Baseline characteristics of patients in the Chinese Bronchiectasis Registry (BE-China): a multicentre prospective cohort study.

Background: Bronchiectasis is a disease with a global impact, but most published data come from high-income countries. We aimed to describe the clinical characteristics of patients with bronchiectasis in China.

Methods: The Chinese Bronchiectasis Registry (BE-China) is a prospective, observational cohort enrolling patients from 111 hospitals in China.

A Roadmap for Ferroelectric-Antiferroelectric Phase Transition.

Antiferroelectric materials have shown great potential in electronic devices benefiting from the reversible phase transition between ferroelectric and antiferroelectric phases. Understanding the dipole arrangements and clear phase transition pathways is crucial for design of antiferroelectric materials-based energy storage and conversion devices. However, the specific phase transition details remain largely unclear and even controversial to date.

Large Polarization Near 50 μC/cm in a Single Unit Cell Layer SrTiO.

The generally nonpolar SrTiO has attracted more attention recently because of its possibly induced novel polar states and related paraelectric-ferroelectric phase transitions. By using controlled pulsed laser deposition, high-quality, ultrathin, and strained SrTiO layers were obtained. Here, transmission electron microscopy and theoretical simulations have unveiled highly polar states in SrTiO films even down to one unit cell at room temperature, which were stabilized in the PbTiO/SrTiO/PbTiO sandwich structures by in-plane tensile strain and interfacial coupling, as evidenced by large tetragonality (∼1.

A phase 4 multicentre, 2×2 factorial randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial to investigate the efficacy and safety of tobramycin inhalation solution for eradication in bronchiectasis: ERASE.

Chronic (PA) infection significantly contributes to morbidity and mortality in bronchiectasis patients. Initiating antibiotics early may lead to the eradication of PA. Here we outline the design of a trial (ERASE; NCT06093191) assessing the efficacy and safety of inhaled tobramycin, alone or with oral ciprofloxacin, in bronchiectasis patients with a new isolation of PA.

Atomic Insight into the Successive Antiferroelectric-Ferroelectric Phase Transition in Antiferroelectric Oxides.

Antiferroelectrics characterized by voltage-driven reversible transitions between antiparallel and parallel polarity are promising for cutting-edge electronic and electrical power applications. Wide-ranging explorations revealing the macroscopic performances and microstructural characteristics of typical antiferroelectric systems have been conducted. However, the underlying mechanism has not yet been fully unraveled, which depends largely on the atomistic processes.

Capturing the grouping and compactness of high-level semantic feature for saliency detection.

Saliency detection is an important and challenging research topic due to the variety and complexity of the background and saliency regions. In this paper, we present a novel unsupervised saliency detection approach by exploiting the grouping and compactness characteristics of the high-level semantic features. First, for the high-level semantic feature, the elastic net based hypergraph model is adopted to discover the group structure relationships of salient regional points, and the calculation of the spatial distribution is constructed to detect the compactness of the saliency regions.

Ceramide synthases: insights into the expression and prognosis of lung cancer.

CerSs (ceramide synthases), a group of enzymes that catalyze the formation of ceramides from sphingoid base and acyl-CoA substrates. As far, six types of CerSs (CerS1-CerS6) have been found in mammals. Each of these enzymes have unique characteristics, but maybe more noteworthy is the ability of individual CerS isoform to produce a ceramide with a characteristic acyl chain distribution.

Distinct expression and prognostic value of OTU domain-containing proteins in non-small-cell lung cancer.

The ubiquitin-proteasome pathway is an important protein degradation regulatory system in cells. This pathway is also a reversible process that is strictly regulated, and the regulation of deubiquitinating enzymes (DUBs) represents an important facet of the process. Ovarian tumor-associated proteases domain-containing proteins (OTUDs), as a subfamily within the DUB family, serve an important role in regulatory mechanisms of several biological processes, through the regulation of gene transcription, cell cycle, immune response, inflammation and tumor growth processes, and may be important in the diagnosis of various diseases and constitute novel drug targets.

A meta-analysis of the comparing of the first-generation and next-generation TKIs in the treatment of NSCLC.

: The current standard approach to the treatment of patients with non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) harboring epidermal growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor (EGFR-TKI)-sensitizing mutations has been the treatment with a first-generation EGFR-TKIs. While, with resistance developed against first-generation EGFR-TKIs, second/third-generation TKIs have attracted all the attention, and replaced first-generation EGFR- TKIs upon disease progression due to the greater efficacy and more favorable tolerability. In the past few years, this strategy has been challenged by clinical evidence when next-generation EGFR-TKIs are used in patients with advanced NSCLC.

pH-sensitive and pluronic-modified pullulan nanogels for greatly improved antitumor in vivo.

It remains a crucial challenge to achieve efficient cellular uptake in tumor cells for nanoscale drug delivery systems. This work described that two multi-functional pullulan nanogels were prepared by co-polymerization between methacrylated pullulan (Pullulan-M) and different crosslink agents, an acid-labile ortho ester-modified pluronic (L61-MOE) or non-acid-sensitive methacrylated pluronic (L61-M). The prepared nanogels showed a regular spherical structure with the size about 200 nm measured by dynamic light scattering and transmission electron microscopy (TEM).

Comparative effectiveness of 3 Traditional Chinese Medicine treatment methods for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis: A systematic review and network meta-analysis protocol.

Introduction: The morbidity of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) was found in an increasing trend, progressive worsening of symptoms and deterioration in lung function tend to trigger off a lower quality of life (QoL). Only pirfenidone and nintedanib have been recommended in the guidelines, which can modify the disease process. However, no evidence was verified to significantly alleviate the main clinical manifestations of IPF.

The blood transcriptional signature for active and latent tuberculosis.

Background: Although the incidence of tuberculosis (TB) has dropped substantially, it still is a serious threat to human health. And in recent years, the emergence of resistant bacilli and inadequate disease control and prevention has led to a significant rise in the global TB epidemic. It is known that the cause of TB is infection.

Effect of roflumilast on chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of roflumilast effect on chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) have been reported in the last decade. The current meta-analysis was designed to systematically review and perform meta-analysis of the RCTs of roflumilast treatment in COPD.

Methods: Electronic databases including PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science, and Cochrane clinical trials database were searched to identify RCTs of roflumilast treatment on COPD.

Prediction of cancer progression in a group of 73 gastric cancer patients by circulating cell-free DNA.

Background: Circulating cell-free DNA (ccf-DNA) in plasma may contain both specific and non-specific of tumor markers. The concentration and integrity of ccf-DNA may be clinical useful for detecting and predicting cancer progression.

Methods: Plasma samples from 40 healthy controls and 73 patients with gastric cancers (two stage 0, 17 stage I, 11 stage II, 33 stage III, and 10 stage IV according to American Joint Committee on Cancer stage) were assessed respectively.

Laparoscopic permanent sigmoid stoma creation through the extraperitoneal route versus transperitoneal route. A meta-analysis of stoma-related complications.

Objectives: To compare laparoscopic extraperitoneal colostomy with transperitoneal colostomy for construction of a permanent stoma by measuring the incidence of parastomal hernia, and other postoperative complications related to colostomy.

Methods: The meta-analysis was carried out in the General Surgery Department of the Second Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou, Jiangsu Province, China in 2014. A literature search of Medline, EMBASE, Cochrane database, and the Chinese Biomedical Literature Database (CBM) from the years 1990 to 2014 was performed.

Quality of life after children undergo a radical arterial switch operation at an older age.

Objective: The goal of the study was to evaluate the quality of life of children after the older corrective arterial switch operation (ASO) by means of the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQL), version 4.0.

Methods: The records of 86 patients who had complete transposition of the great arteries plus a nonrestrictive ventricular septal defect, or a Taussig-Bing anomaly, and severe pulmonary arterial hypertension, and who underwent a corrective ASO at an older age (>6 months) between May 2000 and October 2008 were reviewed retrospectively.

The role of myocardial viability assessed by perfusion/F-18 FDG imaging in children with anomalous origin of the left coronary artery from the pulmonary artery.

Purpose: Although surgical treatments evolved, the short-term postoperative mortality is still high in children with anomalous origin of the left coronary artery from the pulmonary artery (ALCAPA), and long-term survivors may suffer from restrained functional recovery. Therefore, an optimal means in predicting postoperative reversal is demanded. In this study, we assess the utility of myocardial perfusion/F-18 fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) imaging in the evaluation of myocardial viability and postsurgery functional recovery in children with ALCAPA.

[Role of carcinoembryonic antigen and cyclooxygenase-2 in the study of molecule incisal edge for colorectal cancer].

Objective: To investigate the expression of cyclooxygenase-2(COX-2) and CEA in the tissues adjacent to the tumor within different distances.

Methods: A total of 42 colorectal cancer tissues were collected.The adjacent tissues within 3 cm to the tumor were procured every 1 cm.

Risk factors for preoperative and postoperative progression of aortic regurgitation in congenital ruptured sinus of Valsalva aneurysm.

Background: We reviewed our experience with congenital ruptured sinus of Valsalva aneurysms (RSVA) to determine risk factors influencing occurrence and postoperative worsening of aortic regurgitation (AR).

Methods: Over an 11-year period, 210 patients (33 ± 9.7 years old) underwent surgical repair of RSVA.

Pathogenic mechanisms of congenital heart disease.

Congenital heart disease (CHD) is the most common type of birth defect. Despite the many advances in the understanding of cardiac development and the identification of many genes related to cardiac development, the fundamental etiology for the majority of cases of congenital heart disease remains unknown. This review summarizes normal cardiac development, and outlines the recent discoveries of the genetic causes of congenital heart disease and provides possible strategies for exploring genetic causes.

Lung biopsy findings in previously inoperable patients with severe pulmonary hypertension associated with congenital heart disease.

Background: Congenital heart disease with near-systemic pulmonary arterial pressures, previously thought to have irreversible pulmonary vascular disease (PVD), has been successfully corrected at our institution recently. Whether the PVD is reversible remains unknown. This study aimed to examine the nature of the pulmonary arterial vessels in these selective patients.