TRIM8 as a predictor for prognosis in childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia based on a signature of neutrophil extracellular traps.

Background: Neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) can be attributed to the metastasis, occurrence, and immune evasion of cancer cells. We investigated the prognostic value of NET-related genes in childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (cALL) patients.

Methods: Differential gene expression analysis was conducted on samples collected from public databases.

"What you Say Matters": Review of Clinical Outcome of Advanced Medical Directives Between Cancer and Non-cancer Patients in a Chinese Culture Society.

Introduction: Advance medical directives (AMD) are statements made by individuals indicating the life-sustaining treatment that they would refuse in the future when they lost their mental capacity for medical decisions. While the proposal for the AMD legislation is ongoing locally in Hong Kong SAR, there are limited reviews on the clinical outcomes associated with it.

Objective: To provide a comprehensive review on clinical outcomes of signed AMD.

Ethnopharmacology of five flowers herbal tea, a popular traditional beverage in Hong Kong and South China.

Background: It has been a long-standing tradition of using herbal tea for preventive and therapeutic healthcare in Hong Kong and South China and Five Flowers Tea is one of the most popular herbal teas. Based on the principle of traditional Chinese medicine, the pharmacological functions are to clear heat and dispel dampness in the body. Heat and dampness are thought to contribute to a range of health problems, especially during the hot and humid season in South China and Hong Kong.

Knowledge, attitudes and intention on fertility preservation among breast cancer patients.

Breast cancer is the most common cancer in reproductive age women. The aim of this study is to assess the knowledge, attitude and intention on fertility preservation among women diagnosed to have breast cancer. This is a multi-centre cross-sectional questionnaire study.

Consensus Statements on Precision Oncology in the China Greater Bay Area.

Background: Next-generation sequencing comprehensive genomic panels (NGS CGPs) have enabled the delivery of tailor-made therapeutic approaches to improve survival outcomes in patients with cancer. Within the China Greater Bay Area (GBA), territorial differences in clinical practices and health care systems and strengthening collaboration warrant a regional consensus to consolidate the development and integration of precision oncology (PO). Therefore, the Precision Oncology Working Group (POWG) formulated standardized principles for the clinical application of molecular profiling, interpretation of genomic alterations, and alignment of actionable mutations with sequence-directed therapy to deliver clinical services of excellence and evidence-based care to patients with cancer in the China GBA.

Synergistic Effect by Polyethylene Glycol as Interfacial Modifier in Silane-Modified Silica-Reinforced Composites.

The viscoelastic behavior and reinforcement mechanism of polyethylene glycol (PEG) as an interfacial modifier in green tire tread composites were investigated in this study. The results show a clear positive effect on overall performance, and it significantly improved all the parameters of the "magic triangle" properties, the abrasion resistance, wet grip and ice traction, as well as the tire rolling resistance, simultaneously. For the preparation of the compounds, two mixing steps were used, as PEG 4000 was added on the second stage in order to avoid the competing reaction between silica/PEG and silanization.

A retrospective review for the use of palliative sedation in a regional hospital in Hong Kong.

Background: Palliative sedation is defined as monitored use of medication intended to induce a state of decreased or absent awareness to relieve intractable suffering in a manner that is ethically acceptable to the patient, family, and health-care providers. The prevalence of palliative sedation reported ranges from 10% to 50% during in end of life care setting. There was no major review performed on the prevalence and practice of palliative sedation in Hong Kong.

Association Between Oxygen Saturation Targeting and Death or Disability in Extremely Preterm Infants in the Neonatal Oxygenation Prospective Meta-analysis Collaboration.

Importance: There are potential benefits and harms of hyperoxemia and hypoxemia for extremely preterm infants receiving more vs less supplemental oxygen.

Objective: To compare the effects of different target ranges for oxygen saturation as measured by pulse oximetry (Spo2) on death or major morbidity.

Design, Setting, And Participants: Prospectively planned meta-analysis of individual participant data from 5 randomized clinical trials (conducted from 2005-2014) enrolling infants born before 28 weeks' gestation.

Academic Performance, Motor Function, and Behavior 11 Years After Neonatal Caffeine Citrate Therapy for Apnea of Prematurity: An 11-Year Follow-up of the CAP Randomized Clinical Trial.

Importance: Caffeine citrate therapy for apnea of prematurity reduces the rates of bronchopulmonary dysplasia, severe retinopathy, and neurodevelopmental disability at 18 months and may improve motor function at 5 years.

Objective: To evaluate whether neonatal caffeine therapy is associated with improved functional outcomes 11 years later.

Design, Setting, And Participants: A follow-up study was conducted at 14 academic hospitals in Canada, Australia, and the United Kingdom from May 7, 2011, to May 27, 2016, of English- or French-speaking children who had been enrolled in the randomized, placebo-controlled Caffeine for Apnea of Prematurity trial between October 11, 1999, and October 22, 2004.

Outcomes of Two Trials of Oxygen-Saturation Targets in Preterm Infants.

Background: The safest ranges of oxygen saturation in preterm infants have been the subject of debate.

Methods: In two trials, conducted in Australia and the United Kingdom, infants born before 28 weeks' gestation were randomly assigned to either a lower (85 to 89%) or a higher (91 to 95%) oxygen-saturation range. During enrollment, the oximeters were revised to correct a calibration-algorithm artifact.

Automated control of inspired oxygen in ventilated preterm infants: crossover physiological study.

Aim: To evaluate the efficacy of automated control of the fraction of inspired oxygen (FiO2 ) in comparison with manual FiO2 control in maintaining target pulse oxygen saturation (SpO2 ) range.

Methods: Crossover physiological study involving preterm infants requiring mechanical ventilation and supplemental oxygen. Each infant was studied for two consecutive 12 hours in a random sequence.

Predicting severe motor impairment in preterm children at age 5 years.

Objective: To determine whether the ability to predict severe motor impairment at age 5 years improves between birth and 18 months.

Design: Ancillary study of the Caffeine for Apnea of Prematurity Trial.

Setting And Patients: International cohort of very low birth weight children who were assessed sequentially from birth to 5 years.

Principles of pulse oximetry and its clinical application in neonatal medicine.

Pulse oximetry is one of the most commonly used monitoring devices in clinical medicine. It was first introduced to neonatal medicine in the mid-1980s to monitor oxygenation and guide therapy, and it is now used widely in the delivery room during resuscitation. More recently, it is utilized to screen for congenital heart disease.

Adjunctive drug therapies for treatment of respiratory diseases in the newborn: based on evidence or habit?

Respiratory distress syndrome is a disease of prematurity and is caused by a relative deficiency of endogenous surfactant production. Respiratory distress syndrome is the most common cause of mortality and morbidity in the newborn population and the standard of care is to provide exogenous surfactant therapy. This saves lives and reduces respiratory complications but, despite treatment, a significant proportion of these infants go onto develop chronic lung disease, the severest form of which is bronchopulmonary dysplasia.

Defining neonatal hypoglycaemia: a continuing debate.

Hypoglycaemia is one of the most frequent metabolic problems in neonatal medicine, and maintaining glucose homeostasis is one of the important physiological events during fetal-to-neonatal transition. Although frequently observed transient low blood glucose concentrations in the majority of healthy newborns are the reflections of normal metabolic adaptation processes during this transition, there has been a genuine concern that prolonged or recurrent low blood glucose levels may result in acute systemic effects and long-term neurological and developmental consequences. Hence, it is not surprising that neonatal hypoglycaemia remains one of the most important issues in our day-to-day practice and that we also become obsessed with the numbers and values that we believe are a 'cut-off' for its definition.

Oxygen saturation and outcomes in preterm infants.

Background: The clinically appropriate range for oxygen saturation in preterm infants is unknown. Previous studies have shown that infants had reduced rates of retinopathy of prematurity when lower targets of oxygen saturation were used.

Methods: In three international randomized, controlled trials, we evaluated the effects of targeting an oxygen saturation of 85 to 89%, as compared with a range of 91 to 95%, on disability-free survival at 2 years in infants born before 28 weeks' gestation.

15-year follow-up of recurrent "hypoglycemia" in preterm infants.

Background: Observational study of 543 infants who weighed <1850 g, published in 1988 reported seriously impaired motor and cognitive development at 18 months in those with recurrent, asymptomatic hypoglycemia (plasma glucose level ≤2.5 mmol/L on ≥3 days). No study has yet replicated this observation.

Survival without disability to age 5 years after neonatal caffeine therapy for apnea of prematurity.

Context: Very preterm infants are prone to apnea and have an increased risk of death or disability. Caffeine therapy for apnea of prematurity reduces the rates of cerebral palsy and cognitive delay at 18 months of age.

Objective: To determine whether neonatal caffeine therapy has lasting benefits or newly apparent risks at early school age.

Caffeine for Apnea of Prematurity trial: benefits may vary in subgroups.

Objective: To determine whether the benefits of caffeine vary in three subgroups of 2006 participants in the Caffeine for Apnea of Prematurity (CAP) trial.

Study Design: Post-hoc subgroup analyses were performed on the basis of: (1) indication for commencement of study drug: treat apnea, prevent apnea, or facilitate extubation; (2) positive pressure ventilation (PPV) at randomization: endotracheal tube (ETT), noninvasive ventilation, or none; and (3) timing of commencement of study drug: early or late (< or =3 versus >3 days). Outcomes assessed were those showing treatment effects in the original analyses.

Drug therapies in bronchopulmonary dysplasia: debunking the myths.

Bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD), also known as chronic lung disease (CLD), is one of the most challenging complications in premature infants. The incidence of BPD has been increasing over the past two decades in parallel with an improvement in the survival of this population. Furthermore, the clinical characteristics and the natural history of infants affected by BPD have changed considerably, and newer definitions to clarify the term 'BPD' have also evolved since its first description more than four decades ago.

A randomized controlled trial of post-extubation bubble continuous positive airway pressure versus Infant Flow Driver continuous positive airway pressure in preterm infants with respiratory distress syndrome.

Objective: To compare the efficacy and safety of bubble continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) and Infant Flow Driver (IFD) CPAP for the post-extubation management of preterm infants with respiratory distress syndrome (RDS).

Study Design: A total of 140 preterm infants at 24 to 29 weeks' gestation or with a birth weight of 600 to 1500 g who were ventilated at birth for RDS were randomized to receive either IFD CPAP (a variable-flow device) or bubble CPAP (a continuous-flow device). A standardized protocol was used for extubation and CPAP.

Long-term effects of caffeine therapy for apnea of prematurity.

Background: Methylxanthine therapy is commonly used for apnea of prematurity but in the absence of adequate data on its efficacy and safety. It is uncertain whether methylxanthines have long-term effects on neurodevelopment and growth.

Methods: We randomly assigned 2006 infants with birth weights of 500 to 1250 g to receive either caffeine or placebo until therapy for apnea of prematurity was no longer needed.