Distribution of pathogenic bacteria and antimicrobial sensitivity of eye infections in Suzhou.

AIM: To investigate the types of bacteria in patients with eye infections in Suzhou and their drug resistance to commonly used antibacterial drugs. METHODS: The clinical data of 155 patients were retrospectively collected in this study, and the pathogenic bacteria species and drug resistance of each pathogenic bacteria were analyzed. RESULTS: Among the 155 patients (age from 12 to 87 years old, with an average age of 57, 99 males and 56 females) with eye infections (160 eyes: 74 in the left eye, 76 in the right eye and 5 in both eyes, all of which were exogenous), 71 (45.81%) strains were gram-positive bacteria, 23 (14.84%) strains were gram-negative bacteria and 61 (39.35%) strains were fungi. Gram-positive bacteria were highly resistant to penicillin and erythromycin (78.87% and 46.48% respectively), but least resistant to vancomycin at 0. Gram-negative bacteria were highly resistant to cefoxitin and compound sulfamethoxazole (100% and 95.65% respectively), but least resistant to meropenem at 0. Comparison of the resistance of gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria to some drugs revealed statistically significant differences (P<0.05) in the resistance of both to cefoxitin, cotrimoxazole, levofloxacin, cefuroxime, ceftriaxone and ceftazidime, and both had higher rates of resistance to gram-negative bacteria than to gram-positive bacteria. The distribution of bacterial infection strains showed that Staphylococcus epidermidis was the most common strain in the conjunctiva, cornea, aqueous humor or vitreous body and other eye parts. Besides, Fusarium and Pseudomonas aeruginosa were also among the most common strains of conjunctival and corneal infections. CONCLUSION: Gram-positive bacteria are the dominant bacteria in eye infections, followed by gram-negative bacteria and fungi. Considering the resistance of gram-negative bacteria to multiple drugs, monitoring of bacteria should be strengthened in eye bacterial infections for effective prevention and control to reduce complications caused by eye infections.

[Clinical Characteristics of CD4-CD56+ Blastic Plasmacytoid Dendritic Cell Neoplasm].

OBJECTIVE: To explore the clinical manifestations, pathological features, immunophenotype, as well as diagnosis, treatment and prognosis of patients with CD4-CD56+ blastic plasmacytoid dendritic cell neoplasm (BPDCN), in order to further understand the rare disease. METHODS: The clinical data, laboratory examinations and treatment regimens of two patients with CD4-CD56+ BPDCN in the First Affiliated Hospital of Wannan Medical College were retrospectively analyzed. RESULTS: The two patients were both elderly males with tumor involved in skin, bone marrow, lymph nodes, etc. Immunohistochemical results of skin lesions showed that both CD56 and CD123 were positive, while CD4, CD34, TdT, CD3, CD20, MPO and EBER were negative. Flow cytometry of bone marrow demonstrated that CD56, CD123, and CD304 were all positive, while specific immune markers of myeloid and lymphoid were negative. Two patients were initially very sensitive to acute lymphoblastic leukemia or lymphomatoid chemotherapy regimens, but prone to rapid relapse. The overall survival of both patients was 36 months and 4 months, respectively. CONCLUSION: CD4-CD56+ BPDCN is very rare and easily misdiagnosed as other hematological tumors with poor prognosis. Acute lymphoblastic leukemia or lymphomatoid therapy should be used first to improve the poor prognosis.

Association of High Plasma Levels of Serpin E1, IGFBP2, and CCL5 With Refractory Epilepsy in Children by Cytokine Profiling.

Inflammatory cytokines participate in the pathology of epilepsy and the development of drug resistance. In this study, we combined a cytokine array and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay to identify new cytokines in the plasma from children on early stage of the onset of epilepsy (EOE) and children with drug-resistant epilepsy (DRE). Compared with healthy controls, a broad up-regulation of cytokines was observed in patients with EOE, and many of the cytokines were not previously reported. In patients with DRE, most of these up-regulated cytokines maintained at relatively low levels close to those in controls; only a few of them, including CCL5, Serpin E1, and IGFBP2, remained at high levels. The dramatic difference in cytokine profile could be a strong clue for the incidence of DRE, and DRE-associated cytokines appeared to have the potential to be new biomarkers for epilepsy prognosis and therapeutic targets.

The Impact of Banana-Shaped Fragments on Trochanteric Hip Fractures Treated by PFNA.

Background: Regarding trochanteric hip fractures, one type of posterior coronal fragments was described as the "banana-shaped fragment", while the impact of the banana-shaped fragment on mechanical stability has not been further studied. The current study investigated the association between the banana-shaped fragment and mechanical complications after surgery. Methods: This retrospective cohort study included 273 patients treated by proximal femoral nail antirotation (PFNA) in the full analysis. The age, the sex, the fracture side, the follow-up time, the American Society of Anesthesiologists classification, the operators, the fracture classification, the tip-apex distance, the blade positions, the reduction quality and the bone mineral density were analyzed in relation to mechanical complications, through univariate and multivariate approaches. Results: Mechanical complications happened in 33 patients. The banana-shaped fragment (adjusted odds ratio 5.240, 95% CI 2.172 to 12.641; p < 0.001), the tip-apex distance and the reduction quality showed significant association with mechanical complications in both univariate and multivariate analysis. Moreover, for 118 patients with the banana-shaped fragment, we found that the use of wire cerclage couldn't significantly lower the rates of mechanical complications (p = 0.648). Conclusions: The banana-shaped fragment had a negative impact on mechanical stability of trochanteric hip fractures treated by PFNA. In the perioperative period, the BSF should be carefully evaluated, and its specific handling deserves further study.

Taselisib moderates neuropathic pain through PI3K/AKT signaling pathway in a rat model of chronic constriction injury.

BACKGROUND: Neuropathic pain is a chronic condition commonly caused by inflammation-induced disturbances or lesions of somatosensory functions in the nervous system. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects and mechanisms of Taselisib on chronic constriction injury (CCI)-induced neuropathic pain in rats. METHODS: The rats were divided into four groups: sham group, sham + Taselisib (10 mg/kg orally once a day) group, CCI group, and CCI + Taselisib (10 mg/kg orally once a day) group. Pain behavioral tests, recorded by measuring paw withdrawal threshold (PWT) and thermal withdrawal latency (TWL), were conducted on days 0, 3, 7, 14, and 21 after surgery. After testing, the animals were euthanized and spinal dorsal horns were collected. Pro-inflammatory cytokines were quantified using ELISA and qRT-PCR. PI3K/pAKT signaling was assessed using Western blot and immunofluorescence. RESULTS: PWT and TWL were significantly reduced after CCI surgery, but were successfully increased by Taselisib treatment. Taselisib treatment notably suppressed the upregulation of pro-inflammatory cytokines, including IL-6, IL-1ß, and TNF-⍺. Taselisib treatment significantly reduced the elevated phosphorylation of AKT and PI3K induced by CCI. CONCLUSION: Taselisib can alleviate neuropathic pain by inhibiting the pro-inflammatory response, potentially through the PI3K/AKT signaling pathway.

Association of elevated plasma CCL5 levels with high risk for tic disorders in children.

Abnormal levels of some peripheral cytokines have been reported in children patients with tic disorders (TDs), but none of these cytokines can be a biomarker for this disease. Our aim was to systemically profile differentially expressed cytokines (DECs) in the blood of TD patients, examine their associations with TD development, and identify from them potential biomarkers for the prediction and management of the risk for TDs. In this study, a cytokine array capable of measuring 105 cytokines was used to screen for DECs in the plasma from 53 comorbidity-free and drug-naïve TD patients and 37 age-matched healthy controls. DECs were verified by ELISA and their associations with TD development were evaluated by binary logistic regression analysis. Elevation of a set of cytokines was observed in TD patients compared with controls, including previously uncharacterized cytokines in tic disorders, CCL5, Serpin E1, Thrombospondin-1, MIF, PDGF-AA, and PDGF-AB/BB. Further analysis of DECs revealed a significant association of elevated CCL5 with TD development (p = 0.005) and a significant ROC curve for CCL5 as a risk factor [AUC, 0.801 (95% CI: 0.707-0.895), p < 0.0001]. Conclusion: This study identifies associations of a set of circulating cytokines, particularly CCL5 with TD development, and provides evidence that high blood CCL5 has potential to be a risk factor for TD development. Clinical Trial Registration: identifier ChiCTR-2000029616.

Computational evaluation of the axis-blade angle for measurements of implant positions in trochanteric hip fractures: A finite element analysis.

BACKGROUND: Recently, a novel approach axis-blade angle (ABA) was developed to measure implant positions during trochanteric hip fracture surgery. It was defined as the sum of two angles α and ß measured between the femoral neck axis and helical blade axis in anteroposterior and lateral X-ray films, respectively. Although its clinical practicability has been confirmed, the mechanism is yet to be investigated by means of finite element (FE) analysis. METHODS: Computed tomography images of four femurs and dimensions of one implant at three angles were obtained to construct FE models. For each femur, 15 FE models in an arrangement (intramedullary nails at three angles multiplying five blade positions) were established. Under the simulation of normal walking loads, the ABA, von Mises stress (VMS), maximum/minimum principal strain and displacement were analyzed. RESULTS: When the ABA increased, all outcome indicators initially decreased till reaching inferior-middle site and then increased while the blade positions within the femoral head shifted from the superior-anterior quadrant toward the inferior-posterior quadrant, where the ABA were higher. Only the peak VMS of implant models in the inferior-posterior quadrant (particularly the inferior-middle site within) with blades in did not reach the yielding (risky) cut-off. CONCLUSIONS: From the perspective of angles, ABA, this study demonstrated the inferior-posterior quadrant as the relatively stable and safe regions, especially the inferior-middle site within. This was similar but more elaborate compared with previous studies and clinical practice. Therefore, ABA could be employed as a promising approach to anchor the implants into the optimal region.

Relative instability ratios of bone wall defects in trochanteric hip fractures: A finite element analysis.

Background: For decades, medial and lateral wall fragments of trochanteric hip fractures were considered two pivotal factors that could influence the stability of postoperative femur-implant complex. However, most studies seemed to misunderstand the concept of the posteromedial fragment and equated it with the medial wall, which overlooked vital roles of the anteromedial wall. Roles of the posterior coronal bone fragment were also highlighted in some research. However, influences of the bone walls above the trochanteric fracture instability are yet to be investigated and quantified by means of finite element analysis. Methods: Eight trochanteric fracture fixation models with different wall defects were constructed. Outcome indicators were the von Mises stress of the implant models, the maximum/minimum principal strain, the risky tensile/compressive volume and the volume ratios of the bone models, the femoral head vertex displacement, and the fracture surface gap. Based on these indicator values, the relative instability ratios were computed. Results: Outcome indicators, absolute values, and nephograms of all models showed the same upward and concentrating trends with exerted hip contact loads shifting from static walking to dynamic climbing. Similarly, these indicators also exhibited the same trends when the eight models were solved in sequence. Moreover, the relative instability ratio of the medial wall (100%), particularly the anteromedial part (78.7%), was higher than the figure for the lateral wall (36.6%). Conclusion: The anteromedial wall played relatively pivotal stabilizing roles in trochanteric hip fractures compared with the posteromedial wall and the lateral wall, which indicated that orthopedic surgeons should attach more importance to the anteromedial cortex support in an operating theatre.

DeepMPF: deep learning framework for predicting drug-target interactions based on multi-modal representation with meta-path semantic analysis.

BACKGROUND: Drug-target interaction (DTI) prediction has become a crucial prerequisite in drug design and drug discovery. However, the traditional biological experiment is time-consuming and expensive, as there are abundant complex interactions present in the large size of genomic and chemical spaces. For alleviating this phenomenon, plenty of computational methods are conducted to effectively complement biological experiments and narrow the search spaces into a preferred candidate domain. Whereas, most of the previous approaches cannot fully consider association behavior semantic information based on several schemas to represent complex the structure of heterogeneous biological networks. Additionally, the prediction of DTI based on single modalities cannot satisfy the demand for prediction accuracy. METHODS: We propose a multi-modal representation framework of 'DeepMPF' based on meta-path semantic analysis, which effectively utilizes heterogeneous information to predict DTI. Specifically, we first construct protein-drug-disease heterogeneous networks composed of three entities. Then the feature information is obtained under three views, containing sequence modality, heterogeneous structure modality and similarity modality. We proposed six representative schemas of meta-path to preserve the high-order nonlinear structure and catch hidden structural information of the heterogeneous network. Finally, DeepMPF generates highly representative comprehensive feature descriptors and calculates the probability of interaction through joint learning. RESULTS: To evaluate the predictive performance of DeepMPF, comparison experiments are conducted on four gold datasets. Our method can obtain competitive performance in all datasets. We also explore the influence of the different feature embedding dimensions, learning strategies and classification methods. Meaningfully, the drug repositioning experiments on COVID-19 and HIV demonstrate DeepMPF can be applied to solve problems in reality and help drug discovery. The further analysis of molecular docking experiments enhances the credibility of the drug candidates predicted by DeepMPF. CONCLUSIONS: All the results demonstrate the effectively predictive capability of DeepMPF for drug-target interactions. It can be utilized as a useful tool to prescreen the most potential drug candidates for the protein. The web server of the DeepMPF predictor is freely available at http://120.77.11.78/DeepMPF/ , which can help relevant researchers to further study.

Clinical characteristics of children with omicron SARS-CoV-2 infection in Changchun, China from march to april 2022: A retrospective study.

Background: Recently, there was an outbreak in China of the Omicron (B.1.1.529) variant, the corresponding clinical characteristics of Chinese children with the Omicron variant of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection were then reviewed and summarized retrospectively. Methods: From March to April 2022, a total of 134 children infected with the Omicron variant were included in the study. Data such as sex, age, clinical symptoms, laboratory examinations, and imaging features were collected for further analyses. Results: Half of the children were male and the median age was 5.67 years. The most SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant was identified in mild (122, 91%), and the most three frequent symptoms were as cough (108, 80.6%), fever (75, 56%), and sore throat (38, 28.4%). Among age groups, no significant difference was observed in the distribution of symptoms, and no statistical difference was found in different clinical types among sex or age groups. Laboratory examinations revealed that white blood cells, neutrophils, and hemoglobin decreased; and monocytes, C-reactive protein (CRP), and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) increased. Further analyses showed that neutrophils, hemoglobin, CRP, and AST exhibited significant differences among age groups. Radiological abnormalities were found in nine cases, with small patchy high-density shadows. Of the 76 cured cases discharged from the hospital, the median hospital stay was 13 days (mean, 12 days). Conclusions: In China, most children with Omicron SARS-CoV-2 infection have mild presentation. The findings of this study may help other districts improve the management of children with Omicron SARS-CoV-2 infection in China.

When to Reduce and Fix Displaced Lesser Trochanter in Treatment of Trochanteric Fracture: A Systematic Review.

Purpose: To systematically evaluate the benefits of reducing and fixing displaced lesser trochanter (LT) of trochanteric fractures and when this procedure is worth the effect. Methods: From database establishment through March 2021, four online databases (PubMed, Cochrane, Embase, and Web of Science) were searched for relevant literature that investigated reduction and fixation for displaced LT of trochanteric fractures. The papers were then screened by two reviewers independently and in duplicate according to prior inclusion and exclusion criteria. Demographic data as well as data on fracture types, surgical protocols, and surgical outcomes were recorded, analyzed, and interpreted. Results: Total 10 clinical studies with 928 patients were included, in which 48 cases had intact LT and 880 cases involved the displaced LT, of which 196 (22.27%) cases underwent reduction and fixation for LT while the rest of 684 (77.73%) cases not. In these studies, complications were evaluated as a more applicable predictive parameter for operation than postoperative hip function. Conclusion: It was beneficial to reduce and fix the displaced LT when one of the conditions below occurred: displacement distance of LT ≥2 cm, quantity of comminuted LT fragments ≥2, and range of LT fragments in medial wall ≥75%; the fracture line of LT fragments reaching or exceeding the midline of the posterior wall.

Understanding regional mobility resilience and its relationship with regional culture during the COVID-19 pandemic: A pathogen-stress theory perspective.

The global COVID-19 pandemic has severely impacted the passenger flow. Facing the same pandemic, various regions differ in the resilience of population mobility due to differences in the regional cultural. This study uses mobile big data to quantifies regional mobility resilience of 358 cities in China. Study results reveal the differences in regional mobility resilience of cities through spatial autocorrelation analysis, and verify the effects of regional culture on mobility resilience using a panel logit regression model based on pathogen-stress theory. Spatial heterogeneity and autocorrelation in the regional mobility resilience of Chinese cities are identified through spatial analysis, which are manifested by various hot spots over time. Moreover, the panel regression results indicate that the COVID-19 pandemic has a significant negative effect on regional mobility resilience; and that the negative effect of COVID-19 on regional mobility resilience is amplified in the cities with high degrees of dialect diversity, while it is weakened in the cities with high degrees of cultural tightness (which have strict norms and punishments for deviance). This study provides theoretical implications for mobility resilience in the context of COVID-19 and advances the pathogen-stress theory. Study findings also provide practical recommendations for regions to enhance regional mobility resilience under the challenges of future public health crisis events.

Relatively low tooth replacement rate in a sauropod dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous Ruyang Basin of central China.

Tooth replacement rate is an important feature related to feeding mechanics and food choices for dinosaurs. However, only a few data points are available for sauropod dinosaurs, partially due to rarity of relevant fossil material. Four somphospondylan sauropod species have been recovered from the Lower Cretaceous Aptian-Albian Haoling Formation in the Ruyang Basin, Henan Province of central China, but no cranial material has been reported except for a single crown. Here we report the discovery of the rostral portion of a left dentary with replacement teeth in its first five alveoli. Comparative anatomical study shows the partial dentary can be assigned to a member of early diverging somphospondylans. The non-destructive tooth length-based approach to estimating tooth formation time and replacement rate is adopted here. The estimated tooth replacement rate is 76 days, faster than that of Brachiosaurus (83 days) and much lower than typical late diverging lithostrotian titanosaurians (20 days). Thus, this discovery adds an intermediate tooth replacement rate in the evolution of titanosauriform sauropods and supports the idea that evolution of tooth replacement rate is clade-specific. This discovery also provides more information to understand the Ruyang sauropod assemblage, which includes one of the most giant dinosaurs to have walked our Earth (Ruyangosaurus giganteus).

The Efficacy of Acupuncture on Tic Disorders in Children: A Retrospective and Propensity Score-Matched Study.

Background : Acupuncture has been considered as a complementary or alternative therapy for children with tic disorders (TD), but its efficacy remains largely unknown. This study retrospectively examined the efficacy of acupuncture treatment for TD in children over the course of 12 weeks. Methods: Data were collected from Traditional Chinese Medicine clinics in a public pediatric hospital in Shanghai between June 2020 and March 2021. A total of 250 patients with TD were included in the study, with 122 patients exposed to acupuncture therapy combined with conventional treatment (observation group), and 128 patients exposed to conventional treatment alone (control group). Propensity score matching analyses were used to balance baseline characteristics, resulting in 78 matched patients for each group. Reductions in the Yale Global Tic Severity Scale (YGTSS) total score were analyzed in the two groups after 12 weeks of treatment. Results: The two groups reached equilibrium in terms of baseline demographic characteristics and YGTSS total score after the propensity score matching (P > 0.05). Compared to the control group, the reduction in the YGTSS total score after 12 weeks of treatment was greater for the observation group (OR = 2.94, 95% CI: 1.03, 8.39, P = 0.04), and this association was stronger for patients who had significant vocal tics (ß = 0.29, 95% CI: 0.88, 2.68, P = 0.001). The clinical efficacy for the observation group was significantly better than the control group. Conclusions: We provided preliminary evidence supporting the therapeutic effect of acupuncture for TD in children. Hence, our findings indicate that acupuncture could be an adjuvant treatment efficacious for TD in children, especially for vocal tics.

Determining the optimal PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors for the first-line treatment of non-small-cell lung cancer with high-level PD-L1 expression in China.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: The programmed death 1 and ligand (PD-1/PD-L1) inhibitors have significantly altered therapeutic perspectives on non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). However, their efficacy and safety are unknown since direct clinical trials have not yet been performed on them. It is also necessary to determine the economics of PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors due to their high cost. The aim was to evaluate the efficacy, safety, and cost-effectiveness of PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitor monotherapy for advanced NSCLC patients in China with high PD-L1 expression as first-line treatment. METHODS: From the PubMed, Cochrane, and Web of Science databases, we retrieved survival, progression, and safety data on PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitor monotherapy for advanced NSCLC patients. A network meta-analysis (NMA) was performed to consider PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors in efficacy and safety. A Markov model with a full-lifetime horizon was adopted. Clinical and utility data were collected through the trial. The cost per quality-adjusted life year (QALY) was as incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER). Sensitivity analyses were performed. RESULTS: This study included five phase III clinical trials using four drugs: nivolumab, pembrolizumab, atezolizumab, and durvalumab. The NMA demonstrated that the four drugs had similar efficacy and safety, while pembrolizumab and atezolizumab were better for than for nivolumab (hazard ratio (HR) = 0.66, 95% confidence intervals (CIs): 0.46-0.95 and HR = 0.59, 95%CI: 0.37-0.94) in progression-free survival (PFS), and the risk of a severe adverse event was higher for atezolizumab than for nivolumab and pembrolizumab. Compared with nivolumab, durvalumab, pembrolizumab, and atezolizumab had QALY of 0.19, 0.38, and 0.53, respectively, which induced ICERs of $ 197,028.8/QALY, $ 111,859.0/QALY, and $ 76,182.3/QALY, respectively. CONCLUSION: The efficacy and safety are similar among types of PD-1/PD-L1-inhibitor monotherapy. The cost-effectiveness of nivolumab appears optimal, but the other PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors are not as cost-effective for the first-line treatment of advanced NSCLC in China.

Prediction of two-dimensional ferromagnetic ferroelectric VOF2 monolayer.

Nowadays, designing and searching for materials with multiple functional characteristics are the keys to achieving high-performance electronic devices. Among many candidates, two-dimensional multiferroic materials have great potential to be applied in highly integrated magnetoelectric devices, such as high-density non-volatile memories. Here, we predict a two-dimensional material, VOF2 monolayer, to possess intrinsic ferroelectric and ferromagnetic properties. The VOF2 monolayer owns the largest in-plane ferroelectric polarization (332 pC m-1) in the family of VOX2 (X: halogen) oxyhalides. Different from other VOX2 monolayers whose magnetic ground states are antiferromagnetic or noncollinear spiral textures, the VOF2 monolayer owns a robust ferromagnetic ground state, which is rare but highly desirable. Our theoretical prediction provides a good candidate and starting point for the further pursuit of more two-dimensional multiferroic materials with high-performance magnetoelectricity.

[Clinical Characteristics of Patients with Myeloid Sarcoma].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the clinical characteristics, diagnosis and treatment methods of patients with myeloid sarcoma(MS)． Methods: The clinical data, laboratory examination, clinical pathology and treatment methods of 15 patients with MS treated in the First Affiliated Hospital of Wannan Medical College from June 2012 to January 2020 were retrospectively analyzed. RESULTS: Among the 15 cases of MS, including eight males and seven females, the middle age of patients were 53（19 to 72）. Among the 15 patients with MS, 4 showed solitary MS, while 11 showed secondary MS. Immunohistochemical results showed that MPO+（12/15）、CD68+（3/6）、Lys+（3/3）、CD34+（6/14）、TdT+（0/9）、CD43+（13/13）、CD117+（6/10）、CD15+（7/10）、CD3+（1/15）、CD20+（0/15）. 6 of 13 patients were survival till follow-up date．The median overall survival (OS) time was 16 months (1-88 months)．Conclusion: Myeloid sarcoma is rare and often secondary from acute myeloid leukemia(AML) and chronic myeogenous leukemia(CML). Isolated MS can easily be misdiagnosed as lymphoma. Treatment response should be evaluated in combination with bone marrow examination, PET/CT and other imagines．Systematic chemotherapy and hematopoietic stem cell transplantation are the main method to treat MS.

Calycosin inhibited autophagy and oxidative stress in chronic kidney disease skeletal muscle atrophy by regulating AMPK/SKP2/CARM1 signalling pathway.

Skeletal muscle atrophy is a common and serious complication of chronic kidney disease (CKD). Oxidative stress and autophagy are the primary molecular mechanisms involved in muscle atrophy. Calycosin, a major component of Radix astragali, exerts anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidative stress and anti-autophagy effects. We investigated the effects and mechanisms of calycosin on skeletal muscle atrophy in vivo and in vitro. 5/6 nephrectomy (5/6 Nx) rats were used as a model of CKD. We evaluated bodyweight and levels of serum creatinine (SCr), blood urea nitrogen (BUN) and serum albumin (Alb). H&E staining, cell apoptosis, oxidative stress biomarkers, autophagosome and LC3A/B levels were performed and evaluated in skeletal muscle of CKD rat. Calycosin treatment improved bodyweight and renal function, alleviated muscle atrophy (decreased the levels of MuRF1 and MAFbx), increased superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) activity and reduced malondialdehyde (MDA) levels in skeletal muscle of CKD rats. Importantly, calycosin reduced autophagosome formation, down-regulated the expression of LC3A/B and ATG7 through inhibition of AMPK and FOXO3a, and increased SKP2, which resulted in decreased expression of CARM1, H3R17me2a. Similar results were observed in C2C12 cells treated with TNF-α and calycosin. Our findings showed that calycosin inhibited oxidative stress and autophagy in CKD induced skeletal muscle atrophy and in TNF-α-induced C2C12 myotube atrophy, partially by regulating the AMPK/SKP2/CARM1 signalling pathway.

Concordance of Treatment Recommendations for Metastatic Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer Between Watson for Oncology System and Medical Team.

OBJECTIVE: The disease complexity of metastatic non-small-cell lung cancer (mNSCLC) makes it difficult for physicians to make clinical decisions efficiently and accurately. The Watson for Oncology (WFO) system of artificial intelligence might help physicians by providing fast and precise treatment regimens. This study measured the concordance of the medical treatment regimens of the WFO system and actual clinical regimens, with the aim of determining the suitability of WFO recommendations for Chinese patients with mNSCLC. METHODS: Retrospective data of mNSCLC patients were input to the WFO, which generated a treatment regimen (WFO regimen). The actual regimen was made by physicians in a medical team for patients (medical-team regimen). The factors influencing the consistency of the two treatment options were analyzed by univariate and multivariate analyses. RESULTS: The concordance rate was 85.16% between the WFO and medical-team regimens for mNSCLC patients. Logistic regression showed that the concordance differed significantly for various pathological types and gene mutations in two treatment regimens. Patients with adenocarcinoma had a lower rate of "recommended" regimen than those with squamous cell carcinoma. There was a statistically significant difference in EGFR-mutant patients for "not recommended" regimens with inconsistency rate of 18.75%. In conclusion, the WFO regimen has 85.16% consistency rate with medical-team regimen in our treatment center. The different pathological type and different gene mutation markedly influenced the agreement rate of the two treatment regimens. CONCLUSION: WFO recommendations have high applicability to mNSCLC patients in our hospital. This study demonstrates that the valuable WFO system may assist the doctors better to determine the accurate and effective treatment regimens for mNSCLC patients in the Chinese medical setting.

Facile Preparation of Highly Stretchable TPU/Ag Nanowire Strain Sensor with Spring-Like Configuration.

Stretchable nano-fibers have attracted dramatic attention for the utility in wearable and flexible electronics. In the present case, Ag nanowires (AgNWs)-intertwined thermoplastic polyurethanes (TPU) unwoven nano-membrane is fabricated by an electrospinning method and dip coating technique. Then a strain sensor with a spring-like configuration is fabricated by a twisted method. The sensor exhibits superior electrical conductivity up to 3990 S cm-1 due to the high weight percentage of the Ag nanowires. Additionally, thanks to the free-standing spring-like configuration that consists of uniform neat loops, the strain sensor can detect a superior strain up to 900% at the point the sensor ruptures. On the other hand, the configuration can mostly protect the AgNWs from falling off. Furthermore, major human motion detection, like movement of a human forefinger, and minor human motion detection, such as a wrist pulse, show the possible application of the sensor in the field of flexible electronics.