A real-world study of tyrosine kinase inhibitors plus anti-PD-1 immunotherapy with or without chemoembolization for hepatocellular carcinoma patients with main portal vein invasion.

Background: Although systemic therapies are recommended for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients with main portal vein (MPV) invasion and preserved liver function, the outcome is limited. In the real-world, chemoembolization is a commonly used local treatment for advanced HCC.

Purpose: To evaluate whether the additional chemoembolization treatment yields survival benefits compared to systemic therapy for HCC patients with MPV invasion and preserved liver function (Child-Pugh score ≤ B7) in a real-world study from multiple centers.

Early Structural, Biochemical, and Metabolic Responses to Anlotinib in Patients With Progressive Radioactive Iodine Refractory Differentiated Thyroid Cancer.

Objective: We aimed to assess the early efficacy of anlotinib in patients with progressive radioactive iodine refractory differentiated thyroid cancer at the structural, biochemical, and metabolic levels.

Methods: Ten eligible patients were prospectively enrolled to receive anlotinib. Their responses were assessed at 6 weeks.

Foveated panoramic ghost imaging.

Panoramic ghost imaging (PGI) is a novel method by only using a curved mirror to enlarge the field of view (FOV) of ghost imaging (GI) to 360°, making GI a breakthrough in the applications with a wide FOV. However, high-resolution PGI with high efficiency is a serious challenge because of the large amount of data. Therefore, inspired by the variant-resolution retina structure of human eye, a foveated panoramic ghost imaging (FPGI) is proposed to achieve the coexistence of a wide FOV, high resolution and high efficiency on GI by reducing the resolution redundancy, and further to promote the practical applications of GI with a wide FOV.

Identifying optimal candidates for post-TIPS patients with HCC undergoing TACE: a multicenter observational study.

Objective: To develop a prognostic model for post-transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt (TIPS) patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) beyond the Milan criteria treated by transarterial chemoembolization (TACE).

Design: Between January 2013 and January 2020, 512 patients with HCC beyond the Milan criteria who underwent TACE after TIPS were retrospectively recruited from 15 tertiary centers. Patients were randomly sorted into a training set (n = 382) and a validation set (n = 130).

Radioiodine adjuvant therapy in differentiated thyroid cancer: An update and reconsideration.

Radioiodine (I) therapy (RAI) has been utilized for treating differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC) for decades, and its uses can be characterized as remnant ablation, adjuvant therapy (RAT) or treatment for known diseases. Compared with the definite I treatment targets for remnant ablation and known disease, I adjuvant therapy (RAT) aims to reduce the risk of recurrence by destroying potential subclinical disease. Since it is merely given as a risk with no imaging confirmation of persistence/recurrence/metastases, the evidence is uncertain.

Analysis of S gene characteristic sequences and changes in properties of protein expression in HBV ASCs with low-level HBsAg.

Objective: We detected the serum HBsAg immune complex (HBsAg-CIC) and sequenced the HBV S gene in these patients to reveal the association between sustained low-level expression of HBsAg and mutated S gene sequence characteristics, protein function changes, and HBsAg immune complex formation.

Methods: A total of 204 samples were collected and divided into high-level ( = 60, HBsAg level >10 IU/ml) and low-level ( = 144, HBsAg level ≤ 10 IU/ml) HBsAg groups. The clinical and epidemiological data of the two groups were statistically compared.

Novel recombinant human thyroid-stimulating hormone in aiding postoperative assessment of patients with differentiated thyroid cancer-phase I/II study.

Purpose: Thyroid hormone withdrawal (THW) inevitably induced hypothyroidism in patients with differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC), and we aimed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of a novel recombinant human thyroid-stimulating hormone (rhTSH, ZGrhTSH) as an alternative of THW in China.

Methods: Totally, 64 DTC patients were enrolled with 24 in the dose-escalation cohort equally grouped into 0.9 mg × 1 day, 0.

Retina-like Computational Ghost Imaging for an Axially Moving Target.

Unlike traditional optical imaging schemes, computational ghost imaging (CGI) provides a way to reconstruct images with the spatial distribution information of illumination patterns and the light intensity collected by a single-pixel detector or bucket detector. Compared with stationary scenes, the relative motion between the target and the imaging system in a dynamic scene causes the degradation of reconstructed images. Therefore, we propose a time-variant retina-like computational ghost imaging method for axially moving targets.

Coexistence of two bla genes in a bla-carrying multidrug-resistant ST15 Klebsiella pneumoniae isolate recovered from cerebrospinal fluid in China.

Objectives: Carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae (CRKP) is increasingly reported worldwide and has posed a serious challenge for public health. Here we report the complete genome sequence of a multidrug-resistant (MDR) K. pneumoniae carrying one bla and two copies of bla genes isolated from a cerebrospinal fluid specimen in China.

Characterization of Graves' disease development after partial thyroidectomy for thyroid cancer.

Background: Graves' disease (GD) is the most common cause of hyperthyroidism, and it rarely develops in patients who undergo partial thyroid removal for thyroid cancer. The present study characterized and analyzed the GD development mechanism after partial thyroidectomy for thyroid cancer and suggested optimized treatments for the condition.

Methods: A retrospective study from January 2013 to March 2017 was conducted in patients where GD occurred after partial thyroidectomy for thyroid cancer.

Effect of BRAF and TERT Promoter Mutations on Thyroglobulin Response in Patients With Distant-Metastatic Differentiated Thyroid Cancer.

Objective: To assess the impact of serine/threonine-protein kinase B-Raf (BRAF) V600E and telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT) promoter mutations in patients with distant-metastatic differentiated thyroid cancer (DM-DTC) based on thyroglobulin (Tg) response to radioactive iodine (RAI) therapy.

Methods: The BRAF and TERT mutations in primary tumors or metastatic lymph nodes of 114 patients with DM-DTC were retrospectively examined. RAI avidity was evaluated using a posttreatment iodine-131 whole-body scan.

Humic acid complex formation with urea alters its structure and enhances biomass production in hydroponic maize.

Background: Humic acid (HA)-enhanced urea (HAU) is the top-selling efficiency-enhanced urea in China. Comprehensive investigation into the structure and efficacy of HA complex formation with urea (HACU) - the main reaction product during HAU's production - is required to clarify the reaction mechanism between HA and urea, and to provide guidance for the development of high-efficiency HAU.

Results: HACU showed discrepant structural and compositional features from raw HA.

Optimization of retina-like illumination patterns in ghost imaging.

Ghost imaging (GI) reconstructs images using a single-pixel or bucket detector, which has the advantages of scattering robustness, wide spectrum, and beyond-visual-field imaging. However, this technique needs large amounts of measurements to obtain a sharp image. Numerous methods are proposed to overcome this disadvantage.

Omnidirectional ghost imaging system and unwrapping-free panoramic ghost imaging.

Ghost imaging (GI) is an unconventional imaging method that reconstructs the object information via light-intensity correlation measurements. However, at present, the field of view (FOV) of this method is limited to the illumination range of light patterns. To enlarge the FOV of GI efficiently, we propose an omnidirectional GI system (OGIS) that can achieve a 360° omnidirectional FOV only via the addition of a curved mirror.

Percutaneous Gastrostomy Compared with Esophageal Stent Placement for the Treatment of Esophageal Cancer with Dysphagia.

Purpose: To compare the outcomes of self-expandable metal stent placement and percutaneous gastrostomy (PG) for the treatment of patients with esophageal cancer (EC) and dysphagia.

Materials And Methods: This retrospective observational study consisted of 113 patients with EC and dysphagia who underwent either stent placement (n = 47) or PG (n = 66) at a single center between June 2014 and June 2018.

Results: There were 63 men and 50 women, with a mean age of 76.

Radiologic Response Combined with Dermatologic Toxicities is the Most Robust Predictor of Survival Benefits in Patients with Inoperable Hepatocellular Carcinoma After Transarterial Chemoembolization Plus Sorafenib Therapy.

Purpose: The survival benefits of patients with inoperable hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) who undergo transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) and receive sorafenib therapy remain controversial. We aimed to identify clinical predictors in patients with inoperable HCC undergoing TACE and receiving sorafenib.

Methods: Between January 2014 and December 2017, 148 consecutive patients with inoperable HCC who were treated with TACE plus sorafenib were retrospectively analyzed.

MACC1 Contributes to the Development of Osteosarcoma Through Regulation of the HGF/c-Met Pathway and Microtubule Stability.

Osteosarcoma (OS) is the most prevalent human bone malignancy, and presents a global annual morbidity of approximately five cases per million. Notably, precise and efficient targeted therapy has become the most promising strategy for the treatment of OS; however, there is still an urgent need for the identification of suitable therapeutic targets. Metastasis-associated in colon cancer 1 (MACC1) was first identified in colon tumors by differential display RT-PCR, and was shown to be involved in the regulation of colon tumor growth and metastasis through the hepatocyte growth factor (HGF)/c-Met signaling pathway.

A prognostic score model for predicting the survival benefits of patients undergoing sorafenib plus transarterial chemoembolization for hepatocellular carcinoma with portal vein invasion.

Purpose: The survival benefits and which patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) would benefit from sorafenib plus transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) therapy remain controversial. We aimed to develop a prognostic score model for predicting different prognoses of patients with HCC and portal vein invasion who received sorafenib plus TACE.

Methods: This observational study included 167 patients with HCC and portal vein invasion undergoing sorafenib combined with TACE from January 2013 to June 2018 at two hospitals.

A Novel Approach of Parallel Retina-Like Computational Ghost Imaging.

Computational ghost imaging (CGI), with the advantages of wide spectrum, low cost, and robustness to light scattering, has been widely used in many applications. The key issue is long time correlations for acceptable imaging quality. To overcome the issue, we propose parallel retina-like computational ghost imaging (PRGI) method to improve the performance of CGI.

Apatinib treatment may improve survival outcomes of patients with hepatitis B virus-related sorafenib-resistant hepatocellular carcinoma.

Aims: This study aimed to (a) assess the effectiveness and safety of apatinib as a subsequent treatment for patients with sorafenib-resistant hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), and (b) identify the clinical factors influencing their treatment outcomes.

Methods: The electronic medical records of consecutive patients with newly diagnosed advanced HCC treated with first-line sorafenib from 2015 to 2017 were retrospectively reviewed. Patients who were confirmed to have primary resistance to sorafenib were enrolled in this study.

The PPRD score stratifies patients with hepatocellular carcinoma and portal vein tumor thrombus treated with sorafenib plus transarterial chemoembolization.

Objectives: To identify clinical prognostic and predictive factors in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and portal vein tumor thrombus (PVTT) undergoing sorafenib plus transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) and establish a prognostic score for these patients.

Methods: Between January 2012 and December 2017, 184 consecutive patients with HCC and PVTT were concurrently treated with sorafenib and TACE. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to explore the clinical factors independently correlated with overall survival (OS).

Tripartite motif containing 24 regulates cell proliferation in colorectal cancer through YAP signaling.

The protein, tripartite motif containing 24 (TRIM24) is a member of the TRIM protein family, and acts as a critical co-regulator of multiple nuclear receptors. TRIM24 is dysregulated in many cancers, including colorectal carcinoma. However, its biological functions and molecular mechanisms with respect to colorectal carcinoma are still largely unknown.

Dynamic Changes in the Neutrophil-to-Lymphocyte Ratio Predict the Prognosis of Patients with Hepatocellular Carcinoma Undergoing Transarterial Chemoembolization.

Purpose: To examine the effect of dynamic changes in neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) on tumor response and overall survival (OS) in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) undergoing transarterial chemoembolization (TACE).

Patients And Methods: Data from 181 patients with HCC were retrospectively collected. White blood cell, neutrophil and lymphocyte counts, and the NLR were obtained 1-3 days before as well as 3-6 weeks and 3 months after TACE.

Diagnostic potential of ultrasonography and computed tomography in differentiating cervical lymph node metastasis of thyroid cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Introduction: Ultrasonography (US) and computed tomography (CT) are the most common diagnostic modalities of cervical lymph node metastasis of thyroid cancer, but few studies have been conducted to compare their diagnostic accuracy, with inconclusive results.

Material And Methods: Multiple databases including PubMed, Springer, EMBASE, Ovid, and the Cochrane Library were searched with the keywords "thyroid cancer OR thyroid carcinomas", "cervical lymph nodes", "metastatic OR metastasis", and "ultrasonography OR ultrasound OR CT OR computed tomography" in June 2018. Full-text articles comparing diagnostic accuracy of US and CT were reviewed.