A study on the safety and effectiveness of transcatheter arterial chemoembolization and bevacizumab arterial infusion combined comprehensive treatment for hepatocellular carcinoma.

Introduction And Objectives: To evaluate the safety and efficacy of transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE) combined with intra-arterial bevacizumab infusion in patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

Patients And Methods: In this prospective randomized controlled trial, 120 patients with advanced HCC (stages Ib-IIIb) were enrolled between March 2021 and October 2023 and randomized to receive TACE alone (control group, n=60) or TACE plus intra-arterial bevacizumab (combined group, n=60). Tumor perfusion parameters were assessed via dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI (DCE-MRI), while VEGF and SDF-1 levels were measured using ELISA.

Revisiting model scaling with a U-net benchmark for 3D medical image segmentation.

Are larger models always better for 3D medical image segmentation? Despite the widespread adoption of 3D U-Net in various medical imaging tasks, this critical question remains underexplored. To challenge the common assumption, we systematically benchmark 18 U-Net variants-adjusting resolution stages, depth, and width-across 42 diverse public datasets. Our findings reveal that the answer is no: optimal architectures are highly task-specific, with smaller models often performing competitively.

Comparison of the long-term prognostic value of different frailty instruments in older inpatients: a 5-year prospective cohort study.

Background: Frailty is associated with increased mortality in older adults, but limited studies compare frailty instruments among inpatients with long-term follow-up.

Aims: To evaluate five frailty scales for predicting 5-year all-cause mortality in older inpatients.

Methods: This prospective cohort study enrolled 917 inpatients aged ≥ 65 years.

Frailty in older adults patients: a prospective observational cohort study on subtype identification.

Background: While the FRAIL scale has been used in primary care, cluster analysis on frail patients in a hospital setting has not been performed.

Objectives: To identify potential subtypes of frail patients, and develop a simple, clinically applicable model for improved patient management.

Methods: The study included 214 frail patients aged 65 and above who were hospitalized in a hospital in Beijing from September 2018 to April 2019.

FIND: A Framework for Iterative to Non-Iterative Distillation for Lightweight Deformable Registration.

Deformable image registration is crucial for medical image analysis, yet the complexity of deep learning networks often limits their deployment on resource-limited devices. Current distillation methods in registration tasks fail to effectively transfer complex deformation handling capabilities to non-iterative lightweight networks, leading to insignificant performance improvement. To address this, we propose the Framework for Iterative to Non-iterative Distillation (FIND), which efficiently transfers these capabilities to a Non-Iterative Lightweight (NIL) network.

Equations for estimating resting energy expenditure in patients on peritoneal dialysis.

Background: In peritoneal dialysis (PD) patients, determining energy expenditure is essential for recommending energy intake in nutrition management.

Objective: We aimed to develop and validate a resting energy expenditure (REE) equation for patients with PD and compare it to previously available REE equations in dialysis patients.

Design: This cross-sectional study enrolled 200 patients with PD from two hospitals in Beijing, China.

Tumor-derived miR-203a-3p potentiates muscle wasting by inducing muscle ferroptosis in pancreatic cancer.

Pancreatic cancer (PC) cachexia, characterized by profound muscle wasting and systemic inflammation, remains a formidable clinical challenge due to its multifactorial nature and complex molecular underpinnings. This study delves into the intricate interplay between microRNA (miRNA) dysregulation and ferroptosis, a form of iron-dependent cell death, in PC cachexia. Specifically, we identified tumor-derived miR-203a-3p as a pivotal miRNA that promotes muscle atrophy by upregulating muscle ferroptosis.

Emergency planned re-infusion therapy and hospitalisation for community-acquired pneumonia: a retrospective case-control study.

Background: Community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) is a frequent reason for emergency department visits and leads to increased direct medical costs, particularly due to hospitalisation. This study aims to examine the differences between emergency planned re-infusion therapy and hospitalisation in patients with CAP.

Methods: This retrospective case-control study involved 1889 CAP patients treated at the Emergency Internal Medicine Department of Class A tertiary Hospital in China from 1 January 2020 to 31 December 2022.

Change in adiposity indices after 1 year of peritoneal dialysis: a single-center cohort study.

Background: Weight gain is common after starting peritoneal dialysis (PD). Several adiposity indices have been developed recently as potential indicators of visceral adiposity and lipid accumulation. We aim to investigate the prevalence and prognostic implications of the change in adiposity indices after 1 year of PD.

Exploring osteosarcoma based on the tumor microenvironment.

Osteosarcoma is a cancerous bone tumor that develops from mesenchymal cells and is characterized by early metastasis, easy drug resistance, high disability, and mortality. Immunological characteristics of the tumor microenvironment (TME) have attracted attention for the prognosis and treatment of osteosarcoma, and there is a need to explore a signature with high sensitivity for prognosis. In the present study, a total of 84 samples of osteosarcoma were acquired from the UCSC Xena database, analyzed for immune infiltration and classified into two categories depending on their immune properties, and then screened for DEGs between the two groups and analyzed for enrichment, with the majority of DEGs enriched in the immune domain.

Association of blood vitamin A with osteoarthritis: a nationally representative cross-sectional study.

Objectives: Vitamin A plays an important role in health, especially regarding its impact on bone tissue. Vitamin A can lead to bone damage and deformity, thus becoming an important causative factor in osteoarthritis. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the association of serum vitamin A with osteoarthritis.

Effectiveness of specialist involvement in case discussion conferences with primary healthcare providers on the management of type 2 diabetes patients: a study protocol for a cluster randomized controlled trial.

Background: In supporting primary healthcare in delivering high-quality care for individuals with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), previous research emphasized strategies to facilitate communication and collaboration between primary healthcare providers and hospitals. This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of case discussion conferences between specialists from hospitals and primary healthcare providers in China on the optimization of diabetes management and the improvement of patient health outcomes.

Methods: This study will be a parallel cluster randomized controlled trial in which primary healthcare institutions in Shouguang city and Shangsi County will be randomly allocated to the intervention and control groups.

Machine learning-based identification and validation of aging-related genes in cardiomyocytes from patients with atrial fibrillation.

Background: Aging is a key risk factor for atrial fibrillation (AF), a prevalent cardiac disorder among the elderly. This study aims to elucidate the genetic underpinnings of AF in the context of aging.

Methods: We analyzed 12,403 genes from the GSE2240 database and 279 age-related genes from the CellAge database.

Dissecting the colocalized GWAS and eQTLs with mediation analysis for high-dimensional exposures and confounders.

To leverage the advancements in genome-wide association studies (GWAS) and quantitative trait loci (QTL) mapping for traits and molecular phenotypes to gain mechanistic understanding of the genetic regulation, biological researchers often investigate the expression QTLs (eQTLs) that colocalize with QTL or GWAS peaks. Our research is inspired by 2 such studies. One aims to identify the causal single nucleotide polymorphisms that are responsible for the phenotypic variation and whose effects can be explained by their impacts at the transcriptomic level in maize.

Attention-Based MultiOffset Deep Learning Reconstruction of Chemical Exchange Saturation Transfer (AMO-CEST) MRI.

One challenge of chemical exchange saturation transfer (CEST) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is the long scan time due to multiple acquisitions of images at different saturation frequency offsets. k-space under-sampling strategy is commonly used to accelerate MRI acquisition, while this could introduce artifacts and reduce signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). To accelerate CEST-MRI acquisition while maintaining suitable image quality, we proposed an attention-based multioffset deep learning reconstruction network (AMO-CEST) with a multiple radial k-space sampling strategy for CEST-MRI.

Production of biliverdin by biotransformation of exogenous heme using recombinant Pichia pastoris cells.

Biliverdin, a bile pigment hydrolyzed from heme by heme oxygenase (HO), serves multiple functions in the human body, including antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and immune response inhibitory activities. Biliverdin has great potential as a clinical drug; however, no economic and efficient production method is available currently. Therefore, the production of biliverdin by the biotransformation of exogenous heme using recombinant HO-expressing yeast cells was studied in this research.

Heritable microbiome variation is correlated with source environment in locally adapted maize varieties.

Beneficial interactions with microorganisms are pivotal for crop performance and resilience. However, it remains unclear how heritable the microbiome is with respect to the host plant genotype and to what extent host genetic mechanisms can modulate plant-microbiota interactions in the face of environmental stresses. Here we surveyed 3,168 root and rhizosphere microbiome samples from 129 accessions of locally adapted Zea, sourced from diverse habitats and grown under control and different stress conditions.

Mortality in patients admitted to hospital with heart failure in China: a nationwide Cardiovascular Association Database-Heart Failure Centre Registry cohort study.

Background: China has the largest burden of heart failure worldwide. However, large-scale studies on heart failure mortality are scarce. We aimed to investigate mortality and identify risk factors for mortality among patients with heart failure in China.

Microbiome-enabled genomic selection improves prediction accuracy for nitrogen-related traits in maize.

Root-associated microbiomes in the rhizosphere (rhizobiomes) are increasingly known to play an important role in nutrient acquisition, stress tolerance, and disease resistance of plants. However, it remains largely unclear to what extent these rhizobiomes contribute to trait variation for different genotypes and if their inclusion in the genomic selection protocol can enhance prediction accuracy. To address these questions, we developed a microbiome-enabled genomic selection method that incorporated host SNPs and amplicon sequence variants from plant rhizobiomes in a maize diversity panel under high and low nitrogen (N) field conditions.

Enhancement of K channel permeation by selective terahertz excitation.

The optical excitation effects offer an opportunity to gain insights into the structure and the function of K channel, contributing to the prediction of possible targets for drug design and precision therapy. Although there has been increasing research attention on the modulation of ion permeation in K+ channel by terahertz electromagnetic (THz-EM) stimuli, little exploration has been conducted regarding the dependence of ion permeation on frequencies. By using two-dimensional (2D) infrared excitation spectrum calculation for the K channel, we have discovered that the frequency of 53.

Cut-off values of haemoglobin and clinical outcomes in incident peritoneal dialysis: the PDTAP study.

Background: To explore the cut-off values of haemoglobin (Hb) on adverse clinical outcomes in incident peritoneal dialysis (PD) patients based on a national-level database.

Methods: The observational cohort study was from the Peritoneal Dialysis Telemedicine-assisted Platform (PDTAP) dataset. The primary outcomes were all-cause mortality, major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) and modified MACE (MACE+).