Diagnosis of poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma of the stomach by confocal laser endomicroscopy:A case report

BACKGROUND In recent years,confocal laser endomicroscopy(CLE)has become a new endoscopic imaging technology at the microscopic level,which is extensively performed for real-time in vivo histological examination.CLE can be performed to distinguish benign from malignant lesions.In this study,we diagnosed using CLE an asymptomatic patient with poorly differentiated gastric adenocarcinoma.CASE SUMMARY A 63-year-old woman was diagnosed with gastric mucosal lesions,which may be gastric cancer,in the small curvature of the stomach by gastroscopy.She consented to undergo CLE for morphological observation of the gastric mucosa.Through the combination of CLE diagnosis and postoperative pathology,the intraoperative CLE diagnosis was considered to be reliable.According to our experience,CLE can be performed as the first choice for the diagnosis of gastric cancer.CONCLUSION CLE has several advantages over pathological diagnosis.We believe that CLE has great potential in the diagnosis of benign and malignant gastric lesions.

Gallbladder carcinosarcoma with a poor prognosis: A case report

BACKGROUND Carcinosarcoma of the gallbladder is a rare malignant tumor with a very poor prognosis.To date,only approximately 100 patients have been reported in the English literature.The prognosis of this tumor type is poor,the preoperative diagnosis is difficult,and there is a possibility of a misdiagnosis.We present an unsuccessful case of carcinosarcoma of the gallbladder with a preoperative misdiagnosis and rapid early postoperative recurrence.Therefore,we have a deeper understanding of the poor prognosis of gallbladder carcinosarcoma(GBC)patients.CASE SUMMARY The patient is a 65-year-old male.He was admitted to the hospital because of right upper abdomen distending pain and discomfort for half a month.Abdominal magnetic resonance imaging revealed a polycystic mass in the right lobe of the liver and the fossa of the gallbladder.After admission,the patient was diagnosed with a liver abscess,which was treated by abscess puncture drainage.Obviously,this treatment was unsuccessful.Hepatectomy and cholecystectomy were performed one month after the puncture.Postoperative pathologic examination revealed carcinosarcoma of the gallbladder,and the resected specimen contained two tumor components.One month after surgery,the patient's tumor recurred in situ and started to compress the duodenum,resulting in duodenal obstruction and bleeding.The treatment was not effective.The patient died of gastrointestinal hemorrhage and hypovolemic shock.CONCLUSION Carcinosarcoma of the gallbladder is a rare malignant tumor that is easily misdiagnosed preoperatively and has a poor prognosis.

Associated Factors to Poor Blood Pressure Control in Hypertensives Followed Up at the Campus University Hospital of Lome (Togo)

Introduction: Hypertension is a real public health issue and its control is very difficult. We aim to determine the frequency of uncontrolled hypertension in hypertensive patients followed up as an outpatient at the campus university hospital of Lome (Togo) and to search for the associated factors. Methodology: The study was cross-sectional, descriptive and analytical, carried out from February (2022) to August 2022 in 260 hypertensive patients aged 22 years old, followed up (on an) as an outpatient for at least 3 months at the Lome University Hospital campus. A univariate then multivariate analysis were conducted in order to highlight the most common factors significantly linked to uncontrolled. Results: The mean age of hypertensives was 56.4 ± 12.7 years, the sex ratio (M/F) was 0.59. Prevalence of uncontrolled blood pressure was 42%. Associated Factors to poor blood pressure control in our study were age > 60 years (OR = 1.6 CI [1.17 - 2.50]), low socio-economic level (OR = 2.2 CI [1.96 - 4.33]), high cardiovascular risk level (OR = 3.1 CI [2.18 - 4.52]), non-adherence to regular blood pressure monitoring (OR = 3.3 CI [2.21 - 5.55]), low compliance to treatment (OR = 4.1 CI [2.33 - 6.76]) and a chronic renal failure (OR = 2.1 CI [1.21 - 3.10]). Conclusion: Nearly half of the hypertensives in our study had poorly controlled blood pressure by antihypertensive treatment medication. The factors of this poor control were age > 60 years, low socio-economic level, high or very high level of cardiovascular risk, low compliance to treatment, and renal failure.

Autosomal Dominant Polycystic Kidney Disease: Epidemiological, Clinical Aspects and Predictive Factors of Poor Renal Prognosis (About 300 Cases)

Introduction: Autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD) is a common, multisystemic, and progressive hereditary disease. It accounts for 6 to 8% of incident cases of end-stage chronic renal disease (ESRD) in developed countries. The aim of this study is to describe the predictive factors for the development of end-stage chronic kidney disease (CKD) in the course of this disease. Material and Methods: This is a retrospective, descriptive, and analytical study including 300 cases of ADPKD collected at the Nephrology Department of Ibn-Sina Hospital in Rabat over a period of 30 years (1993 to 2023). Included in the study are all patients with ADPKD meeting the ultrasound diagnostic criteria. The analysis focused on demographic, clinical, paraclinical, evolutionary data, as well as prognostic factors associated with renal function deterioration. Results: The mean age of patients at diagnosis is 51.53 +/− 17 years [16 - 93] with a male predominance. The median serum creatinine at diagnosis is 15.5 mg/l [10 - 34]. 21% of patients had ESRD (eGFR 300 mg/24h (21%). The most common cystic complication is hemorrhage (12.3%). 21.3% of patients had hepatorenal polycystic disease. In adjusted analysis, the predictive risk factors for the occurrence of ESRD were smoking (p = 0.019), anemia (p Conclusion: ADPKD can progress insidiously to ESRD. Identification and early treatment of predictive factors for poor renal prognosis could contribute to a better outcome for this disease.

Discussion on the Ideological and Political Education for Poor College Students

At present,ideological and political education is significant for poor college students.The focus of funding for poor students has gradually transformed from providing economic support for them to ideological and spiritual help,which puts forward higher requirements on how to carry out ideological and political work.It also requires us to advance the work of ideological and moral education and put it in the most important position in the ideological and educational work for poor college students.Combined with the reality of poor college students,we will adhere to the idea of being student-oriented and endeavor to enhance the effectiveness,pertinence,and relevance of the work of ideological and political education.This paper analyzes the significance and problems of ideological and political education for poor college students and puts forward effective ways to solve the problems from the levels of ideology,cognition,and teaching staff.

Selection of Cotton Variety Suitable for Cottonwheat Intercropping in Rainy and Poor Sunshine Years

The year of 2013 is a typical rainy and poor sunshine year, and the monthly sunshine hours from May to October were all lower than the average, which from July to September was only 69.3%,71.1% and 56.2% of average, respectively. In cotton-wheat system 10 cotton varieties （lines） were planted to select the most suitable varieties for cotton-wheat system in rainy and poor sunshine years through investigating cotton growing traits in 2013. The results showed that in cotton-wheat system the vegetative growth of cotton was mainly from late June to middle July especially in rainy and poor sunshine years. And with the increase of the cotton growth period the peak of vegetative growth delayed, the ratio of the autumn bolls increased, and the ratio of pre-frost yield decreased. In all the varieties unginned cottonyield of Zhongmiansuo 50 with shorter growth period, higher rate of summer bolls and better fiber quality, seed yield reached 3 814.1 kg/hm2, higher than that of other varieties （lines） significantly, and the rate of pre-frost yield reached 83.4%, which was the most suitable variety for cotton-wheat system in rainy and poor sunshine years.

Sense of Economic Gain from E-Commerce:Different Effects on Poor and Non-Poor Rural households

Sense of economic gain of e-commerce participation is an important aspect for evaluating the inclusiveness of e-commerce development.Based on the data of 6,242 rural households collected from the 2017 summer surveys conducted by the China Institute for Rural Studies(CIRS),Tsinghua University,this paper evaluates the effects of e-commerce participation on rural households’sense of economic gain with the propensity score matching(PSM)method,and carries out grouped comparisons between poor and non-poor households.Speci fically,the“Self-evaluated income level relative to fellow villagers”measures respondents’sense of economic gain in the relative sense,and“Percentage of expected household income growth(reduction)in 2018 over 2017”measures future income growth expectation.Findings suggest that e-commerce participation signi ficantly increased sample households’sense of economic gain relative to their fellow villagers and their future income growth expectation.Yet grouped comparisons offer different conclusions:E-commerce participation increased poor households’sense of economic gain compared with fellow villagers more than it did for non-poor households.E-commerce participation did little to increase poor households’future income growth expectation.Like many other poverty reduction programs,pro-poor e-commerce helps poor households with policy preferences but have yet to help them foster skills to prosper in the long run.The sustainability and quality of perceived relative economic gain for poor households are yet to be further observed and examined.All poverty reduction initiatives including pro-poor e-commerce must help poor households develop endogenous growth momentum to prosper beyond the effects of short-term pro-poor policies.

Mantle derived crystal-poor rhyolitic ignimbrites:Eruptive mechanism from geochemical and geochronological data of the Piedra Parada caldera,Southern Argentina

Trace elements, isotopic modeling and U-Th-Pb SHRIMP zircon age constraints are used to reconstruct the eruption history and magmatic processes of the Piedra Parada Caldera. In the early Eocene, the crystal-poor Barda Colorada ignimbrite(BCI), having >>15% micro-porphyritic crystals with respect to magmatic components, erupted a volume estimated in more than 300 km^3. The Piedra Parada caldera is located in the Patagonian Andes foreland, at the southern end of the calderas field of the Pilcaniyeu Volcanic Belt(PVB). This belt is related to an extensional tectonic setting as a result of the collision of the Farallon-Aluk ridge with South America, which enabled the development of a transform ocean/continental plate margin followed by the detachment of the Aluk plate and the opening of a slab window. The BCI extra-caldera Plateau is a >100 m thick deposit, having a lower unit with high silica(Si O_2> 76 wt.%),potassium poor rhyolitic composition(trondhjemitic like magma), and an upper unit with normal to high potassium rhyolitic composition(granitic like magma). A trace elements modeling of the BCI units shows that the BCI lower and upper units did not evolve from fractionation or immiscibility in the shallow magma reservoir. The BCI also have a primitive isotopic signature(initial87 Sr/86 Sr =0.7031-0.7049 and ε_(Nd)= +3.4 to +3.65). Thus, tectonic, compositional and isotopic constraints suggest the fast ascent of high silica magmas to a shallow reservoir, and point to an upper mantle origin for these rhyolitic magmas in a transitional(Orogenic-Anorogenic) tectono-magmatic setting. U-Th-Pb SHRIMP zircon crystallization ages of the Syn-caldera stage BCI units(56 -51.5 Ma) show a protracted life of 5 Ma for this caldera reservoir. The age of 52.9 ± 0.3 Ma is considered the best fit for the possible maximum age for the caldera collapse. The Late-caldera magmatism has trachyandesitic and rhyolitic compositions.The trace element modeling suggests that these rhyolites evolve from the trachyandesites and do not evolve from the BCI residual magma. The trachyandesites have U-Th-Pb SHRIMP zircon crystallization ages of 52 ± 1 Ma, suggesting that the caldera eruption was triggered by the arrival of the trachyandesitic magma.

How poor were you?—We were so poor...

My parents used to take us to all of the local weddings.Man,we got better at picking up the ricethan the birds did.We thought that running water was when you ran back to the house with a bucket of water from theneighbors hour.

Oncogenic ADAM28 induces gemcitabine resistance and predicts a poor prognosis in pancreatic cancer

BACKGROUND Pancreatic cancer is a major cause of cancer-related death,with a 5-year overall survival rate being below 5%.The main causes of poor prognosis in pancreatic cancer include easy metastasis,high recurrence rate,and robust drug resistance.Gemcitabine is a first-line drug for patients with unresectable pancreatic cancer.However,due to drug resistance,the clinical effect is not satisfactory.ADAM28 is reported as a tumor promoter in some cancers,but its role in pancreatic cancer and gemcitabine chemoresistance in pancreatic cancer has not been elucidated.AIM To identify if ADAM28 can act as an important target to reverse the gemcitabine drug resistance in pancreatic cancer.METHODS RNA-sequence analysis was applied to explore the potential targets involved in the gemcitabine of pancreatic cancer.SW1990 pancreatic cancer cells were treated with an increased dose of gemcitabine,and the mRNA levels of ADAM28 were evaluated by RT-PCR.The protein and mRNA levels of ADAM28 were confirmed in the gemcitabine resistant and parallel SW1990 cells.The ADAM28 expression was also assessed in TCGA and GEO databases,and the results were confirmed in the collected tumor and adjacent normal tissues.The overall survival(OS)rate and relapse-free survival(RFS)rate of pancreatic cancer patients with high ADAM28 level and low ADAM28 level in TCGA were evaluated with Kaplan-Meier Plotter.Furthermore,the OS rate was calculated in pancreatic cancer patients with high tumor mutation burden(TMB)and low TMB.CCK-8 assay was used to examine the effect of ADAM28 on the viability of SW1990 cells.The ADAM28 and its co-expressed genes were analyzed in the cBioPortal for cancer genomics and subjected to GSEA pathway analysis.The correlations of ADAM28 with GSTP1,ABCC1,GSTM4,and BCL2 were analyzed based on TCGA data on pancreatic cancer.RESULTS RNA-sequence analysis identified that ADAM28 was overexpressed in gemcitabine-resistant cells,and gemcitabine treatment could induce the expression of ADAM28.The mRNA and protein levels of ADAM28 were elevated in gemcitabine-resistant SW1990 cells compared with parallel cells.Also,the expression of ADAM28 was upregulated in pancreatic tumor tissues against normal pancreatic tissues.Notably,ADAM28 was highly expressed in the classical type than in the basal tumor type.Furthermore,the high expression of ADAM28 was associated with low OS and RFS rates.Interestingly,the high levels of ADAM28 was associated with a significantly lower OS rate in the high TMB patients,but not in the low TMB patients.Moreover,overexpression of ADAM28 could reduce the cell viability inhibition by gemcitabine,and knockdown of ADAM28 could enhance the proliferation inhibition by gemcitabine.The GSEA analysis showed that ADAM28 was related to the regulation of drug metabolism,and ADAM28 was significantly positively correlated with GSTP1,ABCC1,GSTM4,and BCL2.CONCLUSION This study demonstrates that ADAM28 is overexpressed in pancreatic cancer,and closely involved in the regulation of gemcitabine resistance.Overexpression of ADAM28 is a novel prognostic biomarker in pancreatic cancer.

Multi-factor analysis of initial poor graft function after orthotopic liver transplantation

BACKGROUND: In the early period of orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT), initial poor graft function (IPGF) is one of the complications which leads to primary graft non-function (PGNF) in serious cases. This study set out to establish the clinical risk factors resulting in IPGF after OLT. METHODS: Eighty cases of OLT were analyzed. The IPGF group consisted of patients with alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and/or aspartate aminotransferase (AST) above 1500 IU/L within 72 hours after OLT, while those in the non-IPGF group had values below 1500 IU/L. Recipient-associated factors before OLT analyzed were age, sex, primary liver disease and Child-Pugh classification; factors analyzed within the peri-operative period were non-heart beating time (NHBT), cold ischemia time (CIT), rewarming ischemic time (RWIT), liver biopsy at the end of cold ischemia; and factors analyzed within 72 hours after OLT were ALT and/or AST values. A logistic regression model was applied to filter the possible factors resulting in IPGF. RESULTS: Donor NHBT, CIT and RWIT were significantly longer in the IPGF group than in the non-IPGF group; in the logistic regression model, NHBT was the risk factor leading to IPGF (P < 0.05), while CIT and RWIT were possible risk factors. In one case in the IPGF group, PGNF appeared with moderate hepatic steatosis. CONCLUSIONS: Longer NHBT is an important risk factor leading to IPGF, while serious steatosis in the donor liver, CIT and RWIT are potential risk factors.

Nanocrystals for enhancement of oral bioavailability of poorly water-soluble drugs

Nanocrystals,a carrier-free colloidal delivery system in nano-sized range,is an interesting approach for poorly soluble drugs.Nanocrystals provide special features including enhancement of saturation solubility,dissolution velocity and adhesiveness to surface/cell membranes.Several strategies are applied for nanocrystals production including precipitation,milling,high pressure homogenization and combination methods such as Nano-Edge^(TM),SmartCrystal and Precipitation-lyophilization-homogenization(PLH)technology.For oral administration,many publications reported useful advantages of nanocrystals to improve in vivo performances i.e.pharmacokinetics,pharmacodynamics,safety and targeted delivery which were discussed in this review.Additionally,transformation of nanocrystals to final formulations and future trends of nanocrystals were also described.

Predictors of poor outcome in gastrointestinal bleeding in emergency department

AIM: To determine the prognostic risk factors of gastrointestinal bleeding in emergency department cases.METHODS: The trial was a retrospective single-center study involving 600 patients over 18-years-old and carried out with approval by the Institutional Ethics Committee. Patient data included demographic characteristics, symptoms at admission, past medical history, vital signs, laboratory results, endoscopy and colonoscopy results, length of hospital stay, need of intensive care unit(ICU) admission, and mortality. Mortality rate was the principal endpoint of the study, while duration of hospital stay, required interventional treatment, and admission to the ICU were secondary endpoints.RESULTS: The mean age of patients was 61.92-yearsold. Among the 600 total patients, 363(60.5%) underwent upper gastrointestinal endoscopy and the most frequent diagnoses were duodenal ulcer(19.2%) and gastric ulcer(12.8%). One-hundred-and-fifteen(19.2%) patients required endoscopic treatment, 20(3.3%) required surgical treatment, and 5(0.8%) required angiographic embolization. The mean length of hospital stay was 5.21 ± 5.85 d. The mortality rate was 6.3%. The ICU admission rate was 5.3%. Patients with syncope, higher blood glucose levels, and coronary artery disease had significantly higher ICU admission rates(P = 0.029, P = 0.043, and P = 0.002, respectively). Patients with low thrombocyte levels, high creatinine, high international normalized ratio, and high serum transaminase levels had significantly longer hospital stay(P = 0.02, P = 0.001, P = 0.019, and P = 0.005, respectively). Patients who died had significantly higher serum blood urea nitrogen and creatinine levels(P = 0.016 and P = 0.038), and significantly lower mean blood pressure and oxygen saturation(P = 0.004 and P = 0.049). Malignancy and low Glasgow coma scale(GCS) were independent predictive factors of mortality.CONCLUSION: Prognostic factors for gastrointestinal bleeding in emergency room cases are malignancy, hypotension on admission, low GCS, and impaired kidney function.

CCL7 and CCL21 overexpression in gastric cancer is associated with lymph node metastasis and poor prognosis

AIM： To investigate how a complex network of CC chemokine ligands （eeLs） and their receptors influence the progression of tumor and metastasis.METHODS： In the present study, we used immunohistochemistry to examine the expression of CCL7, CCL8 and CCL21 in 194 gastric cancer samples and adjacent normal tissues. We analyzed their correlation with tumor metastasis, clinicopathologic parameters and clinical outcome.RESULTS： We found that the higher expression of CCL7 and CCL21 in cancer tissues than in normal tissues was significantly correlated with advanced depth of wall invasion, lymph node metastasis and higher tumornode metastasis stage. Moreover, Kaplan-Meier survival analysis revealed that CCL7 and CCL21 overexpression in cancer tissues was correlated with poor prognosis.CONCLUSION： These results suggest that overexpression of these two CC chemokine ligands is associ- ated with tumor metastasis and serves as a prognostic factor in patients with gastric cancer.

Early lactate clearance as a reliable predictor of initial poor graft function after orthotopic liver transplantation

BACKGROUND:Initial poor graft function (IPGF) following orthotopic liver transplantation is a major determinant of postoperative survival and morbidity.Lactate clearance is a good marker of liver function.In this study,we investigated the clinical utility of early lactate clearance as an early and accurate predictor for IPGF following liver transplantation.METHODS:This was a prospective observational study of 222 patients referred to the surgical intensive care unit (SICU) after orthotopic liver transplantation.The IPGF group consisted of patients with alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and/or aspartate aminotransferase (AST) >1500 IU/L within 72 hours after orthotopic liver transplantation.Early lactate clearance was defined as lactate at SICU presentation (hour 0) minus lactate at hour 6,divided by lactate at SICU presentation.The model for end-stage liver disease (MELD) score,Child-Pugh score and laboratory data including AST,ALT,total bilirubin (TB) and prothrombin time (PT) were recorded at SICU presentation and compared between the non-IPGF and IPGF groups Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were plotted to measure the performance of early lactate clearance,MELD score,Child-Pugh score,TB and PT.RESULTS:IPGF occurred in 45 of the 222 patients (20.3%).The early lactate clearance in the non-IPGF group was markedly higher than that in the IPGF group (43.2±13.8% vs 13.4±13.7% P<0.001).The optimum cut-off value for early lactate clearance predicting IPGF was 24.8% (sensitivity 95.5%,specificity 88.9%).The area under the curve of the ROC was 0.961,which was significantly superior to MELD score,Child-Pugh score TB and PT.Patients with early lactate clearance ≤24.8% had a higher IPGF rate (OR=169) and a higher risk of in-hospital mortality (OR=3.625).CONCLUSIONS:Early lactate clearance can serve as a prompt and accurate bedside predictor of IPGF.Patients with early lactate clearance less than 24.8% are associated with a higher incidence of IPGF.

Predictive factors for lymph node metastasis in poorly differentiated early gastric cancer and their impact on the surgical strategy

AIM:To identify the predictive clinicopathological factors for lymph node metastasis (LNM) in poorly differentiated early gastric cancer (EGC) and to further expand the possibility of using endoscopic mucosal resection (EMR) for the treatment of poorly differentiated EGC. METHODS: Data were collected from 85 poorly- differentiated EGC patients who were surgically treated. Association between the clinicopathological factors and the presence of LNM was retrospectively analyzed by univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses. RESULTS: Univariate analysis showed that tumor size (OR = 5.814, 95% CI = 1.050 - 32.172, P = 0.044), depth of invasion (OR = 10.763, 95% CI = 1.259 - 92.026, P = 0.030) and lymphatic vessel involvement (OR = 61.697, 95% CI = 2.144 - 175.485, P = 0.007) were the significant and independent risk factors for LNM. The LNM rate was 5.4%, 42.9% and 50%, respectively, in poorly differentiated EGC patients with one, two and three of the risk factors, respectively. No LNM was found in 25 patients without the three risk factors. Forty-four lymph nodes were found tohave metastasis, 29 (65.9%) and 15 (34.1%) of the lymph nodes involved were within N1 and beyond N1, respectively, in 12 patients with LNM. CONCLUSION: Endoscopic mucosal resection alone may be sufficient to treat poorly differentiated intramucosal EGC (≤ 2.0 cm in diameter) with no histologically-confirmed lymphatic vessel involvement. When lymphatic vessels are involved, lymph node dissection beyond limited (D1) dissection or D1+ lymph node dissection should be performed depending on the tumor location.

Clinicopathological characteristics and prognosis of 232 patients with poorly differentiated gastric neuroendocrine neoplasms

BACKGROUND Poorly differentiated gastric neuroendocrine neoplasms(PDGNENs)include gastric neuroendocrine carcinoma(NEC)and mixed adenoneuroendocrine carcinoma,which are highly malignant and rare tumors,and their incidence has increased over the past few decades.However,the clinicopathological features and outcomes of patients with PDGNENs have not been completely elucidated.AIM To investigate the clinicopathological characteristics and prognostic factors of patients with PDGNENs.METHODS The data from seven centers in China from March 2007 to November 2019 were analyzed retrospectively.RESULTS Among the 232 patients with PDGNENs,191(82.3%)were male,with an average age of 62.83±9.11 years.One hundred and thirteen(49.34%)of 229 patients had a stage III disease and 86(37.55%)had stage IV disease.Three(1.58%)of 190 patients had no clinical symptoms,while 187(98.42%)patients presented clinical symptoms.The tumors were mainly(89.17%)solitary and located in the upper third of the stomach(cardia and fundus of stomach:115/215,53.49%).Most lesions were ulcers(157/232,67.67%),with an average diameter of 4.66±2.77 cm.In terms of tumor invasion,the majority of tumors invaded the serosa(116/198,58.58%).The median survival time of the 232 patients was 13.50 mo(7,31 mo),and the overall 1-year,3-year,and 5-year survival rates were 49%,19%,and 5%,respectively.According to univariate analysis,tumor number,tumor diameter,gastric invasion status,American Joint Committee on Cancer(AJCC)stage,and distant metastasis status were prognostic factors for patients with PDGNENs.Multivariate analysis showed that tumor number,tumor diameter,AJCC stage,and distant metastasis status were independent prognostic factors for patients with PDGNENs.CONCLUSION The overall prognosis of patients with PDGNENs is poor.The outcomes of patients with a tumor diameter>5 cm,multiple tumors,and stage IV tumors are worse than those of other patients.

Neuron-glial antigen 2 overexpression in hepatocellular carcinoma predicts poor prognosis

AIM:To investigate whether neuron-glial antigen 2(NG2) could be an effective prognostic marker in hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC).METHODS:NG2 expression was semi-quantitatively scored from the immunohistochemistry(IHC) data based on the number of positive cells and the staining intensity.A total of 132 HCC specimens and 96 adjacent noncancerous tissue samples were analyzed by IHC for NG2 protein expression.To confirm the NG2 expression levels observed by IHC,we measured NG2 expression in 30 randomly selected tumor and adjacent noncancerous tissue samples by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction and Western blot.The correlations between NG2 protein expression and the clinicopathological features of HCC patients were analyzed using the χ2 test.To assess the prognostic value of NG2 for HCC,the association between NG2 expression and survival was analyzed using the KaplanMeier method with the log-rank test.To further evaluate the prognostic value of NG2 expression,a Cox multivariate proportional hazards regression analysis was performed with all the variables to derive risk estimates related to disease-free and overall survival and to control for confounders.RESULTS:High NG2 expression was observed in significantly more primary tumor samples(63.6%; 84/132) compared with the adjacent noncancerous tissue samples(28.1%; 27/96)(P < 0.0001).Moreover,high NG2 protein expression was closely associated with tumor differentiation(χ2 = 9.436,P = 0.0089),recurrence(χ2 = 5.769,P = 0.0163),tumor-nodemetastasis(TNM) stage(χ2 = 8.976,P = 0.0027),and invasion(χ2 = 5.476,P = 0.0193).However,no significant relationship was observed between NG2 protein expression in HCC and other parameters,such as age,sex,tumor size,serum alpha fetoprotein(AFP),tumor number,or tumor capsule.The log-rank test indicated a significant difference in the overall survival of HCC patients with high NG2 expression compared with those with low NG2 expression(29.2% vs 9.5%,P < 0.001).Moreover,NG2 expression in HCC tissue significantly correlated with disease-free survival(15.2% vs 6.7%,P < 0.001).Multivariate analysis showed that NG2 expression(HR = 2.035,P = 0.002),serum AFP(HR = 1.903,P = 0.003),TNM stage(HR = 2.039,P = 0.001),and portal vein invasion(HR = 1.938,P = 0.002) were independent prognostic indicators for OS in HCC patients.Furthermore,NG2 expression(HR = 1.974,P = 0.003),serum AFP(HR = 1.767,P = 0.008),TNM stage(HR = 2.078,P = 0.001),tumor capsule(HR = 0.652,P = 0.045),and portal vein invasion(HR = 1.941,P = 0.002) were independent prognostic indicators for DFS in HCC patients.CONCLUSION:The up-regulation of NG2 is associated with poor prognosis in HCC.Therefore,NG2 could be useful as an additional prognostic marker to increase the resolution of traditional approaches.

Influence of social capital on the livelihood strategies of farmers under China's rural revitalization strategy in poor mountain areas: A case study of the Liangshan Yi autonomous prefecture

Social capital in the form of social resources or social networks is one of the most important livelihood capital of farmers, which can increase the labor productivity of poor households and increase income. It is important to explore the reasons underlying the livelihood strategy choices of farmers from the perspective of social capital under China’s rural revitalization strategy. In this study, the Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture, a povertystricken mountainous area in southwestern China, was selected as the case study area, and multivariable linear regression models were constructed to analyze the influence of social capital on livelihood strategies.The results are as follows:(1) Individual social capital had a positive effect on non-agricultural livelihood strategies. On average, with a one-unit increase in individual social capital, the ratio of farmers’ nonagricultural income to total productive income(Income_Rto) increased by 0.002% and 0.062%,respectively. Collective social capital, with the Peasant Economic Cooperation Organization(PECO) as the carrier, had a negative effect on the non-agricultural livelihood strategies of farmers;on average, with a oneunit increase in PECO, Income_Rto decreased by approximately 0.053%. However, this effect was only significant in the river valley area.(2) The income differences among the different livelihood strategy types were explained by the livelihood strategy choices of farmers. As non-agricultural work can bring more benefits, the labor force exhibited one-way migration from villages to cities, resulting in a lack of the subject of rural revitalization. It is necessary to implement effective measures to highlight the role of PECO in increasing agricultural income for farmers. Finally,based on the above conclusions,policy recommendations with respect to livelihood transformation of farmers and rural sustainable development are discussed.

Risk clinicopathological factors for lymph node metastasis in poorly differentiated early gastric cancer and their impact on laparoscopic wedge resection

AIM:To investigate the predictive factors of lymph node metastasis(LNM) in poorly differentiated early gastric cancer(EGC),and enlarge the possibility of using laparoscopic wedge resection(LWR).METHODS:We retrospectively analyzed 85 patients with poorly differentiated EGC who underwent surgical resection between January 1992 and December 2010.The association between the clinicopathological factors and the presence of LNM was retrospectively analyzed by univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses.Odds ratios(OR) with 95%CI were calculated.We further examined the relationship between the positive number of the three significant predictive factors and the LNM rate.RESULTS:In the univariate analysis,tumor size(P = 0.011),depth of invasion(P = 0.007) and lymphatic vessel involvement(P < 0.001) were significantly associated with a higher rate of LNM.In the multivariate model,tumor size(OR = 7.125,95%CI:1.251-38.218,P = 0.041),depth of invasion(OR = 16.624,95%CI:1.571-82.134,P = 0.036) and lymphatic vessel involvement(OR = 39.112,95%CI:1.745-123.671,P = 0.011) were found to be independently risk clinicopathological factors for LNM.Of the 85 patients diagnosed with poorly differentiated EGC,12(14.1%) had LNM.The LNM rates were 5.7%,42.9% and 57.1%,respectively in cases with one,two and three of the risk factors respectively in poorly differentiated EGC.There was no LNM in 29 patients without the three risk clinicopathological factors.CONCLUSION:LWR alone may be sufficient treatment for intramucosal poorly differentiated EGC if the tumor is less than or equal to 2.0 cm in size,and when lymphatic vessel involvement is absent at postoperative histological examination.