A machine learning-based predictive model discriminates nonalcoholic steatohepatitis from nonalcoholic fatty liver disease.

Background: Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a leading cause of liver-related morbidity and mortality. The diagnosis of non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) plays a crucial role in the management of NAFLD patients.

Objective: The aim of our observational study was to build a machine learning model to identify NASH in NAFLD patients.

Optimizing electrochemical performance of Na0.67Ni0.17Co0.17Mn0.66O2 with P2 structure via preparing concentration-gradient particles for sodium-ion batteries.

P2-type layered oxides for rechargeable sodium-ion batteries have drawn a lot of attention because of their excellent electrochemical performance. However, these types of cathodes usually suffer from poor cyclic stability. To overcome this disadvantage, in this work, novel ball-shaped concentration-gradient oxide NaNiCoMnO with P2 structure modified by Mn-rich surface is successfully prepared using co-precipitation method.

Ankylosing spondylitis and psychiatric disorders in European population: a Mendelian randomization study.

Background: Epidemiologic evidence has demonstrated a correlation between ankylosing spondylitis and psychiatric disorders. However, little is known about the common genetics and causality of this association. This study aimed to investigate the common genetics and causality between ankylosing spondylitis (AS) and psychiatric disorders.

Reference Intervals of Serum Iodine Concentration in Chinese Pregnant Women.

The study aims to establish trimester-specific reference ranges for serum iodine (SI) in Chinese pregnant women and explore its associations with maternal and infantile thyroid function. Apparently healthy pregnant women were enrolled during their first antenatal visit. Fasting venous and spot urine samples were collected for determining serum and urinary iodine (UI) levels by a validated inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry.

Two web-based dynamically interactive nomograms and risk stratification systems for predicting survival outcomes and guiding treatment in non-metastatic nasopharyngeal carcinoma.

Background: A nomogram is a valuable and easily accessible tool for individualizing cancer prognosis. This study aims to establish and validate two prognostic nomograms for long-term overall survival (OS) and cancer-specific survival (CSS) in non-metastatic nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) patients and to investigate the treatment options for the nomogram-based risk stratification subgroups.

Methods: A total of 3959 patients with non-metastatic NPC between 2004 and 2015 were identified from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database.

A domino-like localized cascade toehold assembly amplification-based DNA nanowire for microRNA imaging in living cells.

High sensitivity and specificity imaging of miRNA in living cells plays an important role in understanding miRNA-related regulation and pathological research. Localized DNA circuits have shown good performance in reaction rate and sensitivity and have been proposed for sensitive imaging of miRNA in living cells. However, most reported localized DNA circuits have a high risk of derailment or a limited loading rate capacity, which hinder their further application.

Circulating Epstein-Barr virus DNA associated with hepatic impairment and its diagnostic and prognostic role in patients with gastric cancer.

Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection may affect all tissues and organs of the body. Little is known about the impact of this entity on its systematic incorporation in patients with gastric cancer (GC). This study enrolled a total of 113 GC patients with EBV infection (EBVaGC) and 167 GC patients without EBV infection (EBVnGC).

A universal rolling circle amplification for label-free and highly specific nucleic acid sensing.

Traditional RCA methods face some drawbacks including limited specificity and amplification templates with sequence dependence. Herein, a universal RCA (URCA) strategy for label-free nucleic acid sensing with high specificity was proposed, which could be used for sensing of different nucleic acids without redesigning or synthesizing new amplification templates. The URCA strategy also showed high accuracy for miRNA analysis in practical samples.

Smart Hairpins@MnO Nanosystem Enables Target-Triggered Enzyme-Free Exponential Amplification for Ultrasensitive Imaging of Intracellular MicroRNAs in Living Cells.

Sensitive and specific imaging of microRNA (miRNA) in living cells is of great value for disease diagnosis and monitoring. Hybridization chain reaction (HCR) and DNAzyme-based methods have been considered as powerful tools for miRNA detection, with low efficient intracellular delivery and limited amplification efficiency. Herein, we propose a Hairpins@MnO nanosystem for intracellular enzyme-free exponential amplification for miRNA imaging.

A novel nomogram to predict mortality in patients with stroke: a survival analysis based on the MIMIC-III clinical database.

Background: Stroke is a disease characterized by sudden cerebral ischemia and is the second leading cause of death worldwide. We aimed to develop and validate a nomogram model to predict mortality in intensive care unit patients with stroke.

Methods: All data involved in this study were extracted from the Medical Information Mart for Intensive Care III database (MIMIC-III).

Label-free and highly sensitive APE1 detection based on rolling circle amplification combined with G-quadruplex.

The highly sensitive detection of low-abundant apurinic/apyrimidinic endonuclease 1 (APE1) activity is of great significance for early diagnosis of disease and pathological research. Many methods for detecting APE1 based on isothermal nucleic acids amplification have been developed for improving its sensitivity. However, some of these methods have certain limitations, such as multiple reaction steps, narrow linear range, and complicated processes for fluorescent labeling.

Analysis of Endophytic Bacterial Diversity From Different Stems and Discovery of an Endophyte Produced Dendrobine-Type Sesquiterpenoid Alkaloids.

As the unique component of , dendrobine-type sesquiterpenoid alkaloids (DSAs) possess a variety of medicinal properties. It has been well documented that plant endophytes can synthesize secondary metabolites identical or similar to metabolites produced by their host plants. This study aimed to investigate the composition and distribution of endophytic bacteria of stems by Illumina MiSeq platform sequencing and cultivation-dependent methods and then to assess the potential for endophytic bacteria to produce DSAs.

A universal catalytic hairpin assembly system for direct plasma biopsy of exosomal PIWI-interacting RNAs and microRNAs.

PIWI-interacting RNAs (piRNAs) are a complex class of small non-coding RNAs which specifically interact with the PIWI protein to play important roles in germline development and somatic tissues. Aberrant expressions of piRNAs have been recently found in a variety of malignant tumors and associated with cancer hallmarks. However, current methods of analyzing piRNAs are limited to reverse transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction and next generation sequencing.

An intramolecular DNAzyme-based amplification for miRNA analysis with improving reaction kinetics and high sensitivity.

Sensitive, specific and rapid methods for detecting microRNAs (miRNAs) play critical roles in disease diagnosis and therapy. Enzyme-free amplification techniques based on DNAzyme assembly have recently been developed for the highly specific miRNA analysis. However, traditional DNAzyme-based assembly (free DNAzyme) amplifiers is mainly dependent on the target-induced split DNAzyme fragments to assemble into activated DNAzyme structures, which have made a compromise between the sensitivity and specificity due to the random diffusion of dissociative probes in a bulk solution with poor kinetics.

Breast cancer plasma biopsy by in situ determination of exosomal microRNA-1246 with a molecular beacon.

Liquid biopsy is becoming an innovative tool in precision oncology owing to its noninvasive identification of biomarkers circulating in the body fluid at various time points for continuous and real-time analysis of disease progression. MicroRNAs in blood exosomes are identified as a new promising class of potential biomarkers for cancer diagnostics and prognostics. Conventional detection of blood exosomal microRNAs need multiple-step, complicated, costly, and time-consuming sample preparation of exosomes isolation and RNA extract, which affect the accuracy and reproducibility of analytical results.

A protein triggering exponential amplification reaction enables label- and wash-free one-pot protein assay with high sensitivity.

Methods capable of sensitive and facile quantification of low-abundant proteins play critical roles in disease diagnosis and treatment. Herein, on a rationally designed aptamer-based hairpin structure-switching template, we developed a protein triggering exponential amplification reaction (PTEXPAR) method. The platelet-derived growth factor BB (PDGF-BB) is used as model analyte in the current proof-of-concept experiments.

Construction of hybrid DNAs@CP for the rapid synchronous sensing of multiplex microRNAs based on experimental studies and molecular simulation.

A water stable one-dimensional (1D) ladder-shaped coordination polymer (CP) has been synthesized and exhibits a strong affinity to two fluorescein-tagged single-stranded probe DNAs (P-DNAs), giving a sensing platform of P-DNAs@1. Such a hybrid sensing platform is capable of simultaneous detection of breast cancer related microRNA-221 (miRNA-221) and miRNA-222 in a specific and synchronous manner, without observable cross-reactions, as supported by experimental evidences. The interaction mode and the electronic energy between CP 1 with nucleic acid were confirmed by molecular simulation and the universal force field (UFF).

Association of Chemoradiotherapy Regimens and Survival Among Patients With Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.

Importance: The role of induction chemotherapy (IC) or adjuvant chemotherapy (AC) in the treatment of locoregionally advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) remains controversial.

Objectives: To update meta-analyses on the association of survival outcomes with IC and AC regimens in patients with locoregionally advanced NPC and assess whether the current evidence is conclusive by a trial sequential analysis (TSA) approach.

Data Sources: PubMed, Embase, and Web of Science were searched for articles published from inception until June 1, 2019.

In Situ Detection of Plasma Exosomal MicroRNA-1246 for Breast Cancer Diagnostics by a Au Nanoflare Probe.

Breast cancer is the second cause of cancer mortality in women globally. Early detection, treatment, and metastasis monitoring are of great importance to favorable prognosis. Although conventional diagnostic methods, such as breast X-ray mammography and image positioning biopsy, are accurate, they could cause radioactive or invasive damage to patients.

[Predictive value of cord blood 25(OH)D3 for early infantile atopic dermatitis].

Objective: To explore the predictive value of cord blood 25(OH)D [25(OH)D] for infantile atopic dermatitis (AD), and to provide a reference for primary prevention of early infantile AD.

Methods: The neonates born from July to September, 2015 were enrolled. The cord blood samples were collected at birth to measure the level of 25(OH)D.

Experimental Study on Effects of Adipose-Derived Stem Cell-Seeded Silk Fibroin Chitosan Film on Wound Healing of a Diabetic Rat Model.

Background: Wound healing is a complex process that relies on growth factors and stimulation of angiogenesis. Tissue engineering materials composed of adipose-derived stem cells (ADSCs) and silk fibroin (SF)/chitosan (CS) may be able to solve this problem. The aim of this study was to investigate the wound-healing potential of ADSC-seeded SF/CS in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats.