FDG-PET has played a significant role in the clinical management of lung cancer since it can efficiently visualize the functional metabolic changes of normal and pathological tissues in human body. It has been used more and more widely in many aspects of lung cancer management including diagnosis, staging, target volume delineation for radiotherapy plan, treatment response inspection, and recurrence detection. However, the false positive led by benign and inflammation somehow decreases its diagnostic specificity of lung cancer. The diagnostic methods for lung cancer consist of visual interpretation and semi-quantitative analysis based on static imaging and quantitative analysis based on dynamic imaging. This article briefly reviews the current trends, challenges and foreground of this imaging modality in the field of clinical management of lung cancer.

Objective To evaluate the factors affecting the measurement of lung tumor activity concentration (AC) with FDG-PET. Methods High count Monte-Carlo simulations,based on VIP-Man (marked VHP atlas) added with spherical lung tumors of different diameter and activity,were performed to generate the essentially noiseless projection data for PET. The factors related with the measurement of tumor AC were evaluated. Results Using the maximum value in the tumor region of interest (ROI) generally resulted in the over-estimation of AC,and the degree of over-estimation would also increase as the noise became severer. For the small tumors with low AC,the proper partial volume correction was needed. Drawing ROI after post-reconstruction filtering could improve the reproducibility of AC measurement compared with no filtering first. Conclusion The accuracy and reliability of AC measurement depends strongly on factors including tumor size,post-reconstruction filter,noise level,ROI definition,PVE correction,etc.

Objective To explore whether there is enough clinical evidence to confirm that hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) does more good than other treatments in treating patients with diabetic peripheral neuropathy. Methods Published clinical trials on hyperbaric oxygen treatment for diabetic peripheral neuropathy were collected through electronic searches of PubMed, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, EMbase, Science Citation Index Expanded, the China Biological Medicine Database (CBM-disc), the Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) and the VIP Database for Chinese Technical Periodicals (from the date of establishment of the databases to July 2010). The bibliographies of the retrieved articles were also checked. Results A total of 7 trials involving 446 patients with diabetic peripheral neuropathy were included. All studies reported positive results regarding the effects,but the quality of the studies was generally poor. The main problem was that most trials were reported as randomized and controlled, but with no description of the methods of randomization, concealment and blinding. Conclusions HBO in the treatment of diabetic peripheral neuropathy is promising based on present evidence. However at present,definite conclusions cannot be drawn about whether hyperbaric oxygen treatment is superior to the alternatives for patients with diabetic peripheral neuropathy. Higher quality randomized and controlled trials are required.

Blood transfusion is an important resuscitation method for combat casualties with severe hemorrhagic shock.The optimal resuscitation plan directly influences the treatment effect of the wounded.Whole blood,once the main resuscitation fluid,was replaced by blood components for various reasons and became a supplement when there was insufficient blood components supply.With the latest evidence of whole blood application in combat casualties,the development of blood transfusion technology and the deepened clinical and basic research,we realize that the obstacles in the use of whole blood are not insurmountable and that whole blood has the advantages that blood components do not have in the treatment of combat casualties.Therefore,whole blood has once again become a research hotspot in the field of combat casualties treatment.This article reviews the development history,advantages and disadvantages of whole blood application in the resuscitation of hemorrhagic shock after combat casualties,with a view to provide reference for further clinical and basic research.

This study prospectively collected the clinical data of patients who received sacral neuromodulation(SNM)variable-frequency stimulation (VFS) mode from June 2020 to December 2020, in order to explore the efficacy and safety of VFS mode in the treatment of refractory lower urinary tract dysfunction. The inclusion criteria were as follows: ①SNM was implanted; ②age ≥18 years old; ③The traditional constant-frequency stimulation (CFS) mode has poor therapeutic effect, and can not be improved after repeated adjustment of stimulation parameters; ④Patients with overactive bladder (OAB) symptoms, who fail to respond to conservative treatment or are intolerant to conservative treatment; ⑤The drugs that affect the lower urinary tract symptoms and pelvic function should not be increased or decreased during the trial; ⑥provision of informed consent. A total of six patients meeting the criteria were included in the study, with three males and three females. The age ranged from 47 to 74 years, with an average age of 55 years. Among those patients, three cases were diagnosed of OAB, two cases were diagnosed of interstitial cystitis, and one case was diagnosed of neurogenic bladder. All patients had received CFS-SNM for an average of 20.6 months before upgrading to VFS mode, and suffered from severe frequency of urination at the same time. Compared with the severity of symptoms during the baseline period and the CFS period, a trend of improvement was found among four patients during the VFS period. The severity of symptoms was mainly based on the average daily urination frequency and OAB-Q score. For the two patients with interstitial cystitis, OAB symptoms worsened during the VFS period, while the VAS score did not change significantly. In general, VFS-SNM is not inferior to CFS-SNM in improving the symptoms of frequent micturition. For patients with interstitial cystitis, multiple sets of VFS parameters can be tried under the premise of satisfactory pain management.

Objective:To investigate the clinical features, diagnosis, treatment and prognosis of primary urethral carcinoma.Methods:The clinical and follow-up data of 12 patients with primary urethral carcinoma admitted to Beijing Hospital from July 2016 to December 2020 were retrospectively analyzed.Results:There were four males and eight females, with an average age of 66.3(53~75)years.Nine patients underwent magnetic resonance examination before operation, and eight patients presented with abnormal urethral signals.The clinical stage of female patients was generally later than those of male patients, and all patients received surgical treatment.Four male patients did not receive post-operative adjuvant treatment, and all of them attained disease-free survival.Among the eight female patients, four patients received postoperative adjuvant radiotherapy or chemotherapy, five patients had recurrence or metastasis during follow-up, and two patients died.Conclusions:The clinical stage of female urethral cancer is later than that of male.MRI examination is beneficial to the determination of local invasion of urethral cancer.For female proximal urethral cancer and male posterior urethral cancer, radical resection has a good therapeutic effect.

Objective:To investigate the safety and efficacy of sacral neuromodulation(SNM)therapy for the treatment of lower urinary tract dysfunction(LUTD)in elderly patients.Methods:Clinical data of 91 elderly patients with LUTD from multiple medical institutions who received SNM during the period from January 2012 to December 2016 were retrospectively analyzed.Patients were divided into four groups: the interstitial cystitis(IC)group(n=28), the neurogenic bladder(NB)group(n=36), the overactive bladder syndrome(OAB)group(n=13)and the idiopathic dysuria(ID)group(n=14). Different sets of evaluation parameters were used for different diseases.Patients’ baseline data and data in stage I(test phase)and stage Ⅱ(permanent SNM)were recorded, statistically analyzed and compared.Results:Ninety-one people underwent SNM treatment.Of them, 53 patients received permanent implants(stage Ⅱ), and the total conversion rate of stage I to stage Ⅱ was 58.2%(53/91). Patients receiving permanent implants(stage Ⅱ)had a preoperative period ranging from 3 months to 30 years, and were followed up for 2 to 58 months after treatment, with an average follow-up of 19.6 months.The improvement rates in stage I for urinary urgency, daily urination frequency, daily nocturnal urination frequency, maximum urine volume, daily average urine volume, daily urine leakage frequency, and quality of life score were 35.4%, 31.6%, 33.7%, 32.6%, 49.2%, 43.2% and 13.2%, respectively.The improvement rates in stage Ⅱ for urinary urgency, daily urination frequency, daily nocturnal urination frequency, maximum urine volume, daily average urine volume, daily urine leakage frequency, and quality of life score were 43.2%, 40.0%, 37.8%, 50.5%, 70.5%, 70.4% and 43.2%, respectively.Three adverse events occurred, including 1 case of recurrent symptoms, 1 case of moderate infection, and 1 case of electrical lead dislocation.Conclusions:Sacral nerve stimulation has definitive and consistent curative effects on LUTD in elderly people.The follow-up time should be extended to further study the safety of sacral nerve stimulation.

Objective:To analyze the urodynamic and clinical features of detrusor underactivity(DU)in elderly men aged 60 years and over.Methods:Five hundred and seventy-three men aged 60 years and over underwent urodynamic measurements due to dysuria were retrospectively analyzed.According to the urodynamic parameters of bladder contractibility index(BCI)and bladder outlet obstruction index(BOOI), they were divided into the three groups: only detrusor underactivity(DU group)(BCI<100 and BOOI<20), only bladder outlet obstruction(BOO group)(BCI≥100 and BOOI≥40), and the combined non-DU and non-BOO group(NDB group)(BCI≥100 and BOOI<20). The urodynamic and clinical features were compared between the three groups.Results:The internalized 323 patients meeting inclusion and exclusion criteria were divided into 3 groups: 75 in the DU, 207 in the BOO and 41 in the NDB.The age was higher in DU and BOO groups than in NDB group( P<0.05). The DU group versus the NDB group showed the higher levels or values in the volume at first desire(FDV)[(279±80)ml vs.(238±72)ml], the proportions of incomplete bladder emptying(41% vs.17%), urine flow interruption(39% vs.15%)and retention(26% vs.7%), and the lower levels in the voiding efficiency(VE)[(61±32)% vs.(110±41)%], (all P<0.05). The DU group vs.the BOO group showed the increased levels or values in the FDV[(279±80)ml vs.(206±67)ml]and maximum cytometric capacity(MCC)(353±113 ml vs.281±94 ml)and the proportions of urine flow interruption(39% vs.22%), TURP(26% vs.6%), and retention(26% vs.14%), and the decreased levels or values in the VE[(61±32)% vs.(78±37%)], the proportions of DO(41% vs.77%), urgency(26% vs.43%)and nocturia(23% vs.39%)(all P<0.05). Conclusions:The main urodynamic and clinical features are manifested as the reduction of bladder sensation and bladder emptying rate, urine flow interruption, urinary retention and having a TURP history in elderly man with detrusor underactivity.The proportions of DU and BOO are increased along with aging.

Bacitracin is a broad-spectrum antibiotics mainly produced by Bacillus, and is used as veterinary medicine in the fields of livestock and poultry breeding. Insufficient supply of precursor amino acids might be an important factor that hinders high-level microbial production of bacitracin. We investigated the effect of strengthening L-cysteine supply on bacitracin production by an industrial bacitracin producer, Bacillus licheniformis DW2. Overexpression of cysK encoding L-cysteine synthase led to a 9.17% increase of the bacitracin titer. Moreover, overexpression of cysE encoding L-serine acetyltransferase and cysP encoding thiosulfate/sulfate intracellular transporter increased the bacitracin titers by 7.23% and 8.52%, respectively. Moreover, overexpression of a putative cystine importer TcyP led to a 29.19% increase of intracellular L-cysteine, and bacitracin titer was increased by 7.79%. Subsequently, the strong promoter PbacA was used to replace the promoters of genes cysP, cysE and tcyP in strain DW2::ysK, respectively. The resulted strain CYS4 (DW2::cysK-PbacA-(cysP)-PbacA(cysE)- PbacA(tcyP) produced 910.02 U/mL bacitracin, which was 21.10% higher than that of the original strain DW2 (747.71 U/mL). Together with the experiments in 3 L fermenters, this research demonstrated that enhancing intracellular L-cysteine supply is an effective strategy to increase bacitracin production of B. licheniformis.
Amino Acids ; Bacillus licheniformis/genetics* ; Bacitracin ; Cysteine ; Metabolic Engineering