Clinical efficacy and pain follow-up after arthroscopic discoid meniscoplasty of the knee: a retrospective study.

BACKGROUND: To assess the viability and efficiency of performing arthroscopic meniscoplasty in treating discoid meniscus (DM) in the knee joint. METHODS: A total of 29 patients diagnosed with symptomatic lateral DM between October 2014 and December 2019 were included in the study. Among them, 7 patients with intact DM underwent arthroscopic discoid meniscoplasty (group A), while 22 patients with torn DM received arthroscopic DM plasty along with repair and suturing (group B). Both Visual Analog Scale (VAS) score and Lysholm score assessments were conducted preoperatively and postoperatively. RESULT: The favorable and acceptable outcome rate was 85.71% in group A and 95.45% in group B (P > 0.05). The VAS scores post-operatively at each follow-up time point were consistently lower compared to pre-operative values, while the Lysholm knee function scores showed improvement. There were no significant differences in VAS score and Lysholm score between group A and group B at different stages (P > 0.05). Both surgical techniques (discoid meniscoplasty and discoid meniscoplasty combined with repair and suture) showed significant improvement in postoperative VAS score and Lysholm score, but there was no difference in outcomes between the two groups. CONCLUSION: Overall, the two surgical techniques studied in this study (discoid meniscoplasty and discoid meniscoplasty combined with repair and suture) produced similar results in terms of pain reduction and improved knee function.

Monitoring the Relationship between Social Network Status and Influenza Based on Social Media Data.

BACKGROUND: This article aims to analyze the relationship between user characteristics on social networks and influenza. METHODS: Three specific research questions are investigated: (1) we classify Weibo updates to recognize influenza-related information based on machine learning algorithms and propose a quantitative model for influenza susceptibility in social networks; (2) we adopt in-degree indicator from complex networks theory as social media status to verify its coefficient correlation with influenza susceptibility; (3) we also apply the LDA topic model to explore users' physical condition from Weibo to further calculate its coefficient correlation with influenza susceptibility. From the perspective of social networking status, we analyze and extract influenza-related information from social media, with many advantages including efficiency, low cost, and real time. RESULTS: We find a moderate negative correlation between the susceptibility of users to influenza and social network status, while there is a significant positive correlation between physical condition and susceptibility to influenza. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings reveal the laws behind the phenomenon of online disease transmission, and providing important evidence for analyzing, predicting, and preventing disease transmission. Also, this study provides theoretical and methodological underpinnings for further exploration and measurement of more factors associated with infection control and public health from social networks.

Highly Efficient Photocatalysts: Polyoxometalate Synthons Enable Tailored CdS-MoS2 Morphologies and Enhanced H2 Evolution.

The development of photocatalysts toward highly efficient H2 evolution reactions is a feasible strategy to achieve the effective conversion of solar energy and meet the increasing demand for new energy. To this end, we prepared two different CdS-MoS2 photocatalysts with unique morphologies ranging from hexagonal prisms to tetragonal nanotubes by carefully tuning polyoxometalate synthons. These two photocatalysts, namely, CdS-MoS2-1 and CdS-MoS2-2, both exhibited remarkable photocatalytic efficiency in H2 generation, among which CdS-MoS2-2 showed superior performance. In fact, the best catalytic hydrogen desorption rate of CdS-MoS2-2 is as high as 1815.5 µmol g-1 h-1. Such performance is superior to twice that of single CdS and almost four times that of pure MoS2. This obvious enhancement can be accredited to the highly open nanotube morphology and highly dispersed heterometallic composition of CdS-MoS2-2, which represents an excellent example of the highest noble-metal-free H2 evolution photocatalysts reported so far. Taken together, these findings suggest that the development of highly dispersed heterometallic catalysts is an auspicious route to realize highly efficient conversion of solar energy and that CdS-MoS2-2 represents a major advance in this field.

NUDT5-Determines the fate of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma cells under endoplasmic reticulum stress by catalyzing nuclear ATP production to promote DNA repair.

OBJECTIVES: NUDT5 is the only discovered enzyme that catalyses ATP production in cell nuclei. In this study, we investigate the character of NUDT5 in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) cells under endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress. METHODS: The formation of ER stress was confirmed in HNSCC cells using Real-time PCR and Western blot techniques. The expression of NUDT5 was modified by transfecting HNSCC cells with siRNA and plasmids, respectively. The effects of NUDT5 manipulation were assessed using various methods including cell counting kit-8 assay, western blotting, RNA sequencing, Immunofluorescence Microscopy analysis, cell cycle analysis and nucleic ATP measurement, and a xenograft mouse model. RESULTS: In this study, we found that the expression of NUDT5 proteins was upregulated under ER stress conditions in HNSCC cells. Knocking down NUDT5 under ER stress could hinder nuclear ATP generation and thus induce more DNA damage and apoptosis of HNSCC cells. Only the wild-type NUDT5 or ATP catalysis active mutant T45A-NUDT5, rather than the ATP catalysis null mutant T45D-NUDT5, could directly rescue nuclear ATP depletion caused by NUDT5 inhibition and protect HNSCC cells from DNA damage and cell apoptosis. Finally, in vivo studies showed that knocking down NUDT5 in ER-stressed conditions could significantly inhibit tumour growth. CONCLUSION: Our study demonstrated for the first time that NUDT5 guaranteed the integrity of DNA under ER stress-triggered DNA damage by catalysing nuclear ATP production. Our findings offer new insights into how the energy supply in cell nuclei fuels cancer cell survival in stressful microenvironment.

Predictive Value of Inflammatory Cytokines in Early Pregnancy for Liver Dysfunction in Pregnant Women with Hepatitis B.

The purpose of this study is to explore the predictive value of cytokine levels in the first trimester of pregnancy on abnormal liver function of pregnant women with hepatitis B in the third trimester of pregnancy. A total of 111 pregnant women with HBV infection at 12 weeks gestation participated in the study. The levels of IL-6, IL-8, TNF-α in peripheral blood of the patients and liver function indexes were detected. Subsequently, the pregnant women were followed up, and the liver function was detected at 36 weeks of gestation. According to liver function indexes, patients were divided into normal liver function group and abnormal liver function group to determine the correlation between cytokines in early pregnancy and abnormal liver function in late pregnancy. Kaplan-Meier survival curve and multivariate Cox analysis were used to evaluate the predictive value of cytokines for liver dysfunction. At 12 weeks of gestation, cytokine levels in the normal liver function group were significantly lower than that in the abnormal liver function group. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis showed that the increased IL-6 level was associated with abnormal liver function in late pregnancy. Multivariate Cox regression analysis revealed that IL-6 level was an independent predictor of abnormal liver function in patients with normal liver function in the late pregnancy. The high expression level of cytokine IL-6 at 12 weeks of pregnancy has noteworthy predictive significance for the abnormal liver function of hepatitis B pregnant women in third trimester of pregnancy.

Application of lateral supraclavicular incision in unilateral thyroid papillary carcinoma surgery.

INTRODUCTION: The standard approach to thyroidectomy is a collar incision via the anterior neck, and the neck scar has always been a source of worry for patients. Acceptable wound cosmetology has become a focus for thyroid surgeons. OBJECTIVE: To verify the effectiveness and cosmetic results of thyroidectomy through a lateral supraclavicular incision. METHODS: 180 patients were randomly divided into two groups: a lateral supraclavicular approach and a conventional transcervical approach. The main outcomes included incision length, intraoperative blood loss, operative time, total drainage volume, hospitalization expense, early postoperative pain measured by visual analog scale, infection, and perceived cosmetic outcome. RESULTS: There were no statistical significances between the two groups in terms of age, gender, nodule size, intraoperative blood loss, operative time, total drainage volume, hospital expense and postoperative complications, whereas there were significant differences in terms of incision length (5.2±1.04cm vs. 6.9±1.14cm, p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The lateral supraclavicular incision is a safe and feasible approach for thyroidectomy. Compared with conventional approach, it provides a better cosmetic result.

Application of lateral supraclavicular incision in unilateral thyroid papillary carcinoma surgery / Incisão supraclavicular lateral em cirurgia de carcinoma papilífero unilateral de tireoide

Abstract Introduction The standard approach to thyroidectomy is a collar incision via the anterior neck, and the neck scar has always been a source of worry for patients. Acceptable wound cosmetology has become a focus for thyroid surgeons. Objective To verify the effectiveness and cosmetic results of thyroidectomy through a lateral supraclavicular incision. Methods 180 patients were randomly divided into two groups: a lateral supraclavicular approach and a conventional transcervical approach. The main outcomes included incision length, intraoperative blood loss, operative time, total drainage volume, hospitalization expense, early postoperative pain measured by visual analog scale, infection, and perceived cosmetic outcome. Results There were no statistical significances between the two groups in terms of age, gender, nodule size, intraoperative blood loss, operative time, total drainage volume, hospital expense and postoperative complications, whereas there were significant differences in terms of incision length (5.2 ± 1.04 cm vs. 6.9 ± 1.14 cm, p < 0.05). Conclusions The lateral supraclavicular incision is a safe and feasible approach for thyroidectomy. Compared with conventional approach, it provides a better cosmetic result.

Resumo Introdução A abordagem padrão para tireoidectomia é uma incisão em colar na face anterior do pescoço; a cicatriz no pescoço sempre foi uma fonte de preocupação para os pacientes; consequentemente, a cosmetologia aceitável da ferida tornou‐se um foco de atenção para os cirurgiões de cabeça e pescoço. Objetivos Verificar a eficácia e os resultados cosméticos da tireoidectomia por meio de incisão supraclavicular lateral. Método Foram divididos aleatoriamente 180 pacientes em dois grupos: um grupo supraclavicular lateral (Grupo LS) e outro transcervical convencional (Grupo TC). Os desfechos principais incluíram comprimento da incisão, perda de sangue intraoperatória, tempo cirúrgico, volume total de drenagem, despesas hospitalares, dor no pós‐operatório imediato medida através de escala visual analógica, infecção e resultado cosmético percebido. Resultados Não houve significância estatística entre os dois grupos em termos de idade, sexo, tamanho do nódulo, perda sanguínea intraoperatória, tempo cirúrgico, volume total de drenagem, custo hospitalar e complicações pós‐operatórias, mas houve diferença significante em termos de comprimento da incisão (5,2 ± 1,04 cm vs. 6,9 ± 1,14 cm, p < 0,05). Conclusão A incisão supraclavicular lateral é uma abordagem segura e viável para tireoidectomia. Em comparação com a abordagem convencional, oferece um melhor resultado cosmético.

Radiomics in Oncology: A 10-Year Bibliometric Analysis.

OBJECTIVES: To date, radiomics has been applied in oncology for over a decade and has shown great progress. We used a bibliometric analysis to analyze the publications of radiomics in oncology to clearly illustrate the current situation and future trends and encourage more researchers to participate in radiomics research in oncology. METHODS: Publications for radiomics in oncology were downloaded from the Web of Science Core Collection (WoSCC). WoSCC data were collected, and CiteSpace was used for a bibliometric analysis of countries, institutions, journals, authors, keywords, and references pertaining to this field. The state of research and areas of focus were analyzed through burst detection. RESULTS: A total of 7,199 pieces of literature concerning radiomics in oncology were analyzed on CiteSpace. The number of publications has undergone rapid growth and continues to increase. The USA and Chinese Academy of Sciences are found to be the most prolific country and institution, respectively. In terms of journals and co-cited journals, Scientific Reports is ranked highest with respect to the number of publications, and Radiology is ranked highest among co-cited journals. Moreover, Jie Tian has published the most publications, and Phillipe Lambin is the most cited author. A paper published by Gillies et al. presents the highest citation counts. Artificial intelligence (AI), segmentation methods, and the use of radiomics for classification and diagnosis in oncology are major areas of focus in this field. Test-retest statistics, including reproducibility and statistical methods of radiomics research, the relation between genomics and radiomics, and applications of radiomics to sarcoma and intensity-modulated radiotherapy, are frontier areas of this field. CONCLUSION: To our knowledge, this is the first study to provide an overview of the literature related to radiomics in oncology and may inspire researchers from multiple disciplines to engage in radiomics-related research.

Selective and Efficient Photoinactivation of Intracellular Staphylococcus aureus and MRSA with Little Accumulation of Drug Resistance: Application of a Ru(II) Complex with Photolabile Ligands.

Novel antibacterial agents capable of efficiently sterilizing intracellular Staphylococcus aureus and methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) but with low cytotoxicity and low resistance development are quite appealing. In this work, three Ru(II) complexes with photolabile ligands were explored to realize such a goal. Complex 3 (5 µM) can inhibit more than 90% growth of S. aureus/MRSA that has invaded in J774A.1 cells upon visible light irradiation, being much more efficient than vancomycin. In similar conditions, negligible dark- and phototoxicity were found toward the host cells. The bactericidal activity is highly correlated with DNA covalent binding by the Ru(II) fractions generated after ligand photodissociation. Moreover, S. aureus quickly developed resistance toward vancomycin, while negligible resistance toward complex 3 even after 700 generations was obtained. These appealing results may pave a new way for fighting against intracellular antibiotic-resistant pathogens.

Joint Structure and Parameter Optimization of Multiobjective Sparse Neural Network.

This work addresses the problem of network pruning and proposes a novel joint training method based on a multiobjective optimization model. Most of the state-of-the-art pruning methods rely on user experience for selecting the sparsity ratio of the weight matrices or tensors, and thus suffer from severe performance reduction with inappropriate user-defined parameters. Moreover, networks might be inferior due to the inefficient connecting architecture search, especially when it is highly sparse. It is revealed in this work that the network model might maintain sparse characteristic in the early stage of the backpropagation (BP) training process, and evolutionary computation-based algorithms can accurately discover the connecting architecture with satisfying network performance. In particular, we establish a multiobjective sparse model for network pruning and propose an efficient approach that combines BP training and two modified multiobjective evolutionary algorithms (MOEAs). The BP algorithm converges quickly, and the two MOEAs can search for the optimal sparse structure and refine the weights, respectively. Experiments are also included to prove the benefits of the proposed algorithm. We show that the proposed method can obtain a desired Pareto front (PF), leading to a better pruning result comparing to the state-of-the-art methods, especially when the network structure is highly sparse.

Visualization of Mouse Choroidal and Retinal Vasculature Using Fluorescent Tomato Lectin Perfusion.

Purpose: To develop a reliable and simplified method to assess choroid and retinal vasculature on whole mount and cross sections in mice using tomato lectin (TL; Lycopersicon esculentum). Methods: Albino mice (n = 27) received 1 mg/mL of TL (conjugated to Dylight-594) intravascularly through the tail vein, jugular vein, or cardiac left ventricle. Whole mounts of the retina and choroid were evaluated using fluorescence microscopy. Perfusion with GSL-IB4 conjugated to Dylight-594 and fluorescein isothiocyanate was performed to compare against labeling with TL. Co-labeling of choroidal endothelial cells with perfused TL on cross-sections with antibodies directed against the choriocapillaris-restricted endothelial cell marker CA4 was performed. The percentage of perfused choroidal and retinal vessels was assessed semiquantitatively. One mouse was subjected to thermal laser damage before perfusion to cause retinal and choroidal vasculature ablation. Results: Intravascular injection of TL led to consistent, robust labeling of retinal and choroidal vascular walls. On cross-sections, choriocapillaris was co-labeled with CA4 and TL. On flat mount, TL perfusion resulted in better labeling of choroidal vessels using tail/jugular vein injection compared with cardiac perfusion (P < .01). More consistent labeling of the choroidal and retinal vascular trees was observed with TL than with GSL-IB4. Vascular damage caused by laser ablation was detected readily using this method. Conclusions: TL injection intravascularly can reliably label normal and ablated choroid and retinal vasculature in mouse in a quick, simple manner. Translational Relevance: These data will help to facilitate modeling in rodents for diseases such as age-related macular degeneration, diabetes, and other ischemic/angiogenic processes that can also be used for treatment evaluation.

Fluorination in enhancing photoactivated antibacterial activity of Ru(ii) complexes with photo-labile ligands.

Fluorination in enhancing photoactivated antibacterial activity of Ru(ii) complexes with photo-labile ligands was studied. Ru(ii) polypyridine complexes containing a di-fluorinated dppz (dipyrido[3,2-a:2',3'-c]phenazine) or mono-trifluoromethylated dppz bidentate ligand and four pyridine monodentate ligands (complexes 3 and 4) were found to show potent photoactivated antibacterial activity against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus (VRE), and Escherichia coli (E. coli) in both normoxic and hypoxic conditions. The bactericidal effect of complexes 3 and 4 under hypoxic conditions may stem from the fluorine-containing Ru(ii) aqua species after photo-induced pyridine dissociation, and DNA may be the potential antibacterial target. Photosensitized singlet oxygen may also account for their antibacterial activity under normoxic conditions. Moreover, negligible hemolysis rates as well as low dark- and photo-cytotoxicity toward human normal liver cells (L-O2) were also observed for both complexes. Our work may provide new insights into the development of novel and efficient Ru(ii) complex based photoactivatable antibacterial agents against antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

Selective Photoinactivation of Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus by Highly Positively Charged RuII Complexes.

Ruthenium(II) polypyridyl complexes featuring peripheral quaternary ammonium structures were found to be able to selectively inactivate Gram-positive Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus), including methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) upon visible light irradiation, but have low phototoxicity toward 293T cells, L02 cells and lack hemolysis toward rabbit red blood cells (RBC), exhibiting promising potential as a novel type of antimicrobial photodynamic therapy (aPDT) agents.

Fluorination on non-photolabile dppz ligands for improving Ru(ii) complex-based photoactivated chemotherapy.

Ru(ii) polypyridine complexes which can undergo photo-induced ligand dissociation and subsequent DNA covalent binding may potentially serve as photoactivated chemotherapeutic (PACT) agents. In this paper, three fluorinated dppz ligand coordinated Ru(ii) complexes (2-4) containing four monodentate pyridine ligands were studied. All complexes released one pyridine and covalently bound to DNA upon 470 nm irradiation. Compared with the parent complex [Ru(dppz)(py)4]2+ (1), 2-4 displayed enhanced phototoxicity but diminished dark cytotoxicity, more favorable for PACT application. Complex 3 is the most efficient one with IC50 values of about 8 µM toward HeLa and SKOV-3 cell lines, and also has a much higher IC50 value toward normal L-02 cells. Our results indicate that fluorination on the retaining ligand may be an efficient way to improve the drug activity of Ru(ii) PACT agents.

A nuclear permeable Ru(ii)-based photoactivated chemotherapeutic agent towards a series of cancer cells: in vitro and in vivo studies.

Ru(ii) polypyridyl complexes which can undergo photo-induced ligand dissociation and DNA covalent binding are considered as potential photoactivated chemotherapeutic (PACT) agents. Herein four pyridine-2-sulfonate (py-SO3-) ligand based Ru(ii) complexes [Ru(N-N)2(py-SO3)]+ (1-4) were synthesized and studied. All the complexes can undergo fast py-SO3- ligand dissociation and DNA covalent binding upon visible light irradiation. However, only complex 4 exhibited high photo-induced anticancer activities towards a series of cancer cells, with half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) values in 100-300 nM regions and phototoxicity index (PI) values of about 100. In particular, complex 4 can also kill cisplatin resistant SKOV-3 and A549 cancer cells with IC50 values in 200-400 nM regions and PI values of about 50, which should be the first report of Ru(ii) based PACT agents that are also effective towards cisplatin resistant cancer cells. Complex 4 exhibited much higher cell uptake and nuclear accumulation levels, which may be the main reasons for its high anticancer activities. The in vivo anticancer experiments indicated that complex 4 can inhibit tumor growth significantly with fewer side effects. Our results may provide guidelines for developing novel photoactivatable Ru(ii) anticancer agents.

Mitochondria targeted and NADH triggered photodynamic activity of chloromethyl modified Ru(ii) complexes under hypoxic conditions.

Three chloromethyl-modified Ru(ii) complexes were designed and synthesized as mitochondria targeting photosensitizers, which can generate carbon radicals in the presence of NADH under visible light irradiation, cause DNA cleavage and covalent binding in Ar-saturated solutions, and lead to apoptosis of human ovarian carcinoma SKOV-3 cells under hypoxic conditions (3% O2), demonstrating a new mode of type I mechanism to overcome the limitation of hypoxia in photodynamic therapy (PDT).

Chloromethyl-modified Ru(ii) complexes enabling large pH jumps at low concentrations through photoinduced hydrolysis.

Photoacid generators (PAGs) are finding increasing applications in spatial and temporal modulation of biological events in vitro and in vivo. In these applications, large pH jumps at low PAG concentrations are of great importance to achieve maximal expected manipulation but minimal unwanted interference. To this end, both high photoacid quantum yield and capacity are essential, where the capacity refers to the proton number that a PAG molecule can release. Up to now, most PAGs only produce one proton for each molecule. In this work, the hydrolysis reaction of benzyl chlorides was successfully leveraged to develop a novel type of PAG. Upon visible light irradiation, Ru(ii) polypyridyl complexes modified with chloromethyl groups can undergo full hydrolysis with photoacid quantum yield as high as 0.6. Depending on the number of the chloromethyl groups, the examined Ru(ii) complexes can release multiple protons per molecule, leading to large pH jumps at very low PAG concentrations, a feature particularly favorable for bio-related applications.

Dope dyeing of lyocell fiber with NMMO-based carbon black dispersion.

NMMO-based carbon black (CB) dispersion was prepared and its properties as well as its compatibility with lyocell spinning solution were further investigated. Modified lignosulfonate (SP) was verified to be the preeminent dispersant for the preparation of NMMO-based CB dispersion with mass ratio of SP to CB 20% and water to NMMO 13%. The compatibility of NMMO-based CB dispersion with lyocell spinning solution had close relation with dispersant structure and CB content. Mass ratio of CB to cellulose affects the mechanical properties, color strength and crystallinity of lyocell fiber. 0.5% CB increased the breaking strength and elongation of lyocell fiber, whiles breaking strength and elongation of the lyocell fiber were reduced slightly when 2.0% CB was used. The dope dyed fiber showed excellent rubbing and washing fastness as well as migration resistance to water, ethanol and acetone.