Effect of crystalloid solution co-loading infusion rate on the dose requirements of prophylactic phenylephrine for preventing hypotension following combined spinal-epidural anesthesia for cesarean delivery.

Background: Intravenous fluid administration and prophylactic vasopressor infusion are the primary methods for preventing spinal anesthesia-induced hypotension during cesarean delivery. However, evidence regarding the impact of different volumes of crystalloid solution on the phenylephrine infusion dosage for preventing this hypotension remains inconclusive. This study aimed to determine the effect of two IV fluid infusion rates (10 or 20 mL/kg/h) on phenylephrine requirement for preventing spinal anesthesia-induced hypotension.

Perioperative dexmedetomidine and 5-year survival in patients undergoing cardiac surgery.

Background: Dexmedetomidine sedation has been associated with favourable outcomes after surgery. We aimed to assess whether perioperative dexmedetomidine use is associated with improved survival after cardiac surgery.

Methods: This retrospective cohort study included 2068 patients undergoing on-pump coronary artery bypass grafting and/or valve surgery.

Utility of GDF-15 as a diagnostic biomarker in gastric cancer: an investigation combining GEO, TCGA and meta-analysis.

It was recently suggested that growth differentiation factor-15 (GDF-15) is associated with gastric cancer (GC) carcinogenesis. However, the diagnostic potential of GDF-15 for GC remains unclear. To address this issue, we obtained RNA sequencing and microarray data from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) and The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) databases, and searched PubMed, Google Scholar and Web of Science for relevant literature.

Low-dose ionizing radiation increases the mortality risk of solid cancers in nuclear industry workers: A meta-analysis.

Low-dose ionizing radiation (LDIR) may increase the mortality of solid cancers in nuclear industry workers, but only few individual cohort studies exist, and the available reports have low statistical power. The aim of the present study was to focus on solid cancer mortality risk from LDIR in the nuclear industry using standard mortality ratios (SMRs) and 95% confidence intervals. A systematic literature search through the PubMed and Embase databases identified 27 studies relevant to this meta-analysis.

Tea consumption is associated with cognitive impairment in older Chinese adults.

Objective: To explore the association between tea consumption and cognitive impairment (CoI).

Methods: 4579 adults (≥60 years) from the Weitang Geratric Diseases Study were assessed for characteristics of tea consumption and cognitive function by administering questionnaires and the Abbreviated Mental Test (AMT), respectively. We divided the subjects into normal cognitive function group (AMT score ≥8) and CoI group (AMT score ≤7).

Association between polymorphisms of prokineticin receptor (PKR1 rs4627609 and PKR2 rs6053283) and recurrent pregnancy loss.

Recurrent pregnancy loss (RPL) is a condition with complex etiologies, to which both genetic and environmental factors may contribute. During the last decade, studies indicated that the expression patterns of the prokineticin receptor (PKR1 and PKR2) are closely related to early pregnancy. However, there are few studies on the role of PKR1 and PKR2 in RPL.

Identifying at-risk foot among hospitalized patients with type 2 diabetes: A cross-sectional study in one Chinese tertiary hospital.

Objective: To investigate the prevalence of diabetic at-risk foot and its associated factors.

Methods: A total of 838 hospitalized patients with type 2 diabetes were screened for at-risk foot. Neural and vascular disorders were evaluated by assessing vibration perception thresholds and ankle brachial indexes (ABIs).

A new method for estimating effect size distribution and heritability from genome-wide association summary results.

Accurately estimating the distribution and heritability of SNP effects across the genome could help explain the mystery of missing heritability. In this study, we propose a novel statistical method for estimating the distribution and heritability of SNP effects from genome-wide association studies (GWASs), and compare its performance to several existing methods using both simulations and real data. Specifically, we study the full range of GWAS summary results and link observed p values and unobserved effect sizes by (non-central) Chi-square distribution.

High expression of CD11c indicates favorable prognosis in patients with gastric cancer.

Aim: To determine the relationship between CD11c expression level and prognosis in patients with gastric cancer (GC).

Methods: This retrospective survival study was performed from July 31, 2008 to June 30, 2014. Our study inclusion criteria included all the patients with GC who underwent surgical resection between January 1998 and December 2009 in the Third Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University.

Prenatal care in combination with maternal educational level has a synergetic effect on the risk of neonatal low birth weight: new findings in a retrospective cohort study in Kunshan City, China.

Objectives: To investigate the dose-response relationship and synergetic effect of the maternal educational level and two measures of prenatal care on neonatal low birth weight (LBW) risk.

Methods: Data were derived from the Perinatal Health Care Surveillance System (PHCSS) from January 2001 to September 2009 in Kunshan City, Jiangsu province, eastern China, which included data on 31412 women with a normal birth weight delivery and 640 women with a LBW delivery. Logistic modelling was performed to estimate the association including the joint effects with odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) between the prenatal care measures and LBW risk after adjusting for the potential confounders.

Higher numbers of T-bet(+) intratumoral lymphoid cells correlate with better survival in gastric cancer.

In the present study, we studied the expression of T-bet, a key marker for type 1 immune responses, within the tumor microenvironment of gastric cancer, and analyzed its association with clinicopathological parameters. One hundred and fifty-two archival paraffin-embedded gastric tumor tissues were collected, and the expression of T-bet in these cancer tissue specimens was examined by immunohistochemistry. T-bet(+) tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) in some gastric cancer tissues were further characterized by flow cytometric analysis.

[Association between serum bisphenol-A and recurrent spontaneous abortion: a 1:2 case-control study, China].

Objective: This study was to investigate the association between serum Bisphenol-A (BPA) and unexplained recurrent spontaneous abortion (RSA).

Methods: A hospital-based 1:2 matched case-control study was conducted.Sixty-two patients with unexplained recurrent abortion were included and matched with 2 normal controls by factors as age (± 2 years), living in the same district and the same gestational age.

[Association between gestational weight gain and birth weight (2001-2009): a cohort study carried outin Kunshan city, Jiangsu province, China].

Objective: To identify the association between gestational weight gain and birth weight over the past 9 years in Kunshan city, Jiangsu province, China.

Methods: This population-based study was conducted between 2001 to 2009. Data were retrieved from Perinatal Monitoring System of Maternal and Child Health Care Hospital of Kunshan.

A meta-analysis on the effect of corticosteroid therapy in Kawasaki disease.

Unlabelled: The current recommended therapy for Kawasaki disease (KD) is the combination of intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) and aspirin. However, the role of corticosteroid therapy in KD remains controversial. Using meta-analysis, this study aimed to investigate the efficacy of corticosteroid therapy in KD by comparing it with standard IVIG and aspirin therapy.

[A correlative study on Bisphenol A and recurrent spontaneous abortion].

Objective: This study was to investigate the association of Bisphenol A and unexplained recurrent spontaneous abortion.

Methods: A hospital-based 1:1 matched case-control study was conducted. Sixty patients with unexplained recurrent abortion were included.

Increasing the frequency of CIK cells adoptive immunotherapy may decrease risk of death in gastric cancer patients.

Aim: to analyze the correlation between cytokine-induced killer (cik) cells adoptive immunotherapy and cancer-related death in gastric cancer patients. methods: One hundred and fifty-six gastric cancer patients after operation at the Third Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University were enrolled in this study. Their clinical data including demographic characteristics, operation time, tumor size, pathological type and staging, tumor metastasis, outcome of chemotherapy or CIK cells adoptive immunotherapy, survival time or time of death were collected with a standard structured questionnaire.

[Influence of co-stimulatory molecules B7-H4 expression on the prognosis of patients with gastric cancer treated with cytokine-induced killer cells adoptive immunotherapy].

Objective: To investigate the influence of co-stimulatory molecules B7-H4 expression on prognosis of gastric cancer patients treated by cytokine-induced killer cells (CIK cells) adoptive immunotherapy.

Methods: Clinical data of 156 cases of gastric cancer patients were retrospectively analyzed. Patients were divided into chemotherapy group(n=81) and chemotherapy combined with CIK cell therapy group(n=75).

[The risk factors for malnutrition in post-stroke patients.].

Objective: To investigate the detection rate of malnutrition among post-stroke patients in community hospitals and unravel the relevant factors that precipitate malnutrition after stroke.

Methods: Based on 438 post-stroke patients who were admitted in community hospitals, we examined the demographic characteristics, the nutritional indices and the possible malnutrition related factors through a cross-sectional study.

Results: The detection rate of malnutrition among post-stroke patients was 52.

[Application of quantitative polymerase chain reaction in the differentiation of sarcoidosis and proliferative tuberculosis].

Objective: To evaluate the role of mycobacterial infection in the pathogenesis of sarcoidosis by examination of mycobacterial DNA in tissue samples of sarcoidosis and tuberculosis, and to examine the value of quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in the differentiation of the two diseases.

Methods: Mycobacterium tuberculosis DNA was measured by quantitative real-time PCR from formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded sections of biopsy samples of lymph nodes and lung tissues from 31 patients with sarcoidosis, 30 patients with tuberculosis and 15 patients with other diseases (as the control samples) in Shanghai Pulmonary Hospital from January 1998 to December 2003. Lung tissues from 15 normal embryonic mice served as the negative control.