Background
The Child–Pugh (CP) score is used widely to assess liver function and predict postoperative outcomes in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Recently, the albumin–bilirubin (ALBI) ...score has been validated as a predictor of overall survival in these patients. This study aimed to compare the ability of the ALBI and CP scores to predict outcomes in patients with HCC after liver resection with curative intent.
Methods
Consecutive patients who underwent liver resection with curative intent for HCC between January 2007 and July 2013 were included in this retrospective study. The performance of the ALBI score in predicting postoperative liver failure (PHLF) and long‐term survival was compared with that of the CP score.
Results
A total of 1242 patients were enrolled. Of these, 166 (13·4 per cent) experienced PHLF. The area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve of the ALBI score for predicting PHLF was greater than that of the CP score (0·723 versus 0·607; P < 0·001). Similar to findings for CP grade, the incidence and severity of PHLF increased with increasing ALBI grade. The ALBI grade stratified patients into at least two distinct overall survival cohorts (P < 0·001), whereas the CP grade did not. The ALBI grade also classified patients with CP grade A disease into two distinct overall survival cohorts (P < 0·001), and overall survival rates in the group with poorer survival were similar to those in the majority of patients with CP grade B disease. Both CP and ALBI scores had low power in predicting disease‐free survival.
Conclusion
The ALBI grade predicted PHLF and overall survival in patients with HCC undergoing liver resection with curative intent more accurately than the CP grade.
ALBI score may be better
This study evaluated the effects of Bacillus fermentation on soybean meal protein (SBMP) microstructure and major anti‐nutritional factors (ANFs) in soybean meal (SBM). The Bacillus siamensis isolate ...JL8 producing high yield of protease at 519·1 U g−1 was selected for the laboratory production of fermented soybean meal (FSBM). After 24 h fermentation, the FSBM showed better properties compared with those of SBM, the ANFs such as glycinin, β‐conglycinin and trypsin inhibitor significantly decreased by 86·0, 70·3 and 95·01%, while in vitro digestibility and absorbability increased by 8·7 and 18·9% respectively. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) image of fermented soybean meal protein showed smaller aggregates and looser network than that of SBMP. Secondary structure examination of proteins revealed fermentation significantly decreased the content of β‐sheet structure by 43·2% and increased the random coil structure by 59·9%. It is demonstrated that Bacillus fermentation improved the nutritional quality of SBM through degrading ANFs and changing the microstructure of SBMP.
Significance and Impact of the Study
There is limited information about the structural property changes of soybean protein during fermentation. In this study, physicochemical analysis of soybean meal protein showed evidence that the increase in in vitro digestibility and absorbability of fermented soybean meal reflected the decrease in β‐conformation and destruction of original structure in soybean meal protein. The results directly gained the understanding of nutritional quality improvement of soybean meal by Bacillus fermentation, and supply the potential use of Bacillus siamensis for fermented soybean meal production.
Significance and Impact of the Study: There is limited information about the structural property changes of soybean protein during fermentation. In this study, physicochemical analysis of soybean meal protein showed evidence that the increase in in vitro digestibility and absorbability of fermented soybean meal reflected the decrease in β‐conformation and destruction of original structure in soybean meal protein. The results directly gained the understanding of nutritional quality improvement of soybean meal by Bacillus fermentation, and supply the potential use of Bacillus siamensis for fermented soybean meal production.
Machine learning, a branch of artificial intelligence, learns from previous experience to optimize performance, which is ubiquitous in various fields such as computer sciences, financial analysis, ...robotics, and bioinformatics. A challenge is that machine learning with the rapidly growing "big data" could become intractable for classical computers. Recently, quantum machine learning algorithms Lloyd, Mohseni, and Rebentrost, arXiv.1307.0411 were proposed which could offer an exponential speedup over classical algorithms. Here, we report the first experimental entanglement-based classification of two-, four-, and eight-dimensional vectors to different clusters using a small-scale photonic quantum computer, which are then used to implement supervised and unsupervised machine learning. The results demonstrate the working principle of using quantum computers to manipulate and classify high-dimensional vectors, the core mathematical routine in machine learning. The method can, in principle, be scaled to larger numbers of qubits, and may provide a new route to accelerate machine learning.
Summary
Background
Inherited epidermodysplasia verruciformis (EV) is a rare skin disorder characterized by susceptibility to specific types of human papilloma virus (HPV) and is strongly associated ...with skin carcinomas. Inactivating mutations in EVER1/EVER2 account for most cases of EV. However, more phenotypes related to but distinct from EV have been reported with an immunodeficiency state but without EVER1/EVER2 mutation, and the genetic basis for these atypical EV cases is poorly understood.
Objectives
To identify the causative gene responsible for three siblings affected by atypical EV but without EVER1/EVER2 mutation.
Methods
Whole‐exome sequencing followed by Sanger sequencing was performed to identify the gene responsible for the patients with atypical EV enrolled in our study.
Results
A homozygous splicing mutation was detected in LCK (c.188‐2A>G). This mutation resulted in an exon 3 deletion T lymphocyte‐specific protein tyrosine kinase isoform, which further led to frameshift mutation and subsequent mRNA decay.
Conclusions
We demonstrate a novel mutation in LCK in a family affected by atypical EV with T‐cell defects, HPV infection and virus‐induced malignancy, providing new clues in the understanding of host defences against HPV and better genetic counselling of patients with the EV phenotype.
What's already known about this topic?
Epidermodysplasia verruciformis (EV) is an unusual genodermatosis characterized by an increased susceptibility to β‐human papillomavirus and is associated with a high risk of skin carcinoma.
Inactivating mutations in EVER1/EVER2 account for most cases of EV.
What does this study add?
Our study suggests an association between a novel splicing mutation in LCK and EV susceptibility.
What is the translational message?
Patients with EV should be tested for T lymphocyte‐specific protein tyrosine kinase deficiency and T‐cell function, which will help guide treatment.
Linked Comment: Uitto and Vahidnezhad. Br J Dermatol 2016; 175:1138–1139.
In contrast to cubic metals, the dominant recrystallization nucleation site of hexagonal magnesium is compression twins or the shear bands evolved from them. In this paper, we determine the ...macrotextures and microstructures of a magnesium alloy AZ31 during static recrystallization. We interpret these data according to a microtexture analysis performed with the EBSD technique of new grains formed at compression twins in the early stage of static recrystallization. The results show that the orientation characteristics in local regions during nucleation are similar to those of subgrains within compression twins or shear bands. However, the new grains mainly take the orientations of the subgrains, which have been subjected to complicated orientation rotations. This phenomenon is attributed to the large amount of their stored energy. Despite the difference between new grain orientations and those of the deformed matrix, the retained deformation texture after annealing is explained mainly by the incomplete recrystalization of magnesium.
Summary
Objective: As a melatonin receptor agonist, ramelteon has been approved in the United States as a treatment for insomnia. As a potential alternation, ramelteon should be further evaluated in ...different doses and populations. This systematic review with meta‐analysis aims to determine the efficacy and safety of ramelteon in the treatment of chronic insomnia.
Methods: We systematically searched and identified in Medline, Embase, PsycINFO and Cochrane Library until September 2011. We only included randomised controlled trials focused on ramelteon, vs. placebo, or any other treatment for patients with chronic insomnia. Data were extracted and evaluated by two independent investigators. If neither clinical nor statistical heterogeneity was found, we pooled results using a fixed‐effect model.
Results: Eight studies were selected to include from 175 identified references. There were significant improvements in all the outcomes (subjective and polysomnographic sleep latency, total sleep time and latency to REM), except for the percentage of REM. By subgroup analysis, subjective sleep latency was reduced only in the patients of 18–64 years old, without in the patients over 65 years old. For the safety, ramelteon was not associated with higher risk ratio of any frequent adverse events comparing with control.
Conclusion: The efficacy and safety of ramelteon are promising for the chronic insomnia patients. More researches are required for robust conclusions, particularly well‐designed; double‐blind randomised controlled trials with higher doses of ramelteon (32 or 64 mg) for the older population comparing with other sedative hypnotics.
A model construction scheme of chaotic optoelectronic oscillator (OEO) based on the Fourier neural operator (FNO) is proposed. Different from the conventional methods, we learn the nonlinear dynamics ...of OEO (actual components) in a data-driven way, expecting to obtain a multi-parameter OEO model for generating chaotic carrier with high-efficiency and low-cost. FNO is a deep learning architecture which utilizes neural network as a parameter structure to learn the trajectory of the family of equations from training data. With the assistance of FNO, the nonlinear dynamics of OEO characterized by differential delay equation can be modeled easily. In this work, the maximal Lyapunov exponent is applied to judge whether these time series have chaotic behavior, and the Pearson correlation coefficient (PCC) is introduced to evaluate the modeling performance. Compare with long and short-term memory (LSTM), FNO is not only superior to LSTM in modeling accuracy, but also requires less training data. Subsequently, we analyze the modeling performance of FNO under different feedback gains and time delays. Both numerical and experimental results show that the PCC can be greater than 0.99 in the case of low feedback gain. Next, we further analyze the influence of different system oscillation frequencies, and the generalization ability of FNO is also analyzed.
We report the first experimental demonstration of quantum entanglement among ten spatially separated single photons. A near-optimal entangled photon-pair source was developed with simultaneously a ...source brightness of ∼12 MHz/W, a collection efficiency of ∼70%, and an indistinguishability of ∼91% between independent photons, which was used for a step-by-step engineering of multiphoton entanglement. Under a pump power of 0.57 W, the ten-photon count rate was increased by about 2 orders of magnitude compared to previous experiments, while maintaining a state fidelity sufficiently high for proving the genuine ten-particle entanglement. Our work created a state-of-the-art platform for multiphoton experiments, and enabled technologies for challenging optical quantum information tasks, such as the realization of Shor's error correction code and high-efficiency scattershot boson sampling.
This study was conducted to investigate the effects of fructooligosaccharide (FOS) and Bacillus licheniformis (B. licheniformis) on growth performance, body composition, intestinal enzymes activities ...and gut histology of Megalobrama terminalis. Nine experimental diets were formulated to contain three FOS levels (0, 3 and 6 g kg⁻¹) and three B. licheniformis levels (0, 1 and 5 × 10⁷ CFU g⁻¹) following a 3 × 3 factorial design. Accordingly, diets were named as 0/0, 0/3, 0/6, 1/0, 1/3, 1/6, 5/0, 5/3 and 5/6 (B. licheniformis/FOS). At the end of the 8‐week feeding trial, weight gain (WG) and specific growth rate (SGR) of fish fed 6 g kg⁻¹ FOS were both significantly (P < 0.01 and P < 0.05) higher than that of the other groups in terms of dietary FOS levels. Besides, WG and SGR of fish fed 1 × 10⁷ CFU g⁻¹ B. licheniformis were significantly (P < 0.05) higher than that of the control group in terms of dietary B. licheniformis levels. In addition, a significant interaction (P < 0.05) between dietary FOS and B. licheniformis was observed in finial weight, WG, SGR as well as the survival rate with the highest values all observed in fish fed diet 1/3. Hepatosomatic index, carcass lipid content, lipase activities as well as microvilli length increased significantly (P < 0.05) from 0 to 1 × 10⁷ CFU g⁻¹, but no significant difference (P > 0.05) was observed in terms of dietary FOS levels. In addition, a significant (P < 0.05) interaction of FOS and B. licheniformis was observed in both protease and Na⁺, K⁺‐ATPase activities with the highest value obtained in fish fed diet 1/3. The results indicated that the dietary applications of dietary FOS and B. licheniformis alone or in combination can significantly improve the growth performance, survival rate, intestinal enzymes activities as well as microvilli length of triangular bream. In addition, there is a significant interaction between dietary FOS and B. licheniformis. The best combination for this species is 3 g kg⁻¹ FOS with 1 × 10⁷ CFU g⁻¹ B. licheniformis.
Summary
Background
Serum vitamin D levels are associated with bone complications in patients with primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC). Increasing evidence suggests a nonskeletal role of vitamin D in ...various autoimmune and liver diseases.
Aim
To investigate the clinical relevance of vitamin D levels in PBC, especially their association with the therapeutic effects of ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA).
Methods
Consecutive PBC patients were retrospectively reviewed. 25‐hydroxyvitamin D 25(OH)D levels were determined in frozen serum samples collected before initiation of UDCA treatment. Response to UDCA was evaluated by Paris‐I and Barcelona criteria. Logistic regressions were performed to identify the treatment response‐associated parameters.
Results
Among 98 patients, the mean serum 25(OH)D concentration was 17.9 ± 7.6 ng/mL. 25(OH)D levels decreased with increasing histological stage (P = 0.029) and were negatively correlated with bilirubin and alkaline phosphatase levels. After 1 year of UDCA therapy, 31 patients failed to achieve complete response according to Paris‐I criteria. The baseline 25(OH)D level was significantly lower in nonresponders (14.8 ± 6.4 vs. 19.3 ± 7.6 ng/mL, P = 0.005). Vitamin D deficiency at baseline was associated with an increased risk of incomplete response independent of advanced stages (OR = 3.93, 95% CI = 1.02–15.19, P = 0.047). Similar results were obtained when biochemical response was evaluated by Barcelona criteria. Furthermore, 25(OH)D levels were lower in patients who subsequently suffered death or liver transplantation (12.1 ± 4.6 vs. 18.4 ± 7.6 ng/mL, P = 0.023).
Conclusions
25(OH)D level is associated with biochemical and histological features in PBC. Pre‐treatment vitamin D status is independently related to subsequent response to UDCA. Our results suggest that vitamin D status may have important clinical significance in PBC.
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