Comparing nanoparticle polymeric micellar paclitaxel and solvent-based paclitaxel as first-line treatment of advanced non-small-cell lung cancer: an open-label, randomized, multicenter, phase III trial.

Background: Polymeric micellar paclitaxel (pm-Pac) is a novel Cremophor EL-free, nanoparticle micellar formulation of paclitaxel. We aimed to compare the efficacy and safety between pm-Pac plus cisplatin and solvent-based paclitaxel (sb-Pac) plus cisplatin in advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

Patients And Methods: A total of 448 stage IIIB to IV NSCLC patients were randomly assigned (2:1) to receive six 3-week cycles of either pm-Pac (230 mg/m) plus cisplatin (70 mg/m; n = 300), followed by dose escalation of pm-Pac to 300 mg/m from the second 3-week cycle if prespecified toxic effects were not observed after the first cycle, or sb-Pac (175 mg/m) plus cisplatin (70 mg/m; n = 148).

Self-assembly of stem cell membrane-camouflaged nanocomplex for microRNA-mediated repair of myocardial infarction injury.

Mesenchymal stem cells-derived exosomes have shown promising therapeutic effect on myocardial infarction (MI). The major hurdles remain for the use of exosomes primarily due to the low yields from cell cultures coupled with complicated purification processes. Herein we report the self-assembly of stem cell membrane-camouflaged exosome-mimicking nanocomplex that recapitulates exosome functions, achieving efficient microRNA (miRNA) delivery and miRNA-mediated myocardial repair.

In Vivo Reflection-Mode Photoacoustic Microscopy Enhanced by Plasmonic Sensing with an Acoustic Cavity.

Relying on high-sensitivity refractive index sensing and a highly constrained evanescent field of surface plasmon resonance (SPR), broadband photoacoustic (PA) pressure transients were measured using an SPR sensor instead of routinely used piezoelectric ultrasonic transducers. An acoustic cavity made from stainless steel and having a designed ellipsoidal inner surface redirected laser-induced PA waves from the PA excitation spot to the SPR sensor. By incorporating the SPR sensor with the acoustic cavity, we developed optical-resolution photoacoustic microscopy (OR-PAM) with multiple advantages, including reflection-mode signal capture, improved PA detection sensitivity, increased PA spectral bandwidth as broad as ∼98 MHz, and micrometer-scale lateral resolution.

Isometrically Resolved Photoacoustic Microscopy Based on Broadband Surface Plasmon Resonance Ultrasound Sensing.

Photoacoustic microscopy (PAM) can measure optical absorption-based molecular specificities within tissues. Despite the diffraction-limited lateral resolution in optical-resolution photoacoustic microscopy (OR-PAM), the ongoing challenge is poor axial resolution because of an insufficient ultrasound detection bandwidth, which hampers PAM volumetric imaging. We propose polarization-differential surface plasmon resonance (SPR) sensing for broadband and high-sensitivity photoacoustic (PA) detection, allowing OR-PAM with comparable resolution along lateral and axial directions.

Type 2 diabetes in midlife and risk of cerebrovascular disease in late life: a prospective nested case-control study in a nationwide Swedish twin cohort.

Aims/hypothesis: We aimed to examine the association between midlife type 2 diabetes mellitus and cerebrovascular disease (CBD) in late life, and further to explore whether genetic and early-life familial environmental factors (such as shared childhood socioeconomic status and adolescent environment) play a role in this association.

Methods: In this prospective nested case-control study based on the Swedish Twin Registry, 33,086 twin individuals who were born in 1958 or earlier and were CBD-free before the age of 60 were included. Midlife (40-59 years) type 2 diabetes was ascertained from self-report, the National Patient Registry (NPR) and glucose-lowering medication use.

INPP4B promotes colorectal cancer cell proliferation by activating mTORC1 signaling and cap-dependent translation.

Background And Objective: Inositol polyphosphate 4-phosphatase type II (INPP4B) is over-expressed in CRC tissues, and emerges as an oncogene. However, the mechanism by which INPP4B regulates CRC cell proliferation remains largely unclear. In this study, we aimed to investigate the regulatory mechanisms of INPP4B in CRC.

Overweight in midlife and risk of cancer in late life: A nationwide Swedish twin study.

Our study examined whether midlife overweight (body mass index [BMI] ≥25) is associated with late-life cancer risk and explored the role of genetic and early-life environmental factors in this association. The study included 14,766 individuals from the Swedish Twin Registry, whose midlife (30-50 years) height and weight were recorded. Information on cancer diagnoses in late life (>65 years) was derived from the National Patient Registry and Cancer Registry.

Expression and significance of miR-24 and miR-101 in patients with advanced gastric cancer.

Clinical significance of micro ribonucleic acid (miR)-24 and miR-101 were investigated by evaluating the expression of miR-24 and miR-101 in the tissues of patients with advanced gastric cancer. A total of 247 gastric cancer tissue specimens and 150 cancer-adjacent normal tissues (>5 cm away from the tumor) from patients with advanced gastric cancer who underwent surgical resection in the Surgical Oncology Department of Tianjin Union Medical Centre (Tianjin, China) from April 2013 to May 2016 were collected. The expression of miR-24 and miR-101 in gastric cancer and cancer-adjacent normal tissues were detected via reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR), and the correlation of the levels of miR-24 and miR-101 in gastric cancer tissues with their clinical and pathological features were explored.

Laparoscopic Endoscopic Cooperative Surgery for Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumors.

With the development of laparoscopy and digestive endoscopy, multiple laparoscopic and endoscopic cooperative surgeries (LECSs) for gastrointestinal stromal tumors have recently been developed. Classic LECS has been confirmed as a feasible and safe treatment procedure for gastrointestinal stromal tumors with regard to both short-term surgical and long-term oncological outcomes; however, classic LECS has the potential risk of gastric contents or tumor cells spilling into the abdominal cavity because the gastric wall has to be opened during the procedure. Various modified LECS techniques have aimed at further minimizing invasiveness, such as the full-thickness resection method using the nonexposure technique (combination of laparoscopic and endoscopic approaches to neoplasia with a nonexposure technique), nonexposed endoscopic wall-inversion surgery, and closed LECS.

Mutual Information-Based Brain Network Analysis in Post-stroke Patients With Different Levels of Depression.

Post-stroke depression (PSD) is the most common stroke-related emotional disorder, and it severely affects the recovery process. However, more than half cases are not correctly diagnosed. This study was designed to develop a new method to assess PSD using EEG signal to analyze the specificity of PSD patients' brain network.

SOAT1 deficiency attenuates atherosclerosis by regulating inflammation and cholesterol transportation via HO-1 pathway.

Sterol O-acyltransferase 1 (SOAT1) is a key enzyme for cholesteryl ester biosynthesis. The objective of the present study is to investigate the role and underlying molecular mechanisms of SOAT1 in atherosclerosis. Our results indicated that SOAT1 was highly expressed in endothelial cells of atherosclerotic lesions in human patients with atherosclerosis and in apolipoprotein E deficient (ApoE) mice fed with high fat diet (HFD).

Electrophysiological changes in poststroke subjects with depressed mood: A quantitative EEG study.

Background: We aimed to explore the electrophysiological changes in poststroke subjects with depressed mood.

Methods: Resting-state electroencephalogram (EEG) signals of 16 electrodes in 35 poststroke depressed, 24 poststroke nondepressed, and 35 age-matched healthy control subjects were analyzed by means of spectral power analysis, a quantitative EEG measurement of different frequency bands. The relationship among depressed mood, functional status, lesion side, and poststroke time was assessed by using variance and Spearman correlation analysis.

Is it right to ignore learning-curve patients? Laparoscopic colorectal trials.

Background: Increasingly complex, technically demanding surgical procedures utilizing emerging technologies have developed over recent decades and are recognized as having long 'learning curves'. This raises significant new issues. Ethically and scientifically, the outcome of a patient in the learning curve is as important as the outcome of a patient outside the learning curve.

Quantitative EEG abnormalities in major depressive disorder with basal ganglia stroke with lesions in different hemispheres.

Background: This study aimed to examine the aberrant EEG oscillation in major depressive subjects with basal ganglia stroke with lesions in different hemispheres.

Methods: Resting EEG of 16 electrodes in 58 stroke subjects, 26 of whom had poststroke depression (13 with left-hemisphere lesion and 13 with right) and 32 of whom did not (18 with left lesion and 14 with right), was recorded to obtain spectral power analysis for several frequency bands. Multiple analysis of variance and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were used to identify differences between poststroke depression (PSD) and poststroke non-depression (PSND), treating the different lesion hemispheres separately.

Treatment of cerebrospinal fluid leak after spine surgery.

Owing to the complexity of spinal surgery, there is a great prevalence of dural tear causing cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) leakage. Many studies focused on suture repair for dural tear to stop CSF leak. Now some new treatment strategies have shown a promising effect that is listed as follows: 1) creating watertight dural closure to stop CSF leak with the help of dural substitute material; and 2) retarding CSF leak by changing pressure difference, including reducing the subarachnoid fluid pressure, increasing the epidural space pressure and both.

[CLINICAL OBSERVATION OF POSTERIOR CERVICAL DECOMPRESSIVE LAMINECTOMY AND LATERAL MASS SCREW FIXATION COMBINED WITH FORAMINOTOMY FOR CERVICAL RADICULO-MYELOPATHY].

Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of posterior cervical decompressive laminectomy and lateral mass screw fixation combined with foraminotomy for treating cervical radiculo-myelopathy.

Methods: Between January 2010 and January 2012, 58 patients with cervical radiculo-myelopathy were treated by posterior cervical decompressive laminectomy and lateral mass screw fixation combined with foraminotomy. There were 31 males and 27 females, with an average age of 52.

Surgical treatment of traumatic lower limb pseudoaneurysm.

Objective: To summarize our experience in surgical treatment of traumatic lower limb pseudoaneurysm.

Methods: Twenty patients with traumatic lower limb pseudoaneurysm were surgically treated in our department from January 2007 to January 2012. The treatment protocols included interventional covered-stent placement (10 cases), spring coil embolization (2 cases), and surgical operation (8 cases).

Does mismatch of the femoral component aspect ratio influence the range of knee flexion after posterior-stabilized total knee arthroplasty?

Objective: To study whether the range of knee flexion (ROF) is affected by geometrical mismatch of the femoral component and the resultant change in the posterior condylar offset (PCO) after high-flexion posterior-stabilized total knee arthroplasty (TKA).

Methods: One hundred osteoarthritic patients (50 males and 50 females) underwent femoral osteotomy by the anterior referencing technique. The PCO for each patient was measured from lateral radiographs before, during and 2 years after TKA.

Notch1 and Notch2 have opposite prognostic effects on patients with colorectal cancer.

Background: Aberrantly activated Notch signaling has been shown to play a key role in carcinogenesis and progression of various human malignancies. In this study, we investigated the expression of Notch1 and Notch2 in colorectal cancer to determine whether they could serve as prognostic predictors.

Patients And Methods: The protein expression of Notch1 and Notch2 was examined by immunohistochemistry in 1003 clinical colorectal cancer specimens.