Value of Preoperative Hematological Parameters in the Prognosis of Gastric Cancer Patients Undergoing a Total Gastrectomy.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to evaluate the relationships between the albumin/globulin ratio (AGR), neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio (NLR), and platelet/lymphocyte ratio (PLR) and clinicopathological information for gastric cancer patients. In addition, the prognostic values of these hematological parameters for resectable gastric cancer patients undergoing a total gastrectomy were determined. METHODS: A total of 245 patients with gastric cancer who underwent a total gastrectomy at our hospital between January 1, 2005, and December 30, 2015, were enrolled into this study. The preoperative AGR, NLR, and PLR in the serum samples of the patients were measured. The relationships between the hematological parameters and the disease-free survival (DFS) as well as overall survival (OS) were analyzed by statistical analysis. RESULTS: The cutoff values of AGR, NLR, and PLR were 1.57, 3.5, and 193, respectively. Univariate analyses demonstrated that a low AGR, a high NLR, and a high PLR were significant risk factors for a poor prognosis. According to multivariate analysis, a high PLR was found to be independently associated with a poor survival. Additionally, when age was considered as a stratified factor, univariate analyses demonstrated that a low AGR had the tendency to be correlated with a shorter DFS in nonelderly patients (<65 years old). A low AGR was significantly correlated with a shorter DFS and OS in elderly patients (≥65 years old). CONCLUSION: AGR, NLR, and PLR are independent risk factors associated with a poor gastric cancer survival by univariate analysis, and AGR is an independent risk factor for predicting DFS and OS in elderly patients (≥65 years old) with gastric cancer after total gastrectomy.

Novel application of multispectral refraction topography in the observation of myopic control effect by orthokeratology lens in adolescents.

BACKGROUND: Myopia, as one of the common ocular diseases, often occurs in adolescence. In addition to the harm from itself, it may also lead to serious complications. Thus, prevention and control of myopia are attracting more and more attention. Previous research revealed that single-focal glasses and orthokeratology lenses (OK lenses) played an important part in slowing down myopia and preventing high myopia. AIM: To compare the clinical effects of OK lenses and frame glasses against the increase of diopter in adolescent myopia and further explore the mechanism of the OK lens. METHODS: Changes in diopter and axial length were collected among 70 adolescent myopia patients (124 eyes) wearing OK lenses for 1 year (group A) and 59 adolescent myopia patients (113 eyes) wearing frame glasses (group B). Refractive states of their retina were inspected through multispectral refraction topography. The obtained hyperopic defocus was analyzed for the mechanism of OK lenses on slowing down the increase of myopic diopter by delaying the increase of ocular axis length and reducing the near hyperopia defocus. RESULTS: Teenagers in groups A and B were divided into low myopia (0D - -3.00 D) and moderate myopia (-3.25D - -6.00 D), without statistical differences among gender and age. After 1-year treatment, the increase of diopter and axis length and changes of retinal hyperopic defocus amount of group A were significantly less than those of group B. According to the multiple linear analysis, the retinal defocus in the upper, lower, nasal, and temporal directions had almost the same effect on the total defocus. The amount of peripheral retinal defocus (15°-53°) in group A was significantly lower than that in group B. CONCLUSION: Multispectral refraction topography is progressive and instructive in clinical prevention and control of myopia.

Free autologous internal limiting membrane transplantation in the treatment of large macular hole.

We evaluated the clinical efficacy of free internal limiting membrane (ILM) flap transplantation for the treatment of large macular hole over 500 µm in 42 consecutive patients. Quantified evaluation of the post-operative macular anatomy restoration was performed by spectral-domain optical coherence tomography in the 12mo follow-up. The results showed 41 eyes achieved successful closure (97.6%). Postoperative best corrected visual acuity, ellipsoid layer, and external limiting membrane disruption were significantly improved at all follow-up time points. The central foveal thickness was significantly higher at 1mo. We concluded that free ILM flap transplantation proves to be effective to achieve anatomical and functional improvement for the treatment of large macular hole.

A comparative study of the chalcogen bond, halogen bond and hydrogen bond S⋯O/Cl/H formed between SHX and HOCl.

Ab initio quantum chemistry methods were used to analyze the noncovalent interactions between HOCl and SHX (X = F, CN, NC, Cl, Br, NO2, CCH, CH3, H). Three energetic minimal configurations were characterized for each case, where the S center acts as a Lewis acid interacting with O to form a chalcogen bond, as well as a Lewis base interacting with Cl or H of HOCl to form halogen bond and hydrogen bond, respectively. An electronegative substituent such as F, CN, NC and NO2 tends to form a stronger chalcogen bond, while an electropositive substituent such as CCH, CH3 and H is inclined to form a more stable H-bonded complex. The chalcogen-bonded, halogen-bonded and H-bonded complexes are stabilized by charge transfers from Lp(O) to σ*(SX), from Lp(S) to σ*(ClO), and from Lp(S) to σ*(HO), respectively. As a result, the SHX unit becomes positively charged in halogen-bonded and hydrogen-bonded complexes but negatively charged in chalcogen-bonded complexes. Theory of atoms in molecules, natural bond orbital analysis, molecular electrostatic potential and localized molecular orbital energy decomposition analysis were applied to investigate these noncovalent bonds.