Objective Cystic nephroma ( CN ) is an unusual benign neoplasm with high misdiagnosis rate , and at present there is no general method on its treatment .This study aimed to analyze the diagnosis and treatment of CN based on clinical data of CN patients. Methods We retrospectively analyzed the clinical data on 25 patients (including 2 cases of male pediatric patients , aged 14 and 16 years old, and the remaining 23 cases were adults, 11 males and 12 females, aged 14-69[45.1 ±19.6]years) treated in our department of the First Hospital of Shijiazhuang from January 2003 to July 2015 .All patients underwent ultrasound , CT and MRI examination , as well as surgical resection . Results Among these 25 CN patients , there were 15 cases of partial nephrectomy , 5 ca-ses of nephrectomy , 2 cases of retroperitoneal laparoscopic cyst unroofing , 1 case of laparoscopic enucleation of the tumors with nephron-sparing surgery , 1 case of laparoscopic radical nephroureterectomy , and 1 case of retroperitoneal laparoscopic radical nephrectomy .All the patients were successfully followed up for 6 months to 132 months, 1 patient recurred 6 months after retroperitoneal laparoscopic cyst unroo-fing and underwent open partial nephrectomy .No recurrence and me-tastasis were found in the remaining patients . Conclusion Imaging examination is an important measurement for CN , and intraoperative frozen pathology contributes to pathological diagnosis .Since most CN cases are benign , CN patients with no symptom or small cysts can take follow up survey .The principle of the operation is complete resection of the tumor , and nephron-sparing surgery is the first choice . In addition , regular follow-up is necessary in case of recurrence and malignant potential .

Objectives:To validate the Chinese version of the Ureteral Stent Symptoms Questionnaire(Chinese-USSQ) in patients with an indwelling ureteral stent.Methods:The original USSQ was translated into Chinese and linguistically validated following the cross-cultural adaptation of health-related quality of life measures.A total of 83 patients (cases) with indwelling ureteral stent and 90 healthy subjects (controls) were asked to complete the Chinese-USSQ as well as European Quality of Life Visual Analogue scale(EQ-VAS)(for both genders), the International Prostate Symptom Scale (IPSS) (for male), and Urogenital Distress Inventory-6 (for female). Patients were evaluated at weeks 1 and 4 after stent placement and at week 4 after removal. The psychometric properties of the questionnaire were analyzed.Results:The Chinese version of USSQ include 43 items, which addressed various domains of health(6 sections) covering urinary symptoms, pain, general health, work performance and sexual matters with additional problems. A total of 78 patients(45 males and 33 females) and 90 controls (41 males and 49 females)were included for analysis. Internal consistencies (Cronbach′s α coefficients: 0.60-0.78) and test-retest reliability (Spearman correlation coefficient: 0.69-0.91) were satisfactory for urinary symptom, body pain, general health, and work performance domains. Most USSQ domains showed moderate correlations with each other. The convergent validity determined by correlation between other instruments and corresponding USSQ domain was satisfactory. At week 4 it was moderate for the urinary symptoms index compared to the IPSS in men(Spearman correlation coefficient>0.60), for the urinalry symptoms index compared to the UDI-6 score in women(Spearman correlation coefficient 0.52).Sensitivity to change and discriminant validity were also good in most domains ( P<0.01). Only a small proportion of the study population had an active sexual life with the stent in situ, which limited its analysis. Only 1(1.3%) and 6(7.7%) patients had an active sex life at week 1 and 4 after stent placement; meanwhile, 34(43.6%) patents were sexually active at week 4 after stent removal. Conclusion:The Chinese version of the USSQ is a reliable and valid instrument that can be used for Chinese patients with a indwelling ureteral stent in the clinical and research settings.

The training effects of experimental courses determine the practical abilities of undergraduate students. Therefore, it is essential to establish a comprehensive experimental course system that adapts to the undergraduate education of environmental science. Here, we introduce the "basic-specialized-comprehensive" experimental course system of Xiamen University, which is established following the principles of being systematic, comprehensive, and modular. To establish this course system, we first increased the investment of lab facilities and enhanced the management of student labs. Then, we improved the contexts of teaching and training according to the requirements of industry and society. Showing how this course system is developed stepwise and the training effects of this system, we hope to provide a reference for the experimental courses of environmental science in colleges and universities.
Curriculum ; Environmental Science ; Humans ; Students ; Universities

Objective To identify small molecule inhibitors of APC-mutant colon cancer and provide lead compounds for targeted therapy of colon cancer. Methods APC-mutant colon cancer cell lines that stably express 7*Tcf-GFP/SV40-Cherry (7TGC) dual fluorescence reporter system was constructed for small-molecule inhibitor screening. Cell viability, colony formation, EdU incorporation, and xenograft tumor assay were used to evaluate the inhibitory effect of these inhibitors on APC-mutant colon cancer in vitro and in vivo. Western blot and co-immunoprecipitation assays were used to explore the molecular mechanism. Results Four small molecules that inhibited Wnt activity in APC-mutant colon cancer cells were discovered. Shikonin exhibited significant inhibition of cell viability and proliferation while inducing apoptosis of APC-mutant colon cancer cells. Xenograft tumor assay demonstrated that shikonin significantly reduced tumor growth in vivo. Furthermore, Western blot and co-immunoprecipitation assays revealed that shikonin markedly decreased β-catenin levels. Conclusion Shikonin effectively inhibits Wnt activity and suppresses tumor growth in APC-mutant colon cancer.

OBJECTIVES: To analyze the risk factors for postoperative deep vein thrombosis (DVT) in neurosurgical patients to provide the basis for the prevention of postoperative DVT. METHODS: A total of 141 patients underwent neurosurgery were enrolled. Thrombelastography (TEG) test was performed before and at the end of surgery. According to whether there was DVT formation after operation, the patients were divided into a thrombosis group and a non-thrombosis group. -test and rank sum test were used to compare the general clinical characteristics of the 2 groups, such as age, gender, intraoperative blood loss, -dimer, intraoperative crystal input, colloid input, blood product transfusion, operation duration, length of postoperative hospitalization. The application of chi-square test and rank-sum test were used to compared TEG main test indicators such as R and K values between the 2 groups. Logistic regression was used to analyze the possible risk factors for postoperative DVT in neurosurgical patients. RESULTS: There were significant differences in postoperative TEG index R, clotting factor function, intraoperative blood loss, hypertension or not, length of postoperative hospital stay, and postoperative absolute bed time (all <0.05). Logistic regression analysis showed hypercoagulability, more intraoperative blood loss and longer postoperative absolute bed time were risk factors for DVT formation after craniotomy. CONCLUSIONS Hypercoagulability in postoperative TEG test of patients is an important risk factor for the formation of postoperative DVT after neurosurgery, which can predict the occurrence of postoperative DVT to some extent.
Craniotomy ; adverse effects ; Humans ; Postoperative Complications ; epidemiology ; Postoperative Period ; Risk Factors ; Thrombophilia ; Venous Thrombosis ; epidemiology ; etiology

OBJECTIVETo investigate the mandibular incisive canal (MIC) with cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT).

METHODSFifty adults were selected and CBCT was taken. The CBCT data were reconstructed to evaluate the visibility, shape, diameter, length of the MIC and its relationship with mandible.

RESULTSMIC could be identified in 100% (100/100) of CBCT with good clarity in 71% (71/100). The diameters (horizontal diameter versus vertical diameter) of MIC became smaller from origin to end (left origin of MIC was 2.17 mm×2.22 mm, left end was 0.82 mm×0.92 mm; right origin of MIC was 2.14 mm×2.08 mm, right end was 0.87 mm×0.86 mm). The left and right mean length of MIC was 17.84 mm and 17.73 mm respectively. In bucca-lingual direction, MIC was close to buccal cortical border, and in vertical direction, MIC was close to lower margin of mandible. The distance from MIC to apex of root was shortest in canine.

CONCLUSIONSCBCT can identify MIC with high visibility and prominent clarity. In the interforaminal region of mandible, MIC was close to buccal and lower margin of mandible.

HMG-CoA reductase (HMGCR) protein is usually upregulated after statin (HMGCR inhibitor) treatment, which inevitably diminishes its therapeutic efficacy, provoking the need for higher doses associated with adverse effects. The proteolysis targeting chimera (PROTAC) technology has recently emerged as a powerful approach for inducing protein degradation. Nonetheless, due to their bifunctional nature, developing orally bioavailable PROTACs remains a great challenge. Herein, we identified a powerful HMGCR-targeted PROTAC (