Objective To investigate the effects of ischemic postconditioning (IPOC) on myocardial perfusion and prognosis in patients with acute ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) who were treated with emergency percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). Methods A total of 203 patients with STEMI who received emergency PCI were randomly divided into IPOC group (n=103) and control group (n=100). For the patients of IPOC group the angioplasty balloon was re-inflated within one minute after the beginning of reperfusion, the procedure was repeated three times, each time the inflation of balloon lasted for 1 minute using low-pressure (4-6 atm), and the interval between the inflation procedures was one minute. For the patients of the control group , no additional intervention was employed during the first 6 minutes of reperfusion. Cardiac troponin I(cTnI) peaks, creatine kinase-MB (CK-MB) peaks, left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), wall motion score index (WMSI), corrected thrombolysis in myocardial infarction (TIMI) frame count (CTFC), and major adverse cardiac events (MACE) occurred during hospitalization time in both groups were recorded and the results were compared between the two groups. Results No significant differences in age, sex, risk factors, infarction-related artery, ischemia time, etc. existed between the two groups (P>0.05). The CTFC values of IPOC group were significantly faster than those of the control group, that was (25.3±7.9) vs.(29.4±8.4),(P<0.05). The CK-MB peak and cTnI peak values of IPOC group were remarkably lower than those of the control group, those were (157.3 ±83.6) U/L vs. (201.5 ±77.3) U/L and (2.5 ±1.3) ng/mL vs. (3.1 ±1.0) ng/mL respectively (P<0.05). At the time of admission, there were no significantly differences in the LVEF and WMSI values between the two groups, and three months after PCI the LVEF and WMSI values of IPOC group were significantly better than those of the control group, those were (57.4 ±8.7)% vs. (53.6 ±9.3)% and (1.19 ±0.4) vs. (1.27 ±0.3) respectively, the differences were statistically significant (P<0.05). Three months after PCI, the occurrence of MACE in IPOC group was obviously lower than that in the control group (P<0.05). Conclusion Ischemic postconditioning can improve the infarction-related artery blood flow in patients with STEMI who receive emergency PCI treatment, it can also reduce ischemia-reperfusion injury and improve the cardiac function as well as patient’s prognosis after AMI.

Patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) are susceptible to hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection due to hemodialysis and kidney transplantation. Despite the progress in treatment and new medicines for hepatitis C, the efficacy, tolerability, and safety of medicines in CKD patients remain unclear. This article reviews the current situation of HCV infection in CKD patients, methods for evaluating liver condition in HCV-CKD patients, and the latest progress in HCV-CKD treatment. More clinical practice is needed to verify the selection and dosage of medicines for HCV-CKD.

Objective:To develop and validate a clinical prediction model for the risk of malignant ventricular arrhythmia in patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) during hospitalization, and evaluate the effect of the prediction model.Methods:A retrospective study was conducted. A total of 2 649 patients with AMI admitted to cardiology department of Changzhou No.2 People's Hospital of Nanjing Medical University from December 2012 to August 2020 were enrolled. The clinical characteristics including gender, age, medical history, discharge diagnosis, vital signs during hospitalization, electrocardiogram characteristics at admission, laboratory examination indexes, interventional treatment, drug usage, malignant ventricular arrhythmias [mainly included sustained ventricular tachycardia (VT), ventricular flutter or ventricular fibrillation (VF)], and death were recorded. All patients were divided into two groups according to whether VT/VF occurred during their hospitalization. Independent risk factors for VT/VF during hospitalization were evaluated by multivariate Logistic regression analysis, and a clinical prediction model was constructed. The receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC curve) was plotted, and the area under ROC curve (AUC) was calculated to evaluate the accuracy of the prediction model.Results:A total of 2 649 eligible patients with AMI were enrolled, of whom 134 (5.06%) developed VT/VF during hospitalization. The in-hospital mortality rate in VT/VF group was significantly higher than that in non-VT/VF group (38.1% vs. 1.7%, P < 0.01). Compared with the non-VT/VF group, the patients in the VT/VF group with lower systolic blood pressure [SBP (mmHg, 1 mmHg = 0.133 kPa): 125.9±28.2 vs. 132.0±24.2], higher random blood glucose (mmol/L: 8.6±4.8 vs. 7.4±3.7), worse cardiac function [Killip heart function grade ≥ 3: 36.6% vs. 10.7%, left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) < 0.50: 56.7% vs. 33.6%, frequent premature ventricular contractions: 12.7% vs. 1.2%] and more hypokalemia (46.3% vs. 17.3%), with significant differences (all P < 0.05). Multivariate Logistic regression analysis showed that Killip classification of cardiac function ≥ 3 [odds ratio ( OR) = 3.540, 95% confidence interval (95% CI) was 2.336-5.363], random blood glucose > 11.1 mmol/L ( OR = 1.841, 95% CI was 1.171-2.893), LVEF < 0.50 ( OR = 0.546, 95% CI was 0.374-0.797), frequent premature ventricular contractions ( OR = 12.361, 95% CI was 6.077-25.144), potassium < 3.5 mmol/L ( OR = 4.268, 95% CI was 2.910-6.259), SBP < 90 mmHg ( OR = 0.299, 95% CI was 0.150-0.597) and creatinine (Cr) > 100 μmol/L ( OR = 2.498, 95% CI was 1.170-5.334) were independent risk factors for VT/VF in patients with AMI (all P < 0.05). The clinical prediction model of VT/VF risk was constructed based on the variables selected by multivariate regression analysis. The ROC curve analysis showed that the AUC of the model in predicting VT/VF was 0.779 (95% CI was 0.735-0.823, P < 0.001); the optimal cut-off value of the model was 17, the sensitivity was 76.1%, the specificity was 67.3%. Conclusions:The incidence of VT/VF during hospitalization of AMI patients significantly increases the risk of in-hospital death. The independent risk factors of VT/VF are Killip grade ≥ 3, random blood glucose > 11.1 mmol/L, LVEF < 0.50, frequent ventricular premature beats, potassium < 3.5 mmol/L, SBP < 90 mmHg and Cr > 100 μmol/L. The newly constructed clinical prediction model has certain predictive value for the occurrence risk of VT/VF.

The adverse reactions caused by traditional Chinese medicine have occurred frequently, but there is a lack of scientific,objective and standardized methods for safety evaluation of traditional Chinese medicine.In the process of preclinical evaluation of traditional Chinese medicine, it is imperative to form a set of scientific, standardized and feasible evaluation system of modem Chinese herbal drug.We established the preclinical safety evaluation system of modem Chinese herbal drug including the quality control system of samples for the preclinical safety evaluation, the toxicity evaluation system of modem Chinese herbal drug and its preparation and the evaluation management system, and standardized each research link of preclinical evaluation of traditional Chinese medicine.Whether from protecting patients' health and increasing the safety of clinical medication, or from enriching and improving traditional Chinese medicine science, developing traditional Chinese medicine and promoting mutual connection of traditional Chinese medicine and international medicine, it has important instructional significance and application value.

Objective: To investigate the effects of thrombopoietin (TPO) on proliferation and collagen synthesis in pulmonary fibro-blasts induced by TGFβ1. Methods: Cultured human embryonic lung fibroblasts (HFLs) were treated with recombinant human TGF-β1 to induce myofibroblast differentiation. Different concentrations of recombinant human TPO were applied individually or in combina-tion. Cell proliferation rate was determined using the CCK8 assay. Q-PCR and immunofluorescence assay were employed to examine the mRNA and protein expression of α-smooth muscle actin (αSMA) and type I collagen (COL1)A2. Results: TGFβ1 treatment induced HFL transdifferentiation to myofibroblasts was determined by the expression of αSMA, a myofibroblast-specific marker. Cell prolifera-tion increased during the induction. COL1 gene and protein expression were upregulated by TGFβ1 induction (P<0.05). The TGFβ1-in-duced mRNA and protein expression of αSMA and COL1A2 was decreased by TPO treatment (P<0.05), as determined by reverse tran-scription quantitative polymerase chain reaction and immunofluorescence analysis, respectively. The inhibitory rate showed a dose de-pendent effect within a certain TPO concentration range. The CCK8 assay demonstrated that TPO downregulated the TGFβ1-induced proliferation (P<0.05). Furthermore, the expression of heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) was downregulated in TGFβ1-induced lung fibro-blasts, and these effects were attenuated by TPO administration (P<0.05). Conclusions: TPO can inhibit the TGFβ1-induced prolifera-tion and differentiation of human lung fibroblasts. These effects may be mediated in part by HO-1-related signaling pathways.

Objective:To establish the norm of clinical nursing teachers' competency in tertiary first-class hospitals in northwest China.Methods:From August 2019 to February 2020, 1 077 clinical nursing teachers were selected from 12 tertiary first-class hospitals in northwest China by stratified, random and proportional sampling, and were investigated with the Clinical Nursing Teacher Competency Evaluation Scale. Descriptive statistics were carried out on the sample data, and univariate variance analysis and pairwise comparison were carried out on the multi-classification variables of age, nursing age, professional title, teaching years and the number of teachers per year. The verified data were exported to SPSS 26.0 for statistical analysis, variance analysis was used for multi-group comparison, and LSD test was used for pairwise comparison between groups.Results:①The corresponding mean norm was established by grouping the total score and the first-class index; the percentile norm was made with 5% spacing; P10, P30, P70 and P90 were selected as the grading demarcation points, and the demarcation norm was constructed. ②Factor analysis showed that there were statistical differences in personality characteristics among different ages, nursing ages and professional titles ( P<0.05), and also in professional attitudes among different nursing ages and professional titles ( P<0.05). Conclusion:The establishment of norm provides references for individuals or units to evaluate teachers' competence.

Heart failure is a fatal stage of end-stage cardiovascular disease,which brings a huge medical burden to the society because of its high mortality and re-hospitalisation rates.Intestinal microecology is the largest and most com-plex microecosystem of human body.It is inhabited by tens of thousands of microorganisms in human gastrointestinal tract.In recent years,with the deepening of the study of intestinal flora,more and more studies have found that the im-balance of intestinal microecology can cause changes of metabolites in heart failure patients,which is one of the key triggers for the development of heart failure,therefore,using the intestinal microbial homeostasis as a new entry point for the treat-ment of heart failure will be a hotspot in medical research.However,the theory of Chinese medicine,"the spleen is the guardian",covers the physiological functions of the spleen,such as the spleen's main function of transporting,spleen's main function of ascending and clearing,and its main function of hiding camping,etc.,and the functions of intestinal flora and the"spleen is the guardian"are similar to a certain extent.Therefore,this paper starts from a holistic viewpoint and takes the theory of"spleen as the guardian"in Chinese medicine as an entry point to elaborate on the pathogenesis of intes-tinal microecological imbalance and heart failure,so as to provide a reference for Chinese medicine treatment or drug re-search.

Objective:To investigate the feasibility and clinical efficacy of percutaneous screw fixation for acetabular anterior column fracture with laser-assisted axial fluoroscopy.Methods:Data of 20 patients (22 sided) with acetabular anterior column fracture treated by percutaneous screw fixation with laser-assisted axial fluoroscopy from January 2017 to December 2018 were retrospectively analyzed. There were 11 males and 9 females with an average of 42.1±3.2 years (range, 24-68 years). There were 7 cases of unilateral acetabular anterior column fracture, 2 cases of bilateral acetabular anterior column fracture (4 sides), 7 cases of anterior column with ipsilateral sacral fracture, and 4 cases of anterior column with sacroiliac joint injury. There were 3 hips of Area I, 6 Area II, 13 Area III of acetabular anterior column fractures according to Nakatani partition. The time from injury to surgery was 5 days (range, 3-11 days). All patients with acetabular anterior column fractures were fixed by percutaneous screw fixation with laser-assisted axial fluoroscopy, and patients with sacral fracture or sacroiliac joint injury were fixed by percutaneous sacroiliac screws with Starr frame-assisted reduction. The time of operation, the number of intraoperative fluoroscopy and the amount of intraoperative bleeding were recorded. Matta scoring criteria were used to assess fracture reduction quality, and hip function was assessed at the last follow-up according to the modified Merle D' Aubigné and Postel scoring system.Results:The average operative time was 22±10 min (range, 20-40 min) with an average times of intraoperative fluoroscopy of 30±8 times (range, 21-45 times), and the amount of intraoperative blood loss was 20±5 ml (range, 10-40 ml). 20 patients were followed up after operation for a period of 14±3.1 months (range, 12-18 months). The quality of postoperative fracture reduction was assessed according to the Matta acetabular fracture reduction criteria: anatomical reduction in 18 hips, satisfactory reduction in 2 hips, unsatisfactory reduction in 2 hips, with an excellent and good rate of 91% (20/22). The fracture healing time was 13±2.2 weeks (range, 11-16 weeks). At the lastest follow-up, hip function was assessed according to the modified Merle D' Aubigné and Postel scoring system: excellent 18, good 3, fair 1, and the satisfactory rate was 95%(21/22). No major neurological, vascular injury, wound infection and ectopic ossification were found during follow-up.Conclusion:Using laser-assisted axial fluoroscopy percutaneous screw to treat acetabular anterior column fracture, the operation is simple. And there is low risk to damage important blood vessels and nerves. This method can shorten the operation time of acetabular anterior column fracture, reduce the amount of blood loss during the operation, and the outcome is satisfactory.

Objective:To investigate the effect of preoperative hemoglobin (Hb) level on the risk of developing acute kidney injury (AKI) after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI).Methods:A retrospective study was conducted. The hospitalized patients diagnosed with AMI who underwent PCI from May 2015 to May 2020 in the department of cardiology in the Affiliated Changzhou No.2 People's Hospital of Nanjing Medical University were enrolled. According to the serum creatinine (SCr) level before and after interventional therapy, the patients were divided into an AKI group and a non-AKI group. The difference in patients' Hb levels between the AKI and non-AKI groups was compared. Univariate and multivariate Logistic regression analyses were used to analyze the effects of Hb levels on the risk of AKI after interventional therapy in patients with AMI. Kaplan-Meier survival curve was used to evaluate the effects of Hb levels on patients with AMI in all-cause death in the hospital.Results:A total of 922 AMI patients were enrolled in this study, of which 165 patients (17.9%) developed AKI. Compared with the non-AKI group, female patients in the AKI group had a higher proportion [35.8% (59/165) vs. 26.9% (204/757)], older (age: 69.78±14.56 vs. 66.61±13.44), with a lower rate of smoking [42.4% (70/165) vs. 51.7% (391/757)] and a higher prevalence of hypertension [73.3% (121/165) vs. 63.5% (481/757)], however, the patients in AKI group also had a worse cardiac function [the proportion of Killip grade 3 or above was higher: 33.9% (56/165) vs. 13.9% (105/757)], lower Hb level (g/L: 127.61±22.18 vs. 132.79±19.45), and there were less patients using angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitor/angiotensin Ⅱreceptor blocker [ACEI/ARB, 60.0% (99/165) vs. 74.5% (564/757)] and more patients using diuretics [24.8% (41/165) vs. 17.7% (134/757)] in AKI group, the differences were statistically significant (all P < 0.05). Compared with non-AKI group, patients in AKI group had a longer operation time [operation time > 60 minutes: 4.2% (7/165) vs. 1.5% (11/757)] and received more contrast media during the operative procedure [contrast media > 100 mL: 16.4% (27/165) vs. 3.6% (27/757)], the individuals had a higher rate of intra-operative hypotension [16.4% (27/165) vs. 8.2% (62/757)], and more patients were implanted more than 2 stents [8.5% (14/165) vs. 3.6% (27/757), all P < 0.05]. Univariate Logistic regression analysis suggested that each 1 g/L increase in preoperative Hb level was associated with a 1.2% decrease in the risk of postoperative AKI [odds ratio ( OR) = 0.988, 95% confidence interval (95% CI) was 0.980-0.996, P = 0.003]. Meanwhile, for every 1 standard deviation increase in preoperative Hb level, the risk of postoperative AKI decreased by 22.1% ( OR = 0.779, 95% CI was 0.661-0.918, P = 0.003). The patients were divided into low, medium and high concentration groups according to Hb levels (Hb levels were < 110 g/L, 110-150 g/L, ≥ 150 g/L, respectively), and multivariate Logistic regression analysis showed that the risk of AKI was significantly reduced in the high concentration group compared with that in the low concentration group ( OR = 0.463, 95% CI was 0.241-0.888, P = 0.020). The Kaplan-Meier survival curve analysis indicated that the short term survival after coronary intervention in AMI patients with low Hb concentration was significantly lower than that in patients with medium and high Hb concentration (Log-Rank: χ2= 23.215, P < 0.001). Conclusions:Preoperative lower Hb level is an independent risk factor for postoperative AKI in AMI patients. AMI patients with lower Hb levels have an increased risk of all-cause mortality within 1 month after AMI.

Background::Bladder cancer, characterized by a high potential of tumor recurrence, has high lifelong monitoring and treatment costs. To date, tumor cells with intrinsic softness have been identified to function as cancer stem cells in several cancer types. Nonetheless, the existence of soft tumor cells in bladder tumors remains elusive. Thus, our study aimed to develop a microbarrier microfluidic chip to efficiently isolate deformable tumor cells from distinct types of bladder cancer cells.Methods::The stiffness of bladder cancer cells was determined by atomic force microscopy (AFM). The modified microfluidic chip was utilized to separate soft cells, and the 3D Matrigel culture system was to maintain the softness of tumor cells. Expression patterns of integrin β8 (ITGB8), protein kinase B (AKT), and mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) were determined by Western blotting. Double immunostaining was conducted to examine the interaction between F-actin and tripartite motif containing 59 (TRIM59). The stem-cell-like characteristics of soft cells were explored by colony formation assay and in vivo studies upon xenografted tumor models. Results::Using our newly designed microfluidic approach, we identified a small fraction of soft tumor cells in bladder cancer cells. More importantly, the existence of soft tumor cells was confirmed in clinical human bladder cancer specimens, in which the number of soft tumor cells was associated with tumor relapse. Furthermore, we demonstrated that the biomechanical stimuli arising from 3D Matrigel activated the F-actin/ITGB8/TRIM59/AKT/mTOR/glycolysis pathways to enhance the softness and tumorigenic capacity of tumor cells. Simultaneously, we detected a remarkable up-regulation in ITGB8, TRIM59, and phospho-AKT in clinical bladder recurrent tumors compared with their non-recurrent counterparts.Conclusions::The ITGB8/TRIM59/AKT/mTOR/glycolysis axis plays a crucial role in modulating tumor softness and stemness. Meanwhile, the soft tumor cells become more sensitive to chemotherapy after stiffening, that offers new insights for hampering tumor progression and recurrence.