Guided by systematic material evaluation theory,the present study assessed textbooks of medical English listening and speaking published over the last 20 years,and conducted a relevant survey to investigate different opinions of the textbooks among teachers and students.It found that cognitive schema theory,information processing theory,the register theory and communicative principle were adopted as guidelines in the compilation.Multi-tasks were utilized to train language skills;medical terminology learning was put great emphasis on;original audio-visual materials were employed.Besides,the majority of the textbooks were compiled based on topics or situations.However,most textbooks of medical English listening and speaking miss the section for cultivating students' autonomous learning,independent thinking as well as phonetic exercise,and they lack the teacher's book and students' book,which should be improved soon.

Esophageal cancer is one of the most common gastrointestinal cancers, and chemoradiotherapy is an important part of the multidisciplinary treatment for this disease.In recent years,18Fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography (FDG PET-CT) is widely used in esophageal cancer for delineation of gross tumor volume, local boost irradiation in the late stage of radiotherapy, and assessment of the pathologic remission rate after neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy, response to definitive chemoradiotherapy, and prognosis.In this article, we review the application of FDG PET-CT in the chemoradiotherapy for esophageal cancer.

Objective To evaluate the clinical application of multi-slice spiral CT(MSCT) and X-ray plain film in congenital scoliosis.Methods 40 cases with congenital scoliosis were undergone MSCT scan,the imaging data were reconstructed with maximum intensity projection(MIP),multiple planar reconstruction(MPR),surface shaded display(SSD) and surface volume rendering(SVR),the applied value of these various reconstructed images were analysed comparatively with X-ray plain film.Results Based on the preoperative X-ray plain films,the spinal formation failure,segmentation failure and mixed failure of spine were found in 18,15 and 7 cases respecitvely.However MSCT scan showed that 13 cases had formation failure,12 cases had segmentation failure and 15 cases were mixed failure of spine,and in combination with spinal bifida in 6,rib deformity in 8 and bony ridge inside vertebral canal in 4.The relative features of congenital scoliosis could be comprehensively evaluated by SVR images.Conclusion The reformatted images of MSCT is remarkedly superior to conventional X-ray images in judging the classification and area of spinal deformity accurately.

Esophageal cancer is a common gastrointestinal cancer in China with poor prognosis.Radiotherapy is the main treatment of esophageal cancer,and radiosensitivity of the tumor cell is a significant reason for the efficacy of radiotherapy.Mesenchymal-epithelial transition factor (c-Met) and its signaling pathway play an significant role in tumorigenesis,development,invasion,metastasis and treatment resistance.This review summarizes the association between expression of c-Met and radiosensitivity in esophageal cancer.

Objective:To compare the practical value of three statistical methods in establishing reference intervals by the indirect method.Methods:This is a methodological evaluation study. The data of coagulation parameters were obtained from laboratory information system, which were from pregnant women who had done prenatal examination in Peking University First Hospital from January 2017 to December 2019. The test results from 32 401 pregnant women were collected. Those healthy pregnant women were divided into three groups: early pregnancy group(n=11 151), middle pregnancy group(n=4 872) and late pregnancy group(n=16 378). Statistical analysis was performed for the result of PT, APTT, FIB, TT, D-D and FDP, and the necessity of stratification based on age in different periods of pregnancy was analyzed. Stratification based on age was necessary in three pregnancy groups for PT and APTT, in late pregnancy group for FIB and TT, and in early pregnancy group for D-D. The reference intervals of coagulation parameters were calculated by three statistical methods: non-parametric method, Hoffmann method and Q-Q plot method. Forty-two healthy pregnant women from October 2019 to January 2020 were enrolled as reference individuals for the validation of the reference intervals.The proportions of test results outside the reference intervals in the reference population calculated and compared.Results:The levels of the six coagulation assays vary significantly during the three periods of pregnancy, stratification based on age was necessary in three pregnancy groups for PT and APTT, in late pregnancy group for FIB and TT, and in early pregnancy group for D-D. If the number of test results was large, non-parametric and Hoffmann method provided more similar results, while the reference intervals calculated with Q-Q plot method was slightly wider than Hoffmann method. If the number of test results was small, reference intervals calculated with Hoffmann and Q-Q plot method were more reliable. For pregnant women during early pregnancy under the age of 35, the reference intervals of PT, APTT, FIB and TT calculated by this method were (10.44-13.11)s, (25.29-35.88)s, (2.61-4.64)g/L and (11.53-15.58)s.Conclusion:When establishing the reference interval, stratification according to pregnancy period and age was needed. Hoffmann method can be used as an alternative to the direct method.

Objective:To evaluate the diagnostic value of HPV detection in squamous cell carcinoma of the cervical lymph node metastasis from an unknown primary site.Methods:Clinical data of 6 patients who were initially diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma of the cervical lymph node metastasis from an unknown primary site and eventually diagnosed with HPV-related oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma were collected, and the process of diagnosis was analyzed.Results:Upon the initial admission, all patients were diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma of the cervical lymph node metastasis with positive p16 expression, positive HPV-16 subtype and negative EBER expression. No obvious primary lesion was found after comprehensive examination. Subsequently, four of them underwent ipsilateral tonsollar blind biopsy ( n=2) and ipsilateral tonsillectomy ( n=2). All these four patients were pathologically diagnosed with tonsillar squamous cell carcinoma. For the other two cases, MRI detected the thickening complicated with enhancement of ipsilateral wall of oropharynx and tongue root after follow-up for D149 and D545 , respectively. Biopsy confirmed the diagnosis of squamous cell carcinoma of the tonsil and tongue root, respectively. Conclusion:For patients with HPV-positive squamous cell carcinoma of the cervical lymph node metastasis from an unknown primary site, the possibility that the primary lesion originates from the oropharyngeal site, especially the tonsil and tongue root, should be highly suspected.

Objective To compare the efficacy of trimodality therapy and chemoradiation therapy (CRT) alone in patients with locally advanced resectable esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (SCC).Methods A total of 124 cases with locally advanced resectable esophageal SCC were retrospectively analyzed and classified into 2 groups.Fifty-four cases in trimodality group were treated with surgery and preoperative chemoradiation,while 70 cases in CRT alone group only received radiation and chemotherapy.Local tumor control,3-year survival and treatment-related mortality were assessed.Results The local recurrent rate of the resected patients was 18.5％ in trimodality group and 35.7％ in CRT alone group,respectively(x2 =4.445,P ＜ 0.05).The 3-year progression-free survival (PFS) was 65.3％ (95％ CI 50.7-80.5) in trimodality group and31.9％ (95％CI 19.6-44.2) in CRT alone group (P＜0.05),while the overall survival (OS) 66.3％ (95％ CI43.0-89.6) and 34.4％ (95％ CI 21.1-47.7),respectively(P ＜ 0.05).Treatment-related mortality was 1.9％ in trimodality group and 2.9％ in CRT alone group (P ＞ 0.05).For CRT alone group,the sub-group analysis showed that there was no statistically significant difference in the 3-year OS between patients who received 50-50.4 Gy and those who received the dose over 50.4 Gy (39.9％ 95％ CI 18.5-61.3 vs.31.5％ 95％ CI 14.8-48.2,P ＞0.05).Conclusions Compared with CRT alone,trimodality therapy showed the superior local control,PFS and OS,with similar treatment-related mortality in the treatment of patients with SCC of esophagus.The role of surgery could not be replaced by CRT alone even with the augment of radiation dose.

Objective:To evaluate the performance of an artificial intelligent (AI)-based automated digital cell morphology analyzer (hereinafter referred as AI morphology analyzer) in detecting peripheral white blood cells (WBCs).Methods:A multi-center study. 1. A total of 3010 venous blood samples were collected from 11 tertiary hospitals nationwide, and 14 types of WBCs were analyzed with the AI morphology analyzers. The pre-classification results were compared with the post-classification results reviewed by senior morphological experts in evaluate the accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, and agreement of the AI morphology analyzers on the WBC pre-classification. 2. 400 blood samples (no less than 50% of the samples with abnormal WBCs after pre-classification and manual review) were selected from 3 010 samples, and the morphologists conducted manual microscopic examinations to differentiate different types of WBCs. The correlation between the post-classification and the manual microscopic examination results was analyzed. 3. Blood samples of patients diagnosed with lymphoma, acute lymphoblastic leukemia, acute myeloid leukemia, myelodysplastic syndrome, or myeloproliferative neoplasms were selected from the 3 010 blood samples. The performance of the AI morphology analyzers in these five hematological malignancies was evaluated by comparing the pre-classification and post-classification results. Cohen′s kappa test was used to analyze the consistency of WBC pre-classification and expert audit results, and Passing-Bablock regression analysis was used for comparison test, and accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, and agreement were calculated according to the formula.Results:1. AI morphology analyzers can pre-classify 14 types of WBCs and nucleated red blood cells. Compared with the post-classification results reviewed by senior morphological experts, the pre-classification accuracy of total WBCs reached 97.97%, of which the pre-classification accuracies of normal WBCs and abnormal WBCs were more than 96% and 87%, respectively. 2. The post-classification results reviewed by senior morphological experts correlated well with the manual differential results for all types of WBCs and nucleated red blood cells (neutrophils, lymphocytes, monocytes, eosinophils, basophils, immature granulocytes, blast cells, nucleated erythrocytes and malignant cells r>0.90 respectively, reactive lymphocytes r=0.85). With reference, the positive smear of abnormal cell types defined by The International Consensus Group for Hematology, the AI morphology analyzer has the similar screening ability for abnormal WBC samples as the manual microscopic examination. 3. For the blood samples with malignant hematologic diseases, the AI morphology analyzers showed accuracies higher than 84% on blast cells pre-classification, and the sensitivities were higher than 94%. In acute myeloid leukemia, the sensitivity of abnormal promyelocytes pre-classification exceeded 95%. Conclusion:The AI morphology analyzer showed high pre-classification accuracies and sensitivities on all types of leukocytes in peripheral blood when comparing with the post-classification results reviewed by experts. The post-classification results also showed a good correlation with the manual differential results. The AI morphology analyzer provides an efficient adjunctive white blood cell detection method for screening malignant hematological diseases.

Objective: To establish a set of rules for autoverification of blood analysis, in order to provide a way to validate autoverification rules for different analytical systems, which can ensure the accuracy of test results as well as shorten turnaround time (TAT) of test reports. Methods: A total of 34 629 EDTA-K2 anticoagulated blood samples were collected from multicenter cooperative units including the First Hospital of Jinlin University during January 2017 to November 2017. These samples included: 3 478 cases in Autoverification Establishment Group, including 288 cases for Delta check rules; 5 362 cases in Autoverification Validation Group, including 2 494 cases for Delta check; 25 789 cases in Clinical Application Trial Group. All these samples were analyzed for blood routine tests using Sysmex XN series automatic blood analyzers.Blood smears, staining and microscopic examination were done for each sample; then the clinical information, instrument parameters, test results and microscopic results were summarized; screening and determination of autoverification conditions including parameters and cutoff values were done using statistical analysis. The autoverification rules were input into Sysmex Laboman software and undergone stage Ⅰ validation using simulated data, and stage Ⅱ validation for post-analytical samples successively. True negative, false negative, true positive, false positive, autoverification pass rate and passing accuracy were calculated. Autoverification rules were applied to autoverification blood routine results and missed detection rates were validated, and also data of autoverification pass rate and TAT were obtained. Results: (1)The selected autoverification conditions and cutoff values included 43 rules involving WBC, RBC, PLT, Delta check and abnormal characteristics. (2)Validation of 3 190 cases in Autoverification Establishment Group showed the false negative rate was 1.94%(62/3 190)(P<0.001), autoverification pass rate was 76.74%, passing accuracy was 97.47%; Validation of 2 868 cases in Autoverification Validation Group, the false negative rate was 3.38%(97/2 868)(P=0.002), autoverification pass rate was 42.26%, passing accuracy was 92.00%; Validation of Delta check on 288 cases in Autoverification Establishment Group and 2 494 cases in Autoverification Validation Group showed the false negative rates were respectively 1.39% and 2.61%(P<0.001). (3)Three hospitals adopted these rules of autoverification for 25 789 blood routine samples, and found that the average TAT of blood routine test reports were shortened by 24min, 32min and 7min respectively, the rate of samples reported within 30min were elevated by 33%, 53% and 7%. The autoverification pass rates were 72%-74%. Conclusions The application of this set of 43 autoverification rules in blood sample analysis can ensure test quality while shortenTAT and improve work efficiency. It is worth pointing out that for the same analytical systems in this research, validation is necessary before application of this set of rules, and periodic validation is required during application to make necessary adjustment; for different analytical systems, as this research provide a way to establish autoverification rules for blood routine tests.Clinical labs may establish their own suitable autoverification rules on the basis of technological parameters. (Chin J Lab Med, 2018, 41: 601-607)