Model Tests of Soil Reinforcement Inside the Bucket Foundation with Vacuum Electroosmosis Method

Offshore wind turbine foundations are commonly subjected to large horizontal, vertical, and bending moment loads. Marine soils have high moisture content, high compressibility, high sensitivity, and low strength, resulting in insufficient foundation bearing capacity. In order to improve the bearing capacity of wind turbine foundations and reduce foundation settlement, an internal vacuum preloading method combined with electroosmosis reinforcement is used to reinforce the soil within bucket foundations. The pore water pressure, vertical settlement, pumping quality of the soil during the reinforcement process, soil moisture content before and after the reinforcement, and undrained shear strength were analyzed. Horizontal and vertical bearing capacity model tests were carried out on the reinforced and nonreinforced soil inside the bucket foundation. Results show that vacuum preloading combined with electroosmosis reinforcement reduces soil moisture content inside the bucket foundation by approximately 20%, and the undrained shear strength of the internal soil increases by approximately 20 times. Soil reinforcement has high spatial uniformity. Results of the bucket foundation bearing capacity model show that when the soil inside the bucket foundation is strengthened, horizontal bearing capacity increased by 2.9 times and vertical bearing capacity increased by 2.1 times. Vacuum preloading combined with electroosmosis reinforcement can effectively improve the shear strength of soft soil and enhance the bearing capacity and stability of bucket foundations

Establishment of A Clinical Prediction Model of Solid Solitary Pulmonary Nodules

Background and objective The solitary pulmonary nodule (SPN) is a common and challenging clinical problem, especially solid SPN. The object of this study was to explore the predictive factors of SPN appearing as pure solid with malignance and to establish a clinical prediction model of solid SPNs. Methods We had a retrospective review of 317 solid SPNs (group A) having a final diagnosis in the department of thoracic surgery, Shanghai Chest Hospital from January 2015 to December 2015, and analyzed their clinical data and computed tomography (CT) images, including age, gender, smoking history, family history of cancer, previous cancer history, diameter of nodule, nodule location (upper lobe or non-upper lobe, left or right), clear border, smooth margin, lobulation, spiculation, vascular convergence, pleural retraction sign, air bronchogram sign, vocule sign, cavity and calcification. By using univariate and multivariate analysis, we found the independent predictors of malignancy of solid SPNs and subsequently established a clinical prediction model. Then, another 139 solid SPNs with a final diagnosis were chosen in department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Affiliated Zhoushan Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University as group B, and used to verify the accuracy of the prediction model. Receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) curves were constructed using the prediction model. Results Multivariate Logistic regression analysis was used to identify eight clinical characteristics (age, family history of cancer, previous cancer history, clear border, lobulation, spiculation, air bronchogram sign, calcification) as independent predictors of malignancy of in solid SPNs. The area under the ROC curve for our model (0.922; 95%CI: 0.865-0.961). In our model, diagnosis accuration rate was 84.89%. Sensitivity was 90.41%, and specificity was 78.79%, and positive predictive value was 80.50%, and negative predictive value was 88.14%. Conclusion Our prediction model could accurately identify malignancy in patients with solid SPNs, thereby it can provide help for diagnosis of solid SPNs

Expression of miR-29c, miR-93, and miR-429 as potential biomarkers for detection of early stage non-small lung cancer.

BACKGROUND: Altered expression of miRNA expression contributes to human carcinogenesis. This study was designed to detect aberrant miRNA expressions as a potential biomarker for early detection and prognosis prediction of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). METHODS: miRNA array was used to profile differentially expressed miRNAs and Taqman-based quantitative RT-PCR assays were used to analyze levels of miR-29c, miR-93, and miR-429 expression in NSCLC tissue samples, corresponding normal tissue samples, and serum samples from 70 NSCLC patients as well as in serum samples from 48 healthy controls. RESULTS: Levels of miR-29c and miR-93 expression were upregulated in NSCLC tissues, while serum levels of miR-29c were also upregulated, but levels of serum miR-429 were decreased in NSCLC. Moreover, the levels of miR-429 expression in NSCLC tissues were associated with those in serum samples. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis showed that at the optimal cut-off point, the areas under the ROC curve for serum levels of miR-29c and miR-429 were 0.723 and 0.727, respectively, levels which are higher than that of carcinoma embryonic antigen (0.534) in diagnosis of stage I NSCLC. In addition, serum levels of miR-429 were associated with poor overall survival of NSCLC patients. Both univariate and multivariate analyses showed that serum miR-429 level was an independent prognostic predictor for NSCLC. CONCLUSIONS: The results of the current study suggest that detection of serum miR-29c and miR-429 expression should be further evaluated as a novel, non-invasive biomarker for early stage NSCLC

Diagnostic Value of Serum miR-182, miR-183, miR-210, and miR-126 Levels in Patients with Early-Stage Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

<div><p>Blood-circulating miRNAs could be useful as a biomarker to detect lung cancer early. We investigated the serum levels of four different miRNAs in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and assessed their diagnostic value for NSCLC. Serum samples from 112 NSCLC patients and 104 controls (20 current smokers without lung cancer, 23 pneumonia patients, 21 gastric cancer patients, and 40 healthy controls) were subjected to Taqman probe-based quantitative reverse transcription–polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). The data showed that the serum levels of miR-182, miR-183, and miR-210 were significantly upregulated and that the miR-126 level was significantly downregulated in NSCLC patients, compared with the healthy controls. Further receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis revealed that the serum miR-182, miR-183, miR-210, or miR-126 level could serve as a diagnostic biomarker for NSCLC early detection, with a high sensitivity and specificity. The combination of these four miRNAs with carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) further increased the diagnostic value, with an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.965 (sensitivity, 81.3%; specificity, 100.0%; and accuracy, 90.8%) using logistic regression model analysis. In addition, the relative levels of serum miR-182, miR-183, miR-210, and miR-126 could distinguish NSCLC or early-stage NSCLC from current tobacco smokers without lung cancer and pneumonia or gastric cancer patients with a high sensitivity and specificity. Data from the current study validated that the four serum miRNAs could serve as a tumor biomarker for NSCLC early diagnosis.</p></div

Expression of miR-182, miR-183, miR-210, and miR-126 in sera from NSCLC patients and healthy controls.

<p>Graphs show dot-plots of medians and inter-quartile ranges of log₂-transformed values of each miRNA in sera from 112 NSCLC patients (<i>black</i>) and 40 healthy controls (<i>grey</i>). U6 snRNA was used as the reference. <i>P</i> values of miR-182, miR-183, miR-210, and miR-126 were <i><</i> 0.0001, 0.0181, 0.0299, and < 0.0001, respectively, using the Mann-Whitney test. *<i>P</i> < 0.05 between patients and controls.</p

ROC curves to assess the value of serum miRNA and CEA levels in NSCLC patients compared to 40 healthy controls.

<p>The <i>P</i> values of serum miR-182, miR-183, miR-210, miR-126, and CEA as well as the predictive value of logistic regression were <i><</i> 0.0001, 0.0091, 0.0121, < 0.0001, < 0.0001, and < 0.0001, respectively.</p

Serum levels of miRNAs in NSCLC or early-stage NSCLC patients versus smokers, pneumonia patients, and gastric cancer patients.

<p>The serum levels of miR-182, miR-183, miR-210, and miR-126 were assessed in 112 NSCLC patients, 20 current smokers, 23 pneumonia patients, and 21 gastric cancer patients using qRT-PCR. U6 snRNA was used as the reference. *<i>P</i> < 0.05 between groups using the Mann-Whitney test.</p

Kaplan-Meier survival curves for NSCLC patients according to serum level of miR-429.

<p><i>P</i>-value for survival of patients with high and low levels of miRNA expression was calculated using the log-rank test. *<i>P</i><0.05 between groups.</p

ROC curves to assess the value of serum miRNA and CEA levels in 112 NSCLC patients compared to 23 pneumonia patients.

<p>The <i>P</i> values of serum miR-182, miR-183, miR-210, miR-126, and CEA as well as the predictive value of logistic regression were 0.0061, 0.0259, 0.0350, 0.0002, 0.1914, and 0.0031, respectively.</p