Objective To study the relationships of Helicobacter pylori (Hp) infection and genetic polymorphisms of glutathione s-transferase P1 (GSTP1) with gastric cancer (GC). Methods The 98 patients with GC and 149 controls with normal finding at endoscopy were enrolled for this study. The rapid urease test (RUT), 13C- urea breath test (13C-UBT) and Giemsa staining of biopsy samples were used to check Hp infection. PCR-based restriction fragment length polymorphisms (PCR-RFLP) was used to detect GSTP1 genotype. Results The rate of Hp infection was higher in GC group than in control group (54.1% vs. 40.9%, x2 =4.11, P＜0. 05). The risk of GC would significantly increase in the GSTP1 homozygous mutant gene (MM) group with Hp infection (OR=5.44, 95%CI 1. 26-26. 79, x2=7.13, P＜0.05). Conclusions Hp infection and GSTP1 genetic polymorphisms are associated with gastric cancer risk in the elderly.

Objective To explore the feasibility of the applicatoin of readout-segmented echo-planar imaging (RS-EPI) at 3.0T MR of the orbit DWI and compared with single-shot echo-planar imaging (SS-EPI).Methods Forty-two volunteers underwent both standard SS-EPI and RS-EPI DWI of the orbit at a 3.0T MR unit.Two sets of DWI images were independently qualitatively scored in the number of distinguishable normal structures,fat suppression,ghosting artifact and overall image quality.SNR of the vitreous body,geometric distortion ratio (GDR) in both anterior-posterior (AP) and right-left (RL) direction,and ADC value of the vitreous body and pons were also quantitatively calculated and compared between two sets of DWI images.The statistical analysis was performed.Results For qualitative assessment,the RS-EPI was superior to SS-EPI on the number of distinguishable normal structures (P=0.009 0),ghosting artifact (P＜0.000 1),and overall image quality (P＜0.000 1),while no significant difference was found on fat suppression (P=0.753 9).For quantitative assessment,RS-EPI had significantly lower GDR than the SS-EPI in both AP and RL direction (P=0.001 4,0.001 7).The SNR in RS-EPI was significantly lower than that of SS-EPI (P=0.004 0).Meanwhile,there was no significant difference of ADC on vitreous body and pons between RS-EPI and SS-EPI (P=0.143 8,0.126 2).Conclusion The RS-EPI can provide better image quality than SS-EPI protocol in orbital DWI at 3.0T MR imaging.

Objective To evaluate the diagnostic value of CT and PET-CT characteristics in predicting the presence of epidermal growth factor receptor(EGFR) gene mutations in lung adenocarcinomas. Methods One hundred and sixty-eight lung adenocarcinomas cases confirmed by pathology were enrolled in our study. They were divided into EGFR gene mutations group (89 cases) and wild types group (79cases) according to whether EGFR gene mutation occurred. All patients underwent CT examination. Seventy-five patients underwent PET-CT examination, including 37 gene mutationsand 38 wild types.The demographic (the patients' age, the gender and smoking history), CT characteristics(lobulation, cavitation, spiculation, pleural-indentation, air-bronchogram, ground glass opacity/tumor ratio(G/T) and the maximum diameter of tumor(Dmax)) and PET-CT characteristics(the maximum standardized uptake value, (SUVmax))between these two groups were retrospectively compared. The independent sample t test was used to analyze the
difference between these two groups regarding the patients' age,Dmax,SUVmax. The χ2 test was used to demonstrate the difference between these two groups regarding the gender, smoking history and CT features including lobulation, cavitation, spiculation, pleural-indentation, air-bronchogram and G/T.The trend analysis between SUVmax and EGFR gene mutations was performed by usingχ2 test for trend.Results No significant difference was found regarding partial CT characteristics of lesions including lobulation, cavitation, spiculation, pleural-indentation, air-bronchogram (P>0.05),however, the Dmax of EGFR gene mutations group and wild types group were(2.53±1.39),(3.00±1.77)cm, respectively. The amount of G/T>50%in EGFR gene mutations group and wild types group was 21 and 5, respectively. Significant differences were found regarding the G/T and Dmax(χ2=9.538, P<0.05;t=1.974,P<0.05). The SUVmax in EGFR gene mutations group (37 cases) and wild types group (38 cases) were 5.13 ± 4.35 and 9.64 ± 5.12, respectively. Significant difference was found regarding SUVmax(t=4.104, P<0.05). The sensitivity and specificity in predicting EGFR gene mutations were 24%and 93%, respectively, using G/T>50%as diagnostic criterion. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) results indicated Dmax=1.85 cm was the optimal value in predicting EGFR gene mutations, with the sensitivity and specificity of 76% and 42%, respectively. Meanwhile, SUVmax=6.85 was the optimal value, with the sensitivity and specificity of 71% and 73%, respectively. Moreover,χ2 test for trend showed that an obvious trend was found to associate SUVmax with the incidence of EGFR gene mutations (χ2=15.755, P<0.05). Conclusion SUVmax may be helpful in predicting EGFR gene mutations in lung adenocarcinomas with relatively high diagnostic value.

With the current accumulation of metagenome data, it is possible to build an integrated platform for processing of rigorously selected metagenomic samples (also referred as "metagenomic communities" here) of interests. Any metagenomic samples could then be searched against this database to find the most similar sample(s). However, on one hand, current databases with a large number of metagenomic samples mostly serve as data repositories but not well annotated database, and only offer few functions for analysis. On the other hand, the few available methods to measure the similarity of metagenomic data could only compare a few pre-defined set of metagenome. It has long been intriguing scientists to effectively calculate similarities between microbial communities in a large repository, to examine how similar these samples are and to find the correlation of the meta-information of these samples. In this work we propose a novel system, Meta-Mesh, which includes a metagenomic database and its companion analysis platform that could systematically and efficiently analyze, compare and search similar metagenomic samples. In the database part, we have collected more than 7 000 high quality and well annotated metagenomic samples from the public domain and in-house facilities. The analysis platform supplies a list of online tools which could accept metagenomic samples, build taxonomical annotations, compare sample in multiple angle, and then search for similar samples against its database by a fast indexing strategy and scoring function. We also used case studies of "database search for identification" and "samples clustering based on similarity matrix" using human-associated habitat samples to demonstrate the performance of Meta-Mesh in metagenomic analysis. Therefore, Meta-Mesh would serve as a database and data analysis system to quickly parse and identify similar
Cluster Analysis ; Computational Biology ; methods ; Databases, Genetic ; Humans ; Metagenome ; Metagenomics ; methods

Objective To explore the effect of ATP fluorescence detection on on-site monitoring and supervision of healthcare-associated infection management .Methods ATP bioluminescence analyzer was used to detect the con-tamination status of hands of health care workers(HCWs),the object surfaces,and the cleaning tools in all quarters of 2015,the detection results were timely given feedback,and improvement measures were put forward.Results A total of 1 294 specimens were detected,the overall qualified rate was 62.75%.The qualified rates of hands of HC-Ws,object surfaces,and cleaning tools increased from 54.35%,50.30%,and 60.26% in the first quarter to 76.42%,64.80%,and 79.52% in the fourth quarter respectively,tendency chi-square test showed that difference was statistically significant (all P <0.05).The median of relative light unit (RLU)of hands of HCWs,object sur-faces,and cleaning tools were 20.00,85.00,and 35.00,respectively.Conclusion ATP fluorescence detection for on-site monitoring and supervision for cleaning and disinfection effect can promote the continuous quality improve-ment of hand hygiene and environmental cleanliness.

Objective To evaluate the role of conventional and functional MR in the diagnosis of orbital mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue lymphoma (MALToma).Methods Twenty-two patients with pathologically confirmed orbital MALToma were enrolled in our study.The number,location,morphology,involvement of surrounding structure and imaging features were evaluated.Apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) values derived from diffusion weighted imaging and time-intensity curve (TIC)pattern derived from dynamic contrast enhanced MRI were assessed. Results Orbital MALToma occurred unilaterally in 1 7 cases and bilaterally in 5 cases.Anterior orbit preseptal region was involved most frequently (20 cases),followed by intraconal(19 cases),extraxonal (17 cases)and lacrimal fossa (12 cases)regions.Most cases showed as homogeneously iso-intensity on both T1 and T2 weighted images.Mean ADC value of the lesions was (0.61 ± 0.08)× 10 -3 mm2/s.A washout-type TIC pattern was observed in 1 5 cases,while plateau pattern was found in 7 cases.Conclusion Conventional MRI can assist in describing the extent,while the functional MRI can quantitatively reflect the histo-pathological features of orbital MALToma.Combination of conventional and functional MRI can help the diagnosis of orbital MALToma.

Objective The goal of this study is to compare the prognosis of recombinant tissue plasminogen activator (rt-PA) thrombolysis for middle cerebral artery (MCA) occlusion with patients with good and poor cerebral collateral circulation.Methods This retrospective study included 49 patients diagnosed with acute MCA occlusion and treated with rt-PA in the First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University between October 1,2014 and February 1,2016.Patients were divided into good collaterals group (n =31) and poor collaterals group (n =18) according to their distribution of leptomeningeal arteries with CTA.Thirty day mortality rate,the incidence of symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage,24h and 30 day Stroke scores with National Institute of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) were compared between the two groups.Corrected chi-squared test,Fisher's exact test,or t test was used to statistical analysis as appropriate.Results The 30 day mortality rate of good collaterals group was significantly lower than that of poor collaterals group (0％ vs.16.7％,P ＜ 0.05).There were no significant differences in the incidence of symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage and 24h NIHSS score between the two groups (P ＞ 0.05),however,30 day NIHSS score of good collaterals group was significantly lower than that of poor collaterals group (7.2 ± 3.1 vs.9.6 ± 2.7,P ＜ O.05).Conclusion For patients with MCA occlusion and receiving intravenous thrombolysis,good cerebral collateral circulation may reduce their mortality and improve their clinical outcome after thrombolysis.However,good cerebral collateral circulation does not reduce the risk of symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage in those patients.

Objective To evaluate the correlation between the gray-white matter ratio (GWR) and the outcomes of comatose adult survivors from cardiac arrest (CA) in Chinese.Methods Sixty-one CA patients checked with CT scans within 72 hours of resuscitation from January 2011 to January 2016 were included in this single-center retrospective study.Gray and white matter density (Hounsfield units) were measured,and the GWRs were calculated according to previous studies.The prognostic values of the GWRs in predicting poor outcomes (Cerebral Performance Category 3-5) were analyzed.Results The density values of gray matter were significantly higher in the good outcome group than those in the poor one.All GWRs were significantly higher in the good outcome group (P ＜ 0.05).A GWR (basal ganglia) ＜ 1.18 predicted poor outcomes with a sensitivity and specificity of 50.0％ and 88.2％,respectively (P =0.012).Conclusions Low GWRs,determined from brain CT scans in comatose CA patients after resuscitation,were associated with poor neurological outcomes.GWR determination from brain CT can be a useful indicator for outcome prediction aiding in an optimal clinical decision process in comatose survivors from CA.

Objective To evaluate the diagnostic and staging value of orbital structures quantitative measurement with 3T mag-netic resonance imaging in patients with Graves’ophthalmopathy (GO).Methods Twenty-three GO patients (patient group)and eighteen healthy volunteers (contrast group)were enrolled.Quantitative measurement of orbital structures including exophthalmos values,fatty tissue thickness of the inner side of eye balls,cross-sectional areas of extraocular muscles and signal intensity ratios of extraocular muscles to the ipsilateral temporal muscles (SIR values),and they were compared between two groups.Correlations be-tween the quantitative values and clinical active score (CAS)were accessed.Receiver operating characteristic (ROC)analysis was performed to evaluate the most relevant quantitative parameter and its diagnostic value in discriminating active from inactive GO pa-tients.Results There were significant differences between the GO group and contrast group regarding to all the quantitative parame-ters (P <0.05).Strong correlation was found between SIR values and CAS (r =0.730,P <0.001 ).Significant difference of SIR was found between patients with active GO and inactive GO (P =0.002),and a cut off value of 3.25 might be the critical threshold value,with diagnostic sensitivity of 81.8% and specificity of 83.3% respectively.Conclusion Quantitative measurement of orbital structures with 3T MR imaging could provide assistant in diagnosing and staging of GO.

Previous studies have shown that miRNAs participate in a wide range of biological functions and play important roles in various human diseases including cancer. We found miR-146b-5p significantly dysregulated in human pancreatic cancer cells by qRT-PCR. To demonstrate its function and regulation mechanism, we overexpressed miR-146-5p by transfecting the mimics. Our data showed that miR-146b-5p overexpression significantly reduced the abilities of migration and invasion of MIA PaCa-2 pancreatic cancer cells. Furthermore, we found that matrix metalloproteinase 16 (MMP16) was a downstream target of miR-146b-5p by dual-luciferase reporter assay. Altogether, our findings suggest that miR-146b-5p may be involved in pancreatic cancer cell migration and invasion by targeting MMP16, and miR-146b-5p may be a potential therapeutic target for the pancreatic cancer.