Research on Construction and Application of Individual Knowledge Management Maturity Evaluation Model

Individual knowledge management is basic component of organizational knowledge management, and the maturity of individual knowledge management has a significant impact on organizational knowledge management. This research introduces scientific idea of capability maturity model into individual knowledge management, building corresponding assessment criteria combined with features of individual knowledge management, and constructing an individual knowledge management maturity model with gray comprehensive evaluation method. In the fourth part of this paper, the validity of the model has been verified by applying the model on an instance. This research is made in order to provide references and suggestions on improving the level of individual knowledge management in knowledge-based organizations.</p

Arsenic speciation in saliva of acute promyelocytic leukemia patients undergoing arsenic trioxide treatment

Arsenic trioxide has been successfully used as a therapeutic in the treatment of acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL). Detailed monitoring of the therapeutic arsenic and its metabolites in various accessible specimens of APL patients can contribute to improving treatment efficacy and minimizing arsenic-induced side effects. This article focuses on the determination of arsenic species in saliva samples from APL patients undergoing arsenic treatment. Saliva samples were collected from nine APL patients over three consecutive days. The patients received 10 mg arsenic trioxide each day via intravenous infusion. The saliva samples were analyzed using high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. Monomethylarsonous acid and monomethylmonothioarsonic acid were identified along with arsenite, dimethylarsinic acid, monomethylarsonic acid, and arsenate. Arsenite was the predominant arsenic species, accounting for 71.8 % of total arsenic in the saliva. Following the arsenic infusion each day, the percentage of methylated arsenicals significantly decreased, possibly suggesting that the arsenic methylation process was saturated by the high doses immediately after the arsenic infusion. The temporal profiles of arsenic species in saliva following each arsenic infusion over 3 days have provided information on arsenic exposure, metabolism, and excretion. These results suggest that saliva can be used as an appropriate clinical biomarker for monitoring arsenic species in APL patients. [Figure: see text

Framework for Hyperspectral Image Processing and Quantification for Cancer Detection During Animal Tumor Surgery

Hyperspectral imaging (HSI) is an imaging modality that holds strong potential for rapid cancer detection during image-guided surgery. But the data from HSI often needs to be processed appropriately in order to extract the maximum useful information that differentiates cancer from normal tissue. We proposed a framework for hyperspectral image processing and quantification, which includes a set of steps including image preprocessing, glare removal, feature extraction, and ultimately image classification. The framework has been tested on images from mice with head and neck cancer, using spectra from 450- to 900-nm wavelength. The image analysis computed Fourier coefficients, normalized reflectance, mean, and spectral derivatives for improved accuracy. The experimental results demonstrated the feasibility of the hyperspectral image processing and quantification framework for cancer detection during animal tumor surgery, in a challenging setting where sensitivity can be low due to a modest number of features present, but potential for fast image classification can be high. This HSI approach may have potential application in tumor margin assessment during image-guided surgery, where speed of assessment may be the dominant factor

Research progress of axillary de-escalation management after neoadjuvant chemotherapy for clinical lymph node positive patients

In the era of effective systemic therapy and precise radiotherapy, neoadjuvant treatment (NAT) for breast cancer can de-escalate breast cancer treatment to conserve breast and spare axillary lymph node dissection (ALND). At present, high axillary nodal pathologic complete response (apCR) is achieved in patients with human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-positive and triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), and it is hopeful to realize the axillary de-escalation management. It is recommended that sentinel lymph node (SLN) biopsy (SLNB) is a feasible alternative to ALND in primary clinical lymph node negative (cN0) patients, and the presence of lower residual tumor burden in SLN after NAT may be considered as a replacement for ALND with radiotherapy. The feasibility of the patients with initial clinical lymph node positive (cN+) turning to conventional SLNB after NAT is still being questioned. The main obstacle is the high false negative rate of SLNB after NAT, residual tumor cells in the axilla cannot be accurately predicted, and the risk of postoperative axillary recurrence and metastasis cannot be determined. The false negative rate of SLNB may meet the clinical requirement under the condition of combined tracing, more than 3 SLNs detected, and lower clinical axillary metastatic tumor burden. However, the quality of SLNB after NAT cannot be effectively improved due to tumor cells blocking lymphatic vessels and affecting the drainage of blue dye or radionuclide. Therefore, optimization of SLNB technology needs to be implemented after NAT. Targeted axillary lymph node dissection (TAD) is a precise surgical procedure for the detection of metastatic axillary lymph nodes, and clips were placed on the metastatic lymph nodes before NAT and targeted to detect the lymph nodes after NAT. It can further reduce the false negative rate of SLNB after NAT and improve the accurate assessment of residual tumor burden in axillary lymph nodes after NAT. TAD is expected to be a safe and reliable axillary staging technique for breast cancer patients after NAT. This article reviewed the de-escalation treatment of NAT in initial cN+ patients and the research progress of TAD

Microbiome Structure and Mucosal Morphology of Jejunum Appendix and Colon of Rats in Health and Dysbiosis

Gut microbiota contributes to human health. Plenty of studies demonstrate that antibiotics can disrupt gut ecosystem leading to dysbiosis. Little is known about the microbial variation of appendix and its up/downstream intestine after antibiotic treatment. This study aimed to investigate the microbiome and mucosal morphology of jejunum, appendix, and colon of rats in health and dysbiosis. A rodent model of antibiotic-induced dysbiosis was employed. Microscopy was used to observe mucosal morphological changes. 16S rRNA sequencing was performed for identifying bacterial taxa and microbiome structure. The appendices of dysbiosis were found enlarged and infated with loose contents. Microscopy revealed the impairment of intestinal epithelial cells. High-throughput sequencing showed the Operational Taxonomic Units changed from 361±33, 634±18, 639±19 in the normal jejunum, appendix, colon to 748±98, 230±11, 253±16 in the disordered segments, respectively. In dysbiosis, Bacteroidetes translocated inversely from the colon and appendix (0.26%, 0.23%) to the jejunum (13.87%±0.11%); the relative abundance of all intestinal Enterococcaceae increased, while Lactobacillaceae decreased. Several bacterial clusters were found correlated to the normal appendix, whereas nonspecifc clusters correlated to the disordered appendix. In conclusion, species richness and evenness reduced in the disordered appendix and colon; similar microbiome patterns were shared between the appendix and colon regardless of dysbiosis; site-specifc bacteria were missing in the disordered appendix. Appendix is likely a transit region involving in upper and lower intestinal microfora modulation. The limitation of this study is all the data were derived from rats. We must be cautious about translating the microbiome results from rats to humans