Construction and validation of a SASP-related prognostic signature in patients with acute myeloid leukaemia.

Acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) is a common and highly aggressive haematological malignancy in adults. Senescence-associated secretory phenotype (SASP) plays important roles in tumorigenesis and progression of tumour. However, the prognostic value of SASP in patients with AML has not been clarified. The present study aims to explore the prognostic value of SASP and develop a prognostic risk signature for AML. The RNA-sequencing data was collected from the TCGA, GTEx and TARGET databases. Subsequently, differentially expressed gene analysis, univariate Cox regression and LASSO regression were applied to identified prognostic SASP-related genes and construct a prognostic risk-scoring model. The risk score of each patient were calculated and patients were divided into high- or low-risk groups by the median risk score. This novel prognostic signature included 11 genes: G6PD, CDK4, RPS6KA1, UBC, H2BC12, KIR2DL4, HSF1, IFIT3, PIM1, RUNX3 and TRIM21. The patients with AML in the high-risk group had shorter OS, demonstrating that the risk score acted as a prognostic predictor, which was validated in the TAGET-AML dataset. Univariate and multivariate analysis revealed the risk score was an independent prognostic factor in patients with AML. Furthermore, the present study revealed that the risk score was associated with immune landscape, immune checkpoint gene expression and chemotherapeutic efficacy. In the present study, we constructed and validated a unique SASP-related prognostic model to assess therapeutic effect and prognosis in patients with AML, which might contribute to understanding the role of SASP in AML and guiding the treatment for AML.

Assisted Hatching in Couples with Advanced Maternal Age: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.

This systematic review aimed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of assisted hatching (AH) performed in couples with advanced maternal age. We searched for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) in electronic databases, including MEDLINE, EMBASE and CENTRAL (from inception to January 2018); in addition, we hand-searched the reference lists of included studies and similar reviews. We included RCTs comparing AH versus no treatment (control). The meta-analysis was performed by RevMan 5.3 software. The search retrieved 943 records and 8 RCTs were included, comprising 870 cycles (n=440 for AH, and n=430 for control). There was no significant difference in the rates of live birth (RR 0.88, 95% CI 0.65 to 1.18, 3 RCTs, n=427, I2=0%), clinical pregnancy (RR 1.00, 95% CI 0.83 to 1.19, 8 RCTs, n=870, I2=22%), implantation (RR 1.07, 95% CI 0.83 to 1.39, 4 RCTs, n=1359, I2=0%), miscarriage (RR 1.13, 95% CI 0.66 to 1.94, 2 RCTs, n=116, I2=0%) and multiple pregnancy (RR 0.89, 95% CI 0.31 to 2.52, 1 RCT, n=97, I2=not applicable) between the treatment group and control group. No reasonable conclusions could be drawn regarding reproductive outcomes after AH in patients with advanced maternal age due to the small sample pooled in meta-analyses. Studies of high methodological quality and with adequate power are necessary to further investigate the value of AH in assisted conception of those patients.

Effect of temperature on development and reproduction of Proprioseiopsis asetus (Acari: Phytoseiidae) fed on asparagus thrips, Thrips tabaci.

Thrips tabaci Lindeman (Thysanoptera: Thripidae) is one of the most important pests of asparagus in China. In this study the effects of five constant temperatures (15, 20, 25, 30 and 35 °C) on the growth, survivorship and reproduction of Proprioseiopsis asetus (Chant) (Acari: Phytoseiidae) fed on T. tabaci was examined under laboratory conditions. Development time of immatures decreased with increasing temperature. The lower egg-to-adult developmental threshold (T 0) and thermal constant (K) of P. asetus were estimated at 15.2 °C and 75.8 degree days by means of a linear model. Fertilized females fed on T. tabaci produced offspring of both sexes, whereas the offspring sex ratio [♀/(♀ + â™‚)] of P. asetus at 20-35 °C was female-biased (0.68-0.78) and not significantly influenced by temperature. Survivorship during immature development was significantly influenced by temperature, and was especially low at 15 °C. Pre- and post-oviposition periods of fertilized females shortened with the increase in temperature. The longest oviposition period was 20.4 days, at 25 °C, whereas at 15 °C the mites did not reproduce. Maximum average life time fecundity and mean daily fecundity was recorded at 25 and 35 °C, respectively; the intrinsic rate of increase ranged from 0.05 (20 °C) to 0.17 (35 °C). The results indicate the capability of P. asetus to develop and reproduce at a broad range of temperatures, especially above 25 °C, which can be used for better management of T. tabaci in asparagus.