Using an Improved Residual Network to Identify PIK3CA Mutation Status in Breast Cancer on Ultrasound Image.

Background: The detection of phosphatidylinositol-3 kinase catalytic alpha (PIK3CA) gene mutations in breast cancer is a key step to design personalizing an optimal treatment strategy. Traditional genetic testing methods are invasive and time-consuming. It is urgent to find a non-invasive method to estimate the PIK3CA mutation status. Ultrasound (US), one of the most common methods for breast cancer screening, has the advantages of being non-invasive, fast imaging, and inexpensive. In this study, we propose to develop a deep convolutional neural network (DCNN) to identify PIK3CA mutations in breast cancer based on US images. Materials and Methods: We retrospectively collected 312 patients with pathologically confirmed breast cancer who underwent genetic testing. All US images (n=800) of breast cancer patients were collected and divided into the training set (n=600) and test set (n=200). A DCNN-Improved Residual Network (ImResNet) was designed to identify the PIK3CA mutations. We also compared the ImResNet model with the original ResNet50 model, classical machine learning models, and other deep learning models. Results: The proposed ImResNet model has the ability to identify PIK3CA mutations in breast cancer based on US images. Notably, our ImResNet model outperforms the original ResNet50, DenseNet201, Xception, MobileNetv2, and two machine learning models (SVM and KNN), with an average area under the curve (AUC) of 0.775. Moreover, the overall accuracy, average precision, recall rate, and F1-score of the ImResNet model achieved 74.50%, 74.17%, 73.35%, and 73.76%, respectively. All of these measures were significantly higher than other models. Conclusion: The ImResNet model gives an encouraging performance in predicting PIK3CA mutations based on breast US images, providing a new method for noninvasive gene prediction. In addition, this model could provide the basis for clinical adjustments and precision treatment.

Analysis of ARID1B gene variants in two Chinese pedigrees with Coffin-Siris syndrome / 中华医学遗传学杂志

OBJECTIVE@#To explore the genetic basis for two Chinese pedigrees affected with Coffin-Siris syndrome (CSS).@*METHODS@#Whole exome sequencing (WES) was carried out for the probands. Candidate variants were verified by Sanger sequencing of the probands and their family members.@*RESULTS@#The two probands were respectively found to harbor a heterozygous c.5467delG (p.Gly1823fs) variant and a heterozygous c.5584delA (p.Lys1862fs) variant of the ARID1B gene, which were both of de novo in origin and unreported previously. Based on the guidelines of American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics, both variants were predicted to be pathogenic (PVS1+PS2+PM2).@*CONCLUSION@#The c.5467delG (p.Gly1823fs) and c.5545delA (p.Lys1849fs) variants of the ARID1B genes probably underlay the CSS in the two probands. Above results have enabled genetic counselling and prenatal diagnosis for the pedigrees.

Nursing intervention based on domiciliary oxygen therapy tracking tables quantitative classification for elderly patients with stable chronic obstructive pulmonary disease / 中华护理杂志

Objective To explore the effects of nursing intervention based on domiciliary oxygen therapy tracking tables (DOTT) quantitative classification on domiciliary oxygen in elderly patients with stable chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).Methods Forty-two cases of elderly patients with stable COPD treated by domiciliary oxygen therapy from January 2015 to March 2015 were selected as the experimental group,and were given bilateral nasal catheter domiciliary oxygen therapy,and were provided domiciliary oxygen therapy management,nursing education and intervention according to results of family oxygen therapy compliance,symptom identification and oxygen safety,and family oxygen therapy confidence evaluated by family oxygen therapy tracking table.Other 30 cases of patients with stable COPD treated by bilateral nasal catheter domiciliary oxygen therapy and routine nursing during the same period of time were selected as the control group.Both groups were provided nursing care for at least 6 months.Nursing adherence,acute episode,patient satisfaction,and quality of life score before and after nursing of two groups were compared.Results Compared with the control group,nursing adherence and patient satisfaction after 6 months in the experimental group were higher,while rate of patients with acute episodes ≥ 2 times in the experimental group was lower (P＜0.05).Compared with that before nursing intervention,quality of life scores of two groups after nursing intervention were lower(P＜0.05).Compared with the control group,quality of life scores of the experimental group were all decreased (P＜0.05).Conclusion Nursing intervention based on domiciliary oxygen therapy tracking tables quantitative classification can effectively reduce the incidence of acute episodes,improve patient's nursing compliance,patient satisfaction,and quality of life.

[Corn straw composting in the field and in situ fertilizer effect].

According to the fact that corn straws remain or burned in the field in hilly and mountainous areas of Southwest China, which causes organic matter waste and serious atmospheric pollution, it is necessary to develop an efficient method to compost the corn straws. In the present experiment, corn straws were placed on the landside and land corner for composting with thermophilic cellulous bacteria inoculated, chemical nitrogen and nitrogen absorption agent added, and then covered with polyethylene film (bio-composting). Thereafter, flue-cured tobacco grown in the same land was fertilized with the compost to study the fertilizer effect. The results showed that the temperature in bio-compost increased quickly (over than 35 degrees C within 2 to 3 days) but decreased slowly compared to natural composting (control). In the bio-compost, temperature over than 50 degrees C lasted for about 15 days and the number of bacteria was 100 to 1000 times higher than in the control de- spite that microbial groups decreased in the high temperature period. After 90 days of bio-composting, corn straws contained water less than 25% with pH 6. 14 and showed brown or black color and fragmental or farinose physical state, indicating good decomposition and humification. Meanwhile, the active organic matter and nutrients, including N, P and K, were significantly increased. The yield, mean price, economical output of flue-cured tobacco leaves were increased and the leaf quality was improved by application of chemical fertilizers plus the compost at the ratio of 1:1. Therefore, bio-composting could utilize efficiently corn straws and eliminate air pollution, which is worth popularization in hilly and mountain areas.

Quality of abstracts for randomised controlled trials published in Journal of Clinical Anesthesiology based on CONSORT for Abstracts / 临床麻醉学杂志

Objective To assess the quality of randomized controlled trials(RCT)abstracts published in Journal of Clinical Anesthesiology by CONSORT for Abstracts.Methods Articles invol-ving human RCTs published from 2012 to 2013 were reviewed and searched through WanFang Med Online.Trials involving animal experiments,in vitro,RCTs without abstract,and meta-analyses were excluded.According to the CONSORT checklists for abstracts,the quality of abstracts for RCT were assessed.Results In total,392 RCT abstracts were analysed.The median word counts of ab-stracts was 364 (IQR 306-444),sample size was 60 (IQR 40-80).Almost all abstracts provided an appropriate description of conclusions (100%), numbers randomized (99.0%) and objective (99.0%).The majority of abstracts described interventions (94.6%)and participants (82.4%).Re-quirements present in less than 50% of the abstracts were details regarding trial design (46.2%)and harms (48.7%).The descriptions of randomization (13.3%),blinding (1.8%),methods-outcome (3.6%)and results-outcome (9.7%)were very low.Moreover,title,recruitment and numbers ana-lysed were not reported.Conclusion The quality of RCT abstracts and adherence to the CONSORT checklist for abstracts remains poor,and the CONSORT for Abstracts should be endorsed to improve the quality of RCT abstracts as early as possible.

Effects of penicillin on procaine-elicited bursts of potential in central neuron of snail, Achatina fulica.

Effects of penicillin on changes in procaine-elicited bursts of potential (BoP) were studied in a central neuron (RP4) of snail, Achatina fulica Ferussac. Procaine elicited BoP in the RP4 neuron while penicillin elicited depolarization of the neuron. Penicillin decreased the BoP elicited by procaine in a concentration-dependent manner. The effect of penicillin on the procaine-elicited BoP was not altered in the preparations treated with ascorbate or L-NAME (N-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester). However, the inhibitory effect of penicillin on the procaine-elicited BoP was enhanced with a decrease in extracellular sodium ion. Sodium ion was one of the important ions contributing to the action potential of the neuron. Two-electrode voltage-clamp studies revealed that penicillin decreased the fast sodium inward current of the neuron. It is concluded that penicillin inhibited the BoP elicited by procaine and sodium ion altered the effect of penicillin on procaine-elicited BoP.