BACKGROUND: The anatomical structure of the pelvis is complex, and it is difficult to be fixed. Misplacement of screws can lead to severe complications. Therefore, exploring an efficient, simple, and economic individualized design of surgical staple parameters has become a key issue in the fixation of the acetabular anterior column fracture. OBJECTIVE: To design parameters on the anterior column of acetabulum fracture reconstruction plate internal fixation for preoperative design using CT scan data, and to compare with conventional steel plate fixation. METHODS: Forty patients with acetabular anterior column fracture were randomly assigned to two groups: digital design group (n=20) and conventional surgery group (n=20). The digital design group received pelvic CT scanning for data acquisition. Materialise Mimics Innovation Suite 16.0 software was used for digital simulation of anterior acetabular fracture plate fixation. The conventional surgery group received conventional steel plate fixation. Operation time, blood loss and healing time were compared between the two groups. Anatomic reduction ratio and hip function score were compared between the two groups at postoperative 16 weeks. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: (1) Operation time, blood loss, healing time, anatomic reduction ratio and hip function score were better in the digital design group than in the conventional surgery group (P=0.00). (2) Results suggest that compared with the conventional surgery group, acetabular anterior column fractures of digital three-dimensional operation design has a good effect on reducing operation time and blood loss and elevating fixation effect, and can provide reference data for clinical diagnosis and treatment of acetabular anterior column fracture.

The full-length porcine interferon gamma(PoIFN-gamma) cDNA, including the secretion signal peptide coding region was recloned into honor plasmid pFastBac 1 of Bac-To-Bac Baculovirus Expression System. These recombinant plasmids, pFastBac -PoIFN-gamma, were transformed into DH(10Bac) host bacteria to get recombinant shuttle plasmids, rBacmid-PoIFN-gamma. Recombinant baculovirus, rBac-PoIFN-gamma, was generated for expressing PoIFN-gamma, by transfecting rBacmid-PoIFN-gamma with Cellfectin Reagent into sf9 insect cells. The expression of PoIFN-gamma in insect cells was confirmed by Western Blot, indirect immunofluorescence assay and indirect ELISA. The antiviral activity assay shows that PoIFN-gamma expressed by the rBac-PoIFN-gamma can efficiently inhibit the replication of the recombinant Vesicular Stomatitis Virus expressing green fluorescence protein in PK-15 cells. The antiviral activity of PoIFN-gamma can be specifically blocked by anti-PoIFN-gamma mouse serum. The antiviral titer of culture supernatant of insect cells infected by rBac-PoIFN-gamma is 2 x 10(4) IU/mL. The results demonstrat that the rBac-PoIFN-gamma can express rPoIFN-gamma efficiently and rPoIFN-gamma has high antiviral activity.
Animals ; Antiviral Agents ; metabolism ; pharmacology ; Baculoviridae ; genetics ; Blotting, Western ; Cell Line ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ; Fluorescent Antibody Technique, Indirect ; Gene Expression ; Green Fluorescent Proteins ; genetics ; metabolism ; Immune Sera ; immunology ; Interferon-gamma ; genetics ; immunology ; metabolism ; pharmacology ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred BALB C ; Microscopy, Fluorescence ; Recombinant Proteins ; Spodoptera ; Swine ; Vesiculovirus ; genetics ; Virus Replication ; drug effects

AIMTo study the incidence of single nucleotide polymorphisms in ubiquitin-specific protease 26 (USP26) gene and its involvement in idiopathic male infertility in China.

METHODSRoutine semen analysis was performed. Infertility factors such as immunological, infectious and biochemical disorders were examined to select patients with idiopathic infertility. DNA was isolated from peripheral blood of the selected patients and control population, which were examined for mutations using polymerase chain reaction-single strand conformation polymorphism analysis. Furthermore, nucleotide sequences were sequenced in some patients and controls.

RESULTSOf 41 infertile men, 9 (22.0%, P = 0.01) had changes in USP26 gene on the X chromosome. A compound mutation (364insACA; 460G right triple arrow A) was detected in 8 patients (19.5%, P = 0.01) and a 1044T right triple arrow A substitution was found in 1 patient (2.4%, P > 0.05). All three variations led to changes in the coding amino acids. Two substitutions predict some changes: 460G right triple arrow A changes a valine into an isoleucine, and 1044T right triple arrow A substitutes a leucine for a phenylalanine. Another insertion of three nucleotides ACA causes an insertion of threonine. No other changes were found in the remaining patients and fertile controls.

CONCLUSIONThe USP26 gene might be of importance in male reproduction. Mutations in this gene might be associated with male infertility, and might negatively affect testicular function. Further research on this issue is in progress.

Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; ethnology ; genetics ; Case-Control Studies ; China ; Cysteine Endopeptidases ; genetics ; metabolism ; Endopeptidases ; genetics ; metabolism ; Humans ; Incidence ; Infertility, Male ; ethnology ; genetics ; Leydig Cells ; metabolism ; Male ; Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide ; genetics ; RNA, Messenger ; genetics ; metabolism ; Sertoli Cells ; metabolism ; Spermatogenesis ; genetics ; Testis ; metabolism ; Ubiquitin-Specific Proteases

BACKGROUND: Acetabulum anterior column shape is complex, and closed to femoral artery, and femoral nerve. Fixed screws easily went into the acetabulum. Currently, there was less data on quantitative anatomy data of pelvic acetabulum fracture with anterior column plate internal fixation. OBJECTIVE: To compare the pelvis gender differences by analyzing digital anatomical features of normal adult acetabulum anterior column section through digital three-dimensional reconstruction and measurement. METHODS: Totally 30 normal adults (half male and half female) received pelvic CT scans, and data were obtained. Using Materialise Mimics Innovation Suite 16.0 software, the boundary of the pelvis was used as reference line for sectioning. The obturator groove, iliopubic eminence, anterior inferior iliac spine, and the anterior superior iliac spine were used as a reference mark. In 15 males and 15 females (30 sides), the corresponding boundary line from obturator groove to the anterior superior iliac spine of acetabular anterior column was sliced into 5 mm-thick sections. The tangent line was vertical to the boundary line. The tangent plane was vertical to the upper plane of the anterior column. The angle and length of each section 5, 10, 15 mm points from the boundary line to the acetabulum, and the perpendicular distance from anterior and posterior edges of the acetabulum to anterior inferior iliac spine, iliopubic eminence and the pubic tubercle. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: (1) Acetabular anterior column from the obturator groove to the anterior superior iliac spine section was not significantly different (P > 0.05). (2) No matter in males or females, the tangent angle of the fifth layer section was minimum, and the tangent length of the sixth layer section was longest. The length and angle of the second slice at 5 mm point were not significantly different between males and females. However, above indexes in others were significantly larger in females than in males (P < 0.05). (3) Results indicated that in different fracture ranges and different fixation plate positions, the angle and length of pedicle screws are dynamic, so we only selected in accordance with above range, but cannot fix in a certain value. The design of the most accurate and effective placement angle and length should be aimed at nailing design parameters for each individual patient. The use of Mimics software can be used for three-dimensional reconstruction of CT data of adult acetabular anterior column fracture, and can measure the number of indexes, and provide a theoretical reference for the clinical diagnosis and treatment of acetabular anterior column fracture.

Purpose: This study was performed to establish and validate a nomogram for predicting the overall survival in children with neuroblastoma. Methods: The latest clinical data of neuroblastoma in Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database was extracted from 2000 to 2016. The cases included were randomly divided into training and validation cohorts. The survival curves were drawn with a Kaplan-Meier estimator to investigate the influences of certain single factors on overall survival. Also, least absolute shrinkage and selection operator regression was applied to further select the prognostic variables for neuroblastoma. Additionally, receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves and calibration curves were used to evaluate the accuracy of the nomogram. Results: In total, 1,262 patients were collected and 8 independent prognostic factors were achieved, including patients’ age, sex, race, tumor grade, radiotherapy, chemotherapy, tumor site, and tumor size. Then we constructed a nomogram by using the data of the training cohort with 886 cases. Subsequently, the nomogram was validated internally and externally with 886 and 376 cases, respectively. The internal validation revealed that the area under the curves (AUC) of ROC curves of 1-, 3-, and 5-year overall survival were 0.69, 0.78, and 0.81, respectively. Accordingly, the external validation also showed that the AUC of 1-, 3-, and 5-year overall survival were all ≥0.69. Both methods of validation demonstrated that the predictive calibration curves were consistent with standard curves. Conclusion The nomogram possess the potential to be a new tool in predicting the survival rate of neuroblastoma patients.

OBJECTIVE: To detect the expression level of suppressors of cytokine signaling 3 （SOCS3） in acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), and to observe the effect of over-expresson of SOCS3 in Jurkat cells on the cytotoxicity of NK cells. METHODS: The expression levels of SOCS3 mRNA in peripheral blood mononuclear cells of 20 children with ALL and 20 healthy children (normal control group) were detected by RT-PCR. The peripheral blood NK cells from healthy subjects were selected by immunomagnetic technique, and the purity was detected by flow cytometry. SOCS3 was overexpressed in Jurkat cells infected with lentivirus vector, and SOCS3 mRNA expression was detected by RT-PCR after lentivirus infection. The NK cells were co-cultured with the infected Jurkat, and LDH release method was used to detect the cytotoxicity of NK cells on the infected Jurkat cells. The concentrations of TNF-α and IFN-γ were determined by ELISA. The expression of NKG2D ligands MICA and MICB on the surface of Jurkat cells were detected by flow cytometry. Western blot was used to detect the effect of SOCS3 overexpression on STAT3 phosphorylation in Jurkat cells. RESULTS: Compared with the control group, the mRNA expression of SOCS3 in the peripheral blood mononucleated cells of ALL children was significantly decreased. The purity of NK cells isolated by flow cytometry could reach more than 70%. The expression of SOCS3 mRNA in Jurkat cells increased significantly after lentivirus infection. Overexpression of SOCS3 in Jurkat cells significantly promoted the killing ability of NK cells and up-regulated the secretion of TNF-α and IFN-γ from NK cells. The results of flow cytometry showed that the expression of NKG2D ligands MICA and MICB on Jurkat cells increased significantly after SOCS3 overexpression. Western blot results showed that overexpression of SOCS3 significantly reduced the phosphorylation level of STAT3 protein in Jurkat cells. CONCLUSION SOCS3 mRNA expression was significantly decreased in ALL patients, and overexpression of SOCS3 may up-regulate the expression of MICA and MICB of NKG2D ligands on Jurkat cell surface through negative regulation of JAK/STAT signaling pathway, thereby promoting the cytotoxic function of NK cells.
Child ; Histocompatibility Antigens Class I/metabolism* ; Humans ; Killer Cells, Natural/cytology* ; Leukocytes, Mononuclear/cytology* ; Ligands ; NK Cell Lectin-Like Receptor Subfamily K/metabolism* ; Precursor Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Lymphoma/genetics* ; RNA, Messenger/genetics* ; Suppressor of Cytokine Signaling 3 Protein/metabolism* ; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha/metabolism*

Objective: To investigate the current status of antithrombotic strategy for elderly patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) and acute coronary syndrome (ACS) after stent implantation in Beijing area and to study the safety and efficacy of different therapeutic strategy. Methods: A total of 467 relevant patients were enrolled by re-travelling electronic medical records from 12 hospitals in Beijing area. The patients' mean age was (78.70±3.32) years and they were divided into 2 groups by antithrombotic therapy condition: Triple therapy group, n=17 (3.64％), Double therapy group, n=450 (96.36％). The incidence of major adverse cardiac and cerebral events (MACCE) including all-caused death, non-fatal myocardial infarction, stent thrombosis, target vessel revascularization (TVR), stoke and bleeding was compared between Triple therapy group and Double therapy group.Results: The medication in Double therapy group included aspirin+ticagrelor, aspirin+clopidogrel, clopidogrel+warfarin and cilostazol+clopidogrel; in Triple therapy group was aspirin+clopidogrel+warfarin. Patient with HAS-BLED score&ge;3 was defined as high risk of bleeding and they were all treated by double therapy; HAS-BLED<3 was defined as low risk of bleeding, only 5.03％ patients were treated by triple therapy. 3 patients in Triple therapy group and 33 in Double therapy group suffered from gastrointestinal bleeding, P=0.338; 6 patients in Triple therapy group and 128 in Double therapy group had MACCE, P=0.589; 3 and 80 patients died in Triple therapy group and Double therapy group, P=0.766. Conclusion: Triple therapy was rarely used in elderly AF and ACS patients after stent implantation, double therapy was the main strategy; the incidence of MACCE and mortality were similar between triple and double therapies; patients with triple therapy had the higher incidence of gastrointestinal bleeding.

Immunotherapy has emerged as one of the major modalities for clinical cancer therapy, along with surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy and targeted therapy. However, tumor-targeted delivery of immune therapeutics is challenged by a series of barriers including non-specific release, poor tumor penetration capacity, and insufficient cellular uptake of the therapeutic regimens, which seriously restricted the efficiency and efficacy of immunotherapy. To address above challenges, nanosized drug delivery systems (NDDS) have been extensively exploited to achieve tumor-targeted delivery of immunotherapy drugs. It has been well investigated that solid tumors are of unique characteristics including acidic, hypoxic and enzymatic extracellular microenvironment. Meanwhile, the tumor cells are of acidic, reductant and reactive oxygen species intracellular microenvironment. In recent years, a large variety of tumor microenvironment-activatable NDDS have been exploited to respond specifically to the stimulus of extracellular or intracellular tumor microenvironment for enhancing the accumulation, retention and penetration in the tumor tissue. These NDDS were also employed to promote intracellular uptake and tunable drug release inside the tumor cells. In this review article, we summarized the recent progress of our laboratory using the tumor microenvironment-activatable NDDS for immune efficient therapeutics delivery, and improved cancer immunotherapy. We also briefly discussed the challenges and provided perspective of NDDS-based cancer immunotherapy.

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the clinical treatment outcomes and the changes of the outcomes over time in extremely preterm twins in Guangdong Province, China. METHODS: A retrospective analysis was performed for 269 pairs of extremely preterm twins with a gestational age of <28 weeks who were admitted to the department of neonatology in 26 grade A tertiary hospitals in Guangdong Province from January 2008 to December 2017. According to the admission time, they were divided into two groups: 2008-2012 and 2013-2017. Besides, each pair of twins was divided into the heavier infant and the lighter infant subgroups according to birth weight. The perinatal data of mothers and hospitalization data of neonates were collected. The survival rate of twins and the incidence rate of complications were compared between the 2008-2012 and 2013-2017 groups. RESULTS: Compared with the 2008-2012 group, the 2013-2017 group (both the heavier infant and lighter infant subgroups) had lower incidence rates of severe asphyxia and smaller head circumference at birth (P<0.05). The mortality rates of both of the twins, the heavier infant of the twins, and the lighter infant of the twins were lower in the 2013-2017 group compared with the 2008-2012 group (P<0.05). Compared with the 2008-2012 group, the 2013-2017 group (both the heavier infant and lighter infant subgroups) had lower incidence rates of pulmonary hemorrhage, patent ductus arteriosus (PDA), periventricular-intraventricular hemorrhage (P-IVH), and neonatal respiratory distress syndrome (NRDS) and a higher incidence rate of bronchopulmonary dysplasia (P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS There is a significant increase in the survival rate over time in extremely preterm twins with a gestational age of <28 weeks in the 26 grade A tertiary hospitals in Guangdong Province. The incidences of severe asphyxia, pulmonary hemorrhage, PDA, P-IVH, and NRDS decrease in both the heavier and lighter infants of the twins, but the incidence of bronchopulmonary dysplasia increases. With the improvement of diagnosis and treatment, the multidisciplinary collaboration between different fields of fetal medicine including prenatal diagnosis, obstetrics, and neonatology is needed in the future to jointly develop management strategies for twin pregnancy.
Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia/epidemiology* ; Female ; Gestational Age ; Humans ; Infant ; Infant, Extremely Premature ; Infant, Newborn ; Pregnancy ; Respiratory Distress Syndrome, Newborn/epidemiology* ; Retrospective Studies ; Treatment Outcome

ObjectiveExisting artificial vision devices can be divided into two types: implanted devices and extracorporeal devices, both of which have some disadvantages. The former requires surgical implantation, which may lead to irreversible trauma, while the latter has some defects such as relatively simple instructions, limited application scenarios and relying too much on the judgment of artificial intelligence (AI) to provide enough security. Here we propose a system that has voice interaction and can convert surrounding environment information into tactile commands on head and neck. Compared with existing extracorporeal devices, our device can provide a larger capacity of information and has advantages such as lower cost, lower risk, suitable for a variety of life and work scenarios. MethodsWith the latest remote wireless communication and chip technologies, microelectronic devices, cameras and sensors worn by the user, as well as the huge database and computing power in the cloud, the backend staff can get a full insight into the scenario, environmental parameters and status of the user remotely (for example, across the city) in real time. In the meanwhile, by comparing the cloud database and in-memory database and with the help of AI-assisted recognition and manual analysis, they can quickly develop the most reasonable action plan and send instructions to the user. In addition, the backend staff can provide humanistic care and emotional sustenance through voice dialogs. ResultsThis study originally proposes the concept of “remote virtual companion” and demonstrates the related hardware and software as well as test results. The system can not only achieve basic guide functions, for example, helping a person with visual impairment to shop in supermarkets, find seats at cafes, walk on the streets, construct complex puzzles, and play cards, but also can meet the demand for fast-paced daily tasks such as cycling. ConclusionExperimental results show that this “remote virtual companion” is applicable for various scenarios and demands. It can help blind people with their travels, shopping and entertainment, or accompany the elderlies with their trips, wilderness explorations, and travels.