Risk factors predicting a higher grade of subarachnoid haemorrhage in small ruptured intracranial aneurysm (< 5 mm)

Aim. To identify the risk factors for clinical and radiographic grades of subarachnoid haemorrhage (SAH) in small (&lt; 5 mm) intracranial aneurysms (SIAs). Material and methods. We retrospectively analysed patients with SIAs treated in our centre between February 2009 and June 2018. The clinical status was graded using the Hunt and Hess (H&amp;H) score and the radiological severity of SAH was graded by Fisher grades (FG). The risk factors were determined using multivariate logistic regression analysis. Results. A total of 160 patients with ruptured SIAs (&lt; 5 mm) were included. In univariate analysis, smoking (P = 0.007), alcohol use (P = 0.048), aspirin use (P = 0.001), and higher size ratio (SR) (P = 0.001) were significantly associated with a higher H&amp;H grade (3–5) in SIAs; and smoking (P = 0.019), aspirin use (P = 0.031), inflow angle &lt; 90 degrees (P = 0.011), and aneurysm size (P = 0.039) were significantly associated with a higher FG score (3–4). In the adjusted multivariate analysis, previous SAH (OR, 12.245, 95% CI, 2.261–66.334, P = 0.004), aspirin use (OR, 4.677, 95% CI, 1.392–15.718, P = 0.013), alcohol use (OR, 3.392, 95% CI, 1.146–10.045, P = 0.027), inflow angle &lt; 90 (OR, 3.881, 95% CI, 1.273–11.831, P = 0.017), and higher SR (OR, 6.611, 95% CI, 2.235–19.560, P = 0.001) were independent risk factors for a higher H&amp;H grade in ruptured SIAs; smoking (OR, 2.157, 95% CI, 1.061–4.384, P = 0.034), and inflow angle &lt; 90 degrees (OR, 2.603, 95% CI, 1.324–5.115, P = 0.006) were independent risk factors for a higher FG (3–4). Conclusions. This study revealed that inflow angle &lt; 90 degrees and size ratio, but not absolute size, may highly predict poorer grade of SAH in SRA. Aspirin use, previous SAH, and alcohol use were significantly associated with a higher H&amp;H grade in ruptured SIAs, and smoking was a significant predictor of poorer FG

MicroRNA-29b contributes to pre-eclampsia through its effects on apoptosis, invasion and angiogenesis of trophoblast cells,”

Abstract PE (pre-eclampsia), a pregnancy-specific disorder, is characterized by increased trophoblast cell death and deficient trophoblast invasion and reduced trophoblast-mediated remodelling of spiral arteries. The present study was performed to determine the function of miR-29b (microRNA-29b) in trophoblast cells and its underlying role in the pathogenesis of PE. The prediction of miR-29b target genes was performed using computer-based programs, including Targetscan, Pictar and miRBase. The function of these target genes was analysed further by gene ontology (GO). The effects of miR-29b on apoptosis, and invasion and angiogenesis of trophoblast cell lines (HTR-8/SVneo, BeWo and JAR) were examined by flow cytometry and Matrigel assay respectively. We found that miR-29b induced apoptosis and inhibited invasion and angiogenesis of trophoblast cells. Further studies confirmed that miR-29b regulated the expression of MCL1 (myeloid cell leukaemia sequence 1), MMP2 (encoding matrix metallproteinase 2), VEGFA (vascular endothelial growth factor A) and ITGB1 (integrin β1) genes by directly binding to their 3 -UTRs (untranslated regions). Moreover, we identified that there was an inverse correlation between miR-29b and its target genes in subjects with PE. Taken together, these findings support a novel role for miR-29b in invasion, apoptosis and angiogenesis of trophoblast cells, and miR-29b may become a new potential therapeutic target for PE

Encapsulated in silica: genome, proteome and physiology of the thermophilic bacterium Anoxybacillus flavithermus WK1

Sequencing of the complete genome of Anoxybacillus flavithermus reveals enzymes that are required for silica adaptation and biofilm formation

31st Annual Meeting and Associated Programs of the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC 2016) : part two

Background The immunological escape of tumors represents one of the main ob- stacles to the treatment of malignancies. The blockade of PD-1 or CTLA-4 receptors represented a milestone in the history of immunotherapy. However, immune checkpoint inhibitors seem to be effective in specific cohorts of patients. It has been proposed that their efficacy relies on the presence of an immunological response. Thus, we hypothesized that disruption of the PD-L1/PD-1 axis would synergize with our oncolytic vaccine platform PeptiCRAd. Methods We used murine B16OVA in vivo tumor models and flow cytometry analysis to investigate the immunological background. Results First, we found that high-burden B16OVA tumors were refractory to combination immunotherapy. However, with a more aggressive schedule, tumors with a lower burden were more susceptible to the combination of PeptiCRAd and PD-L1 blockade. The therapy signifi- cantly increased the median survival of mice (Fig. 7). Interestingly, the reduced growth of contralaterally injected B16F10 cells sug- gested the presence of a long lasting immunological memory also against non-targeted antigens. Concerning the functional state of tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs), we found that all the immune therapies would enhance the percentage of activated (PD-1pos TIM- 3neg) T lymphocytes and reduce the amount of exhausted (PD-1pos TIM-3pos) cells compared to placebo. As expected, we found that PeptiCRAd monotherapy could increase the number of antigen spe- cific CD8+ T cells compared to other treatments. However, only the combination with PD-L1 blockade could significantly increase the ra- tio between activated and exhausted pentamer positive cells (p= 0.0058), suggesting that by disrupting the PD-1/PD-L1 axis we could decrease the amount of dysfunctional antigen specific T cells. We ob- served that the anatomical location deeply influenced the state of CD4+ and CD8+ T lymphocytes. In fact, TIM-3 expression was in- creased by 2 fold on TILs compared to splenic and lymphoid T cells. In the CD8+ compartment, the expression of PD-1 on the surface seemed to be restricted to the tumor micro-environment, while CD4 + T cells had a high expression of PD-1 also in lymphoid organs. Interestingly, we found that the levels of PD-1 were significantly higher on CD8+ T cells than on CD4+ T cells into the tumor micro- environment (p < 0.0001). Conclusions In conclusion, we demonstrated that the efficacy of immune check- point inhibitors might be strongly enhanced by their combination with cancer vaccines. PeptiCRAd was able to increase the number of antigen-specific T cells and PD-L1 blockade prevented their exhaus- tion, resulting in long-lasting immunological memory and increased median survival

Robust Mesh Segmentation Using Feature-Aware Region Fusion

This paper introduces a simple but powerful segmentation algorithm for 3D meshes. Our algorithm consists of two stages: over-segmentation and region fusion. In the first stage, adaptive space partition is applied to perform over-segmentation, which is very efficient. In the second stage, we define a new intra-region difference, inter-region difference, and fusion condition with the help of various shape features and propose an iterative region fusion method. As the region fusion process is feature aware, our algorithm can deal with complex 3D meshes robustly. Massive qualitative and quantitative experiments also validate the advantages of the proposed algorithm

Factors Affecting Computer System Maintenance Skills Improvement of Information Technology Students

The purpose of this study was to identify the variables that may influence how well students at particular Chinese computer schools are able to maintain their computer systems. It also looked into the types of technology-related leadership behaviors program administrators demonstrated how those behaviors affected and possibly even predicted the various ways that technology was used in schools. Based on the findings, it was determined that the factors that can affect the improvement of information technology students' skills in computer system maintenance were not significantly influenced by time management, test preparation, or reading in terms of sex, monthly family income, or academic performance

Modeling of Free-Form Complex Curves Using SG-Bézier Curves with Constraints of Geometric Continuities

The modeling of free-form engineering complex curves is an important subject in product modeling, graphics, and computer aided design/computer aided manufacturing (CAD/CAM). In this paper, we propose a novel method to construct free-form complex curves using shape-adjustable generalized B&#233;zier (or SG-B&#233;zier, for short) curves with constraints of geometric continuities. In order to overcome the difficulty that most of the composite curves in engineering cannot often be constructed by using only a single curve, we propose the necessary and sufficient conditions for G1 and G2 continuity between two adjacent SG-B&#233;zier curves. Furthermore, the detailed steps of smooth continuity for two SG-B&#233;zier curves, and the influence rules of shape parameters on the composite curves, are studied. We also give some important applications of SG-B&#233;zier curves. The modeling examples show that our methods in this paper are very effective, can easily be performed, and can provide an alternative powerful strategy for the design of complex curves

Slack resources and individual performance of clinicians: the mediating role of job satisfaction and empirical evidence from public hospitals in Beijing, China

Abstract Background Clinicians in Chinese public hospitals face a complex and severe clinical practice environment, and the individual performance of clinicians is key to improving the output of the healthcare industry. This study aims to explore the mechanism of slack resources in improving individual performance of clinicians and the role of job satisfaction in this process, while the study framework is based on the widely applied Job-Demands Resources theory. Methods Based on the study framework composed of slack resources, individual performance, and job satisfaction, hypotheses have been put forward, and questionnaires have been distributed to representative clinicians in tertiary public hospitals. Finally, 318 valid data collected from clinicians have been obtained. To verify the hypotheses, multiple linear regression models have been established to explore the relationship between variables, and the three-stage regression models have been used to verify the presence of mediating role. Results All four hypotheses proposed in this study have been proved to be held. Clinicians' job satisfaction has played a mediating role in the impact of slack resources and its three dimensions on individual performance. Among them, there has been a complete mediating role for staff slack, while time and space dimensions have played a partial mediating role in the impact of slack resources on individual performance. Conclusions In public hospitals in environments where behavior is subject to significant government interference, it is necessary and feasible to retain appropriate slack resources to improve individual performance. From the perspective of resources management in hospitals, it is necessary for public hospitals to implement a strategy of reserving an appropriate portion of time, staff and space in order to have the conditions to improve clinicians' satisfaction. The existence of slack resources in public hospitals can improve the job satisfaction of clinicians, and then improve the individual performance through the process

Preparation of electrochemical sensor based on zinc oxide nanoparticles for simultaneous determination of AA, DA, and UA

ZnO nanoparticles (NPs) were synthesized using a hydrothermal method. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) and X-ray diffraction have been used for characterizing the synthesized ZnO NPs. An electrochemical sensor was fabricated using ZnO NPs–modified glassy carbon electrode for simultaneous determination of ascorbic acid (AA), dopamine (DA), and uric acid (UA). The proposed electrochemical sensor exhibited excellent detection performance toward three analytes, demonstrating that it can potentially be applied in clinical applications. The results indicated the ZnO NPs–modified electrode can detect AA in the concentrations range between 50 and 1,000 μM. The ZnO NPs–modified electrode can detect DA in the concentrations range between 2 and 150 μM. The ZnO NPs–modified electrode can detect UA in the concentrations range between 0.2 and 150 μM. The limits of detections of AA, DA, and UA using ZnO NPs–modified electrode were calculated to be 18.4, 0.75, and 0.11 μM, respectively.Published versio