Application of Boston matrix combined with SWOT analysis on operational development and evaluations of hospital development.

The aim of this study is to explore the application of Boston matrix combined with SWOT analysis on operational development and evaluations of hospital departments. We selected 73 clinical and medical technology departments of our hospital from 2011 to 2013, and evaluated our hospital by Boston matrix combined with SWOT analysis according to the volume of services, medical quality, work efficiency, patients' evaluations, development capacity, operational capability, economic benefits, comprehensive evaluation of hospital achievement, innovation ability of hospital, influence of hospital, human resources of hospital, health insurance costs, etc. It was found that among clinical departments, there were 11 in Stars (22.4%), 17 in cash cow (34.7%), 15 in question marks (31.2%), 6 Dogs (12.2%), 16 in the youth stage of life cycle assessment (27.6%), 14 in the prime stage (24.1%), 12 in the stationary stage (20.7%), 9 in the aristocracy stage (15.5%) and 7 in the recession stage (12.1%). Among medical technology departments, there were 5 in Stars (20.8%), 1 in Cash cow (4.2%), 10 in question marks (41.6%), 8 Dogs (29.1%), 9 in the youth stage of life cycle assessment (37.5%), 4 in the prime stage (16.7%), 4 in the stable stage (16.7%), 1 in the aristocracy stage (4.2%) and 6 in the recession stage (25%). In conclusion, Boston matrix combined with SWOT analysis is suitable for operational development and comprehensive evaluations of hospital development, and it plays an important role in providing hospitals with development strategies.

Intermediate filament Nestin and the cell motility in cancer - a review. Retracted

The intermediate filaments (Ifs) constitute the cytoskeleton which is a key feature of both prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells. The IFs are expressed throughout life and are involved in the regulation of cell differentiation, homeostasis, ageing and pathogenesis. The IFs not only provide structural integrity to the cell, but they are involved also in a range of cellular functions from organelle trafficking and cell migration to signaling transduction. The IFs are highly dynamic proteins, able to respond and adapt their network rapidly in response to intra- and extra-cellular cues. In cancer, these IFs play a crucial role with regard to cell invasion vial cell motility. The present review article will enlighten information about important IF nestin with regard to its role in cancer cell motility and invasion.

Intermediate filament Nestin and the cell motility in cancer - a review.

"Intermediate filament Nestin and the cell motility in cancer - a review" by A.-M. Shi, Z.-Q. Tao, X. Wang, Y.-Q. Wang, published in Eur Rev Med Pharmacol Sci 2016; 20 (12): 2598-2602 has been withdrawn.

Role of microRNA in prostate cancer stem/progenitor cells regulation.

Most of the human tumors contain a population of cells with stem cell properties, called cancer stem cells (CSCs), which are believed to be responsible for tumor establishment, metastasis, and resistance to clinical therapy. It's crucial to understand the regulatory mechanisms unique to CSCs, in order to design CSC-specific therapeutics. Recent discoveries of microRNA (miRNA) have provided a new avenue for understanding the regulatory mechanisms of cancer. The present review article will discuss important milestones associated with mircroRNA regulation during prostate carcinogenesis.

Biological interaction between sleep quality and depression in type 2 diabetes.

OBJECTIVE: To explore the interaction of sleep quality and depression among patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). PATIENTS AND METHODS: With multistage cluster sampling, the living quality of all participants was investigated. The indicator of interaction was calculated according to the delta method and non-conditional logistic regression model. RESULTS: There were 944 residents involved in the final analysis including 365 males and 579 females. The average age was (64 ± 10.2) years. The rate of poor sleep quality and poor sleep quality combined depression were 33.6% and 40.1%, respectively. Due to poor sleep quality and depression in patients with T2DM, the combined interaction index was 2.48 (95% CI 1.44-4.29), the relative excess risk was 3.42 (95% CI 2.16-4.67), and the attributable proportion was 0.51 (95% CI 0.32-0.70). CONCLUSIONS: An additive interaction rather than a multiplicative interaction of poor sleep quality and depression in affecting the quality of life was found in T2DM patients. When both factors existed at the same time, the interaction effect of these 2 factors was greater than the sum of the two factors.

Vimentin and post-translational modifications in cell motility during cancer - a review.

The post-translational modifications (PTMs) are defined as the covalent modification or enzymatic modification of proteins during or after protein biosynthesis. Proteins are synthesized by ribosomes translating mRNA into polypeptide chains, which may then undergo PTM to form the mature protein product. PTMs are important components in cell signaling. Moreover, it is a known fact that PTM regulation offers an immense array and depth of regulatory possibilities. The present review article will focus on their possible role in cancer cell motility with special reference to vimentin, an intermediate filament (IF), as the later is an important process responsible for life-threatening state viz. cancer metastasis.

Clinical effects of treatment with Tirofiban on patients with high-risk NSTE-ACS after PCI.

OBJECTIVE: To explore clinical effects of Tirofiban treatment on patients with high-risk non-ST-segment elevation acute coronary syndrome (NSTE-ACS) after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). PATIENTS AND METHODS: 107 patients with high-risk NSTE-ACS after PCI were selected and were divided into two groups. One group of 56 patients was treated with Tirofiban and a second group of 51 patients was taken as control. The occurrence conditions of creatine kinase-myoglobin (CK-MB), cardiac troponin1 (cTnI) level, hemorrhage incidents and major adverse cardiac events (MACE) incidents after treatments were compared. RESULTS: After 24 h operation, CK-MB and cTnI level in Tirofiban group were both significantly lower than those in control group (p < 0.05), while the difference of hemorrhage incidents between two groups is of no statistical significance (p < 0.05); and the differences in overall occurrence rate of MACE incidents and the occurrence rate of angina pectoris after infarct between two groups were statistically significant (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Tirofiban could improve the blood supply condition of hearts of patients with high-risk NSTE-ACS after emergent PCI, lower the occurrence rate of MACE incidents, and decrease the risk of hemorrhage.

Relationship between B-type natriuretic peptide and short-term prognosis in non-diabetic patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the differences of the B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) levels in serum or plasma of the STEMI patients with different infarction sites. To explore the relationship between the BNP level and the short-term prognosis in patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). PATIENTS AND METHODS: A total of 216 STEMI patients were enrolled in this study from June 2012 to June 2014. All patients received coronary angiography (CAG). Based on electrocardiography (ECG) and CAG results, patients were divided into three groups. Group A included 80 patients with anterior/lateral wall myocardial infarction, group B included 76 patients with inferior/posterior wall myocardial infarction and group C included 60 patients with right ventricular myocardial infarction. We enrolled 53 patients with normal CAG results as Group D. BNP levels were compared among these groups. and according to BNP levels, all patients were subdivided into normal BNP group (< 100 ng/mL, n = 53), mild-higher BNP group (100-400 ng/mL, n = 105) and marked-higher BNP group (≥ 400 ng/mL, n = 58). The occurrence of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) including secondary heart failure, severe arrhythmia, post-infarction angina, recurrent myocardial infarction, and cardiac death within 6 months after disease onset were assessed. RESULTS: BNP levels showed a gradually decreasing trend in groups A, B, C and D (p < 0.05). Significant differences in left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) were found among normal BNP group, mild-high BNP group and marked-higher BNP group (p < 0.05). The MACE occurrence presented no statistical differences between normal BNP group and mild-higher BNP group (p > 0.05). The MACE prevalence in marked-higher BNP group was significantly higher than normal BNP group and mild-higher BNP group (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: BNP levels can be used as a clinical indicator to predict short-term prognosis in STEMI patients.

Cancer stem cells targeting agents--a review.

Major current cancer strategies like surgery, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy are compromised due to major problem of recurrence, which usually lead to mortality. The widely accepted reason for this is resistance offered by cancer cells towards cancer drugs or inability of a therapeutic procedure to target real culprits viz. cancer-initiating cells (cancer stem cells). So, there is a current need of development of new agents targeting these cancer stem cells in order to overcome resistance to therapeutic procedures. The present review article is focused on new cancer cell targeting agents like salinomycin, apopotin etc and their mechanisms to target cancer stems cells will be discussed.

Epidemiology of prostate cancer: current status.

Prostate cancer is one of the most common cancers affecting men with > 1,100,000 new cases and 300,000 deaths worldwide each year. The disease is more common among older men, with a median age at diagnosis around age above 60 years. Prostate cancer is a major medical problem that needs immediate attention as the disease is indolent, shows prolonged latency in association with high morbidity and mortality. Administration of diagnostic tests including PSA test and biopsies and the advances in other diagnostic procedures have led to early detection of the disease with therapeutic steps being taken early on, there has been a steady decline in the disease-specific mortality. Global incidence and mortality rates show that the disease is more prevalent among black people, even though the differences cannot be attributed entirely to race, as the influence of socioeconomic situation and the resultant limited access to medical technologies and treatment could not be ruled out completely. Several genes have been identified that when mutated confer high risk for the disease. Besides the genetic factors, family history and nutritional factors such as lack of enough vitamin D, high intake of calcium, obesity and high fat diets have been implicated as risk factors for prostate cancer. Therapeutic measures for prostate cancer involve mostly radical prostatectomy followed by radiotherapy in combination with hormonal treatment as needed.

[Effect of dimercaptosuccinic acid per os on distribution and excretion of 210Pb and 203Hg in mice].

Sodium dimercaptosuccinate (Na-DMS) ip 1 g.kg-1, dimercaptosuccinic acid (DMSA) ig 1 g.kg-1, DMSA ig 1 g.kg-1 with NaHCO3 or Na-citrate ig 3 g.kg-1 was given to mice, separately. It enhanced the excretion of 210Pb in urine about 3.4, 3.8, 3.6, and 2.3 times vs control, respectively within 24 h. It enhanced the excretion of 203Hg in urine about 2.4, 2.3, 3.3, and 2.7 times, respectively within 24 h. Fecal excretion was not significantly elevated vs control. Tissue radioactivities showed a remarkable decrease in the levels of 210Pb and 203Hg in most organs, but DMSA increase the 210Pb content in kidney. The therapeutic effect of ig DMSA was similar to that of ip sodium dimercaptosuccinate.

Effect of catecholamic acid on detoxication and distribution of NiCl2 in mice and rats.

AIM: To study the effect of catecholamic acid (CBMIDA) on detoxication of NiCl2. METHODS: Mice and rats were injected s.c. or i.m. CBMIDA immediately after i.p. NiCl2. Each mouse was injected i.p. CBMIDA after i.v. 63NiCl2 185 kBq, and radioactivities of various tissues were measured with liquid scintillation counter at 24 h. The localization of 63Ni was shown by the whole-body autoradiography. RESULTS: CBMIDA s.c. 0.5-1.5 g.kg-1 markedly reduced the mortality from acute poisoning of i.p. NiCl2 500 mg.kg-1. After i.p. NiCl2 in mice, the LD50 was 82.7 mg.kg-1. Mice were injected s.c. CBMIDA 1.5 or 2.5 g.kg-1 after Ni poisoning, the LD50 of NiCl2 were raised to 789 or 820 mg.kg-1, respectively. The LD50 of NiCl2 was 39 mg.kg-1 in rat. If CBMIDA was injected i.m. 0.5 g.kg-1 after i.p. NiCl2, the LD50 was 332 mg.kg-1. CBMIDA 1.5 g.kg-1 i.m. after i.v. 63NiCl2, decreased the contents of 63Ni in blood and lung of mice vs control mice at 24 h. The contents of 63Ni in brain, heart, spleen, and kidney were similar to those of the control mice. The content of 63Ni in bone was more than the control. The excretions of 63Ni through urine and feces were not increased by CBMIDA at 24 h. The whole-body autoradiography showed that the radioactivity was highly localized in the kidney, lung, and Harder's gland. There was a moderate level of 63Ni in the liver, bone, skin, and blood. A pronounced accumulation occurred in the bone. There was a marked reduction of 63Ni in the lung, skin, liver, and blood after i.p. CBMIDA. CONCLUSION: The CBMIDA markedly raised the survival rate of nickel-poisoned mice and rats, and decreased 63Ni levels in lung and blood.

[Effects of dimercaptosuccinic acid per os on copper excretion in rat].

After dimercaptosuccinic acid (DMSA) was given intragastrically by gavage (ig) 0, 250, or 500 mg.kg-1 following in CuSO4 30 mg.kg-1 daily x 3 d in rats, the Cu contents of serum increased markedly within 1-12 h. When ig DMSA daily x 3 d, the excretion of Cu in urine per 24 h in the treated group was greatly promoted vs the control (P < 0.01), that in the 250 or 500 mg.kg-1 group were enhanced 2.4-3.8 and 5.8-7.8 times, respectively. That the excretion of Cu was increased in bile but not in feces suggested the plausible existence an enterohepatic circulation.