Effectiveness of a double-carbapenem combinations against carbapenem-resistant Gram-negative bacteria

The emergence of carbapenem-resistant organisms posed considerable threat to global health while only limited treatment options are available and led to efforts to discover a novel way to treat them. To evaluate in vitro synergistic activity of meropenem plus ertapenem, a total of 203 carbapenem-resistant strains, collected from 12 provinces and municipalities in China, were examined with a dual carbapenem combination therapy. The statistical software R was used for analysis. Two hundred and one (201) of carbapenem-resistant strains mainly produced four types of carbapenemase: KPC-2 (n = 142, 69.95%), OXA-232 (n = 7, 3.45%), NDM (n = 38, 18.72%; 36 NDM-1, 1 NDM-4, 1 NDM-5), and IMP (n = 15, 7.39%; 1 IMP-26, 10 IMP-30, 4 IMP-4). Fifty-one out of two hundred and three (51/203 or 25.12%) of the examined strains showed a synergistic effect for the meropenem plus ertapenem combination throughout the checkerboard method, while only three isolates showed potential clinically relevant synergy (3/203, 1.48%). An additive effect was observed in 55/203 (27.09%) of the examined strains. Ninety-seven of the examined isolates (47.78%) showed fractional inhibitory concentration (FIC) greater or equal to 2 (indicating antagonism). The synergistic activity of meropenem plus ertapenem combination suggests this combination can be a possible way to treat the infection caused by the carbapenem-resistant organisms, especially for IMP or NDM producer with a lesser minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and the infected individual who was not recommended to use colistin or tigecycline.     

Performance of risk prediction models for post-operative mortality in patients undergoing liver resection

BackgroundLiver resection is commonly performed for hepatic tumors, however preoperative risk stratification remains challenging. We evaluated the performance of contemporary prediction models for short-term mortality after liver resection in patients with and without cirrhosis.MethodsThis retrospective cohort study examined National Surgical Quality Improvement Program data. We included patients who underwent liver resections from 2014 to 2019. VOCAL-Penn, MELD, MELD-Na, ALBI, and Mayo risk scores were evaluated in terms of model discrimination and calibration for 30-day post-operative mortality.ResultsA total 15,198 patients underwent liver resection, of whom 249 (1.6%) experienced 30-day post-operative mortality. The VOCAL-Penn score had the highest discrimination (area under the ROC curve [AUC] 0.74) compared to all other models. The VOCAL-Penn score similarly outperformed other models in patients with (AUC 0.70) and without (AUC 0.74) cirrhosis.ConclusionThe VOCAL-Penn score demonstrated superior predictive performance for 30-day post-operative mortality after liver resection as compared to existing clinical standards.     

Evaluation of six anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibody test kits and practical approaches to optimize the diagnostic performance

In an investigation of six anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibody kits with different target antigen and methodology, each kit showed comparable performance. As false-positive reactions occurred independently with different kits, specificity increased to 100% when pairs of kits were used. With three-kit combination, both sensitivity (99.1%) and specificity (100%) increased.     

Deepm5C: A deep-learning-based hybrid framework for identifying human RNA N5-methylcytosine sites using a stacking strategy

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Chemical applicability domain of the Local Lymph Node Assay (LLNA) for skin sensitisation potency. Part 2. The biological variability of the murine Local Lymph Node Assay (LLNA) for skin sensitisation

The Local Lymph Node Assay (LLNA) is the most common in vivo regulatory toxicology test for skin sensitisation, quantifying potency as the EC3, the concentration of chemical giving a threefold increase in thymidine uptake in the local lymph node. Existing LLNA data can, along with clinical data, provide useful comparator information on the potency of sensitisers. Understanding of the biological variability of data from LLNA studies is important for those developing non-animal based risk assessment approaches for skin allergy. Here an existing set of 94 EC3 values for 12 chemicals, all tested at least three times in the same vehicle have been analysed by calculating standard deviations (SD) for logEC3 values. The SDs range from 0.08 to 0.22. The overall SD for the 94 logEC3 values is 0.147. Thus the 95% confidence limits (2xSD) for LLNA EC3 values are within a factor of 2, comparable to those for physico-chemical measurements such as partition coefficients and solubility. The residual SDs of Quantitative Mechanistic Models (QMMs) based on physical organic chemistry parameters are similar to the overall SD of the LLNA, indicating that QMMs of this type are unlikely to be bettered for predictive accuracy.     

中西医结合治疗动眼神经麻痹疗效观察

目的了解中西医结合法治疗动眼神经麻痹的临床疗效。方法对我院2012-03—2014-03收治的动眼神经麻痹患者进行抽样,择取74例患者随机分成2组,对照组予以基础性西医疗法,实验组在对照组治疗基础上予以中医疗法(包括针刺及服用中药正容汤等),观察2组患者的临床治疗效果。结果实验组总有效率(94.60%)明显高于对照组(64.86%),差异具有统计学意义(P0.05)。结论中西医结合法治疗动眼神经麻痹临床疗效确切,安全系数高,值得临床大力推广使用。     

Gynecologic Malignancy-Associated Venous Thromboembolism and Predictive Tool at Thammasat University Hospital

Objectives: Aims were to investigate the prevalence and risk factors of venous thromboembolism (VTE) in gynecologic malignancy cases. Value of screening tool (Caprini) for prediction of VTE was also assessed. Study design: A retrospective study of gynecologic malignancy subjects who underwent major gynecological operation via exploratory laparotomy at Thammasat University Hospital, Pathum Thani, Thailand from January 2015 to December 2020. Participants were categorized into VTE and non-VTE groups. Caprini score, associated laboratory and clinical factors of both groups were evaluated. Results: A total of 392 subjects were recruited into the study. Prevalence of VTE was 7.4 (29/392) percent. VTE was diagnosed in subjects with endometrial, ovarian and cervical cancer at percentage of 7.8 (15/192), 7.9 (11/138) and 5.7 (3/53), respectively. Demographic characters of both groups were comparable. VTE group had significant more Caprini score, platelets count and platelet lymphocyte ratio (PLR) than non-VTE group. Modified Caprini score (2 multiply Caprini score plus 1 multiply PLR) was generated for better VTE prediction. Sensitivity and specificity of Caprini (≥5.5) and modified Caprini scores (≥22.8) were 72.4 vs 39.4, and 79.3 vs 52.1 percent, respectively. Conclusion: Prevalence of VTE among gynecologic malignancy cases was 7.4 percent. The modified Caprini score was an alternative VTE predictive tool. Cut-off point of modified Caprini score at equal or more than 22.8 was proposed.