Effects of ambient temperature on ambulance emergency call-outs in the subtropical city of Shenzhen, China.

The associations between meteorological factors and mortality have been well documented worldwide, but limited evidence is available for the non-fatal health impacts of ambient temperature, particularly there are few population-based investigations on the impacts of emergency ambulance dispatches in Asia. In this study, based on 809,906 ambulance emergency call-outs (AECOs) for the total population from 2010-2016 in the subtropical city of Shenzhen, China, a Poisson regression combined with a distributed lag nonlinear model was used to simultaneously assess the nonlinear and lag effects of daily mean temperature on AECOs. Stratified analyses by age and sex were performed to identify vulnerable subpopulations.

Prognostic impact of preoperative prognostic nutritional index in resected advanced gastric cancer: A multicenter propensity score analysis.

Background: Advanced gastric cancer (AGC) causes debilitating malnutrition and leads to deterioration of the immune response. However, the concept of the prognostic nutritional index (PNI) is controversial when applied to patients with AGC. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effect of the PNI after gastrectomy in patients with AGC.

Risk Assessment of Secondary Primary Malignancies in Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma: A Big-Data Intelligence Platform-Based Analysis of 6,377 Long-term Survivors from an Endemic Area Treated with Intensity-Modulated Radiation Therapy during 2003-2013.

Purpose: The incidence, risk factors and survival impact of secondary primary malignancies (SPMs) among survivors of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) treated with definitive intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) with or without chemotherapy are poorly characterized.

Methods And Materials: Consecutive patients (n=6,377) from the big-data intelligence platform at Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center, China (in a high-incidence area) with newly diagnosed non-metastatic pathologically proven non-keratinizing undifferentiated NPC treated with IMRT±chemotherapy between January 2003 and June 2013 were retrospectively analyzed. Cumulative incidence of SPMs was calculated using the Kaplan-Meier method.

A variant RhAG protein encoded by the RHAG*572A allele causes serological weak D expression while maintaining normal RhCE phenotypes.

Background: The molecular events resulting in a weak D phenotype include missense mutations, in-frame insertion, or deletion mutations of the RHD gene and hybrid RHD-CE-D hybrid alleles. Mutations in genes encoding the proteins that are required for proper membrane expression of Rh proteins, such as RhAG and ankyrin 1, can lead to absent or weakened expression of Rh antigens.

Study Design And Methods: Blood sample from a Chinese blood donor with a serological weak D phenotype was collected.

A pilot study using kernelled support tensor machine for distant failure prediction in lung SBRT.

We developed a kernelled support tensor machine (KSTM)-based model with tumor tensors derived from pre-treatment PET and CT imaging as input to predict distant failure in early stage non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) treated with stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT). The patient cohort included 110 early stage NSCLC patients treated with SBRT, 25 of whom experienced failure at distant sites. Three-dimensional tumor tensors were constructed and used as input for the KSTM-based classifier.

Aberrant cortical thickness in neurologically asymptomatic patients with end-stage renal disease.

Purpose: The aim of this study is to investigate the morphology of cortical gray matter in patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) and the relationship between cortical thickness and kidney function.

Patients And Methods: Three-dimensional high-resolution brain structural magnetic resonance imaging data were collected from 35 patients with ESRD (28 men, 18-61 years old) and 40 age- and gender-matched healthy controls (HCs, 32 men, 22-58 years old). Vertex-wise analysis was then performed to compare the brains of the patients with ESRD with those of HCs to identify abnormalities in the brains of the former.

Nattokinase: A Promising Alternative in Prevention and Treatment of Cardiovascular Diseases.

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death in the world and our approach to the control and management of CVD mortality is limited. Nattokinase (NK), the most active ingredient of natto, possesses a variety of favourable cardiovascular effects and the consumption of Natto has been linked to a reduction in CVD mortality. Recent research has demonstrated that NK has potent fibrinolytic activity, antihypertensive, anti-atherosclerotic, and lipid-lowering, antiplatelet, and neuroprotective effects.

LIMK2 acts as an oncogene in bladder cancer and its functional SNP in the microRNA-135a binding site affects bladder cancer risk.

LIM kinases modulate multiple aspects of cancer development, including cell proliferation and survival. As the mechanisms of LIMK-associated tumorigenesis are still unclear, we analyzed the tumorigenic functions of LIM kinase 2 (LIMK2) in human bladder cancer (BC) and explored whether the newly identified LIMK2 3´-UTR SNP rs2073859 (G-to-A allele) is correlated with clinical features. Expression levels of LIMK2 in 38 human BC tissues and eight cell lines were examined using quantitative real-time PCR and immunohistochemistry.

Positron Emission Tomography Imaging of Lesions pH Using C-Labeled Bicarbonate.

Objectives: As acid-base imbalance is involved in many pathological processes, the capability to image tissue pH alterations in the clinic could offer new ways to detect disease and respond to treatment. In this study, the authors show that tissue pH can be imaged in vivo with C-labeled bicarbonate (HCO) buffer and positron emission tomography (PET).

Methods: HCO was produced by on-column NaOH adsorption.

Familial nonsyndromic hearing loss with incomplete partition type II caused by novel DSPP gene mutations.

Background: Familial nonsyndromic hearing loss (NSHL) with incomplete partition type II (IP-II) is a very rare condition.

Aims/objectives: To determine the audiological feature, inheritance patterns and genetic etiology of familial NSHL with IP-II in a Chinese family with eight family members.

Material And Methods: Clinical data were collected from all eight family members, selected deafness genes were sequenced in proband and whole genome sequencing of seven family members was performed.

Redox-sensitive micelles composed of disulfide-linked Pluronic-linoleic acid for enhanced anticancer efficiency of brusatol.

Brusatol (Bru) exhibits promising anticancer effects, with both proliferation inhibition and chemoresistance amelioration activity. However, the poor solubility and insufficient intracellular delivery of Bru greatly restrict its application. Herein, to simultaneously utilize the advantages of Pluronics as drug carriers and tumor microenvironment-responsive drug release profiles, a flexible amphiphilic copolymer with a polymer skeleton, that is, Pluronic F68 grafting with linoleic acid moieties by redox-reducible disulfide bonds (F68-SS-LA), was synthesized.

Neonatal neutrophils stimulated by group B Streptococcus induce a proinflammatory T-helper cell bias.

BackgroundGroup B Streptococcus (GBS) infection causes inflammatory comorbidities in newborns. While the mechanisms remain unclear, evidence suggests that impaired innate-adaptive immune interactions may be contributory. We hypothesized that GBS-stimulated neonatal neutrophils provide a milieu that may drive proinflammatory T-helper (Th) cell programming.

Anterior Borderzone Angle for Hemodynamic Collateral Metric in Patients with Symptomatic Middle Cerebral Artery Stenosis.

Background And Aims: We aimed to introduce a parameter of anterior borderzone angle (ABZA) to quantitatively evaluate the ACA-MCA leptomeningeal collaterals for middle cerebral artery stenosis (MCAS).

Methods: Two hundred seventy-five patients with 50-100% MCAS and 100 controls were included. The 95% reference range of ABZA was obtained from the controls.

Whole exome sequencing identified a pathogenic mutation in RYR2 in a Chinese family with unexplained sudden death.

Objective: This study aimed to identify the pathogenic mutation in a Chinese family with unexplained sudden death (USD) or occasional syncope.

Materials And Methods: Whole exome sequencing and target capture sequencing were respectively conducted for two related patients. The genetic data was screened using the 1000 genomes project and SNP database (PubMed), and the identified mutations were assessed for predicted pathogenicity using the SIFT and Polyphen-2 algorithms.

Clinical and Imaging Characteristics of Arteriopathy Subtypes in Children with Arterial Ischemic Stroke: Results of the VIPS Study.

Background And Purpose: Childhood arteriopathies are rare but heterogenous, and difficult to diagnose and classify, especially by nonexperts. We quantified clinical and imaging characteristics associated with childhood arteriopathy subtypes to facilitate their diagnosis and classification in research and clinical settings.

Materials And Methods: The Vascular Effects of Infection in Pediatric Stroke (VIPS) study prospectively enrolled 355 children with arterial ischemic stroke (2010-2014).

MiR-132-3p regulates ADAMTS-5 expression and promotes chondrogenic differentiation of rat mesenchymal stem cells.

Previous study showed that miRNA aberrant expression is involved in chondrogenic differentiation. In this study, we aimed to investigate the effects of miR-132-3p on chondrogenic differentiation and the underlying mechanisms. First, quantitative PCR were performed to determine the level of MiR-132-3p.

Effectiveness of acupuncture versus spinal-epidural anesthesia on labor pain: a randomized controlled trial.

Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of acupuncture analgesia (AA) compared with combined spinal-epidural anesthesia (CSEA) for labor pain relief and labor outcomes.

Methods: We evaluated 131 primiparous women who received respiratory guidance during maternal uterine contractions and received either AA (n = 43), CSEA (n = 45), or no additional treatment (control, n = 43). The groups were compared regarding visual analog scale (VAS) scores for abdominal and back pain, and labor outcomes.

The effect of cupping therapy for low back pain: A meta-analysis based on existing randomized controlled trials.

Background: LBP is one of the most common symptoms with high prevalence throughout the world. Conflicting conclusions exist in RCTs on cupping for LBP.

Objective: To assess the effects and safety of cupping for the patients with LBP.

Exome sequencing identifies a TCF4 mutation in a Chinese pedigree with symmetrical acral keratoderma.

Background: Symmetrical acral keratoderma (SAK) is a rare skin disorder and its pathogenesis and inheritability are unknown.

Objectives: To investigate the inheritance and pathogenesis of SAK.

Methods: Four SAK cases occurred in a four-generation Chinese family.

Polymeric mixed micelles loaded mitoxantrone for overcoming multidrug resistance in breast cancer via photodynamic therapy.

Mitoxantrone (MIT) is an anticancer agent with photosensitive properties that is commonly used in various cancers. Multidrug resistance (MDR) effect has been an obstacle to using MIT for cancer therapy. Photochemical internalization, on account of photodynamic therapy, has been applied to improve the therapeutic effect of cancers with MDR effect.

GOLPH3 promotes cell proliferation and tumorigenicity in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma via mTOR and Wnt/β‑catenin signal activation.

The authors' previous study demonstrated that Golgi phosphoprotein 3 (GOLPH3) was significantly overexpressed in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC), correlating with poor patient survival. In the present study, GOLPH3 stable overexpression and knockdown KYSE‑140 cell lines were constructed. Cell proliferation, colony formation, cell cycle progression and tumorigenesis assays were performed.

In vitro remodeling and structural characterization of degradable polymer scaffold-based tissue-engineered vascular grafts using optical coherence tomography.

Non-destructive imaging strategies to monitor long-term cultures is essential for vascular engineering. The goal of this study is to investigate whether optical coherence tomography (OCT) can be a suitable approach to monitor the long-term remodeling process of biodegradable polymeric scaffold-based tissue-engineered vascular grafts (TEVG) after pulsatile stimulation and to observe polymeric scaffold degradation during bioreactor cultivation. In the present study, a perfusion system driven by a ventricular assist device was provided for a three-dimensional culture system as a pulsatile force.

Quercetin reduces neural tissue damage and promotes astrocyte activation after spinal cord injury in rats.

Spinal cord injury (SCI) is lead to locomotor impairment because of neurological damage after following trauma. Quercetin (Que) has been confirmed to have a neuro-protective effect during nerve damage processes. The purpose of this study was to determine the roles of Que in functional recovery, cavity formation, astrocyte activation, and nerve regeneration following SCI.