Timing of Laser Intervention on Facial Scars: A 3D Imaging and Scar Scale Analysis in a Retrospective Study.

OBJECTIVES: Scars resulting from injuries or surgical procedures often present both physical and aesthetic challenges. Recent studies have indicated promising results in improving postoperative scar outcomes through the combined use of specific laser technologies. Nevertheless, there remains a crucial need for further exploration to ascertain the optimal timing for initiating such treatments. METHODS: In this retrospective investigation, a cohort of 47 adult patients who did not require hospitalization was analyzed. These patients were divided into two distinct groups: Group A, which received intervention beginning 2 weeks after their respective operations, and Group B, which commenced intervention 4 weeks postoperation. Each group underwent a comprehensive treatment protocol consisting of five laser sessions. Initially, patients underwent three sessions of V-beam pulsed-dye laser (PDL) therapy followed by two sessions of ablative fractional CO2 laser (AFL) therapy. Evaluation of outcomes was conducted using advanced imaging techniques such as Antera 3D imaging, in conjunction with established scar assessment tools including the Vancouver Scar Scale (VSS) and the University of North Carolina "4P" Scar Scale (UNC4P). RESULTS: All patients successfully completed the full course of five treatment sessions, with no dropouts and no reported adverse events. Baseline cosmetic assessments of scars were equivalent across both groups. In Group A, the mean VSS scores decreased from 7.04 before treatment to 5.29 at 3 months posttreatment and further to 4.33 at 6 months posttreatment. Meanwhile, in Group B, scores decreased from 7.52 to 6.83 at 3 months and 6.17 at 6 months. There were no statistically significant differences in baseline VSS scores between the two groups (p = 0.34). At both the 3- and 6-month follow-up points, mean VSS scores were significantly lower in Group A compared to Group B (p < 0.05). Similar trends were observed in UNC4P scores. Statistically significant differences were noted across all time points (baseline, 3 months, and 6 months posttreatment) for both VSS and UNC4P scores (p < 0.05). Subset analysis revealed greater improvements in texture and depression volume at 3 months posttreatment, while improvements in depression area, depth, elevation variation, and area were more pronounced at the 6-month mark. CONCLUSIONS: Early intervention using the combined 595-nm pulse dye laser and CO2 ablative fractional laser (AFL) 2- and 4-weeks post-surgery proves to be an effective and safe method for improving scar outcomes, particularly for facial surgical scars when treatment starts 2 weeks after surgery. However, further research is needed to refine our understanding and address potential study limitations.

Automatic IMRT treatment planning through fluence prediction and plan fine-tuning for nasopharyngeal carcinoma.

BACKGROUND: At present, the implementation of intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) treatment planning for geometrically complex nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) through manual trial-and-error fashion presents challenges to the improvement of planning efficiency and the obtaining of high-consistency plan quality. This paper aims to propose an automatic IMRT plan generation method through fluence prediction and further plan fine-tuning for patients with NPC and evaluates the planning efficiency and plan quality. METHODS: A total of 38 patients with NPC treated with nine-beam IMRT were enrolled in this study and automatically re-planned with the proposed method. A trained deep learning model was employed to generate static field fluence maps for each patient with 3D computed tomography images and structure contours as input. Automatic IMRT treatment planning was achieved by using its generated dose with slight tightening for further plan fine-tuning. Lastly, the plan quality was compared between automatic plans and clinical plans. RESULTS: The average time for automatic plan generation was less than 4 min, including fluence maps prediction with a python script and automated plan tuning with a C# script. Compared with clinical plans, automatic plans showed better conformity and homogeneity for planning target volumes (PTVs) except for the conformity of PTV-1. Meanwhile, the dosimetric metrics for most organs at risk (OARs) were ameliorated in the automatic plan, especially Dmax of the brainstem and spinal cord, and Dmean of the left and right parotid glands significantly decreased (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: We have successfully implemented an automatic IMRT plan generation method for patients with NPC. This method shows high planning efficiency and comparable or superior plan quality than clinical plans. The qualitative results before and after the plan fine-tuning indicates that further optimization using dose objectives generated by predicted fluence maps is crucial to obtain high-quality automatic plans.

An Exploratory Pilot Study on the Application of Radiofrequency Ablation for Atrial Fibrillation Guided by Computed Tomography-Based 3D Printing Technology.

Radiofrequency ablation (RFA) is the treatment of choice for atrial fibrillation (AF). Additionally, the utilization of 3D printing for cardiac models offers an in-depth insight into cardiac anatomy and cardiovascular diseases. The study aims to evaluate the clinical utility and outcomes of RFA following in vitro visualization of the left atrium (LA) and pulmonary vein (PV) structures via 3D printing (3DP). Between November 2017 and April 2021, patients who underwent RFA at the First Affiliated Hospital of Xinxiang Medical University were consecutively enrolled and randomly allocated into two groups: the 3DP group and the control group, in a 1:1 ratio. Computed tomography angiography (CTA) was employed to capture the morphology and diameter of the LA and PV, which facilitated the construction of a 3D entity model. Additionally, surgical procedures were simulated using the 3D model. Parameters such as the duration of the procedure, complications, and rates of RFA recurrence were meticulously documented. Statistical analysis was performed using the t-test or Mann-Whitney U test to evaluate the differences between the groups, with a P-value of less than 0.05 considered statistically significant. In this study, a total of 122 patients were included, with 53 allocated to the 3DP group and 69 to the control group. The analysis of the morphological measurements of the LA and PV taken from the workstation or direct entity measurement showed no significant difference between the two groups (P > 0.05). However, patients in the 3DP group experienced significantly shorter RFA times (97.03 ± 28.39 compared to 120.51 ± 44.76 min, t = 3.05, P = 0.003), reduced duration of radiation exposure (2.55 [interquartile range 2.01, 3.24] versus 3.20 [2.28, 3.91] min, Z = 3.23, P < 0.001), and shorter modeling times (7.68 ± 1.03 compared to 8.89 ± 1.45 min, t = 5.38, P < 0.001). 3DP technology has the potential to enhance standard RFA practices by reducing the time required for intraoperative interventions and exposure to radiation.

Residue analysis and dietary risk assessment of picoxystrobin in potato (Solanum tuberosum), citrus fruit (Citrus reticulata Blanco), and Dendrobium officinale Kimura et Migo.

Picoxystrobin is a systemic fungicide widely used on potato, citrus fruit, and Dendrobium officinale. To provide information for the risk assessment of potato, citrus, and Dendrobium officinale, field experiments combined with QuEChERS and HPLC-MS/MS were performed to detect picoxystrobin. Picoxystrobin had good linearity (R2 > 0.99), the average recovery rate was 75 - 102%, and the relative standard deviation was 1 - 11%. Picoxystrobin was utilized as the test agent in field experiments, and samples were evaluated and analyzed at various times after the final application utilizing random sampling. The results showed that picoxystrobin residuals in potato and citrus (orange meat) were ˂ 0.01 mg kg-1, whereas those in citrus whole fruit, D. officinale (fresh), and D. officinale (dried) were < 0.05 - 0.084, 0.16 - 3.82, and 0.34 - 9.05 mg kg-1, respectively. Based on these results, both the acute risk quotient (2.77%) and chronic risk quotient (8.7%) were ˂100%, and the dietary risk assessment indicated that the intake of picoxystrobin residues in potato, citrus fruit, and D. officinale did not pose a health risk. This study can guide the reasonable use of picoxystrobin in potato, citrus fruit, and D. officinale.

Simultaneous dose distribution and fluence prediction for nasopharyngeal carcinoma IMRT.

BACKGROUND: Current intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) treatment planning is still a manual and time/resource consuming task, knowledge-based planning methods with appropriate predictions have been shown to enhance the plan quality consistency and improve planning efficiency. This study aims to develop a novel prediction framework to simultaneously predict dose distribution and fluence for nasopharyngeal carcinoma treated with IMRT, the predicted dose information and fluence can be used as the dose objectives and initial solution for an automatic IMRT plan optimization scheme, respectively. METHODS: We proposed a shared encoder network to simultaneously generate dose distribution and fluence maps. The same inputs (three-dimensional contours and CT images) were used for both dose distribution and fluence prediction. The model was trained with datasets of 340 nasopharyngeal carcinoma patients (260 cases for training, 40 cases for validation, 40 cases for testing) treated with nine-beam IMRT. The predicted fluence was then imported back to treatment planning system to generate the final deliverable plan. Predicted fluence accuracy was quantitatively evaluated within projected planning target volumes in beams-eye-view with 5 mm margin. The comparison between predicted doses, predicted fluence generated doses and ground truth doses were also conducted inside patient body. RESULTS: The proposed network successfully predicted similar dose distribution and fluence maps compared with ground truth. The quantitative evaluation showed that the pixel-based mean absolute error between predicted fluence and ground truth fluence was 0.53% ± 0.13%. The structural similarity index also showed high fluence similarity with values of 0.96 ± 0.02. Meanwhile, the difference in the clinical dose indices for most structures between predicted dose, predicted fluence generated dose and ground truth dose were less than 1 Gy. As a comparison, the predicted dose achieved better target dose coverage and dose hot spot than predicted fluence generated dose compared with ground truth dose. CONCLUSION: We proposed an approach to predict 3D dose distribution and fluence maps simultaneously for nasopharyngeal carcinoma patients. Hence, the proposed method can be potentially integrated in a fast automatic plan generation scheme by using predicted dose as dose objectives and predicted fluence as a warm start.

Deep-learning model AIBISI predicts bacterial infection across cancer types based on pathological images.

Microorganisms play an important role in many physiological functions. Many studies have found that bacteria also regulate cancer susceptibility and tumor progression by affecting some metabolic or immune system signaling pathways. However, current bacterial detection methods are inaccurate or inefficient. Thus, we constructed a deep neural network (AIBISI) based on hematoxylin and eosin (H&E)-stained pathology slides to predict and visualize bacterial infection. Our model performance achieved as high as 0.81 of AUC (area under the ROC curve) within cancer type. We also built a pan-cancer model to predict bacterial infection across cancer types. To facilitate clinical usage, AIBISI visualized image areas affected by possible infection. Importantly, we successfully validated our model (AUC = 0.755) in pathological images from an independent patient cohort of stomach cancer (n = 32). To our best knowledge, this is the first artificial intelligence (AI)-based model to investigate bacterial infection in pathology images and has the potential to enable fast clinical decision related to pathogens in tumors.

Activation of long-non-coding RNA NEAT1 sponging microRNA-147 inhibits radiation damage by targeting PDPK1 in troxerutin radioprotection.

A better understanding of the molecular mechanism involving the lncRNA-miRNA-mRNA network underlying radiation damage can be beneficial for radioprotection. This study was designed to investigate the potential role of lncRNA NEAT1, miR-147 and Phosphoinositide Dependent Protein Kinase 1 (PDPK1) interaction in radioprotection by troxerutin (TRT). We first demonstrated that NEAT1 sponged miR-147, and PDPK1 mRNA was the primary target of miR-147. In the cells, the NEAT1 and PDPK1 levels were downregulated after the radiation but increased after the treatment with TRT. The miR-147 level was significantly induced by radiation and inhibited by TRT. NEAT1 negatively regulated the expression of miR-147, whereas miR-47 targeted PDPK1 to downregulate its expression. In radioprotection, TRT effectively upregulated NEAT1 to inhibit miR-147 and to upregulate PDPK1. We concluded that TRT could promote radioprotection by stimulating NEAT1 to upregulate PDPK1 expression by suppressing miR-147. NEAT1 could be a critical therapeutic target of radiation damage.

Morphology and Phylogeny of Lyophylloid Mushrooms in China with Description of Four New Species.

The lyophylloid agarics are a group of ecologically highly diversified macrofungi, some of which are very popular edible mushrooms. However, we know little about lyophylloid species diversity in China. In this study, we described four new species from China: Lyophyllum atrofuscum, L. subalpinarum, L. subdecastes, and Ossicaulis sichuanensis. We conducted molecular phylogenetic analyses of Lyophyllaceae based on the nuclear ribosomal RNA gene (nLSU) and the internal transcribed spacer regions (ITS). Phylogenetic analyses by the maximum likelihood method and Bayesian inference showed that the four new species are unique monophyletic species. A key to the species of Lyophyllum from China and a key to Ossicaulis worldwide were given.

Density and seasonal dynamics of Bemisia tabaci and its predators in different agricultural landscapes in South China.

Bemisia tabaci is the main pest of agriculture in many regions of the world. The resistance of whitefly to pesticides has increased as a consequence of the continuous irrational use of wide-spectrum pesticides. Thus, pesticides are no longer always effective as a long-term control method. The agricultural landscape can affect the occurrence of an insect population. The objective of this study was to clarify the occurrence of whitefly and its predators in tomato fields in different agricultural landscapes. Different landscapes are classified into urban, flower, water, and mountain landscapes by the principal component analysis method. In 2018-2019, whitefly had the longest main activity period and the lowest density in the flower landscape. The water landscape helped to maintain the highest densities of whitefly during the main activity period. Nine species of predators were sampled, and Nesidiocoris tenuis, Chrysoperla sinica, Menochilus sexmaculata, and Harmonia axyridis were the dominant species throughout the sampling season in both years. During the main activity period, N. tenuis had the highest density in all sampled landscapes. The density of the dominant predators was the highest in the flower landscape, and each natural predator had the largest temporal niche width in the 2-year sampling period. Bemisia tabaci, N. tenuis, and M. sexmaculata were highly synchronized temporally. The flower landscape showed satisfactory results in suppressing whitefly. Increasing the proportion of flowering plants and increasing the diversity of plant crops in the agricultural landscape can effectively reduce the densities of whitefly during an outbreak.

Targeting p65 to inhibit Cas3 transcription by Onjisaponin B for radiation damage therapy in p65+/- mice.

BACKGROUND: In response to radiation injury, p65 becomes activated. The formation of p65 is one target of Onjisaponin B (OB), but it has not been studied in radioprotection. In addition, there is a binding site for p65 in the promoter region of Cas3. This study evaluates the use of OB as an intervention to modulate p65/Cas3 following radiation exposure. PURPOSE: This study aimed to confirm that OB regulated the transcription of Cas3 via p65 to overcome radiation-induced damage. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: Cells and mice were exposed to X-rays at a dose of 6 Gy. Immunofluorescence was used to locate intracellular p65. For the protein and mRNA analyses, Western blotting and RT-qPCR-based assays were conducted accordingly. HE staining was used to observe pathological changes in tissues. DNA damage was detected by the comet assay and DNA ladder assay. Next, apoptosis was detected by flow cytometry and Hoechst staining. RESULTS: Compared with the radiation group, the expression levels of p-p65 and c-Cas3 in the drug group were significantly down-regulated by OB 20 µg/ml. When the expression of p65 was suppressed in V79 and TC cells, OB did not significantly inhibit the activation of p65 or Cas3 in response to irradiation, nor did it significantly inhibit the phosphorylation of p65 and subsequent nuclear translocation. Overexpression of p65 in V79 and MTEC-1 cells resulted in OB significantly inhibiting the activation of p65 and Cas3, and the phosphorylation and translocation of p65 into the nucleus. At 3 d for V79 cells and 24 h for MTEC-1 cells after radiation, compared with the Cas3 over plasmid transfection group, the drug transfection group had no significant effect on reducing apoptosis. In p65+/- mice, expression of the p65 gene was knocked down, leading to increased tissue apoptosis and inflammation, and serious tissue pathological changes. The inhibition of p65 activation by OB after radiation exposure was not apparent in the thymus, although it was observed in the lung. CONCLUSIONS: OB interfered with radiation injury by targeting and regulating p65/Cas3. Therefore, it has been concluded that p65 is an important target molecule for the treatment of radiation injury.

Organophosphate esters in the mariculture ecosystem: Environmental occurrence and risk assessments.

Most investigations on organophosphate esters (OPEs) are conducted predominantly in a separate biological or abiotic medium, and few joint analyses have been performed in the mariculture ecosystem based on yearly sampling. Herein, we investigated the occurrence, load estimation, phase distribution, source diagnostics, and risks of 20 OPEs in seawater, sediment, and aquaculture organisms from a typical mariculture area in China. The total of these OPEs (∑OPEs) ranged within 3.97-1068 ng/L, 0.39-65.5 ng/g (dw), and 4.09-16.3 ng/g (ww) in seawater, sediment and organisms, respectively. Chlorinated OPEs were the predominant congeners detected in seawater, whereas alkyl-OPEs were the leading contributors in sediment and biological samples. Seasonal variations of ∑OPEs in seawater were more distinct than those in sedimentary environments. Load estimation indicated that approximately 70% of the OPEs in the study area existed in the water bodies. Source identification performed using the U.S. EPA positive matrix factorization indicated that polyurethane foam/plastics and hydraulic oil made the greatest contributions in seawater, whereas chemical production was the predominant source in sediment. Indices of ecological and health risks of OPEs were lower than their risk threshold, indicating that the OPEs detected in this study posed a low risk to the aquatic environment and human health.

Impact of body mass index on primary immunoglobulin A nephropathy prognosis: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

PURPOSE: The impacts of body mass index (BMI) on the prognosis of primary IgA nephropathy (IgAN) remain controversial. This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to solve these issues. METHODS: We searched the PubMed, EMBASE, and Cochrane Library to screen articles investigating the BMI and primary IgAN. BMI was classified according to the World Health Organization as high (≥ 25.0 kg/m2) and low (< 25.0 kg/m2). The baseline renal indexes and the incidences of adverse renal outcomes were focused on. RESULTS: Six studies with a total of 1723 patients were included in this study. High BMI was demonstrated to be associated with increased baseline levels of serum creatinine (weighted mean difference (WMD) 9.54, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.63-18.45), blood uric acid (WMD 19.85, 95% CI 10.11-29.59) and urine protein (WMD 0.37, 95% CI 0.21-0.53). Patients with high BMI also showed compromised eGFR at diagnosis (WMD - 8.39, 95% CI - 11.62 to - 5.16) with a higher incidence rate of hypertension (odds ratios (OR) 2.59, 95% CI 1.44-4.66) and higher global optical scores (WMD 1.22, 95% CI 0.70-1.74). Regarding the prognosis, high BMI was significantly associated with the incidence of adverse renal outcomes (OR 2.43, 95% CI 1.66-3.55, P < 0.001) and deteriorated eGFR at the last follow-up (WMD - 11.10, 95% CI - 16.96 to - 5.25, P < 0.001), with non-significantly poorer renal disease-free survival (hazard ratio 1.79, 95% CI 0.58-5.50, P = 0.31). CONCLUSION: High BMI was associated with severe onset and poor prognosis of primary IgAN. The management of BMI could be a novel method to promote the therapeutic outcomes of primary IgAN.

Occurrence, removal and mass loads of antiviral drugs in seven wastewater treatment plants with various treatment processes.

Antiviral drugs are among the most common and important classes of pharmaceuticals to treat viral infections, however their continuous emission and persistence in the receiving environment has attracted increasing attention about their potential ecological risks. Here we investigated the occurrence, fate and mass load of 9 antiviral drugs for acquired immunodeficiency syndrome and hepatitis B, in 7 wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) with different treatment processes in Guangdong, China. Totally, 8 target antiviral drugs were detected in the WWTPs influent wastewater, effluent wastewater and sludge, with maximal concentrations up to 7624 ng/L (telbivudine), 568 ng/L (telbivudine), and 2013 ng/g wet weight (telbivudine), respectively. The removal efficiency varied widely between different antiviral drugs, with the mean aqueous removal efficiency and total removal efficiency ranging from -6.2% (nevirapine) to 100% (lamivudine) and -1.2% (nevirapine) to 100% (lamivudine), respectively. Mass balance analysis showed that their elimination was mostly attributed to the biodegradation/biotransformation. The total back-estimated usage and emission of 9 target antiviral drugs were 77.8 t/y and 13.2 t/y in Guangdong province, China, respectively. Based on the sewage epidemiology approach, the consumption and emission of antiviral drugs in seven studied WWTPs were ranged at 2.31 mg/d/1000 people (nevirapine) to 4970 mg/d/1000 people (telbivudine), and 0 (lamivudine) to 900 mg/d/1000 people (telbivudine), respectively. Preliminary risk assessment showed that the antiviral drugs of zidovudine, ritonavir, lopinavir, and telbivudine in the receiving rivers could pose high ecological risks for aquatic environment. The findings from the present study illustrate the persistence of nevirapine in WWTPs, and provide essential evidence for further study into the development of wastewater treatment technologies.

Development and validation of sensitive methods for simultaneous determination of 9 antiviral drugs in different various environmental matrices by UPLC-MS/MS.

Trace antiviral drug contamination in aquatic ecosystems is becoming a significant environmental concern that requires an urgent efficient determination method. Here we developed sensitive and robust multi-residue determination methods to simultaneously extract and analyze 9 commonly used antiviral drugs (abacavir, zidovudine, efavirenz, nevirapine, ritonavir, lopinavir, lamivudine, telbivudine and entecavir) in surface water, wastewater, sediment, and sludge. Water samples were extracted with solid-phase extraction (SPE) technique using tandem hydrophilic-lipophilic balance and graphitized carbon black cartridges, while sediment and sludge samples were extracted using QuEChERS (quick, easy, cheap, effective, rugged, and safe) method. The extraction conditions of SPE (pH and cartridge type) and QuEChERS (acetic acid content, salts reagent, and purification sorbent) methods were carefully optimized. We observed that under optimum conditions, the method quantification limits of the 9 antiviral drugs in water and solid samples ranged from 0.05 to 19.23 ng L-1 and from 0.02 to 7.38 ng g-1, respectively. For environmental samples spiking 3 different concentrations, the recovery values for the most targeted antiviral drugs ranged from 70 to 130%, except for efavirenz. All targeted antiviral drugs were detected in wastewater samples except for entecavir. We also found abacavir, efavirenz, ritonavir, lopinavir, and telbivudine in sediment and sludge samples. Notably, telbivudine was identified in all environmental matrices, with a high concentration of 127 ng L-1 and 222 ng g-1 in water and sediment samples, respectively.

Understanding risk perception from floods: a case study from China.

Understanding and improving the public risk perception have become an important element in the management of flood risk. In China, the risk government is of so-called nationwide catastrophe response mode which is different from the widely adopted "bottom up" risk governance mode in the Western countries. Such a particular mode may make Chinese people perceive risk in a different way from people in other countries. Hence, a further discussion of risk perception is of great value in China. This paper presents a case study on the public perception of flood hazard and flood risk in a city prone to floods. The relationship between risk perception and exposure was examined by spatial analysis. Meanwhile, inferential testing with chi-squared tests was undertaken regarding experience, social trust, and protective behaviors. Our results suggest that (1) the relationship between exposure and risk perception of people in Nanjing is positive and statistically significant, (2) flood experience was strongly related to risk perception, (3) trust showed a significant relationship to risk perception, and (4) people who have perceived the probability of floods and associated loss of life have a higher willingness to take more protective measures. These findings will help local government to develop effective flood risk communication strategies for improving public awareness creation, emergency response and preparedness.

Knockout of Diguanylate Cyclase Genes in Lysobacter enzymogenes to Improve Production of Antifungal Factor and Increase Its Application in Seed Coating.

Heat-stable antifungal factor (HSAF) is a broad-spectrum antifungal antibiotic produced by the biological control agent, Lysobacter enzymogenes. In our earlier works, we have applied HSAF to effectively control wheat and pear fungal disease. However, a major bottleneck in its practical application is the low HSAF production level; therefore, boosting its production is essential for its wide application. In the past, we find that c-di-GMP, a universal bacterial second messenger, is inhibitory to HSAF production. In this work, we further identified eight active diguanylate cyclases (DGCs) responsible for c-di-GMP synthesis in Lysobacter enzymogenes via both bioinformatics and genetic analyses. We generated a strain lacking seven active DGC genes and found that this DGC-modified strain, OH11LC, produced a higher HSAF amount in a c-di-GMP concentration-dependent manner. Subsequently, by employing OH11LC as the host fermentation strain, we could even produce a much higher HSAF amount (> 200-fold). After improving the HSAF production, we further developed a technique of seed coating method with HSAF, which turned out to be effective in fighting against the maize seed-borne filamentous pathogen, Pythium gramineacola. Overall, via combining strain modification and fermentation optimization, we demonstrated a good example of translating fundamental knowledge of bacterial c-di-GMP signaling into biological control application in which we relieved the inhibitory effect of c-di-GMP on HSAF biosynthesis by deleting a bunch of potentially active L. enzymogenes DGC genes to improve HSAF yield and to expand its usage in antifungal seed coating.

Programmed cell death-1 in patients with primary liver cancer and its effect on prognosis.

PURPOSE: To detect the expression of programmed cell death-1 (PD-1) in peripheral blood T lymphocytes of patients with primary liver cancer and its effect on their prognosis. METHODS: The medical records of 42 patients with primary liver cancer, 36 patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB) and 38 healthy volunteers composed the liver cancer group, benign lesion group and control group, respectively. Fluorescence quantitative RT-PCR (qRT-PCR) was used for detecting the expression level of PD-1 mRNA in peripheral blood T lymphocytes of subjects in the three groups, and flow cytometry was used for detecting the positive expression of PD-l protein on the surface of T lymphocytes of subjects. RESULTS: Patients in the control group and the benign lesion group had lower expression level of PD-1 mRNA than those in the liver cancer group (p<0.05). Patients in the control group had lower expression level of PD-1 mRNA than those in the benign lesion group (p<0.05). Patients in the control group and the benign lesion group had lower positive expression rate of PD-1 protein on the surface of T lymphocytes than those in the liver cancer group (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: The expression of PD-1 in the peripheral blood was higher in patients with primary liver cancer. Patients in the PD-1 low expression group had significantly better prognosis than those in the PD-1 high expression group. PD-1 may be related to the occurrence and development of primary liver cancer and is worthy of further study.

[Clinical effect of tacrolimus combined with glucocorticoid in the treatment of IgA nephropathy in children].

OBJECTIVE: To study the clinical effect and safety of tacrolimus (TAC) combined with glucocorticoid (GC) versus mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) combined with GC in the treatment of primary IgA nephropathy (IgAN) in children. METHODS: A retrospective analysis was performed for the clinical data of children with primary IgAN confirmed by renal pathology between January 2012 and December 2017. These children were divided into TAC group and MMF group according to the treatment regimen. Their clinical data before treatment and at 1, 3, and 6 months of treatment were collected, and the remission status of IgAN and adverse reactions were compared between the two groups. RESULTS: A total of 43 children who met the inclusion criteria were enrolled, with 15 children in the TAC group and 28 children in the MMF group. At 1 month of treatment, there was no significant difference in the remission status between the two groups (P>0.05). At 3 and 6 months of treatment, the TAC group had a significantly better remission status than the MMF group (P<0.05). At 1 month of treatment, the TAC group had higher serum albumin levels than the MMF group (P<0.05). Both groups had a significant increase in serum albumin levels at each time point after treatment (P<0.0083) and a significant increase in the glomerular filtration rate (GFR) at 3 and 6 months of treatment (P<0.0083). There was no significant difference in the overall incidence rate of adverse reactions between the two groups (P>0.05), but fungal infection was observed in one child from the TAC group. CONCLUSIONS: TAC combined with GC can effectively reduce urinary protein in children with primary IgAN, and it has a better short-term clinical effect than MMF combined with GC, with good safety.

[Treatment of Simulated Saline Wastewater from the Coal Chemical Industry Using Ecological Floating Beds Enhanced with Arbuscular Mycorrhiza].

For the problem that few technologies can be directly used to treat wastewater with middle and low salt, in this study, arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi were used to enhance the tolerance of wetland plants to salt stress. Ecological floating beds (EFBs) enhanced with AM fungi were constructed to explore a new technology as well as to treat wastewater with low and medium salt content, but also to overcome the low tolerance to salt stress and low salt removal by EFB plants. Results showed that canna plants (Canna indica L.) were well colonized by AM fungi (Glomus etunicatum) and the mycorrhizal colonization rate was not affected by salt stress. Inoculation with AM fungi enhanced the ability of the EFBs to treat saline wastewater. After treatment by EFB with AM for 21 d, removal rates of total dissolved solids (TDS), chemical oxygen demand (COD), total nitrogen (TN), and total phosphorus (TP) were 36.1%, 74.4%, 57.6%, and 59.1%, respectively, which were higher by 79.2%, 36.4%, 32.7%, and 37.6% over those with treatment by EFB without AM, respectively. Removal rates of Na, K, Ca, and Mg were 34.4%, 61.3%, 57.4%, and 51.9% after 21 d of treatment by EFB with AM, which were higher by 11.4%, 37.1%, 18.3%, and 24.6%, respectively, than removal rates with treatment by EFB without AM, respectively. Plant sample analysis showed that AM increased the Na uptake of plants and Na transportation from root to shoot, and this may be the reason that AM enhanced the ability of the EFBs to treat saline wastewater. This study indicated that AM fungi can be used to improve the ability of EFB to remedy water pollution and increase salt removal efficiency.

Using integrated problem- and lecture-based learning teaching modes for imaging diagnosis education.

BACKGROUND: There are two parts included in traditional imaging diagnosis teaching: theoretical lessons and experimental lessons. Most of the time, the experimental lesson is a review of the theoretical lesson. The teacher is the centre of the course and students are passive learners. Thus, in this study we included the patient problem of the imaging centre in our imaging diagnosis education. The traditional theoretical lessen was used to discuss prior knowledge, the discussion and analysis of patient problems was arranged under class, and the experimental lesson was used to synthesize and test the newly acquired information. The aim of this study is to determine whether or not integration of problem- and lecture-based learning teaching modes in imaging diagnosis education was associated with a good teaching effect. Forty-six of sixty students (76.7%) like integrated problem- and lecture-based learning teaching mode and 53 of 60 students (88.3%) think that integrated problem- and lecture-based learning teaching mode can make their ability of self-study be improved. METHODS: Sixty students participated in a prospective study with a two-phase cross-over design. All of the students were divided into 2 groups of 30 each. In the first term, the first group participated in an integration of the problem- and lecture-based learning teaching mode, whereas students in the second group underwent the lecture-based learning teaching mode alone. During the second term, the teaching modes were exchanged between the two groups. A close-exam and survey were used to evaluate the teaching effect, and the data were analysed means of analysis of variance with a two-phase cross-over design and a χ2 test with a 2-tailed α of 0.05. RESULTS: There was a statistically significant difference in the test scores between the integration of the problem- and lecture-based learning teaching mode and the lecture-based learning teaching mode alone (P < 0.05). The integration of problem- and lecture-based learning teaching mode was well-appraised. CONCLUSION: Integration of the problem- and lecture-based learning teaching modes in teaching imaging diagnosis education resulted in a good teaching effect.