Journal of the Chinese Medical Association : JCMA
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Although migrant workers are a vulnerable group in China, they demonstrably contribute to the country's economic growth and prosperity. This study aimed to describe and assess the inequality of migrant worker health in China and its association with socioeconomic determinants. ⋯ It is generally known that there is an unequal socioeconomic distribution of migrant worker health in China. In order to reduce the health inequality, the government should make a substantial effort to strengthen policy implementation in improving the income distribution for vulnerable groups. After this investigation, it is apparent that the findings we have made warrant further investigation.
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Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is the most lethal type of adult brain cancer and performs outrageous growth and resistance regardless of adjuvant chemotherapies, eventually contributing to tumor recurrence and poor outcomes. Considering the common heterogeneity of cancer cells, the imbalanced regulatory mechanism could be switched on/off and contribute to drug resistance. Moreover, the subpopulation of GBM cells was recently discovered to share similar phenotypes with neural stem cells. These cancer stem cells (CSCs) promote the potency of tumor initiation. As a result, targeting of glioma stem cells has become the dominant way of improving the therapeutic outcome against GBM and extending the life span of patients. Among the biomarkers of CSCs, CD-133 (prominin-1) has been known to effectively isolate CSCs from cancer population, including GBM; however, the underlying mechanism of how stemness genes manipulate CSC-associated phenotypes, such as tumor initiation and relapse, is still unclear. ⋯ SOX2 plays a crucial role in regulating tumorigenicity in CD133(+) GBM cells. Our results not only revealed the genetic plasticity contributing to drug resistance and stemness but also demonstrated the dominant role of SOX2 in maintenance of GBM CSCs, which may provide a novel therapeutic target to overcome the conundrum of poor survival of brain cancers.
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Mixed epithelial and stromal tumor of the kidney (MESTK) is a rare tumor, with few malignant cases reported. Occurring mostly in middle-aged women, it is characterized by a biphasic pathological structure. ⋯ Surgery remains the treatment of choice for MESTK, and nephron-sparing surgery should be considered in feasible cases.
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Predicting acute renal failure in patients with severe sepsis is important, because patients may need renal replacement therapy (RRT). Neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL) has been evaluated for its ability to detect and predict acute kidney injury (AKI) in critically ill patients. This study aimed to assess the predictive value of plasma NGAL for acute renal failure in adult severely septic patients. ⋯ Plasma NGAL is a useful tool for predicting acute renal failure in adult patients with severe sepsis. Serum creatinine has a similar ability to detect RIFLE-F occurrence.
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Ultrasound technology is generally considered to be reliable and widely used by physicians today. Therefore, given the efficacy and popularity of the technology, the need for quality ultrasound education is evident. Ultrasound training for undergraduate medical students has been increasingly incorporated into school curriculums, but the teaching methods can vary significantly among medical schools. Among many different choices, one effective teaching model was proposed which added hands-on ultrasound experience on live patients that was supervised by radiologists in the last clinical year. ⋯ By adding hands-on ultrasound experience using live patients proctored by radiologists for final year medical students, in the space of 2 weeks, an effective ultrasound learning model for undergraduate medical students can be provided. This model should be considered in the curricular design.