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Breast cancer susceptibility gene 1 (BRCA1) has a central role in chemotherapy-induced DNA damage response. The protein inhibitor of activated STAT (PIAS) family of proteins, PIAS1 and PIAS4, are also necessary for adequate DNA damage repair. To further understand the role of BRCA1 in DNA repair, we examined the mRNA expression of these genes in 133 advanced (stage III-IV) gastric cancer patients using quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction. All P values were two-sided. The median overall survival was 12.5 months (95% confidence interval [CI] = 9.8 to 13.4 months). Among 59 patients receiving second-line docetaxel, the median overall survival was 25.8 months (95% CI = 9.2 to 42.4 months) for patients with high BRCA1 expression, 19.1 months (95% CI = 3.4 to 34.8 months) for those with intermediate expression, and 9.5 months (95% CI = 8.7 to 10.2 months) for those with low expression (P = .0062). The risk of mortality was higher in patients with low BRCA1 levels compared with high BRCA1 levels (hazard ratio of death = 2.49, 95% CI = 1.03 to 5.97, P = .037). Survival in patients receiving second-line docetaxel-based chemotherapy showed a similar trend with PIAS1 and PIAS4 mRNA expression levels, although the associations for PIAS4 were not statistically significant.

Background Darbepoetin alfa is a new erythropoietic protein with a three-fold longer half-life than recombinant human erythropoietin (rHuEPO), allowing for an extended dosing interval of once every 2 weeks in patients with chronic renal failure. The objective of this study was to investigate the possibility of further extending the dose interval of this erythropoietic agent to once every 4 weeks in the treatment of renal anemia in dialysis patients. Methods A prospective study was carried out in 14 continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD) patients stably maintained on subcutaneous rHuEPO with hemoglobin level of 10–13 g/dL. They were switched to subcutaneous darbepoetin alfa administered once every 4 weeks for a period of 24 weeks. The starting dose was 40 [.proportional]g. The dose of darbepoetin alfa was then adjusted to maintain a target hemoglobin level between 10 and 13 g/dL. When darbepoetin alfa was increased by 100%, the dosing interval was shortened to maintain the target hemoglobin. Evaluation was done during the last 4 weeks. Results Of the 14 patients recruited, 11 patients completed the study. Of these 11 patients, 9 (82%) successfully maintained the target hemoglobin with once every 4 weeks darbepoetin alfa. For those successful patients, the mean hemoglobin level during the evaluation period was 11.13 ± 2.04 g/dL (mean ± standard deviation), and the mean change in hemoglobin level from baseline was −1.03 g/dL (95% CI: −2.34, 0.27). The mean weekly darbepoetin alfa dose requirement during the evaluation period was 12.33 ± 4.80 [.proportional]g/week, and the mean change in weekly dose from baseline was +2.33 [.proportional]g/week (95% CI: −1.35, 6.02). No serious adverse event related to darbepoetin alfa occurred during the study. Conclusion Darbepoetin alfa administered once every 4 weeks effectively maintained hemoglobin level in most CAPD patients after conversion from previously stabilized rHuEPO treatment. Darbepoetin alfa is safe and well tolerated, allowing for less frequent dosing. [ Hong Kong J Nephrol 2007;9(2):77–81]

This study was to analyze the diagnostic effects of computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in patients with cerebrovascular diseases (CVDs) based on low-rank matrix denoising (LRMD) algorithm. The LRMD algorithm was adopted for MRI diagnosis and CT diagnosis for comparative analysis. 129 CVD patients were selected as the research objects, 43 cases were diagnosed by CT, 43 cases were diagnosed by MRI under LRMD, and the other 43 cases were diagnosed by CT + MRI. The results showed that the diagnostic compliance rates (DCRs) of CT group in the cerebral hemorrhage (CH), cerebral infarction (CI), and cerebral aneurysm (CA) were 95.1%, 94.7%, and 70%, respectively, while those in the MRI group were 99.01%, 97.71%, and 100%, respectively. Thus, it was obtained that MRI diagnosis was much better than CT diagnosis, and CT + MRI showed the best diagnosis efficacy, showing statistical differences ( P < 0.05 ). The accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity of MRI diagnosis under the LRMD algorithm were 96.28%, 88.76%, and 90.62%, respectively, which were superior to those of CT diagnosis (92.71%, 84.94%, and 80.71%, respectively). The diagnosis cost per case (DC/C) (799.73 ± 100.02 yuan) and the total diagnosis cost (TDC) (58,521.67 ± 301.62 yuan) in the MRI group were higher than those in the CT group (601.42 ± 83.61 yuan and 39,819.2 ± 198.72, respectively) ( P < 0.05 ). In conclusion, CT + MRI under the LRMD algorithm showed good potential in diagnosis of CVD; MRI based on the LRMD algorithm showed a higher positive rate in the diagnosis of CA and was better than CT diagnosis, and CT + MRI showed the best diagnosis effect and could improve the clinical diagnosis rate.

The collaborative system for power grid operation mode calculation implements data management of multi-level paralleling operated dispatching departments indifferent places and joint operation mode calculation, which is based on the calculated data of power grid operation modes. The transient stability analysis monitors the components of electrical variation curve through the network transmission to the web page. When more users and more curves reach a certain extent, the overall simulation time is longer and the curve is stuck because of the limitation of the transmission bandwidth and the refresh rate of the web page. This paper, The Douglas Peucker algorithm is used in system to solve the data transmission of large amount of data delay problem and achieve the transmission of the large amount of data, the overall simulation time of curve in the web page display is decreased, the curves are refreshed smoothly.

The gut microbiota drives individual sensitivity to excess acetaminophen (APAP)-mediated hepatotoxicity. It has been reported that the bacterium Akkermansia muciniphila protects hosts against liver disease via the liver-gut axis, but its therapeutic potential for drug-induced liver injury remains unclear. In this study, we aimed to investigate the effect of A. muciniphila on APAP-induced liver injury and the underlying mechanism. Administration of A. muciniphila efficiently alleviated APAP-induced hepatotoxicity and reduced the levels of serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate transaminase (AST). A. muciniphila significantly attenuated APAP-induced oxidative stress and the inflammatory response, as evidenced by restoration of the reduced glutathione/oxidized glutathione (GSH/GSSG) balance, enhanced superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity, reduced proinflammatory cytokine production, and alleviation of macrophage and neutrophil infiltration. Moreover, A. muciniphila maintained gut barrier function, reshaped the perturbed microbial community and promoted short-chain fatty acid (SCFA) secretion. The beneficial effects of A. muciniphila were accompanied by alterations in hepatic gene expression at the transcriptional level and activation of the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K)/Akt signaling pathway. Our results suggested that A. muciniphila could be a potential pretreatment for APAP-induced liver injury.

Abstract This study aims to evaluate the customer satisfaction of different self-service technologies (SST) when different SSTs provide various services. This study compares overall customer satisfaction according to the four types of SSTs (Mobile Channel SST, ATM SST, Telephone SST and online SST) when SSTs provide heterogeneous services. We used both primary and secondary data. Primary data consisted of a survey questionnaire applied to a final sample size of 400 people. Data analysis was performed via ordered logistic regression. The results showed that customer satisfaction on different SSTs for different services positively associate with overall customer satisfaction in the banking sector, and this study finds customer satisfaction of mobile banking (MB) more positively associate than other SSTs with customer satisfaction. This study conducted on one profit-making organization (bank) of Bangladesh. Therefore, the geographic bases of SST contexts limit the extension of our findings. Future investigation is needed for evaluating the customer satisfaction on non-profit organizations and educational sector. Understanding what factors determine customer’s satisfaction in the different services provided by each SSTs contribute to manage and coordinate multiple services delivered by various SSTs and to know the process of improving the customer satisfaction across the services offered. Previous investigations were focusing on the customer satisfaction when provided services and/or SSTs are homogeneous, but this study examines the customer satisfaction when both services and SSTs are heterogeneous. This study significantly impacts both the management and research of developing operations strategies for organizations.

The experimental test problem of the left-right polarization-dependent lifetime asymmetry is discussed. It shows that the existing experiments cannot demonstrate the lifetime asymmetry to be right or wrong after analyzing the measurements on the neutron, the muon and the tau lifetime, as well as the $g-2$ experiment. However, It is pointed out emphatically that the SLD and the E158 experiments, the measurements of the left-right integrated cross section asymmetry in $Z$ boson production by $e^+e^-$ collisions and by electron-electron M{\o}ller scattering, can indirectly demonstrate the lifetime asymmetry. In order to directly demonstrate the lifetime asymmetry, we propose some possible experiments on the decays of polarized muons. The precise measurement of the lifetime asymmetry could have important significance for building a muon collider, also in cosmology and astrophysics. It would provide a sensitive test of the standard model in particle physics and allow for exploration of the possible $V+A$ interactions. Comment: 11 pages, 1 figure

Despite common comorbidities of epileptic seizure (ES) and psychogenic nonepileptic seizure (PNES), reports regarding the clinical management of the two coexisting disorders have traditionally only focused on non-surgical approaches such as medication and psychotherapy. Epileptogenic zonectomy following comprehensive presurgical evaluation could lead to seizure control and even seizure free in refractory epilepsy patients. However, its effect on PNES which is of clinical significance remains to be explored. Here, we present a favorable surgical outcome in a middle-aged woman with refractory epilepsy with concomitant video-electroencephalograph-confirmed PNES. The patient has been ES free post right-sided anterior temporal lobectomy with unchanged antiepileptic medication. Meanwhile, remarkable improvement of her PNES has been reported although she did not undergo psychiatric or psychological therapy following surgery. The treatment success achieved in this case suggests that comorbid PNES should not deprive patients with intractable epilepsy patients a chance to undergo surgical intervention if their epileptogenic zones could be identified during presurgical evaluation. Some patients could obtain relieves of both ES and PNES from appropriately performed epilepsy surgery. Nevertheless, the mechanisms underlying the findings in this report are still unknown. Further study is needed to investigate whether epileptogenic zonectomy itself or the patient’s positive mood brought by ES control contributes to postoperative alleviation of PNES.