Combined Effect of Temperature and Relative Humidity on the Survival of Salmonella Isolates on Stainless Steel Coupons

The survival on stainless steel of ten Salmonella isolates from food factory, clinical and veterinary sources was investigated. Stainless steel coupons inoculated with Salmonella were dried and stored at a range of temperatures and relative humidity (RH) levels representing factory conditions. Viability was determined from 1 to 22 days. Survival curves obtained for most isolates and storage conditions displayed exponential inactivation described by a log-linear model. Survival was affected by environmental temperatures and RH with decimal reduction times (DRTs) ranging from <1 day to 18 days. At 25 °C/15% RH, all isolates survived at levels of 103 to 105 cfu for >22 days. Furthermore, temperatures and RH independently influenced survival on stainless steel; increasing temperatures between 10 °C and 37 °C and increasing RH levels from 30–70% both decreased the DRT values. Survival curves displaying a shoulder followed by exponential death were obtained for three isolates at 10 °C/70% RH. Inactivation kinetics for these were described by modified Weibull models, suggesting that cumulative injury occurs before cellular inactivation. This study highlights the need to control temperature and RH to limit microbial persistence in the food manufacturing environment, particularly during the factory shut-down period for cleaning when higher temperature/humidity levels could be introduced.

A Non-Endemic Analysis of the Patterns and Prognosis of De Novo Metastatic Nasopharyngeal Carcinomas in Old Patients Aged ≥65 years

This study aimed to investigate the prognostic factors related to overall survival (OS) and cancer-specific survival (CSS) in patients with de novo metastatic nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) aged ≥65 years in non-endemic areas. The Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database was queried for elderly patients with M1 stage NPC at initial diagnosis between 2004 and 2016. This study examined 100 patients and evaluated the relationship of gender, age, race, pathological grade, T stage, N stage, number of primary tumors, site of metastasis, number of metastatic organs, and other related factors with OS and CSS. The median survival and follow-up time were 10 and 48 months, respectively. The survival curves of race, N stage, bone metastasis, radiation, and chemotherapy significantly affected OS on the log-rank test. Race, bone metastasis, and chemotherapy were independent prognostic factors of OS. Bone metastasis was associated with poor survival. The survival curves of CSS were significantly differed between races, the number of primary tumors, and bone metastasis. In Cox regression multivariate analysis, only the number of primary tumors had an independent effect on prognosis. This study revealed that chemotherapy prolonged survival in elderly patients with metastatic NPC, whereas bone metastasis shortened survival.

The radicle emergence test and storage longevity of cucurbit rootstock seed lots

A study was carried out to test whether a single count of radicle emergence (RE test) would correlate with the storage potential of seed lots of cucurbit (C. maxima &times; C. moschata) rootstock cultivars. The RE test was performed by counting radicle emergence percentage between 26 and 100 hours of germination. Seed longevity was determined by storage at 75% relative humidity at 35&deg;C over 100 days, with seed survival curves constructed based on normal germination percentages. Ki (estimated initial viability in probits), &sigma; (standard deviation of the normal distribution of seed death in time) and p50 (time for viability to fall to 50%) were determined through probit analysis. Correlation analysis showed that RE counts particularly between 30 and 34 hours were highly (P &lt; 0.01) correlated with normal germination percentage, Ki and p50. It can be concluded that RE tests can be used as an indicator of subsequent seed lot longevity in cucurbit rootstock seed cultivars.

Reproductive Failure and Thrombophilia: Not Enough Evidence for a Tight Bond

<b><i>Objectives:</i></b> The role of hereditary thrombophilia in reproductive failure (RF) is strongly debatable. In this retrospective single-center study, we analyzed pregnancy outcome in 175 women screened for thrombophilia after at least one event of RF. <b><i>Results:</i></b> The prevalence of thrombophilia in our cohort was 33.4%. Pregnancy survival curves were not different according to severity (log-rank, <i>p</i> = 0.302) or type of thrombophilia (log-rank, <i>p</i> = 0.532). In total, 81.7% of 175 subsequent pregnancies were proceeded with LMWH. Concomitant use of ASA was prescribed in 75 pregnancies according to physician choice. The primary endpoint was live birth rate (LBR) that succeeded in 152/175 next pregnancies (86.8%) and late obstetric complications (LOBC) which occurred in 17/175 next pregnancies (9.8%). In logistic regression analysis, neither the severity nor the type of thrombophilia was important for any pregnancy outcome (LBR or LOBC). Considering therapeutic interventions, the use of LMWH ± ASA was not related to LBR or LOBC. The only factor inversely related to LBR was age above the cutoff value of 35.5 years (<i>p</i> = 0.049). <b><i>Conclusions:</i></b> Incidence of thrombophilia is increased among women with RF, but the severity or type of thrombophilia is not related to pregnancy outcome.

Clinician estimates of prognosis: accuracy and impact—a retrospective inpatient hospice study

ObjectiveTo evaluate the accuracy and impact of clinicians’ estimates of prognosis (CEP) in patients referred for hospice inpatient care.MethodsRetrospective review of 12 months’ referrals to a London hospice unit. Data extracted included date of referral, admission and death and CEP.ResultsN=383. Mean age 72 years (range 24–101). CEP accuracy: Median survival where CEP was ‘days’ (n=141) was 7 days (0–164); CEP ‘weeks’ (n=167) was 14 days (1–538); CEP ‘months’ (n=75) was 32 days (2–507). Kaplan-Meier survival curves showed significant difference between CEP of ‘months’ and ‘weeks’ (p<0.0001); ‘months’ and ‘days’ (p<0.0001); but not ‘days’ and ‘weeks’ (p=0.1). CEP impact: admission waiting time increased with increasing CEP: CEP ‘days’ (n=105) median 1 day (0–14); CEP ‘weeks’ (n=154) median 2 days (0–46); CEP ‘months’ (n=69) median 3 days (0–46). No significant difference was demonstrated in the number of discharge planning conversations between groups (0.9/patient).ConclusionsCEP was accurate in over half of the cases but did not adequately discriminate between those with prognoses of days or weeks. CEP may affect the prioritisation given to patients by hospices. Inaccurate CEP on referral forms may influence other aspects of care; however, further research is needed.

Expression of lncRNA-ANRIL before and after Treatment and Its Predictive Value for Short-Term Survival in Patients with Coronary Heart Disease

This study aimed at observing the expression of lncRNA-ANRIL (ANRIL) before and after treatment and its predictive value for short-term survival in patients with coronary heart disease (CHD). Altogether, 112 patients with CHD admitted to the hospital were enrolled as a study group (SG), which was divided into a pretreatment study group (preSG) and a posttreatment study group (postSG). Further 72 healthy people undergoing physical examinations during the same period were enrolled as a control group (CG). Peripheral blood was collected from the subjects in the three groups, to detect the expression level of serum ANRIL using quantitative reverse transcription PCR (qRT-PCR). A receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was plotted to evaluate the diagnostic value of ANRIL for CHD. Kaplan-Meier survival curves were plotted to analyze 3-year survival rates in high- and low-ANRIL expression groups. Cox regression was conducted to analyze independent risk factors affecting the patients. The expression level of serum ANRIL in preSG was significantly lower than those in CG and postSG ( P < 0.05 ). According to the ROC curve, the area under the curve (AUC) of serum ANRIL for diagnosing CHD in CG was 0.894 and the optimal cutoff value was 0.639, with the sensitivity of 86.61% and the specificity of 93.67%. According to the survival curves, the 3-year overall survival rate in the high-ANRIL expression group was significantly lower than that in the low-expression group ( P < 0.05 ). History of smoking, high total cholesterol (TC), high triglyceride (TG), high homocysteine (Hcy), and ANRIL expression were independent prognostic factors affecting the overall survival time of the patients ( P < 0.05 ). ANRIL is poorly expressed in the peripheral blood of patients with CHD. Its detection has good sensitivity and specificity for diagnosing the disease, and its expression may be related to the poor prognosis of the patients.

Prognostic value and predication model of microvascular invasion in patients with intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma: a multicenter study from China

Background At present, hepatectomy is still the most common and effective treatment method for intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC) patients. However, the postoperative prognosis is poor. Therefore, the prognostic factors for these patients require further exploration. Whether microvascular invasion (MVI) plays a crucial role in the prognosis of ICC patients is still unclear. Moreover, few studies have focused on preoperative predictions of MVI in ICC patients. Methods Clinicopathological data of 704 ICC patients after curative resection were retrospectively collected from 13 hospitals. Independent risk factors were identified by the Cox or logistic proportional hazards model. In addition, the survival curves of the MVI-positive and MVI-negative groups before and after matching were analyzed. Subsequently, 341 patients from a single center (Eastern Hepatobiliary Hospital) in the above multicenter retrospective cohort were used to construct a nomogram prediction model. Then, the model was evaluated by the index of concordance (C-Index) and the calibration curve. Results After propensity score matching (PSM), Child-Pugh grade and MVI were independent risk factors for overall survival (OS) in ICC patients after curative resection. Major hepatectomy and MVI were independent risk factors for recurrence-free survival (RFS). The survival curves of OS and RFS before and after PSM in the MVI-positive groups were significantly different compared with those in the MVI-negative groups. Multivariate logistic regression results demonstrated that age, gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase (GGT), and preoperative image tumor number were independent risk factors for the occurrence of MVI. Furthermore, the prediction model in the form of a nomogram was constructed, which showed good prediction ability for both the training (C-index = 0.7622) and validation (C-index = 0.7591) groups, and the calibration curve showed good consistency with reality. Conclusion MVI is an independent risk factor for the prognosis of ICC patients after curative resection. Age, GGT, and preoperative image tumor number were independent risk factors for the occurrence of MVI in ICC patients. The prediction model constructed further showed good predictive ability in both the training and validation groups with good consistency with reality.

Mining TCGA to Reveal Immunotherapy-related Genes for Soft Tissue Sarcoma

Objective: By mining the TCGA database to look for immunotherapy targets of soft tissue sarcoma, and analyzed their biological behavior. Methods: The data of 265 samples were downloaded from the TCGA database to analyze the expression profile of soft tissue sarcomas. Research methods include immune and stromal scores, calculating DEGs, volcano maps and differential gene survival curves, gene enrichment analysis.Results: Kaplan-Meier survival curves showed that in the high immune score group, the total survival time was generally higher than that in the low immune score group. Analysis of the top ten terms resulted in the minimum P values for immune and inflammatory responses, plasma membrane, receptor activity, and chemokine activity. By plotting the K-M curves, we obtained 86 survivals related DEGs. Finally, the genes that can be used as independent risk factors for prognosis of soft tissue sarcoma were obtained by multivariate analysis of the DEGs. Conclusion: We believe that these genes are expected to be new targets for sarcoma immunotherapy and key genes for the analysis of prognosis of sarcoma.

Prognostic and Therapeutic Values of Autophagy-related Genes in Triple-negative Breast Cancer

Background: Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is a highly aggressive malignancy with poor prognosis. Therefore, it is imperative to develop new prognostic or therapeutic biomarkers for TNBC. Objective: To explore the prognostic and therapeutic values of autophagy-related genes (ARGs) in TNBC. Methods: Overall, 157 TNBC patients’ data were obtained from The Cancer Genome Atlas database, and the ARGs were acquired from the Human Autophagy Database. Differentially expressed ARGs (DEGs) between tumor and normal tissues were identified and the prognostic ARGs were developed using R software. Kaplan–Meier survival curves and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were both used to evaluate the accuracy of the signature. Patents about prognostic ARGs were reviewed through Worldwide Espacenet® and Patentscope®. Results: We obtained 28 DEGs and two prognostic ARGs (EIF4EBP1 and PARP1). The Kaplan–Meier survival curves showed that the survival rate of patients with low 2-ARG signature risk score was significantly higher than that of patients with high risk score (P=0.003). ROC at 5 years indicated that the signature had good prognostic accuracy (AUC=0.929). The signature was independent of T, N, M, and TNM stage (P<0.05). Patent review suggested that many mTOR inhibitors alone or in combination with another anticancer agent have been provided for treatment of many cancers and shown promising results. No drug patents about PARP1 overexpression were disclosed. Conclusion: We developed a 2-ARG signature (EIF4EBP1 and PARP1) which was an independent prognostic biomarker for TNBC. As EIF4EBP1 was upregulated in TNBC, mTOR inhibitors which blocked the mTOR/4EBP1/eIF4E pathway may be a promising therapeutic strategy for TNBC.