Impact of baseline hepatitis B virus viral load on the long-term prognosis of advanced hepatocellular carcinoma treated with immunotherapy

BACKGROUND Although the combination of lenvatinib and PD-1 inhibitors has become the standard regimen for the treatment of advanced hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC),real data on the impact of baseline hepatitis B virus(HBV)-DNA levels on the clinical efficacy of this regimen is still limited.AIM To evaluate the effectiveness of camrelizumab combined with lenvatinib in patients with HCC at varying levels of HBV-DNA.METHODS One hundred and twenty patients with HCC who received camrelizumab and lenvatinib treatment were categorized into two cohorts:HBV-DNA≤2000(n=66)and HBV-DNA>2000(n=54).The main outcomes measured were overall survival(OS)and progression-free survival(PFS),while additional outcomes included the rate of objective response rate(ORR),disease control rate(DCR),and any negative events.Cox proportional hazards regression analysis revealed independent predictors of OS,leading to the creation of a nomogram incorporating these variables.RESULTS The median PFS was 8.32 months for the HBV-DNA≤2000 group,which was similar to the 7.80 months observed for the HBV DNA>2000 group(P=0.88).Likewise,there was no notable variation in the median OS between the two groups,with durations of 13.30 and 14.20 months respectively(P=0.14).The ORR and DCR were compared between the two groups,showing ORR of 19.70%vs 33.33%(P=0.09)and DCR of 72.73%vs 74.07%(P=0.87).The nomogram emphasized the importance of antiviral treatment as the main predictor of patient results,with portal vein tumor thrombus and Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer staging following closely behind.CONCLUSION The clinical outcomes of patients with HBV-associated HCC treated with camrelizumab in combination with lenvatinib are not significantly affected by HBV viral load.

A reliability-oriented genetic algorithm-levenberg marquardt model for leak risk assessment based on time-frequency features

Since leaks in high-pressure pipelines transporting crude oil can cause severe economic losses,a reliable leak risk assessment can assist in developing an effective pipeline maintenance plan and avoiding unexpected incidents.The fast and accurate leak detection methods are essential for maintaining pipeline safety in pipeline reliability engineering.Current oil pipeline leakage signals are insufficient for feature extraction,while the training time for traditional leakage prediction models is too long.A new leak detection method is proposed based on time-frequency features and the Genetic Algorithm-Levenberg Marquardt(GA-LM)classification model for predicting the leakage status of oil pipelines.The signal that has been processed is transformed to the time and frequency domain,allowing full expression of the original signal.The traditional Back Propagation(BP)neural network is optimized by the Genetic Algorithm(GA)and Levenberg Marquardt(LM)algorithms.The results show that the recognition effect of a combined feature parameter is superior to that of a single feature parameter.The Accuracy,Precision,Recall,and F1score of the GA-LM model is 95%,93.5%,96.7%,and 95.1%,respectively,which proves that the GA-LM model has a good predictive effect and excellent stability for positive and negative samples.The proposed GA-LM model can obviously reduce training time and improve recognition efficiency.In addition,considering that a large number of samples are required for model training,a wavelet threshold method is proposed to generate sample data with higher reliability.The research results can provide an effective theoretical and technical reference for the leakage risk assessment of the actual oil pipelines.

Vascular endothelial growth factor B improves impaired glucose tolerance through insulin-mediated inhibition of glucagon secretion

BACKGROUND Impaired glucose tolerance(IGT)is a homeostatic state between euglycemia and hyperglycemia and is considered an early high-risk state of diabetes.When IGT occurs,insulin sensitivity decreases,causing a reduction in insulin secretion and an increase in glucagon secretion.Recently,vascular endothelial growth factor B(VEGFB)has been demonstrated to play a positive role in improving glucose metabolism and insulin sensitivity.Therefore,we constructed a mouse model of IGT through high-fat diet feeding and speculated that VEGFB can regulate hyperglycemia in IGT by influencing insulin-mediated glucagon secretion,thus contributing to the prevention and cure of prediabetes.AIM To explore the potential molecular mechanism and regulatory effects of VEGFB on insulin-mediated glucagon in mice with IGT.METHODS We conducted in vivo experiments through systematic VEGFB knockout and pancreatic-specific VEGFB overexpression.Insulin and glucagon secretions were detected via enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay,and the protein expression of phosphoinositide 3-kinase(PI3K)/protein kinase B(AKT)was determined using western blot.Further,mRNA expression of forkhead box protein O1,phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase,and glucose-6 phosphatase was detected via quantitative polymerase chain reaction,and the correlation between the expression of proteins was analyzed via bioinformatics.RESULTS In mice with IGT and VEGFB knockout,glucagon secretion increased,and the protein expression of PI3K/AKT decreased dramatically.Further,in mice with VEGFB overexpression,glucagon levels declined,with the activation of the PI3K/AKT signaling pathway.CONCLUSION VEGFB/vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 1 can promote insulin-mediated glucagon secretion by activating the PI3K/AKT signaling pathway to regulate glucose metabolism disorders in mice with IGT.

Role of vascular endothelial growth factor B in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease and its potential value

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease(NAFLD)refers to fatty liver disease caused by liver injury factors other than alcohol.The disease is characterized by diffuse fat infiltration,including simple steatosis(no inflammatory fat deposition),nonalcoholic fatty hepatitis,liver fibrosis,and so on,which may cause liver cirrhosis,liver failure,and even liver cancer in the later stage of disease progression.At present,the pathogenesis of NAFLD is still being studied.The"two-hit"theory,represented by lipid metabolism disorder and inflammatory reactions,is gradually enriched by the"multiple-hit"theory,which includes multiple factors,such as insulin resistance and adipocyte dysfunction.In recent years,vascular endothelial growth factor B(VEGFB)has been reported to have the potential to regulate lipid metabolism and is expected to become a novel target for ameliorating metabolic diseases,such as obesity and type 2 diabetes.This review summarizes the regulatory role of VEGFB in the onset and development of NAFLD and illustrates its underlying molecular mechanism.In conclusion,the signaling pathway mediated by VEGFB in the liver may provide an innovative approach to the diagnosis and treatment of NAFLD.

Effects of Pilates exercise on balance, walking and lower limbs motor function in stroke patients: A meta-analysis

Objective: To systematically evaluate the effects of Pilates exercise on balance, walking and lower limbs motor function in stroke patients. Methods: The literature databases such as the Cochrane Library, EMbase, PubMed, Web of Science, Chinese Biomedicine Database (CBM), China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), VIP Database for Chinese Technical Periodicals (VIP) and Wan Fang database (Wan Fang) were retrieved. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) regarding the effects of Pilates exercise on balance, walking and lower limbs motor function of stroke patients were retrieved. Data were collected and evaluated independently by two researchers. Then, we adopted RevMan 5.3 software to perform a meta-analysis. Results: A total of 5 RCTs were included, including 182 subjects were chosen. The result showed that compared with the routine care group, Pilates exercise can effectively improve the balance of stroke patients when they have trained eight weeks [MD=4.71, 95%CI (2.14, 7.28), P=0.0003], shorten the time of the Timed Up and Go test (TUG)[MD=-1.63, 95%CI (-2.69,-0.56), P=0.003], increase the stride velocity [MD=3.83, 95%CI (1.43, 6.23), P=0.002]. However, the evidence did not support the effectiveness of Pilates exercise on increasing the score of Fugl-Meyer Assessment-Lower Extremity (FMA-LE) of stroke patients [MD=6.70, 95%CI (-3.46, 16.86), P=0.20]. Conclusion: The findings suggest that Pilates could improve the balance and walking speed of stroke patients. However, there still is the lack of the evidence in improving lower limb function. Due to the limitation of the quality of the included studies. highquality studies still should be conducted to investigate the effect of Pilates exercise in stroke patients.

Environmental effects induced by excavation

Based on 3D Biot’s consolidation theory and nonlinear Duncan-Chang’s model, a 3D FEM (finite element method) program is developed considering the coupling of groundwater seepage and soil skeleton deformation during excavation. The comparison between the analysis result considering the variation of water head difference and that without considering it shows that the porewater pressure distribution of the former is distinctly different from that of the latter and that the foundation pit de- formations of the former are larger than those of the latter, so that the result without considering the variation of water head dif- ference is unreliable. The distribution rules of soil horizontal and vertical displacements around the pit and excess porewater pressure are analyzed in detail in time and space, which is very significant for guiding underground engineering construction and ensuring environment safety around the pit.

Effect of Transitional Care Model on Low Birth Weight Premature Infants: a meta-analysis

Objective: To systematically review the effect of Transitional Care model (TCM) on the growth and development of premature infants. Methods: Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) or quasi-RTCs regarding the effect of TCM in low birth weight premature infants were retrieved in electronic databases such as the Cochrane Library, PubMed, EMbase, Web of Science, CBM (Chinese Biomedicine Database), CNKI (China National Knowledge Infrastructure), VIP (Chinese Scientific Journals Database) and Wanfang Database. Then, we adopted RevMan 5.3 software to perform a meta-analysis. Results: A total of 11 articles were included, including 1282 preterm infants. The result showed that compared with the routine care model, TCM can effectively increase the weight when premature infants discharged one week [MD=225.57, 95%CI (171.78, 279.37), P<0.001], increase the weight after discharged one month [MD=0.89, 95%CI (0.72, 1.06), P<0.001], increase the weight after discharged three months [MD=670.44, 95%CI (527.65, 813.23), P<0.001], promote the height of newborns [MD=4.54, 95%CI (2.42, 6.65), P<0.001], reduce readmission rate [RR=0.38, 95%CI (0.25, 0.58), P<0.001], alleviate adverse skin reactions [RR=0.33, 95%CI (0.22, 0.50), P<0.001], increase nursing satisfaction of the families [RR=1.21, 95%CI (1.13, 1.31), P<0.001]. Conclusion: TCM can effectively promote the growth and development of the low birth weight premature infants, reduce the hospital readmission rate, alleviate adverse skin reactions of premature infants and improve the nursing satisfaction of the families. However, due to the limitation of the region and quality of the included studies, which the accuracy of the result still be treated with more caution. Further high-quality studies are needed to verify the conclusion.

Effects of Written Emotional Disclosure on Burden, Trauma Symptoms and Health Status in Primary Caregivers of The Patient: A meta-analysis

Objective: The meta-analysis aims to evaluate the efficacy of written emotional disclosure on burden, trauma symptoms and health status in primary caregivers of the patient. Methods: Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of written emotional disclosure in primary caregivers of the patient were retrieved from multiple electronic databases such as the Cochrane Library, PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), VIP Database for Chinese Technical Periodicals (VIP), Chinese Biomedicine Database (CBM) and Wan Fang database (Wan Fang) until August 2019. The eligible studies were screened and evaluated independently by two researchers. Then, we analyzed the extracted data by RevMan 5.3 software. Results: A total of 7 randomized controlled trials (RCT) with 352 primary caregivers were included. The quality evaluation grade of the 3 articles included in the literature was “A”, and the rests was “B”. Meta-analysis showed that compared with the control group, written emotional disclosure could alleviate the burden of patients' primary caregivers [SMD = 0.26, 95% CI (0.02, 0.49), P = 0.03]. The results showed that there was no significant difference between the two groups in alleviating trauma-like symptoms [MD = 3.30, 95% CI (-4.52, 11.11), P = 0.41]. There was no significant difference in the mean score of the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ) between the two groups [MD =-1.94, 95% CI (-11.11, 7.23), P = 0.68]. Besides, there was no significant difference between the two groups in improving their physical and mental health [SMD = 0.28, 95% CI (-0.17, 0.73), P = 0.22;SMD =-0.43, 95% CI (-0.88, 0.02), P = 0.06]. Conclusion: Written emotional disclosure can effectively alleviate the burden in patients' primary caregivers. However, the effects on trauma-like symptoms, the GHQ score and health status need to be verified by further studies.

AquaSee: Predict Load and Cooling System Faults of Supercomputers Using Chilled Water Data

An analysis of real-world operational data of Tianhe-1A(TH-1A)supercomputer system shows that chilled water data not only can reflect the status of a chiller system but also are related to supercomputer load.This study proposes AquaSee,a method that can predict the load and cooling system faults of supercomputers by using chilled water pressure and temperature data.This method is validated on the basis of real-world operational data of the TH-1A supercomputer system at the National Supercomputer Center in Tianjin.Datasets with various compositions are used to construct the prediction model,which is also established using different prediction sequence lengths.Experimental results show that the method that uses a combination of pressure and temperature data performs more effectively than that only consisting of either pressure or temperature data.The best inference sequence length is two points.Furthermore,an anomaly monitoring system is set up by using chilled water data to help engineers detect chiller system anomalies.

Coronavirus disease 2019 in pregnant and non-pregnant women:a retrospective study

Coronavirus disease 2019(COVID-19)arises from infection with the new severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2(SARS-CoV-2).[1]The susceptible population can be of any age and gender;thus,the disease threatens the health and life of everyone,including pregnant women.Pregnancy can influence the physiological function of various organs,and thus may affect the prognosis of many infectious diseases.For example,higher mortality rates and more complications were reported in pregnant patients infected with SARS-CoV than those in non-pregnant patients.