Helicobacter pylori and gastric hyperacidity,and their association with recurrent aphthous stomatitis

Helicobacter pylori is an established cause of gastric ulcers. Its role in causing recurrent aphthous stomatitis (RAS) remains controversial. Fifty-two RAS patients and 52 sex-matched controls were recruited in this case–control study. All subjects were screened for hematinic deficiencies and H. pylori. The latter was assessed quantitatively using the ¹⁴C-urea breath test. The χ² test and Wilcoxon signed ranks test were used to compare H. pylori and hematinic indices between cases and controls, while conditional logistic regression was used to assess the associations between the occurrence of RAS and independent factors. H. pylori was positive in 56.7% of the overall sample, with no difference between RAS patients (50.8%) and controls (49.2%) (P = 0.843). The median H. pylori and haematological indices values did not show any association with ulcer diameter, number, or frequency. Interestingly, gastric hyperacidity was significantly associated with RAS, and this association was independent from tobacco smoking, alcohol drinking, and H. pylori (odds ratio 14.99, 95% confidence interval 2.47–90.95; P = 0.003). This study found no association between H. pylori and RAS. The association between RAS and gastric hyperacidity suggests that gastric refluxate, not H. pylori, has an effect on the oral mucosa that favours an ulcerative change.     

桃仁红花煎治疗无症状性高脂血症的作用研究

目的:探讨活血化淤理气通络经典方剂“桃仁红花煎”对无症状性高脂血症的治疗作用。方法:使用ShimadiuCL-7200型自动生化分析仪检测各组治疗前后患者血浆总胆固醇(TC)、甘油三酯(TG)、低密度脂蛋白(LDL)、高密度脂蛋白(HDL)、载脂蛋白A(APoA)、载脂蛋白B(APoB)水平,使用Griess法检测治疗前后患者血浆一氧化氮(NO)水平,使用邻苯三酚法检测血清超氧化物歧化酶(SOD)活性,使用巴比妥法检测血清丙二醛(MDA)含量。结果:治疗后,治疗组患者血浆TC、TG、LDL、MDA水平明显降低(P<0.05),而ApoA、HDL、NO水平,及SOD活性明显升高(P<0.05或P<0.01),APoB治疗前后无明显变化(P>0.05);对照组给予洛伐它丁治疗后,TC、TG、LDL水平明显降低(P<0.05),ApoA、HDL水平明显升高(P<0.05),而MDA、NO、ApoB含量及SOD活性无明显变化。结论:活血化淤理气通络中药可以降低血脂,并有可能防治高脂血症对血管造成损害.     

抑癌基因PTEN在小细胞肺癌中的表达及临床意义

目的：探讨PTEN表达与小细胞肺癌发生、增殖和转移的关系及其对预后的影响。方法：应用免疫组化S-P法检测20例良性病例、42例小细胞肺癌和20例非小细胞肺癌组织中PTEN的表达。跟踪随访术后小细胞肺癌患者30例。结果：良性病例的PTEN阳性表达率显著高于小细胞肺癌及非小细胞肺癌（P〈0.05）；不同T分期的小细胞肺癌的阳性表达率的差异显著（P〈0.05），不同N分期的小细胞肺癌的阳性表达率差异不显著（P〉0.05）。PTEN阳性表达组与阴性组的术后生存率有显著性差异（P〈0.05）。结论：PTEN的异常表达可能在小细胞肺癌的发生、进展中发挥重要作用，并且影响病人预后。     

Nucleus classification in histology images using message passing network

Identification of nuclear components in the histology landscape is an important step towards developing computational pathology tools for the profiling of tumor micro-environment. Most existing methods for the identification of such components are limited in scope due to heterogeneous nature of the nuclei. Graph-based methods offer a natural way to formulate the nucleus classification problem to incorporate both appearance and geometric locations of the nuclei. The main challenge is to define models that can handle such an unstructured domain. Current approaches focus on learning better features and then employ well-known classifiers for identifying distinct nuclear phenotypes. In contrast, we propose a message passing network that is a fully learnable framework build on classical network flow formulation. Based on physical interaction of the nuclei, a nearest neighbor graph is constructed such that the nodes represent the nuclei centroids. For each edge and node, appearance and geometric features are computed which are then used for the construction of messages utilized for diffusing contextual information to the neighboring nodes. Such an algorithm can infer global information over an entire network and predict biologically meaningful nuclear communities. We show that learning such communities improves the performance of nucleus classification task in histology images. The proposed algorithm can be used as a component in existing state-of-the-art methods resulting in improved nucleus classification performance across four different publicly available datasets.     

Methods for development of a core outcome set for clinical trials integrating traditional Chinese medicine and Western medicine

Clinical trial outcome reporting differs between studies integrating traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and Western medicine, so that some clinical trials are not eligible for inclusion in a systematic review. The excluded studies are therefore less widely disseminated, and even valid studies are less likely to yield impact. This problem may be addressed by developing core outcome sets (COSs) for integrative medicine in specific healthcare areas. The first stage of development is to define the scope of the COS for integrative medicine, the second stage is to establish the need for such a COS, and the third stage is to develop a protocol and register the COS. The final stage involves three steps: (i) development of a comprehensive list of outcomes (including efficacy outcomes and safety outcomes and TCM syndromes) using systematic review, qualitative or cross-sectional research, and reviews of package inserts and medical records; (ii) merging and grouping of outcomes within domains; (iii) conducting two rounds of Delphi survey and consensus meetings with a range of stakeholders. The final COS will include a general COS and core TCM syndrome- set. Development of COSs for clinical trials of integrative medicine may help to standardize outcome reporting and reduce publication bias in the future.     

The prevalence of mild cognitive impairment and its etiological subtypes in elderly Chinese

BackgroundEpidemiologic studies on mild cognitive impairment (MCI) are limited in China.MethodsUsing a multistage cluster sampling design, a total of 10,276 community residents (6096 urban, 4180 rural) aged 65 years or older were evaluated and diagnosed with normal cognition, MCI, or dementia. MCI was further categorized by imaging into MCI caused by prodromal Alzheimer's disease (MCI-A), MCI resulting from cerebrovascular disease (MCI-CVD), MCI with vascular risk factors (MCI-VRF), and MCI caused by other diseases (MCI-O).ResultsThe prevalences of overall MCI, MCI-A, MCI-CVD, MCI-VRF, and MCI-O were 20.8% (95% confidence interval [CI] = 20.0–21.6%), 6.1% (95% CI = 5.7–6.6%), 3.8% (95% CI = 3.4–4.2%), 4.9% (95% CI = 4.5–5.4%), and 5.9% (95% CI = 5.5–6.4%) respectively. The rural population had a higher prevalence of overall MCI (23.4% vs 16.8%, P < .001).ConclusionsThe prevalence of MCI in elderly Chinese is higher in rural than in urban areas. Vascular-related MCI (MCI-CVD and MCI-VRF) was most common.