[Mid-term analysis of prospective cohort study of rivaroxaban in preventing CRT in breast cancer].

Objective: To explore the efficacy and safety of Rivaroxaban in preventing catheter related thrombosis (CRT) in patients with breast cancer who are undergoing central venous catheter chemotherapy, and provide basis for making standardized prevention and treatment strategies. Methods: In this research, a prospective cohort study was adopted, and breast cancer patients who received central venous catheter chemotherapy in Sanhuan Cancer Hospital during September 2020 to March 2022 were selected as a treatment group to take the rivaroxaban anticoagulation therapy with 10 mg.po.qd for one month. The control group got no preventive anticoagulation therapy. Vascular ultrasound examination was taken to confirm the occurrence of CRT, and a chi-square test was done for comparison the disparity between the groups. Logistic regression was applied to analyze the univariate and multivariate factors for the formation of CRT. Results: In the research, a total of 235 patients were selected, and there were a total of 19 035 days of catheterization with 81 days of catheterization on average. While in the control group, the incidence of CRT was 28.0% (33/118), the incidence of CRT in the treatment group was 20.5% (24/117), the difference was no significant (P=0.183). Subgroup analysis results showed that the peripherally inserted central catheter (PICC) was performed in 165 cases with the CRT incidence of 18.2% (30/165) and thrombosis was mostly seen around axillary vein, accounting for 63.3%. Subclavian vein catheterization was performed in 63 cases with the CRT incidence of 39.7% (25/63), and thrombosis was mostly seen around subclavian vein, accounting for 88.0% (22/25). Implantable venous access port was implanted in 7 cases around subclavian vein and internal jugular vein with the CRT incidence of 28.6% (2/7). The patients who developed CRT within 30 days after catheterization accounted for 54.4% (31/57), 22.8% (13/57) in a period during 30 days and 60 days) and 22.8% (13/57) in a period during 60 days and 180 days). The diagnosed CRT patients had been treated with rivaroxaban 15 mg.bid.po for 3 months. During the 3 months, 100.0% of the thrombosis waned, 71.9% (41/57) of the thrombosis waned within 30 days, 19.3% (11/57) in a period during 30 and 60days and 8.8% (5/57) in a period during 60 days and 90 days. Univariate and multivariate analysis indicated that the risk of CRT in subclavian vein catheterization was higher than that in PICC, respectively (OR=2.898, 95% CI:1.386-6.056 P=0.005), and the type of catheterization was an independent factor for the formation of thrombosis. Safety analysis result showed that in the prevention of CRT, rivaroxaban treatment did not induce drug-related bleeding, liver function damage, bone marrow suppression or any other side effects. While CRT diagnosed patients were treated with anticoagulation, they kept the central venous catheter, and the infusion was smooth. These patients all finished the anti-tumor treatment as planned, and no abnormalities like new thrombosis or pulmonary embolism were observed. Conclusions: In the mid-term analysis, the proportion of Rivaroxaban in preventing anticoagulant CRT decreases, but it don't reach statistical significance. The sample size should be further increased for observation. Rivaroxaban is proved effective and very safe in the treatment of CRT, and does not affect the concurrent chemotherapy. Medical personnel should carry out the policy of "early prevention, early detection and early treatment" for CRT so as to improve the patients' quality of life.

[Clinicopathological characteristics of Klinefelter syndrome: a testicular biopsy analysis of 87 cases].

Objective: To investigate the clinicopathological characteristics of testicular biopsies from Klinefelter syndrome (KS) patients. Methods: The testicular biopsy specimens of 87 patients with KS (a total of 107 biopsy specimens) were collected from the Department of Pathology, Peking University Third Hospital, Beijing, China from January 2017 to July 2022. All patients were diagnosed as KS by peripheral blood karyotyping analysis. The testicular histopathologic features, testicular volume and hormone levels were evaluated retrospectively. The histopathologic analysis was used to assess the quantity and morphology of Leydig cells, the spermatogenic state of seminiferous tubules, the thickening of the basement membrane of seminiferous tubules and the changes of stroma. Results: Leydig cell proliferative nodules were seen in 95.3% (102/107) of KS testicular biopsy tissues. The eosinophilic inclusion bodies and lipofuscin in Leydig cells were found in 52.3% (56/107) and 57.9% (62/107) of specimens, respectively. The Sertoli cell only seminiferous tubules and the hyalinized tubules were found in 66.4% (71/107) and 76.6% (82/107) of the examined tissues, respectively. The tubules with complete spermatogenic arrest were found in 15.9% (17/107) of specimens, and 5.6% (6/107) of the specimens showed low spermatogenesis or incomplete spermatogenic arrest. In 85.0% (91/107) of the specimens, increased thick-walled small vessels with hyaline degeneration were identified. Conclusions: The most common features of KS testicular specimens are Leydig cell proliferative nodules, hyaline degeneration of seminiferous tubules and proliferation of thick-walled blood vessels. Testicular biopsy specimens of KS are rare. The pathologists can make a tentative diagnosis of KS based on the histological findings, combined with the ultrasound and laboratory results, which is helpful for further diagnosis and treatment of KS.

[Analysis of clinical outcome of synchronous micro-dissection testicular sperm extraction and intracytoplasmic sperm injection in male infertility with Y chromosome azoospermia factor c region deletion].

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the clinical treatment results of male infertility caused by Y chromosome azoospermia factor c region(AZFc) deletion after synchronous micro-dissection testicular sperm extraction (micro-TESE) and intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) and to guide the treatment of infer- tile patients caused by AZFc deletion. METHODS: The clinical data of infertile patients with AZFc deletion who underwent synchronous micro-TESE in Peking University Third Hospitalfrom January 2015 to December 2019 were retrospectively analyzed. The clinical outcomes of ICSI in the patients who successfully obtained sperm were followed up and we compared the outcomes between the first and second synchronous procedures, including fertilization rate, high-quality embryo rate, clinical pregnancy rate, abortion rate and live birth rate. RESULTS: A total of 195 male infertile patients with AZFc deletion underwent micro-TESE. Fourteen patients were cryptozoospermia and their sperms were successfully obtained in all of them during the operation, and the sperm retrieval rate (SRR) was 100%(14/14). The remaining 181 cases were non obstructive azoospermia, and 122 cases were successfully found the sperm, the SRR was 67.4%(122/181). The remaining 59 patients with NOA could not found mature sperm during micro-TESE, accounting for 32.6% (59/181). We followed up the clinical treatment outcomes of the patients with successful sperm retrieved by synchronous micro-TESE and 99 patients were enrolled in the study. A total of 118 micro-TESE procedures and 120 ICSI cycles were carried out. Finally 38 couples successfully gave birth to 22 male and 22 female healthy infants, with a cumulative live birth rate of 38.4% (38/99). In the fresh-sperm ICSI cycle of the first and second synchronous operation procedures, the high-quality embryo rate, clinical pregnancy rate of the fresh embryo transfer cycle and live birth rate of the oocyte retrieve cycle were 47.7% vs. 50.4%, 40.5% vs. 50.0%, and 28.3% vs. 41.2%, respectively. The second operation group was slightly higher than that of the first synchronous operation group, but there was no significant difference between the groups. CONCLUSION: Male infertility patients caused by AZFc deletion have a high probability of successfully obtaining sperm in testis through micro-TESE for ICSI and give birth to their own offspring with their own biological characteristics. For patients who failed in the first synchronous procedure, they still have the opportunity to successfully conceive offspring through reoperation and ICSI.

[Expression of melanoma-associated antigen-C2 in breast cancers and mechanism].

Objective: To analyze the expression pattern, mechanism and clinical significance of melanoma-associated antigen-C2 (MAGE-C2) in tumor-free breast specimens, breast benign disease specimens and breast cancer specimens. Methods: Reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and immunohistochemistry were used to investigate the expressions of MAGE-C2 in 60 tumor-free breast specimens, 60 breast benign disease specimens and 60 breast cancer specimens. The correlation of MAGE-C2 expression with clinicopathological parameters and prognosis of breast cancer patients were analyzed. The expression of MAGE-C2 was also detected by RT-PCR in breast cancer cell MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 treated with DNA methylase inhibitor 5-aza-2'-deoxycytidine (5-aza-CdR) and histone deacetylase inhibitor trichostatin A (TSA). Results: The positive expression rates of MAGE-C2 mRNA and protein were 61.7% (37/60) and 58.3% (35/60) in breast cancer specimens, respectively, while negative expressed in breast and begin disease specimens. MAGE-C2 protein expression was associated with tumor grade, histological type and blood vessel invasion of breast cancer patients (P<0.05). The incidence of recurrence-free survival of patients with positive MAGE-C2 expression were lower than that of patients with negative MAGE-C2 expression (P<0.05). Multivariate Cox regression analysis showed that the clinical stage (P<0.01), lymph node metastasis (P<0.05) and MAGE-C2 expression (P<0.05) were the independent prognostic factors of breast cancer patients. The MAGE-C2 mRNA was not observed in the control and TSA treated breast cancer cells while upregulated in the 5-aza-CdR treated cells. Besides, 5-aza-CdR combined with TSA further enhanced MAGE-C2 mRNA level in breast cancer cells (P<0.05). Conclusions: MAGE-C2 is one of the tumor-specific antigen and its expression is related with the poor prognosis of breast cancer patients. DNA methylation and histone acetylation may be an important regulation mechanism of MAGE-C2 gene expression.

[Quantitative analysis of myelofibrosis and its prognostic significance in patients with myelodysplastic syndrome].

Objective: To quantitatively analyze the reticulin fiber intensity density (RFD) in patients with myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) by using the computer-aided grid point method, and preliminarily explore its correlation with the prognosis of MDS patients. Methods: Bone marrow (BM) slices from 32 primary MDS patients treated in Tongren Hospital Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine from February 2017 to December 2019 were observed. Images were taken by the optical microscope imaging system after the Gomori staining. The computer grid marking software was developed according to the principle of the mesh micrometer to assess RFD, meanwhile, the artificial semi-quantitative were used to assess the fibrosis of bone marrow. The co-relation between the above two methods was evaluated, and the relationship between RFD and prognosis of MDS patients were further investigated with Cox regression analysis. Results: Of the patients, there were 17 males and 15 females with a median age of 69 years (32-91 years). The RFD quantitatively analyzed by the computer-based method was positively correlated with the myelofibrosis grade by the artificial semi-quantitative analysis (r=0.497, P=0.004). The RFD in patients diagnosed with MDS complicated with excess blasts (MDS-EB) was significantly higher than that in the non-MDS-EB group((9.55%±0.75%) vs (1.71%±0.23%), P<0.001). Cox regression model analysis showed that the RFD of MDS patients had better prognostic value when compared with the artificial semi-quantitative analysis, which was also a poor prognostic factor (RR=1.337, 95%CI: 1.085-1.648, P=0.006). The overall survival (OS) of patients with RFD>5.54% was significantly shorter than that with RFD≤5.54% (P=0.001). The OS of MDS-EB patients with RFD>9.81% was significantly shorter than that in patients with RFD≤9.81% (P=0.003). Conclusion: Abnormal proliferative fibrosis of bone marrow is a potential high-risk factor for poor prognosis of MDS patients.

Collision between soliton and polarization domain walls in fiber lasers.

We report on the experimental observation of coexistence of solitons and polarization domains, as well as features of soliton collision with polarization domain walls (or kink solitons) in a single mode fiber laser. Depending on the sign of cavity dispersion, either bright or dark solitons have been formed in our fiber laser. Under suitable laser operation conditions, they could even coexist with polarization domains and collide with the domain walls. We show experimental evidence of both the elastic and inelastic soliton collisions with the domain wall solitons. Some interesting features of soliton interaction with polarization domains in a fiber laser are also firstly revealed.

Dark-bright soliton trapping in a fiber laser.

We report, to the best of our knowledge, the first experimental observation of coexistence of scalar dark and bright solitons in a fiber laser operating in the near zero-dispersion regime. We show that because of the incoherent cross coupling, under suitable conditions a bright soliton formed in the net anomalous cavity dispersion regime could bind with a dark soliton formed in the net normal cavity dispersion regime in a fiber laser. The properties of the dark and bright solitons, as well as their bound states, are experimentally investigated. The numerical simulations based on the coupled Ginzburg-Landau equations have reproduced the experimental results well.

Circular RNA circ-NT5C2 acts as a potential novel biomarker for prognosis of osteosarcoma.

We detected some serious inaccuracies and mistakes. Therefore, the article, "Circular RNA circ-NT5C2 acts as a potential novel biomarker for prognosis of osteosarcoma, by W.-B. Nie, L.-M. Zhao, R. Guo, M.-X. Wang, F.-G. Ye, published in Eur Rev Med Pharmacol Sci 2018; 22 (19): 6239-6244-DOI: 10.26355/eurrev_201810_16030-PMID: 30338784" has been withdrawn. The Publisher apologizes for any inconvenience this may cause. https://www.europeanreview.org/article/16030.

Coherently coupled vector black solitons in a quasi-isotropic cavity fiber laser.

We report the first experimental observation of coherently coupled black-black solitons in a quasi-isotropic cavity fiber laser with normal cavity dispersion. The properties of the vector solitons accord well with the theoretical predictions based on the coherently coupled nonlinear Schrödinger equations. Numerical studies and experimental results clearly confirmed the existence of the highly robust vector black solitons in the fiber laser system.

[Transurethral seminal vesiculoscopy in treatment of oligoasthenozoospermia secondary incomplete ejaculatory duct obstruction: A report of 8 cases].

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the utility of transurethral seminal vesiculoscopy with a slender ureteroscope in the treatment of severe oligoasthenozoospermia secondary incomplete ejaculatory duct obstruction (EDO). METHODS: From March 2018 to September 2018, the clinical data of 8 patients with severe oligoasthenozoospermia secondary incomplete EDO treated by the technique of transurethral seminal vesiculoscopy in the Peking University Third Hospital Reproductive Center were analyzed. Preoperative routine included semen analysis, hormone determination, transrectal ultrasonography, pelvic magne-tic resonance examination and other examinations. All the patients were diagnosed with severe oligoasthenozoospermia secondary to incomplete EDO. All the patients were operated by the same surgeon with multiple cases of experience in transurethral surgery, and 1 year follow-up was conducted to evaluate the surgical effect. RESULTS: The average age of the 8 patients was 29 years, and the average operation time was 32 min. Preoperative transrectal ultrasound indicated 6 cases of ejaculatory duct cyst or Mullerian cyst, 1 case of prostate calcification and bilateral seminal vesicle dilatation. The average maximum transverse diameter of the right seminal vesicle in pelvic MRI was 33.60 mm (24.63-42.28 mm), the average maximum transverse diameter of the left seminal vesicle was 32.85 mm (25.91-44.89 mm), the ave-rage maximum antero-posterior diameter was 27.99 mm (21.36-33.12 mm), the average maximum width of the seminal vesicle duct was 10.53 mm (5.93-19.39 mm). There were 5 cases of ejaculatory duct cyst, 2 cases of seminal vesicle hemorrhage, and 1 case of Mullerian cyst. The semen volume [(2.64±0.80) mL], the sperm concentration [(49.76±8.50)×106/mL], and the motility (grade a+b) [(25.76±6.48)%] in postoperation were significantly higher than those in preoperation [(1.46±0.50) mL, (28.78±5.17)×106/mL, and (2.88±0.93)%, P < 0.05]. Two patients conceived naturally during the follow-up of 6 months after surgery. There were no severe complications, such as retrograde ejaculation, urinary incontinence or rectal injury. CONCLUSION: The technique of transurethral seminal vesiculoscopy is safe and effective for treating severe oligoasthenozoospermia secondary to incomplete EDO. However, due to the small sample size of this study, short follow-up time, and the uncertainty in seminal vesicle surgery, it still needs to be further confirmed by long-term follow-up studies with large samples.

Diagnostic development for parallel wave-number measurement of lower hybrid waves in EAST.

An eight-channel magnetic probe diagnostic system has been designed and installed adjacent to the 4.6 GHz lower hybrid (LH) grill antenna in the low-field side of the Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST) in order to study the n∥ evolution of LH waves in the first pass from the launcher to the core plasma. The magnetic probes are separated by 6.6 mm, which allows measurement of the dominant parallel refractive index n∥ up to n∥ = 5 for 4.6 GHz LH waves. The magnetic probes are designed to be sensitive to the magnetic field component perpendicular to the background magnetic field with a slit on the casing that encloses the probe. The intermediate frequency stage, which consists of two mixing stages, down-coverts the frequency of the measured wave signals at 4.6 GHz to 20 MHz. A bench test demonstrates the phase stability of the magnetic probe diagnostic system. By evaluating the phase variation of the measured signals along the background magnetic field, the dominant n∥ of the LH wave in the scrape-off layer has been deduced during the 2019 experimental campaign. In the low density plasma, the measured dominant n∥ of the LH waves is about 2.1, corresponding to the main peak 2.04 of the launched n∥ spectrum. n∥ deduced by the least-squares linear fit method remains near this value in the low density plasma with a high spatial correlation magnitude of 0.9. With an eight-channel probe system, a wave-number spectrum has also been deduced, which has a peak near to the measured dominant n∥.

Effect of lncRNA AK125437 on postmenopausal osteoporosis rats via MAPK pathway.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to explore the effect of long non-coding ribonucleic acid (lncRNA) AK125437 on rats with postmenopausal osteoporosis via the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 36 Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into three groups, including normal group, model group, and an inhibitor group, with 12 rats in each group. Only ovaries were exposed in normal group. The postmenopausal osteoporosis model was established in model group. Meanwhile, the intervention was performed with inhibitor for 3 months after modeling in inhibitor group, followed by sampling. The expression of receptor activator of nuclear factor kappa-B ligand (RANKL) was detected via immunohistochemistry. The protein expression level of phosphorylated p38 (p-p38) MAPK was determined via Western blotting (WB). Furthermore, the expression level of lncRNA AK125437 and the content of serum estradiol were determined via quantitative Polymerase Chain Reaction (qPCR) and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), respectively. In addition, bone mineral density was measured using dual-energy X-ray bone mineral absorptiometer. RESULTS: Immunohistochemistry results indicated that model group and inhibitor group had notably up-regulated positive expression level of RANKL than normal group (p<0.05), which was remarkably lower in inhibitor group than model group (p<0.05). Western blot results showed that compared with normal group, the protein expression level of p-p38 MAPK was substantially elevated in model and inhibitor groups (p<0.05). Meanwhile, the protein expression level of p-p38 MAPK was markedly lower in inhibitor group than that in model group (p<0.05). According to qPCR results, the expression level of lncRNA AK125437 was significantly up-regulated in both model group and inhibitor group compared with normal group, showing statistically significant differences (p<0.05). However, no significant differences were observed between model group and inhibitor group (p>0.05). ELISA results revealed that model group and inhibitor group had markedly lower estradiol content than normal group (p<0.05). There was no statistically significant difference in the content of estradiol between the two groups (p>0.05). According to the measurement results of bone mineral density, compared with normal group, bone mineral density was notably lower in model group and inhibitor group (p<0.05). Furthermore, it was markedly higher in inhibitor group than that of model group (p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: LncRNA AK125437 affects the bone mineral density of rats with postmenopausal osteoporosis by activating the MAPK pathway.

[Acoustic response characteristics of posterior intralaminar nucleus of auditory thalamus in mice].

Objective: To study the response characteristics of the posterior intralaminar nucleus (PIN) of auditory thalamus in VGluT2-Cre transgenic adult mice when exposed to white noise and 10K pure tone stimulation. Methods: All adult male Vglut2-Cre mice (8-12 weeks) were used in this study between Oct, 2017 and Oct, 2018. Using the calcium signal fiber photometry method, optic fiber was employed to locate on PIN by injecting AAV-hSyn-DIO-GCaMP6m virus, and thereafter, the activity of the target cluster neurons during different acoustic stimuli was recorded. Matlab was used for data processing and statistical analysis. Results: (1)In both white noise and 10 kHz pure tone as a continuous three-second stimulation, the peak amplitude of calcium signal activity generated in PIN by white noise was superior to that of pure tone, the statistic result showed significantly difference (n=6, t=2.404, P=0.037 1) . (2)In addition, when white noise and 10K pure tone played as consecutive 3 or 5 pips within three-second stimulation, the stimulus-following ability in a consecutive 3 pulses play within 3 seconds was far better than a consecutive 5 pips play within 3 seconds (in both white noise and 10 kHz pure tone), yet consecutive 3 pips play showed greater signal attenuation speed than that in consecutive 5 pips play, the statistic result showed significantly difference (n=6, t=2.748 P=0.033 4) .(3)Regardless of the intra-group comparisons between white noise and 10 kHz pure tone stimulation, PIN showed better signal response in a consecutive 3 pips play than consecutive 5 pips play or a continuous three-second stimulation. When came to the statistical analysis, the acoustic response degree of a continuous three-second stimulation was an intermediate between two others, both consecutive 3 or 5 pips play showed significantly difference. Conclusions: The results suggest that under the same acoustic intensity, VGluT2-Cre transgenic adult mice's PIN shows greater signal response in white noise than pure tone. PIN shows greater signal attenuation to repetition play of 10 kHz pure tone, which implies PIN shows stronger adaptation to 10 kHz pure tone than to white noise. Lastly, PIN is more responsive to a complex sound information (white noise) than to simple sound information (pure tone).

[Analysis of intratesticular condition in micro-dissection testicular sperm extraction era].

OBJECTIVE: To summarizes the intratesticular condition of azoospermia patients, to understand azoospermia more intuitively, and improve the ability of clinical doctors to predict the success rate of microsperm extraction in azoospermia patients. METHODS: Azoospermia patients (excluding Klinefelter's syndrome) who underwent a micro-TESE during January 2014 and January 2018 in a single center were enrolled. The types of seminiferous tubules were summarized, and the clinical characteristics of different types of seminiferous tubules compared with the success rates of sperm extraction. In this study, 472 cases of non-obstructive azoospermia (excluding Klinefelter's syndrome) were analyzed by SPSS 21.0 software package. Relevant data were expressed by median(minimum,maximum).t-test was used to compare the difference of success rate of sperm extraction between each group and the group with the lowest rate (a type). RESULTS: The 472 patients with non-obstructive azoospermia underwent micro-TESE. The mean age of the patients was 31 (23, 46) years, the mean testicular size was 10 (1, 20) mL, the mean FSH was 15.4 (1.21, 68.4) IU/L, the mean T was 8.34 (0.69, 30.2) nmol/L, and totally 202 patients achieved success in micro-TESE (42.7%, 202/472). According to the seminiferous tubules seen during the operation, they were divided into the following six types: Class a, seminiferous tubules developed well and uniformly; Class b, seminiferous tubules developed well, occasionally slightly thick; Class c, seminiferous tubules were generally thin; Class d, seminiferous tubules basically atrophied, occasionally well-developed seminiferous tubules; Class e, all seminiferous tubules atrophied; Class f, seminiferous tubules were infiltrated by yellow substances. The success rate of micro-TESE varied greatly among different types of the patients. A total of 78 patients with type a were 29 (24, 40) years old, FSH 11.1 (1.21, 15.8) IU/L, T 10.2 (3.29, 26.5) nmol/L), and testicular size 12 (12, 20) mL. The successful rate of sperm extraction was 6.41%; 82 patients with type b were 31 (23, 42) years old, FSH 13.8 (3.23, 19.6) IU/L, T 9.44 (3.58, 30.2) nmol/L), and testicular size 12(8,15) mL. The successful rate of sperm extraction was 74.39%; There were 162 patients in group c, aged 31 (25, 40), FSH 19.6 (9.28, 26.6) IU/L, T 8.75 (5.66, 18.6) nmol/L, and testicular size 8 (5, 12) mL. The successful rate of sperm extraction was 45.06%. There were 36 patients in group d, aged 25 (23,38) years and FSH 28.5 (19.3, 45.6) IU/L, T 6.52 (2.12, 9.83) nmol/L, and testicular size 5 (3, 8) mL, and the success rate of sperm extraction was 94.44%. 26 patients with type e were 28(23, 46) years old, FSH 31.3 (18.5, 68.4) IU/L, T 6.72 (0.69, 18.2) nmol/L, and testicular size 5 (1, 8) mL. The success rate of sperm extraction was 45.38%. 88 patients with type f were 29 (24, 38) years old, FSH 18.5 (5.23, 31.6) IU / L, T 8.32 (3.58, 16.5) nmol/L, and testicular size 12 (6, 20) mL. The success rate of sperm extraction was 28.41%. CONCLUSION: The success rate of micro-TESE in different types of seminiferous tubules in testis can be helpful to the judgement of the surgeon during the operation.

Observation of dark-bright vector solitons in fiber lasers.

We report the experimental observation of coherently coupled dark-bright vector solitons in single mode fiber lasers with either normal or anomalous cavity dispersion. The properties of these vector solitons were found to agree well with theoretical predictions based on the coherently coupled nonlinear Schrödinger equations. The experimental results clearly confirmed the existence of a fundamentally new form of optical solitons in coupled nonlinear systems.

Circular RNA circ-NT5C2 acts as a potential novel biomarker for prognosis of osteosarcoma.

OBJECTIVE: Recent evidence suggests that circular RNAs (circRNAs) play important roles in multiple diseases, including cancer. Circ-NT5C2 was reported to be up-regulated in osteosarcoma. However, the clinical significance of circ-NT5C2 remains largely unclear. The aim of the current study was to investigate the value of circ-NT5C2 for the prognosis of patients with osteosarcoma. PATIENTS AND METHODS: the expression of circ-NT5C2 in osteosarcoma tissues and corresponding normal tissues were explored by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) experiments. The association of circ-NT5C2 expression with clinicopathological factors or the prognosis of osteosarcoma patients was also analyzed. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis was performed to analyze the association of circ-NT5C2 expression with overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) of patients. Univariate and multivariate Cox-regression analyses were used to identify risk factors for poor prognosis. RESULTS: Our data showed a significant increase of circ-NT5C2 expression in osteosarcoma tissues compared with adjacent normal bone tissues (p < 0.01). In addition, we found that the level of circ-NT5C2 in osteosarcoma was strongly correlated with clinical stage (p = 0.006) and distant metastasis (p = 0.001). Importantly, patients with high expression of circ-NT5C2 had a shorter OS (p = 0.006) and DFS (p = 0.001) than those with low expression of circ-NT5C2. Finally, Cox regression analyses showed that high circ-NT5C2 expression might be an independent prognostic parameter to predict poor prognosis. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings indicated that circ-NT5C2 is significantly up-regulated in osteosarcoma tissues. Circ-NT5C2 may represent a new marker of prognosis in osteosarcoma.

[Effect of testicular puncture biopsy on the success rate of microdissection testicular sperm extraction for idiopathic non-obstructive azoospermia].

OBJECTIVE: To explore the predictive effect of testicular puncture biopsy and the biopsy results on the success rate of microdissection testicular sperm extraction (micro-TESE) in patients with idiopathic non-obstructive azoospermia. METHODS: We retrospectively evaluated the micro-TESE performance in patients with idiopathic non-obstructive azoospermia (NOA) referred to the Reproductive Medicine Center of Peking University Third Hospital between January 2012 and August 2017. We discussed whether to take the testicular biopsy and testicular biopsy results, including the intraoperative microscopic examination and postoperative pathology findings, could predict the success rate of the late micro-TESE. RESULTS: There were 237 patients who were diagnosed as idiopathic NOA and received micro-TESE involved in the study and the total sperm retrieve rate was 25.7%. In 103 patients without testicular biopsy and 134 patients with preoperative testicular biopsy, the sperm retrieve rate was 26.2% and 25.4%, respectively. And there was no significant difference between the two groups. The testicular volume and serum follicle stimulating hormone levels of the two groups were (4.3±1.4) mL vs.(8.5±2.4) mL and (36.1±5.2) IU/L vs.(26.1±3.5) IU/L, respectively. Compared to the patients with preoperative testicular biopsy, the group of patients without testicular biopsy had a much smaller test volume and higher serum follicle stimulating hormone and the difference between the two groups was statistically significant. For the patients who were found with a small amount of sperm in both intraoperative microscopic examination and postoperative pathological examination, the sperm retrieve rate was 100% (7/7). And for the patients who were only found with sperm in intraoperative microscopic examination or postoperative pathology examination, the sperm retrieve rate (SRR) was 47.2% (17/36). For the patients who could be not found with sperm in both intraoperative microscopic examination and postoperative pathological examination, the SRR was only 11% (10/91). The difference between the groups was statistically significant. CONCLUSION: Idiopathic non-obstructive azoospermia patients with smaller testicular volume still have a chance to be found with sperm by micro-TESE. The testicular biopsy results, including intraoperative microscopic examination and postoperative pathological findings, have predictive effect on the SRR for late micro-TESE. The patient who could not be found with sperm in both intraoperative microscopic examination and postoperative pathological examination have a small chance of success in micro-TESE.

Manipulation of group-velocity-locked vector dissipative solitons and properties of the generated high-order vector soliton structure.

Details of various composites of the projections originated from a fundamental group-velocity-locked vector dissipative soliton (GVLVDS) are both experimentally and numerically explored. By combining the projections from the orthogonal polarization components of the GVLVDS, a high-order vector soliton structure with a double-humped pulse profile along one polarization and a single-humped pulse profile along the orthogonal polarization can be observed. Moreover, by de-chirping the composite double-humped pulse, the time separation between the two humps is reduced from 15.36 ps to 1.28 ps, indicating that the frequency chirp of the GVLVDS contributes significantly to the shaping of the double-humped pulse profile.

[Advances in endoscopic treatment of congenital pyriform sinus fistula in children].

Pyriform sinus fistula is a rare clinical disease, often with recurrent acute suppurative thyroiditis or neck infection in children.The traditional method treatment is complete resection of the fistula with or without hemithyroidectomy in external cervical surgical approach, but in recent years, minimally invasive endoscopic occlusion of the internal opening for the treatment of pyriform sinus fistula is performed in many hospitals, including electrocautery, chemocautery, laser cauterization, biocauterization, and suture closure. Literatures about endoscopic management of pyriform sinus fistula in children are reviewed and various surgical methods, complications and success rate are evaluated.