Effect of atorvastatin combined with interventional therapy for acute myocardial infarction

Purpose: To evaluate the coronary thrombolytic effect of atorvastatin plus percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) for the treatment of acute myocardial infarction.Methods: From April 2019 to October 2020, 88 patients with acute myocardial infarction who were treated in Zhangqiu District People's Hospital were randomly assigned to receive either PCI (conventional group) or PCI plus atorvastatin (combined group). Myocardial injury index, TnI, and creatine kinase isoenzyme (CK-MB) were used to determine myocardial injury, while serum cTnI was determined using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Creatine kinase isoenzyme (CK-MB) levels were determined by immunosuppression method. Cardiac ultrasound was used to measure and compare the left ventricular end-diastolic diameter (LVEDD), left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), and left ventricular end-systolic diameter (LVESD) before and after treatment in the two groups. Blood lipid levels were determined before and after drug administration, respectively, while the levels of highdensity lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) were determined using a colorimetric method. Total cholesterol (TC) and triacylglycerol (TG) were assessed by an enzymatic method, while low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) was determined using a biochemical method. Serum B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP), c-reactive-protein (CRP), and interleukin (IL)-6 levels were evaluated in an automatic biochemical analyzer. The incidence of adverse reactions during treatment, including creatinine elevation, muscle pain, and gastrointestinal reactions and their frequencies were computed.Results: The combined group exhibited significantly lower levels of myocardial injury indices when compared with the conventional group (p < 0.05). Atorvastatin plus PCI resulted in significantly higher left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), and lower left ventricular end-diastolic dimension (LVEDD) as well as left ventricular end-systolic diameter (LVESD) in patients when compared with PCI alone group (p < 0.05). After treatment, the combined group showed significantly healthier levels of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), total cholesterol (TC), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), and triglyceride (TG) compared with the conventional group (p < 0.05).Conclusion: Atorvastatin plus PCI mitigates myocardial injury and lowers cardiac function, lipid indices, serum B type natriuretic peptide (BNP), C-reactive-protein (CRP), and interleukin (IL)-6 levels. It also reduces the incidence of adverse events during treatment. Thus, this therapeutic strategy has potentials for application in the management of acute myocardial infarction

Improved support vector clustering algorithm for color image segmentation

Color image segmentation has attracted more and more attention in various application fields during the past few years. Essentially speaking, color image segmentation problem is a process of clustering according to the color of pixels. But, traditional clustering methods do not scale well with the number of training sample, which limits the ability of handling massive data effectively. With the utilization of an improved approximate Minimum Enclosing Ball algorithm, this article develops an fast support vector clustering algorithm for computing the different clusters of given color images in kernel-introduced space to segment the color images. We prove theoretically that the proposed algorithm converges to the optimum within any given precision quickly. Compared to other popular algorithms, it has the competitive performances both on training time and accuracy. Color image segmentation experiments on both synthetic and real-world data sets demonstrate the validity of the proposed algorithm

Do Enterprise Systems Necessarily Lead to Innovation? Identifying the Missing Links with A Moderated Mediation Model

Background: Despite widely implemented, enterprise systems remain an unsettled role in organizational innovation. This study purposes to address the effects of enterprise systems (ES) on firm innovation by adopting resource-based theory and capability building theory to focus on ES-enabled competence, rather than ES investment or implementation. ES-enabled competence is proposed to mediate the effect of ES integration on innovation performance. We further propose that continuous improvement moderates (1) the relationship between ES integration and ES-enabled competence, and (2) the relationship between ES-enabled competence and innovation performance. By examining these effects, we aim to discover how ES enables innovation at operational and strategic levels separately. Method: A survey method is conducted to explore the relationship between enterprise systems (ES) and innovation. Data are collected from manufacturing companies in 10 countries of three regions, i.e., Europe, Asia-Pacific, and the USA, and analyzed by using structural equation modeling technique. Results: We confirm the roles of enterprise systems as a resource and a capability and the effects of these roles on innovation—including the operational outcome, new product development performance, and the strategic one, innovation uniqueness. We demonstrate that continuous improvement moderates the mediation paths, namely “ES integration – ES-enabled competence – innovation performance”. The moderated mediation effect exists among continuous improvement, ES integration, ES-enabled competence, and innovation uniqueness. Conclusion: This study contributes to the ES and innovation research by uncovering the micro-foundation underlying ES-enabled innovation from a capability-based framework and elaborating the moderating role of continuous improvement in enhancing innovation

Association of ERCC gene polymorphism with osteosarcoma risk

Background: The relationship between ERCC gene polymorphism and osteosarcoma risk / overall survival of osteosarcoma is still conflicting, and this meta-analysis was performed to assess these associations. Material and methods: The association studies were identified from PubMed, and eligible reports were included and calculated using meta-analysis method. Results: Four studies were included for the association of ERCC gene polymorphism with osteosarcoma risk, and nine studies were recruited into this meta-analysis for the relationship between ERCC gene polymorphism and overall survival of osteosarcoma. The meta-analysis indicated that ERCC1 rs3212986 (8092 C>A) gene polymorphism, ERCC1 rs11615 (19007 T>C) gene polymorphism, ERCC2 rs1799793 (A>G) gene polymorphism, ERCC2 rs13181 (Lys751Gln) gene polymorphism were not associated with osteosarcoma risk. ERCC1 rs2298881 (C>A) gene polymorphism, ERCC1 rs3212986 (8092 C>A) gene polymorphism, ERCC1 rs11615 (19007 T>C) gene polymorphism, ERCC2 rs1799793 (Asp312Asn) gene polymorphism were not associated with overall survival of osteosarcoma. Interestingly, ERCC2 rs13181 A allele and GG genotype were associated with overall survival of osteosarcoma, but AA genotype not (A allele: OR = 0.78, 95% CI: 0.65-0.93, P = 0.007; GG genotype: OR = 1.32, 95% CI: 1.05-1.65, P = 0.02; AA genotype: OR = 0.69, 95% CI: 0.45-1.04, P = 0.08). Conclusion: ERCC2 rs13181 A allele and GG genotype were associated with overall survival of osteosarcoma

Identification of microRNAs Involved in the Host Response to Enterovirus 71 Infection by a Deep Sequencing Approach

Role of microRNA (miRNA) has been highlighted in pathogen-host interactions recently. To identify cellular miRNAs involved in the host response to enterovirus 71 (EV71) infection, we performed a comprehensive miRNA profiling in EV71-infected Hep2 cells through deep sequencing. 64 miRNAs were found whose expression levels changed for more than 2-fold in response to EV71 infection. Gene ontology analysis revealed that many of these mRNAs play roles in neurological process, immune response, and cell death pathways, which are known to be associated with the extreme virulence of EV71. To our knowledge, this is the first study on host miRNAs expression alteration response to EV71 infection. Our findings supported the hypothesis that certain miRNAs might be essential in the host-pathogen interactions

Visceral hyperalgesia induced by forebrain-specific suppression of native Kv7/KCNQ/M-current in mice

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Dysfunction of brain-gut interaction is thought to underlie visceral hypersensitivity which causes unexplained abdominal pain syndromes. However, the mechanism by which alteration of brain function in the brain-gut axis influences the perception of visceral pain remains largely elusive. In this study we investigated whether altered brain activity can generate visceral hyperalgesia.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Using a forebrain specific αCaMKII promoter, we established a line of transgenic (Tg) mice expressing a dominant-negative pore mutant of the Kv7.2/KCNQ2 channel which suppresses native KCNQ/M-current and enhances forebrain neuronal excitability. Brain slice recording of hippocampal pyramidal neurons from these Tg mice confirmed the presence of hyperexcitable properties with increased firing. Behavioral evaluation of Tg mice exhibited increased sensitivity to visceral pain induced by intraperitoneal (i.p.) injection of either acetic acid or magnesium sulfate, and intracolon capsaicin stimulation, but not cutaneous sensation for thermal or inflammatory pain. Immunohistological staining showed increased c-Fos expression in the somatosensory SII cortex and insular cortex of Tg mice that were injected intraperitoneally with acetic acid. To mimic the effect of cortical hyperexcitability on visceral hyperalgesia, we injected KCNQ/M channel blocker XE991 into the lateral ventricle of wild type (WT) mice. Intracerebroventricular injection of XE991 resulted in increased writhes of WT mice induced by acetic acid, and this effect was reversed by co-injection of the channel opener retigabine.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Our findings provide evidence that forebrain hyperexcitability confers visceral hyperalgesia, and suppression of central hyperexcitability by activation of KCNQ/M-channel function may provide a therapeutic potential for treatment of abdominal pain syndromes.</p

High-Throughput Sequencing of MicroRNAs in Adenovirus Type 3 Infected Human Laryngeal Epithelial Cells

Adenovirus infection can cause various illnesses depending on the infecting serotype, such as gastroenteritis, conjunctivitis, cystitis, and rash illness, but the infection mechanism is still unknown. MicroRNAs (miRNA) have been reported to play essential roles in cell proliferation, cell differentiation, and pathogenesis of human diseases including viral infections. We analyzed the miRNA expression profiles from adenovirus type 3 (AD3) infected Human laryngeal epithelial (Hep2) cells using a SOLiD deep sequencing. 492 precursor miRNAs were identified in the AD3 infected Hep2 cells, and 540 precursor miRNAs were identified in the control. A total of 44 miRNAs demonstrated high expression and 36 miRNAs showed lower expression in the AD3 infected cells than control. The biogenesis of miRNAs has been analyzed, and some of the SOLiD results were confirmed by Quantitative PCR analysis. The present studies may provide a useful clue for the biological function research into AD3 infection

Case fatality risk of the first pandemic wave of novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in China

Objective To assess the case fatality risk (CFR) of COVID-19 in mainland China, stratified by region and clinical category, and estimate key time-to-event intervals. Methods We collected individual information and aggregated data on COVID-19 cases from publicly available official sources from December 29, 2019 to April 17, 2020. We accounted for right-censoring to estimate the CFR and explored the risk factors for mortality. We fitted Weibull, gamma, and lognormal distributions to time-to-event data using maximum-likelihood estimation. Results We analyzed 82,719 laboratory-confirmed cases reported in mainland China, including 4,632 deaths, and 77,029 discharges. The estimated CFR was 5.65% (95%CI: 5.50%-5.81%) nationally, with highest estimate in Wuhan (7.71%), and lowest in provinces outside Hubei (0.86%). The fatality risk among critical patients was 3.6 times that of all patients, and 0.8-10.3 fold higher than that of mild-to-severe patients. Older age (OR 1.14 per year; 95%CI: 1.11-1.16), and being male (OR 1.83; 95%CI: 1.10-3.04) were risk factors for mortality. The time from symptom onset to first healthcare consultation, time from symptom onset to laboratory confirmation, and time from symptom onset to hospitalization were consistently longer for deceased patients than for those who recovered. Conclusions Our CFR estimates based on laboratory-confirmed cases ascertained in mainland China suggest that COVID-19 is more severe than the 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic in hospitalized patients, particularly in Wuhan. Our study provides a comprehensive picture of the severity of the first wave of the pandemic in China. Our estimates can help inform models and the global response to COVID-19