Does hospital strategic alliance affect the paediatric service capacity of local hospitals? A difference-in-differences econometric analysis.

Background: Health inequality caused by the scarcity and uneven distribution of paediatric service resources is common worldwide. The hospital strategic alliance may improve paediatric service capacity and health equity, but this hypothesis has not yielded consistent results. Here, we examine the hospital strategic alliance's effect on local hospitals' paediatric service capacity.

Tenofovir and Hepatitis B Virus Transmission During Pregnancy: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

Importance: Standard care for preventing mother-to-child transmission (MTCT) of hepatitis B virus (HBV) in highly viremic mothers consists of maternal antiviral prophylaxis beginning at gestational week 28 combined with an HBV vaccine series and HBV immune globulin (HBIG) at birth. However, HBIG is unavailable in some resource-limited areas.

Objective: To determine whether initiating tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (TDF) at gestational week 16 combined with HBV vaccinations for infants is noninferior to the standard care of TDF at gestational week 28 combined with HBV vaccinations and HBIG for infants in preventing MTCT in mothers with HBV and high levels of viremia.

Transfer Learning Algorithm With Knowledge Division Level.

One of the major challenges of transfer learning algorithms is the domain drifting problem where the knowledge of source scene is inappropriate for the task of target scene. To solve this problem, a transfer learning algorithm with knowledge division level (KDTL) is proposed to subdivide knowledge of source scene and leverage them with different drifting degrees. The main properties of KDTL are three folds.

Development and validation of routine clinical laboratory data derived marker-based nomograms for the prediction of 5-year graft survival in kidney transplant recipients.

Background: To develop and validate predictive nomograms for 5-year graft survival in kidney transplant recipients (KTRs) with easily-available laboratory data derived markers and clinical variables within the first year post-transplant.

Methods: The clinical and routine laboratory data from within the first year post-transplant of 1289 KTRs was collected to generate candidate predictors. Univariate and multivariate Cox analyses and LASSO were conducted to select final predictors.

Online sequential echo state network with sparse RLS algorithm for time series prediction.

Recently, the echo state networks (ESNs) have been widely used for time series prediction. To meet the demand of actual applications and avoid the overfitting issue, the online sequential ESN with sparse recursive least squares (OSESN-SRLS) algorithm is proposed. Firstly, the ℓ and ℓ norm sparsity penalty constraints of output weights are separately employed to control the network size.

Primary hepatic angiosarcoma with spleen metastases in an adult woman: a case report and literature review.

Primary hepatic angiosarcoma (PHA) is a rare malignancy that carries a poor prognosis, accounting for less than 2% of all primary hepatic tumors. It is reported to be associated with chronic exposure to environmental carcinogens, but the majority of patients were still with unknown etiology. For patients with PHA often present with nonspecific symptoms and its rapid progression, accurate and early diagnosis is difficult and necessary.

The novel miR-9501 inhibits cell proliferation, migration and activates apoptosis in non-small cell lung cancer.

Accumulating evidences suggest that lots of microRNAs (miRNAs) play crucial roles in (patho-)physiological processes of lung cancer, including metastasis, drug-resistance or tumorigenesis. They mediate the progression of cell growth, migration and invasion by regulating the expression of special genes. MiRNA expression patterns could also serve as diagnostic/prognostic biomarkers.

Sirtuin 1 promotes the proliferation of C2C12 myoblast cells via the myostatin signaling pathway.

Accumulating evidence suggests that Sirtuin (Sirt)1 serves a significant role in proliferation and differentiation of myoblast cells; however the signaling mechanisms involved remain to be established. Myostatin (MSTN), a member of transforming growth factor‑β family, is an vital regulator of myoblast, fibroblast growth and differentiation. To determine if MSTN is involved in the regulation of myoblast cell proliferation by Sirt1, the present study administrated the Sirt1 activator resveratrol, inhibitor nicotinamide (NAM) and MSTN inhibitor SB431542 to C2C12 myoblast cells.

Red Meat Consumption and the Risk of Stroke: A Dose-Response Meta-analysis of Prospective Cohort Studies.

Background: Prospective studies of red meat consumption and risk of stroke have provided inconsistent results. We aimed to assess this association by conducting a meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies.

Methods: Relevant studies were identified by searching PubMed and EMBASE through April 1, 2013.

Hsa-miR-329 exerts tumor suppressor function through down-regulation of MET in non-small cell lung cancer.

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) act as key regulators of multiple cancers. Hsa-miR-329 (miR-329) functions as a tumor suppressor in some malignancies. However, its role on lung cancer remains poorly understood.

MicroRNA-187-3p mitigates non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) development through down-regulation of BCL6.

Hsa-microRNA-187-3p (miR-187-3p) has recently been discovered having anticancer efficacy in different organs. However, the role of miR-187-3p on non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is still ambiguous. In this study, we investigated the role of miR-187-3p on the development of NSCLC.

Hsa-miR-326 targets CCND1 and inhibits non-small cell lung cancer development.

Hsa-miRNA-326 (miR-326) has recently been discovered having anticancer efficacy in different organs. However, the role of miR-326 on non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is still ambiguous. In this study, we investigated the role of miR-326 on the development of NSCLC.

Hsa-miR-139-5p inhibits proliferation and causes apoptosis associated with down-regulation of c-Met.

Hsa-miRNA-139-5p (miR-139-5p) has recently been discovered having anticancer efficacy in different organs. However, the role of miR-139-5p on lung cancer is still ambiguous. In this study, we investigated the role of miR-139-5p on development of lung cancer.

Down-regulation of c-Met and Bcl2 by microRNA-206, activates apoptosis, and inhibits tumor cell proliferation, migration and colony formation.

Hsa-miRNA-206 (miR-206), highly expressed in skeletal muscle, has recently been discovered to have anticancer properties in different tissues. However, the role of miR-206 on lung cancer is still ambiguous. In this study, we investigated the role of miR-206 on the development of lung cancer.

Sulforaphane Attenuates Muscle Inflammation in Dystrophin-deficient mdx Mice via NF-E2-related Factor 2 (Nrf2)-mediated Inhibition of NF-κB Signaling Pathway.

Inflammation is widely distributed in patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy and ultimately leads to progressive deterioration of muscle function with chronic muscle damage, oxidative stress, and reduced oxidative capacity. NF-E2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) plays a critical role in defending against inflammation in different tissues via activation of phase II enzyme heme oxygenase-1 and inhibition of the NF-κB signaling pathway. However, the role of Nrf2 in the inflammation of dystrophic muscle remains unknown.

Sulforaphane alleviates muscular dystrophy in mdx mice by activation of Nrf2.

Sulforaphane (SFN), one of the most important isothiocyanates in the human diet, is known to have chemo-preventive and antioxidant activities in different tissues via activation of nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2)-mediated induction of antioxidant/phase II enzymes, such as heme oxygenase-1 and NAD(P)H quinone oxidoreductase 1. However, its effects on muscular dystrophy remain unknown. This work was undertaken to evaluate the effects of SFN on Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

Prognostic significance of CDH13 hypermethylation and mRNA in NSCLC.

Aberrant methylation of CpG dinucleotides is a commonly observed epigenetic modification in human cancer. Thus, detection of aberrant gene promoter methylation as a tool for diagnosis of tumors or as a prognostic marker has been widely described for many types of cancers, including nonsmall cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Emerging evidence indicates that CDH13 is a candidate tumor suppressor in several types of human tumors, including NSCLC.

A new method for stability analysis of recurrent neural networks with interval time-varying delay.

This brief deals with the problem of stability analysis for a class of recurrent neural networks (RNNs) with a time-varying delay in a range. Both delay-independent and delay-dependent conditions are derived. For the former, an augmented Lyapunov functional is constructed and the derivative of the state is retained.