Comparing the performance of SOFA, TPA combined with SOFA and APACHE-II for predicting ICU mortality in critically ill surgical patients: A secondary analysis.

Introduction: Total psoas muscle area (TPA) can indicate the status of the entire human body's skeletal muscle mass. It has been reported that lower TPA can increase the risk of mortality in critically ill patients. The aim of our study was to evaluate the relationship between TPA and ICU mortality and to compare the performance of Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA), TPA combined with SOFA and Acute Physiology, Chronic Health Evaluation (APACHE-II) for predicting ICU mortality in critically ill surgical patients.

Nonpharmacological interventions for cancer-related cognitive impairment in adult cancer patients: A network meta-analysis.

Background: Conventional meta-analyses can only provide direct comparison evidence, and the best options of nonpharmacological interventions for cancer-related cognitive impairment remain largely unknown.

Objectives: To evaluate the comparative effects of all known nonpharmacological interventions for cancer-related cognitive impairment, and to rank the best intervention options for adult non- central nervous system cancer patients with cancer-related cognitive impairment.

Design: Systematic review with a new analytic approach of network meta-analysis.

NEK7 interacts with NLRP3 to modulate the pyroptosis in inflammatory bowel disease via NF-κB signaling.

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is one of the most common diseases in the gastrointestinal tract related to aberrant inflammation. Pyroptosis, which is characterized by inflammasome formation, the activation of caspase-1, and the separation of the N- and C-terminals of GSDMD, might be related to IBD pathogenesis. NEK7 is an important component of the NLRP3 inflammasome in macrophages.

Expression profile and prognostic values of STAT family members in non-small cell lung cancer.

Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is a highly malignant type of cancer with a poor 5-year survival rate. The development of prognostic biomarkers and novel drug targets are required in order to improve the survival for NSCLC patients. Signal transducer and activator of transcription (STAT) proteins are cytoplasmic transcription factors known to play key roles in many cellular biological processes.

Successful concurrent chemoradiotherapy with cisplatin plus etoposide after incomplete resection for advanced thymic carcinoma.

The optimal therapy for advanced thymic carcinoma has long been controversial. Despite that complete (R0) resection is recommend as the first-line treatment, multidisciplinary approach including chemotherapy and radiotherapy should be considered for patients who lost the operation chance or received incomplete resection. Here, we present a case who received concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CCRT) after cytoreductive surgery.

Association of sarcopenic obesity with the risk of all-cause mortality among adults over a broad range of different settings: a updated meta-analysis.

Background: Previous cohort studies investigating the association between sarcopenic obesity (SO) and all-cause mortality among adult people have been inconsistent. We performed a meta-analysis to determine if SO is a predictor of all-cause mortality.

Methods: Prospective cohort studies that evaluated the association between SO and mortality in older people were identified via a systematic search of three electronic databases (PubMed, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Library).

Identification of key genes and pathways of thyroid cancer by integrated bioinformatics analysis.

Thyroid cancer is a common endocrine malignancy with a rapidly increasing incidence worldwide. Although its mortality is steady or declining because of earlier diagnoses, its survival rate varies because of different tumour types. Thus, the aim of this study was to identify key biomarkers and novel therapeutic targets in thyroid cancer.

Efficient Modulation of β-Amyloid Peptide Fibrillation with Polymer Nanoparticles Revealed by Super-Resolution Optical Microscopy.

β-Amyloid peptide (Aβ) aggregation is the essential hallmark of neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's disease. Efficient inhibitors are highly desired for the prevention of Aβ assembly that has been considered as the primary therapeutic strategy for neurodegenerative diseases. Apart from this, visualization of the aggregates and morphology at high spatial resolution is widely considered of crucial significance on biological treatment.

Correlation between the translational and rotational diffusion of rod-shaped nanocargo on a lipid membrane revealed by single-particle tracking.

Revealing the diffusion dynamics of nanoparticles on a lipid membrane plays an important role in a better understanding of the cellular translocation process and provides a theoretical basis for the rational design of delivery cargo. However, most studies focus on the investigation of the positional fluctuations of the nanocargo on the fluidic membrane, ignoring the contribution from orientational variation. In particular, less is known about the correlation between the rotational freedom and translational movability of a particle surveying a lipid membrane.

Effect of Gua Sha therapy on patients with diabetic peripheral neuropathy: A randomized controlled trial.

Objective: To examine the effect of Gua Sha therapy in the treatment of diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DNP).

Design: An open-label randomized controlled study was conducted with usual care as the control (60 subjects in Gua Sha group and 59 subjects in usual care group). Outcome measures included Toronto Clinical Scoring System (TCSS), Vibration Perception Threshold (VPT), Ankle Brachial Index (ABI), and fasting plasma glucose (FPG).

Single-Particle Enzyme Activity Assay with Spectral-Resolved Dark-Field Optical Microscopy.

In a clinical assay, enzymes are essential biomarkers for human disease diagnosis. In this work, a spectral-resolved single-particle detection (SPD) method is introduced to quantify alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity in human serum with a supraparticle (SP) based on MnO-modified gold nanoparticle (denoted as GNP@MnO SP) as the probe. In the presence of ALP, 2-phospho-l-ascorbic acid trisodium salt can be hydrolyzed into l-ascorbic acid, which serves as a good reduction agent to trigger the decomposition of the MnO shell on the GNP surface.

LINC01554-Mediated Glucose Metabolism Reprogramming Suppresses Tumorigenicity in Hepatocellular Carcinoma via Downregulating PKM2 Expression and Inhibiting Akt/mTOR Signaling Pathway.

Cancer cells prefer aerobic glycolysis to maintain growth advantages, but the role of long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) in glycometabolism still remains unclear. Here we identified one cytoplasmic lncRNA LINC01554 as a significantly downregulated lncRNA in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and aimed to investigate its role in cellular glucose metabolism in the development and progression of HCC. Quantitative real-time PCR was used to determine the expression level of LINC01554.

Falls among older adults with sarcopenia dwelling in nursing home or community: A meta-analysis.

Objectives: To assess and quantify sarcopenia as a risk for falls among community-dwelling older people and nursing home older persons.

Methods: Prospective cohort studies that evaluated the association between sarcopenia and falls in older adults were identified via a systematic literature search of Medline (via Ovid), PubMed, EMBASE, and the Cochrane CENTRAL Library from database inception until October 15, 2018, in English and Chinese.

Results: 10 studies (10,073 participants) were included in the meta-analysis.

Frailty as a Predictor of All-Cause Mortality Among Older Nursing Home Residents: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.

Objectives: We performed a meta-analysis based on prospective cohort studies to synthesize the pooled risk effect and to determine whether frailty is a predictor of all-cause mortality.

Design: Systematic review and meta-analysis.

Setting: PubMed, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Library were systematically searched in October 2018.

Decreased expression of predicts poor overall survival in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma.

Purpose: Collectin subfamily member 10 () encodes for collectin liver 1 (CL-L1), which is highly expressed in normal liver. Nevertheless, the association between and the prognosis of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remains unclear. To address this question, the prognostic value of expression in HCC was explored in this study.

TSPAN15 interacts with BTRC to promote oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma metastasis via activating NF-κB signaling.

Beta-transducin repeat containing E3 ubiquitin protein ligase (BTRC) is crucial for the degradation of IκBα. Our previous transcriptome sequencing analysis revealed that tetraspanin 15 (TSPAN15) was significantly upregulated in clinical oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) tissues. Here, we show that high TSPAN15 expression in OSCC tissues is significantly associated with lymph node and distant metastasis, advanced clinical stage, and poor prognosis.

Ang-(1-7) protects HUVECs from high glucose-induced injury and inflammation via inhibition of the JAK2/STAT3 pathway.

Angiotensin (Ang)‑1‑7, which is catalyzed by angiotensin‑converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) from angiotensin‑II (Ang‑II), exerts multiple biological and pharmacological effects, including cardioprotective effects and endothelial protection. The Janus kinase 2 (JAK2)/signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) pathway has been demonstrated to be involved in diabetes‑associated cardiovascular complications. The present study hypothesized that Ang‑(1‑7) protects against high glucose (HG)‑induced endothelial cell injury and inflammation by inhibiting the JAK2/STAT3 pathway in human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs).

Primate-specific miRNA-637 inhibited tumorigenesis in human pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma cells by suppressing Akt1 expression.

As a primate-specific microRNA, miR-637 has been discovered for nearly 10 years. Our previous study demonstrated that miR-637 acted as a suppressor in hepatocellular carcinoma. However, its biomedical significance in pancreatic cancer remains obscure.

Corrigendum: β2-Adrenergic Receptor-Mediated HIF-1α Upregulation Mediates Blood Brain Barrier Damage in Acute Cerebral Ischemia.

[This corrects the article on p. 257 in vol. 10, PMID: 28855859.

Abnormal DNA methylation may contribute to the progression of osteosarcoma.

The identification of optimal methylation biomarkers to achieve maximum diagnostic ability remains a challenge. The present study aimed to elucidate the potential molecular mechanisms underlying osteosarcoma (OS) using DNA methylation analysis. Based on the GSE36002 dataset obtained from the Gene Expression Omnibus database, differentially methylated genes were extracted between patients with OS and controls using t‑tests.

Overexpression of ubiquitin specific peptidase 14 predicts unfavorable prognosis in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.

Background: Ubiquitin specific peptidase 14 (USP14), a deubiquitinating enzyme, has been documented as a key element to regulate the proteolysis function of proteasomes and an attractive therapeutic target for several cancers. Herein, we elucidate the role of USP14 in predicting the prognosis of patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC).

Methods: USP14 expression was detected in ESCC tissues and matched adjacent non-tumorous tissues by quantitative real-time reverse transcription-PCR and immunohistochemistry.

Paclitaxel-loaded star-shaped copolymer nanoparticles for enhanced malignant melanoma chemotherapy against multidrug resistance.

Malignant melanoma (MM) is the most dangerous type of skin cancer with annually increasing incidence and death rates. However, chemotherapy for MM is restricted by low topical drug concentration and multidrug resistance. In order to surmount the limitation and to enhance the therapeutic effect on MM, a new nanoformulation of paclitaxel (PTX)-loaded cholic acid (CA)-functionalized star-shaped poly(lactide-co-glycolide) (PLGA)-D-α-tocopheryl polyethylene glycol 1000 succinate (TPGS) nanoparticles (NPs) (shortly PTX-loaded CA-PLGA-TPGS NPs) was fabricated by a modified method of nanoprecipitation.

Effect of Ginkgo Biloba Extract on the Pharmacokinetics and Metabolism of Clopidogrel in Rats.

Ginkgo biloba extract (GBE), a traditional herbal product used worldwide as both medicine and supplement, is often supplied with clopidogrel for the treatment of cerebrovascular diseases. The aim of the current study was to explore the effect of GBE on the metabolism and pharmacokinetics of clopidogrel. The in vitro study using rat liver microsomes revealed that GBE significantly induced the conversion of clopidogrel into its active metabolite.

Novel mutations in CRB1 gene identified in a chinese pedigree with retinitis pigmentosa by targeted capture and next generation sequencing.

Purpose: To detect the disease-causing gene in a Chinese pedigree with autosomal-recessive retinitis pigmentosa (ARRP).

Methods: All subjects in this family underwent a complete ophthalmic examination. Targeted-capture next generation sequencing (NGS) was performed on the proband to detect variants.