[Status of home blood pressure monitoring and influencing factors of regular home blood pressure monitoring among elderly uncontrolled hypertensive patients in Central and Western China].

Objective: To describe the prevalence of home blood pressure monitoring and analyze the factors influencing regular blood pressure monitoring among elderly uncontrolled hypertensive patients in Central and Western China. Methods: It was a cross-sectional study, which enrolled hypertensive patients aged over 60 years with office blood pressure ≥140/90 mmHg (1 mmHg=0.133 kPa) from September 2019 to July 2020 in 72 hospitals in Central and Western China. Patients completed the electronic questionnaires, and were divided into regular and irregular home blood pressure monitoring groups. The proportion of patients using different types of sphygmomanometers and the percentage of patients with regular home blood pressure monitoring (at least weekly) were explored. The generalized linear mixed model was used to define the influencing factors of regular home blood pressure monitoring. Results: A total of 3 857 patients were included in this study. Age was 67(64,71) years old and there were 2 163 males (56.1%). Overall, sphygmomanometer was available at home for 3 044(78.9%) patients, 2 168(56.2%) patients conducted regular home blood pressure monitoring. Among the patients with a sphygmomanometer at home, 2 370(77.9%) of the sphygmomanometers were upper arm electronic device. Older age, higher income, longer history of hypertension, multiple antihypertensive medications and awareness of diagnostic criteria of hypertension and hypertension complications were associated with a higher prevalence of regular home blood pressure monitoring (all P<0.05). Conclusions: Among the elderly hypertensive patients with uncontrolled blood pressure in Central and Western China, there is a relatively high prevalence of home sphygmomanometer ownership and regular monitoring. Age, family income, history of hypertension, number of antihypertensive drugs and knowledge of hypertension are the influencing factors of regular home blood pressure monitoring in this population.

Optimal radiotherapy after breast-conserving surgery for early breast cancer: A network meta-analysis of 23,418 patients.

PURPOSE: In order to explore whether partial breast irradiation can replace hypofractionated whole breast irradiation and whether the former two are superior to conventional fractionated whole breast irradiation, we conducted a network meta-analysis based on the data from the latest randomized controlled trials to evaluate the efficacy of these radiotherapy modalities. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Data from eligible studies were analyzed to determine the published events for ipsilateral breast tumor recurrence, distant metastasis, total deaths, and non-breast cancer-related deaths. In the case of low or high heterogeneity, the fixed-effect or random-effect model was used for statistical analysis respectively. NMA was performed by using the node-splitting model for two-category data among three radiotherapies based on a Bayesian method. RESULTS: A total of 23,418 patients were included in 16 studies. For ipsilateral breast tumor recurrence, both pairwise (OR=1.9; CI95%: 1.2 -2.8; p<0.05) and indirect (OR=1.7; CI95%: 1.2 -2.4; p<0.05) comparison of three radiotherapies by network meta-analysis showed that conventional fractionated whole breast irradiation was significantly better than partial breast irradiation. Indirect comparison of three radiotherapies by network meta-analysis showed that hypofractionated whole breast irradiation was significantly better than partial breast irradiation (OR=1.6; CI95%: 1.0 -2.5; p<0.05). Network and paired meta-analyses found no significant differences in other endpoints among the three radiotherapies. CONCLUSION: Overall, this network meta-analysis showed that partial breast irradiation was related to the increase of ipsilateral breast tumor recurrence compared with hypofractionated or conventional fractionated whole breast irradiation in patients with early-stage breast cancer.

Postoperative bladder and sexual function in patients undergoing surgery for rectal cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis of laparoscopic versus open resection of rectal cancer.

There have been conflicting opinions regarding the superiority of open and laparoscopic surgery in preserving bladder and sexual function after rectal cancer surgery. This systematic review and meta-analysis aims to pool the available data comparing the impact of surgical approaches on postoperative sexual and urinary function. A search of Pubmed, Medline, Cochrane and Embase was undertaken and studies from January 2000 to February 2013 were identified. We included, in our meta-analysis, both prospective and retrospective studies that compared laparoscopic surgery and open surgery for rectal cancer. A total of 876 patients undergoing rectal cancer surgery (lap n = 468, open n = 408) were examined. In men, postoperative ejaculatory function and erectile dysfunction evaluated from two studies comprising of 74 patients showed no difference between groups. The rate of overall sexual dysfunction evaluated from five studies comprising of 289 patients revealed a rate of 34 % in both the open and lap groups. Postoperative urinary function evaluated from five studies comprising of 312 patients showed no difference between groups. In women, postoperative sexual and urinary function were evaluated from five studies comprising of 321 patients. Three studies (n = 219) reported no difference in sexual function between groups. Postoperative urinary function evaluated from four studies comprising of 212 patients was found to be comparable. The available data are limited, but suggest that neither form of surgical approach be it laparoscopy or open surgery demonstrate superiority in preservation of sexual and bladder function. Further research into the technical aspects of surgery and evaluating newer minimally invasive technologies such as the robot may prove to be useful in improving functional outcomes of rectal cancer patients.

Palliative resection of the primary tumour in patients with Stage IV colorectal cancer: systematic review and meta-analysis of the early outcome after laparoscopic and open colectomy.

AIM: Resection of the primary tumour in patients with Stage IV colorectal cancer may be performed to avoid future tumour-related complications whilst on systemic treatment. We compared the safety and efficacy of laparoscopic and open colectomy in this patient group. METHOD: PubMed, MEDLINE and the Cochrane Library were searched in the English literature for studies between January 2000 and October 2012 dealing with laparoscopic resection of the primary tumour in Stage IV disease. Single-arm laparoscopic studies were systematically reviewed. Prospective and retrospective studies were included for meta-analysis. End-points include safety, complications, mortality and cancer specific outcome including 5-year and median survival. RESULTS: Eleven studies comprising 1165 patients undergoing palliative laparoscopic colectomy for Stage IV colorectal cancer were included. Five studies were comparative studies of laparoscopic and open colectomy. The former took longer (pooled mean difference (MD) = 41.52, 95% CI = 11.47-71.56, Z = 2.71, P = 0.007), but resulted in a shorter length of stay (pooled MD = -2.41, 95% CI = -3.84 to -0.99, Z = 3.32, P = 0.0009), with fewer postoperative complications (pooled odds ratio = 0.53, 95% CI = 0.32-0.87, Z = 2.51, P = 0.01) and lower estimated blood loss (pooled MD = -47.71, 95% CI = -80.00 to -15.42, Z = 2.90, P = 0.004). Median survival ranged between 11.4 and 30.1 months. CONCLUSION: Palliative colectomy performed laparoscopically is associated with a better perioperative outcome than open colectomy. Survival is dependent on the response to systemic chemotherapy.

Effect of cattle breeds on milk composition and technological characteristics in china.

Cattle breeds have a striking effect on milk, including milk composition and technological characteristics. This study aims to compare milk composition, acidification activity, viscosity, milk dispersion system stability and casein molecular weight among three buffalo breeds in China. The technological characteristics of milk produced by three cattle breeds of river buffalo (Murrah), crossbreed 1st generation (F1), crossbreed multiple generation (FH, H≥3) buffaloes were investigated. Cattle breeds showed evident effect on milk protein, fat and total solids content, but little effect on most of buffalo casein molecular weight. Milk fat, protein content and the viscosity of buffalo milk from river buffalo were lower than those of F1 and FH, so was the buffer capacity. The viscosity was negatively correlated to temperature and concentration. Results of stability coefficient showed that milk dispersion system had the best dynamic stability characteristics under pH 6.6 and 6 times dilution, while zeta potential of Murrah milk was slightly higher than that of hybrid offspring (F1, FH). SDS-PAGE results showed that buffalo αs-casein had a slightly faster mobility than standard αs-casein; while buffalo ß-casein showed a slightly slower mobility than standard ß-casein. There is no clear differences in molecular weight of αs-, ß-, and κ-casein among Murrah, F1 and FH.

N-hydroxysuccinimidyl-fluorescein-O-acetate for precolumn fluorescence derivatization of amino acids and oligopeptides in liquid chromatography.

A new fluorescent derivatizing reagent, N-hydroxysuccinimidyl-fluorescein-O-acetate, is used for the high-performance liquid chromatographic analysis of amino acids and oligopeptides. This reagent has the advantages of high-detection sensitivity in the visible region, specifically with amino groups, mild derivatization conditions, and little interference induced. The fluorescence properties of the reagent and its derivatives with amino acids and oligopeptides are studied. The conditions of the derivatization are investigated in detail. In the mobile phase of methanol-water (42:58, v/v) containing a 10 mM pH 5.0 citric acid-Na2HPO4 buffer, six amino acids and oligopeptides are separated in 20 min with fluorescence detection at excitation and emission wavelengths of 492 and 513 nm, respectively, with the detection limits for injected standards ranging from 0.64 to 12 fmol.

N-hydroxysuccinimidyl fluorescein-O-acetate as a fluorescent derivatizing reagent for catecholamines in liquid chromatography.

A new amine-reactive derivatizing reagent, N-hydroxysuccinimidyl fluorescein-O-acetate (SIFA), was developed for catecholamine (CA) analysis in liquid chromatography. The reactivity of this reagent with the CAs norepinephrine (NE), epinephrine (E), and dopamine (DA) was investigated in detail. In aqueous methanol containing 32 mmol/L pH 9.0 H3BO3-Na2B4O7 buffer, SIFA reacted with NE, E, and DA under mild conditions. The derivatives were separated in 20 min on a C18 column with a mobile phase of methanol/water (38:62, v/v) containing 10 mmol/L pH 5.0 H3cit-Na2HPO4 buffer. At lambda(ex)/lambda(em) = 490/516 nm, the detection limits were 3.2, 12, and 56 fmol, respectively, with a signal-to-noise ratio of 3, which were comparable to those using 1,2-diphenylethylenediamine as the derivatizing reagent for CA analysis. Amino acids, aliphatic amines, and alcohols had no obvious interference with the determination. The proposed method has been applied to the determination of CAs in human urine, with recoveries of 95.3-103.9%.