HOT: An Efficient Halpern Accelerating Algorithm for Optimal Transport Problems.

This paper proposes an efficient HOT algorithm for solving the optimal transport (OT) problems with finite supports. We particularly focus on an efficient implementation of the HOT algorithm for the case where the supports are in $\mathbb {R}^{2}$R2 with ground distances calculated by $L_{2}^{2}$L22-norm. Specifically, we design a Halpern accelerating algorithm to solve the equivalent reduced model of the discrete OT problem.

Improved early postoperative cognition in elderly gastrointestinal patients: a randomized controlled trial on the role of ultrasound-guided stellate ganglion block.

Background: This study evaluates the impact of ultrasound-guided stellate ganglion block (SGB) on early postoperative cognitive dysfunction (POCD) in elderly patients who underwent laparoscopic gastrointestinal (GI) surgery, as well as its potential effect on oxidative stress and inflammatory responses.

Methods: In this randomized controlled trial, 104 elderly patients scheduled for elective laparoscopic GI surgery were randomized to receive ultrasound-guided SGB before general anesthesia (SGB group) or general anesthesia alone (control group). A total of 98 patients completed the study.

MiR-875-5p suppresses Gli1 to alter the hedgehog signaling pathway, which in turn has hepatocellular cancer-related tumor suppressing properties.

Background: One of the most prevalent cancers worldwide is HCC, which has put patient health at risk. Increasing evidence indicated that messenger RNAs (mRNAs) played significant roles in modulating tumorigenesis. It has been established that Gli1 acts as an oncogene in a number of malignancies.

Impact of butorphanol versus sufentanil on postoperative cognition and inflammation in elderly: a pilot study.

Background: This randomized controlled trial aimed to compare the effects of butorphanol and sufentanil on early post-operative cognitive dysfunction (POCD) and systemic inflammation in older surgical patients.

Methods: Patients (aged 65 years or above) undergoing surgeries with general anesthesia were randomized to either the butorphanol group (40 μg/kg during anesthesia induction) or the sufentanil group (0.4 μg/kg).

Influence of Neostigmine on Early Postoperative Cognitive Dysfunction in Older Adult Patients Undergoing Noncardiac Surgery: A Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled, Randomized Controlled Trial.

Background: The goal of this study was to investigate the efficacy of neostigmine on postoperative cognitive dysfunction (POCD) and determine its effect on systematic markers of oxidative stress in older patients.

Methods: This double-blind placebo-controlled trial enrolled 118 elderly patients (≥65 years) undergoing noncardiac surgeries who were allocated to a neostigmine treatment group (0.04 mg/kg) or a placebo control group (normal saline) postoperatively.

Effect of anesthesia induction with butorphanol on postoperative nausea and vomiting: A randomized controlled trial.

Background: Postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV) are common complications that affect the recovery and well-being of elderly patients undergoing gastrointestinal laparoscopic surgery.

Aim: To investigate the effect of butorphanol on PONV in this patient population.

Methods: A total of 110 elderly patients (≥ 65 years old) who underwent gastrointestinal laparoscopic surgery were randomly assigned to receive butorphanol (40 μg/kg) or sufentanil (0.

Improvement of Reinforcement Learning With Supermodularity.

Reinforcement learning (RL) is a promising approach to tackling learning and decision-making problems in a dynamic environment. Most studies on RL focus on the improvement of state evaluation or action evaluation. In this article, we investigate how to reduce action space by using supermodularity.

COL11A1-driven positive feedback loop modulates fibroblast transformation and activates pancreatic cancer progression.

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is one of the most common leading causes of cancer death. The cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) in the tumor microenvironment (TME) aggravate the malignant behavior of PDAC. However, it is still unknown how PDAC induces normal fibroblasts (NFs) to CAFs.

Efficacy and safety of propofol target-controlled infusion combined with butorphanol for sedated colonoscopy.

Background: Propofol is a short-acting, rapid-recovering anesthetic widely used in sedated colonoscopy for the early detection, diagnosis and treatment of colon diseases. However, the use of propofol alone may require high doses to achieve the induction of anesthesia in sedated colonoscopy, which has been associated with anesthesia-related adverse events (AEs), including hypoxemia, sinus bradycardia, and hypotension. Therefore, propofol co-administrated with other anesthetics has been proposed to reduce the required dose of propofol, enhance the efficacy, and improve the satisfaction of patients receiving colonoscopy under sedation.

Anesthetic effect of different doses of butorphanol in patients undergoing gastroscopy and colonoscopy.

Background: This study aimed to investigate the anesthetic effect of butorphanol with different doses in patients undergoing gastroscopy and colonoscopy.

Methods: 480 patients undergoing gastroscopy and colonoscopy were recruited and randomly divided into four groups to receive different doses of butorphanol (Group A = 2.5 μg/kg, Group B = 5 μg/kg, Group C = 7.

Subgroup analysis in the heterogeneous Cox model.

In the analysis of censored survival data, to avoid a biased inference of treatment effects on the hazard function of the survival time, it is important to consider the treatment heterogeneity. Without requiring any prior knowledge about the subgroup structure, we propose a data driven subgroup analysis procedure for the heterogeneous Cox model by constructing a pairwise fusion penalized partial likelihood-based objective function. The proposed method can determine the number of subgroups, identify the group structure, and estimate the treatment effect simultaneously and automatically.

The effects of neostigmine on postoperative cognitive function and inflammatory factors in elderly patients - a randomized trial.

Background: Postoperative cognitive dysfunction is a common postoperative complication in elderly patients. In elderly patients, the decline of organ function and neuromuscular junction function make them more sensitive to muscle relaxants. They are more likely to experience residual muscle relaxation after surgery, which may cause various adverse events.

A universal descriptor based on p-orbitals for the catalytic activity of multi-doped carbon bifunctional catalysts for oxygen reduction and evolution.

Dual-/multi-heteroatom-doped carbon nanomaterials have been demonstrated to be effective bi-/multi-functional catalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and the oxygen evolution reaction (OER), the critical reactions in fuel cells and metal-air batteries, respectively. However, trial-and-error routes are usually used to search for better catalysts from multi-doped complex material systems, and establishing design principles or intrinsic descriptors would accelerate the discovery of new efficient catalysts. Here, a descriptor based on p-orbitals of active sites is proposed to describe the catalytic performance of dual-/tri-element-doped graphene catalysts for the ORR and the OER.

Identification of RE1-Silencing Transcription Factor as a Promoter of Metastasis in Pancreatic Cancer.

Pancreatic cancer is characterized by its rapid progression and early metastasis. This requires further elucidation of the key promoters for its progression and metastasis. In this study, we identified REST as the hub gene of a gene module which is closely associated with cancer stage by weighted gene correlation network analysis.

Integrated whole genome microarray analysis and immunohistochemical assay identifies COL11A1, GJB2 and CTRL as predictive biomarkers for pancreatic cancer.

Background: Pancreatic cancer is characterized by its unsatisfying early detection rate, rapid disease progression and poor prognosis. Further studies on molecular mechanism and novel predictive biomarkers for pancreatic cancer based on a large sample volume are required.

Methods: Multiple bioinformatic analysis tools were utilized for identification and characterization of differentially expressed genes (DEGs) from a merged microarray data (100 pancreatic cancer samples and 62 normal samples).

Dose-dependent effects of intravenous methoxamine infusion during hip-joint replacement surgery on postoperative cognitive dysfunction and blood TNF-α level in elderly patients: a randomized controlled trial.

Background: Postoperative cognitive dysfunction (POCD), common in elderly patients, is thought to be closely associated with intraoperative instability of hemodynamics and excessive excretion of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α). Methoxamine is a blood-pressure increasing drug commonly used for maintaining intraoperative hemodynamics. Methoxamine potentially promotes TNF-α expression, leading to an increased risk of POCD.

Effects of vasodilator and esmolol-induced hemodynamic stability on early post-operative cognitive dysfunction in elderly patients: a randomized trial.

Objective: To investigate the effect of continuous intravenous injection of nicardipine and/or nitroglycerin with or without esmolol on the occurrence of early post-operative cognitive dysfunction (POCD) in elderly patients.

Methods: Elderly patients (n=340) who underwent radiofrequency ablation for atrial fibrillation were randomized into five groups: A, nicardipine; B nicardipine+esmolol; C, (nitroglycerin) group; D nitroglycerin+esmolol; E (control) groups. The hemodynamic parameters were recorded, and Mini Mental State Examination was used to assess cognitive function.

Effects of Intraoperative Hemodynamics on Incidence of Postoperative Delirium in Elderly Patients: A Retrospective Study.

Background: Postoperative delirium (POD) is a common complication in the elderly. This retrospective study investigated the effect of intraoperative hemodynamics on the incidence of POD in elderly patients after major surgery to explore ways to reduce the incidence of POD.

Material/methods: Based on the incidence of POD, elderly patients (81±6 y) were assigned to a POD (n=137) or non-POD group (n=343) after elective surgery with total intravenous anesthesia.

Intranasal administration of butorphanol benefits old patients undergoing H-uvulopalatopharyngoplasty: a randomized trial.

Background: To evaluate intranasal administration of butorphanol on postoperative pain and early postoperative cognitive dysfunction in old patients undergoing H-uvulopalatopharyngoplasty (H-UPPP).

Methods: A total of 260 male patients (65 to 77 years old) with obstructive sleep apnea hypopnea syndrome and scheduled for H-UPPP were divided randomly to receive intranasal butorphanol, intravenous butorphanol, intranasal fentanyl, or intravenous saline (controls). The definition of preemptive analgesia is that the tested drugs are given before anesthesia induction.

Effects of continuous intravenous infusion of methoxamine on the intraoperative hemodynamics of elderly patients undergoing total hip arthroplasty.

Background: Hemodynamic disturbances are common during continuous epidural anesthesia in elderly patients undergoing total hip arthroplasty. This study aimed to investigate the effects of methoxamine on the intraoperative hemodynamics in elderly patients undergoing total hip arthroplasty under epidural anesthesia.

Material And Methods: This prospective study included 150 elderly patients undergoing elective total hip arthroplasty under epidural anesthesia.

Effect of intravenous infusion of dobutamine hydrochloride on the development of early postoperative cognitive dysfunction in elderly patients via inhibiting the release of tumor necrosis factor-α.

To investigate the effects of dobutamine hydrochloride on early postoperative cognitive dysfunction (POCD) and plasma tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α concentration in patients undergoing hip arthroplasty, 124 patients undergoing unilateral total hip arthroplasty, aged 70-92 years old, were randomly assigned to four groups (n=31) as follows: a control group of patients receiving only saline (intravenous infusion, i.v.); and groups receiving 2, 4, or 6μgkg(-1)min(-1) (i.

Polymorphic expression of UDP-glucuronosyltransferase UGTlA gene in human colorectal cancer.

Background: Polymorphism of genes encoding drug-metabolizing enzymes is known to play an important role in increased susceptibility of colorectal cancer. UGT1A gene locus has been suggested to define tissue-specific glucuronidation activity. Reduced capacity of glucuronidation is correlated with the development of colorectal cancer.

Expression of UDP-glucuronosyltransferase 1A, nuclear factor erythroid-E2-related factor 2 and Kelch-like ECH-associated protein 1 in colonic mucosa, adenoma and adenocarcinoma tissue.

We investigated the expression of UDP-glucuronosyltransferase 1A (UGT1A), nuclear factor erythroid-E2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) and Kelch-like ECH-associated protein 1 (Keap1) in normal colonic mucosa, adenoma tissue and adenocarcinoma tissue, to analyze the correlation between their expression and the clinicopathological features of adenocarcinoma and their roles in colonic carcinogenesis. Using immunohistochemical analysis, we investigated the expression of UGT1A, Nrf2 and Keap1 in normal colonic mucosa (n=24), adenoma tissue (n=30) and adenocarcinoma tissue (n=77). We found that the positive rate of UGT1A was 83.

Effects of phytochemicals sulforaphane on uridine diphosphate-glucuronosyltransferase expression as well as cell-cycle arrest and apoptosis in human colon cancer Caco-2 cells.

Our study investigated the effects of the chemopreventive agent sulforaphane (SFN) on human colon cancer Caco-2 cells and potential underlying mechanisms of the effects. When treated with SFN at hypotoxic levels, UDP-glucuronosyltransferase 1A (UGT1A) was induced in a dose-dependent manner. SFN at 25 μM showed the highest UGT1A-induction activity, inducing UGT1A1, UGT1A8, and UGT1A10 mRNA expression, and increasing UGT-mediated N-hydroxy-PhIP glucuronidation.