Analysis of the characteristics of retracted scientific papers in the field of global liver diseases published by Chinese scholars / 中华肝脏病杂志

Objective: To analyze the characteristics of scientific papers in the field of global liver diseases published by Chinese scholars that were retracted for diverse reasons from the Retraction Watch database, so as to provide a reference to publishing-related papers. Methods: The Retraction Watch database was retrieved for retracted papers in the field of global liver disease published by Chinese scholars from March 1, 2008 to January 28, 2021. The regional distribution, source journals, reasons for retraction, publication and retraction times, and others were analyzed. Results: A total of 101 retracted papers that were distributed across 21 provinces/cities were retrieved. Zhejiang area (n = 17) had the most retracted papers, followed by Shanghai (n = 14), and Beijing (n = 11). The vast majority were research papers (n = 95). The journal PLoS One had the highest number of retracted papers. In terms of time distribution, 2019 (n = 36) had the most retracted papers. 23 papers, accounting for 8.3% of all retractions, were retracted owing to journal or publisher concerns. Liver cancer (34%), liver transplantation (16%), hepatitis (14%), and others were the main areas of retracted papers. Conclusion: Chinese scholars have a large number of retracted articles in the field of global liver diseases. A journal or publisher chooses to retract a manuscript after investigating and discovering more flawed problems, which, however, require further support, revision, and supervision from the editorial and academic circles.

Characteristics of metachronous gastric neoplasms after curative endoscopic submucosal dissection for early gastric neoplasms / 中华医学杂志(英文版)

BACKGROUND@#With the wide application of endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) for early gastric neoplasms, metachronous gastric neoplasms (MGN) have gradually become a concern. This study aimed to analyze the characteristics of MGN and evaluate the treatment and follow-up outcomes of MGN patients.@*METHODS@#A total of 814 patients were retrospectively enrolled. All these patients were treated by ESD for early gastric cancer or gastric dysplasia between November 2006 and September 2019 at The First Medical Center of Chinese People's Liberation Army General Hospital. The risk factors for MGN were analyzed using Cox hazard proportional model. Moreover, the cumulative incidence, the correlation of initial lesions and MGN lesions, and the treatment and follow-up outcomes of MGN patients were analyzed.@*RESULTS@#A total of 4.5% (37/814) of patients had MGN after curative ESD. The 3-, 5-, and 7-year cumulative incidences of MGN were 3.5%, 5.1%, and 6.9%, respectively, and ultimately reaching a plateau of 11.3% at 99 months after ESD. There was no significant correlation between initial lesions and MGN lesions in terms of gross type (P = 0.178), location (long axis: P = 0.470; short axis: P = 0.125), and histological type (P = 0.832). Cox multivariable analysis found that initial multiplicity was the only independent risk factor of MGN (hazard ratio: 4.3, 95% confidence interval: 2.0-9.4, P < 0.001). Seventy-three percent of patients with MGN were treated by endoscopic resection. During follow-up, two patients with MGN died of gastric cancer with lymph node metastasis. The disease-specific survival rate was significantly lower in patients with MGN than that in patients without MGN (94.6% vs. 99.6%, P = 0.006).@*CONCLUSIONS@#The MGN rate gradually increased with follow-up time within 99 months after curative gastric ESD. Thus, regular and long-term surveillance endoscopy may be helpful, especially for patients with initial multiple neoplasms.

Risk factors of pain during colonoscopic examination / 南方医科大学学报

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the risk factorsthat predict pain during colonoscopy for decision of sedation or analgesia before the examination.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>A total of 283 consecutive patients undergoing colonoscopicexamination at Nanfang Hospital between July, 2016 and September, 2016were retrospectively analyzed. The clinical data and visual analogue scale after the examination were analyzed to identify the risk factors for pain during colonoscopy using univariate analysis and multivariate logistic regression. A risk stratification model for predicting pain in colonoscopy was established.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The completion rate of the procedure was significantly lower in patients with a visual analogue scale ≥5 (P<0.000). Univariate analysis showed that female patients, previous abdominal surgery, no previous experience with colonoscopy, complaint of abdominal pain before colonoscopy, insufficient experience of the endoscopists, patient's anticipation of high painlevelbefore examination, and a low body mass index (BMI) were all associated with the experience of pain in colonoscopy (P<0.05). Multivariate logistic regressionanalysis identified BMI index (X), level of experience of the endoscopist (A, A, A) and the patient's anticipation of painlevel (X) as the risk factors of pain in colonoscopy(P<0.05), and the establishedmodel with the 3 variables was: P=e/(1+e),Y=0.049-0.124×X-0.97×X+1.713×A+0.781×A+0.147×A, which showed a sensitivity of 70.3% and a specificity of 67.5%for predicting pain in colonoscopy.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The patient's anticipation of a high pain level in colonoscopy, insufficient experience of the endoscopist, and a low BMI are the independent risk factors for pain in colonoscopy, and evaluation of these factors can help in the decision-making concerning the use of sedation or analgesia before colonoscopy.</p>

Correlation of Alzheimer-like tau hyperphosphorylation and fMRI bold intensity.

To explore the correlation between cerebral functional alterations revealed by functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and Alzheimer disease- (AD)-like tau hyperphosphorylation, we injected bilaterally 2 microl each of 20 mM isoproterenol (IP), a PKA activator, or of saline as a vehicle control into the hippocampus of rats. FMRI was employed to measure the intensity of BOLD signal, one of the cerebral functional markers reflecting the changes of cerebral metabolic rate of oxygen (CMRO2) and cerebral blood flow (CBF), in hippocampus and cortex 24 h after the operation. Immunohistochemical staining of hippocampus and cortex was carried out using phosphorylation-dependent tau antibodies. The results showed (1) that BOLD intensity in hippocampus and cortex of IP-injected rats was obviously lower than that of sham-operated group, indicating a decrease in CMRO2 and CBF of the particular brain regions in IP-treated rats; (2) that tau was hyperphosphorylated at Ser-262/Ser-356 (12e8), Ser-396/Ser-404 (PHF-1) sites in CA1 CA2 CA3 CA4 and dentate gyrus regions of hippocampal formation and cortex area in IP group, but not in sham rats; (3) that a negative correlation between tau hyperphosphorylation and BOLD intensity in hippocampus and cortex area of IP rats was observed. The data suggested that hippocampal and cortical tau hyperphosphorylation was intimately related to BOLD intensity of the same areas. To our knowledge, this is the first report exploring the relationship between fMRI BOLD signal and AD-like tau hyperphosphorylation.

Critical phenomenon of granular flow on a conveyor belt.

The relationship between the granular wafer movement on a two-dimensional conveyor belt and the size of the exit together with the velocity of the conveyor belt has been studied in the experiment. The result shows that there is a critical speed v(c) for the granular flow when the exit width d is fixed (where d=R/D, D being the diameter of a granular wafers). When vv(c), the flow rate Q is described as Q=Crho(v)(beta)(d-k)(3/2). These are the effects of the interaction among the granular wafers and the change of the states of the granular flow due to the changing of the speed or the exit width d.

Deactivation of medial prefrontal and posterior cingulate cortex in anxiety disorders / 中华放射学杂志

Objective We used blood oxygenation level dependent-functional MR imaging(BOLD- fMRI)to explore the characteristics of deactivation patterns in patients with anxiety disorders and the underlying neural mechanism of this disease.Methods Ten patients and ten healthy controls participated the experiments.All subjects performed the trait portion of the State-Trait anxiety Inventory(STAI-T)prior to the fMRI scans.The subjects underwent noninvasive functional magnetic resonance imaging while listening actively to emotionally neutral words alternating with no words(experiment 1)and threat related-words alternating with emotionally neutral words(experiment2).During fMRI scanning,subjects were instructed to closely listen to each stimuli word and to silently make a judgment of the word's valence.Data were analyzed with statistical parametric mapping(SPM 99).Individual and group analysis were conducted.Results Mean STAI-T score was significantly higher for patients group than that of controls(58?8 for patients group and 33?5 for controls,t=8.3,P