Determinants of hospital ethics committee success

In December 1990, an empirical study assessing hospital ethics committee (HEC) success was completed. Success was measured in terms of the number of interventions undertaken by the committees in four functional areas: education, guidelines development, prospective and retrospective case review. Some commonly quoted success determinants, such as multidisciplinarity, physician chairpersons, and a high institutional status of the chairperson were found not to foster success; the latter two, actually decreased committee success.     

ATM网络的差错检测和纠正

ATM（异步传送方式Asynchronous Transfer Mode)是一种网络数据传送技术,ATM的设计基于光纤网络,由于光纤传输的比特差错率非常低,因此ATM网的差错检测和纠正与CRC（循环冗余检验）不同,本文讨论ATM网的差错检测和纠正。     

Does tenofovir gel or do other microbicide products affect detection of biomarkers of semen exposure in vitro?

Objectives

There is currently no information on whether products evaluated in HIV microbicide trials affect the detection of the semen biomarkers prostate-specific antigen (PSA) or Y chromosome DNA.

Study Design

We tested (in vitro) dilutions of tenofovir (TFV), UC781 and the hydroxyethylcellulose (HEC) placebo gels using the Abacus ABAcard and the quantitative (Abbott Architect total PSA) assays for PSA and Y chromosome DNA by real-time polymerase chain reaction.

Results

TFV gel and the HEC placebo adversely affected PSA detection using the ABAcard but not the Abbott Architect total PSA assay. UC781 adversely affected both the ABAcard and Abbott Architect total PSA assays. While there were some quantitative changes in the magnitude of the signal, none of the products affected positivity of the Y chromosome assay.

Conclusions

The presence of TFV or HEC gels did not affect quantitative PSA or Y chromosome detection in vitro. Confirmation of these findings is recommended using specimens obtained following use of these gels in vivo.

Implications

Researchers should consider the potential for specific microbicides or any products to affect the particular assay used for semen biomarker detection. The ABAcard assay for PSA detection should not be used with TFV UC781, or HEC.     

Gentamicin and leucine inhalable powder: What about antipseudomonal activity and permeation through cystic fibrosis mucus?

The aim of this study was to evaluate the permeation properties of gentamicin (G) in a novel dry powder form for inhalation through an artificial mucus model. Moreover, since respiratory infections sustained by Pseudomonas are a major cause of sickness and death in CF patients, the susceptibility of P. aeruginosa to engineered G powders was investigated.     

致病性嗜水气单胞菌保护性抗原的研究

本试验采用SDS－PAGE对10株嗜水气单胞菌（Ah）的外膜蛋白（OMP）和脂多糖（LPS）进行分析，结果显示大多数菌株具有相似的OMP图谱，而LPS则有较大的差异，用鲫鱼抗AhJ-1株全菌血清进行免疫转印，发现S蛋白（S－layerProtein）是70％Ah菌株的共同抗原，而LPS则有明显的抗原多样性，AhJ－1株抗血清仅能与同源菌株起反应。用AhJ－1株HEC毒素（Hemolvticactivity，Enterotoxicity，Cytotoxicity，HEC）的单克隆抗体检测此10株Ah，8株细菌可产生抗原性相同的HEC毒素。用纯化的AhJ－1株的S蛋白、LPS及HEC毒素（预先天活）分别免疫小鼠，强化免疫后，对同源菌株的攻击均能完全保护；S蛋白免疫组和HEC毒素免疫组对异源菌株TPS－30的攻击均能保护，而LPS免疫组则不能完全保护。上述结果表明，S蛋白和HEC毒素是Ah的主要共同保护抗原。AhJ-1株有望成为预防嗜水气单胞菌败血症的疫苗生产菌株。     

Effects of indomethacin on expression of PTEN tumour suppressor in human cancers

Background:

Previous studies reported that Non-steroidal Anti-inflammatory Drugs (NSAIDs), chemicals, and food supplements can be used to up-regulate the PTEN mRNA and protein expression, suggesting that these substances may be used in prevention and/or treatment of various human cancers like spinal, brain, colon, breast, prostate, bladder and endometrial cancers.

Aim:

This was to study expression and sub-cellular localisation of PTEN protein, and review the effect(s) of indomethacin on PTEN''s expression in cultured Human Endometrial Cancer (HEC 1B) cell line, which is known to express significant amounts of the wild-type PTEN.

Materials and Methods:

This involves culture and incubation of artificial HEC 1B cells. All procedures were undertaken in the cell culture hood under the recommended sterile conditions. The cells were then incubated with different concentrations of indomethacin solution, for variable durations and finally fixed (with paraformaldehyde) and stained with fluorescein-labelled diluted secondary antibody (FITC). Immunocytochemistry (IHC) and fluorescent microscopy were then employed for the detection and localisation of the specific antigen (PTEN), using antibodies.

Results:

The HEC 1B cells, which were cultured and incubated with different concentrations of indomethacin solution, expressed the PTEN protein, most of which was localised to the nucleus with minimal cytoplasmic expression. Increased PTEN expression was observed following treatment of the cells with various concentrations of the solution for variable durations, although there was cell death at higher concentrations and longer duration. This procedure was repeated several times, in order to have consistency and to validate the results.

Conclusion:

This study agrees with previous studies in similar human cell lines and supports the idea that NSAIDs and other drugs may be used in the future for prevention of human cancers. However, more studies need to be carried out to substantiate these observations.     

肿瘤化疗所致恶心呕吐现状调查

目的调查化疗所致恶心呕吐（chemotherapy—inducednauseaandvomiting,CINV）的患者心理预期和发生情况,并评估CINV对患者生活质量的影响,为提高临床医生对CINV的认识和重视提供依据。方法采用问卷调查的方式,调查华中科技大学同济医学院附属同济医院使用中度致吐风险化疗（MEC）或高度致吐风险化疗（HEC）的患者,并对其进行连续两周期相同化疗方案的随访。患者分别于化疗开始前、化疗第2天和化疗第6天,记录化疗期间急性、延迟性恶心呕吐发生情况、自主止吐用药和CINV对生活功能的影响,调查结果采用描述性分析和多元线性回归分析。结果本研究共调查344例患者,最终303例患者完成问卷调查。结果显示：单日化疗MEC组急性、延迟性和总的完全缓解率分别为86．1％、76．6％和71．5％,HEC组为84．1％、71．0％和66．7％。多日化疗患者分别为93．8％、64．9％和64．9％;第2周期化疗前患者关于恶心呕吐预期值和焦虑值与患者前一周期化疗延迟性恶心发生的严重程度密切相关;约30％的患者因CINV对生活功能造成负面影响。结论在行中度和高度致吐风险化疗的患者中,CINV治疗现状仍存在较大问题,尤其是在延迟期反应和恶心症状的控制方面。在临床实践中需进一步加强对CINV的关注,并提供更加有效的治疗措施。     

TRIM44 promotes human esophageal cancer progression via the AKT/mTOR pathway

Aberrant expression of TRIM‐containing protein 44 (TRIM44) acts as a promoter in multiple cancers. Here, we investigated the biological functions and clinical significance of TRIM44 in human esophageal cancer (HEC). TRIM44 expression was significantly higher in HEC tissues than corresponding normal tissues at both the mRNA (2.42 ± 0.52 vs 0.99 ± 0.25) and protein (1.01 ± 0.27 vs 0.30 ± 0.13) levels. Patients with high TRIM44 expression showed poor differentiation (P = 1.39 × 10^?5), advanced TNM stage (P = 3.87 × 10^?4) and, most importantly, significantly poorer prognosis (P = 2.80 × 10^?5). TRIM44 played a crucial role in epithelial mesenchymal transition (EMT). A significant correlation was observed between TRIM44 and Ki67 expression. We demonstrated that TRIM44 markedly enhanced HEC cell proliferation, migration, and invasion. Additionally, TRIM44 was involved in the AKT/mTOR signaling pathway and its downstream targets, such as STAT3 phosphorylation. Thus, elevated TRIM44 expression promotes HEC development by EMT via the AKT/mTOR pathway, and TRIM44 may be a novel prognostic indicator for HEC patients after curative resection.     

Low-dose dexamethasone with fosaprepitant and palonosetron to prevent cisplatin-induced nausea and vomiting in head and neck cancer patients

Abstract

Objective: To determine if a lower dose of dexamethasone can be used in combination with fosaprepitant and palonosetron for cisplatin-induced nausea and vomiting in head and neck cancer patients, we conducted a single-center, two-arm, cross-over comparison study.

Methods: Patients were randomly assigned to either standard dose dexamethasone group: intravenous 9.9?mg on day 1 and 6.6?mg on days 2–4 or low-dose dexamethasone group: intravenous 3.3?mg on days 1–4 for the first course and crossed over to the other treatment for the second course. The primary endpoint was complete response (CR) in the overall period.

Results: Twenty-five patients were screened for the study and 22 were evaluable. Eleven patients were randomly assigned to the standard dose dexamethasone group and 12 patients to the low-dose dexamethasone group. The CR rate in the overall period was 86% in the standard dose group and 73% in the low-dose group, showing no significant difference (p?=?.61).

Conclusion: The efficacy of low-dose dexamethasone with fosaprepitant and palonosetron was not inferior to that of the standard dose dexamethasone in the highly emetogenic cisplatin-based treatment for head and neck cancer patients.