Risk SNP-mediated LINC01614 upregulation drives head and neck squamous cell carcinoma progression via PI3K/AKT signaling pathway.

As potential biomarkers and therapeutic targets, long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) are involved in the tumorigenesis of various tumors. Genetic variation in long noncoding regions can lead to lncRNA dysfunction and even cancer. Nevertheless, studies on the association between lncRNA-associated single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and the risk of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) remain inadequate. Here, we aimed to explore the association between SNPs in LINC01614 and HNSCC risk, and the potential role of LINC01614 in tumorigenesis. In this study, we found that rs16854802 A > G (odds ratio [OR] = 1.42, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.22-1.77, p < 0.001) and rs3113503 G > C (OR = 1.38, 95% CI: 1.15-1.64, p < 0.001) in LINC01614 increased the risk of HNSCC in the Chinese population. Functional bioinformatic analysis and luciferase reporter assay revealed that rs3113503 G > C variant disrupted the binding of miRNA-616-3p to LINC01614, which resulted in the increased expression of LINC01614. Further analysis of the TCGA database demonstrated that the upregulated LINC01614 in HNSCC cancer tissues was associated with poor prognostic in HNSCC patients. In vitro experiments showed that knockdown of LINC01614 inhibited the proliferation, invasion, and migration ability of HNSCC cells. Mechanistically, allele C of rs3113503 in LINC01614 was more effective than allele G in activating the PI3K/AKT signaling pathway. Moreover, the reduced expression of LINC01614 also inhibited the activation of the PI3K/AKT signaling pathway. In summary, our findings revealed that the risk SNP rs3113503 G > C in LINC01614 altered the binding to miR-616-3p, which led to increased LINC01614 expression and promoted HNSCC progression by activating the PI3K/AKT signaling pathway.

Genetic variants of cell cycle pathway genes are associated with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma in the Chinese population.

Genetic alterations in the cell cycle pathway are common in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). We identified four novel HNSCC susceptibility loci (CDKN1C rs452338, CDK4 rs2072052, E2F2 rs3820028 and E2F2 rs2075993) through a two-stage matched case-control study. There was a combined effect among the four single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), as the number of risk genotypes increased, the risk of HNSCC displayed an increasing trend (Ptrend < 0.001). And there were multiplicative interactions between rs452338 and rs2072052, rs2072052 and rs3820028, rs2072052 and rs2075993. Functional bioinformatics analysis and dual-luciferase reporter assay revealed that E2F2 rs2075993 T>C reduced the stability of E2F2 3'-UTR secondary structure and affected the binding of E2F2 to miR-940, which was up-regulated in HNSCC tumor tissues (P = 2.9e-8) and was correlated with poor overall survival of HNSCC (HR = 1.39, 95% CI = 1.02-1.90). In vitro assays, we discovered that the expression of miR-940 was regulated by METTL3, and miR-940 promoted the proliferation, migration and invasion, and inhibited the senescence and autophagy of tumor cells. In terms of mechanism, compared with rs2075993 allele T, we found that the protective variant rs2075993 allele C interfered with the translational inhibition of E2F2 by miR-940, resulting in increased expression of E2F2 protein, which further reduced the proliferation, migration, invasion, and increased the senescence of tumor cells.

One-year mortality and consequences of COVID-19 in cancer patients: A cohort study.

The 1-year mortality and health consequences of COVID-19 in cancer patients are relatively underexplored. In this multicenter cohort study, 166 COVID-19 patients with cancer were compared with 498 non-cancer COVID-19 patients and 498 non-COVID cancer patients. The 1-year all-cause mortality and hospital mortality rates in Cancer COVID-19 Cohort (30% and 20%) were significantly higher than those in COVID-19 Cohort (9% and 8%, both P < .001) and Cancer Cohort (16% and 2%, both P < 0.001). The 12-month all-cause post-discharge mortality rate in survival discharged Cancer COVID-19 Cohort (8%) was higher than that in COVID-19 Cohort (0.4%, P < .001) but similar to that in Cancer Cohort (15%, P = .084). The incidence of sequelae in Cancer COVID-19 Cohort (23%, 26/114) is similar to that in COVID-19 Cohort (30%, 130/432, P = .13). The 1-year all-cause mortality was high among patients with hematologic malignancies (59%), followed by those who have nasopharyngeal, brain, and skin tumors (45%), digestive system neoplasm (43%), and lung cancers (32%). The rate was moderate among patients with genitourinary (14%), female genital (13%), breast (11%), and thyroid tumors (0). COVID-19 patients with cancer showed a high rate of in-hospital mortality and 1-year all-cause mortality, but the 12-month all-cause post-discharge mortality rate in survival discharged cancer COVID-19 patients was similar to that in Cancer Cohort. Comparing to COVID-19 Cohort, risk stratification showed that hematologic, nasopharyngeal, brain, digestive system, and lung tumors were high risk (44% vs 9%, P < 0.001), while genitourinary, female genital, breast, and thyroid tumors had moderate risk (10% vs 9%, P = .85) in COVID-19 Cancer Cohort. Different tumor subtypes had different effects on COVID-19. But if cancer patients with COVID-19 manage to survive their COVID-19 infections, then long-term mortality appears to be similar to the cancer patients without COVID-19, and their long-term clinical sequelae were similar to the COVID-19 patients without cancer.

Growth curves of myopia-related parameters to clinically monitor the refractive development in Chinese schoolchildren.

PURPOSE: To produce a clinical model for the prediction of myopia development based on the creation of percentile curves of axial length in school-aged children from Wuhan in central China. METHODS: Data of 12,554 children (6054 girls and 6500 boys) were collected and analyzed for the generation of the axial length growth curves. A second data set with 226 children and three yearly successive measurements was used to verify the predictive power of the axial length growth percentile curves. Percentile curves were calculated for both gender groups and four age groups (6, 9, 12, and 15 years). The second data set was used to verify the efficacy of identifying the refractive error of the children using the axial length curves, based on their spherical refractive error from the third visit. RESULTS: From 6 to 15 years of age, all percentiles showed a growth trend in axial length, except for the percentiles below the first quartile, which appear to stabilize after the age of 12 (- 0.10; 95%CI, - 0.36-0.16; P = 0.23 for girls; - 0.16; 95%CI, - 0.70-0.39; P = 0.34 for boys); however, the growth continued for the remaining 75% of cases. The second data set showed that the likelihood of suffering high myopia (spherical refractive error ≤- 5.00D) during adolescent years increased when axial length values were above the first quartile, for both genders. CONCLUSIONS: The data from the current study provide a tool to observe the annual growth rates of axial length and can be considered as an approach to predict the refractive development at school ages.

A functional variant at the miRNA binding site in E2F1 gene is associated with risk and tumor HPV16 status of oropharynx squamous cell carcinoma.

Human papillomavirus (HPV) activates E2F1-driven transcription via the E7-RB1-E2F pathway. Genetic polymorphisms in the 3' untranslated region (UTR) targeted by miRNAs can affect the regulation of target genes and individual cancer risk. Thus, we hypothesized that a polymorphism at the 3'UTR miRNA binding site of E2F1 gene (rs3213180) was associated with risk of oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) and tumor HPV status of oropharynx squamous cell carcinoma (OPSCC). We determined the E2F1rs3213180 polymorphism and HPV16 L1 serology of 325 OSCC patients and 335 controls, and tumor HPV16 status of 552 OPSCC. Logistic regression models were used to calculate associations of E2F1rs3213180 polymorphism with risk of HPV-associated OSCC and tumor HPV status of OPSCC. The risk of HPV-associated OSCC was modified by the E2F1rs3213180 polymorphism. Patients with both HPV seropositivity and the Ins/Del or Ins/Ins genotype of E2F1rs3213180 had the highest risk of OSCC, while the lowest risk was detected in patients with HPV seronegativity and the Del/Del genotype. A similar and more prominent effect was detected in OPSCC, but not in oral cavity squamous cell carcinoma (OCSCC) patients. Notably, that effect trend was pronounced in never-smokers and never-drinkers. Furthermore, the patients with the E2F1rs3213180 Ins/Del or Ins/Ins genotype were 2.9 times more likely to have HPV-positive tumors than those with the Del/Del genotype. Our results suggest that the E2F1rs3213180 polymorphism may influence susceptibility to HPV-associated OSCC, particularly for OPSCC, never-smokers and never-drinkers, but not for patients with OCSCC. Additional larger population and functional studies are warranted to confirm our findings. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Effect of human papillomavirus seropositivity and E2F2 promoter variants on risk of squamous cell carcinomas of oropharynx and oral cavity.

Given roles of HPV and genetic factors in cancer risk, we evaluated associations of HPV16 seropositivity and five E2F2 promoter variants with squamous cell carcinoma of oropharynx (SCCOP) and squamous cell carcinoma of oral cavity (SCCOC) risk in a case-control study of 325 patients and 335 cancer-free matched controls. We found that HPV16 seropositivity was significantly associated with SCCOP risk (aOR, 5.4, 95%CI, 3.7-8.9) but not SCCOC (aOR, 0.8, 95%CI, 0.4-1.5), while each E2F2 polymorphism had no significant main effect on SCCOP and SCCOC risk. However, after combining HPV serological status and E2F2 promoter variants together, the modification effect of HPV serology and individual or combined risk genotypes of five polymorphisms on risk was significantly higher among SCCOP than among SCCOC. Furthermore, the stratified analysis by smoking status showed that all such modifying effects aforementioned on SCCOP were more pronounced in never smokers than in smokers. These findings are in agreement with those of previous studies, in which a majority of SCCOP were caused by HPV infection, whereas most SCCOC were found to be caused by smoking and drinking. Taken together, these findings indicate that the risk of SCCOP as opposed to SCCOC associated with HPV16 seropositivity was modified by E2F2 promoter variants either individually or jointly, especially in never smokers.

A mixture of hierarchical joint models for longitudinal data with heterogeneity, non-normality, missingness, and covariate measurement error.

Longitudinal data arise frequently in medical studies and it is a common practice to analyze such complex data with nonlinear mixed-effects (NLME) models. However, the following four issues may be critical in longitudinal data analysis. (i) A homogeneous population assumption for models may be unrealistically obscuring important features of between-subject and within-subject variations; (ii) normality assumption for model errors may not always give robust and reliable results, in particular, if the data exhibit skewness; (iii) the responses may be missing and the missingness may be nonignorable; and (iv) some covariates of interest may often be measured with substantial errors. When carrying out statistical inference in such settings, it is important to account for the effects of these data features; otherwise, erroneous or even misleading results may be produced. Inferential procedures can be complicated dramatically when these four data features arise. In this article, the Bayesian joint modeling approach based on a finite mixture of NLME joint models with skew distributions is developed to study simultaneous impact of these four data features, allowing estimates of both model parameters and class membership probabilities at population and individual levels. A real data example is analyzed to demonstrate the proposed methodologies, and to compare various scenarios-based potential models with different specifications of distributions.

Effect of continuous positive airway pressure on homocysteine levels in patients with obstructive sleep apnea: a meta-analysis.

PURPOSE: Continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) is an effective treatment for obstructive sleep apnea hypopnea syndrome (OSAHS), but previous studies assessing the effect of CPAP on homocysteine (HCY) in patients with OSAHS yielded conflicting results. In this study, we conducted a meta-analysis to determine whether CPAP therapy could reduce plasma HCY levels. METHODS: Searches of PUBMED, SCI, and Elsevier databases were completed. Studies of adult patients with OSAHS who reported HCY levels pre- and post-CPAP treatment were collected by two independent reviewers. RevMan (version 5.2) and STATA (version 12.0) were used to perform data synthesis. RESULTS: A total of 6 studies involving 206 participants were included. Meta-analysis showed that the total weighted mean difference (WMD) for HCY levels was -0.62 units (95% confidence interval (CI) -1.21 to -0.04, P<0.05) post- and pre-CPAP therapy. Subgroup analysis showed that HCY was decreased nonsignificantly within 3 months after the therapy (WMD, -0.07, 95% CI -0.88 to 0.74, P>0.05), but it was significantly reduced after 3 months therapy (WMD, -1.22, 95% CI -2.07 to -0.38, P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: This meta-analysis suggests that HCY levels were significantly reduced by CPAP therapy in patients with OSAHS and the HCY levels may be clinically recognized as a valuable indicator for OSAHS treatment, but the clinical significance of this finding as it relates to cardiovascular risk reduction in OSAHS patients warrants further study.

[Relationship between the body mass index, waist circumference and lipids levels among adults in Shenzhen].

OBJECTIVE: To study the relationship between the body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC) and lipids levels, dyslipidemia among adults. METHODS: Totally 12 communities from 8 districts were sampled through stratified randomized sampling, 75 households from each community were sampled by random sampling for questionnaire survey, physical examination and laboratory tests. RESULTS: Within different BMI categories, the triglyceride (TG) in higher BMI group were higher than in lower BMI group, and the high density lipoprotein-c (HDL-c) in higher BMI group were lower than in higher BMI group; Within different WC categories, the TG, total cholesterol (TC), low density lipoprotein-c (LDL-c) in higher WC group were higher than in lower WC group. With the increase of BMI/WC, the levels of TG, TC and LDL-c showed a rising trend (P<0.05), HDL-c showed a falling trend (P<0.05). With the increase of BMI, the odds ratios (ORs) of high TG, high TC, low HDL-c, high LDL-c and dyslipidemia showed a rising trend (P<0.05), and with the increase of WC, the ORs of high TG, high TC, high LDL-c and dyslipidemia showed a rising trend (P<0.05). There were positive partial correlations between BMI/WC and TG, TC, HDL-c, LDL-c. HDL-c had a higher correlation with BMI (P<0.05), TC had a higher correlation with WC (P<0.05). CONCLUSION: BMI and WC were independently associated with blood lipids levels, and high BMI and WC were the risk factors for dyslipidemia.

Prediction of refractive error and its progression: a machine learning-based algorithm.

OBJECTIVE: Myopia is the refractive error that shows the highest prevalence for younger ages in Southeast Asia and its projection over the next decades indicates that this situation will worsen. Nowadays, several management solutions are being applied to help fight its onset and development, nonetheless, the applications of these techniques depend on a clear and reliable assessment of risk to develop myopia. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: In this study, population-based data of Chinese children were used to develop a machine learning-based algorithm that enables the risk assessment of myopia's onset and development. Cross-sectional data of 12 780 kids together with longitudinal data of 226 kids containing age, gender, biometry and refractive parameters were used for the development of the models. RESULTS: A combination of support vector regression and Gaussian process regression resulted in the best performing algorithm. The Pearson correlation coefficient between prediction and measured data was 0.77, whereas the bias was -0.05 D and the limits of agreement was 0.85 D (95% CI: -0.91 to 0.80D). DISCUSSION: The developed algorithm uses accessible inputs to provide an estimate of refractive development and may serve as guide for the eye care professional to help determine the individual best strategy for management of myopia.

Combined effects of E2F1 and E2F2 polymorphisms on risk and early onset of squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck.

Deregulated expression of most members of the E2F family has been detected in many human cancers. We examined the association of common single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of E2F transcription factors 1 and 2 (E2F1 and E2F2) with risk of squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (SCCHN) in 1,096 SCCHN patients and 1,090 cancer-free controls. We genotyped 10 selected SNPs in E2F1 and E2F2, including those at the near 5'-untranslated region (UTR), microRNA (miRNA)-binding sites at the near 3'-UTR and tagSNPs according to bioinformatics analysis. Although none of the selected SNPs alone was significantly associated with risk of SCCHN, there was a statistically significantly increased risk of SCCHN associated with the combined risk genotypes (i.e., rs3213182 AA, rs3213183 GG, rs3213180 GG, rs321318121 GG, rs2742976 GT+TT, rs6667575 GA+AA, rs3218203 CC, rs3218148 AA, rs3218211 CC, and rs3218123 GT+TT). Compared with those with 0-4 risk genotypes, an increased risk was observed for those who carried 5-8 risk genotypes (adjusted OR = 1.04; 95% CI = 0.86-1.26) and 9-10 risk genotypes (adjusted OR = 1.62; 95% CI = 1.14-2.30) in a dose-response manner (P = 0.045). Furthermore, the joint effect was more pronounced among patients with oropharyngeal cancer, younger adults (≤57 yr old), men, non-smokers, non-drinkers, and individuals with family history of cancer in first-degree relatives. Additionally, we also observed that those with 5-10 risk genotypes had an earlier SCCHN onset than those with 0-4 risk genotypes, particularly for non-smokers and/or non-drinkers. We concluded that E2F1 and E2F2 genetic variants may jointly play important roles in head and neck carcinogenesis.

LMS parameters, percentile, and Z-score growth curves for axial length in Chinese schoolchildren in Wuhan.

Understanding the ocular structural changes are fundamental to defining strategies for myopia prevention and management. This study aimed to establish age-gender specific normative LMS parameters for axial length to generate percentile and Z-score growth curves in a population of Chinese schoolchildren. A total of 14,760 individuals aged 6 to 15 years from Wuhan, central China, contributed to this study. The LMS method was used for the calculation of LMS parameters and the generation of percentile and Z-score growth curves for axial length. Growth curves derived from the LMS parameters were compared with those originally calculated. Axial elongation was age- and percentile-dependent. The highest elongation rate occurred at the 98th percentile in the range 6 to 9 years, being up to 1.46 mm in boys and 1.42 mm in girls. The largest differences between original and newly generated growth curves were detected at the 98th percentile at age 15; 0.78 mm (females) and 0.63 mm (males). Multinomial logistic regression and receiver operating characteristic analyses revealed Z-scores as a good predictor for estimating high myopia development. The axial length growth curves presented in this study provide a technically solid instrument that depicts the best description of physiological eye growth for Chinese schoolchildren aged 6 to 15 years.

Effect of sex on the gut microbiota characteristics of passerine migratory birds.

The gut microbiota, considered the "invisible organ" in the host animal, has been extensively studied recently. However, knowledge about the gut microbiota characteristics of passerine migratory birds during migration is limited. This study investigated the gut microbiota characteristics of three dominant migratory bird species (namely orange-flanked bluetail Tarsiger cyanurus, yellow-throated bunting Emberiza elegans, and black-faced bunting Emberiza spodocephala) in the same niche during spring migration and whether they were bird sex-specific. The compositions of gut microbiota species in these three migratory bird species and their male and female individuals were found to be similar. The main bacterial phyla were Proteobacteria, Firmicutes, Actinobacteria, and Bacteroidetes, and the main genera were Lactobacillus, Acinetobacter, Rickettsiella, and Mycobacterium; however, their relative abundance was different. Moreover, some potential pathogens and beneficial bacteria were found in all the three bird species. Alpha diversity analysis showed that in T. cyanurus, the richness and diversity of the gut microbiota were higher in male individuals than in female individuals, while the opposite was true for E. elegans and E. spodocephala. The alpha diversity analysis showed significant differences between male and female individuals of E. elegans (p < 0.05). The beta diversity analysis also revealed that the gut microbial community structure differed significantly between the male and female individuals of the three migratory bird species.

Simulation of overland flow considering the influence of topographic depressions.

The simulation of overland flow, wherein runoff yield and concentration are influenced by topography, is fundamental to hydrological forecasting. Therefore, critically evaluating the characteristics of overland flow under the influence of topographic depressions-which are one of the most common microtopographic structures-is vital for improving current hydrological models. In this study, we developed a solution for the real-world application of overland flow simulations under the influence of depressions in hydrological models. A relative depression storage-outflow curve (RDOC) was proposed to investigate surface outflow processes. Experiments were conducted based on the variable-controlling approach using three rainfall return periods, four slopes, and four depression rates while ensuring a consistent initial soil moisture content. A homogenized RDOC was achieved based on shape analysis; it was parameterized by the outflow threshold and the reciprocal of the curve index of two outflow stages (B and D). A relative depression storage-outflow function (RDOF) was generated and a complete calculation procedure was applied within a hydrological model. Furthermore, we analyzed the hydrological responses to parameters of different hydrological factors to improve our understanding of the parameter determination of the RDOF.

Association between the NBS1 E185Q polymorphism and cancer risk: a meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: NBS1 is a key DNA repair protein in the homologous recombination repair pathway and a signal modifier in the intra-S phase checkpoint that plays important roles in maintaining genomic stability. The NBS1 8360G>C (Glu185Gln) is one of the most commonly studied polymorphisms of the gene for their association with risk of cancers, but the results are conflicting. METHODS: We performed a meta-analysis using 16 eligible case-control studies (including 17 data sets) with a total of 9,734 patients and 10,325 controls to summarize the data on the association between the NBS1 8360G>C (E185Q) polymorphism and cancer risk. RESULTS: Compared with the common 8360GG genotype, the carriers of variant genotypes (i.e., 8360 GC/CC) had a 1.06-fold elevated risk of cancer (95% CI = 1.00-1.12, P = 0.05) in a dominant genetic model as estimated in a fixed effect model. However, the association was not found in an additive genetic model (CC vs GG) (odds ratio, OR = 0.98, 95% CI = 0.85-1.13, P = 0.78) nor in a recessive genetic model (CC vs GC +GG) (OR = 0.94, 95% CI = 0.82-1.07, P = 0.36). The effect of the 8360G>C (E185Q) polymorphism was further evaluated in stratification analysis. It was demonstrated that the increased risk of cancer associated with 8360G>C variant genotypes was more pronounced in the Caucasians (OR = 1.07, 95% CI = 1.01-1.14, P = 0.03). CONCLUSION: Our meta-analysis suggests that the NBS1 E185Q variant genotypes (8360 GC/CC) might be associated with an increased risk of cancer, especially in Caucasians.

A Risk Score System for Myopia Symptom Warning.

Myopia is the leading cause of visual impairments worldwide. Some studies revealed that visual experience in early life affected the final myopia, indicating that environmental factors play an impellent role in the development of myopia. However, risk factors of myopia are still not identified among adolescents in China. A total of 4104 cases of myopia symptom and 3306 emmetropia controls were selected from students in primary and middle schools in Wuhan in 2008. We identified the risk factors associated with myopia symptom by multivariate logistic regression in this cross-sectional study and constructed a risk score system for myopia symptom. The value of the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) was 0.735. Furthermore, we followed up 93 students aged 7-9 years for one year and calculated the total points using the score system. We found no significant difference between the final myopia symptom and the results predicted by the total points by pair chi-square test (P>0.05). The score system had a modest ability to estimate the risk factors of myopia symptom. Using this score system, we could identify the students who are at risk of myopia symptom in the future according to their behaviors and environmental factors, and take measures to slow the progress of myopia symptom.

Emerging Concepts and Methodologies in Cancer Biomarker Discovery.

Cancer biomarker discovery is a critical part of cancer prevention and treatment. Despite the decades of effort, only a small number of cancer biomarkers have been identified for and validated in clinical settings. Conceptual and methodological breakthroughs may help accelerate the discovery of additional cancer biomarkers, particularly their use for diagnostics. In this review, we have attempted to review the emerging concepts in cancer biomarker discovery, including real-world evidence, open access data, and data paucity in rare or uncommon cancers. We have also summarized the recent methodological progress in cancer biomarker discovery, such as high-throughput sequencing, liquid biopsy, big data, artificial intelligence (AI), and deep learning and neural networks. Much attention has been given to the methodological details and comparison of the methodologies. Notably, these concepts and methodologies interact with each other and will likely lead to synergistic effects when carefully combined. Newer, more innovative concepts and methodologies are emerging as the current emerging ones became mainstream and widely applied to the field. Some future challenges are also discussed. This review contributes to the development of future theoretical frameworks and technologies in cancer biomarker discovery and will contribute to the discovery of more useful cancer biomarkers.

MicroRNA signatures predict prognosis of patients with glioblastoma multiforme through the Cancer Genome Atlas.

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) play major roles in various biological processes and have been implicated in the pathogenesis and malignant progression of glioblastoma multiforme (GBM). The aim of this study was to assess the predictive values of miRNAs for overall survival (OS) of patients with GBM. MiRNA expression profiles and clinical information of 563 GBM patients were obtained from the Cancer Genome Atlas. The most significantly altered miRNAs were identified and miRNA expression profiles were performed, through principal component analysis, the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator method. The survival analysis was performed using the Cox regression models. Additionally, receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis was used to assess the performance of survival prediction. We used the bioinformatics tools to establish the miRNA signature for biological relevance assessment. A linear prognostic model of three miRNAs was developed and the patients were divided into high risk and low risk groups based this model. The area under the ROC curve (AUC) for the three miRNA signature predicting 5-year survival was 0.894 (95%CI, 0.789-1.000) in the testing set and0.841 (95%CI, 0.689-0.993) in all GBM patients. High risk patients had significantly shorter OS than patients with low risk (P< 0.001). The results from this study support a three miRNA signature for outcome prediction of GBM. These results provided a new prospect for prognostic biomarker of GBM.

Association between parents' attitudes and behaviors toward children's visual care and myopia risk in school-aged children.

The purpose of this survey was to determine the association of parents' attitudes and behaviors toward children's visual care with myopia risk in school-aged children.A total of 894 parents of school-aged children were investigated in primary and middle schools in the central and noncentral urban area in Wuhan through stratified cluster random sampling on July, 2015. We analyzed the association by the generalized linear mixed model.The results indicated that children with parents' high expectations of 1.5 or higher on their vision exhibited a decreased risk of myopia compared with 1.0 and 0.5 or lower (OR = 0.49, 95%CI = 0.36-0.67). Children whose parents only paid attention to their vision in junior and senior school and in primary school had an increased myopia risk than that in preschool (OR = 2.12, 95%CI = 1.01-4.45, and OR = 3.11, 95%CI = 1.28-7.58, respectively). Children whose parents ensured for their sufficient sleep had a decreased myopia risk (OR = 0.45, 95%CI = 0.24-0.85). Compared with children whose parents who never adjusted electronic devices' parameters, the odds ratio of sometimes was 0.49 (95%CI = 0.31-0.79), often 0.53 (95%CI = 0.33-0.85), and always 0.44 (95%CI = 0.26-0.75), respectively.Parents' attitudes and behaviors toward children's visual care are significantly associated with the myopia risk in school-aged children. Consequently, efforts should be made to educate parents on how they protect children's vision and reduce their risk of myopia.

Meniett Therapy for Ménière's Disease: An Updated Meta-analysis.

OBJECTIVE: To re-evaluate the efficacy of Meniett therapy for the treatment of Ménière's disease (MD). DATA SOURCES: PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, Clinicaltrials.gov, ChiCTR, and the CNKI database were searched for articles in English and Chinese published before August 31, 2015. STUDY SELECTION: Included in this meta-analysis were studies that dealt with outcomes of Meniett therapy for the treatment of MD, including randomized controlled clinical trials, case-control studies, and prospective or retrospective cohort studies, with sample sizes of ≥ 10 subjects. DATA EXTRACTION: Keywords included endolymphatic hydrops, Ménière's disease, pressure, Meniett, and transtympanic micropressure treatment. DATA SYNTHESIS: Fourteen studies were included, involving a total of 345 MD patients. Data were analyzed using the Meta package in R. Dichotomous outcomes were expressed as risk ratios with 95% confidence intervals, and weighted mean differences with 95% confidence intervals were used to present continuous outcomes. Heterogeneity of the included studies was quantitatively assessed by χ(2) and I tests. Fixed-effects models were used for I(2) <50%; otherwise, random-effects models were used. Funnel plots were constructed to test the publication bias. CONCLUSION: This study showed that Meniett therapy may prevent vertigo attacks and substantially reduce its frequency in MD patients. It may also alleviate the functional deficit. The impact of Meniett therapy on hearing remains uncertain. The optimal effect might maintain for approximately 18 months. This meta-analysis suggested that Meniett therapy may be a useful second-line therapy in the treatment of MD.