Is surgical resection of primary tumour superior to exploratory thoracotomy without resection in treating lung cancer patients with unexpected pleural metastasis detected during operation?

A best evidence topic in thoracic surgery was written according to a structured protocol. The question addressed was 'In lung cancer patients with unexpected pleural metastasis detected during operation, is surgical resection of primary tumour superior to exploratory thoracotomy without resection in improving long-term survival?'. Altogether, 1443 papers were found using the reported search, of which 1 meta-analysis and 10 retrospective observational cohort studies represented the best evidence to answer the clinical question.

Diabetes mellitus and survival of esophageal cancer patients after esophagectomy: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Diabetes mellitus (DM) is one of the most common comorbidities in esophageal cancer patients who undergo esophagectomy. It is well established that DM has an unfavorable impact on short-term outcomes of patients with surgically treated esophageal cancer; however, whether DM has any impact on long-term survival of these patients remains unclear. We performed the first meta-analysis to investigate the impact of DM on survival of surgically treated esophageal cancer patients.

Ergonomic thoracic port design for video-assisted thoracoscopic minimally invasive esophagectomy and lymphadenectomy: a preliminary pilot study.

Background: Video-assisted minimally invasive esophagectomy (MIE) has been widely applied in clinical practice. However, the optimal port design for thoracoscopic esophagectomy and lymphadenectomy has not been well established. Here we introduced our novel ergonomic thoracic port design as well as our novel procedures of lymphadenectomy via tissue interactive retraction and compared its effects with that of conventional port design in this pilot study.

Template Regeneration in Galvanic Replacement: A Route to Highly Diverse Hollow Nanostructures.

The ability to produce a diverse spectrum of hollow nanostructures is central to the advances in many current and emerging areas of technology. Herein, we report a general method to craft hollow nanostructures with highly tunable physical and chemical parameters. The key strategy is to regenerate the nanoscale sacrificial templates in a galvanic replacement reaction through site-selective overgrowth.

Strain Effect in Palladium Nanostructures as Nanozymes.

While various effects of physicochemical parameters (e.g., size, facet, composition, and internal structure) on the catalytic efficiency of nanozymes (i.

When Sensor-Cloud Meets Mobile Edge Computing.

Sensor-clouds are a combination of wireless sensor networks (WSNs) and cloud computing. The emergence of sensor-clouds has greatly enhanced the computing power and storage capacity of traditional WSNs via exploiting the advantages of cloud computing in resource utilization. However, there are still many problems to be solved in sensor-clouds, such as the limitations of WSNs in terms of communication and energy, the high latency, and the security and privacy issues due to applying a cloud platform as the data processing and control center.

Synergistic effect of tolfenamic acid and glycyrrhizic acid on TPA-induced skin inflammation in mice.

Tolfenamic acid (TA) and glycyrrhizic acid (GA) are well-known components with anti-inflammatory properties. However, their combined effects on inflammation have not been well studied. The present study aimed to investigate the anti-inflammatory effects of TA combined with GA using a 12--tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA)-induced mouse ear edema model, as well as the underlying mechanisms thereof.

A modified pleurodesis in treating postoperative chylothorax.

Background: To introduce a modified pleurodesis as an effective treatment for refractory chylothorax and to develop a novel insight for its mechanism.

Methods: Patients who underwent thoracic surgery at West China Hospital or its affiliated hospitals between 2010 and 2015 and who subsequently experienced chylothorax that was not resolved by conventional treatment, received daily pleurodesis involving 100 mL 50% glucose and 20 mL 1% lidocaine. The chest tube was clamped after 7 days of pleurodesis, regardless of drainage amount.

Coniform Gastric Tube for End-to-End Anastomosis During Minimally Invasive McKeown Esophagectomy.

For McKeown esophagectomy, gastric tube is widely used for constructing esophagogastrotomy. Traditionally, the gastric fundus is preserved for gastric tube formation in order to provide adequate length of the gastric conduit for neck anastomosis. Nevertheless, gastric stump necrosis, anastomotic leakage, and postoperative gastric tube dilatation are the common postoperative complications for McKeown esophagectomy using traditional gastric tube.

Large triglyceride-rich lipoproteins in hypertriglyceridemia are associated with the severity of acute pancreatitis in experimental mice.

Hypertriglyceridemia severity is linked to acute pancreatitis prognosis, but it remains unknown why a portion of severe hypertriglyceridemia patients do not develop severe acute pancreatitis. To investigate whether hypertriglyceridemia subtypes affect acute pancreatitis progression, we analyzed two genetically modified hypertriglyceridemia mouse models-namely, glycosylphosphatidylinositol high-density lipoprotein binding protein 1 knockout (Gpihbp1-/-) and apolipoprotein C3 transgenic (ApoC3-tg) mice. Acute pancreatitis was induced by 10 intraperitoneal caerulein injections.

Preoperative D-dimer level is an independent prognostic factor for non-small cell lung cancer after surgical resection: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Whether high preoperative D-dimer level has any impact on long-term survival of patients with surgically treated non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) remains unclear. Therefore, we conducted the first meta-analysis focusing specifically on prognostic value of high preoperative D-dimer level in NSCLC patients after surgical resection comprehensively.

Methods: We conducted a systematic search for relevant studies in PubMed, Embase, and Web of Science on January 28, 2019.

Tumor location is an independent prognostic factor of esophageal adenocarcinoma based on the eighth edition of TNM staging system in Chinese patients.

Background: Whether tumor location has any impact on the survival of esophageal adenocarcinoma patients remains unclear. Therefore, we aimed to investigate the prognostic value of tumor location for esophageal adenocarcinoma based on the eighth edition of tumor-node-metastasis (TNM) staging system in Chinese patients for the first time.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective analysis of patients undergoing esophagectomy for esophageal adenocarcinoma in our department.

Molecular Interactions for the Curcumin-Polymer Complex with Enhanced Anti-Inflammatory Effects.

The molecular interactions between compound and polymeric carriers are expected to highly contribute to high drug load and good physical stability of solid dispersions. In this study, a series of amorphous solid dispersions (ASD) of Curcumin (Cur) were prepared with different polymers by the solvent evaporation method. With the carrier polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP), the amorphous solid dispersion system exhibits a better solubility and stability than that with poloxamers and HP-β-CD due to the strong drug-polymer interaction.

Generalized Centered 2-D Principal Component Analysis.

Most existing robust principal component analysis (PCA) and 2-D PCA (2DPCA) methods involving the l -norm can mitigate the sensitivity to outliers in the domains of image analysis and pattern recognition. However, existing approaches neither preserve the structural information of data in the optimization objective nor have the robustness of generalized performance. To address the above problems, we propose two novel center-weight-based models, namely, centered PCA (C-PCA) and generalized centered 2DPCA with l -norm minimization (GC-2DPCA), which are developed for vector- and matrix-based data, respectively.

An Experimental Validation of Masking in IEC 60601-1-8:2006-Compliant Alarm Sounds.

Objective: This research investigated whether the psychoacoustics of simultaneous masking, which are integral to a model-checking-based method, previously developed for detecting perceivability problems in alarm configurations, could predict when IEC 60601-1-8-compliant medical alarm sounds are audible.

Background: The tonal nature of sounds prescribed by IEC 60601-1-8 makes them potentially susceptible to simultaneous masking: where concurrent sounds render one or more inaudible due to human sensory limitations. No work has experimentally assessed whether the psychoacoustics of simultaneous masking accurately predict IEC 60601-1-8 alarm perceivability.

Downregulating NF-κB signaling pathway with triterpenoids for attenuating inflammation: in vitro and in vivo studies.

Acanthopanax trifoliatus (L.) Merr., an edible medicinal plant from Southeast Asia, exerts a wide range of bioactivities, such as anti-inflammatory activity.

The association between statin use and survival of esophageal cancer patients: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Whether statin use has any impact on survival of esophageal cancer patients remains controversial. Therefore, we conducted a meta-analysis focusing on current topic for the first time.We systematically searched the following databases for relevant studies comparing survival between statin users and non-users among esophageal cancer patients up to March 16, 2019: Pubmed, Embase, and Web of Science.

Ethyl Acetate Extract of Induced Apoptosis in Human Cancer Cells via Activating p38 and JNK MAPK Signaling Pathways.

L. (), as a traditional medicinal plant, is used as treatment for tumors in traditional Chinese and Indian medical practice. However, its underlying molecular mechanisms remain largely unresolved.

Effect of lung recruitment and titrated positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP) low PEEP on patients with moderate-severe acute respiratory distress syndrome: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.

Background: Setting a positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP) on patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) receiving mechanical ventilation has been an issue of great contention. Therefore, we aimed to determine effects of lung recruitment maneuver (RM) and titrated PEEP low PEEP on adult patients with moderate-severe ARDS.

Methods: Data sources and study selection proceeded as follows: PubMed, Ovid, EBSCO, and Cochrane Library databases were searched from 2003 to May 2018.

Progress in Development of Interventions to Prevent Birth Defects in Diabetic Pregnancies.

Diabetic embryopathy is a diabetic complication, in which maternal hyperglycemia in early pregnancy causes birth defects in newborn infants. Under maternal diabetic conditions, hyperglycemia disturbs intracellular molecular activities and organelles functions. These include protein misfolding in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), overproduction of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in mitochondria, and high levels of nitric oxide (NO).

Ternary CoPtAu Nanoparticles as a General Catalyst for Highly Efficient Electro-oxidation of Liquid Fuels.

Efficient electro-oxidation of formic acid, methanol, and ethanol is challenging owing to the multiple chemical reaction steps required to accomplish full oxidation to CO . Herein, a ternary CoPtAu nanoparticle catalyst system is reported in which Co and Pt form an intermetallic L1 -structure and Au segregates on the surface to alloy with Pt. The L1 -structure stabilizes Co and significantly enhances the catalysis of the PtAu surface towards electro-oxidation of ethanol, methanol, and formic acid, with mass activities of 1.

Transdermal BQ-788/EA@ZnO quantum dots as targeting and smart tyrosinase inhibitors in melanocytes.

Tyrosinase inhibitors could effectively limit the activity of tyrosinase in melanocytes to reduce the excessive synthesis and deposition of melanin. However, low skin permeability and lacking in targeting greatly restricted their application. Herein, ZnO quantum dots were synthesized by gel-sol method and grafted with BQ-788, which have been employed as transdermal and targeting carrier to delivery ellagic acid to melanocytes.

Suppressive effect of glycyrrhizic acid against lipopolysaccharide-induced neuroinflammation and cognitive impairment in C57 mice via toll-like receptor 4 signaling pathway.

Background: Glycyrrhizinic acid (GA), a major active ingredient enriched in the roots of licorice, possesses well-confirmed anti-inflammatory effects.

Objective: To evaluate the underlying mechanisms of GA against lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced chronic neuroinflammation and memory impairment.

Design: We explored to investigate the effects of GA on neuroinflammation and memory impairment in an LPS-induced Alzheimer's mouse model.

Supplemental estrogen and caloric restriction reduce obesity-induced periprostatic white adipose inflammation in mice.

Obesity is associated with an increased incidence of high-grade prostate cancer (PC) and worse prognosis for PC patients. Recently, we showed in men that obesity-related periprostatic white adipose tissue (WAT) inflammation, characterized by macrophages surrounding dead or dying adipocytes forming crown-like structures, was associated with high-grade PC. Possibly, interventions that suppress periprostatic WAT inflammation will improve outcomes for men with PC.