Thanks to the communication between hospital information systems and the mobile phone system,the doctor in charge can contact his/her patient by mobile phone.This creates an early warning mechanism for critical results of laboratory tests such as clinical laboratory,radiological,ultrasound and ECC tests,in which the doctor in charge can be advised immediately of any critical results found in laboratory tests by SMS.This mechanism enables clinicians to acquire critical information,identify medical risks and minimize medical errors.

Objective To investigate the risks of operative contamination of surgical gear by exfoliated cancer in 78 patients who received surgery for hepatocellular carcinoma.Methods Surgical gear from 78 patients who were operated for primary hepatocellular carcinoma were divided into four groups:A.surgical instruments; B.surgeon gloves; C.gauze and gloves used for cleaning equipment; D.gauze and gauze pad used for cleaning operation area.Saline was used to soak the surgical gear followed by low speed centrifugation.The precipitate was stained and then observed for cancer cells.Results The positive rates of cancer cell on surgical gear were significantly associated with the TNM stage,tumor location,tumor size,and surgical approach.The positive rate of liver cancer cell on surgical gear in TNM stage Ⅲ was higher than TNM stage Ⅰ / Ⅱ (56.3％ vs 21.7％,P=0.002).The positive rate of cancer cell on surgical gear was significantly related to tumor size and location (P=0.006,P=0.001).The positive cancer cell detection rate of non-anatomical liver resection was significantly higher than anatomical resection (53.8 ％ vs 26.9 ％,P =0.019).The positive cancer cell detection rate was significantly associated with different types of surgical gear (P=0.008),in which group C showed the highest cancer cell detection rate.Conclusion The risks of cancer cell contamination of surgical gear were significantly associated with progression of hepatocellular carcinoma,tumor size,location and surgical approach,and also associated with the frequency in the use of surgical gear,the operation scope of contact and the nature of surgical gear.

Objective This study investigated a method to rapidly inactivate tumor cells on surgical instruments intraoperatively.Methods Tumor cells were collected by immersing and washing the surgical instruments in 37 ℃ saline.The precipitation was collected by low speed centrifugation and then was cultured to harvest the tumor cells.The tumor cells were immersed in saline and distilled water of different temperatures for different duration of time.Inverted microscopy was used to investigate the changes in morphology.Results After immersion in 55 ℃ distilled water for 60 seconds,the tumor cells were swollen,the cell membranes disappeared,the sizes of the nuclei were reduced,the chromatin was condensed,and some cells lysed and separated from each other.Additionally,these tumor cells floated in the culture medium and lacked any living cells adhering to the walls of the bottle.In the group of tumor cells treated with 55 ℃ saline for 60 seconds,there were no obvious morphological changes of the tumor cell or nucleus.Conclusion The intraoperative immersion of surgical instruments in 55 ℃ distilled water for 60 seconds could completely inactivate tumor cells.

Objective To investigate the relationship between positive peritoneal exfoliated cancer cells and the clinicopathological features of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma before any invasive treatment.Methods Of the 92 patients with hepatocellular carcinoma who underwent laparotomy,ascites fluid was collected in the patients with peritoneal ascites; and peritoneal lavage fluid was collected in those patients without peritoneal ascites.Then,shedded cancer cells in these fluid samples were detected.Results The positive rates of peritoneal cancer cells were associated with the TNM stage,tumor location and tumor size.The positive detection rate of cancer cells in TNM stage Ⅲ and Ⅳ was significantly higher than stage Ⅰ and Ⅱ (38.1％ vs 8.0％ ; P =0.0005).The positive detection rate was higher in tumors located closer to the surface (P =0.0 002),and with larger diameter (P =0.00 007).Conclusion Peritoneal cancer cells were significantly correlated with tumor stage,tumor location and size in hepatocellular carcinoma.

Objective To develop a sensitive and simple LC/MS method for determination of methomyl in blood samples.Methods Methomyl was extracted from blood by liquid-liquid extraction with ethyl acetate, and then analyzed on a Zorbax SB-C18 (2.1mm×50mm, 5μm) column. The mobile phase consisted of acetonitrile-0.1% formic acid with gradient elution, at a lfow rate of 0.5 mL/min, at 40℃. LC-MS was performed in ESI source with MRM mode for quantiifcation.ResultsThe linear range of the concentration were 0.05~2.0μg/mL for methomyl (r>0.995). The relative recoveries of methomyl were in the range of 90%~108%. The RSDs of intra-days and inter-day were both less than 15%.Conclusion The method is a simple, quick, sensitive and could be used for determination of methomyl in blood samples.

Objective This study was to investigate the lymph node metastasis pattern in thoracic esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC),and analyze the risk factors to provide reference for the delineation of radiotherapy target.Methods A total of 319 patients with thoracic ESCC who underwent surgical treatment at the second hospital of Dalian medical university were analyzed retrospectively.The lymph nodes around esophageal were divided into 20 groups according to the mapping scheme of the American Thoracic Society (ATS) modified by Casson et al.Analyzed the pattern of lymph node metastasis and its relationship with tumor location,tumor length,depth of invasion,pathological grade,and vessel invasion.Results The lymph node metastatic rate was 48.90％ (156/319),while the metastatic ratio of lymph node (LMR) was 15.70％ (562/3 581).The lymph node metastatic rates had gradually increasing trend with tumor sites descending (upper ESCC 35.48％,middle ESCC 47.06％ and lower ESCC 56.43％),but no statistically significance (P ＞ 0.05) was observed.In the whole 20 groups,the higher node metastasis stations of upper thoracic ESCC LMR were 1,2,4,5,7,9 (x2 =27.38,P ＜ 0.05),while the middle thoracic ESCC LMR were 2,4,5,7,8M (x2 =57.77,P ＜ 0.05),and the lower thoracic ESCC LMR were 4,5,7,8L,16,17,20 (x2 =28.88,P ＜ 0.05),with statistically significance.So the main lymph node metastasis stations were paraesophageal nodes,tracheobronchial nodes,paratracheal nodes,aroticopumonary nodes,left gastric nodes,subcarinalnodes and celiac nodes.The univariate analysis revealed that lymph node metastasis was correlated with the tumor length,depth of invasion,pathological grade,and presence of vascular invasion (x2 =6.82,26.04,36.26,4.56respectivcly,P ＜ 0.05).The muhi-variate regression analysis showed that tumor length and depth of tumor invasion were independent risk factors for lymph node metastasis (OR =2.212,2.123,P ＜ 0.05).Conclusions The factors influencing lymph node metastasis in thoracic ESCC include tumor length,depth of invasion,pathological grade,and presence of vascular invasion,which should be carefully considered during the target delineation of radiotherapy for esophageal carcinoma.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of hypoxia on cell viability and the endothelial differentiation potential in human umbilical cord derived mesenchymal stem cells (UC-MSCs), and to assess the in vitro protective role of VEGF under low oxygen tension. METHODS: MSCs were isolated from human umbilical cords and cultured in vitro. The morphological and phenotypic characterizations of human UC-MSCs were analyzed. The hypoxia induction was performed with or without the presence of 50 ng/mL of VEGF for different lengths of time. The cell proliferation, apoptosis, and reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation were assessed. Meanwhile, the endothelial differentiation potential of the UC-MSCs was measured. RESULTS: An increased apoptosis and ROS generation but reduced proliferation rate were observed at early stages (6, 12 h) after transferring the UC-MSCs from the atmospheric condition to the hypoxia condition. However, the UC-MSCs presented equal proliferation and apoptosis levels under hypoxic condition as compared with those under the atmospheric condition at the later stages (24, 72 h). A high concentration of exogenous VEGF (50 ng/mL) attenuated the increased apoptosis and inhibited the proliferation of UC-MSCs, induced by a short-term hypoxia treatment. After 14 days of exogenous VEGF induction under the hypoxia condition, the UC-MSCs acquired an early endothelial phenotype consisting of a mature endothelial molecule and some endothelial functions. CONCLUSION UC-MSCs progressively adapt to hypoxia in a step-by-step manner and maintain differentiation potential under hypoxia condition. VEGF can protect the UC-MSCs from cell damage and induce a differentiation of UC-MSCs toward endothelial lineage under hypoxic conditions.
Apoptosis ; drug effects ; Cell Differentiation ; drug effects ; Cell Hypoxia ; Cell Proliferation ; Cell Survival ; Cells, Cultured ; Humans ; Mesenchymal Stem Cells ; cytology ; Protective Agents ; pharmacology ; Reactive Oxygen Species ; metabolism ; Umbilical Cord ; cytology ; Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A ; pharmacology

Even though mutations in LMNA have been reported in patients with typical dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) and atrioventricular block (AVB) previously, the purpose of this study was to disclose this novel genetic abnormality in one Chinese family with the atypical phenotype of progressive AVB followed by DCM with normal QRS interval. Genome-wide linkage analysis mapped the AVB gene in this family to a marker at chromosome 1q21.2, where the LMNA gene was located. Direct DNA sequence analysis revealed a heterozygous G to A transition at nucleotide 244 in exon 1 of LMNA, which resulted in an E82K mutation. The E82K mutation co-segregated with all affected individuals in the family, and was not present in 200 normal controls. Further clinical evaluation of mutation carriers showed that 5 of 6 AVB patients exhibited mild DCM with a late onset of age in the fourth and fifth decades. Ejection fractions were documented in 5 patients with DCM, but 4 showed a normal value of [Symbol: see text]50%. Echocardiography showed that atrial dilatation occurred earlier than ventricular dilatation in the patients. This study suggests that progressive AVB with normal QRS interval and accompanying DCM at later stages may represent a distinct type of DCM. The molecular mechanism by which the E82K mutation causes AVB as the prominent phenotype in DCM may be a focus of future studies.

Objective To explore the expression of zinc finger protein 217 (ZNF217) in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and its correlation with prognosis of patients. Methods A total of 120 NSCLC patients in Chongqing Three Gorges Central Hospital from January 2012 to October 2013 were selected. Immunohistochemical method was used to test the expression of ZNF217 in NSCLC tissues and paracancerous tissues. The correlation of ZNF217 expression with patient's clinicopathological features was analyzed. At the same time, the Kaplan-Meier method and Cox regression model multiple factor analysis method were used to explore the factors affecting the prognosis of patients after NSCLC radical operations. Results ZNF217 mainly existed in cell nucleus of NSCLC. The positive expression rate of ZNF217 in the cancer tissues was higher than that in the paracancerous tissues [52.5％ (63/120) vs. 20.1％ (25/120), χ 2 = 25.909, P < 0.05]. The positive expression rate of ZNF217 increased with the increase of tumor T stage (χ 2 = 7.333, P = 0.026), N stage (χ 2 = 7.782, P = 0.020) and TNM stage (χ 2 = 11.557, P = 0.003). The overall survival (P = 0.007) and progression-free survival (P = 0.004) of patients with positive ZNF217 were poorer than those of patients with negative ZNF217. Cox multiple factor analysis showed that ZNF217 was an independent risk factor affecting the prognosis of NSCLC. Conclusion ZNF217 is an independent risk factor affecting the prognosis of NSCLC, and it may be a potential target for accurate treatment of NSCLC.

The outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is a serious global health threat.This raises an urgent need for the devel-opment of effective drugs against the deadly disease.SARS-CoV-2 non-structural protein 14 (NSP14)carrying RNA cap guanine N7-methyltransferase and 3'-5'exoribonuclease activities could be a potential drug target for intervention.NSP14 of SARS-CoV-2 shares 98.7％ of similarity with the one (PDB 5NFY) of acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) by ClustalW.Then,the SARS-CoV-2 NSP14 structures were modelled by Modeller 9.18 using SARS NSP14 (PDB 5NFY) as template for virtual screening.Based on the docking score from AutoDock Vina1.1.2,18 small molecule drugs were selected for further evaluation.Based on the 5 ns MD simulation trajectory,binding free energy (AG) was calculated by MM/GBSA method.The calculated binding free energies of Saquinavir,Hypericin,Baicalein and Bromocriptine for the N-terminus of the homology model were-37.2711 ± 3.2160,-30.1746 ± 3.1914,-23.8953 ± 4.4800,and-34.1350 ± 4.3683 kcal/mol,respectively,while the calculated binding free energies were-60.2757 ± 4.7708,-30.9955 ± 2.9975,-46.3099 ± 3.5689,and-59.8104 ± 3.5389 kcal/mol,respectively,when binding to the C-terminus.Thus,the compounds including Saquinavir,Hypericin,Baicalein and Bromocriptine could bind to the N-terminus and C-terminus of the homology model of the SARS-CoV-2 NSP14,providing a candidate drug against SARS-CoV-2 for further study.