BackgroundNeuraxial application of dexmedetomidine (DEX) as adjuvant analgesic has been invetigated in some randomized controlled trials (RCTs) but not been approved because of the inconsistency of efficacy and safety in these RCTs. We performed this meta-analysis to access the efficacy and safety of neuraxial DEX as local anaesthetic (LA) adjuvant.MethodsWe searched PubMed, PsycINFO, Scopus, EMBASE, and CENTRAL databases from inception to June 2013 for RCTs that investigated the analgesia efficacy and safety for neuraxial application DEX as LA adjuvant. Effects were summarized using standardized mean differences (SMDs), weighed mean differences (WMDs) or odds ratio (OR) with suitable effect model. The primary outcomes were postoperative pain intensity and analgesic duration, bradycardia and hypotension.ResultsSixteen RCTs involving 1092 participants were included. Neuraxial DEX significantly decreased postoperative pain intensity (SMD, −1.29; 95% confidence interval (CI), −1.70 to −0.89; P<0.00001), prolonged analgesic duration (WMD, 6.93 hours; 95% CI, 5.23 to 8.62; P<0.00001) and increased the risk of bradycardia (OR, 2.68; 95% CI, 1.18 to 6.10; P = 0.02). No evidence showed that neuraxial DEX increased the risk of other adverse events, such as hypotension (OR, 1.54; 95% CI, 0.83 to 2.85; P = 0.17). Additionally, neuraxial DEX was associated with beneficial alterations in postoperative sedation scores and number of analgesic requirements, sensory and motor block characteristics, and intro-operative hemodynamics.ConclusionNeuraxial DEX is a favorable LA adjuvant with better and longer analgesia. The greatest concern is bradycardia. Further large sample trials with strict design and focusing on long-term outcomes are needed.

BackgroundTo identify the incidence, recurrence pattern and prognosis of brain metastases (BM) among women with metastatic triple negative breast cancer (mTNBC) treated consecutively at a single institution during a 7-year period.MethodsPatients with histologically confirmed mTNBC were retrospectively identified. The incidence of BM as first site of recurrence and the cumulative BM incidence were computed. We used the Cox proportional hazards model to identify the univariate and multivariate factors associated with survival.ResultsFour hundred thirty three patients were included with a median overall survival (OS) of 21.6 months after median follow-up for 48.1 months. BM was found in 29% (127/433) of the patients and about a quarter (32/127) of BM was first recurrence. The cumulative incidence of BM at 1 and 2 years was 17 and 25%, respectively. The median time from the diagnosis of extracranial metastases to BM was 10 months. Median OS following a diagnosis of BM was 7.3 months. The longer median OS from time of first recurrent BM was noted compared with those of subsequent recurrent (17.3 vs 6.3 months, p = 0.008). However, patients with first recurrent BM were associated with shorter OS compared with those without BM (17.3 vs 22.1 months, p = 0.006). The independent factors that increased BM death risk were > 3 brain lesions, no BM-directed treatment, subsequent recurrent BM, symptomatic BM and uncontrolled extracranial metastasis.ConclusionsPatients with mTNBC have a high incidence of early BM with subsequent poor survival. The findings lend support to consideration of screening imaging of the brain for mTNBC patients.

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We present a narrow Hα-band imaging survey of 357 low surface brightness galaxies (LSBGs) that are selected from the spring sky region of the 40% Arecibo Legacy Fast Arecibo L-band Feed Array (ALFALFA) HI Survey. All the Hα images are obtained from the 2.16 m telescope, operated by Xinglong Observatory of the National Astronomical Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences. We provide the Hα fluxes and derive the global star formation rates (SFRs) of LSBGs after the Galactic extinction, internal extinction, and [NII] contamination correction. Comparing to normal star-forming galaxies, LSBGs have a similar distribution in the HI surface density (Σ HI ), but their SFRs and star formation surface density (Σ SFR ) are much lower. Our results show that the gas-rich LSBGs selected from the ALFALFA survey obviously deviate from the Kennicutt-Schmidt law, in the relation between the star formation surface density (Σ SFR ) and the gas surface density (Σ gas ). However, they follow the extended Schmidt law well when taking the stellar mass of the galaxy into consideration.

To investigate the roles of SUMO-specific protease 1 (SENP1) in triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), we detected the expression level of SENP1 in the clinical samples of TNBC and non‑TNBC patients by using immunohistochemical staining, qRT‑PCR, and western blotting. We found that SENP1 was highly expressed in the TNBC tissues compared with the normal breast tissues, as well as non‑TNBC tissues. Next, we constructed the si‑SENP1‑transfected TNBC cell lines for further biological function investigation. Then a xenograft model of nude mice was constructed to confirm the roles of SENP1 in TNBC formation and metastasis. According to our results, deficiency of SENP1 significantly represses the proliferation, invasion, migration, and colony formation of TNBC cells through blocking the cell cycle and regulating the expression of cyclin‑dependent kinases (CDKs) p21 and p27, as well as MMP9. Furthermore, in vivo experiments revealed that depletion of SENP1 remarkably inhibits the tumor volume, lung metastatis and the expression of p21, p27, MMP9, and Ki67. Taken together, this study elucidated that SENP1 is essential for TNBC cell proliferation and migration in vitro, as well as tumor formation and metastasis in vivo, indicating that SENP1 is a potential therapeutic target for TNBC treatment.

Elderly patients with early-stage extranodal nasal-type NK/T-cell lymphoma exhibit poor prognosis and need special attention because of high treatment-related mortality.

“Changing-look” active galactic nuclei (CL-AGNs) are a newly discovered class of AGNs that show the appearance (or disappearance) of broad emission lines within short timescales (months to years), and are often associated with dramatic changes in their continuum emissions. They provide us with an unprecedented chance to directly investigate the host galaxy properties with minimal contamination from the luminous central engine during the turn-off state, which is difficult for normal luminous AGNs. In this work, for the first time, we systematically characterize the stellar populations and star formation histories of host galaxies for 26 turn-off CL-AGNs using the stellar population synthesis code STARLIGHT. We find that the stellar populations of CL-AGNs are similar to those of normal AGNs, except that the intermediate stellar populations contribute more fractions. We estimate their stellar velocity dispersions (σ ⋆) and black hole masses (M BH,vir), and find that CL-AGNs also follow the overall M BH–σ ⋆ relationship. We also confirm the previous claims that CL-AGNs tend to be biased toward lower Eddington ratios, and that their extreme variabilities are more likely due to the intrinsic changes of the accretion rates. In addition, CL-AGNs with recent star formations tend to have higher Eddington ratios. Compared with previous studies, our analysis suggests that there may be a correlation between CL-AGN host galaxy properties and their CL phenomena.

This paper describes the second data release (DR2) of the Beijing-Arizona Sky Survey (BASS). BASS is an imaging survey covering a 5400 deg 2 footprint in the g and r bands using the 2.3 m Bok telescope. DR2 includes the observations through 2017 July obtained by BASS and by the Mayall z-band Legacy Survey (MzLS), which used the 4 m Mayall telescope to observe the same footprint. BASS and MzLS have completed 72% and 76% of their observations. The two surveys will be served for the spectroscopic targeting of the upcoming Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument. Both BASS and MzLS data are reduced by the same pipeline. We have updated the basic data reduction and photometric calibrations in DR2. In particular, source detections are performed on stacked images, and photometric measurements are co-added from single-epoch images based on these sources. The median 5σ point-source depths after Galactic extinction corrections are 24.05, 23.61, and 23.10 mag for the g, r, and z bands, respectively. The DR2 data products include stacked images, co-added catalogs, and single-epoch images and catalogs. The BASS website (http://batc.bao.ac.cn/BASS/) provides detailed information and links to download the data.