Factors that affect human hemopoiesis are produced by T-cell growth factor dependent and independent cultured T-cell leukemia-lymphoma cells

Some laboratory results and clinical situations suggest that human T cells may be important in the regulation of growth of hematopoietic cells. Since the discovery of T-cell growth factor (TCGF), systems are now available for the long-term specific in vitro propagation of mature normal or neoplastic human T cells, providing an opportunity to study the influence of T cells on hematopoiesis. Recently, 24 cell lines from patients with cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (CTCL) and T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL) were grown with TCGF and then assessed for release of humoral factors that affect hematopoiesis. Conditioned media (CM) from these cell lines were tested for erythroid burst- promoting activity (BPA) and granulocyte colony-stimulating activity (CSA). BPA was detected in CM from 3/6 cultures of T-ALL patients and 4/6 CTCL cultures. CSA was found in the CM from 6/8 cultures of T-ALL patients, 7/12 CTCL cultures, and 3/4 CTCL cell lines that become independent of exogenous TCGF for growth. The CSA from several of the neoplastic T-cell cultures stimulated high levels of eosinophil colonies, a possible source of the eosinophilia seen in these patients. The ability of continuously proliferating human T lymphocytes, which retain functional specificity and responsiveness to normal humoral regulation, to produce factors that directly or indirectly stimulate myeloid and erythroid colony formation lends further credence to the role of T lymphocytes in regulating hematopoiesis.     

High-dose etoposide and cyclophosphamide without bone marrow transplantation for resistant hematologic malignancy

Seventy-five patients with resistant acute leukemia or lymphoma received high-dose cyclophosphamide and etoposide to explore the activity of this combination in resistant hematologic malignancies, and to determine the maximum doses of these drugs that can be combined without bone marrow transplantation. Etoposide was administered over 29 to 69 hours by continuous infusion corresponding to total doses of 1.8 g/m2 to 4.8 g/m2. Cyclophosphamide, 50 mg/kg/d, was administered on 3 or 4 consecutive days total 150 to 200 mg/kg ideal body weight). At all dose levels myelosuppression was severe but reversible. Mucosal toxicity was dose-limiting with the maximum tolerated dose level combining etoposide 4.2 g/m2 with cyclophosphamide 200 mg/kg. Continuous etoposide infusion produced stable plasma levels that were lower than would be achieved after administration by short intravenous infusion, and this could explain our ability to escalate etoposide above the previously reported maximum tolerated dose. There were 28 complete (35%) and 12 partial (16%) responses. Median duration of complete response (CR) was 3.5 months (range 1.1 to 20+). Seventeen of 40 patients (42%) with acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) achieved CR, including 6 of 20 (30%) with high-dose cytosine arabinoside resistance. We conclude that bone marrow transplantation is not required after maximum tolerated doses of etoposide and cyclophosphamide. This regimen is active in resistant hematologic neoplasms, and the occurrence of CR in patients with high-dose cytosine arabinoside-resistant AML indicates a lack of complete cross-resistance between these regimens.     

The value of speckle-tracking echocardiography in identifying right heart dysfunction in patients with chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension

Right ventricular (RV) function is a significantly important factor in the determination of the prognosis of chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH) patients. Speckle-tracking echocardiography (STE) is an angle-independent new technique for quantifying myocardial deformation that is capable of providing data on multiple parameters including longitudinal and transverse information of the myocardium. In the present study, we aimed to study the advantages of STE-derived parameters in identifying RV dysfunction in CTEPH patients. Sixty CTEPH patients (mean age: 55 years?±?13 years; 25 males) and 30 normal controls (mean age: 54 years?±?14 years; 14 males) were enrolled in this study. RV free wall (RVFW) systolic peak longitudinal strain (LS) including the basal, mid-, and apical-segments and the basal longitudinal and transverse displacement (basal-DL and basal-DT) were measured by STE. Global LS (GLS) of the RV was calculated by averaging the LS value of the 3 segments of RVFW. Clinical data of CTEPH patients were collected. CTEPH patients were divided into 2 subgroups according to the World Health Organization function classification. Clinical right heart failure (RHF) was defined as the presence of symptoms of heart failure and signs of systemic circulation congestion during hospitalization. The apical segment LS of the RVFW was lower than that in the basal and mid-segments in the control group (P?<?0.001), but no significant difference was found among the 3 segments of LS in the CTEPH group (P?=?0.263). When we used the cutoff value recommended by the American Society of Echocardiography guidelines to identify abnormal RV function, 30 CTEPH patients (50%) by tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion (TAPSE), 42 patients (70%) by fractional area change (FAC), 20 patients (33.33%) by RV index of myocardial performance (RVIMP), and 46 patients (77%) patients by GLS were determined to have abnormal RV function, respectively. Among multiple RV function indicators, TAPSE, FAC, GLS, basal-DL, and N-terminal pronatriuretic B-type natriuretic peptide showed significant differences between CTEPH patients with mild (WHO II) and severe symptoms (WHO III/IV) (all P?<?0.001), while RVIMP and basal-DT showed no significant difference (P?=?0.188 and P?=?0.394, respectively). Pearson correlation analysis showed that GLS has no correlation with sPAP as evaluated by echocardiography in CTEPH patients (r = ??0.079, P?=?0.574), and a weak to moderate correlation with RA area (r?=?0.488, P?=?0.000), the RV diameter (r?=?0.429, P?=?0.001), and the RVFW thickness (r?=?0.344, P?=?0.009). On receiver operating characteristic analysis, GLS has the largest area under the curve to identify RHF when the cutoff value was ??13.45%, the sensitivity was 78.2%, and the specificity was 84.6%, separately. Our study demonstrated that the depression of regional LS of RVFW is more pronounced in the basal and middle segments in CTEPH patients. Also, the longitudinal movement is much more important than the transverse movement when evaluating RV systolic function. As compared with conventional parameters, RVFW GLS showed more sensitivity to identify abnormal RV function and had the largest AUC for identifying RHF. Additionally, GLS showed no correlation with sPAP and a weak correlation with right heart morphological parameters in our CTEPH cohort.     

Acetone vapour-assisted growth of 2D single-crystalline organic lead halide perovskite microplates and their temperature-enhanced photoluminescence

We adopt an acetone vapour-assisted method to grow high quality single-crystalline microplates of two-dimensional (2D) perovskite, 2-phenylethylammonium lead bromide [(C₆H₅C₂H₄NH₃)₂PbBr₄]. The microplates, converted from the spin-coated films, are well-defined rectangles. Temperature dependent photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy shows that the band gap PL is enhanced markedly with increasing temperature up to 218 K, accompanied by the quenching of the PL related to the trap states, which perhaps results from the exciton–phonon couplings. The optical phonon energy around 50 meV and the exciton binding energy around 120 meV are derived by fitting the band gap PL linewidths and intensities at different temperatures, respectively.

We report an acetone vapour-assisted method to grow single-crystalline 2D perovskite microplates and find their temperature-enhanced photoluminescence.     

我国八省份6～12岁儿童上学日睡眠状况分析

目的 分析6～12岁儿童上学日睡眠的影响因素。方法 2010年9－11月, 采用分层随机整群抽样方法, 根据地理特征、社会经济发展水平等因素, 以中国内地8省(直辖市、自治区)为抽样框, 抽取20 603名6～12岁儿童作为研究对象, 调查其睡眠时间及相关生活习惯。采用多因素logistic回归逐步法分析儿童睡眠时间的影响因素。结果 调查6～12岁儿童上学日平均每天的睡眠时间为9.11 h, 睡眠严重不足、睡眠不足和睡眠适中的比例分别为32.82%(7 672/20 603)、39.70%(8 179/20 603)和27.48%(5 662/20 603), 随年龄的增加, 儿童睡眠时间减少, 睡眠严重不足的比例增加。不同性别、城乡及经济水平之间儿童的睡眠时间及不同性别的小学生的睡眠构成并没有差异, 但不同地域(城市和农村)与不同经济地区儿童睡眠构成的差异有统计学意义, 农村儿童睡眠严重不足、睡眠适中的比例高于城市(χ²=59.96, χ²=45.47, P<0.05);而睡眠不足的比例低于城市的比例;经济水平高的地区儿童睡眠不足的比例最低, 构成差异有统计学意义。在调整性别、体重、饮食习惯及运动时间后, 多因素logistic回归结果显示, 对促进儿童睡眠时间满足10 h有积极保护作用的是饮食习惯中习惯吃肉、每日运动, 经济水平高和居住于城市地区。结论 我国儿童存在不良的睡眠卫生习惯;睡眠时间不足呈现低龄化, 农村儿童睡眠严重不足的现象较为常见。     

二甲双胍对2型糖尿病模型大鼠尿nephrin排泄的影响

目的:观察二甲双胍对2型糖尿病模型大鼠尿nephrin(UNE)排泄的动态影响,探讨二甲双胍对糖尿病肾小球足细胞的保护作用?方法:将高脂膳食联合小剂量链脲佐菌素(streptozotocin,STZ)诱导的2型糖尿病大鼠随机分为3组:糖尿病模型组?二甲双胍干预组?优降糖干预组,并设正常对照组?干预前后监测血糖(BG)以及尿白蛋白(UALB)和尿nephrin排泄?8周末糖化血红蛋白(HbA1c)的变化?结果:①3组糖尿病大鼠BG及HbA1c均明显高于正常组(P < 0.05);经二甲双胍和优降糖干预后,4?8周末2组BG和HbA1c均明显低于2型糖尿病模型组(P < 0.05),但差异无统计学意义(P > 0.05);②4?8周末各糖尿病大鼠尿白蛋白/肌酐比(UACR)明显高于正常组(P < 0.05);与2型糖尿病模型组比较,二甲双胍和优降糖组UACR值明显降低(P < 0.05),4周末,两干预组间无显著性差异(P > 0.05),8周末,两组间差异有统计学意义(P < 0.05);③0?2周末,4组大鼠尿nephrin/肌酐比(UNER)差异无统计学意义,4?8周末,各糖尿病大鼠UNER均明显高于正常组(P < 0.05),二甲双胍和优降糖干预组UNER明显低于糖尿病模型组(P < 0.05),且二甲双胍组低于优降糖组(P < 0.05);④Pearson相关分析显示UNER与UACR存在正相关(r=0.846,P < 0.05)?结论:二甲双胍可以降低糖尿病肾病大鼠尿nephrin的排泄,提示对肾小球足细胞可能存在保护作用,该作用不完全依赖于血糖的降低?     

Automated clinical trial eligibility prescreening: increasing the efficiency of patient identification for clinical trials in the emergency department

Objectives (1) To develop an automated eligibility screening (ES) approach for clinical trials in an urban tertiary care pediatric emergency department (ED); (2) to assess the effectiveness of natural language processing (NLP), information extraction (IE), and machine learning (ML) techniques on real-world clinical data and trials.Data and methods We collected eligibility criteria for 13 randomly selected, disease-specific clinical trials actively enrolling patients between January 1, 2010 and August 31, 2012. In parallel, we retrospectively selected data fields including demographics, laboratory data, and clinical notes from the electronic health record (EHR) to represent profiles of all 202795 patients visiting the ED during the same period. Leveraging NLP, IE, and ML technologies, the automated ES algorithms identified patients whose profiles matched the trial criteria to reduce the pool of candidates for staff screening. The performance was validated on both a physician-generated gold standard of trial–patient matches and a reference standard of historical trial–patient enrollment decisions, where workload, mean average precision (MAP), and recall were assessed.Results Compared with the case without automation, the workload with automated ES was reduced by 92% on the gold standard set, with a MAP of 62.9%. The automated ES achieved a 450% increase in trial screening efficiency. The findings on the gold standard set were confirmed by large-scale evaluation on the reference set of trial–patient matches.Discussion and conclusion By exploiting the text of trial criteria and the content of EHRs, we demonstrated that NLP-, IE-, and ML-based automated ES could successfully identify patients for clinical trials.     

A systematic review and meta‐analysis of randomized controlled trials: Skin‐patch of Chinese herbal medicine for patients with acute gouty arthritis

Aims

To evaluate the evidence of the effectiveness and safety of Chinese herbal medicine skin‐patches for patients with acute gouty arthritis.

Background

Acute gouty arthritis is a problem that can limit the level of activity and impair the quality of life. In China, many clinical studies have demonstrated that skin‐patches of Chinese herbal medicines benefit patients with acute gouty arthritis. However, the reported clinical effects vary.

Design

A systematic review and meta‐analysis of randomized controlled trials.

Data sources

Three English databases including CENTRAL (1993 to February 2017), PubMed (1966 to February 2017) and EMBASE (1974 to February 2017) and four Chinese databases including Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure, Chinese VIP Information, SinoMed and Wanfang (all, 1949 ‐ February 2017) were searched. Randomized controlled trials that compared skin‐patches of Chinese herbal medicine with or without conventional treatments to conventional treatments, no treatment or a placebo treatment for patients with acute gouty arthritis were included.

Review methods

We conducted a systematic review and meta‐analysis following the Cochrane process. Two authors selected the studies, extracted the data and evaluated the risk of bias of the included trials.

Results

Nineteen studies met our inclusion criteria. After synthesizing the data, the results showed that skin‐patches of CHM combined with Western medicine seemed to be more effective than Western medicine alone for pain relief in patients with acute gouty arthritis and had fewer adverse events.

Conclusion

Due to the quality of the data, larger and more rigorously designed clinical trials with proper outcome measures are necessary.     

Superlattice-like structure and enhanced ferroelectric properties of intergrowth Aurivillius oxides

Aurivillius oxides with an intergrowth structures have been receiving increasing interest because of their special structures and potential outstanding ferroelectric properties. In this work, Bi₃LaTiNbFeO₁₂–Bi₅Ti₃FeO₁₅ and Bi₃TiNbO₉–Bi₃LaTiNbFeO₁₂ compounds were successfully synthetised using a simple solid-state reaction method. X-Ray diffraction patterns and scanning transmission electron microscopy high angle annular dark field (STEM-HAADF) images confirm the 2–3 and the 3–4 intergrowth structures in Bi₃TiNbO₉–Bi₃LaTiNbFeO₁₂ and Bi₃LaTiNbFeO₁₂–Bi₅Ti₃FeO₁₅ compounds, respectively. A superlattice-like distortion in these oxides was proposed resulting from the combination of sub-lattices with different a and b parameters, which was validated by XRD refinements and Raman spectra. Polarization-electric field tests and pulsed polarization positive-up negative-down measurements demonstrate that such superlattice-like structures can effectively enhance the intrinsic ferroelectric polarization and coercive field of these oxides, especially when compared with their component oxides Bi₃TiNbO₉, Bi₃LaTiNbFeO₁₂ and Bi₅Ti₃FeO₁₅. Simultaneously, ferroelectric Curie temperatures of Bi₃TiNbO₉–Bi₃LaTiNbFeO₁₂ and Bi₃LaTiNbFeO₁₂–Bi₅Ti₃FeO₁₅ oxides are lowered because of the internal stress in the superlattice-like structure. Nevertheless, the paramagnetism of the samples is hardly influenced by their structure, while mainly related to their iron content, in which iron has a similar effective magnetic moment around 3.4–3.9.

Aurivillius oxides with an intergrowth structures have been receiving increasing interest because of their special structures and potential outstanding ferroelectric properties.