Towards practical soft X-ray spectromicroscopy of biomaterials

Scanning transmission X-ray microscopy (STXM) is being developed as a new tool to study the surface chemical morphology and biointeractions of candidate biomaterials with emphasis on blood compatible polymers. STXM is a synchrotron based technique which provides quantitative chemical mapping at a spatial resolution of 50 nm. Chemical speciation is provided by the near edge X-ray absorption spectral (NEXAFS) signal. We show that STXM can detect proteins on soft X-ray transparent polymer thin films with monolayer sensitivity. Of great significance is the fact that measurements can be made in situ, i.e. in the presence of an overlayer of the protein solution. The strengths, limitations and future potential of STXM for studies of biomaterials are discussed.     

Evolutionary computing for knowledge discovery in medical diagnosis

One of the major challenges in medical domain is the extraction of comprehensible knowledge from medical diagnosis data. In this paper, a two-phase hybrid evolutionary classification technique is proposed to extract classification rules that can be used in clinical practice for better understanding and prevention of unwanted medical events. In the first phase, a hybrid evolutionary algorithm (EA) is utilized to confine the search space by evolving a pool of good candidate rules, e.g. genetic programming (GP) is applied to evolve nominal attributes for free structured rules and genetic algorithm (GA) is used to optimize the numeric attributes for concise classification rules without the need of discretization. These candidate rules are then used in the second phase to optimize the order and number of rules in the evolution for forming accurate and comprehensible rule sets. The proposed evolutionary classifier (EvoC) is validated upon hepatitis and breast cancer datasets obtained from the UCI machine-learning repository. Simulation results show that the evolutionary classifier produces comprehensible rules and good classification accuracy for the medical datasets. Results obtained from t-tests further justify its robustness and invariance to random partition of datasets.     

Transurethral laser versus open simple prostatectomy for large volume prostates: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

The benefit of transurethral laser prostatectomy over open simple prostatectomy (OSP) is controversial in aged symptomatic benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) patients with large volume prostates, and the aim of this study is to compare the safety and efficiency of these two methods. Meta-analysis was applied using the Review Manager V5.3 software and the retrieved randomized controlled clinical trials (RCTs) comparing transurethral laser prostatectomy with OSP were analyzed for the treatment of large volume prostates from 2000 to 2019 in PubMed, Web of Science, Cochrane, and EMBASE datasets. Five RCTs assessing transurethral laser prostatectomy versus OSP were considered suitable for this meta-analysis, which included a total of 448 patients, with 232 patients undergoing laser and 216 patients undergoing OSP. Compared with OSP, although transurethral laser prostatectomy required a longer operative time (weighted mean difference (WMD) 27.49 mins; 95% confidence interval (CI) 16.54–38.44; P?<?0.00001) and obtained a less resected prostate weight (WMD ??11.72 g; 95% CI ??21.75 to ??1.70; P?=?0.02), patients undergoing laser prostatectomy benefited from significantly less hemoglobin decline (??0.97 g/dL; 95% CI ??1.31 to ??0.64; P?<?0.00001), shorter time of catheterization (WMD ??3.67 days; 95% CI ??5.60 to ??1.75; P?=?0.0002), shorter length of hospital stay (WMD ??4.75 days; 95% CI ??6.57 to ??2.93; P?<?0.00001), and less blood transfusion (odds ratio 0.10; 95% CI 0.03 to 0.35; P?=?0.0003). During postoperative follow-up, no significant difference was observed between the two groups in IPSS, QoL, Q_max, and PVR. Both transurethral laser prostatectomy and OSP are safe and effective for large prostates that require prostate resection. Taking into account of less blood loss, shorter catheterization time and hospital stay, and less blood transfusion, transurethral laser prostatectomy may be a better treatment for patients with large prostates.

     

Safety and efficacy of thulium laser resection of bladder tumors versus transurethral resection of bladder tumors: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Lasers in Medical Science - The thulium laser resection of bladder tumor (TmLRBT) is widely used in the treatment of non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC), and we conduct this study to compare...     

Cation channel control of neurite morphology

The development of neuronal polarity and morphology is essential for a functioning nervous system. The present study was undertaken to explore whether blockade of specific channels alter neuronal morphology. Retinal ganglion cells were cultured in the presence of antagonists to NMDA, AMPA/kainate, L-, N-, P-, and Q-type voltage-dependent calcium channels (VDCCs). Five parameters were measured under these conditions: the number of neurites at the cell body, total neurite length, the length of the longest neurite, the number of branch points per neurite, and the diameter of the cell soma. Antagonists to NMDA and L-type VDCCs reduce the number of neurites at the cell body; antagonists to P- and Q-type VDCCs increase the number of neurites. Antagonists to the N-type VDCCs increase total neurite outgrowth, while antagonists to the NMDA and P-type channels reduce total neurite length. Antagonists to the NMDA and L-type channels increase the length of a single neurite, while decreasing the number of branch points; antagonists to the P- and Q-type VDCCs do essentially the opposite-increase the number of neurites, while decreasing the length of each. Blockade of one or more cation channels in developing retinal ganglion cells significantly perturbs neurite morphology. This study may help elucidate part of the role that cation channel signaling plays in neuritic development.     

卵巢外腹膜浆液性乳头状癌5例临床及病理学分析

目的 探讨卵巢外腹膜浆液性乳头状癌（EPSPC）的临床及病理学特点。方法 对1990年1月～2004年12月经我院治疗的5例卵巢外腹膜浆液性乳头状癌的临床资料进行回顾性分析，运用组织病理学、免疫组化染色进行观察。结果 患者平均发病年龄60.4岁，1例双侧卵巢及输卵管基本正常，4例卵巢间质无肿瘤恶性浸润或仅累及卵巢表面上皮。5例均有腹膜的广泛病变.肿瘤组织病理形态与卵巢浆液性乳头状腺癌相似。组化及免疫组化染色PAS、CA125、CEA均阳性。结论 卵巢外腹膜浆液性乳头状癌是来源于第二苗勒系统的恶性肿瘤,组织病理形态与卵巢浆液性乳头状腺癌相似，诊断卵巢外腹膜浆液性乳头状癌时必须双侧卵巢、输卵管无同类型肿瘤。组化及免疫组化检测有助于与腹膜恶性间皮瘤的鉴别。预后较卵巢浆液性乳头状腺癌差。对患者行肿瘤细胞减灭术及PAC化疗方案可改善预后。     

探讨如何提高高速涡轮手机的使用寿命

高速涡轮手机的使用寿命取决于多种因素,包括压缩空气的压力、质量以及临床的使用,只有客观条件在一定范围,使用和保养得当,才能提高其使用寿命.     

西宁地区常见蝇种季节消长规律及其影响因素分析

目的:分析西宁地区常见蝇种季节消长规律、蝇种构成及影响因素.方法:臭豆腐诱饵法.结果:西宁地区的优势蝇种为厩腐蝇、新陆原腐蝇、常齿股蝇、红头丽蝇、大头金蝇、丝光绿蝇、舍蝇、尾黑麻蝇等,蝇密度高峰期在6、7、8月份.结论:滋生环境的改变和综合治理措施的运用,会改变城市的优势蝇种构成,持续的暖冬是导致蝇种消长规律变化的主要原因.