Paediatric traumatic cataracts in Southwest China: epidemiological profile.

BACKGROUND: Paediatric traumatic cataracts are an important but preventable cause of acquired blindness. Understanding the epidemiology of paediatric traumatic cataracts is a prerequisite for prevention. This study aimed to characterize the epidemiological profile of paediatric traumatic cataracts in southwest China. METHODS: The medical records of children (age range, 0-14 years old) who developed traumatic cataracts following open-globe injuries and were hospitalized at the Department of Ophthalmology at West China Hospital, between January 2011 and December 2020 were retrospectively analyzed. The demographic data, causes of injuries, posttraumatic complications, and visual acuity were recorded and analysed. RESULTS: A total of 716 eyes from 716 patients were analysed in this study, including 521 (72.8%) males and 195 females in a gender ratio of 2.67:1; 117 of the patients were of ethnic minorities. Paediatric traumatic cataracts occurred more frequently in winter (32.5%). Sharp metal objects (scissors/knives/needles/sheet metal/nails/darts) - induced ocular injuries accounted for the highest proportion, followed by botanical sticks (wooden sticks /bamboo sticks /bamboo skewers)-induced injuries, and then stationery items (pencils/pens/rulers/paper)-induced injuries. The majority (68.7%) of the patients were aged 2-8 years, and the peak range of age was 4 - 6 years. The injuries were a result of penetrating trauma in 64.9% of patients, and blunt force trauma in the remainder (35.1%). Additionally, 131 (18.3%) cases developed posttraumatic infectious endophthalmitis after injuries. Patients with eye injuries caused by needles (P < 0.001), wooden sticks (P = 0.016), and bamboo skewers (P = 0.002) were at a greater risk of developing infectious endophthalmitis. The most common identified foreign organism was Streptococcus, which accounted for 42% (21/50) of all culture-positive specimens and was sensitive to vancomycin. Among the children who were younger than 5 years, 44.4% (55/124) of those with traumatic cataracts presented a corrected distance visual acuity less than or equal to 0.1 after undergoing cataract surgery, but among the children who were older than 5 years, this proportion was significantly smaller, just 20.4% of children aged 6-10 years (P < 0.001) and 18.4% of children aged 11-14 years (P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: The main causative agents of paediatric traumatic cataracts in southwest China were sharp metal objects, botanical sticks, and stationery items. Specific preventive measures are essential to reduce the incidence of paediatric traumatic cataract.

Upregulated N-cadherin expression is associated with poor prognosis in epithelial-derived solid tumours: A meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: N-cadherin is an important molecular in epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and has been reported to be associated with aggressive behaviours of tumours. However, prognostic value of N-cadherin in solid malignancies remains controversially. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The Pubmed/MELINE and EMBASE databases were used for a comprehensive literature searching. Pooled risk ratio (RR) and hazard ratio (HR) with their corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were employed to quantify the prognostic role. RESULTS: Involving 36 studies with 5705 patients were performed to investigate relationships between N-cadherin upregulation and clinicopathological features, survival. Results suggested upregulated N-cadherin was associated with lymph node metastasis (RR = 1.16, 95% CI [1.00, 1.35]), higher histological grade (RR = 1.36, 95%CI [1.14, 1.62]), angiolymphatic invasion (RR = 1.19, 95% CI [1.06, 1.34]) and advanced clinical stage (RR = 1.32, 95% CI [1.06, 1.64]), while upregulated N-cadherin was apt to be associated with distant metastasis (RR = 1.43, 95% CI [0.99, 2.05]). Moreover, N-cadherin was correlated with poor prognosis of 3-year survival (HR = 1.78, 95% CI [1.51, 2.10]), 5-year survival (HR = 1.57, 95% CI [1.17, 2.10]) and overall survival (OS) (HR = 1.32, 95% CI [1.20, 1.44]). Subgroup analyses according to cancer types were also conducted for applying these conclusions to some tumours more properly. No publication bias was found except subgroup analysis of distant metastasis (P = .652 for Begg's test and 0.023 for Egger's test). CONCLUSIONS: Taken together, upregulation of N-cadherin is associated with more aggressive behaviours of epithelial-derived solid malignancies and can be regarded as a predictor of poor survival.

Improved Harris Hawks Optimization algorithm based on quantum correction and Nelder-Mead simplex method.

Harris Hawks Optimization (HHO) algorithm is a kind of intelligent algorithm that simulates the predation behavior of hawks. It suffers several shortcomings, such as low calculation accuracy, easy to fall into local optima and difficult to balance exploration and exploitation. In view of the above problems, this paper proposes an improved HHO algorithm named as QC-HHO. Firstly, the initial population is generated by Hénon Chaotic Map to enhance the randomness and ergodicity. Secondly, the quantum correction mechanism is introduced in the local search phase to improve optimization accuracy and population diversity. Thirdly, the Nelder-Mead simplex method is used to improve the search performance and breadth. Fourthly, group communication factors describing the relationship between individuals is taken into consideration. Finally, the energy consumption law is integrated into the renewal process of escape energy factor E and jump distance J to balance exploration and exploitation. The QC-HHO is tested on 10 classical benchmark functions and 30 CEC2014 benchmark functions. The results show that it is superior to original HHO algorithm and other improved HHO algorithms. At the same time, the improved algorithm studied in this paper is applied to gas leakage source localization by wireless sensor networks. The experimental results indicate that the accuracy of position and gas release rate are excellent, which verifies the feasibility for application of QC-HHO in practice.

Birth control pills and risk of hypothyroidism: a cross-sectional study of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 2007-2012.

OBJECTIVE: The association between use of birth control pills and thyroid function in women has not ever been well studied, but potential risk has been implicated by small sample-sized studies. We aimed to determine this association using a large epidemiological survey. DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. SETTING: National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey conducted in the USA from 2007 to 2012. PARTICIPANTS: Female respondents aged 18+ who had data on history of taking birth control pills and thyroid function were included. History of taking birth control pills was based on responses on the reproductive health questionnaire. Participants not on antithyroid medication with thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) >5.6 mIU/L and those on thyroid hormone replacement regardless of TSH were categorised as hypothyroid. Participants not on thyroid hormone replacement or antithyroid medication who had TSH between 0.34 mIU/L and 5.6 mIU/L were classified as euthyroid. PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOME MEASURES: Association between use of birth control pills and hypothyroidism based on multivariate logistic regression analysis. RESULTS: A total of 5116 female adults with history of taking birth control pills (n=3034) and without (n=2082) were included. A higher prevalence of hypothyroidism was found in those who have ever taken birth control pills (17.7% vs 14.1%; p=0.003). Multivariate logistic regression adjusted for confounding covariables, including age, race, education, body mass index, smoking status, alcohol use, history of thyroid disease, current thyroid disease, first menstrual age, pregnancy history, menopause status and history of hormone replacement use, demonstrated a significant association between history of taking birth control pills for more than 10 years and hypothyroidism (OR, 3.837; 95% CI 1.402 to 10.500; p=0.009). CONCLUSIONS: Longer history of using birth control pills was strongly associated with hypothyroidism, especially for more than 10 years.

Enhanced uptake and improved anti-tumor efficacy of doxorubicin loaded fibrin gel with liposomal apatinib in colorectal cancer.

Colorectal cancer (CRC) exhibited high incidence rate worldwide and the advanced CRC had a poor prognosis. Thereupon, seeking efficient treatment for CRC is critical. Apatinib is a novel vascular epithelial growth factor receptor (VEGFR) inhibitor with inspiring therapeutic effect in some malignant cancers. In our study, doxorubicin was mixed in fibrin gel and apatinib was encapsulated with self-synthesized liposome. The results showed liposomal apatinib (Lipo-Apatinib) could enhance the intracellular uptake of doxorubicin in vitro. Moreover, compared with doxorubicin loaded fibrin gel (DOX-FG) alone, the combination of DOX-FG and Lipo-Apatinib significantly improved the anti-tumor effect in mice CRC subcutaneous model and abdominal metastasis model Drug combination successfully inhibited tumor angiogenesis and tumor proliferation, and also promoted tumor apoptosis. Our data suggested that combined therapy of DOX-FG and Lipo-Apatinib would be a promising treatment approach for CRC.

Gastrointestinal microbiome and breast cancer: correlations, mechanisms and potential clinical implications.

Gastrointestinal microbiome plays as a symbiont which provides protection effect against invading pathogens, aids in the immune system development, nutrient reclamation and absorption as well as molecule breakdown. And it may avert carcinogenesis through these biological activities. By now, studies have been carried out to elaborate the association between gastrointestinal microbiome and breast cancer. It has been implicated that breast cancer was substantially associated with estrogen-dependent and estrogen-independent functions of gastrointestinal microbiome. Evidence from animal experiments also confirmed mammary tumor-related changes in microbial community. The possible mechanisms involve estrogen metabolism, immune regulation, obese status and so forth. Based on the current evidence, cues on future management strategies of breast cancer such as antibiotics and dietary interventions are proposed. In conclusion, large-scale clinical studies and bench-based researches are needed to validate the associations and elaborate the mechanisms, so as to reduce the risk of breast cancer and improve the outcomes of those already diagnosed.