Nomograms for Predicting Cancer-Specific Survival of Patients with Gingiva Squamous Cell Carcinoma: A Population-Based Study.

OBJECTIVE: The use of the traditional American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) staging system alone has limitations in predicting the survival of gingiva squamous cell carcinoma (GSCC) patients. We aimed to establish a comprehensive prognostic nomogram with a prognostic value similar to the AJCC system. METHODS: Patients were identified from SEER database. Variables were selected by a backward stepwise selection method in a Cox regression model. A nomogram was used to predict cancer-specific survival rates for 3, 5 and 10 years in patients with GSCC. Several basic features of model validation were used to evaluate the performance of the survival model: consistency index (C-index), receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve, calibration chart, net weight classification improvement (NRI), comprehensive discriminant improvement (IDI) and decision curve analysis (DCA). RESULTS: Multivariate analyses revealed that age, race, marital status, insurance, AJCC stage, pathology grade and surgery were risk factors for survival. In particular, the C-index, the area under the ROC curve (AUC) and the calibration plots showed good performance of the nomogram. Compared to the AJCC system, NRI and IDI showed that the nomogram has improved performance. Finally, the nomogram's 3-year and 5-year and 10-year DCA curves yield net benefits higher than traditional AJCC, whether training set or a validation set. CONCLUSION: We developed and validated the first GSCC prognosis nomogram, which has a better prognostic value than the separate AJCC staging system. Overall, the nomogram of this study is a valuable tool for clinical practice to consult patients and understand their risk for the next 3, 5 and 10 years.

Osteoblastic cell response on biphasic fluorhydroxyapatite/strontium-substituted hydroxyapatite coatings.

Fluorhydroxyapatite/strontium-substituted hydroxyapatite (FHA/SrHA) biphasic coatings with F and Sr elements incorporated simultaneously into one coating layer were prepared on titanium substrate via colloidal sol-gel method. The bioactivity of the as-prepared FHA/SrHA biphasic coatings was evaluated in vitro by immersion in simulated body fluid (SBF). All the biphasic coatings exhibited great ability to induce apatite precipitation on their surfaces. In vitro cell responses were evaluated using osteoblast-like MG63 cells in terms of cell proliferation and differentiation (alkaline phosphatase activity and osteocalcin level). The biphasic coatings show significantly positive effects on the viability and functional activity of osteoblastic cells with clear evidence that an optimum SrHA amount dose exists, indicating that the coexistence of FHA and SrHA had a synergistic stimulatory effect. This finding suggests the potential use of this colloidal sol-gel derived FHA/SrHA biphasic coatings for hard tissue applications.

[Effects of DNAX-associated protein 12 signal pathways on differentiation of mouse monocytes RAW264.7 into osteoclasts by tensile strain].

OBJECTIVE: To explore the effect of DNAX-associated protein 12 (DAP12) pathway on the transformation from mouse monocytes RAW264.7 to osteoclasts induced by tensile strain. METHODS: DAP12shRNA plasmid was constructed and introduced to RAW264.7 cells. Then we supplied tensile strain to RAW264.7 cells by four-point bending system. The mRNA or protein expression of DAP12, tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase (TRAP), tyrosine kinases Btk and Tec and nuclear facior of activated T cells 1 (NFATc1) was measured by reverse transcription PCR (RT-PCR) and Western blotting respectively. RESULTS: The expression of DAP12 mRNA (0.112 ± 0.025) and protein (0.193 ± 0.015) both declined sharply after plasmid being introduced into monocytes RAW264.7 (P < 0.05). After silencing DAP12 expression in RAW264.7 cells by RNA interference, tensile strain-induced TRAP mRNA expression of RAW264.7 cells increased at 6 h (0.671 ± 0.031) and 12 h (0.800 ± 0.043) (P < 0.05), but it was weaker than non-RNA-interference-groups at each time point (P < 0.05). After silencing DAP12 expression in RAW264.7 cells by RNA interference, the expressions of Btk, Tec, NFATc1 increased as time passed (6, 12 h) (P < 0.05), but the expressions on corresponding time decreased sharply compared with those in control groups (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: DAP12 pathway play an important role in regulating osteoclast differentiation induced by tensile strain.

Anthropometric measurement and analysis of the external nasal soft tissue in 119 young Han Chinese adults.

A random sample of 119 young, healthy Han Chinese adults (56 men and 63 women) between the age of 18 and 25 years (mean, 22.7 y) in PR China was obtained for this study. By the guidance of standard methods, based on Farkas's anthropometric measurements in craniofacial region, 12 nasal soft tissue landmarks and 12 linear and 3 angular measurements were chosen. The linear measurements were taken directly, whereas the angular measurements were taken by photogrammetric method. Eight nasal proportion indices were calculated according to the linear measurements. The application of the independent-samples t-test showed sex dimorphism in most parameters of the nasal region. All the linear measurements were larger in men than in women, whereas all the angular measurements were smaller in men than in women. The significant differences in partial parameters between men and women have been proved. Ten of 12 linear measurements, 1 of 3 angular measurements, and 3 of 8 nasal proportion indices showed significant sexual dimorphism (P < 0.01). Compared with other racial/ethnic groups, the nasal anthropometric measurements and proportion indices of Han Chinese adults were different, to some extent. This study could provide credible and objective reference material for plastic and maxillofacial surgeons for the external nasal soft tissue evaluation and planning of the cosmetic nasal surgery. Besides, these results could be a useful guidance for preoperative and postoperative evaluations of secondary rhinoplasty in nasal deformity associated with cleft lip and palate.

[Effect of parathyroid hormone related protein on proliferation of human osteoblast-like cell under tension force].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of parathyroid hormone related protein (PTHrP) on proliferation of human osteoblasts (MG-63) under the circumstance of tension force in vitro. METHODS: An apparatus was designed and fabricated by which force was loaded onto the cultured cells in vitro. Reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was used for measuring the expression of PTHrP mRNA and c-fos mRNA. The effect of tension force and different PTHrP dose(0, 0.01, 0.1, 1 nmol/L) on the proliferation of human osteoblasts were examined using flow cytometry. RESULTS: Various forces of the mechanical stretching exerted different influences on the intensities of the mRNA' expression. The strain of 12% induced the most remarkable mRNA' expression. The mitogenesis happened in the group with tension force (12%) combined with PTHrP was more active than that in the group with PTHrP or tension' force only. Tension force combined with PTHrP induced significantly more c-fos mRNA than that of tension force only. CONCLUSION: The mechanical stretching can inevitably influence the expression of PTHrP mRNA. The most active mitogenesis happened in the group with tension force combined with PTHrP. The effect may be related with the signaling pathways of c-fos.