Nomogram based on MRI and clinical features to predict progression-free survival in patients with stage IIIC1r cervical squamous cell carcinoma: A two-center study.

PURPOSE: To develop a nomogram based on MRI and clinical features to predict progression-free survival (PFS) of 2018 FIGO stage ⅢC1r cervical squamous cell carcinoma (CSCC). METHODS: 144 consecutive patients with stage ⅢC1r CSCC from two independent institutions were stratified into training cohort (from Institution 1, n=100) and independent validation cohort (from Institution 2, n=44). Univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses of MRI and clinical features before treatment were performed to determine independent risk factors for PFS in training cohort. Nomogram was developed based on them. Concordance index (C-index), calibration curves, and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analyses were performed to assess and validate the nomogram. RESULTS: In training cohort, 2009 FIGO stage, maximum length of the primary tumor, short diameter and roundness index of the maximum metastatic lymph node were independent risk factors of PFS in patients with stage IIIC1r CSCC (all P-values < 0.05). Nomogram based on them to predict 1- and 3-year PFS achieved C-indexes of 0.835 (95% confidence interval (CI): 0.809-0.862) and 0.789 (95%CI: 0.683-0.895) in the training and validation cohorts, respectively. Areas under ROC curves for the nomogram to predict 1- and 3-year PFS were 0.891 (95%CI: 0.829-0.954), 0.921 (95%CI: 0.861-0.981) in training cohort, and 0.902 (95%CI: 0.803-0.999), 0.885 (95%CI: 0.778-0.992) in validation cohort, respectively. Calibration curves indicated the nomogram predictions were in good agreement with actual observations. CONCLUSIONS: The nomogram based on MRI and clinical features has high accuracy and stability in predicting PFS of patients with stage IIIC1r CSCC.

The real experience of patients after liver transplantation in intensive care unit.

ABSTRACT: We aimed to explore the real experience of patients after liver transplantation in the intensive care unit (ICU).Objective sampling method was used to select patients transferred to the ICU in 10 hospitals in Zhuhai from May 2018 to August 2020. Patients need liver transplantation due to advanced liver cancer and decompensated cirrhosis. The eligibility criteria of patients mainly included liver transplant patients who were clear-minded and willing to participate in the study and had stayed in ICU. Phenomenological research methods and in-depth interviews were used in this qualitative study.The results showed that the true experience of patients after liver transplantation during ICU stay was summarized into four themes. The strengths of our qualitative research are that we can find the trend from a phenomenon through interviews and other methods to provide a directional foundation for future quantitative research. Its limitations are that it requires a lot of manpower and time, and its objectivity and universality are limited.Hospitalization experience in the ICU may lead to many negative experiences for liver transplant patients. Nurses should fully understand and pay attention to the psychological changes in patients. Nurses should take effective targeted measures to reduce or eliminate patients' fear of ICU stay and promote rehabilitation.

Effects of interchange ratio on sludge reduction and microbial community structures in an anaerobic/anoxic/oxic process with combined anaerobic side-stream reactor.

Oxic-settling-anaerobic (OSA) process is effective in minimizing sludge production, by inserting an anaerobic side-stream reactor (ASSR) in the recycling bypass. Interchange ratio (IR), the quantity ratio of sludge entering the ASSR to the sludge in the main stream reactors, is one of the most important parameters for OSA process. In the present study, a laboratory-scale anaerobic/anoxic/oxic (A2/O) process combined with an ASSR (A2/O-ASSR) was operated for 366 days in parallel with a conventional A2/O process to investigate the effects of IR on sludge reduction. IR was assigned values of 5%, 8%, 10%, and 15%, and the A2/O-ASSR process achieved 14.0%, 16.0%, 24.1%, and 13.7% of sludge reduction, respectively. At the optimum IR of 10%, high through-put sequencing analysis showed that the microbes responsible for pollutant removal and ubiquitous in wastewater treatment remained predominant in the two systems, and slow-growing microbes related to hydrolysis, nitrogen and phosphorus removal increased in the A2/O-ASSR process, which probably played a key role in sludge reduction. 40.6-58.6% of sludge reduction was caused by sludge decay in the ASSR. The tiny amount of extracellular polymeric substance released in the A2/O-ASSR process was subthreshold to cause remarkable sludge reduction.

Associations between polymorphisms of the GFI1B gene and growth traits of indigenous Chinese goats.

This study aimed to investigate polymorphisms of the eighth exon in the GFI1B gene among three indigenous Chinese goat breeds (QianBei Ma goats, GuiZhou white goats, and GuiZhou black goats). Furthermore, association analysis was conducted between these polymorphisms and growth traits. Polymerase chain reaction-single strand conformation polymorphism (PCR-SSCP), direct DNA sequencing, and PCR-restricted fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) were applied to detect polymorphism sites, and a general linear model was used to analyze their association with growth traits. We found two consistent single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) sites in the eighth exon of the GFI1B gene among the three breeds: 263 bp G→T and 340 bp G→A. The fixed effects model used to analyze growth traits revealed significant differences in body weight, body length, chest depth, and chest breadth between genotypes CD, CC, and DD (P < 0.01). The 340(G/C) polymorphic sites identified here will provide a basis to further study associations between the GFI1B gene and growth traits, as well as establish a theoretical foundation to develop better feeding and genetic resources of indigenous goats.

cDNA cloning and analysis of polymorphism of GFI1B gene in GuiZhou white goat.

This study mainly aimed to research the CDS sequence (coding sequence), polymorphisms of exon 1, exon 2 and part of exon 8 of GFI1B in GuiZhou white goat of indigenous Chinese goat. The cDNA of GFI1B was analysed through bioinformatics which was obtained by the reverse transcription PCR (RT-PCR). The polymorphisms of GFI1B gene exons region was identified whose association with growth traits was analysed by GuiZhou white goat. The results revealed that the cDNA of GFI1B which contained a complete open reading frame (ORF) was 996 bp in full length. The accession numbers on GenBank was JX627316. One new mutation sites of C347A had been determined in the eighth intron. Our results could lay the foundation for the further investigation on the role of GFI1B gene in goat growth traits.

[Construction and application of an Escherichia coli high effective expression vector with an enhancer].

In this study, we constructed a high effective fusion expression-vector in E. coli. This vector, pTO-T7, was characterized as: (1) an enhancer from tobacco mosaic virus (TMV), omega sequence, was ligated in front of a T7 promoter in the regulatory sequence; (2) the multi-cloning sites include eight restriction enzyme sites. It can facilitate fusion or nonfusion expression; (3) the N terminal of a fusion protein starts with the first 12 amino acids of T7 gene 10, and the C terminal is the hexahistidine tag; (4) kanmycin resistance gene was used as a selective marker. EGFP gene was inserted into pTO-T7 vector as a reporter gene. Expression data showed that fused-EGFP accounted to more than 50% of the total E. coli protein, and more than 90% of which was soluble. The fluorescence characters of fused-EGFP were also studied. The expression yield of target gene from plasmid pTO-T7 compared with that from pT-T7 without omega sequence suggested that omega sequence in pTO-T7 can improve the expression of target gene significantly.

Pharmacokinetics of sustained-release capsule of 5-isosorbide mononitrate in 20 healthy Chinese young men.

AIM: To compare the pharmacokinetics of domestic and imported sustained-release capsule of 5-isosorbide mononitrate (5-IM). METHODS: A single and 5-d-repeated oral doses of 5-IM 50 mg were performed on 2 groups of 20 Chinese healthy subjects (10 subjects for each group) in a randomized crossover protocol. The 5-IM in plasma were measured by gas chromatography with electron-captured detector method. Data were analyzed automatically by using a CAPP program on a PC computer. RESULTS: Fitting the 5-IM concentration-time curves to one-compartment model or following trapezoidal rule, the parameters such as Tmax, Cmax, Ke, MRT, and AUC were calculated and there were no significant differences between the two kinds of capsule. The major pharmacokinetic parameters of domestic and imported 5-IM sustained-release capsule with a 5-d multiple dose were respectively: Cmax (677 +/- 103) and (702 +/- 76) micrograms.L-1; Tmax (5.1 +/- 2.0) and (5.6 +/- 1.3) h; MRT (11.5 +/- 0.5) and (11.4 +/- 0.7) h; AUC0-infinity (12,121 +/- 1346) and (12,352 +/- 988) micrograms.h.L-1. The fraction of drug absorbed in vivo was correlated well with the percentage amount of drug released in vitro at corresponding time (P < 0.05), and the fluctuation indices on d 5 in multiple dose study were not significantly different between the two formulations (P > 0.05). The relative bioavailability of the domestic capsule for single and multiple dose were 96% +/- 11% and 98% +/- 10%, respectively. CONCLUSION: Domestic 5-IM sustained-release capsule showed bioequivalence compared with the imported capsule and provided the same nitrate-low interval in the latter part of the 24-h dosing interval.

In vitro and in vivo comparison of the abilities of purine and pyrimidine 2',3'-dideoxynucleosides to inhibit duck hepadnavirus.

Four purine and two pyrimidine 2',3'-dideoxynucleosides were studied for their ability to inhibit duck hepadnavirus replication. The purine 2',3'-dideoxynucleosides were more potent antiviral agents than the pyrimidine 2',3'-dideoxynucleosides. The concentration for 50% inhibition of viral replication (IC50) was determined for each of the effective agents. Two drugs with low IC50s, 2,6-diaminopurine 2',3'-dideoxyriboside and 2',3'-dideoxyadenosine, were chosen for in vivo studies. Animals received 10 mg/kg intramuscularly twice daily. Rapid clearance of hepadnavirus DNA from the sera of the animals was seen as a result of treatment with 2,6-diaminopurine 2',3'-dideoxyriboside; however, treatment with 2',3'-dideoxyadenosine did not clear the virus.