate outflow water quantity and quality of a bioretention basin: A case study of biochar-based bioretention basin.

Reliable approaches for accurately assessing the performance of stormwater treatment systems is essential for their effective design, including filter media selection which can be a significant constituent in stormwater treatment systems. This study presents an innovative modelling approach integrating the Tank Model with the adsorption-desorption characteristics of the filter media. The resulting modelling approach was applied to simulate a field-scale bioretention basin where biochar was used as filter media with over ten years of rainfall records. The resulting outflow and overflow volumes were compared with observed data for calibration. The Stormwater Treatment Tank Model (STTM) was validated using the Leave-One-Out-Cross-Validation (LOOCV) method. The simulation outcomes include water outflow and overflow (quantity) from the bioretention basin as well as outflow water quality represented by three heavy metals (Pb, Cu, and Zn). The modelling approach developed was found to be capable of accurately simulating outflow and overflow volumes, with outlet water quantity being significantly influenced by the total rainfall depth. The modeling results also suggested that a sole treatment system would not be adequate, particularly for large rainfall events (>100 mm) and a treatment train would be more effective. Simulating long-term (over ten years) pollutant removal performance in the bioretention basin indicated that heavy metals outflow event mean concentration (EMCs) values calculated using simulated results of 30% biochar application rate generated the best pollutant removal with consistent values (2.7 µg/L, 3.0 µg/L, 17.2 µg/L for Pb, Cu, and Zn, respectively). These results confirm that the modelling approach is reliable for assessing long-term treatment performance, as well as a robust tool able to contribute to more effective treatment system design, particularly filter media selection and evaluation.

Correlation analysis between corneal biomechanical parameters and high-order aberrations in myopia children / 国际眼科杂志(Guoji Yanke Zazhi)

AIM:To investigate the correlation between corneal biomechanical parameters measured by the corneal visualization Scheimpflug Technology(Corvis ST)and corneal high-order aberrations(HOAs)in children with mild to moderate myopia.METHODS:A cross-sectional study. A total of 255 pediatric patients with myopia enrolled from April to July 2021 in Tianjin Medical University Eye Hospital were continuously collected, and all the right eyes were taken for analysis. Corneal biomechanical parameters were obtained from Corvis ST. Pentacam three-dimensional anterior segment analyzer was used to measure total corneal higher-order aberrations(RMSh), third order aberrations(RMS3)and fourth order aberrations(RMS4).RESULTS:RMS3 was positively correlated with the second applanation time(A2T)(r=0.175, P=0.009)and negatively correlated with the axis length(AL)(r=-0.155, P=0.014). RMS4 was negatively correlated with the highest concavity radius(HCR)(r=-0.165, P=0.009). RMSh was negatively correlated with HCR and AL(r=-0.152, P=0.037; r=-0.175, P=0.005).CONCLUSION:There is a correlation between corneal biomechanical parameters and HOAs in children with myopia. Cornea with higher stiffness and stronger deformation resistance has smaller RMS3, RMS4 and RMSh.

Effect of interleukin-23R overexpression on Th17/Treg balance in experimental autoimmune uveitis mice / 中华眼底病杂志

Objective:To investigate the effect of interleukin (IL)-23 receptor (IL-23R) overexpression on the balance of T helper 17 (Th17 cells)/regulatory T cells (Treg cells) in experimental autoimmune uveitis (EAU) mice.Methods:Twelve 8-week-old female C57BL/6J mice were randomly divided into LV-Ctrl group and LV-IL-23R group, with 6 mice in each group. Two groups of mice were injected with LV-Ctrl and LV-IL-23R lentiviruses through the tail vein, respectively; 7 days after injection, the EAU mouse model was established by active immunization with vitamin A-binding protein 1-20 between photoreceptors. Starting from 13 days after immunization, the fundus of the mice was observed by indirect ophthalmoscopy every 2 days and clinical scores were performed; 30 days after immunization, hematoxylin-eosin staining was used to observe the histopathological changes of mouse retina. The levels of IL-17 in serum of the two groups of mice were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay; the proportion of Th17 cells and Treg cells was detected by flow cytometry. The relative mRNA expression of IL-23R, IL-17, retinoic acid-related orphan receptor γt (RORγt), IL-10 and forkhead transcripyion factor p3 (Foxp3) were detected by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction. Comparisons between groups were performed using repeated measures analysis of variance, independent samples Mann-Whitney U test, and independent samples t test. Results:Compared with the LV-Ctrl group, the retinal inflammatory reaction of the LV-IL-23R group was more severe. At 13 days after immunization, there was no significant difference in fundus inflammation scores between LV-IL-23R group and LV-Ctrl group ( t=-2.001, P=0.058); 15-29 days after immunization. The fundus inflammation scores of LV-IL-23R group were higher than those of LV-Ctrl group, and the difference was statistically significant ( t=-4.429,-6.578, -7.768, -10.183, -6.325, -7.304, -4.841, -6.872; P<0.001). Histopathological examination showed that the infiltration of inflammatory cells in the fundus increased, the retinal structure was damaged more seriously, and the histopathological score was significantly increased, and the difference was statistically significant ( t=-4.339, P=0.001). Compared with the LV-Ctrl group, the relative expression of IL-23R mRNA in the spleen of the LV-IL-23R group was significantly increased, and the difference was statistically significant ( Z=2.087, P=0.037). The relative expression of IL-17 and RORγt mRNA increased, while the relative expression of IL-10 and Foxp3 mRNA decreased, and the differences were statistically significant ( t=-6.313,-5.922, 4.844, 7.572; P=0.003, 0.004, 0.008, 0.002). Compared with the LV-Ctrl group, the level of IL-17 in the serum of the mice in the LV-IL-23R group was significantly increased, and the difference was statistically significant ( t=-5.423, P=0.002); the proportion of Th17 cells in the spleen and lymph nodes was significantly increased, whereas, the proportion of Treg cells was significantly reduced, and the difference was statistically significant ( t=-4.290, 3.700; P=0.002, 0.006). Conclusion:IL-23R overexpression can promote Th17/Treg imbalance in EAU mice, and aggravate the clinical and pathological manifestations of EAU.

Immunoregulatory effects of miR-31-5p overexpression on peripheral blood Th17 cell in a rabbit model of autoimmune dry eye / 中华实验眼科杂志

Objective:To investigate the immunoregulatory effects of lentivirus-mediated microRNA (miR)-31-5p overexpression on peripheral blood T helper cell 17 (Th17) in a rabbit model of autoimmune dry eye.Methods:The miR-31-5p recombinant lentiviral vector was constructed.Lentivirus overexpressing miR-31-5p and its control virus were packaged.The concentration measurement and lentiviral titer determination were carried out.A rabbit model of autoimmune dry eye was established and the peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) of the rabbits were isolated.PBMC infected with miR-31-5p and negative control lentivirus particles were assigned as the miR-31-5p overexpression group and control group, respectively.The miR-31-5p expression level was detected using quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR). Then PBMC in the two groups were co-cultured with γ-ray irradiated lacrimal gland epithelial cells.The expressions of Th17 cell related transcription factor retinoic acid-receptor-related orphan receptor C (RORC) and interleukin-17 (IL-17) mRNA, IL-1β, IL-6 and IL-23 were determined by qRT-PCR.The IL-17 protein expression level was detected by Western blot.The use and care of animals complied with Regulation for the Administration of Affair Concerning Experiment Animals by State Science and Technology Commission.The study protocol was approved by the Ethics Committee of Tianjin Medical University Eye Hospital (No.TJYY20201221036).Results:The construction of the miR-31-5p recombinant lentiviral vector was verified by DNA sequencing.The lentiviral titer of lentivirus overexpressing miR-31-5p and control lentivirus particles was 3.82×10 7 TU/ml and 3.50×10 7 TU/ml, respectively.The miR-31-5p relative expression level of PBMC was significantly increased in miR-31-5p overexpression group in comparison with control group, showing a statistically significant difference ( t=-9.696, P<0.001). When PBMC were co-cultured with lacrimal gland epithelial cells in vitro, the relative expression levels of RORC and IL-17 mRNA in miR-31-5p overexpression group were 0.33±0.03 and 0.28±0.09, which were significantly decreased in comparison with 1.00±0.00 and 1.00±0.00 in control group, with statistically significant differences between them ( t=46.256, 13.810; both at P<0.05). The relative expression level of IL-17 protein in miR-31-5p overexpression group was significantly reduced than control group ( t=4.977, P=0.008). The relative expression levels of IL-1β, IL-6 and IL-23 mRNA were significantly lower in miR-31-5p overexpression group than control group ( t=220.076, 6.641, 13.271; all at P<0.05). Conclusions:The overexpression of miR-31-5p can inhibit the Th17-immune response via down-regulating the expression of IL-6, IL-1β and IL-23.

Pancreatic cancer with synchronous liver and colon metastases: A case report.

BACKGROUND: Metastasis of pancreatic cancer to the colon is rare and the features need to be further elucidated. Herein, we report a rare case of pancreatic cancer with simultaneous liver and colon metastases. CASE SUMMARY: A 48-year-old man with intrahepatic space-occupying lesions based on a computed tomography scan was admitted to our hospital for further treatment. Abdominal magnetic resonance imaging revealed a 6.4 cm × 4.2 cm mass in the tail of the pancreas and multiple low-density masses in the liver parenchyma. In addition, a mass of 2.2 cm × 1.6 cm with surface congestive erosions in the sigmoid colon was detected by colonoscopy. Histopathological examination of biopsies from both the liver and colon lesions revealed a moderately to poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma. Immunohistochemical staining of the colon tumor was positive for cytokeratin (CK) 7 and CK, but negative for colorectal adenocarcinoma-related markers CK 20, CDX2, and SATB2, thus indicating that the metastasis originated from the pancreas. Next-generation sequencing for genomic profiling of the liver and colon metastases both found mutations in KRAS (p.G12D) and TP53 (c.376-1delG), with microsatellite stable and low tumor mutational burden without actionable or cancer-predisposing gene mutations detected. The patient was subsequently treated with 12 cycles of FOLFIRINOX which led to a sustainable response, followed by ongoing maintenance treatment with irinotecan plus fluorouracil. CONCLUSION: For this rare case, careful evaluation of histopathological and immunohistochemical staining results are required. The genomic profiling of colon lesions was revealed for the first time, and FOLFIRINOX showed good treatment efficacy in this patient.

ULNet for the detection of coronavirus (COVID-19) from chest X-ray images.

Novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is an infectious disease that spreads very rapidly and threatens the health of billions of people worldwide. With the number of cases increasing rapidly, most countries are facing the problem of a shortage of testing kits and resources, and it is necessary to use other diagnostic methods as an alternative to these test kits. In this paper, we propose a convolutional neural network (CNN) model (ULNet) to detect COVID-19 using chest X-ray images. The proposed architecture is constructed by adding a new downsampling side, skip connections and fully connected layers on the basis of U-net. Because the shape of the network is similar to UL, it is named ULNet. This model is trained and tested on a publicly available Kaggle dataset (consisting of a combination of 219 COVID-19, 1314 normal and 1345 viral pneumonia chest X-ray images), including binary classification (COVID-19 vs. Normal) and multiclass classification (COVID-19 vs. Normal vs. Viral Pneumonia). The accuracy of the proposed model in the detection of COVID-19 in the binary-class and multiclass tasks is 99.53% and 95.35%, respectively. Based on these promising results, this method is expected to help doctors diagnose and detect COVID-19. Overall, our ULNet provides a quick method for identifying patients with COVID-19, which is conducive to the control of the COVID-19 pandemic.

A Sensitive Thrombin Aptasensor Based on Target Circulation Strategy.

A convenient homogeneous electrochemical thrombin sensor based on potential-assisted Au-S deposition and a dual signal amplification strategy was established in this study. Potential-assisted Au-S deposition does not require the modification of the gold electrode, thus eliminating the tedious pre-modification of the electrode. To better amplify the output signal, both ends of the signal hairpin probes were modified with a new electroactive substance, tetraferrocene, which was synthesized by the authors. Thrombin was immediately hybridized with a thiol-modified probe to open the stem-loop structure. After chain hybridization, thrombin was replaced and participated in the next round of the reaction; thus, the cascade amplification of the signal was realized. The hybrid chain formed an Au-S deposition under potential assistance, and the electrochemical signal of tetraferrocene could then be measured through differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) and consequently used for the quantitative detection of target thrombin. In addition, the detection limit of thrombin was as low as 0.06 pmol/L, and the detection of common interfering proteins was highly specific.

An electrochemical Hg2+ sensor based on signal amplification strategy of target recycling.

In this work, an unmodified homogeneous electrochemical sensor based on electrochemical bonding and catalytic hairpin assembly (CHA) was first constructed for the high sensitivity detection of Hg2+. Herein, tetraferrocene, a synthesized compound, was used as a signal marker that modified both ends of the hairpin probe to amplify the electrochemical signal. The interaction of T-Hg2+-T could induce the catalytic self-assembly of hairpins by means of auxiliary DNA. The rigid DNA triangle that was formed easily reaches the electrode and induced Au-S self-assembly assisted by potential, allowing tetraferrocene to reach the electrode surface and generate a sensitive electrochemical signal. CHA and tetraferrocene signal markers accomplished dual signal amplification, and the limit of detection was 0.12 pM. Differential pulse voltammetry experiments in the presence of tetraferrocene redox indicator show that the linear response range of electrochemical biosensors to mercury ions is 0.2-2000 pM, This technology offers good selectivity and high recognition efficiency for the detection of mercury ions and has broad application prospects in actual sample detection.