Prognostic value of neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio and platelet counts during chemotherapy in patients with advanced gastric cancer.

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the predictive significance of dynamic changes in the neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and platelet counts (PLTs) in patients with advanced gastric cancer (GC) during chemotherapy. METHODS: A total of 259 advanced GC patients receiving chemotherapy were enrolled and grouped by high or low NLR with a cut value of 2.5 and PLT with cut value of 300×109/L. The Kaplan-Meier survival model and the Log-rank test were carried out to determine the comparison on the overall survival differences. Cox regression analysis was employed to carry out both univariate and multivariate regression studies, aiming to explore potential prognostic factors acting independently. RESULTS: Higher pre-chemotherapy NLR exhibited an association with metastasis and advanced grade of Borrmann type, and higher NLR of pre- or post-chemotherapy GC patients was related with Borrmann type grade. Moreover, higher PLT counts are associated with advanced grades of Borrmann type. Interestingly, patients with lower post-chemotherapy NLR or decreasing NLR hold better overall response rate and disease control rate than those with higher NLR or increasing NLR. Furthermore, patients with high post-chemotherapy NLR alone or higher post-chemotherapy NLR plus higher post-chemotherapy PLT. CONCLUSION: Our study suggested that high post-chemotherapy NLR and post-chemotherapy PLT might be adverse prognostic markers in advanced GC patients undergoing chemotherapy.

[Effect of preoperative waiting time on prognosis of elderly patients with hip fracture].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the relationship between preoperative waiting time and prognosis of elderly patients with hip fracture. METHODS: From January 2014 to December 2018, 333 elderly hip fracture patients undergoing surgery were retrospectively analyzed, including 104 males and 229 females, aged from 60 to 99 years with an average of (77.93±8.49) years, and 183 patients were femoral neck fracture, 150 patients were femoral intertrochanteric fracture. Among them, 269 patients (80.78%) had a clustered preoperative waiting time of 2 to 8 days, and then divided into within 4-day group(91 cases) and over 4-day group(242 cases) according to their preoperative waiting time. The survival situation was followed by telephone, and follow-up time started from fracture admission to the death event, or to the research deadline (December 31, 2019). The Kaplan-Meier method was used for survival analysis, and Cox risk proportion model was used to analyze the independent risk factors of hip fracture in elderly patients. RESULTS: All patients were followed up for 12 to 75 months(means 35 months), 59 patients died and the mortality rate was 17.72%(59/333). Compared with within 4-day group, the mortality rate was higher in over 4-day group[20.66%(50/242) vs. 9.89%(9/91), χ2=5.263, P=0.022]. Multiariable Cox regression analysis showed that preoperative waiting time, age, male and Charlson comorbidity index were independent risk factors for the prognosis of hip fracture in elderly patients (all P<0.05), and every 1-day delay was associated with 5% increase of the risk of death[HR=1.05, 95%CI(1.00-1.10), P=0.045]. Subsequent analyse was stratified according to the Charlson comorbidity index (CCI), and found that over 4-day group had a higher mortality rate in patients with CCI<2, with statistically significant difference(P<0.05). CONCLUSION: For elderly patients with hip fracture, most of hospitals could not complete the hip fracture surgery within 48 hours, we also need to shorten the waiting time before surgery, and thereby improve their prognosis.

From waste tire to high value-added chemicals: an analytical Py-GC/TOF-MS study.

A Pyroprobe 5000 pyrolyzer connected to a gas chromatography-time-of-flight mass spectrometry (Py-GC-TOF-MS) was used to analyze the decomposition behavior of waste tire (WT). Effects of several typical parameters such as heating rate, atmosphere, reaction temperature, retention time, and zeolites on molecular composition and relative contents of the liquid products were investigated. Without added zeolite, the pyrolysis products mainly consisted of limonene, 1,4-pentadiene, and monocyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (MAHs) such as benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene (BTEX). L-limonene was the dominant fraction (> 85%) of the limonene. Temperature and time presented the most significant effect on the liquid products' molecular composition and relative content, and increasing temperature and time reduced the contents of alkenes and increased the concentration of MAHs. With added zeolite, the molecular composition of the liquid products was greatly affected. All the liquid products produced with zeolite had higher MAHs and lower alkenes compared with those without added zeolite. Among the zeolites tested, Hß was the most beneficial catalyst to the production of aromatic hydrocarbons as the MAHs reached the highest value of 53.09%. The N, S-compound mainly consisted of benzothiazole and 2-methyl-benzothiazoles-important rubber accelerators. The O, S-compound mainly consisted of sulfones or sulfoxides.

Systemic immune-inflammation index independently predicts poor survival of older adults with hip fracture: a prospective cohort study.

BACKGROUND: The systemic immune-inflammation index (SII), based on peripheral platelet, neutrophil and lymphocyte counts, has been proven to be a promising prognostic indicator in various diseases. Hip fracture is a common injury among the older adults, and has become a global public health problem with high mortality and disability rates. However, the relationship between SII and the prognosis of hip fracture is not yet well-known. The aim of the this study was to explore the predictive value of SII in older adults with hip fracture undergoing surgery. METHODS: This was a prospective cohort study performed from January 2014 to December 2018 at a orthopaedic center, China. The SII was calculated as platelet×neutrophil/lymphocyte counts. Univariable and multivariable Cox proportional hazard models were used to assess the association between SII and all-cause mortality. RESULTS: A total of 290 older adults with hip fracture were included, and the mean (SD) age was 77.6 (8.6) years, and 189 (65.2%) were female. The median (IQR) SII was 759.4 (519.0-1128.7) × 109/L. After a median follow-up time of 33.4 months, 13 (4.5%), 26 (9.0%) and 54 (18.6%) patients died within the 30-day, 1-year and last follow-up, respectively. Multivariable Cox analysis revealed that each increase of 100 units of SII was associated with a 8% increased hazard of death at 1-year follow-up (HR = 1.08, 95% CI: 1.01-1.17, p = 0.033), and 9% increased hazard of death at last follow-up (HR = 1.09, 95% CI: 1.03-1.15, p = 0.003). CONCLUSIONS: SII is associated with poor all-cause mortality in older adults with hip fracture undergoing surgery, and deserves further investigation and application in clinical practice.

CT volumetry can potentially predict the local stage for gastric cancer after chemotherapy.

PURPOSE: We aimed to evaluate the value of CT tumor volumetry for predicting T and N stages of gastric cancer after chemotherapy, with pathologic results as the reference standard. METHODS: This study retrospectively evaluated 42 patients diagnosed with gastric cancer, who underwent chemotherapy followed by surgery. Pre- and post-treatment CT tumor volumes (VT) were measured in portal venous phase and volume reduction ratios were calculated. Correlations between pre- and post-treatment VT, reduction ratio, and pathologic stages were analyzed. Receiver operator characteristic (ROC) analyses were also performed to assess diagnostic performance for prediction of downstaging to T0-2 stage and N0 stage. RESULTS: Pretreatment VT, post-treatment VT, and VT reduction ratio were significantly correlated with T stage (rs=0.329, rs=0.546, rs= -0.422, respectively). Post-treatment VT and VT reduction ratio were significantly correlated with N stage (rs=0.442 and rs= -0.376, respectively). Pretreatment VT, post-treatment VT, and VT reduction ratio were significantly different between T0-2 and T3,4 stage tumors (P = 0.05, P < 0.001, and P = 0.002, respectively). The differences between N0 and ≥N1 groups were also statistically significant (P = 0.005 for post-treatment VT, P = 0.016 for VT reduction ratio, respectively). The area under the ROC curve (AUC) for identification of T0-2 groups was 0.70 for pretreatment VT, 0.88 for post-treatment VT, and 0.82 for VT reduction ratio, respectively. AUC was 0.78 for post-treatment VT and 0.74 for VT reduction ratio for identification of N0 groups. CONCLUSION: CT tumor volumetry, particularly post-treatment measurement of VT, is potentially valuable for predicting histopathologic T and N stages after chemotherapy in patients with gastric cancer.

Icariin promotes directed chondrogenic differentiation of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells but not hypertrophy in vitro.

Icariin (ICA), a Traditional Chinese Medicine, has been demonstrated to be a promoting compound for extracellular matrix synthesis and gene expression of chondrocytes. However, whether ICA can act as a substitute for or cooperate with growth factors to directly promote stable chondrogenesis of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) remains unknown. In the present study, rat BMSCs were cultivated in monolayer cultures with a chondrogenic medium containing transforming growth factor-ß3 for 14 days; ICA was added to the same chondrogenic medium throughout the culture period at a concentration of 1×10-6 M. Cell morphology was observed using an inverted microscope, and chondrogenic differentiation markers, including collagen II, aggrecan and SRY (sex determining region Y)-box 9 (SOX9), were detected by immunofluorescence, reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction and western blot analysis. Hypertrophic differentiation was also analyzed using collagen I gene expression and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity. The results revealed that ICA was effective at forming an increased number of and larger aggregates, and significantly upregulated the mRNA expression levels and protein synthesis of collagen II, aggrecan and SOX9. Furthermore, the chondrogenic medium alone caused hypertrophic differentiation through the upregulation of collagen I gene expression and ALP activity, which was not potentiated by the presence of ICA. Thus, ICA promoted directed chondrogenic differentiation of BMSCs, but had no effect on hypertrophic differentiation. The present results also suggested that ICA may be an effective accelerant of growth factors for cartilage tissue engineering by promoting their chondrogenic differentiating effects but reducing the effect of hypertrophic differentiation.

Dysregulation of synaptic and extrasynaptic N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors induced by amyloid-ß.

The toxicity of amyloid-beta (Aß) is strongly associated with Alzheimer's disease (AD), which has a high incidence in the elderly worldwide. Recent evidence showed that alteration in the activity of N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors (NMDARs) plays a key role in Aß-induced neurotoxicity. However, the activation of synaptic and extrasynaptic NMDARs has distinct consequences for plasticity, gene regulation, neuronal death, and Aß production. This review focuses on the dysregulation of synaptic and extrasynaptic NMDARs induced by Aß. On one hand, Aß downregulates the synaptic NMDAR response by promoting NMDAR endocytosis, leading to either neurotoxicity or neuroprotection. On the other hand, Aß enhances the activation of extrasynaptic NMDARs by decreasing neuronal glutamate uptake and inducing glutamate spillover, subsequently causing neurotoxicity. In addition, selective enhancement of synaptic activity by low doses of NMDA, or reduction of extrasynaptic activity by memantine, a non-competitive NMDAR antagonist, halts Aß-induced neurotoxicity. Therefore, future neuroprotective drugs for AD should aim at both the enhancement of synaptic activity and the disruption of extrasynaptic NMDAR-dependent death signaling.

[Effects of tobramycin dexamethasone eye ointment for blepharitis: multi-center clinical trial].

OBJECTIVE: To realize the effectiveness and security of Tobramycin and Dexamethasone Eye Ointment for blepharitis treatment. Design Case control studies. Participants 148 patients be diagnosed as blepharitis including 81 cases as research group and 67 cases as control group. METHODS: Multi-center randomized controlled clinical trial. The patients met the inclusion criteria from First Hospital Peking University, Beijing Tongren Hospital, Southwest Hospital, Ophthalmology Center Zhongshan University and Third Hospital Peking University were divided into two groups in Aug. to Dec. 2011. Tobramycin dexamethasone eye ointment was applied to eye lid in research group while patients in control group used tobramycin eye ointment. All patients were informed to apply warm compress to the lids, mechanically washing to the eyelids and artificial tears. At the beginning, the 7(th) day, the 14(th) day and the 28(th) day of treatment, observation of symptom, sign and side effect were recorded. RESULTS: Before treatment the difference of the symptom scores of burning sensation, tears, photophobia and itch of two groups has no statistically significant (t = 1.87, 0.43, -0.64, 0.93, P > 0.05), but the symptom scores have a statistically significant decrease (t = 1.99 - 6.90, P < 0.05) at the 7(th) day, 14(th) day, 28(th) day. Before treatment the difference of signs scores have no statistically significant except the term of new blood vessels (t = 2.32, P = 0.02) while all the signs scores have a statistically significant decrease at the 7(th) day, 14(th) day, 28(th) day. Side effect: the number of patients with elevated intraocular pressure of research and control group is 3 and 1 respectively and the ratio is 3.7% and 1.5%. CONCLUSIONS: The tobramycin dexamethasone eye ointment can improve signs and symptoms of blepharitis patients. Some patients have to face with the risk of elevated intraocular pressure and it's necessary to monitor the intraocular pressure.