Microbiota and metabolite alterations in pancreatic head and body/tail cancer patients.

Pancreatic head cancer (PHC) and pancreatic body/tail cancer (PBTC) have distinct clinical and biological behaviors. The microbial and metabolic differences in PHC and PBTC have not been studied. The pancreatic microbiota and metabolome of 15 PHC and 8 PBTC tissues and their matched nontumor tissues were characterized using 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing and untargeted metabolomics. At the genus level, Bradyrhizobium was increased while Corynebacterium and Ruminococcus were decreased in the PHC tissues (Head T) compared with the matched nontumor tissues (Head N) significantly. Shuttleworthia, Bacillus, and Bifidobacterium were significantly decreased in the PBTC tissues (Body/Tail T) compared with the matched nontumor tissues (Body/Tail N). Significantly, Ileibacterium was increased whereas Pseudoxanthomonas was decreased in Head T and Body/Tail T, and Lactobacillus was increased in Head T but decreased in Body/Tail T. A total of 102 discriminative metabolites were identified between Head T and Head N, which were scattered through linoleic acid metabolism and purine metabolism pathways. However, there were only four discriminative metabolites between Body/Tail T and Body/Tail N, which were related to glycerophospholipid metabolism and autophagy pathways. The differential metabolites in PHC and PBTC were commonly enriched in alpha-linolenic acid metabolism and choline metabolism in cancer pathways. Eubacterium decreased in Head T was positively correlated with decreased linoleic acid while negatively correlated with increased arachidyl carnitine and stearoylcarnitine. Bacillus decreased in Body/Tail T was negatively correlated with increased L-carnitine. These microbiota and metabolites deserve further investigations to reveal their roles in the pathogenesis of PHC and PBTC, providing clues for future treatments.

Long-term follow-up of the cognitive function in children after intravitreal ranibizumab for retinopathy of prematurity.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the long-term cognitive function in children treated with intravitreal ranibizumab (IVR) for retinopathy of prematurity(ROP), and the impact of IVR on the growth and ocular development. METHODS: In this retrospective study, the premature children aged 4 to 9 years who received monotherapy of IVR (IVR group, n = 25) or monotherapy of laser photocoagulation (LP) (LP group, n = 33) for ROP, and the same age premature children with no ROP (Control group, n = 26) were enrolled from 2020 to 2022 in the pediatric fundus clinic of Shenzhen Eye Hospital. Main outcome measures were full-scale intelligence quotient (FSIQ) and index score using the Chinese version of the Wechsler intelligence scale for children-fourth edition (WISC-IV) and Wechsler preschool and primary scale of intelligence-fourth edition (WPPSI-IV). All children were examined and analyzed for growth and ocular development by recording the height, weight, head circumference, spherical equivalent (SE), best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) and axial length (AL). RESULTS: There were 17 children in IVR group, 17 in LP group, and 11 in Control group who received the WISC-IV assessment. There were no significant differences in FSIQ, verbal comprehension index, perceptual reasoning index, working memory index, processing speed index, general ability index and cognitive efficiency index among the three groups. There were 8 children in IVR group, 16 in LP group, and 15 in Control group who received the WPPSI-IV assessment. There were no significant differences in FSIQ, verbal comprehension index, visuospatial index, fluid reasoning index, working memory index, non-verbal index, general ability index and cognitive efficiency index among the three groups. There was no significant difference in BCVA among the three groups (P = 0.74), however, there is an increase for AL in IVR group when compared with LP group (22.60 ± 0.58 vs. 22.13 ± 0.84, P = 0.003), and the ROP patients of IVR group have a significant increase in the AL compared to the Control group(22.60 ± 0.58 vs. 22.03 ± 0.71, P < 0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: Children with a history of IVR have a similar cognitive function outcomes compared to those with a history of LP or were premature without ROP. ROP children with a history of IVR has longer AL than those treated with LP.

Insights into CD154-mediated pathways in ocular hypertensive glaucoma: The role of Müller cells and P2X7 in retinal neuroprotection and therapeutic potential.

An elevation of pathologic intraocular pressure (IOP) is the greatest risk factor for glaucoma. CD154 has been reported to bind to CD40 expressed by orbital fibroblasts and be involved in immune and inflammatory responses. However, the function and mechanism of CD154 in ocular hypertensive glaucoma (OHG) are not fully understood. We isolated and characterized Müller cells and subsequently examined the effect of CD154 on ATP release from those cells. After being cocultured with CD154-pretreated Müller cells, retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) were treated with P2X7 siRNAs or a P2X7 inhibitor. Furthermore, mouse models of glaucoma (GC) were injected with P2X7 shRNA. p21, p53, and P2X7 expression were examined, and cellular senescence and apoptosis were detected by ß-Gal and TUNEL staining, retinal pathology was examined by H&E staining, and CD154 and ß-Gal expression were detected by ELISA. CD154 induced ATP release from Müller cells and accelerated the senescence and apoptosis of RGCs that had been cocultured with Müller cells. We also found that treatment with P2X7 could attenuate the senescence and apoptosis of RGCs mediated by Müller cells pretreated with CD154. In vivo studies in GC model mice verified that P2X7 silencing attenuated pathological damage and prevented the senescence and apoptosis of retinal tissue. The study demonstrates how CD154 accelerates the aging and apoptosis of RGCs by co-cultivating Müller cells pretreated with CD154 in OHG. The research implies that CD154 has the potential to become a new therapeutic target for ocular hypertension glaucoma, providing a new research direction for its treatment.

Awareness, Prevalence, and Knowledge of Dry Eye Among Internet Professionals: A Cross-sectional Study in China.

OBJECTIVES: To investigate awareness, prevalence, and knowledge of dry eye among Internet professionals in China. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 1,265 randomly selected Internet professionals aged ≥18 years. A self-administered questionnaire was used to assess dry eye awareness, dry eye symptoms, and knowledge about dry eye risk factors. Data on demographics and complete medical history were also collected. The primary outcome was the rate of dry eye awareness determined by the answer to the question "Have you seen or heard anything about dry eye recently?" RESULTS: Of the 1,265 included individuals aged 20 to 49 years, 519 (41.0%) were women. 54.4% (688 of 1,265) of participants had seen or heard something about dry eye recently and most had obtained information through Internet. 50.8% (643 of 1,265) of participants were identified as subjects with symptoms of dry eye. Dry eye awareness was greater in contact lens wearers (odds ratio [OR], 6.49; 95% confidence interval [CI], 3.70-11.38; P <0.001), those with a refractive surgical history (OR, 5.09; 95% CI, 2.34-11.08; P <0.001), relatives and/or friends of ophthalmologists (OR, 2.76; 95% CI, 1.39-5.49; P =0.004), those with symptoms of dry eye (OR, 1.87; 95% CI, 1.47-2.38; P <0.001) and female subjects (OR, 1.44; 95% CI, 1.13-1.86; P =0.004). Knowledge of nonmodifiable and modifiable risk factors for dry eye was poor in substantial numbers of the participants. CONCLUSIONS: The level of dry eye awareness and knowledge of its risk factors is suboptimal in Internet professionals, although the Internet professionals are at high risk of the disease.

Outcomes comparison between percutaneous decannulation with perclose ProGlide and surgical decannulation of veno-arterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation.

OBJECTIVE: Our study aimed to compare the decannulation-related outcomes of two different decannulation methods in patients who underwent veno-arterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (VA-ECMO) support, namely percutaneous decannulation with Perclose ProGlide device and conventional surgical repair. BACKGROUND: Surgical vascular repair is a standard strategy when ECMO is to be terminated and sometimes associated with severe complications. Percutaneous decannulation using Perclose ProGlide has been reported to be feasible and safe in selected patients, but there is a paucity of literature to make systematic comparisons between the two decannulation methods. METHODS: 41 patients who were supported with VA-ECMO for refractory cardiogenic shock, cardiac arrest, or escort of complex interventions from December 2018 to December 2021 were enrolled. Of these, 30 underwent percutaneous Perclose ProGlide decannulation and 11 underwent surgical repair. The clinical characteristics and complication rates were analyzed. RESULTS: Patients in the two groups showed a similar incidence of vascular-related complications, such as acute lower limb ischemia, major bleeding, severe hematoma, pseudoaneurysm, and arteriovenous fistula [20% versus 18.2%, p=.896]. The incidence of groin infection and delayed healing was significantly higher in the surgical removal group [3.3% versus 36.4%, p=.014]. CONCLUSIONS: Percutaneous decannulation of veno-arterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation with the Perclose ProGlide device is a feasible and safe technique that simplifies the decannulation process, shortens the hospitalization duration, and lowers the potential risk of groin infection and delayed wound healing.

Idelalisib inhibits experimental proliferative vitroretinopathy.

Proliferative vitreoretinopathy (PVR) is a fibrotic eye disease that develops after rhegmatogenous retinal detachment surgery and open-globe traumatic injury. Idelalisib is a specific inhibitor of phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) δ. While PI3Kδ is primarily expressed in leukocytes, its expression is also considerably high in retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells, which play a crucial part in the PVR pathogenesis. Herein we show that GeoMx Digital Spatial Profiling uncovered strong expression of fibronectin in RPE cells within epiretinal membranes from patients with PVR, and that idelalisib (10 µM) inhibited Akt activation, fibronectin expression and collagen gel contraction induced by transforming growth factor (TGF)-ß2 in human RPE cells. Furthermore, we discovered that idelalisib at a vitreal concentration of 10 µM, a non-toxic dose to the retina, prevented experimental PVR induced by intravitreally injected RPE cells in rabbits assessed by experienced ophthalmologists using an indirect ophthalmoscope plus a + 30 D fundus lens, electroretinography, optical coherence tomography and histological analysis. These data suggested idelalisib could be harnessed for preventing patients from PVR.

Comprehensive Analysis of Tripterine Anti-Ovarian Cancer Effects Using Weighted Gene Co-Expression Network Analysis and Molecular Docking.

BACKGROUND Ovarian cancer has the highest mortality of gynecological cancers worldwide. The aim of this study was to identify the role of tripterine against ovarian cancer. MATERIAL AND METHODS GSE18520 and GSE12470 data sets were downloaded from the GEO database. WGCNA was used to analyze gene modules and hub genes related to ovarian cancer. These hub genes were intersected with tripterine targets, and GO and KEGG enrichment analyses were performed. HPA and GEPIA determined the expression of tripterine anti-ovarian hub genes in tumor tissues. Kaplan-Meier plotter was used to explore the role of hub genes in ovarian cancer prognosis. AutoDock was used to conduct molecular docking of tripterine and hub genes to observe whether the combination was stable. RESULTS By differential analysis of gene expression and the construction of WGCNA co-expression network, 5 hub genes, ARHGAP11A, MUC1, HBB, RUNX1T1, and FUT8, were screened by module gene screening. Seven biological processes and 20 KEGG-related pathways were obtained by gene enrichment. The expression of tripterine anti-ovarian hub genes ARHGAP11A, MUC1, and FUT8 were obtained by HPA and GEPIA. Using Kaplan-Meier plotter, the survival of ovarian cancer was negatively correlated with ARHGAP11A, MUC1, and FUT8. Molecular docking showed the combination of tripterine and FUT8 was most stable, having the greatest potential role. CONCLUSIONS Tripterine may be involved in megakaryocyte development and platelet production through potential genes ARHGAP11A, MUC1, HBB, RUNX1T1, and FUT8 and may have an anti-ovarian cancer effect in immune factors signaling, transporting and exchanging oxygen pathways, and autophagy pathways, through these 5 key genes.

Refractive and biometrical characteristics of children with retinopathy of prematurity who received laser photocoagulation or intravitreal ranibizumab injection.

PURPOSE: To investigate the refractive and biometrical developments of children with retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) who received laser photocoagulation (LP) or intravitreal ranibizumab injection as treatment. METHODS: This case-control study involved cases with Zone II Stage 3 ROP. Fourteen children (28 eyes) who received single LP were included in the laser group, and 14 children (27 eyes) who received single intravitreal ranibizumab injection were included in the injection group. The mean age at operation was 37.00±1.72 and 36.36±1.66 weeks for the laser and injection groups, respectively (P=0.161), and refraction measurements and biometry were performed at the mean age of 5.00±1.63 and 5.00±0.94 years for the laser and injection groups, respectively (P=1.000). Spherical equivalent (SE) after mydriatic refraction and best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) were measured by refraction test. Central corneal thickness (CCT), anterior corneal surface curvature and curvature radius, anterior chamber depth (ACD), lens thickness (LT) and axial length (AL) were measured by biometry using the IOL Master700 biometric instrument (Carl Zeiss Meditec AG). The biometrical images were reanalysed using a self-developed program in MATLAB (R2016a, MathWorks, Inc.) to obtain additional eye parameters, including the curvatures of the posterior cornea and the anterior and posterior surfaces of the lens. SPSS (V.23.0) was used for statistical analysis. Independent sample t test was used to compare the eyeball biological and refractive state measures of the two groups, and Pearson correlation coefficient was used to evaluate the correlation between SE and the biological parameters. RESULTS: 1. (1) Cornea-related parameters: CCT (0.54±0.04mm vs 0.55±0.02mm, P>0.05), anterior corneal surface curvature radius (7.56±0.26 mm vs 7.67±0.43mm, P>0.05) and posterior corneal surface curvature radius (6.82±0.27mm vs 6.79±0.42mm, P>0.05). (2) ACD (3.21 ± 0.25mm vs 3.22 ± 0.19mm, P>0.05). (3) Lens-related parameters: anterior lens surface curvature radius (10.04±0.89mm vs 9.82±1.08mm, P>0.05), posterior lens surface curvature radius (5.49±0.55mm vs 5.92±0.73mm, P<0.05) and LT (3.80±0.14mm vs 3.59±0.16mm, P<0.05). (4) AL (21.82±1.07 vs 22.68±1.61, P<0.05). (5) Parameters related to refractive state: SE (-2.43±3.56 vs -0.53±3.12, P<0.05) and BCVA (log MAR, 0.17±0.14 vs 0.21±0.18, P>0.05). 2. (1) The SE of children in the laser group was positively correlated with LT (r=0.438, P<0.05), negatively correlated with ACD (r=-0.437, P<0.05) and had no significant correlation with other eyeball biological indicators (P>0.05). (2) The SE of children in the injection group was negatively correlated with AL (r=-0.537, P<0.05), positively correlated with CCT (r=0.455, P<0.05) and had no significant correlation with other eyeball biological indicators (P>0.05). CONCLUSION: LP and intravitreal ranibizumab injection as ROP treatments produce myopic refraction with increased degree of myopia in children who received LP than in children who received ranibizumab injection. The increased myopia after LP is due to the increases in LT and posterior lens curvature and a shallow ACD.

New insights into ANGPTL8 in modulating the development of cardio-metabolic disorder diseases.

Dyslipidemia is being identified as the most important factors of several health problems, such as obesity, diabetes mellitus, and cardiovascular diseases (CVD), which are always grouped together as cardio-metabolic disorder diseases. Consistently, dyslipidemia has become one of the most rising crisis of general health. Recently, it is worth noting that both genome-wide association studies (GWAS) and experimental research are being taken advantage to elucidate the potential genetic mechanisms of dyslipidemia and to identify new gene loci which contribute to the development of cardio-metabolic disorder diseases. According to the results, both ANGPTL8 gene and ANGPTL8 protein has been shown to embrace vital functions in modulating serum glucose and lipid metabolism. In the current review, the modulatory effects of ANGPTL8 in cardio-metabolic disorder diseases were summarized. In addition, novel insights which elucidate the potential mechanisms whereby ANGPTL8 affects glucose and lipid metabolism were also provided.

Novel insights into the pathological mechanisms of metabolic related dyslipidemia.

Due to the technological advances, it has been well-established that obesity is strongly correlated with various health problems. Among these problems, dyslipidemia is one of the most important concomitant symptoms under obese status which is the main driving force behind the pathological progression of cardio-metabolic disorder diseases. Importantly, the type of dyslipidemia, arising from concerted action of obesity, has been identified as "metabolic related dyslipidemia", which is characterized by increased circulating levels of Low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), Triglycerides (TG) accompanied by lower circulating levels of High density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C). On the other hand, the metabolic related dyslipidemia is being verified as a vital link between obesity and hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and Cardiovascular disease (CVD). In this review, we summarized the current understanding of metabolic related dyslipidemia and the potential mechanisms which lead to the pathogenesis of obesity. Meanwhile, we also summarized the emerging results which focused on several novel lipid bio-markers in metabolic related dyslipidemia, such as pro-protein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 (PCSK9) and sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P), and their potential use as biomarkers of metabolic related dyslipidemia.

New insights into the emerging effects of inflammatory response on HDL particles structure and function.

According to the increasing results, it has been well-demonstrated that the chronic inflammatory response, including systemic lupus erythematosus, rheumatoid arthritis, and inflammatory bowel disease are associated with an increased risk of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. The mechanism whereby inflammatory response up-regulates the risk of cardio-metabolic disorder disease is multifactorial; furthermore, the alterations in high density lipoprotein (HDL) structure and function which occur under the inflammatory response could play an important modulatory function. On the other hand, the serum concentrations of HDL cholesterol (HDL-C) have been shown to be reduced significantly under inflammatory status with remarked alterations in HDL particles. Nevertheless, the potential mechanism whereby the inflammatory response reduces serum HDL-C levels is not simply defined but reduces apolipoprotein A1 production. The alterations in HDL structure mediated by the inflammatory response has been also confirmed to decrease the ability of HDL particle to play an important role in reverse cholesterol transport and protect the LDL particles from oxidation. Recently, it has been shown that under the inflammatory condition, diverse alterations in HDL structure could be observed which lead to changes in HDL function. In the current review, the emerging effects of inflammatory response on HDL particles structure and function are well-summarized to elucidate the potential mechanism whereby different inflammatory status modulates the pathogenic development of dyslipidemia.

Unsupervised multi-granular Chinese word segmentation and term discovery via graph partition.

OBJECTIVE: This study aims at realizing unsupervised term discovery in Chinese electronic health records (EHRs) by using the word segmentation technique. The existing supervised algorithms do not perform satisfactorily in the case of EHRs, as annotated medical data are scarce. We propose an unsupervised segmentation method (GTS) based on the graph partition principle, whose multi-granular segmentation capability can help realize efficient term discovery. METHODS: A sentence is converted to an undirected graph, with the edge weights based on n-gram statistics, and ratio cut is used to split the sentence into words. The graph partition is solved efficiently via dynamic programming, and multi-granularity is realized by setting different partition numbers. A BERT-based discriminator is trained using generated samples to verify the correctness of the word boundaries. The words that are not recorded in existing dictionaries are retained as potential medical terms. RESULTS: We compared the GTS approach with mature segmentation systems for both word segmentation and term discovery. MD students manually segmented Chinese EHRs at fine and coarse granularity levels and reviewed the term discovery results. The proposed unsupervised method outperformed all the competing algorithms in the word segmentation task. In term discovery, GTS outperformed the best baseline by 17 percentage points (a 47% relative percentage of increment) on F1-score. CONCLUSION: In the absence of annotated training data, the graph partition technique can effectively use the corpus statistics and even expert knowledge to realize unsupervised word segmentation of EHRs. Multi-granular segmentation can be used to provide potential medical terms of various lengths with high accuracy.

Power-Based Non-Intrusive Condition Monitoring for Terminal Device in Smart Grid.

As a critical component in the smart grid, the Distribution Terminal Unit (DTU) dynamically adjusts the running status of the entire smart grid based on the collected electrical parameters to ensure the safe and stable operation of the smart grid. However, as a real-time embedded device, DTU has not only resource constraints but also specific requirements on real-time performance, thus, the traditional anomaly detection method cannot be deployed. To detect the tamper of the program running on DTU, we proposed a power-based non-intrusive condition monitoring method that collects and analyzes the power consumption of DTU using power sensors and machine learning (ML) techniques, the feasibility of this approach is that the power consumption is closely related to the executing code in CPUs, that is when the execution code is tampered with, the power consumption changes accordingly. To validate this idea, we set up a testbed based on DTU and simulated four types of imperceptible attacks that change the code running in ARM and DSP processors, respectively. We generate representative features and select lightweight ML algorithms to detect these attacks. We finally implemented the detection system on the windows and ubuntu platform and validated its effectiveness. The results show that the detection accuracy is up to 99.98% in a non-intrusive and lightweight way.

Normal Reference Intervals of Neutrophil-To-Lymphocyte Ratio, Platelet-To-Lymphocyte Ratio, Lymphocyte-To-Monocyte Ratio, and Systemic Immune Inflammation Index in Healthy Adults: a Large Multi-Center Study from Western China.

BACKGROUND: Numerous studies have shown that the hematological components of the systemic inflammatory response, including the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), the platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR), the lymphocyte-to-monocyte ratio (LMR), and the systemic immune inflammation index (SII) are efficient prognostic indicators in patients with cancers. Most of the studies did not investigate the reference intervals (RIs) of these parameters in healthy controls. METHODS: A retrospective cohort study was performed on healthy ethnic Han population aged between 18 and 79 years of age by retrieving the data from a healthy routine examination center database and laboratory infor-mation system of four participating centers in western China. By following the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI), RIs of each parameter was established and validated. RESULTS: The analysis included 5,969 healthy subjects. We found that the individual's gender can significantly influence PLR, LMR, and SII (all p < 0.05), but not NLR (p > 0.05). Surprisingly, we also found that with an increase in age, the PLR, LMR, and SII tend to decrease, while NLR remained stable. PLR, LMR, and SII values were significantly higher in the young adults (18 - 64 years) than in old adults (65 - 79 years) (p < 0.001). The RIs of NLR, PLR (adults), PLR (old adults), LMR and SII were 0.88 - 4.0, 49 - 198, 42 - 187, 2.63 - 9.9, 142 x 109/L - 804 x 109/L, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Our study addresses possible variations and establishes consensus for the NLR, PLR, LMR, and SII RIs for healthy Han Chinese adults in western China. Further, established RIs can standardize clinical applications and promote the use of these indicators into the routine complete blood count report.

New Silent Cerebral Infarction in Patients with Acute Non-Cerebral Amyloid Angiopathy Intracerebral Hemorrhage as a Predictor of Recurrent Cerebrovascular Events.

BACKGROUND The aim of this study was to investigate the incidence and related risk factors of new silent cerebral infarction in patients with acute non-cerebral amyloid angiopathy (non-CAA) intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) and to explore clinical cerebrovascular event recurrence within 1 year. MATERIAL AND METHODS This prospective study observed 152 patients with non-CAA ICH diagnosed by computed tomography within 3 days after onset. All patients underwent magnetic resonance imaging on day 14 to identify silent cerebral infarction, and their subsequent clinical cerebrovascular events were followed up regularly within 1 year. RESULTS Of the 152 patients, 46 (30.26%) had silent cerebral infarctions. Multiple logistic regression analysis revealed that the white blood cell (WBC) count, cerebral microbleeds (CMBs), and leukoaraiosis were silent cerebral infarction risk factors. At 1-year follow-up, 34 (22.37%) had clinical cerebrovascular events, with 8 (23.53%) having vascular-related deaths. Multiple logistic regression analysis showed that silent cerebral infarction was the only independent predictor of future clinical cerebrovascular events. CONCLUSIONS Silent cerebral infarction is common during acute non-CAA ICH and is independently related to WBC counts, CMBs, and leukoaraiosis. The risk of clinical cerebrovascular events in non-CAA ICH patients with silent cerebral infarction increases in the following year; thus, silent cerebral infarction may be a useful predictor of recurrent cerebrovascular events.

Toward Tailorable Zn-Ion Textile Batteries with High Energy Density and Ultrafast Capability: Building High-Performance Textile Electrode in 3D Hierarchical Branched Design.

Rechargeable Zn-ion batteries are promising candidates for wearable energy storage devices. However, their performance is severely restricted by the low conductivity and inferior mass loading. Herein, a new type of the textile based electrodes with 3D hierarchical branched design is reported. Both Ni nanoparticles and carbon nanotubes are used to build conductive coatings on the textiles. The 3D hierarchical nanostructures, consisting of the vertical-aligned nanosheets and the fluffy-like small flakes, grow on the conductive textiles to form the self-supported electrodes. It ensures fast electron/ion transport and high mass loading, and maintains the structure stability during cycling. Two textile electrodes with the NiCo hydroxide and MnO2 self-branched nanostructures are constructed. Their faster kinetics, higher capacity and better rate capability than the solitary nanosheets based counterpart demonstrate the superiority of the hierarchical architecture. Moreover, the solid-state Zn-MnO2 and Zn-NiCo batteries are fabricated based on the textile electrodes and the polymer electrolytes. The high energy density, superior power density and good long-term cycling stability confirm their excellent energy storage ability and fast charge/discharge capability. Particularly, the high safety under various conditions enable them promising candidates for wearable electronics.

A Novel Method for Estimating Low-Density Lipoprotein (LDL) Levels: Total Cholesterol and Non-High-Density Lipoprotein (HDL) Can Be Used to Predict Abnormal LDL Level in an Apparently Healthy Population.

BACKGROUND We aimed to predict the abnormal LDL level by using TG, TC, HDL, and non-HDL in this study. MATERIAL AND METHODS Triglyceride (TG), total cholesterol (TC), high-density lipoprotein (HDL), and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) data were obtained from the Laboratory Information System (LIS) for 4 years (Oct 1, 2013 to Sept 30, 2017) from among 34 270 healthy Chinese patients at Shuyang People's Hospital. TG, TC, HDL, and LDL (direct clearance method) were measured using a TBA2000FR biochemical analyzer. The non-HDL was calculated as TC minus HDL. Correlations between TG, TC, non-HDL, and LDL were analyzed using Spearman's rank correlation. Receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curve analysis was used to evaluate the predictive utility of TG, TC, and non-HDL for the abnormal LDL level (<130 mg/dL). RESULTS Both TC (r=0.870) and non-HDL (r=0.893) were significantly positively correlated with LDL. The area under curve of TC and non-HDL can be used to predict abnormal LDL levels. Optimal thresholds were 182.5 mg/Dl (4.72 mmol/L) for TC and 135.3 mg/Dl (3.50 mmol/L) for non-HDL. Based on these optimal thresholds, less than 0.5% and 0.4% of tests with elevated LDL were missed using TC and non-HDL, respectively, but the value of these missed LDL levels was not very high (<147.3 mg/dL). CONCLUSIONS If the value of non-HDL is less than 135.3 mg/Dl (3.50 mmol/L) and/or TC is less than 182.5 mg/Dl (4.72 mmol/L) for the apparently healthy populations, the LDL level will be less than 130 mg/Dl (3.36 mmol/L). TC and non-HDL can be used to predict the abnormal LDL level in apparently healthy populations.

Conjugated bilirubin as a reflex test for increased total bilirubin in apparently healthy population.

BACKGROUND: Total, unconjugated and conjugated bilirubin levels are usually ordered together in health check-up populations. The aim of this study was to investigate whether using increased total bilirubin (TBIL) as a reflex test can reduce conjugated bilirubin (CBIL) test. METHODS: Medical records of 8433 males and 4496 females who visited Shuyang People's Hospital for health check-ups were retrospectively reviewed and the fasting serum TBIL, unconjugated bilirubin (UBIL) and CBIL of patients were extracted. Reference intervals for TBIL, UBIL, CBIL and C/TBIL were established using Q2.5 to Q97.5 . The relationship between TBIL and CBIL was analyzed by Spearman's approach. Receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curve analysis was used to evaluate the predictive accuracy of TBIL for abnormal CBIL and UBIL. RESULTS: The reference intervals for TBIL in males and females were 6.9-29.3 µmol/L and 6.1-23.8 µmol/L, respectively. For CBIL, the reference intervals were 1.9-10.4 µmol/L and 1.6-8.8 µmol/L for males and females, respectively. CBIL was significantly positively correlated with TBIL, either in males (r=.75) or females (r=.73). Area under curve (AUC) of TBIL for predicting abnormal CBIL was 0.99 in both male and females. The optimal threshold of TBIL for predicting abnormal CBIL and UBIL were 21.0 µmol/L in males and 17.0 µmol/L in females. At these thresholds, <2% of subjects with abnormal CBIL or CBIL might be missed, but approximately 87% of the CBIL test could be eliminated. CONCLUSION: Conjugated bilirubin measurement is not needed for the apparently healthy males with TBIL <21.0 µmol/L or females with TBIL <17.0 µmol/L.

Reference intervals of carbohydrate antigen 19-9 in the apparently healthy adult population.

BACKGROUND: To establish reference intervals of carbohydrate antigen 19-9(CA 19-9) according to the CLSI CA28-A3 guideline and to evaluate age- and gender-related variations. METHODS: Serum CA 19-9 values of 10 149 healthy subjects (from 20 years old to 60 years old) were measured from location health checkups. The relationship between CA 19-9 and age was analyzed using Spearman's approach. The reference intervals of CA19-9 were established using Q2.5 and Q97.5 , and the 90% confidence intervals of upper limits were calculated. RESULTS: The reference intervals of CA 19-9 were 1.98-25.12 U/mL for males (1.97-25.06 U/mL for 20-50 years old and 2.31-26.13 U/mL for 50-60 years old) and 2.36-29.29 U/mL for adult (20-60 years old) females. The upper limit of reference intervals for all individuals was 26.45 U/mL; the level of CA 19-9 is higher in females than males. Carbohydrate antigen (CA) 19-9 is significantly associated with aging in adult males(r = .0930, P < .0001), but not in females (P = .4734). CONCLUSIONS: Establishing reference intervals for CA19-9 and giving age-related reference intervals of CA19-9 using a big data of healthy adult, we first discovered that CA19-9 tends to increase with age in adult males but not in females.

COMPARISON OF INTRAVITREAL INJECTION OF RANIBIZUMAB VERSUS LASER THERAPY FOR ZONE II TREATMENT-REQUIRING RETINOPATHY OF PREMATURITY.

PURPOSE: To compare the efficacy of intravitreal injection of ranibizumab (IVR) monotherapy and laser therapy for treatment-requiring retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) in Zone II. METHODS: A prospective, randomized, controlled single-center trial was applied from January 2014 to December 2014; infants who were diagnosed as Zone II treatment-requiring ROP (i.e., Zone II Stage 2 or 3 ROP with plus disease) were randomly assigned to receive IVR monotherapy or laser therapy, and the follow-up interval was at least 6 months. Any eyes that developed recurrence of ROP underwent crossover re-treatment. RESULTS: A total of 100 eyes of 50 ethnic Han Chinese infants were enrolled. At the last follow-up, 26 eyes of 13 infants developed recurrence of ROP in the IVR group and 2 eyes of 1 infant developed recurrence of ROP in the laser therapy group. There was a significant statistical difference in the rate of ROP recurrence between IVR and laser therapy to treat Zone II treatment-requiring ROP (P = 0.001). CONCLUSION: Although IVR appears to regress ROP to certain levels and continue to promote the vascularization of peripheral retinal vessels, a substantial proportion of infants developed recurrence of ROP after a single-dose IVR. Therefore, IVR is not recommended as a single-dose monotherapy for Zone II treatment-requiring ROP.