Thermodynamic Entropy-Based Fatigue Life Assessment Method for Nickel-Based Superalloy GH4169 at Elevated Temperature Considering Cyclic Viscoplasticity.

This paper develops a thermodynamic entropy-based life prediction model to estimate the low-cycle fatigue (LCF) life of the nickel-based superalloy GH4169 at elevated temperature (650 °C). The gauge section of the specimen was chosen as the thermodynamic system for modeling entropy generation within the framework of the Chaboche viscoplasticity constitutive theory. Furthermore, an explicitly numerical integration algorithm was compiled to calculate the cyclic stress-strain responses and thermodynamic entropy generation for establishing the framework for fatigue life assessment. A thermodynamic entropy-based life prediction model is proposed with a damage parameter based on entropy generation considering the influence of loading ratio. Fatigue lives for GH4169 at 650 °C under various loading conditions were estimated utilizing the proposed model, and the results showed good consistency with the experimental results. Finally, compared to the existing classical models, such as Manson-Coffin, Ostergren, Walker strain, and SWT, the thermodynamic entropy-based life prediction model provided significantly better life prediction results.

TreeQNet: a webserver for Treatment evaluation with Quantified Network.

BACKGROUND: Personalized therapy has been at the forefront of cancer care, making cancer treatment more effective. Since cancer patients respond individually to drug therapy, predicting the sensitivity of each patient to specific drugs is very helpful to apply therapeutic agents. Traditional methods focus on node (molecular) information but ignore relevant interactions among different nodes, which has very limited application in complex situations, such as cancer drug responses in real clinical practice. RESULTS: Treatment evaluation with Quantified Network (TreeQNet) is a webserver which could predict sensitivity to drugs for patients through the innovative use of proteomic and phosphoproteomic network from tumor tissues. CONCLUSION: TreeQNet service: http://bioinfo.ustc.edu.cn/ . TreeQNet source code: https://github.com/Really00/treeqnet-web-front/ .

Influence of CYP2D6 and ß2-adrenergic receptor gene polymorphisms on the hemodynamic response to propranolol in Chinese Han patients with cirrhosis.

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Propranolol is widely used to prevent gastroesophageal variceal bleeding; however, some patients could not benefit from propranolol. This study is to evaluate the relationship between CYP2D6 and ß2-adrenergic receptor (ß2-AR) gene polymorphisms and the hemodynamic response to propranolol in Chinese Han patients. METHODS: The clinical data of patients with gastroesophageal varices undergoing hepatic venous pressure gradient (HVPG) measurement before and 7 days after oral propranolol administration in our department were collected. Four single nucleotide polymorphisms of CYP2D6 and ß2-AR genes were detected. The relationship was identified by logistic regression model. RESULTS: Thirty patients were involved in the analysis. Sixty milligram propranolol twice each day was well tolerated by all the patients. The initial and secondary average of HVPG was 17.4 ± 5.8 mmHg vs. 13.2 ± 4.8 mmHg, respectively (t = 5.726, P < 0.001). Twenty patients responded to propranolol. The mean reduction value of HVPG was 6.6 ± 3.6 mmHg (range from 3 to 19). Genotype analysis showed: 20 homozygotes for C/C188 and 10 for heterozygous C/T188, 8 homozygotes for G/G4268 and 22 heterozygotes for G/C4268, 14 homozygotes for Gly16 and 10 heterozygotes, and 6 homozygotes for Arg16, 27 homozygotes for Gln27 and 3 heterozygotes. The multivariate logistic regression analysis indicated that CYP2D6 (188C>T) genotype was an independent predicting factor for HVPG response to propranolol (P = 0.033). CONCLUSIONS: CYP2D6 (188C>T) gene polymorphisms influence the hemodynamic response to propranolol in this population of Chinese Han patients with gastroesophageal varices. However, HVPG response cannot be completely predicted from CYP2D6 and ß2-AR gene polymorphisms.

[Safety and clinical efficacy of TIPS with various stents for treatment of cirrhosis with esophageal gastric varices bleeding].

OBJECTIVE: To assess the safety and clinical efficacy of transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt (TIPS) with various stents for treating patients with cirrhosis and esophageal gastric varices bleeding. METHODS: One hundred and five patients were stratified according to stent type: bare stent group, covered stent-grafts group, combined stents group. Rates of success, shunt insufficiency, rebleeding, patient survival, and major complications were observed. The shunt insufficiency rate, rebleeding rate, and survival rate were calculated by the life tables method, the Kaplan-Meier analytical curve, and the log-rank test; a p-value less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant. RESULTS: The overall success rate of all TIPS for treating the esophageal gastric varices bleeding was 100%. The overall shunt insufficiency rates at 6-, 12-and 24-months post-TIPS were 8%, 9% and 16%, rebleeding rates were 2%, 6% and 17%, and survival rates were 100%, 97% and 94%. The shunt insufficiency rate was 26% in the bare stent group, 14% in the covered stent-grafis group, and 5% in the combined stents group (x2=1.00, P=0.61). The rebleeding rate was 33% in the bare stent group, 7% in the covered stent-grafts group, and 3%in the combined stents group (x2=1.69, P=0.43). The survival rate was 92% in the bare stent group, 93% in the covered stent-grafts group, and 100% in the combined stents group (x2=1.91, P=0.39). The shunt insufficiency rates were higher in patients with splenectomy than in those without splenectomy (30% vs.14%; x2=4.15, P=0.04). The intraperitoneal hemorrhage rates in the covered stent-grafis group and the combined stents group were significantly lower than that in the bare stent group (0% vs 0% vs 13%; x2=8.88, P=0.01). CONCLUSIONS: TIPS with an 8 mm stent effectively treated and prevented esophageal gastric varices bleeding in patients with cirrhosis. Intraperitoneal hemorrhaging caused by TIPS was significantly decreased in the covered stent-grafts group and combined stents group,which represented an improvement in safety of this treatment. However, the influence of covered stent-grafis and combined stents towards the clinical efficacy of TIPS needs further study.

Prognostic accuracy of staging systems in patients with primary liver cancer undergoing transarterial chemoembolization.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: To compare the performance of the Child-Turcotte-Pugh (CTP), the Okuda, the Cancer of Liver Italian Program (CLIP), the Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC), the Chinese staging (CS), Chinese university prognostic index (CUPI), Japan integrated staging (JIS), the Tokyo and the French staging systems, in predicting the survival of patients with primary liver cancer (PLC) receiving transarterial chemoembolization (TACE). METHODOLOGY: The clinical data of patients undergoing TACE in our department were retrospectively analyzed and compared with the 9 staging systems based on survival after TACE. RESULTS: A cohort of 60 patients was involved. The survival curves showed that Okuda, BCLC, CS and JIS had better discriminatory ability. By the Cox regression model, Okuda, CS and JIS showed a stronger significance on prognosis. The staging systems with smaller value of -2Ln(L), Akaike Information criterion (AIC) and Schwarz-Bayesian criterion (SBC) were CS, JIS, CLIP and BCLC. An analysis involving 11 factors by Cox model indicated that ascites and vascular invasion were independent prognostic factors. CONCLUSIONS: JIS provides better prognostic stratification for a cohort of the patients with PLC receiving TACE. However, studies with larger samples are still required.

Tumor type classification and candidate cancer-specific biomarkers discovery via semi-supervised learning.

Identifying cancer-related differentially expressed genes provides significant information for diagnosing tumors, predicting prognoses, and effective treatments. Recently, deep learning methods have been used to perform gene differential expression analysis using microarray-based high-throughput gene profiling and have achieved good results. In this study, we proposed a new robust multiple-datasets-based semi-supervised learning model, MSSL, to perform tumor type classification and candidate cancer-specific biomarkers discovery across multiple tumor types and multiple datasets, which addressed the following long-lasting obstacles: (1) the data volume of the existing single dataset is not enough to fully exert the advantages of deep learning; (2) a large number of datasets from different research institutions cannot be effectively used due to inconsistent internal variances and low quality; (3) relatively uncommon cancers have limited effects on deep learning methods. In our article, we applied MSSL to The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and the Gene Expression Comprehensive Database (GEO) pan-cancer normalized-level3 RNA-seq data and got 97.6% final classification accuracy, which had a significant performance leap compared with previous approaches. Finally, we got the ranking of the importance of the corresponding genes for each cancer type based on classification results and validated that the top genes selected in this way were biologically meaningful for corresponding tumors and some of them had been used as biomarkers, which showed the efficacy of our method.

Investigation of coal and gas outburst risk by microseismic monitoring.

In order to improve the monitoring and prediction of coal and gas outburst, this paper proposes a new method for dynamic regional prediction of coal and gas outburst using microseismic (MS) monitoring. The theoretical basis of this method is presented. An index evaluation system was established and applied, based on which field tests were carried out in a coal mine. The results show that seismic monitoring with frequency and energy indexes can obtain good results for mining disturbance intensity monitoring and geological structure detection; the regional stress distribution detected by seismic wave tomography is consistent with the theoretical stress field, making its use of great significance for optimizing coal and gas outburst drilling parameters and improving overall tunneling efficiency. This approach overcomes the limitations of traditional methods in the temporal and spatial dimensions and realizes dynamic and continuous monitoring of coal and gas outburst-prone areas.

Inhibitory effect of baicalein combined with gemcitabine in human pancreatic cancer cell lines.

Pancreatic cancer is an aggressive disease with a particularly poor prognosis contributing to a substantial percentage of cancer-associated mortality rates. In the present study, the combination treatment of baicalein (BAI) and gemcitabine (GEM) was investigated to examine whether it inhibited the growth of the human CFPAC-1 pancreatic cancer cell line in vitro and in vivo. The cytotoxic interactions between BAI and GEM in human pancreatic cancer cell lines were determined using MTT assays, and the effect of the two agents on apoptosis was detected using Hoechst 33258 staining and annexin V/7-AAD. The protein levels of Bcl-2-associated X protein (Bax), B-cell lymphoma 2 (Bcl-2), caspase-3, poly ADP ribose polymerase (PARP) and survivin were detected using western blot analysis. Furthermore, the expression levels of Bax, Bcl-2, caspase-3 and survivin in tumor tissues were detected using immunohistochemistry. The results demonstrated that following GEM treatment, the growth of CFPAC-1 cells and xenografts in nude mice were inhibited, and the expression levels of Bcl-2 and survivin were downregulated, whilst the expression levels of Bax, caspase-3 and PARP were upregulated. These effects were enhanced with the use of BAI in combination with GEM. The mechanism underlying the anti-tumor effect of BAI combined with GEM may be associated with the induction of cell apoptosis and the inhibition of proliferation. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first evidence of the efficacy of BAI against pancreatic cancer and may provide the potential clinical evidence for the use of this drug combination for the treatment of patients with pancreatic cancer.

Over-the-scope clip to close a gastrocutaneous fistula after esophagectomy.

Over-the-scope clip (OTSC) system is becoming a new reliable technique which is available for the endoscopic closure of fistulas, bleeding, perforations and so on. We describe the case of a patient with a non-healing gastrocutaneous fistula after esophagectomy for esophageal squamous cell carcinoma which was successfully closed using an OTSC system. This is the first report of the use of OTSC to treat a non-healing gastrocutaneous fistula successfully after esophagectomy. We believe our experience will give such patients an ideal way to cure the fistula without suffering too much and also explore new application of OTSC.

Different scoring systems in predicting survival in Chinese patients with liver cirrhosis undergoing transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt.

BACKGROUND: Transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt (TIPS) is an established minimal-invasive procedure to treat complications of portal hypertension, and several scoring systems have been used to help choose suitable patients. However, its accuracy remains controversial. AIM: To compare the performance of the Child-Turcotte-Pugh (CTP) classification system, model for end-stage liver disease (MELD) score, Emory score, Bonn TIPS early mortality (BOTEM) score, and serum bilirubin and platelet count (SB/PLT model) in predicting survival in Chinese patients with liver cirrhosis undergoing TIPS. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The clinical data of patients undergoing TIPS in our department were retrospectively analyzed to compare the five scoring systems on the basis of survival after TIPS. RESULTS: A cohort of 159 patients was analyzed. The survival curves showed a statistical significance between classification B and C of CTP (χ=9.451, P=0.002), between MELD less than 10 and MELD at least 10 (χ=10.099, P=0.001), and between low-risk and moderate-risk groups of the Emory score (χ=4.656, P=0.031), indicating a better discriminatory ability. By ROC curves and a logistic regression model, the MELD score and the CTP system had better power to predict 3-, 12-, and 24-month survival. The MELD score and the CTP classification system had smaller values of -2 Ln(L), Akaike Information criterion, and Schwarz-Bayesian criterion, respectively. CONCLUSION: The MELD score and the CTP classification system provide better prognostic stratification for a cohort of Chinese patients with advanced cirrhosis undergoing TIPS. However, the MELD score is not significantly superior to the CTP system.

Activation of platelet membrane glycoprotein induced by parenteral nutrition: a preliminary report.

BACKGROUND: Long-term parenteral nutrition (PN) is a standardized treatment in many patients who are unable to use their gastrointestinal tract to absorb nutrients and water. Catheter-related thrombosis (CRT) is one of the most common complications of PN. Several factors predispose patients to CRT. The main objective of this study was to assess the platelet membrane glycoprotein (GP) activation and coagulopathy induced by PN. METHODS: Fifteen patients with intestinal failure were given PN for 47.9 days (range, 30-92 days) and 15 oral-fed healthy volunteers served as controls. Complete blood counts and coagulation and biochemical parameters were determined. The platelet surface GPs, P-selectin and GPIIb/IIIa were measured by flow cytometry. RESULTS: There was no significant difference between the control group and PN group in coagulation and biochemical parameters. Platelet P-selectin expression of the PN group was significantly higher than that of the control group (3.43% ± 1.22% and 1.99% ± 0.58%, respectively; P < .01). There was no significant difference in GPIIb/IIIa expression between the 2 groups. CONCLUSIONS: Long-term PN (>30 days) induced the activation of platelet membrane GPs, which may be a significant risk factor for the development of CRT in patients with intestinal failure who require PN.