A bioinformatics approach to identify a disulfidptosis-related gene signature for prognostic implication in colon adenocarcinoma.

Colon adenocarcinoma (COAD) is a type of cancer that arises from the glandular epithelial cells that produce mucus in the colon. COAD is influenced by various factors, including genetics, environment and lifestyle. The outcome of COAD is determined by the tumor stage, location, molecular characteristics and treatment. Disulfidptosis is a new mode of cell death that may affect cancer development. We discovered genes associated with disulfidptosis in colon adenocarcinoma and proposed them as novel biomarkers and therapeutic targets for COAD. We analyzed the mRNA expression data and clinical information of COAD patients from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database and Xena databases, extracted disulfidptosis-related genes from the latest reports on disulfidptosis. We used machine learning to select key features and build a signature and validated the risk model using data from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database and Human Protein Atlas (HPA). We also explored the potential biological functions and therapeutic implications of the disulfidptosis-related genes using CIBERSORTx and GDSC2 databases. We identified four disulfidptosis-related genes: TRIP6, OXSM, MYH3 and MYH4. These genes predicted COAD patient survival and modulated the tumor microenvironment, drug sensitivity and immune microenvironment. Our study reveals the importance of disulfidptosis-related genes for COAD prognosis and therapy. Immune infiltration and drug susceptibility results provide important clues for finding new personalized treatment options for COAD. These findings may facilitate personalized cancer treatment.

Robotic natural orifice specimen extraction surgery versus conventional robotic resection for patients with colorectal neoplasms.

Background: Laparoscopic natural orifice specimen extraction surgery (NOSES) has been widely used in colorectal neoplasms. However, only a few studies have focused on robotic NOSES. This study compared the short-term clinical outcomes and long-term survival outcomes between robotic NOSES and conventional robotic resection (CRR) groups. Methods: From March 2016 to October 2018, a consecutive of 143 patients who underwent robotic sigmoid and rectal resection at the Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, The Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, were considered for inclusion in this study. Propensity-score matching (PSM) was conducted to account for differences in the baseline characteristics. After PSM, 39 patients were included in the robotic NOSES group, and 39 patients in the CRR group. The baseline characteristics between the two groups were all balanced and comparable. Results: Patients in the NOSES group experienced less intraoperative blood loss (p=0.001), lower requirements for additional analgesia (p=0.020), shorter time to first flatus (p=0.010), and a shorter time to first liquid diet (p=0.003) than the CRR group. The 3-year overall survival rates (NOSES: 92.3% vs. CRR: 89.7% p=1.000) and 3-year disease-free survival rates (NOSES: 82.1% vs. CRR: 84.6% p=0.761) between the two groups were comparable. Conclusion: Robotic natural orifice specimen extraction surgery is a safe and feasible surgery for patients with colorectal neoplasms. Robotic NOSES is associated with better short-term clinical outcomes and similar long-term survival outcomes to conventional robotic resection.

Analysis of TYR Gene Pathogenic Variants in a Chinese Mongolian Family with Progressive Symmetric Erythrokeratoderma.

This study sought to analyse tyrosinase (TYR) pathogenic variants in a Chinese Mongolian family with progressive symmetric erythrokeratoderma (PSEK). We collected clinical data and peripheral blood DNA samples from the initial patient and his family members for polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification and whole-exome sequencing of the coding region of TYR. Genetic analysis showed a TYR insertion (c. 929_930insC; p.Arg311Lysfs*7) in the patient that was not detected in any of the normal family members or in 100 healthy controls. This report provides the first description of this TYR pathogenic variant (c. 929_930insC) in a family; functional studies and further research are needed for an in-depth analysis.

Curbing the COVID-19 pandemic with facility-based isolation of mild cases: a mathematical modeling study.

BACKGROUND: In many countries, patients with mild coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) are told to self-isolate at home, but imperfect compliance and shared living space with uninfected people limit the effectiveness of home-based isolation. We examine the impact of facility-based isolation compared to self-isolation at home on the continuing epidemic in the USA. METHODS: We developed a compartment model to simulate the dynamic transmission of COVID-19 and calibrated it to key epidemic measures in the USA from March to September 2020. We simulated facility-based isolation strategies with various capacities and starting times under different diagnosis rates. Our primary model outcomes are new infections and deaths over 2 months from October 2020 onwards. In addition to national-level estimations, we explored the effects of facility-based isolation under different epidemic burdens in major US Census Regions. We performed sensitivity analyses by varying key model assumptions and parameters. RESULTS: We find that facility-based isolation with moderate capacity of 5 beds per 10 000 total population could avert 4.17 (95% credible interval 1.65-7.11) million new infections and 16 000 (8000-23 000) deaths in 2 months compared with home-based isolation. These results are equivalent to relative reductions of 57% (44-61%) in new infections and 37% (27-40%) in deaths. Facility-based isolation with high capacity of 10 beds per 10 000 population could achieve reductions of 76% (62-84%) in new infections and 52% (37-64%) in deaths when supported by expanded testing with an additional 20% daily diagnosis rate. Delays in implementation would substantially reduce the impact of facility-based isolation. The effective capacity and the impact of facility-based isolation varied by epidemic stage across regions. CONCLUSION: Timely facility-based isolation for mild COVID-19 cases could substantially reduce the number of new infections and effectively curb the continuing epidemic in the USA. Local epidemic burdens should determine the scale of facility-based isolation strategies.

The impact of long-term care insurance in China on beneficiaries and caregivers: A systematic review.

BACKGROUND: China's long-term care insurance (LTCI) policy has been minimally evaluated. This systematic review aimed to assess the impact of China's LTCI pilot on beneficiaries and their caregivers. METHODS: This review is based on a search of peer-reviewed studies in English (Embase, MEDLINE, Web of Science) and Chinese (China National Knowledge Infrastructure [CNKI], VIP, Wanfang) databases from January 2016 through July 2020, with all studies published in English or Chinese included. We included quantitative analyses of beneficiary-level data that assessed the impact of LTCI on beneficiaries and their caregivers, with no restriction placed on the outcomes studied. RESULTS: Nine studies met our inclusion criteria. One study was a randomised trial and two used quasi-experimental approaches. Four studies examined LTCI's effect on beneficiaries' quality of life, physical pain, and health service utilisation; one study reported the effect on beneficiaries' healthcare expenditures; and one study evaluated the impact on caregivers' care tasks. These studies generally found LTCI to be associated with an improvement in patients' quality of life (including decreased physical pain), a reduction in the number of outpatient visits and hospitalisations, decreased patient-level health expenditures (e.g. one study reported a reduction in the length of stay, inpatient expenditures, and health insurance expenditures in tertiary hospitals by 41.0%, 17.7%, and 11.4%, respectively), and reduced informal care tasks for caregivers. In addition, four out of four studies that evaluated this outcome found that beneficiaries' overall satisfaction with LTCI was high. CONCLUSION: The current evidence base for the effects of LTCI in China on beneficiaries and their caregivers is sparse. Nonetheless, the existing studies suggest that LTCI has positive effects on beneficiaries and their caregivers. Further rigorous research on the impacts of LTCI in China is needed to inform the future expansion of the program.