Bidirectional degeneration in the visual pathway in neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD)

OBJECTIVE

This study aims to investigate whether bidirectional degeneration occurs within the visual pathway and, if so, the extent of such changes in neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD).

METHODS

In total, 36 NMOSD and 24 healthy controls (HCs) were enrolled. Three-dimensional T1-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and diffusion tensor imaging were used to analyze damage to the posterior visual pathway. Damage to the anterior visual pathway was measured by optical coherence tomography.

RESULTS

In total, 24 NMOSD with prior optic neuritis (NMOON) patients showed significant reduction of peripapillary retinal nerve fiber layer, inner and outer retinal thickness, lateral geniculate nucleus volume, primary visual cortex volume, and decreased integrity of optic radiations, compared with 12 NMOSD without prior optic neuritis (NMONON) patients and 24 HCs. In NMONON, only the inner retinal thickness and the integrity of optic radiations were significantly reduced in comparison with HCs. Moreover, patients with optic neuritis showed severe bidirectional degeneration, the loss of the RNFL was greater than the atrophy of V1.

CONCLUSION

Our study indicated the presence of trans-synaptic degeneration in NMOSD. Damage to the inner retina and optic radiations can be observed even in NMONON. After an episode of optic neuritis, the anterior visual pathway damage is greater than the posterior visual pathway damage.

Preparation and Characterization of Protein-Loaded Electrospun Fiber Mat and Its Release Kinetics

For the enhancement of protein's bioavailability, a specific delivery system was developed by coaxial electrospinning. Bovine serum albumin (BSA) was used as protein model, and the core-sheath fiber mat was fabricated using sodium alginate as shell layer and the BSA-loaded chitosan nanoparticle that was prepared previously as core layer. By optimizing electrospinning parameters, uniform fibers with diameters ranging from 200-600 nm were obtained, and transmission electron microscopy and confocal laser scanning microscopy revealed their core-sheath structures. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) analysis demonstrated that there existed molecular interaction between components, which enhanced the mat's thermal stability and mechanic property. It was found that the predominant release mechanism of BSA from fiber mat was erosion, and little change occurred in the secondary structure of encapsulated BSA indicated by FTIR and circular dichroism analysis. The study shows that the obtained fiber mat is a potential delivery system for protein.

Chemically tunable photoresponse of ultrathin polypyrrole

Building a complex structure system of conductive polymers without a complicated fabricating process is a long-awaited goal to improving the functional photoresponse properties of conductive polymers. In this study, we demonstrate that the photoresponse of polypyrrole (PPy)-based photodetector devices with an ultrathin polymer layer can be chemically modulated by simply immersing the devices into an alkaline solution. After alkaline treatment, the pyrrole unit transforms into a quinoid structure. Characteristics of current-voltage reveal an increased photosensitivity with several orders of magnitude when decreasing the applied bias voltage. Furthermore, ultrathin PPy belts with a width of 100 nm exhibit ultra-high photosensitivites of roughly 1000 (unit) and photoresponsivities of 54.3 A W^-1 due to the high surface area ratio of the nanobelts.

Blue Light Photocatalytic Glycosylation without Electrophilic Additives

Photocatalytic formation of glycosidic bonds employing stable and readily accessible O-glycosyl derivatives of 2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidin-1-ol is presented that employs an iridium-based photocatalyst and blue LEDs. The reaction proceeds at room temperature and in the absence of additives other than 4 Å molecular sieves. Stereoselectivities are modest but nevertheless dependent on the anomeric configuration of the donor, suggesting a substantial degree of concerted character.

Critical review of the addition of tumor treating fields (TTFields) to the existing standard of care for newly diagnosed glioblastoma patients

Since 2005, the standard of care for patients with newly diagnosed glioblastoma (GBM) has consisted of maximal resection followed by radiotherapy plus daily temozolomide (TMZ), followed by maintenance TMZ. In patients selected for clinical trials, median overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) with this regimen is 15-17 months and 6-7 months, respectively. There have been various, largely unsuccessful attempts to improve on this standard of care. With the FDA approval of the tumor-treating fields (TTFields) device, Optune, for recurrent GBM (2011), and the more recent EF-14 interim trial results and approval for newly diagnosed GBM patients, several questions have arisen. A roundtable of experts was convened at the 2015 ASCO meeting to engage in an open conversation and debate of the EF-14 results presented at that meeting and their implications for neuro-oncology practice and clinical research. In October 2015, subsequent to the roundtable discussion, TTFields received FDA approval for newly diagnosed GBM.

Enhancement of the antimicrobial activity of cinnamon essential oil-loaded electrospun nanofilm by the incorporation of lysozyme

The antimicrobial activity of cinnamon essential oil-based electrospun nanofilm is enhanced by the combination of lysozyme.

Encapsulation of fish oil in a coaxial electrospun nanofibrous mat and its properties

Coaxial electrospinning was firstly developed to encapsulate fish oil in composite nanofibers to improve its oxidative stability.

How does ethical leadership influence employees' whistleblowing intention? Evidence from China

We investigated the relationship between ethical leadership and employees' whistleblowing intention, along with the mediating role of moral identity and the moderating role of power distance orientation. We conducted a 2-wave survey with 172 participant managers in China. Results indicated that ethical leadership was positively related to employees' whistleblowing intention and this relationship was mediated by moral identity. Moreover, employee power distance orientation positively moderated the relationship between ethical leadership and moral identity, such that the relationship was stronger for high power distance orientation employees than for those with a low power distance orientation. Theoretical contributions and practical implications are discussed.

Heat transfer due to electroconvulsive therapy: Influence of anisotropic thermal and electrical skull conductivity

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES

This paper focuses on electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) and head models to investigate temperature profiles arising when anisotropic thermal and electrical conductivities are considered in the skull layer. The aim was to numerically investigate the threshold for which this therapy operates safely to the brain, from the thermal point of view.

METHODS

A six-layer spherical head model consisting of scalp, fat, skull, cerebro-spinal fluid, grey matter and white matter was developed. Later on, a realistic human head model was also implemented. These models were built up using the packages from COMSOL Inc. and Simpleware Ltd. In these models, three of the most common electrode montages used in ECT were applied. Anisotropic conductivities were derived using volume constraint and included in both spherical and realistic head models. The bio-heat transferring problem governed by Laplace equation was solved numerically.

RESULTS

The results show that both the tensor eigenvalues of electrical conductivity and the electrode montage affect the maximum temperature, but thermal anisotropy does not have a significant influence. Temperature increases occur mainly in the scalp and fat, and no harm is caused to the brain by the current applied during ECT.

CONCLUSIONS

The work assures the thermal safety of ECT and also provides a numerical method to investigate other non-invasive therapies.

Reversible and Precise Self-Assembly of Janus Metal-Organosilica Nanoparticles through a Linker-Free Approach

Reversible self-assembly of nanoparticles into ordered structures is essential for both fundamental study and practical applications. Although extensive work has been conducted, the demand for simple, cheap, reversible, and versatile ordering methods is still a central issue in current nanoscience and nanotechnology. Here we report a reversible and precise self-assembly of nanoparticles through a linker-free and fast approach by manipulating the interparticle forces, e.g., van der Waals (VDW) force and electrostatic force. Because VDW force is nondirectional, an oriented interaction is achieved to induce the directional binding of nanoparticles utilizing the Janus nanostructure. An effective sol-gel approach has been developed to synthesize metal-organosilica Janus nanoparticles. Dimers and trimers can be obtained by tuning the steric hindrance. After assembly, "hot-spots" can be generated between adjacent nanoparticles, and dramatic enhancement has been observed in surface-enhanced Raman scattering. The present strategy overcomes several limitations of existing approaches and allows the controlled assembly of small particles into various structures.

The Effect of Mentoring on Protégés' Organizational Deviance

The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of mentoring on protégés' organizational deviance. The sample comprised 202 ongoing formal mentoring dyads in the People's Republic of China (mentor samples: 61.9% male, M age = 36.8 years; protégé samples: 57.4% male, M age = 25.0 years). The regression results showed that mentoring was negatively related to protégés' organizational deviance. Moreover, job embeddedness and organizational identification mediated the association between mentoring and protégés' organizational deviance. Furthermore, the perceived developmental climate played a significant moderating role in the relationships between mentoring and job embeddedness and organizational identification such that the relationships were stronger when protégés perceived a stronger developmental climate. The theoretical and practical implications of this study were discussed.

The network of causal interactions for beta oscillations in the pedunculopontine nucleus, primary motor cortex, and subthalamic nucleus of walking parkinsonian rats

Oscillatory activity has been well-studied in many structures within cortico-basal ganglia circuits, but it is not well understood within the pedunculopontine nucleus (PPN), which was recently introduced as a potential target for the treatment of gait and postural impairments in advanced stages of Parkinson's disease (PD). To investigate oscillatory activity in the PPN and its relationship with oscillatory activity in cortico-basal ganglia circuits, we simultaneously recorded local field potentials in the PPN, primary motor cortex (M1), and subthalamic nucleus (STN) of 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA)-induced hemiparkinsonian rats during resting and walking. After analysis of power spectral density, coherence, and partial Granger causality, three major findings emerged: 1) after 6-OHDA lesions, beta band oscillations were enhanced in all three regions during walking; 2) the direction of information flow for beta oscillations among the three structures was STN→M1, STN→PPN, and PPN→M1; 3) after the treatment of levodopa, beta activity in the three regions was reduced significantly and the flow of beta band was also abrogated. Our results suggest that beta activity in the PPN is transmitted from the basal ganglia and probably comes from the STN, and the STN plays a dominant role in the network of causal interactions for beta activity. Thus, the STN may be a potential source of aberrant beta band oscillations in PD. Levodopa can inhibit beta activity in the PPN of parkinsonian rats but cannot relieve parkinsonian patients' axial symptoms clinically. Therefore, beta oscillations may not be the major cause of axial symptoms.

Memory Effect Manifested by a Boson Peak in Metallic Glass

We explore the correlation between a boson peak and structural relaxation in a typical metallic glass. Consistent with enthalpy recovery, a boson peak shows a memory effect in an aging-and-scan procedure. Single-step isothermal aging produces a monotonic decrease of enthalpy and boson peak intensity; for double-step isothermal aging, both enthalpy and boson peak intensity experience, coincidently, an incipient increase to a maximum and a subsequent decrease toward the equilibrium state. Our results indicate a direct link between slow structural relaxation and fast boson peak dynamics, which presents a profound understanding of the two dynamic behaviors in glass.

EEG Sleep Stages Classification Based on Time Domain Features and Structural Graph Similarity

The electroencephalogram (EEG) signals are commonly used in diagnosing and treating sleep disorders. Many existing methods for sleep stages classification mainly depend on the analysis of EEG signals in time or frequency domain to obtain a high classification accuracy. In this paper, the statistical features in time domain, the structural graph similarity and the K-means (SGSKM) are combined to identify six sleep stages using single channel EEG signals. Firstly, each EEG segment is partitioned into sub-segments. The size of a sub-segment is determined empirically. Secondly, statistical features are extracted, sorted into different sets of features and forwarded to the SGSKM to classify EEG sleep stages. We have also investigated the relationships between sleep stages and the time domain features of the EEG data used in this paper. The experimental results show that the proposed method yields better classification results than other four existing methods and the support vector machine (SVM) classifier. A 95.93% average classification accuracy is achieved by using the proposed method.

Cost-effectiveness of Lamivudine, Telbivudine, Adefovir Dipivoxil and Entecavir on decompensated hepatitis B virus-related cirrhosis

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the cost-effectiveness of lamivudine (LMV), telbivudine (LdT), adefovir dipivoxil (ADV) and entecavir (ETV) on decompensated hepatitis B virus-related cirrhosis.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

1332 patients with decompensated hepatitis B virus-related cirrhosis were randomly assigned into 5 groups with different clinical treatment including LMV treatment, LdT treatment, ADV treatment, LMV+ADV treatment and ETV treatment. And then the liver function, Child-Pugh scores, sero-conversion of HBeAg/HBeAb, polymerase gene mutations, cost-effectiveness, incremental cost-effectiveness and side effects were investigated and further analyzed.

RESULTS

LMV, ADV, LdT, LMV+ADV and ETV were all effective on decreasing Child-Pugh scores and conversing negatively hepatitis B virus (HBV) DNA and HBeAg, whereas LMV+ADV and ETV more effective than LMV, ADV and LdT. HBV DNA polymerase genotypic mutations were rare in the 5 groups. The less mutation rate was found in the LMV+ADV and ETV group than in the LMV, ADV and LdT group. Compared to the cost-effectiveness and incremental cost-effectiveness ratio, ETV was the optimal selection, LMV+ADV was the alternative selection and LMV was the cheapest option. The side effects of the 5 plans were all rare and could be controlled.

CONCLUSIONS

LMV, ADV, LdT, LMV+ADV and ETV were all effective on treatment of decompensated hepatitis B virus-related cirrhosis whereas ETV and LMV+ADV were recommended.

Microwave-assisted one-step synthesis and characterization of a slow release nitrogen fertilizer with inorganic and organic composites

Microwave-assisted one-step synthesis of a novel high-performance slow release nitrogen fertilizer with inorganic and organic composites.

Absence of Stereodirecting Participation by 2-O-Alkoxycarbonylmethyl Ethers in 4,6-O-Benzylidene-Directed Mannosylation

The preparation of a series of mannopyranosyl donors carrying 2-O-(2-oxoalkyl) ethers and their use in glycosylation reactions are described. The formation of cyclic products with the simple 2-O-phenacyl ether and with the 2-O-(t-butoxycarbonylmethyl) ether establishes the stereoelectronic feasibility of participation in such systems. The high β-selectivities observed with the bis-trifluoromethyl phenacyl ether indicate that participation can be suppressed through the introduction of electron-withdrawing substituents. The high β-selectivities and absence of cyclic products observed with the 2-O-(methoxycarbonylmethyl) ether exclude the effective participation of esters through six-membered cyclic intermediates in this series. The results are discussed in terms of the conformation of cyclic dioxenium ions (E,E-, E,Z-, or Z,Z-) and in the context of "neighboring group" participation by nonvicinal esters in glycosylation. Methods for the deprotection of the 2-O-phenacyl and 2-O-(methoxycarbonylmethyl) ethers are described.

Fabrication of electrospun polylactic acid nanofilm incorporating cinnamon essential oil/β-cyclodextrin inclusion complex for antimicrobial packaging

A novel antimicrobial packaging material was obtained by incorporating cinnamon essential oil/β-cyclodextrin inclusion complex (CEO/β-CD-IC) into polylacticacid (PLA) nanofibers via electrospinning technique. The CEO/β-CD-IC was prepared by the co-precipitation method and SEM and FT-IR spectroscopy analysis indicated the successful formation of CEO/β-CD-IC, which improved the thermal stability of CEO. The CEO/β-CD-IC was then incorporated into PLA nanofibers by electrospinning and the resulting PLA/CEO/β-CD nanofilm showed better antimicrobial activity compared to PLA/CEO nanofilm. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of PLA/CEO/β-CD nanofilm against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus was approximately 1 mg/ml (corresponding CEO concentration 11.35 μg/ml) and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) was approximately 7 mg/ml (corresponding CEO concentration 79.45 μg/ml). Furthermore, compared with the casting method, the mild electrospinning process was more favorable for maintaining greater CEO in the obtained film. The PLA/CEO/β-CD nanofilm can effectively prolong the shelf life of pork, suggesting it has potential application in active food packaging.

A meta-analysis of bevacizumab combined with chemotherapy in the treatment of ovarian cancer

INTRODUCTION

Angiogenesis plays an important role in the biology of ovarian cancer. The clinical efficacy and side effects of bevacizumab, the vascular endothelial growth factor inhibitor, on survival and toxicity in women with this ovarian cancer, was not conclusive. We performed this systematic review and meta-analysis in order to clarify the efficacy of bevacizumab combined with chemotherapy in the treatment of ovarian cancer.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

We searched the electronic database of MEDLINE, EMBASE, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials and CNKI for clinical controlled trials of comparing bevacizumab combined with chemotherapy and chemotherapy alone in the treatment of ovarian cancer. The primary outcomes of eligible studies included median progression-free survival (PFS), overall survival (OS), and toxicities such as enterobrosis, hypertension, albuminuria, congestive heart failure (CHF), neutrophils, thrombosis, and bleeding. The Hazard ratio (HR) and relative risk were used for the meta-analysis and were expressed with 95% confidence intervals (CIs). All the statistical analyses were carried out by  Stata 11.0 software (http://www.stata.com; Stata Corporation, College Station, TX, USA).

RESULTS

We included 5 studies with 1798 cases in the bevacizumab combined with the chemotherapy group and 1810 subjects in the chemotherapy alone group. The pooled results showed that bevacizumab + chemotherapy compared with chemotherapy alone can significant prolong the median PFS (HR, 0.64; 95% CI, 0.46-0.82; P < 0.05) but not the OS (HR, 0.84; 95% CI, 0.59-10.9; P > 0.05); the toxicity analysis showed that the enterobrosis, hypertension, albuminuria, neutrophils, thrombosis, and bleeding were significantly increased in the bevacizumab + chemotherapy group compared with chemotherapy alone (Pall < 0.05). But the CHF risk between the two groups was not statistical different (P > 0.05).

CONCLUSION

Bevacizumab combined with chemotherapy prolonged the median PFS in patients with ovarian cancer but also increase the risk of developing enterobrosis, hypertension, albuminuria, neutrophils, thrombosis, and bleeding.

Evaluating the effects of biocompatible cholinium ionic liquids on microbial lipid production by Trichosporon fermentans

BACKGROUND

Microbial lipid is a potential raw material for large-scale biodiesel production and lignocellulosic hydrolysate has been considered as promising low-cost substrate for lipid fermentation. Lignocellulosic biomass needs to be pretreated before enzymatic hydrolysis, and biocompatible cholinium ionic liquids (ILs) have been demonstrated to be highly efficient for pretreatment. However, the impact of these ILs residues in hydrolysates on downstream biotransformation remains unknown. Therefore, the influence of three typical cholinium ILs on the lipid production by Trichosporon fermentans was first investigated.

RESULTS

The cell growth of T. fermentans was stimulated in the presence of cholinium lysine ([Ch][Lys]) and cholinium serine ([Ch][Ser]), while the lipid accumulation was inhibited by [Ch][Lys]) and [Ch][Ser]. Both cell growth and lipid accumulation of T. fermentans were inhibited in the presence of cholinium acetate ([Ch][OAc]). Despite the reduction in lipid content, the lipid production by T. fermentans was improved in the presence of low concentrations of [Ch][Lys] (≤30 mM) and [Ch][Ser] (≤20 mM) due to the remarkable increase of biomass. It was found that cholinium cation had minor influence on lipid production. However, the anions of [Ch][Lys] and [Ch][Ser] could be assimilated as nitrogen source by T. fermentans and the reduced C/N ratio accounts for the inhibition of lipid accumulation, which could be alleviated by improving C/N ratio of medium. In addition, the anion of [Ch][OAc] could be metabolized by T. fermentans, leading to a rapid alkaline-pH shift and strong inhibition of lipid production. And this inhibitory effect on lipid production could be significantly reduced by controlling culture pH.

CONCLUSIONS

The anions of [Ch][Lys], [Ch][Ser] and [Ch][OAc] play an important role in affecting the cell growth and lipid accumulation of T. fermentans, and the inhibition of these three ILs on lipid production can be alleviated by careful fermentation condition control. Hence, T. fermentans is a promising strain for microbial lipid production from cholinium ILs-pretreated lignocellulosic hydrolysates.

Compositional origin of unusual β-relaxation properties in La-Ni-Al metallic glasses

The β-relaxation of metallic glasses (MGs) bears nontrivial connections to their microscopic and macroscopic properties. In an effort to elucidate the mechanism of the β-relaxation, we studied by dynamical mechanical measurements the change of its properties on varying the composition of La60Ni15Al25 in various ways. The properties of the β-relaxation turn out to be very sensitive to the composition. It is found that the isochronal loss peak temperature of β-relaxation, Tβ,peak, is effectively determined by the total (La + Ni) content. When Cu is added into the alloy to replace either La, Ni, or Al, the Tβ,peak increases with decrease of the (La + Ni) content. The trend is in accordance with data of binary and ternary MGs formed from La, Ni, Al, and Cu. Binary La-Ni MGs have pronounced β-relaxation loss peaks, well separated from the α-relaxation. In contrast, the β-relaxation is not resolved in La-Al and La-Cu MGs, showing up as an excess wing. For the ternary La-Ni-Al MGs, increase of La or Ni content is crucial to lower the Tβ,peak. Keeping the Al content fixed, increase of La content lowers the Tβ,peak further, indicating the more important role La plays in lowering Tβ,peak than Ni. The observed effects on changing the composition of La60Ni15Al25 lead to the conclusion that the properties of the β-relaxation are mainly determined by the interaction between the largest solvent element, La, and the smallest element, Ni. From our data, it is further deduced that La and Ni have high mobility in the MGs, and this explains why the β-relaxation in this La-based MGs is prominent and well resolved from the α-relaxation as opposed to Pd- and Zr-based MGs where the solvent and largest atoms, Pd and Zr, are the least mobile.

Peroxynitrite decomposition catalyst prevents matrix metalloproteinase-9 activation and neurovascular injury after hemoglobin injection into the caudate nucleus of rats

Hemoglobin (Hb) is a major constituent of blood and a potent mediator of oxidative or nitrative stress after intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH). Our previous study demonstrated that Hb could induce abundant peroxynitrite (ONOO(-)) formation in vivo, which may be involved in the blood-brain barrier (BBB) disruption, however, the drug intervention is absent and also the underlying mechanism. Using an experimental stroke model by injecting Hb into the caudate nucleus of male Sprague-Dawley rats, we assessed the role of ONOO(-) decomposition catalyst, 5,10,15,20-tetrakis (4-sulfonatophenyl) porphyrinato iron(III) [FeTPPS] in the activation of MMP-9 and Hb-induced neurovascular injuries. 3-Nitrotyrosine (3-NT, as an index of ONOO(-) formation) and NF-κB expression was measured by western blot (WB) and immunohistochemistry (IHC)/immunofluorescence (IF). Activity of MMP was evaluated by in situ zymography. Neurovascular injury was assessed using zonula occludens-1 (ZO-1) by WB and IF, fibronectin (FN) and neuron-specific nuclear protein (NeuN) IHC. Perihematomal cell death was determined by TUNEL assay. Behavioral outcome was measured by modified neurological severity score (mNSS) test. At the injured striata, profuse 3-NT was produced and mainly expressed in neutrophils and microglia/macrophages. 3-NT formation significantly colocalized with nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) expression. In situ zymography showed that gelatinase activity was mostly co-localized with neurons and blood vessel walls and partly with neutrophils and microglia/macrophages. Enhanced 3-NT production, NF-κB induction and MMP-9 activation were obviously reduced after FeTPPS treatment. Hb-induced injury to tight junction protein (ZO-1), basal lamina of FN-immunopositive microvasculature and neural cells was evidently ameliorated by FeTPPS. In addition, apoptotic cell numbers as well as behavioral deficits were also improved. The present study shows that the administration of the ONOO(-) decomposition catalyst FeTPPS protects against Hb-induced neurovascular injuries and improves neurological function, which possibly in part by suppressing MMP-9 activation.

[MODIFIED Stoppa APPROACH WITH MEDIAL WALL SPRING PLATE FOR INVOLVING QUADRILATERAL OF ACETABULUM FRACTURE]

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the effectiveness of modified Stoppa approach with medial wall spring plate (MWSP) for involving quadrilateral of acetabulum fracture.

METHODS

Between March 2008 and September 2013, 38 patients with involving quadrilateral of acetabulum fracture were treated, including of 23 males and 15 females with an average age of 36.08 years (range, 19-56 years). The causes included traffic accidents injury (21 cases), crash injury of heavy object (10 cases), and falling injury from height (7 cases). The interval of injury and admission was 3 hours to 2 days (mean, 11 hours). There were 12 cases of anterior column fracture (type D), 5 cases of transverse fractures (type E), 8 cases of T shaped fractures (type H), 6 cases of anterior column fracture with posterior transverse fractures (type I), and 7 cases of double column fractures (type J) according to Letournel-Judet classification. Based on fracture types, MWSP was used to fix fracture by modified Stoppa approach in 19 cases or combined with the ilioinguinal approach in 10 cases or combined with Kocher-Langenbeck approach in 9 cases. The operation time, blood loss, and complications were recorded. The effectiveness of reduction and the hip function were evaluated according to Matta score system and Merled' Aubigne and Postel score system.

RESULTS

The operation time was 85-210 minutes (mean, 130 minutes).The intra-operative blood loss was 450-900 mL (mean, 650 mL). There were 1 case of vascular avulsion, and 1 case of bladder injury during operation; there were 8 cases of venous thrombosis and 2 cases of fat liquefaction of incision after operation. Screw was implanted into the articular joint in 1 case on CT after operation. Matta X-ray assessment showed anatomical reduction in 9 cases satisfactory reduction in 24 cases, and unsatisfactory reduction in 5 cases, and the satisfaction rate of reduction was 86.84%. Three patients had limb shorting of 0.8-1.0 cm when compared with normal limb. All patients were followed up for 7 to 18 months with an average of 10 months. Fractures healed well within 13-16 weeks with an average of 14 weeks. At 1 year after operation, the results were excellent in 9 cases, good in 21 cases, general in 5 cases, and poor in 3 cases, and the excellent and good rate was 78.95% according to the Merled' Aubigne and Postel hip score standards.

CONCLUSION

Involving quadrilateral of acetabulum fracture can be fixed with MWSP by modified Stoppa approach or combined with other approaches to obtain good exposure, less invasion, satisfactory reduction, stable fixation, and low complications.

Gait analysis in three different 6-hydroxydopamine rat models of Parkinson's disease

Gait deficits are important clinical symptoms of Parkinson's disease (PD) but are rarely studied. In this study we made three different rat PD models by administration of 6-hydroxydopamine into caudate putamen (CPU), medial forebrain bundle (MFB) and substantia nigra compact (SNC). We evaluated the gait changes in these models by using a computer-assisted CatWalk system. Correlations of gait parameters with tyrosine hydroxylase protein levels in the CPU and SNC were also investigated. The gait readouts were significantly impaired in both the MFB and SNC groups. However, the MFB group showed a more pronounced impairment than the SNC group. In contrast, only mild and incomplete gait impairment occurred in the CPU group. In addition, some gait parameters demonstrated close correlation with the protein levels of TH. This paper suggests that the 6-hydroxydopamine-induced MFB model is more propitious to study gait dysfunction than the other two models and the CatWalk system can provide reliable and objective criteria to stratify gait changes arising from 6-hydroxydopamine lesioned rats. These findings may hold promise in the study of PD disease progression and new therapeutic methods.

Profile of interdialytic ambulatory blood pressure in a cohort of Chinese patients

Management of hypertension is one of the fundamental interventions in dialysis patients. However, the profile of interdialytic blood pressure (BP) in Chinese dialysis patients remains elusive. We aim to investigate this issue as well as the effect of antihypertensive medication in this population. We performed 44-h ambulatory BP in 90 patients on maintenance hemodialysis. Patients were classified as 'dipping', 'non-dipping' or 'reverse-dipping' based on night/day ratio (N/D) of systolic BP on nondialysis day. The prevalence of blunted circadian BP pattern was strikingly high (92.2%), with more than half of the patients (55.6%) classified as reverse-dipping. There was a close association between high erythropoietin (EPO) dose used and deteriorated circadian rhythm. Patients in the dipping group also displayed a dipping state for heart rate (HR) compared with the other two groups (N/D of HR: 81.5 ± 6.6 vs 92.1 ± 6.0 and 91.3 ± 10.7, P=0.02). Only 26.7% patients had a controlled nocturnal BP. Patients with bedtime dosing had lower N/D of systolic BP compared with patients without (100.1 ± 7.0 vs 105.2 ± 7.1, P=0.01). Non-dipping and reverse-dipping are highly prevalent in Chinese patients. EPO use and autonomic dysfunction may contribute to the blunted circadian rhythm. More tightly control of nighttime BP is an urgent need and bedtime dosing may be beneficial.

The value and cost of complexity in predictive modelling: role of tissue anisotropic conductivity and fibre tracts in neuromodulation

OBJECTIVES

Computational methods are increasingly used to optimize transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) dose strategies and yet complexities of existing approaches limit their clinical access. Since predictive modelling indicates the relevance of subject/pathology based data and hence the need for subject specific modelling, the incremental clinical value of increasingly complex modelling methods must be balanced against the computational and clinical time and costs. For example, the incorporation of multiple tissue layers and measured diffusion tensor (DTI) based conductivity estimates increase model precision but at the cost of clinical and computational resources. Costs related to such complexities aggregate when considering individual optimization and the myriad of potential montages. Here, rather than considering if additional details change current-flow prediction, we consider when added complexities influence clinical decisions.

APPROACH

Towards developing quantitative and qualitative metrics of value/cost associated with computational model complexity, we considered field distributions generated by two 4 × 1 high-definition montages (m1 = 4 × 1 HD montage with anode at C3 and m2 = 4 × 1 HD montage with anode at C1) and a single conventional (m3 = C3-Fp2) tDCS electrode montage. We evaluated statistical methods, including residual error (RE) and relative difference measure (RDM), to consider the clinical impact and utility of increased complexities, namely the influence of skull, muscle and brain anisotropic conductivities in a volume conductor model.

MAIN RESULTS

Anisotropy modulated current-flow in a montage and region dependent manner. However, significant statistical changes, produced within montage by anisotropy, did not change qualitative peak and topographic comparisons across montages. Thus for the examples analysed, clinical decision on which dose to select would not be altered by the omission of anisotropic brain conductivity.

SIGNIFICANCE

Results illustrate the need to rationally balance the role of model complexity, such as anisotropy in detailed current flow analysis versus value in clinical dose design. However, when extending our analysis to include axonal polarization, the results provide presumably clinically meaningful information. Hence the importance of model complexity may be more relevant with cellular level predictions of neuromodulation.

[Clinicopathological and prognostic significance of a panel of tumor biomarkers in lung adenocarcinoma: a tissue microarray study]

BACKGROUND

Lung adenocarcinoma is one of the most common histological subtypes of lung cancer. The incidence of this disease was continuously increased. This study aims to detect the expressions of Napsin A, TTF-1, ERCC1, RRM1, EGFR, HER2, ERα, ERβ, PR, and Bcl-2 in lung adenocarcinoma and to explore their correlations with clinicopathological characteristics and prognosis.

METHODS

A total of 227 lung adenocarcinoma specimens were constructed in tissue microarrays. The expressions of the 10 tumor biomarkers were analyzed by immunohistochemistry on paraffin-embedded sections.

RESULTS

Among the 10 markers, Napsin A was gender-related (P=0.049). Napsin A, PR, and EGFR were significantly associated with smoking. TTF-1 and ERCC1 were closely associated with tumor size. Napsin A, TTF-1, ERα, and PR were remarkably associated with tumor differentiation. TTF-1, Bcl-2, and ERCC1 were closely associated with tumor stage (P<0.05). No marker was related to age. No correlations were observed between ERβ, HER2, and RRM1 expressions and clinicopathological parameters (P>0.05). Univariate analysis results showed that Napsin A, TTF-1, and ERCC1 were significantly associated with overall survival. TTF-1 was remarkably associated with disease-free survival (P<0.05). Stage I cases were further analyzed and revealed that only Napsin A expression was associated with overall survival (P<0.05). No marker was correlated with disease-free survival (P>0.05). Multivariate analysis results showed that pathological staging was significantly associated with overall survival and disease-free survival (P<0.05). No marker was identified as a predictor of patient outcome (P>0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

Napsin A, TTF-1, and ERCC1 are the markers indicating good prognosis of lung adenocarcinoma.

COMPARISONS BETWEEN MOTOR AREA EEG AND ALL-CHANNELS EEG FOR TWO ALGORITHMS IN MOTOR IMAGERY TASK CLASSIFICATION

This article reports on a comparative study to identify electroencephalography (EEG) signals during motor imagery (MI) for motor area EEG and all-channels EEG in the brain–computer interface (BCI) application. In this paper, we present two algorithms: CC-LS-SVM and CC-LR for MI tasks classification. The CC-LS-SVM algorithm combines the cross-correlation (CC) technique and the least square support vector machine (LS-SVM). The CC-LR algorithm assembles the CC technique and binary logistic regression (LR) model. These two algorithms are implemented on the motor area EEG and the all-channels EEG to investigate how well they perform and also to test which area EEG is better for the MI classification. These two algorithms are also compared with some existing methods which reveal their competitive performance during classification. Results on both datasets, IVa and IVb from BCI Competition III, show that the CC-LS-SVM algorithm performs better than the CC-LR algorithm on both the motor area EEG and the all-channels EEG. The results also demonstrate that the CC-LS-SVM algorithm performs much better for the all-channels EEG than for the motor area EEG. Furthermore, the LS-SVM-based approach can correctly identify the discriminative MI tasks, demonstrating the algorithm's superiority in classification performance over some existing methods.

Lepidic and micropapillary growth pattern and expression of Napsin A can stratify patients of stage I lung adenocarcinoma into different prognostic subgroup

Histologic categories and related growth pattern proposed by IASLC/ATS/ERS classification has been reported to be prognostically important in lung adenocarcinoma. Thyroid transcription factor-1 (TTF1) and Napsin A have been investigated as potential prognostic parameters with conflicting results. A total of 211 cases with stage I lung adenocarcinoma were analyzed according to the IASLC/ATS/ERS classification with slight modifications. Expression levels of TTF1 and Napsin A were evaluated by immunohistochemistry. In univariate analyses, we found female sex (p=0.009), lepidic growth pattern (P=0.011) and lack of micropapillary pattern (P=0.048) were favorable predictor significantly associated with disease-free survival (DFS). Lack of mitosis (P=0.044) and Napsin A expression (P=0.031) were favorable predictors for overall survival (OS). Tumors with a maximum diameter≤2 cm had both longer DFS (P=0.008) and OS (P=0.020). Negative TTF1 expression indicated increased risk of death, but failure in statistical significance (P=0.215). After multivariate analysis, histologic subtype, tumor size and gender were identified as independent predictor for DFS (RR: 0.343, 3.697, 0.494; P=0.006, 0.029, 0.019), no feature was found as an independent predictor for overall survival (P>0.05). To conclude, lepidic growth pattern, female sex and tumor size≤2 cm are independent favorable predictors for tumor recurrence, tumors with more than 5% percentage of lepidic growth pattern will have a better prognosis than absence, in early-stage lung adenocarcinoma.

Identification of motor imagery tasks through CC-LR algorithm in brain computer interface

This study focuses on the identification of Motor Imagery (MI) tasks for the development of Brain Computer Interface (BCI) technologies combining Cross-Correlation and Logistic Regression (CC-LR) techniques. The proposed method is tested on two benchmark data sets, IVa and IVb of BCI Competition III, and the performance is evaluated through a 3-fold cross-validation procedure. The experimental outcomes are compared with two recently reported algorithms, R-Common Spatial Pattern (CSP) with aggregation and Clustering Technique (CT)-based Least Square Support Vector Machine (LS-SVM) and also other four algorithms using data set IVa. The results demonstrate that our proposed method results in an improvement of at least 3.47% compared with the existing methods tested.

Association of the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) gene single-nucleotide polymorphisms with osteosarcoma susceptibility in a Chinese population

Osteosarcoma (OS) is the most common bone malignancy worldwide. The vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) gene plays an important role in the pathogenesis of OS. The objective of this study aimed to detect the potential association between VEGF genetic polymorphisms and OS susceptibility in Chinese Han population. We recruited 330 OS patients and 342 cancer-free controls in this case-control study. Three single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) (-634 G > C, +936 C > T, and +1612 G > A) of the VEGF gene were investigated by using polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) method and confirmed by direct DNA sequencing. Among these SNPs, we found that the genotypes/alleles of +936 C > T were statistically associated with the increased risk of OS (TT versus (vs.) CC: OR = 2.70, 95% CI 1.34-5.45, χ(2) = 8.2271, p = 0.0041; T vs. C: OR = 1.31, 95% CI 1.02-1.68, χ(2) = 4.3861, p = 0.0362). The T allele and TT genotype of +936 C > T could be factors that increase the risk for susceptibility to OS. The results from this study suggest that VEGF genetic variants are potentially related to OS susceptibility in Chinese Han population and might be used as molecular markers for assessing OS susceptibility.