This work describes a new species, Balitoraanlongensissp. nov., collected from a cave at Xinglong Town, Anlong County, Guzihou, China. Phylogenetic trees reconstructed based on two mitochondrial and three nuclear genes show that the new species represents an independent evolutionary lineage with large genetic differences, 7.1%-12.0% in mitochondrial gene cytochrome b and 9.2%-12.1% in cytochrome oxidase subunit 1, from congeners. Morphologically, the new species can be distinguished from the 18 species currently assigned to the genus Balitora by a combination of characters, most clearly by having two pairs of maxillary barbels; 8½ branched dorsal-fin rays; 5½ branched anal-fin rays; pectoral fin not reaching pelvic fin origin; dorsal-fin origin in front of pelvic fin origin; eye small (eye diameter approximately equal to outer maxillary barbel length); and fins lacking pigment in live fish. The new species represents the first record of Balitora inhabiting caves in China and increases the number of species in the genus Balitora in its present concept from 18 to 19. The study suggests that more evidence is needed to further clarify the taxonomic composition of the genus Balitora.
A community-based prostate cancer screening program was conducted to assess the morbidity and associated factors for prostate cancer among the subpopulation of men aged ≥50 years in Taizhou, China. Taizhou Integrated Prostate Screening (TIPS) is a large, observational, population-based study of prostate cancer screening data based on serum prostate-specific antigen (PSA) concentrations. A pilot census of all male residents aged 50 years or older was conducted in Luqiao District, one of the field sites of the TIPS cohort in the city of Taizhou, Zhejiang. The interviewer-administered questionnaire evaluated demographic characteristics and environmental exposure factors. A total of 1,806 out of 3,516 participants completed the questionnaire. The overall prevalence of PSA ≥4 ng/mL was 11.5%, and included participants at low risk (9.2%), moderate risk (1.7%), and high risk (0.6%). Participants aged 60-69, 70-79, and ≥80 years had a 2.7-fold, 4.2-fold, and 6.5-fold higher risk of elevated PSA, respectively, in comparison with those aged 50 to 59 years (p < .001). Eighteen patients were diagnosed with prostate cancer, of whom 11 (61.1%) underwent radical surgery. This community-based PSA screening program indicated the results for early detection of prostate cancer among men aged ≥50 years. Early screening and appropriate clinical therapy for the management of prostate cancer are essential in this subpopulation.
Prostate-Specific Antigen , Prostatic Neoplasms , Humans , Male , Prostatic Neoplasms/epidemiology , Early Detection of Cancer , Prostate , Mass Screening
Politics has become a common element in the performance appraisal process, and as decision recipients in this process, those appraised tend to be more sensitive to performance appraisal politics. This paper examines the mechanisms by which performance appraisal politics perception (PAPP) affects counterproductive work behavior (CWB) from the perspective of those appraised. The mediating effect of perceived organizational justice (POJ) and the moderating effect of political skill (PS) are incorporated into a parsimonious moderated-mediation model. A quantitative research approach is employed with survey data from 460 employees of large and medium-sized enterprises in Hubei Province (China), and structural equation modeling (SEM) and bootstrap analysis are used to test the proposed hypothesized relationships. The findings demonstrate that PAPP has a positive impact on CWB, and POJ partly mediates the relationship between PAPP and CWB. The results also reveal that individual PS moderates the positive correlation between PAPP and CWB. The academic and practical implications of these findings, as well as limitations and suggestions for future research, are also discussed.
Based on the social identity theory, this study investigates the mediation and moderation mechanism of CSR on job applicant attraction. A total of 395 job seekers are recruited to join in the experiment survey. The results indicate that job seekers' perceptions of CSR positively relate to job applicant attraction, employer reputation and expected pride mediate this relationship, respectively, and the serial mediating role of employer reputation and then expected pride in the relationship between CSR and job applicant attraction. Additionally, the findings show that job applicants' materialism orientation plays a moderating role in the indirect effect of CSR on job applicant attraction via expected pride, but the moderating effect of job seekers' materialism orientation in the indirect effect of CSR on job applicant attraction via employer reputation is not statistically significant. These findings enrich the new culture-driven evidence on the impacting mechanism of CSR on job applicant's attitude and provide valuable insight into how CSR motivates job applicant attraction.
Social Responsibility
PURPOSE: to describe the methodology of transurethral seminal vesiculoscopy and the anatomy of the area of the verumontanum, and to determine the safety of this procedure, especially in terms of postoperative complications. METHODS: This retrospective observational study enrolled 144 patients with intractable hematospermia from May 2011 and August 2019. A 4.5/6.5-Fr vesiculoscope was inserted into the seminal vesicle to deal with the positive findings. The solution of quinolones was used to rinse each seminal vesicle. RESULTS: In this study, Transurethral seminal vesiculoscopy was successfully performed in 139 patients (96.53%). Hematospermia was alleviated or disappeared in 116 (80.56%) patients by less than half a year after surgery. Common intraoperative manifestations were hemorrhage, stones, utricle polyps and cysts. The surgical approach in our study were categorized into four types, including 24 (16.7%), 73 (50.7%), 42 (29.2%), and 5 (3.5%) cases in Type A (natural opening of the ejaculatory duct), B (trans-duct fenestration), C (trans-utricle fenestration), and D (not founded), respectively. Sexual function change was recorded in 12 patients of 111 patients, all by the method of trans-utricle fenestration, including 8 (7.21%), 3 (2.70%), and 1 (0.90%) patients in shorter intravaginal ejaculatory latency time, worse erection hardness and loss of orgasm, respectively. CONCLUSION: Transurethral seminal vesiculoscopy is an effective and safe procedure for the management of hematospermia. The anatomy of the distal seminal tract should be understood more deeply and Wu'method (uncover-curtain method) needs to be promoted to verify its universality and safety. Besides, the complications of the function dysfunction should be discussed in the future in multi-center clinical trials.
Endoscopy , Hemospermia/surgery , Adult , Endoscopy/methods , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Postoperative Complications/epidemiology , Retrospective Studies , Seminal Vesicles , Urologic Surgical Procedures, Male/methods
With the increasing awareness of men's health, more and more clinical studies are reported on the relationship of testicular microlithiasis (TM) with male infertility. TM is a relatively rare disease characterized by multiple microcalcifications (<3 mm) in the seminiferous tubules of the testis. This review summarizes the findings in the studies of the diagnosis, epidemiology, correlation with male fertility, treatment, and follow-up of TM in recent years. Many researches show that TM has a certain correlation with the decline of male fertility, which, however, is not identically agreed on at home and abroad. As for the treatment of TM complicated with male infertility, there is still a lack of effective and reliable drugs and strategies and a need for many basic and clinical studies.
BACKGROUND: Preliminary reports suggested that presepsin was a powerful biomarker for sepsis in a general population. However, presepsin levels change with age. This study aimed to investigate the diagnostic and prognostic value of presepsin among elderly patients with sepsis in the intensive care unit (ICU). METHODS: A total of 142 elderly patients were enrolled and assorted into three groups: non-infection, infection, and sepsis. Blood samples were collected on days 1, 3 and 7 during the first week of ICU stay for presepsin measurement. Diagnostic and prognostic utilities were tested by receiver operating characteristic, cutoff levels, Kaplan Meier survival curves and hazard ratios. RESULTS: The presepsin level on days 1 and 3 were significantly higher in sepsis compared with infection (P<0.01) and non-infection (P<0.01). The diagnostic area under the curve (AUC) of presepsin was comparable to that of procalcitonin (P>0.05) and higher than that of C-reactive protein or interleukin 6 (P<0.05) on days 1 and 3. In AUC and Kaplan-Meier survival curves, presepsin on day 3 showed a significant prognostic value for 30-day mortality but was not superior to other biomarkers. CONCLUSIONS: The presepsin level was significantly higher in elderly patients with sepsis compared with the non-infection and infection groups. Presepsin has a reliable early diagnostic ability for sepsis comparable to that of PCT. However, it cannot be defined as a perfect biomarker for prognosis of 30-day mortality in elderly patients. An overall and continual assessment of all the clinical indexes for sepsis during the course of the disease is necessary.
Lipopolysaccharide Receptors , Sepsis , Aged , Biomarkers , C-Reactive Protein/analysis , Humans , Intensive Care Units , Peptide Fragments , Prognosis , ROC Curve , Sepsis/diagnosis
BACKGROUND: To develop a nomogram to predict cancer-specific survival (CSS) in patients with metastatic testicular germ cell tumors (mTGCTs). METHODS: Data were obtained from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database. Univariate and multivariate Cox regression models were used to identify factors associated with CSS. Survival times between different groups were compared using Kaplan-Meier survival curves and the log-rank test. A nomogram visualization model was established using the R language to predict survival rates. Harrell's concordance index (C-index), the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) and calibration plots were used to assess the performance of the model. RESULTS: We analyzed the data of 949 patients. The median follow-up time was 32 months (range 0 to 83 months), and 224 (23.60%) patients died before the last follow-up, of whom 193 (20.33%) died of mTGCTs. The site of distant metastases was an independent prognostic factor for CSS. Compared to patients without involvement of the corresponding organ, patients with bone, brain, liver, and lung involvement had worse CSS. We also found that age, histological type, surgery, radiation therapy, chemotherapy, metastatic site and insurance status affected the CSS of patients with mTGCTs. We used these prognostic factors to construct our nomogram. Harrell's C-index for CSS was 0.739. The AUC and calibration plots indicated good performance of the nomogram. CONCLUSIONS: A nomogram for predicting CSS in patients with mTGCTs has been developed, which can help patients and clinicians accurately predict mortality risk and recommend personalized treatment modalities.
Wnt-induced secreted protein-1 (WISP1) is an extracellular matrix protein that has been reported in cancer researches. Our previous studies on WISP1 implied it could be a harmful mediator in septic mice. However, its role in liver ischemia reperfusion (I/R) injury is unknown. This study investigated the effects of WISP1 on liver I/R damage. Male C57BL/6 wild-type mice were used to undergo 60 min segmental (70%) ischemia. WISP1 expression was measured after indicated time points of reperfusion. Anti-WISP1 antibody was injected intraperitoneally to mice. Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) knockout mice and TIR-domain-containing adaptor inducing interferon-ß (TRIF) knockout mice were adopted in this study. WISP1 was significantly enhanced after 6 h of reperfusion when compared with sham treated mice and significantly decreased either by TLR4 knockout mice or TRIF knockout mice. Anti-WISP1 antibody significantly decreased serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), pathological changes and pro-inflammatory cytokine levels in the mice following I/R. Furthermore, significantly increased serum transaminase levels were found in C57 wild-type mice treated with recombinant WISP1 protein, but not found in TLR4 knockout or TRIF knockout mice subjected to liver I/R. Taken together, WISP1 might contribute to hepatic ischemia reperfusion injury in mice and possibly depends on TLR4/TRIF signaling.
CCN Intercellular Signaling Proteins/biosynthesis , Gene Expression Regulation , Liver/metabolism , Proto-Oncogene Proteins/biosynthesis , Reperfusion Injury/metabolism , Signal Transduction , Toll-Like Receptor 4/metabolism , Adaptor Proteins, Vesicular Transport/genetics , Adaptor Proteins, Vesicular Transport/metabolism , Animals , CCN Intercellular Signaling Proteins/genetics , Liver/pathology , Male , Mice , Mice, Knockout , Proto-Oncogene Proteins/genetics , Reperfusion Injury/genetics , Reperfusion Injury/pathology , Toll-Like Receptor 4/genetics
Objective To establish a real-time quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction assay (qRT-PCR) for the rapid, sensitive, and specific detection of echinoderm microtubule associated protein like 4-anaplastic lymphoma kinase (EML4-ALK) fusion genes in non-small cell lung cancer. Methods The specific primers for the four variants of EML4-ALK fusion genes (V1, V2, V3a, and V3b) and Taqman fluorescence probes for the detection of the target sequences were carefully designed by the Primer Premier 5.0 software. Then, using pseudovirus containing EML4-ALK fusion genes variants (V1, V2, V3a, and V3b) as the study objects, we further analyzed the lower limit, sensitivity, and specificity of this method. Finally, 50 clinical samples, including 3 ALK-fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) positive specimens, were collected and used to detect EML4-ALK fusion genes using this method. Results The lower limit of this method for the detection of EML4-ALK fusion genes was 10 copies/µl if no interference of background RNA existed. Regarding the method's sensitivity, the detection resolution was as high as 1% and 0.5% in the background of 500 and 5000 copies/µl wild-type ALK gene, respectively. Regarding the method's specificity, no non-specific amplification was found when it was used to detect EML4-ALK fusion genes in leukocyte and plasma RNA samples from healthy volunteers. Among the 50 clinical samples, 47 ALK-FISH negative samples were also negative. Among 3 ALK-FISH positive samples, 2 cases were detected positive using this method, but another was not detected because of the failure of RNA extraction. Conclusion The proposed qRT-PCR assay for the detection of EML4-ALK fusion genes is rapid, simple, sensitive, and specific, which is deserved to be validated and widely used in clinical settings.
Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung/genetics , Lung Neoplasms/genetics , Oncogene Proteins, Fusion/genetics , Genotype , Humans , In Situ Hybridization, Fluorescence , Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction , Reverse Transcription
Early post-operative mobilization is important both to reduce immobility-related complications and to get the best functional result following surgery on knee. We hypothesized that saphenous nerve block would reduce pain in this patient category compared with placebo injection. In this study, two reviewers independently searched the databases of PubMed, EMBASE, and Cochrane Library (last performed on 12 October, 2014) to retrieve eligible randomized controlled clinical trials. The primary outcomes were visual analog scale (VAS) pain scores within 24 hours after operation when at rest and at an active flexion of knee. Mean difference (MD) or odds ratio (OR) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) was calculated for each end point. Subgroup analysis was calculated to evaluate potential sources of heterogeneity. Nine randomized controlled trials were retrieved and analyzed. We found that VAS pain scores at rest within postoperative 24 hours were significantly decreased in saphenous nerve block group than that in placebo group (MD = -0.79; 95% CI -1.35 to -0.22; P = 0.007), as well as VAS pain scores at an active flexion of knee within postoperative 24 hours (MD = -0.92; 95% CI -1.61 to -0.22; P = 0.010). In addition, compared to placebo injection group, saphenous nerve block resulted in significantly less morphine consumption during the first postoperative 24 hours (MD = -6.56; 95% CI -11.26 to -1.86; P = 0.006). To conclude, this meta-analysis suggests that saphenous nerve block has an advantage in pain relief both at an active flexion of knee and at rest after knee surgery. Further studies are still wanted to validate these conclusions.
OBJECTIVES: Peri-operative ketamine peritonsillar infiltration in children can reduce the incidence of postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV), but its postoperative analgesic time is short. A previous meta-analysis in 2011 was inconclusive due to insufficient data. Consequently, we updated the meta-analysis to verify the role of ketamine peritonsillar infiltration for tonsillectomy in pediatric patients. METHODS: Ten randomized controlled trials with a total of 522 cases were included. Pain intensity was measured by standard modified CHEOPS score. RESULTS: The pain scores of ketamine group at 30 min and 60 min were significantly lower than placebo group after surgery [weighted mean difference (WMD) -1.20, 95% CI -2.20 to -0.19, P=0.02; WMD -1.71, 95% CI -2.12 to -0.22, P=0.02]. Analgesic requirement in ketamine group were less than placebo group [risk ratio (RR) 0.51, 95% CI 0.26-0.97; P=0.04]. Moreover, the incidence of PONV was lower in ketamine group. (RR 0.73, 95% CI 0.54-0.97; P=0.03). However, there were no differences between these two groups in operation time, anesthesia time, first analgesic time and pain score at 120 min. CONCLUSIONS: Compared to placebo, ketamine peritonsillar infiltration can relieve postoperative pain within one hour but not at 120 min and reduces analgesic requirement and incidence of PONV. Moreover, there was no difference in the first analgesic time.
Analgesics/administration & dosage , Ketamine/administration & dosage , Pain, Postoperative/drug therapy , Postoperative Nausea and Vomiting/drug therapy , Tonsillectomy/adverse effects , Analgesics/adverse effects , Child , Child, Preschool , Humans , Incidence , Ketamine/adverse effects , Pain Measurement , Postoperative Period , Tonsillectomy/methods
OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effects of medicated serum prepared with Chinese herbal medicine Zhizhen Recipe (ZZR) on activity of nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) and expression and function of P-glycoprotein (P-gp) in human colorectal cancer multidrug-resistant cell line HCT-8/VCR. METHODS: The multidrug resistance of HCT-8/VCR cells was detected by cell counting kit-8 method, and the experimental concentrations of ZZR-medicated serum were determined by the same way. HCT-8 and HCT-8/VCR cells were treated with ZZR-medicated serum of medium dose for 24 h. The activity of NF-κB was determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The intracellular distribution of P-gp was detected by laser scanning confocal microscopy, and the mean fluorescence intensity of rhodamine 123 was detected by flow cytometry. RESULTS: ZZR-medicated sera with volume fraction of 8%, 16% and 32% of medium dose were confirmed as the experimental sera. Compared with the untreated group, NF-κB activities of the ZZR-medicated serum groups (ZZR-medicated serum with volume fraction of 8%, 16% and 32% of medium dose) were obviously down-regulated (P<0.01), which had a negative correlation with the concentrations. After interfering HCT-8/VCR with ZZR-medicated serum of different concentrations for 24 h, P-gp in HCT-8/VCR transmitted gradually from cell membrane to cytoplasm and nuclei. Nuclei became pyknotic and cracking. Compared with the untreated group, the mean fluorescence intensities of ZZR-medicated serum groups declined with concentration gradients (P<0.01). The efflux of intracellular rhodamine 123 decreased, the wave crest shifted to right, and the intracellular fluorescence intensity strengthened (P<0.01). CONCLUSION: ZZR-medicated sera of experimental concentrations down-regulate activity of NF-κB and expression and function of P-gp in human colorectal cancer multidrug-resistant cell line HCT-8/VCR and the effect is related to the concentrations.
ATP Binding Cassette Transporter, Subfamily B, Member 1/metabolism , Colorectal Neoplasms/pathology , Drugs, Chinese Herbal/pharmacology , NF-kappa B/metabolism , Serum/chemistry , ATP Binding Cassette Transporter, Subfamily B , Animals , Antineoplastic Agents, Phytogenic/pharmacology , Cell Line, Tumor , Down-Regulation/drug effects , Drug Resistance, Multiple/drug effects , Drug Resistance, Neoplasm/drug effects , Humans , Rats , Vincristine/pharmacology
