Global, regional, and national burdens of facial fractures: a systematic analysis of the global burden of Disease 2019.

BACKGROUND: The incidence of facial fractures has undergone tremendous changes in recent years as a result of socio-economic development and aging populations. Currently, there is a lack of updated and comprehensive analyses of global trends and causes of facial fractures. The Global Burden of Disease (GBD) database is a product of a global research organization used to quantify the global impact of hundreds of diseases, injuries, and risk factors. The aim of this study was to update global burden of facial fractures from 1990 to 2019 by using the GBD2019. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The present study extracted the global incidence, prevalence, and years lived with disability (YLDs) for facial fractures, as well as the age-standardized rates (ASRs) of these variables using the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) 2019 database. The estimated annual percentage change (EAPC) was used to assess the trends of ASRs. RESULTS: Between 1990 and 2019, the incidence of facial fractures increased from 8,943,707 to 10,676,340, but the age-standardized incidence rate (ASIR) decreased from 161.5 to 138.8 per 100,000. Prevalence and YLDs exhibited the same trend as incidence. Over the 30 years, the incidence of facial fractures was consistently greater in males than in females. However, females aged ˃ 75 years had higher fracture incidence rates than males aged ˃ 75 years in 2019. The leading cause of facial fractures was falls, and both the age-standardized prevalence rate (ASPR) and age-standardized years lived with disability rate (ASYR) of falls increased with age. CONCLUSION: Facial fractures still represent a significant burden to the world. Incidence, prevalence and YLDs all showed increasing trends, while ASRs decreased gradually from 1990 to 2019. Enhancing the quality of facial fractures data is helpful for monitoring the burden of facial fractures.

Stabilization of heavy metals in municipal solid waste incineration fly ash using organic chelating agents: Insight into risk assessment and function mechanism.

Landfill treatment of municipal solid waste incineration fly ash (MSWI FA) after stabilization is the primary disposal technology. However, only few studies have assessed the stability of MSWI-FA-chelated products in different landfill scenarios. In this study, three commonly used dithiocarbamate (DTC)-based organic chelating agents (CAs) (TS-300, SDD, and PD) were selected to stabilize heavy metals (HMs) in MSWI FA. In addition, the leaching toxicity and environmental risks of the chelated products were assessed in different disposal environments. The results demonstrate that the HM leaching concentrations of the chelated products met the concentration limits of the sanitary landfill standard (GB16889-2008; mixed Landfill Scenario) for the three CAs at a low additive level (0.3 %). However, in the compartmentalized landfill scenario (the leaching agent was acid rain), the leaching of HMs from the chelated products met the standard when TS-300, SDD, and PD were added at 1.5 %, 6.0 %, and 8.0 %, respectively. Additionally, Pb, Zn, and Cd in the chelated products from the 1.5 %-TS-300 and 6.0 %-SDD groups met the leaching limits within the pH ranges 6-12 and 7-12, 6-12 and 7-12, and 8-12 and 8-12, respectively. This was primarily due of TS-300's multiple DTC groups forming stable chain-like macromolecular chelates with Pb. However, although the environmental risks associated with Pb, Zn, and Cd in the initial (0-d) chelated products of the 1.5 %-TS-300 and 6.0 %-SDD groups were minimized to low and negligible levels, there was a significant increase in the leaching of the three HMs after 28 d of storage. Therefore, with appropriate CA addition, although the leaching concentration of HMs in the chelated product may comply with the GB16889-2008 standards, it remains essential to consider its environmental risk, particularly in highly acidic or alkaline environments and during prolonged storage of the product.

High-throughput analytical methodology of monoalkyl phthalate esters and the composite risk assessment with their parent phthalate esters in aquatic organisms and seawater.

A sensitive, robust, and highly efficient analytical methodology involving solid phase extraction coupled to ultra-high performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry was successfully established to detect 13 monoalkyl phthalate esters (MPAEs) in aquatic organisms and seawater. After the organisms were preprocessed using enzymatic deconjugation with ß-glucuronidase, extraction, purification, and qualitative and quantitative optimization procedures were performed. Under optimal conditions, the limits of detection varied from 0.07 to 0.88 µg/kg (wet weight) and 0.04-1.96 ng/L in organisms and seawater, respectively. Collectively, MPAEs achieved acceptable recovery values (91.0-102.7%) with relative standard deviations less than 10.4% and matrix effects ranging from 0.93 to 1.07 in the above matrix. Furthermore, MPAEs and phthalate esters were detected by the developed methodology and gas chromatography-triple quadrupole tandem mass spectrometer in practical samples, respectively. Mono-n-butyl phthalate and mono-iso-butyl phthalate were the most predominant congeners, accounting for 24.8-35.2% in aquatic organisms and seawater. Comprehensive health and ecological risks were higher after the MPAEs were incorporated than when phthalate esters were considered separately, and greater than their risk threshold. Therefore, the risks caused by substances and their metabolites in multiple media, with analogous structure-activity relationships, should be considered to ensure the safety of aquatic organisms and consumers.

Assessment of emerging pretraining strategies in interpretable multimodal deep learning for cancer prognostication.

BACKGROUND: Deep learning models can infer cancer patient prognosis from molecular and anatomic pathology information. Recent studies that leveraged information from complementary multimodal data improved prognostication, further illustrating the potential utility of such methods. However, current approaches: 1) do not comprehensively leverage biological and histomorphological relationships and 2) make use of emerging strategies to "pretrain" models (i.e., train models on a slightly orthogonal dataset/modeling objective) which may aid prognostication by reducing the amount of information required for achieving optimal performance. In addition, model interpretation is crucial for facilitating the clinical adoption of deep learning methods by fostering practitioner understanding and trust in the technology. METHODS: Here, we develop an interpretable multimodal modeling framework that combines DNA methylation, gene expression, and histopathology (i.e., tissue slides) data, and we compare performance of crossmodal pretraining, contrastive learning, and transfer learning versus the standard procedure. RESULTS: Our models outperform the existing state-of-the-art method (average 11.54% C-index increase), and baseline clinically driven models (average 11.7% C-index increase). Model interpretations elucidate consideration of biologically meaningful factors in making prognosis predictions. DISCUSSION: Our results demonstrate that the selection of pretraining strategies is crucial for obtaining highly accurate prognostication models, even more so than devising an innovative model architecture, and further emphasize the all-important role of the tumor microenvironment on disease progression.

Solidification/stabilization and risk assessment of heavy metals in municipal solid waste incineration fly ash: A review.

Incineration is currently the most common method of treating municipal solid waste. Municipal solid waste incineration fly ash (MSWI FA) contains a high concentration of toxic heavy metals (HMs), making it a hazardous waste. A series of detoxification treatments are required to reduce the toxicity of fly ash. Furthermore, the environmental risk of MSWI FA after treatment is becoming a cause of concern. This paper reviews the primary ash properties, pH, liquid-solid ratio, and other factors (microorganism, type of leaching agents, etc.) that affect the leaching of HMs from MSWI FA, compares and summarizes the most widely applied solidification/stabilization (S/S) techniques. In particular, models and methods for the environmental risk assessment and prediction of HMs are classified and described in detail. Finally, the inadequacy of current S/S techniques for MSWI FA is pointed out, which may be useful for upcoming studies on this topic.

Assessment of the impact of wetland changes on carbon storage in coastal urban agglomerations from 1990 to 2035 in support of SDG15.1.

The quantitative assessment and spatial representation of wetland carbon storage, which play a critical role in the global carbon cycle and human production, can provide useful data and knowledge for decision-making in achieving sustainable development goals (SDGs). Currently, human activities and climate change impacts pose a challenge for the assessment of wetland carbon storage in coastal urban clusters. We proposed a "past-present-future" long time series refined wetland carbon storage assessment model using Guangxi Beibu Gulf (GBG) and Guangdong, Hong Kong, Macao and the Greater Bay Area (GBA) as the study area. The CLUE-S and InVEST models were coupled to conduct a comparative analysis of the spatial and temporal changes in wetland carbon storage and the spatial identification of damages from 1990 to 2035 and finally explore the sensitivity of wetland changes to carbon storage and quantitatively assess the SDG15.1 target. The results showed that (1) both urban clusters are characterized by many reservoirs/farming ponds, large river areas and few lakes. 1990-2035 rivers, shallow waters and mudflats have a decreasing trend to be distributed in the middle of their respective regions, mangroves are on an increasing trend, GBG is mainly distributed in the Maowei Sea and GBA is mainly distributed in Shenzhen Bay. (2) Wetland carbon storage of the two urban clusters show an overall fluctuating downward trend, with rivers, lakes and beaches all showing a downward trend. The multiyear average carbon storage of the GBG are 3.2 times higher than those of the GBA. In ecological protection scenario (EPS) policy planning, it is reasonable to help wetland carbon sequestration in coastal urban clusters. (3) The trend of wetland change from 1990 to 2020 was positive for carbon storage. The rate of recovery of wetland carbon stocks is lower in GBA than in GBG under the natural increase scenario (NIS) and the ecological protection scenario (EPS). The economic development scenario (EDS) contributes least to the realisation of SDG15.1 for the coastal urban agglomeration. The ecological protection scenario (EPS) contributes the most to the realisation of SDG15.1 for the coastal urban agglomeration.

Spatiotemporal Dynamic Distribution, Regional Differences and Spatial Convergence Mechanisms of Carbon Emission Intensity: Evidence from the Urban Agglomerations in the Yellow River Basin.

Low-carbon transition is of great importance in promoting the high-quality and sustainable development of urban agglomerations in the Yellow River Basin (YRB). In this study, the spatial Markov chain and Dagum's Gini coefficient are used to describe the distribution dynamics and regional differences in the carbon emission intensity (CEI) of urban agglomerations in the YRB from 2007 to 2017. Additionally, based on the spatial convergence model, this paper analyzed the impact of technological innovation, industrial structure optimization and upgrading, and the government's attention to green development on the CEI's convergence speed for different urban agglomerations. The research results show that: (1) The probability of adjacent type transfer, cross-stage transfer, and cross-space transfer of the CEI of urban agglomerations in the YRB is small, indicating that the overall spatiotemporal distribution type of CEI is relatively stable. (2) The CEI of urban agglomerations in the YRB has decreased significantly, but the spatial differences are still significant, with a trend of continuous increase, and regional differences mainly come from the differences between urban agglomerations. (3) Expanding innovation output, promoting the optimization and upgrading of industrial structure, and enhancing the government's attention to green development has a significant positive effect on the convergence rate of the CEI of urban agglomerations in the YRB. This paper holds that implementing differentiated emission reduction measures and actively expanding regional collaborative mechanisms will play an important role in reducing the spatial differences in carbon emissions in urban agglomerations in the YRB, realizing the goals of peak carbon and carbon neutrality.

Assessment of Carbon Nanoparticle Suspension Lymphography-Guided Distal Gastrectomy for Gastric Cancer.

Importance: Carbon nanoparticle suspension injection (CNSI) can be used to visualize lymph node (LN) drainage in gastric cancer. The tracing and diagnostic value of carbon nanoparticle suspension lymphography-guided distal gastrectomy for gastric cancer has not been thoroughly reported. Objective: To compare the number of lymph nodes identified in patients with gastric cancer receiving a CNSI vs no injection. Design, Setting, and Participants: This is a retrospective cohort study including patients with clinical T1 to T4 disease who underwent laparoscopic or robotic distal gastrectomy. Data from a cohort of 1225 patients at the Fourth Hospital of Hebei Medical University (Shijiazhuang, China) from November 2019 to February 2021 were analyzed. Patients were divided into the CNSI group and conventional group after 1:1 propensity matching analysis. The mean number of LNs detected was compared between groups, and the diagnostic role of CNSI was analyzed in the CNSI group. Statistical analysis was performed from May to July 2021. Exposure: CNSI was peritumorally injected under an endoscope 1 day before surgery in the CNSI group, and the conventional group did not receive any treatment before surgery. Main Outcomes and Measures: The main outcome was the number of LNs detected. Gastrectomy with systematic D1+ (ie, stations 1, 3, 4sb, 4d, 5, 6, and 7) or D2 (ie, all D1 stations, plus 8a, 9, 11p, and 12a) lymphadenectomy was performed. Black-stained LNs and nonblack-stained LNs were examined separately in the CNSI group. Results: A total of 312 consecutive patients (mean [SD] age, 56.7 [10.4] years; 216 [69.2%] men) who underwent distal gastrectomy were enrolled, including 78 patients in the CNSI group, and another 78 patients determined from 1:1 propensity score matching, making an overall cohort size of 156 patients. The mean (SD) number of LNs detected in the CNSI group was 59.6 (21.4), which was significantly higher than that in the conventional group (30.0 [11.3] LNs; P < .001). In the CNSI group, the mean (SD) number of LNs detected at black-stained LN stations was significantly higher than that at nonstained LN stations (9.2 [6.1] LNs per station vs 3.5 [3.2] LNs per station; P < .001). For black-stained LN stations, the sensitivity was 97.8% (95% CI, 91.6%-99.6%), specificity was 38.1% (95% CI, 34.2%-42.3%), positive predictive value was 20.1% (95% CI, 16.6%-24.2%), and negative predictive value was 99.1% (95% CI, 96.4%-99.8%); for the black-stained LNs, sensitivity was 97.6% (95% CI, 95.3%-98.8%), specificity was 35.4% (95% CI, 33.9%-36.8%), positive predictive value was 11.6% (95% CI, 10.5%-12.8%), and negative predictive value was 99.4% (95% CI, 98.8%-99.7%). Conclusions and Relevance: These findings suggest that CNSI was associated with facilitating the dissection of all positive LNs, which could improve surgical quality. Carbon nanoparticle suspension-guided lymphography may be an alternative to conventional systematic lymphadenectomy for distal gastrectomy.

Less is more: biological effects of NiSe2/rGO nanocomposites with low dose provide new insight for risk assessment.

Nickel selenide nanomaterials (NiSe2 NMs) with different vacancies demonstrated high catalytic activity as electrocatalyst in oxygen evolution reaction. As the growing needs of the industrial applications in electrocatalyst, the increased occupational exposure and environmental releasing of NMs would be unavoidable. While, much efforts have been made to evaluate the ecological safety of such engineered NMs at unrealistically high concentrations, failed to provide the comprehensively guideline for exposure thresholds. To supplement the current knowledge gap, we testified the cytotoxicity of NiSe2/rGO nanocomposites with different surface defects under more realistic exposure mode. Compared with the short-term exposure and repetitive exposure, rat lung macrophages exhibited the augmented oxidative stress, dysfunction of mitochondria, damage of DNA and disorder of calcium homeostasis under the long-term NiSe2/rGO exposure. Noteworthily, no significant differences could be found between the NiSe2/rGO with different surface defects, indicated that the defect type of NMs were not the accurate predictor for real risk assessment. Collectively, the study provided the real potential toxic effects and exposure thresholds of NMs that might be highly possible industrial produced, and appealed the new insight for risk assessments of engineered NMs under the long-term exposure, which exhibited difference from the traditional evaluation of short-term and repetitive exposure.

Contaminant occurrence, mobility and ecological risk assessment of phthalate esters in the sediment-water system of the Hangzhou Bay.

The pollution characteristics, spatiotemporal variation, sediment-water partitioning, and potential ecological risk assessment of phthalate esters (PAEs) in the sediment-seawater system of the Hangzhou Bay (HZB) in summer and autumn were researched. The sum of the concentrations of the 10 PAEs in seawater ranges from 7305 ng/L to 22,861 ng/L in summer and from 8100 ng/L to 33,329 ng/L in autumn, with mean values of 15,567 ± 4390 and 17,884 ± 6850 ng/L, respectively. The Σ16PAEs in the sediments are between 118 and 5888 µg/kg and 145 and 4746 µg/kg in summer and autumn, respectively. The level of PAEs in seawater varies with the seasons, but it is relatively stable in the sediments. Di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP), di-n-butyl phthalate (DnBP), and diisobutyl phthalate (DiBP) are the predominant PAE congeners in the HZB. The DnBP and DiBP concentrations in seawater are greater than the DEHP concentration, which is the opposite in the sediments. The sediment-seawater equilibrium distribution study indicates that the PAEs with medium molecular weights, such as DiBP, butyl benzyl phthalate, and DnBP, are near dynamic equilibrium in the sediment-seawater system; PAEs with high molecular weights (e.g., di-n-octyl phthalate and DEHP) tend to transfer from water to the sediments; and PAEs with low molecular weights (e.g., dimethyl phthalate, diethyl phthalate, and diamyl phthalate) tend to spread to seawater. The risk assessment results in seawater indicate that DEHP and DiBP might pose high potential risks to sensitive organisms, and DnBP might exhibit medium ecological risks. In the sediment, DiBP might display a high potential risk to fish, and the potential risk of DEHP is high in several sites.

Measuring Multidimensional Health Poverty in China.

This article defines the concept of "multidimensional health poverty," considering both the monetary aspects and multidimensional health deprivation of health poverty. Moreover, we set up the multidimensional health poverty index (MHPI) to measure health poverty in China by revising the traditional A-F MPI method, specifically we use the Catastrophic Health Expenditure (CHE) as a sufficient condition and income poverty as a necessary condition, and take physical, mental, and social health into account. The measurement result evidences that physical health, monetary dimensions (CHE and income poverty), and mental health contribute most to health poverty in China. In addition, the MHPI is significantly higher in rural areas than urban because of higher out-of-pocket medical payments and health deprivation in more dimensions. Compared with the traditional method, the MHPI is more accurate, stable, and comprehensive, making it more suitable for measuring health poverty.

Phthalic acid esters in the sea-surface microlayer, seawater and sediments of the East China Sea: Spatiotemporal variation and ecological risk assessment.

The spatial and temporal distribution, congener profiles and ecological risk of phthalic acid esters (PAEs) were investigated in the seawater and sediment samples from the East China Sea in spring and autumn. The average concentrations of ΣPAEs in water samples were 3.16 ± 2.16 µg L-1 in autumn and 1.63 ± 1.20 µg L-1 in spring. The ΣPAEs in sediment was much higher than that in seawater, with an average value of 7.36 ± 6.70 mg kg-1 (dw). PAEs levels in the sea-surface microlayer (SML) in spring were 3.61 ± 3.36 µg L-1, indicating that the PAEs were noticeably concentrated in the SML, with an average enrichment factor of 2.10. Among the 16 PAE congeners, di-n-butyl phthalate (DnBP), diisobutyl phthalate (DiBP), and di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) were the preponderant PAEs in both sediment and seawater samples. Additionally, PAE concentrations in autumn were higher than those in spring, and this difference resulted mainly from the terrigenous input and marine transportation. The horizontal distributions of PAEs showed an opposite distribution pattern to salinity and temperature, a pattern which might be influenced by the inputs of fresh water. The vertical distributions of ΣPAEs were characterized by high concentrations in the surface waters, with a slight decrease with depth, and then an increase close to the seabed. The results of ecological risk in the water-phase showed that the level of potential risk followed the order of DEHP > DiBP and DnBP > DMP and DEP, which posed a high (DEHP), medium (DiBP and DnBP) and low (DMP and DEP) risk to the sensitive organisms, respectively. For the sediment-phase, DiBP and DnBP represented a high risk to the sensitive organisms, whereas DMP, DEP and DEHP had only a low risk.

[Discussion on assessment method of Chinese medicine resources].

At the end of 2017, the former China Food and Drug Administration promulgated " the Guiding Principles for the Assessment of Chinese Medicine Resources" whose purpose is establishing the concept of " the production of Chinese traditional medicines, herbal pieces and etc. should be based on the premise of ensuring the production and quality of Chinese medicine resources" for a licensed holder of a drug listing or a production enterprise of Chinese Medicine by assessing this work through the resources of Chinese Medicine which finally achieves the strategic significance of promoting the sustainable utilization of Chinese medicine resources. Under the guidance of the overall idea of "the total amount is not reduced and the supply is guaranteed", this paper focuses on the following two methods of assessment: ①"family property assessment" of Chinese medicine resources based on "fixed total amount". ② "Supply and demand balance assessment" of Chinese medicine resources based on "supply guarantee". In this paper, we discuss the difference and relationship between the national survey of Chinese medicine resources and the assessment of Chinese medicine resources. Finally, we put forward a basic strategy called" supply and demand balance assessment" of Chinese medicine resources based on "supply guarantee" that will guide the Industrial production of traditional Chinese medicine.

[Background and overall design of Chinese medicine resources assessment].

This paper comprehensively analyses the background and meaning of The Technological Guiding Principle for Assessment of Chinese Medicine Resources enacted by the former CFDA ( China Food and Drug Administration), moreover, it also points out that the Chinese medicine resources assessment with the purpose of guaranteeing the sustainable supplying capacity of Chinese medicine resources is the premise of new drug development; the Chinese medicine resources assessment which takes quality guarantee as the core is a significant action to promote the fixing of place of origin and quality-management antedisplacement for the traditional Chinese medicine industry; in this regard, the Chinese medicine resources assessment which aims at realizing the whole-process traceability is the key to building the high-quality modern traditional Chinese medicine brand. The Chinese medicine resources assessment which takes the classical prescription as the entry point is the embodiment of the protection of traditional Chinese medicine resources and international vision of regulation, which aims at clarifying the thinking for the relevant enterprises to carry out the Chinese medicine resources assessment. Base on the general thinking of ensuring that the "total amount of Chinese medicine resources is fixed and the supply is guaranteed", this paper clarifies two methods of Chinese medicine resources assessment: "family property assessment" of Chinese medicine resources based on "fixed total amount", "supply and demand balance assessment" of Chinese medicine resources based on "supply guarantee". In this regard, the basic strategy of "supply and demand balance assessment" of Chinese medicine resources based on "guaranteed supply" is put forward and it is believed that the resources assessment will lead to the significant adjustment of traditional Chinese medicinal materials production. It becomes the only way for the development of various Chinese medicine production enterprises to realize the comprehensive improvement of Chinese medicine quality, brand construction, the establishment of preferential price mechanism.

Perfluoroalkyl acids in surface sediments of the East China Sea.

The occurrence of 17 target PFAA analytes was determined in surface sediments (n = 37) of the East China Sea and potential influencing factors were examined. ΣPFAAs ranged from 0.41 ng/g dw to 3.06 ng/g dw, with perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) as the most abundant perfluorocarboxylic acid and perfluoroalkyl sulfonate, respectively. PFAAs in the sediments were strongly influenced by terrigenous input. Analysis of the relationship between dynamic influence factors and PFAA concentrations showed that the characteristics of PFAA distribution were rather complex. ΣPFAA concentrations and TOC were positively correlated (p < 0.0001). Circumfluence also influenced the whole PFAA distribution and seasonal variation. In addition, correlation analysis suggested that log Koc values increased with increasing perfluoroalkyl chain length. Given the rapid economic development of eastern coastal cities of China, the environmental hazards of land source pollution cannot be ignored.

Assessment of treatment options for rectosigmoid cancer: single-incision plus one port laparoscopic surgery, single-incision laparoscopic surgery, and conventional laparoscopic surgery.

BACKGROUND: The advantages of reduced-port laparoscopic surgery (RPLS) for rectosigmoid cancer treatment have been disputed. This study evaluated the outcomes of RPLS compared to conventional laparoscopic surgery (CLS) for rectosigmoid cancer. METHODS: Data from 211 patients who underwent a selective sigmoidectomy or anterior resection from August 2011 to June 2014 at a single institution were collected and analyzed via propensity score matching. Operative outcomes, inflammatory responses, pain intensity, oncologic outcomes, quality of life, and cosmetic results were compared between groups. RESULTS: After matching, 96 patients (48 CLS and 48 RPLS) were evaluated. Sixteen RPLS cases underwent single-incision laparoscopic surgery (SILS), and 32 underwent single-incision plus one port laparoscopic surgery (SILS + 1). Baseline clinical characteristics were comparable between the RPLS and the CLS groups. Morbidity, pathologic outcomes, and 3-year disease-free survival and overall survival rates were also comparable between the 2 groups. Compared with the CLS group, the RPLS group had a shorter total incision length (p < 0.001); shorter time to liquid diet (p = 0.027), ambulation (p = 0.026), and discharge (p < 0.001); and lower visual analogue scale scores during mobilization at postoperative days 3-5 (p < 0.05). The total operation times, C-reactive protein levels at 24 h and 96 h, and interleukin-6 levels at 24 h postoperatively were significantly lower in the SILS + 1 group than those in the CLS and SILS groups (p < 0.05). Compared with the CLS group, the RPLS group showed better social functioning at 6 months postoperatively (p = 0.011). The SILS and SILS + 1 groups showed similar cosmetic results, and both groups showed better results than the CLS group (p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: RPLS for rectosigmoid cancer is feasible, with short-term safety and long-term oncological safety comparable to that of CLS. Better cosmesis and accelerated recovery can be expected. SILS + 1 is a better choice than CLS or SILS for rectosigmoid cancer because it minimizes invasiveness and reduces technical difficulties.

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in multimedia environment of Heshan coal district, Guangxi: distribution, source diagnosis and health risk assessment.

Mining activities are among the major culprits of the wide occurrences of soil and water pollution by PAHs in coal district, which have resulted in ecological fragilities and health risk for local residents. Sixteen PAHs in multimedia environment from the Heshan coal district of Guangxi, South China, were measured, aiming to investigate the contamination level, distribution and possible sources and to estimate the potential health risks of PAHs. The average concentrations of 16 PAHs in the coal, coal gangue, soil, surface water and groundwater were 5114.56, 4551.10, 1280.12 ng g(-1), 426.98 and 381.20 ng L(-1), respectively. Additionally, higher soil and water PAH concentrations were detected in the vicinities of coal or coal gangue dump. Composition analysis, isomeric ratio, Pearson correlation analysis and principal component analysis were performed to diagnose the potential sources of PAHs in different environmental matrices, suggesting the dominant inputs of PAHs from coal/coal combustion and coal gangue in the soil and water. Soil and water guidelines and the incremental lifetime risk (ICLR) were used to assess the health risk, showing that soil and water were heavily contaminated by PAHs, and mean ICLRcoal/coal-gangue and mean ICLRsoil were both significantly higher than the acceptable levels (1 × 10(-4)), posing high potential carcinogenic risk to residents, especially coal workers. This study highlights the environmental pollution problems and public health concerns of coal mining, particularly the potential occupational health hazards of coal miners exposed in Heshan.

Classifier assessment and feature selection for recognizing short coding sequences of human genes.

With the ever-increasing pace of genome sequencing, there is a great need for fast and accurate computational tools to automatically identify genes in these genomes. Although great progress has been made in the development of gene-finding algorithms during the past decades, there is still room for further improvement. In particular, the issue of recognizing short exons in eukaryotes is still not solved satisfactorily. This article is devoted to assessing various linear and kernel-based classification algorithms and selecting the best combination of Z-curve features for further improvement of the issue. Eight state-of-the-art linear and kernel-based supervised pattern recognition techniques were used to identify the short (21-192 bp) coding sequences of human genes. By measuring the prediction accuracy, the tradeoff between sensitivity and specificity and the time consumption, partial least squares (PLS) and kernel partial least squares (KPLS) algorithms were verified to be the most optimal linear and kernel-based classifiers, respectively. A surprising result was that, by making good use of the interpretability of the PLS and the Z-curve methods, 93 Z-curve features were proved to be the best selective combination. Using them, the average recognition accuracy was improved as high as 7.7% by means of KPLS when compared with what was obtained by the Fisher discriminant analysis using 189 Z-curve variables (Gao and Zhang, 2004 ). The used codes are freely available from the following approaches (implemented in MATLAB and supported on Linux and MS Windows): (1) SVM: http://www.support-vector-machines.org/SVM_soft.html. (2) GP: http://www.gaussianprocess.org. (3) KPLS and KFDA: Taylor, J.S., and Cristianini, N. 2004. Kernel Methods for Pattern Analysis. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. (4) PLS: Wise, B.M., and Gallagher, N.B. 2011. PLS-Toolbox for use with MATLAB: ver 1.5.2. Eigenvector Technologies, Manson, WA. Supplementary Material for this article is available at www.liebertonline.com/cmb.

Detailed analysis of a series of explanted Talent AAA stent-grafts: biofunctionality assessment.

Six Talent stent-grafts were harvested at reoperations (N=5) and autopsy (N=1). The explants were observed nondestructively, including gross morphology, X-rays, CT scans and closed pressure system analysis. The Nitinol frames in three devices harvested at reoperations and another harvested at autopsy were intact. One had a stent fracture of the proximal bare stent, and one had a wire fracture of a thin proximal external supporting stent as well as a hole in the fabric just above the bifurcation. For the three devices structurally intact, reoperations were performed for a type 1A endoleak (one patient) and aorto-enteric fistulas (two patients). The healing characteristics were poor or absent. The fabric in the main body of the grafts harvested after aorto-enteric fistula was devoid of biological deposits. Two of the grafts harvested at reoperation demonstrated fabric holes of up to 4 mm 2. The device obtained at autopsy showed an almost continuous internal capsule with variable thickness. The luminal surface was smooth, but the capsule detached easily. The devices explanted at reoperations showed various levels of impaired biofunctionality associated with adverse outcomes. The stent-graft retrieved from autopsy was intact.

[Assessment of life quality in patients with chronic heart failure].

OBJECTIVE: Using Kansas city cardiomyopathy questionnaire (KCCQ) to evaluate the quality of life (QOL) of the patients with chronic heart failure. METHODS: A total of 271 hospitalized patients with heart failure symptoms in cardiology department, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, who undergone coronary angiography from December 2007 to December 2008, were included in this study. QOL of the subjects was measured, and their demographic and clinical data were collected. Patients were divided into 2 groups according to heart function and they were compared by QOL.Multiple linear regression analysis was conducted to identify the variables associated with the quality of life. RESULTS: KCCQ physical limitation scores of the patients of left ventricular elective fraction (LVEF) < 50% (n = 50) and LVEF > or = 50% (n = 221) were (66 +/- 22) points and (73 +/- 22) points (P < 0.05). In the patients of NYHA I/II (n = 227) vs NYHA III/IV (n = 44), KCCQ scores of physical limitation, symptoms and QOL were (74 +/- 20) vs (60 +/- 27) points, (62 +/- 22) vs (49 +/- 25) points and (61 +/- 16) vs (53 +/- 18) points (all P < 0.05). In the patients of heart failure grade A/B (n = 197) vs grade C/D (n = 74), KCCQ scores of physical limitation, symptoms and QOL were (75 +/- 19) vs (61 +/- 26) points, (63 +/- 22) vs (52 +/- 24) points, (61 +/- 16) vs (56 +/- 18) points (all P < 0.05). Multiple linear regression analysis of QOL KCCQ showed that, age, NYHA cardiac function classification, gender and Judkins score were the risk factors of patients' physical limitation (P < 0.01); gender and stages of heart failure were the risk factors of patients'symptoms (P < 0.01); gender was the risk factors of patients'social function (P < 0.01). CONCLUSION: The patients with poor cardiac function have a poor QOL. KCCQ is more sensitive for the evaluation of heart function. Age, NYHA, gender, Judkins score and stages of heart failure can change QOL for the patients with chronic heart failure.