Objective. To examine the distribution of traditional and novel risk factors of cardiovascular disease (CVD) in patients with PsA compared with healthy controls. Methods. We compared risk factors for ...CVD between 102 consecutive PsA patients and 82 controls, adjusting for BMI. We also assessed the role of inflammation on the CVD risk factor by using a BMI and high-sensitivity CRP (hsCRP)-adjusted model. Results. The BMI of PsA patients were significantly higher than healthy controls. After adjusting for the BMI, PsA patients still have a higher prevalence of diabetes mellitus (DM) odds ratio (OR) 9.27, 95% CI 2.09, 41.09) and hypertension (OR 3.37, 95% CI 1.68, 6.72), but a lower prevalence of low high density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol (OR 0.16, 95% CI 0.07, 0.41). PsA patients have significantly increased systolic and diastolic blood pressures, insulin resistance and inflammatory markers (hsCRP and white cell count) compared to controls. PsA patients have higher HDL cholesterol and apolipoprotein (Apo) A1 levels; and lower total cholesterol (TC) and low density lipoprotein cholesterol levels; and a lower TC/HDL ratio. However, the Apo B level (P < 0.05), and the Apo B/Apo A1 ratio (P = 0.07) were higher in PsA patients. Further adjustment for hsCRP level rendered the differences in the prevalence of hypertension and DM; the TC, and sugar levels; and white cell count non-significant between the two groups; while the differences in other parameters remained significant. Conclusion. These data support the hypothesis that PsA may be associated with obesity, hypertension, dyslipidaemia and insulin resistance because of the shared inflammatory pathway.
A new near-infrared AIE luminogen (TPE-AC) with high specificity, good biocompatibility and excellent photostability is designed and synthesized for lipid droplet (LD) imaging in cells. TPE-AC can ...monitor the process of LD accumulation in cells, thus making it potential for the diagnosis of early-stage fat-related diseases.
Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is highly sensitive to both radiotherapy (RT) and chemotherapy. This randomized phase III trial compared concurrent cisplatin-RT (CRT) with RT alone in patients with ...locoregionally advanced NPC.
Patients with Ho's N2 or N3 stage or N1 stage with nodal size > or = 4 cm were randomized to receive cisplatin 40 mg/m(2) weekly up to 8 weeks concurrently with radical RT (CRT) or RT alone. The primary end point was progression-free survival (PFS).
Three hundred fifty eligible patients were randomized. Baseline patient characteristics were comparable in both arms. There were significantly more toxicities, including mucositis, myelosuppression, and weight loss in the CRT arm. There were no treatment-related deaths in the CRT arm, and one patient died during treatment in the RT-alone arm. At a median follow-up of 2.71 years, the 2-year PFS was 76% in the CRT arm and 69% in the RT-alone arm (P =.10) with a hazards ratio of 1.367 (95% confidence interval CI, 0.93 to 2.00). The treatment effect had a significant covariate interaction with tumor stage, and a subgroup analysis demonstrated a highly significant difference in favor of the CRT arm in Ho's stage T3 (P =.0075) with a hazards ratio of 2.328 (95% CI, 1.26 to 4.28). For T3 stage, the time to first distant failure was statistically significantly different in favor of the CRT arm (P =.016).
Concurrent CRT is well tolerated in patients with advanced NPC in endemic areas. Although PFS was not significantly different between the concurrent CRT arm and the RT-alone arm in the overall comparison, PFS was significantly prolonged in patients with advanced tumor and node stages.
The goals of this review are to provide background information on the definitions and applications of the general term "biomarker" and to highlight the specific roles of breast imaging biomarkers in ...research and clinical breast cancer care. A search was conducted of the main electronic biomedical databases (PubMed, Cochrane, Embase, MEDLINE Ovid, Scopus, and Web of Science). The search was focused on review literature in general radiology and biomedical sciences and on reviews and primary research articles on biomarkers in breast imaging over the 15 years ending in June 2017. The keywords included "biomarker," "trial endpoints," "breast imaging," "breast cancer," "radiomics," and "precision medicine" in the titles and abstracts of the papers.
Clinical breast care and breast cancer-related research rely on imaging biomarkers for decision support. In the era of precision medicine and big data, the practice of radiology is likely to change. A closer integration of breast imaging with related biomedical fields and the creation of large integrated and shareable databases of clinical, molecular, and imaging biomarkers should allow the field to continue guiding breast cancer care and research.
The rapid acquisition of antibiotic resistance poses difficulties in the development of effective methods to eliminate pathogenic bacteria. New bactericides, especially those do not induce the ...emergence of resistance, are thus in great demand. In this work, we report an aggregation-induced emission fluorogen, TPE-Bac, for bacterial imaging and elimination. TPE-Bac can be readily dissolved in aqueous solution with weak emission. The presence of bacteria can turn on its emission, and thus no washing step is required in the imaging process. Meanwhile, TPE-Bac can be applied as a bactericide for elimination of bacteria. The amphiphilic TPE-Bac bearing two long alkyl chains and two positively charged amines can intercalate into the membrane of bacteria, increase membrane permeability and lead to dark toxicity. The efficiency of bacteria killing is greatly enhanced under light irradiation. TPE-Bac can serve as a photosensitizer to induce reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation, which ensures the efficient killing of bacteria. The TPE-Bac-containing agar plates can be continuously used for bacteria killing by applying light to induce ROS generation.
Long‐term tracking of bacterial viability is of great importance for monitoring the viability change of bacteria under storage, evaluating disinfection efficiency, as well as for studying the ...pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic properties of antibacterials. Most of the conventional viability dyes, however, suffer from high toxicity and/or poor photostability, making them unsuitable for long‐term studies. In this work, an aggregation‐induced emission molecule, TPE‐2BA, which can differentiate dead and living bacteria and serve as a highly fluorescent and photostable probe for long‐term viability assay. TPE‐2BA is a cell‐impermeable DNA stain that binds to the groove of double‐stranded DNA. Bacteria with compromised membrane open the access for TPE‐2BA to reach DNA, endowing it with strong emission. The feasibility of using TPE‐2BA for screening effective bactericides is also demonstrated. Plate count experiment reveals that TPE‐2BA poses negligible toxicity to bacteria, indicating that it is an excellent probe for long‐term bacterial viability assay.
Bacteria with compromised membranes open the access for TPE‐2BA, a fluorophore with aggregation‐induced emission characteristics, to approach their DNA. Such interaction selectively lights up dead bacteria. Possessing high brightness, excellent photostability, and appreciable biocompatibility, TPE‐2BA represents a well‐suited candidate for long‐term tracking of bacterial viability and for bactericide screening.
Cardiolipin (CL) is a unique phospholipid found in mitochondrial inner membrane. It is a key component for mitochondrial function in both respiration and apoptosis. The level of CL is an important ...parameter for investigating these intracellular events and is a critical indicator of a number of diseases associated with mitochondrial respiratory functions. 10-Nonyl acridine orange (NAO) is the only fluorescent dye currently available for CL detection. However, the performance of NAO is far from satisfactory in terms of selectivity and sensitivity. In this work, we report an aggregation-induced emission-active fluorogen, TTAPE-Me, for CL detection and quantification. With improved sensitivity and excellent selectivity to CL over other major mitochondrial membrane lipids, TTAPE-Me could serve as a valuable fluorescent sensor for CL quantification. The use of TTAPE-Me for the quantification of isolated mitochondria is also demonstrated.
Whereas high-flow nasal cannula use is gaining prevalence, its high gas flow raises concerns about aerosolization of infectious particles and spread of infection. This randomized controlled crossover ...non-inferiority trial (N = 20) evaluated the degree of environmental contamination by viable bacteria associated with the use of high-flow nasal cannula compared with conventional oxygen mask for critically ill patients with Gram-negative pneumonia. The results show that high-flow nasal cannula use was not associated with increased air or contact surface contamination by either Gram-negative bacteria or total bacteria, suggesting that additional infection control measures are not required.
To analyze the treatment results achievable for nasopharyngeal carcinoma in the modern era to identify the key failures for future improvement and to provide an updated baseline for future trials.
...The results of 2687 consecutive patients treated at all public oncology centers in Hong Kong during 1996-2000 were retrospectively analyzed. The stage distribution (by American Joint Committee on Cancer and International Union Against Cancer staging system, 1997) was 7% Stage I, 41% Stage II, 25% Stage III, and 28% Stage IVA-B. All patients were irradiated with 6-MV photons and the median total dose was 66 Gy. Only 23% of patients had additional treatment with chemotherapy.
The 5-year local, nodal, and distant failure-free rates were 85%, 94%, and 81%, respectively; patients with local failure had significantly higher risk of nodal and distant failures. The 5-year progression-free, overall, and cancer-specific survival rates were 63%, 75%, and 80%, respectively. The presenting stage was the most important prognostic factor for all endpoints: with overall survival decreasing from 90% for Stage I to 58% for Stage IVA-B. The results achieved by the 2070 patients treated by radiotherapy alone were almost identical to that of the whole series, the distant failure-free rate among patients with locoregional control was 89% for Stage I-II and 75% for Stage III-IVB. The 860 patients (32%) staged with magnetic resonance imaging achieved significantly better results than those staged by computed tomography, the overall survival being 93% vs. 83% for Stages I-II, and 72% vs. 63% for Stages III-IVB (p = 0.001).
Treatment results for nasopharyngeal carcinoma have substantially improved in the modern era; future trials should be based on updated baseline results. Further reduction of distant failure is important for future breakthrough, particularly for patients with advanced disease.
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