Recognition of the atrioventricular node anatomical structure: Connection between the retroaortic node and the compact node.

INTRODUCTION: The complex electrophysiological phenomena related to the atrioventricular node (AVN) are due to its complex anatomical structures. Aside from the inferior nodal extension (INE), other node-like tissues, such as the retroaortic node (RN), have been described less extensively and may also share the mechanism of normal conduction and abnormal conduction in AVN re-entrant tachycardia. METHODS: High-density sections of the entire AVN were obtained from rats and rabbits. Fibrosis was analyzed by Masson's trichrome staining. Connexin (Cx43, Cx40, and Cx45) and ion channel (Nav 1.5, Cav 3.1, and HCN4) proteins were immunohistochemically labeled for the analysis of tissue features. Three-dimensional (3D) reconstruction of the AV junction was performed to clarify the relationships among different structures. RESULTS: The RN expressed the same connexin isoforms as the compact node (CN) and INE. Nav 1.5 labeling was observed at low levels in the CN, RN, and INE, where Cav 3.1 and HCN4 were expressed. The CN connected with the RN in a narrow strip pattern at the start of the CN. The RN presented as a shuttle shape and was the only tissue directly connected with the atrium in the anterior septum. CONCLUSION: The RN connects with the AVN anatomically, suggesting that direct electrical conduction occurs between them. The entrance of the atria into the AVN is distal to the RN, which may form the fast AVN pathway.

Analytical expressions of the imaging and aberration coefficients of a general form surface.

A theoretical development is presented in this paper for describing and understanding the imaging and aberrations of a general form surface. The development is based on the Taylor expansion of an arbitrary ray trace from the object reference plane to the image reference plane, which is called the base mapping of the general form surface in this paper. The base mapping is expressed as two Taylor series of the object and pupil coordinates and the imaging and aberration coefficients in the third-order scope are derived and presented as analytical expressions relevant to the optic parameters, invoking no approximations. The situation with tilted object and observing plane is also considered, and the mapping from a tilted object to a tilted observing plane is derived via simple mathematical manipulations based on the base mapping.

Synergistic effect of schizandrin A and DNase I knockdown on high glucose induced beta cell apoptosis by decreasing intracellular calcium concentration.

OBJECTIVE: To explore the synergistic effect of deoxyribonuclease I (DNase I) knockdown combined with Schizandrin A (Sch A) in protecting islet beta-cells (ß-cells) from apoptosis under high-glucose (HG) conditions. METHODS: The concentration of Sch A was detected by Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK-8). High glucose-cultured rat insulinoma beta cell line (RIN-M5F) cells were treated with Sch A and transfected with DNase I small interfering RNA (siRNA). Cell apoptosis rate and apoptosis-related protein level were examined by flow cytometry and Western blot method respectively. In addition, Na-K-adenosine triphosphatease (Na-K-ATPase) and Ca-Mg-ATPase activity, cell membrane potential, and intracellular Ca concentration was also examined respectively. RESULTS: Our study revealed that HG stimulation can cause a significant increase in DNase I level and cell apoptosis rate. However, Sch A combined with DNase I knockdown can significantly decrease the cell apoptosis rate and apoptosis-related protein levels such as BAX ( 0.05) and Caspase-3 ( 0.01). In addition, we also found that the combination of Sch A and DNase I knockdown can dramatically increase cell membrane potential level, Na-K-ATPase, and Ca-Mg-ATPase activity. Meanwhile, intracellular Ca concentration was also found to be significantly decreased by the synergistic effect of Sch A and DNase I knockdown. CONCLUSION: Overall, our study reveals a synergistic effect of Sch A and DNase I knockdown in protecting ß-cells from HG-induced apoptosis.

Curved skin incision for Ulnar nerve transposition in Cubital Tunnel Syndrome: Cadaveric and clinical study to avoid injury of medial cutaneous nerve.

INTRODUCTION: Medial skin incision is obligatory for ulnar nerve transposition in cubital tunnel syndrome. However, inadvertent surgical damage to the terminal branches of both the medial antebrachial cutaneous nerve (MACN) and the medial brachial cutaneous nerve (MBCN) has been a concern in the current surgical approach. HYPOTHESIS: We hypothesized a modified curved skin incision to avoid the damage to the medial cutaneous nerve. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The numbers and locations of MACN and MBCN terminal branches were investigated; also, the location of the posterior branch of MACN in ten fresh frozen cadaveric upper extremities. Using modified incision which is more anterior than classic approach and includes antegrade dissection of the cutaneous branches, same measurement was performed in clinical cases. We described the techniques. RESULTS: The average number of MACN posterior terminal branches was 2.6±1.6 and 4.4±2.4 branches in the cadaveric specimens and clinical cases, respectively. The average number of MBCN terminal branches was 2.1±0.87 branches. The MACN posterior terminal branches were located at an average of 19mm proximal and 45mm distal from the medial epicondyle. In clinical cases, we could preserve all MBCN terminal branches and posterior terminal branches of MACN using the indexed skin incision. DISCUSSION: Our modified medial skin incision technique with antegrade subcutaneous dissection exposed all the terminal branches of MACN and thus, could reduce the risk of inadvertent injury. The medial epicondyle and the basilic vein are reliable anatomical landmarks to identify the posterior branch of the MACN. LEVEL OF PROOF: IV, Cadaveric and Therapeutic study.

HKUST-1 derived Cu@CuO x /carbon catalyst for base-free aerobic oxidative coupling of benzophenone imine: high catalytic efficiency and excellent regeneration performance.

The oxidative coupling of imines to ketazine with molecular oxygen is a green process towards the synthesis of hydrazine or hydrazine hydrate, which could efficiently address the economic and environmental issues of the traditional Raschig or peroxide-ketazine process. Herein, we developed an efficient heterogeneous base-free benzophenone imine oxidative coupling route with O2 catalyzed by Cu/CuO x /carbon materials derived from MOFs under mild conditions. Under optimized conditions, the conversion of BI is up to 98.2% and the selectivity of ketamine is 94.9%. This catalyst has excellent structure stability, recycling, and regeneration performance, owing to the carbonization of organic ligands of MOF at high temperature. More importantly, it is confirmed that the metallic Cu core is essential to improve the catalytic performance of the CuO shell in the BI oxidative coupling reaction, due to the promotion of electron transfer in the CuO surface, making dissolved O2 molecules more easily insert oxygen vacancies. This strategy might open an avenue to the sustainable catalytic synthesis of hydrazine or hydrazine hydrate.

Meta-analysis on the use of hyaluronic acid gel to prevent recurrence of intrauterine adhesion after hysteroscopic adhesiolysis.

Intrauterine adhesion is a severe complication after intrauterine operation, Various adjuvant therapies failed to improve clinical symptoms and pregnancy rates among patients with moderate-to-severe intrauterine adhesion. At present, hyaluronic acid gel is widely used in the primary prevention of adhesion after hysteroscopic adhesiolysis. However, its efficacy is still under debate. Therefore, the aim of this study was to systematically evaluate the efficacy of hyaluronic acid gel in preventing the recurrence of intrauterine adhesion after hysteroscopic adhesiolysis. The Cochrane Library, Embase, and PubMed databases were used to search for articles published before July 31, 2018, using the following terms: hyaluronic acid, intrauterine adhesions, Asherman's syndrome, IUA, hysteroscopy, and hysteroscopic adhesiolysis. Studies on therapies after hysteroscopic adhesiolysis were collected. The recurrence rate of and pregnancy rate in the presence of intrauterine adhesion after hysteroscopic adhesiolysis were analyzed by RevMan 5.3 software. A total of 6 articles were selected, which included 394 patients who were subjected to hysteroscopic adhesiolysis. The meta-analysis results showed that (1) no statistically significant difference was found between hyaluronic acid gel use and without its use on the score of intrauterine adhesion after hysteroscopic adhesiolysis [the mean difference (MD) = -0.89, 95% confidence interval (CI) (-2.53-0.76), P = 0.29], neither a statistically significant difference was observed between the same groups on the recurrence rate of intrauterine adhesion [odds ratio (OR) = 0.75, 95% CI (0.31-1.81), P = 0.53]; (2) subgroup analysis showed that hyaluronic acid gel could reduce the rate of intrauterine adhesion recurrence in randomized controlled trials [OR = -0.28, 95% CI (0.14-0.56), P = 0.0006]. However, the recurrence rate of intrauterine adhesion after the use of hyaluronic acid gel was not statistically significant in non-randomized controlled experiments [OR = 1.53, 95% CI (0.79-2.95), P = 0.21]; (3) hyaluronic acid gel did not result in a significant effect on pregnancy rate after intrauterine adhesion separation [OR = 2.02, 95% CI (0.53-7.66), P = 0.3]. In conclusion, hyaluronic acid gel could reduce the recurrence rate of intrauterine adhesion, but had no significant effect on the postoperative pregnancy rate.

Transcriptional Aneuploidy Responses of Brassica rapa-oleracea Monosomic Alien Addition Lines (MAALs) Derived From Natural Allopolyploid B. napus.

Establishing the whole set of aneuploids, for one naturally evolved allopolyploid species, provides a unique opportunity to elucidate the transcriptomic response of the constituent subgenomes to serial aneuploidy. Previously, the whole set of monosomic alien addition lines (MAALs, C1-C9) with each of the nine C subgenome chromosomes, added to the extracted A subgenome, was developed in the context of the allotetraploid Brassica napus donor "Oro," after the restitution of the ancestral B. rapa (RBR Oro) was realized. Herein, transcriptomic analysis using high-throughput technology was conducted to detect gene expression alterations in these MAALs and RBR. Compared to diploid RBR, the genes of all of the MAALs showed various degrees of dysregulated expressions that resulted from cis effects and more prevailing trans effects. In addition, the trans-effect on gene expression in MAALs increased with higher levels of homology between the recipient A subgenome and additional C subgenome chromosomes, instead of gene numbers of extra chromosomes. A total of 10 trans-effect dysregulated genes, among all pairwise comparisons, were mainly involved in the function of transporter activity. Furthermore, highly expressed genes were more prone to downregulation and vice-versa, suggesting a common trend for transcriptional pattern responses to aneuploidy. These results provided a comprehensive insight of the impact of gene expression of individual chromosomes, in one subgenome, on another intact subgenome for one allopolyploid with a long evolutionary history.

Development and prospects of predicting drug polymorphs technology / 药学学报

Most chemical medicines have polymorphs. The difference of medicine polymorphs in physicochemical properties directly affects the stability, efficacy, and safety of solid medicine products. Polymorphs is incomparably important to pharmaceutical chemistry, manufacturing, and control. Meantime polymorphs is a key factor for the quality of high-end drug and formulations. Polymorph prediction technology can effectively guide screening of trial experiments, and reduce the risk of missing stable crystal form in the traditional experiment. Polymorph prediction technology was firstly based on theoretical calculations such as quantum mechanics and computational chemistry, and then was developed by the key technology of machine learning using the artificial intelligence. Nowadays, the popular trend is to combine the advantages of theoretical calculation and machine learning to jointly predict crystal structure. Recently, predicting medicine polymorphs has still been a challenging problem. It is expected to learn from and integrate existing technologies to predict medicine polymorphs more accurately and efficiently.

Determination of betamethasone and betamethasone 17-monopropionate in human plasma by liquid chromatography-positive/negative electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry.

This study presents a high-performance liquid chromatography-positive/negative electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometric (LC-ESI(+/-)-MS-MS) method for the determination of betamethasone (BOH) and betamethasone 17-monopropionate (B17P) in human plasma using beclomethasone dipropionate as the internal standard (I.S.). Both compounds were extracted from human plasma with ether-cyclohexane (4:1, v/v) and were separated by HPLC on a Hanbon Lichrospher C(18) column with a mobile phase of methanol-water (85:15, v/v) at a flow rate of 0.7ml/min. Calibration curves were linear over the range of 0.10-50ng/ml for BOH and 0.050-50ng/ml for B17P. The inter-run relative standard deviations were less than 14.4% for BOH and 12.3% for B17P. The intra-run relative standard deviations were less than 9.3% for BOH and 7.9% for B17P. The mean plasma extraction recovery for BOH and B17P were in the ranges of 82.7-85.9% and 83.6-85.3%, respectively. The method was successfully applied to study the pharmacokinetics of a new formulation of betamethasone phosphate/betamethasone dipropionate injection in healthy Chinese volunteers.

Reflections on nomenclature and expansion of surgical indications for endoscopic spinal surgery / 国际外科学杂志

In recent years, with the development and maturity of endoscopic technique, endoscopic spinal surgery represented by water media and optical rigid endoscope has been widely used in the treatment of many disorders in the cervical, thoracic and lumbar spine. Endoscopic spinal surgery shows similar clinical effects as traditional open surgery or other minimally invasive procedures, and is favored by spinal surgeons due to its advantages of less trauma and rapid recovery after surgery. However, the large-scale application of endoscopic technique brings problems such as non-standard nomenclature and unreasonable indications. Therefore, this article will summarize the surgical nomenclature and indications of endoscopic spinal surgery, in order to provide a reference for spinal surgeons to understand and apply endoscopic technology reasonably.

Influential factors related to functional status after full-endoscopic lumbar discectomy / 北京大学学报(医学版)

OBJECTIVE@#To explore the influential factors associated with functional status of those patients who undertook a full-endoscopic lumbar discectomy operation.@*METHODS@#A prospective study was conducted. A total of 96 patients who undertook a full-endoscopic lumbar discectomy operation and met inclusive criteria were enrolled in the study. The postoperative follow-up was held 1 month, 3 months and 6 months after operation. The self-developed record file was used to collect the patient's information and medical history. Visual analogue scale (VAS) score, Oswestry disability index (ODI) score, Gene-ralised anxiety disorder-7 (GAD-7) scale score and patient health questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) scale score were applied to measure pain intensity, functional status, anxiety status and depression status. Repeated measurement analysis of variance was used to explore the ODI score 1 month, 3 months and 6 months after operation. Multiple linear regression was recruited to illuminate the influential factors associated with functional status after the operation. Logistic regression was employed to explore the independent risk factors related to return to work 6 months after operation.@*RESULTS@#The postoperative functional status of the patients improved gradually. The functional status of the patients 1 month, 3 months and 6 months after operation were highly positively correlated with the current average pain intensity. The factors influencing the postoperative functional status of the patients were different according to the recovery stage. One month and 3 months after operation, the factors influencing the postoperative functional status were the current average pain intensity; 6 months after operation, the factors influencing the postoperative functional status included the current average pain intensity, preoperative average pain intensity, gender and educational level. The risk factors influencing return to work 6 months after operation included women, young age, preoperative depression status and high average pain intensity 3 months after operation.@*CONCLUSION@#It is feasible to treat chronic low back pain with full-endoscopic lumbar discectomy operation. In the process of postoperative functional status recovery, medical staffs should not only take analgesic mea-sures to reduce the pain intensity experienced by the patients, but also pay attention to the impact of psychosocial factors on the recovery. Women, young age, preoperative depression status, and high average pain intensity 3 months after operation may delay return to work after the operation.

Highly efficient inhibition of spring viraemia of carp virus replication in vitro mediated by bavachin, a major constituent of psoralea corlifonia Lynn.

As one of nine piscine viruses recognized by the International Office of Epizootics, spring viraemia of carp virus (SVCV) is an important pathogen bringing high mortality to cyprinids. Up to now, there is no approved therapy on SVCV, making them strong public health threat in aquaculture. In this study, the anti-SVCV activities of 12 plant crude extracts were investigated by using epithelioma papulosum cyprini (EPC) cells. Among these plants, Psoralea corylifolia Linn. showed the highest inhibition on SVCV replication, with an inhibitory percentage of 67.98%. Further studies demonstrated that bavachin (BVN), one of the major constituents of Psoralea corylifolia Linn., was also highly effective to SVCV infection. The half maximal inhibitory concentrations (IC50) of BVN on SVCV glycoprotein and nucleoprotein expression were 0.46 (0.29-0.73) and 0.31 (0.13-0.55) mg/L, respectively. In addition, SVCV-induced apoptosis which may be negative to SVCV replication was inhibited by BVN. The apoptotic cells were decreased 21.42% for BVN compared with SVCV group. These results indicated that the inhibition of BVN on SVCV replication was, in some extent, via blocking SVCV induced apoptosis. Furthermore, cellular morphological damage induced by SVCV was also blocked by BVN treatment. Mechanistically, BVN did not affect SVCV infectivity and cannot be used for prevention of SVCV infection. Time-of-addition and viral binding assays revealed that BVN mainly inhibited the early events of SVCV replication but did not interfere with SVCV adsorption. In conclusion, BVN was considered to develop as a promising agent to treat SVCV infection.

Application evaluation of evidence-based medicine concept-based problem-based learning teaching mode in the clinical practice teaching of an orthopedic department / 中华医学教育探索杂志

Objective:To investigate the effect of application of problem-based learning (PBL) combined with evidence-based medicine (EBM) in clinical practice teaching of an orthopedic department.Methods:A total of 48 interns who entered Department of Orthopedics, The Second Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China from June 2017 to June 2018 were randomly divided into experimental group (the PBL combined with EBM concept teaching group, n = 24) and control group (the traditional teaching group, n = 24). In the experimental group, teachers selected typical cases, designed questions with certain flexibility and complexity, and organized the students to consult the literature, discuss in groups, and report and summarize around the practical problems. In the control group, traditional indoctrination teaching was adopted according to the clinical experience of the teachers. The teaching effect was assessed by a questionnaire survey, a theoretical examination, and a clinical skill examination. The results were analyzed by t-test and Chi-square test using SPSS 16.0 software. Results:The questionnaire survey showed that compared with the control group, the experimental group gave a significantly better evaluation of the teaching methods they received in terms of improving their theoretical knowledge comprehension ability, comprehensive analysis ability, team collaboration awareness, document retrieval and language expression ability, stimulating their learning motivation, and enhancing their scientific thinking and innovation ability ( P < 0.05). Furthermore, compared with the control group, the experimental group had significantly higher mean scores for both the theoretical test (92.42±2.55 vs. 86.17±3.36, P < 0.05) and the clinical skill test (85.79±3.15 vs. 78.88±3.41, P < 0.05). Conclusion:The application of PBL teaching in orthopedic practice, with the concept of EBM throughout the teaching process, has obtained a good effect. It can improve the clinical teaching quality in orthopedics, improve the comprehensive quality of clinical medical students, inspire their active learning enthusiasm, and cultivate their creative thinking, problem construction, comprehensive analysis, literature retrieval, and communication ability.

Observation on the efficacy of moderate and high myopia patients with vault greater than 1 000 μm after implantation of phakic posterior chamber implantable contact lens / 国际眼科杂志(Guoji Yanke Zazhi)

AIM: To observe the efficacy of moderate and high myopia patients with vault greater than 1 000μm after implantation of phakic posterior chamber implantable contact lens(ICL).METHODS: A total of 42 patients(73 eyes)who received ICL implantation in the hospital and had postoperative vault greater than 1 000 μm between January 2014 and January 2017 were selected and retrospectively studied. Changes in visual acuity, intraocular pressure, corneal endothelial cell density, anterior chamber-related parameters(chamber angle, central anterior chamber depth, anterior chamber volume)and vault were compared among patients before surgery, at 1, 3, 6mo and 1a after surgery and at the last follow-up.RESULTS: The uncorrected visual acuity(UCVA)at 1, 3, 6mo and 1a after surgery and at the last follow-up was better than that before surgery(all P&#x0026;#x003C;0.05), and the chamber angle, central anterior chamber depth and anterior chamber volume were smaller or lower than those before surgery(all P&#x0026;#x003C;0.05), but there were no statistical differences in UCVA, chamber angle, central anterior chamber depth and anterior chamber volume at each time point after surgery(all P&#x0026;#x003E;0.05). The intraocular pressure at 1mo after surgery was lower than that before surgery(P&#x0026;#x003C;0.05), but the intraocular pressure at 3, 6mo and 1a after surgery and at the last follow-up was not statistically different from that before surgery(all P&#x0026;#x003E;0.05). There was no statistical significance in the corneal endothelial cell density at 1, 3, 6mo and 1a after surgery and at the last follow-up compared with that before surgery(all P&#x0026;#x003E;0.05). The vault at 1, 3, 6mo and 1a after surgery and at the last follow-up showed a decreasing trend, and the difference was statistically significant at each time point after surgery(all P&#x0026;#x003C;0.05).CONCLUSION: The short-term and long-term efficacy are better in moderate and high myopia patients with vault greater than 1 000 μm after ICL implantation, and there are no significant effects on the intraocular pressure and corneal endothelial cell. The postoperative anterior chamber structure is relatively stable and the vault tends to decrease over time. In most cases, close observation is sufficient and intraocular lens replacement is generally not required.

Application of International Standards for Neurological Classification of Spinal Cord Injury in China: a bibliometrics re-analysis / 中国康复理论与实践

ObjectiveTo analyze the application of International Standards for Neurological Classification of Spinal Cord Injury (ISNCSCI) in China. MethodsResearches using ISNCSCI in the spinal cord injury were retrieved from CNKI, from January 1st, 2020 to December 31st, 2022. The authors and the keywords of the included literatures were analyzed using VOSviewer and CiteSpace to generate a collaboration network graph of authors and a theme distribution map of keywords. The objects, purposes, causes of spinal cord injury, distribution of researchers' departments, ISNCSCI version used, corresponding publication time and other information of the included studies were manual searched and analyzed. ResultsA total of 285 literatures were finally included, involving 1 279 authors, out of whom 111 published 97.19% of the total number of articles. The main keywords included spinal cord injury, spinal fractures, neurological function, thoracolumbar fractures and spinal tuberculosis, which classified in seven clusters, and the topics of spinal cord injury, efficacy, spinal fractures, quality of life and prognosis were the hotspots in the field. With manual searching, the main topic was spinal cord injury; the main object was traumatic spinal cord injury; the main purpose was to evaluate the surgical efficacy; the research institutions were mostly the comprehensive hospitals or specialized hospitals focusing on orthopedics (spinal surgery); the clinical departments that used ISNCSCI the most were orthopedics (including spinal surgery) and rehabilitation medicine, and nursing teams were paying more attention to ISNCSCI; the most commonly used versions of ISNCSCI were 2011 (7th edition) and 2000 (6th edition), however, for a large number of articles, the versions were not clear or earlier than 2000. ConclusionThe application of ISNCSCI in China should be improved in the standardization.

Clinical efficacy and prognostic quality of neurointervention combined with alteplase in the treatment of acute ischemic stroke / 国际生物医学工程杂志

Objective:To study the clinical efficacy and prognostic quality of neurointervention combined with alteplase in the treatment of acute ischemic stroke.Methods:Ninety-two patients with acute ischemic stroke admitted to the First People's Hospital of Bijie City from February 2019 to December 2020 were selected and divided into the control group and the observation group using the random number method, with 46 cases in each group. Patients in both groups received conventional treatment with intravenous thrombolytic therapy with alteplase, and on this basis, patients in the observation group received neurointerventional treatment. The overall efficiency, national institutes of health stroke scale (NIHSS) score, modified Thrombolysis in cerebral infarction classification (mTICI) score, modified rankin scale (mRS) score, complication rate, and prognostic indexes of patients in both groups were compared after the treatment.Results:The total treatment efficiency of patients in the observation group was 93.48%, which was significantly higher than that of 76.09% in the control group ( P<0.05). The NIHSS scores of both groups were significantly lower than those of the same period before treatment at 1 and 7 days and 1 and 3 months after the treatment (all P<0.05), and the NIHSS scores of the observation group were significantly lower than those of the control group at the same period ( P<0.01). The proportions of mTICI grades < grade 2 and mRS scores in the observation group were significantly lower than those in the control group after treatment(all P<0.05). The overall complication rate of patients in the observation group was significantly lower than that of the control group( P<0.05), and the re-infarction rate of patients in the observation group was significantly lower than that of the control group ( P<0.05). Conclusions:For acute ischemic stroke, neurointervention combined with alteplase is effective, can reduce the risk of complications, and improve the quality of the patient's prognosis, and therefore deserves to be promoted in clinical practice.

Application and progress in high-throughput sequencing technology for meat adulteration detection / 生物工程学报

Adulteration in meat products is a widespread issue that could lead to serious threats to public health and religious violations. Technology that offers rapid, sensitive, accurate and reliable detection of meat species is the key to an effectual monitoring and control against meat adulteration. In recent years, high-throughput sequencing-based DNA metabarcoding technology has developed rapidly. With the characteristics of being high-throughput, highly precise and high-speed, this technology can simultaneously identify multiple species in complex samples, thus offering pronounced advantages in the surveillance of adulteration in meat and meat products. Starting with an introduction of the major developments in the high-throughput sequencing technology in the past two decades, this review provides an overview of the technical characteristics and research methods of DNA metabarcoding, summarizes the application of DNA metabarcoding technology in meat adulteration detection over the last few years, discusses the challenges of using DNA metabarcoding technology in the detection of meat adulteration, and provides future prospects on the development of this technology.

Analysis of children's iodine nutrition and thyroid B-ultrasound examination results in Suqian City of Jiangsu Province / 中华地方病学杂志

Objective:To understand the iodine nutritional status and the prevalence of goiter and thyroid nodules among children in Suqian City, and to provide a basis for prevention and treatment of iodine deficiency disorders.Methods:From May 2019 to July 2020, the counties (districts) in Suqian City were divided into 5 areas according to east, west, south, north, and middle, each area selected 1 township (street) every year, and 40 non-boarding students aged 8 - 10 years were selected (balanced age and gender) from 1 primary school from each township (street). Children's urine samples and household salt samples were collected to detect urinary iodine and salt iodine contents, and some children were subjected to thyroid examination and height and weight measurements.Results:A total of 1 999 urine samples were collected from children aged 8 to 10 years, and the median urinary iodine was 221.0 μg/L. There was a statistically significant difference among different counties (districts, H = 147.89, P < 0.05). A total of 1 999 edible salt samples were collected from children's homes, and the salt iodine content was (24.01 ± 4.55) mg/kg. Among them, iodized salts was 1 979, the coverage rate of iodized salt was 99.00%; the qualified iodized salts was 1 910, and the iodized salt qualified rate was 96.51%, and the consumption rate of qualified iodized salt was 95.55%. A total of 1 000 cases of children's thyroid were examined, and 22 cases of goiter, 51 cases of solid thyroid nodules, and 54 cases of thyroid cyst were detected, and the detection rates were 2.20%, 5.10%, and 5.40%, respectively. There were significant differences in the detection rates of solid nodules and cysts beteen different counties (districts, χ 2 = 16.41, 37.66 , P < 0.05), but there was no significant difference in the detection rates of goiter (χ 2 = 8.65 , P > 0.05). According to Spearman correlation analysis, children's thyroid volume was positively correlated with height and weight ( r = 0.403, 0.315, P < 0.05). Conclusions:The iodine nutrition of children in Suqian City is at an excessively suitable level of iodine, and the salt iodine monitoring indicators meet the national iodine deficiency disorders elimination standards (the coverage rate of iodized salt ≥ 95%, and the consumption rate of qualified iodized salt > 90%). The children's thyroid volume is affected by factors such as height and weight.

Use of anticoagulant mechanical methods after laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy for obese patients / 中华普通外科杂志

Objective:To investigate anticoagulant effects of mechanical methods in obese patients undergoing laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy (LSG).Methods:In this prospective study, 54 obese patients receiving LSG were enrolled . All patients were given post-op mechanical methods for thrombogenic interventions. BMI and the operation-related factors were recorded. Venous blood specimens were taken from each patient before surgery, at the end of pneumoperitoneum (i.e., 0 h after surgery), at 24 hours after surgery for prothrombin time (PT) and activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT), fibrinogen (FIB) and D-dimer (D-D).Results:All 54 obese patients successfully underwent LSG. No severe complications were observed. Before operation, the mean BMI was (43.49±8.29) kg/m 2. DVT-2600 device was applied in all patients for 3 consecutive days after surgery. The PT values increased at 0 h, 24 h after surgery [(12.4±1.2) s, (12.4±0.8) s vs. (11.2±0.8) s, P=0, 0]. The APTT values at 0 h, 24 h after surgery decreased [(29.7±3.6) s, (29.0±3.1) s vs.(31.2±3.3) s, P=0.020, 0.001]. However, the D-D values increased at 0 h,24 h after operation [(213±143) ng/ml ,(445±237) ng/ml vs. (85±108) ng/ml, P=0, 0]. All patients were followed up for 1 month, and no thrombosis -related complications were observed. Conclusion:Mechanical methods for obese patients after LSG can help decrease the risk of deep venous thrombosis.

Diagnosis and treatment for emphysematous pyelonephritis: analysis of 14 cases from a single centre / 中华外科杂志

Objective: To examine the modalities of treatment and clinical outcomes of emphysematous pyelonephritis (EPN), in order to improve the survival rate of EPN patients. Methods: Totally 14 patients diagnosed as EPN between October 2011 and November 2020 at Department of Urology, Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine were included in this article. Data collection including patient demographics, clinical manifestations, management and clinical outcomes were conducted by retrospective charts review, after receiving the institutional review board's approval. There were 11 females and 3 males with a median age of 59 years (range: 52 to 73 years). The lesions were located on the left side in 10 patients and right side in 4 patients. All the 14 patients suffered from fever, and present with severe sepsis or septic shock. The median time from symptom onset to admission to hospital was 3 days(range: 2 to 5 days). All cases had diabetes mellitus. Escherichia coli was the most common organism been cultured (11 cases), while Klebsiella pneumonia was the second (3 cases). CT scan showed bubbly or located gas in the renal parenchyma in 5 cases and presence of steaky or mottled gas in the renal parenchyma in 9 cases. All patients had been admitted to ICU for anti-septic shock therapy. Three patients had undergone percutaneous catheter drainage along with broad-spectrum antibiotics therapy while 3 patients had immediate nephrectomy, the other 8 cases had a combination of an initial percutaneous catheter drainage and second stage nephrectomy. Results: In this case series, 3 patients were died from EPN while the other 11 were survived. The median ICU stay time was 6 days (range: 3 to 11 days). Of the 3 patients died from EPN, 2 had undergone percutaneous catheter drainage along and 1 had received immediate nephrectomy. Among the 11 patients who were survived, only 1 had received percutaneous catheter drainage while the other 10 received nephrectomy (8 patients had staged nephrectomy). Follow-up was performed 6 months after discharge. Of the 11 surviving patients, 2 were lost to follow-up, and the remaining 9 patients had an creatine level of (118.4±29.4) μmol/L (range: 89 to 176 μmol/L). Conclusions: For patients coupled with diabetes who were initially diagnosed as acute pyelonephritis, the possibility of EPN should be considered when the disease progressed rapidly especially septic shock occurred. On the basis of empirical broad-spectrum antibiotics therapy and standardized anti-septic shock treatment, a combination of an initial percutaneous catheter drainage and second stage nephrectomy could be efficacious.