Shear wave elastography (SWE) is used to quantitatively analyze the hardness of the tissue by Young's modulus.The hardness of the tissue is visualized in the form of color coding to distinguish the benign and malignant tissue detected.SWE has higher sensitivity,accuracy and specificity compared with traditional color doppler,which is more objective than elastography,safer,cheaper and simpler than MRI.SWE has a good application prospect in the diagnosis,clinical staging and curative effect monitoring of cervical cancer.

Objective To investigate the effect of different uterine positions upon the dose distribution and target area conformability of organ at risk ( OAR) and explore the population suitable for 2-dimensional brachytherapy by comparing the dosimetry between CT-guided 3-and 2-dimensional brachytherapy for cervical cancer. Methods Thirty patients with cervical cancer received 72 cycles of 3-dimensional brachytherapy and then 2-dimensional brachytherapy was designed. The deviation angle of the uterus from the longitudinal asix on the coronal and sagittal CT images was measured. The obtained data were divided into the A to D and the group Ⅰ to Ⅳ according to the deviation angle ( T) of uterus position from the longitudinal axis on the sagittal CT images and the volume of HRCTV ( VHRCTV) to identify the optimal uterine position and range of VHRCTV for 2-dimensional brachytherapy. Statistical analysis was performed by paired t-test. Results The deviation angle of uterine position was not significantly correlated with the target CI index or D90 of HRCTV in both brachytherapy plans ( P value between 0. 077-0. 633 ) , whereas it was positively correlated with the D2 cm3 of bladder ( P value between 0. 001-0. 030) and negatively associated with the D2 cm3 of rectum in both 2-and 3-dimensional brachytherapy (P value between 0. 011-0. 016).In group B (|T|≤10°) and group Ⅲ(VHRCTVvalue between 86-96 cm3),the OAR parameters and CI index did not significantly differ between two brachytherapy plans ( P value between 0. 040-0. 463 ) , whereas varying degree of statistical differences was observed among other groups (P value between 0. 000-0. 940). Conclusions Although uterine position exerts no effect upon the conformal index of target area, it can affect the dose distribution of OAR. No statistical significance is noted in the dosimetry between 3-and 2-dimensional brachytherapy plans when the uterine position is almost flat (|T|≤10° ) and the radiotherapy target area is appropriate ( VHRCTVvalue between 86-96 cm3 ) . In this situation, 2-dimensional brachytherapy is the optimal option.

AIM: Previous studies have suggested that big stick design (BSD) method can only be used in clinical trials of two treatments with equal proportion, which has good statistical performance and has become the recommended choice of randomized methods. This study expands BSD method, so that it can be applied to three groups, and provides more randomized methods for clinical trials. METHODS: On the basis of BSD method used in two treatments with equal proportion, the derivation conditional allocation probability of BSD method used in three treatments with equal proportion was carried out. BSD method was compared with simple randomization (SR) method, permuted block design (PBD) method and block urn design (BUD) method by Monte-Carlo simulation in balance and randomness. RESULTS: In terms of balance, PBD method was the best, followed by BUD method, BSD method, and SR method was the worst. In terms of randomness, SR method was the best, followed by BSD method, BUD method and PBD method. The comprehensive performance showed that BSD method was better than BUD method, PBD method and SR method. CONCLUSION: The expanded BSD method used in three treatments with equal proportion has good comprehensive performance, and it can be the recommended randomization method for clinical trials of three treatments with equal proportion.

As a rare Chinese medicinal material， Paridis Rhizoma is mainly distributed in Yunnan， Guangxi， and Guizhou in southwestern China， with the effect of clearing heat and detoxifying， alleviating edema and relieving pain， cooling liver and tranquilizing mind. It is particularly effective for injuries from falls， fractures， contusions and strains， snake bites， cold wind-induced convulsion， and other diseases， which has been used for more than 2 000 years. According to modern research， polyphyllin Ⅱ， one of the main active components of Paridis Rhizoma， belongs to diosgenin in structure. It has the anti-tumor， anti-inflammatory， antiviral， antibacterial， immune-regulating， antioxidant， and multidrug resistance-reversing activities， showing good application prospect. Especially， the anti-tumor effect of polyphyllin Ⅱ has attracted wide attention， and the mechanism is inhibiting proliferation， migration， and invasion of tumor cells， inducing cell cycle arrest， apoptosis， and autophagy， suppressing angiogenesis， and modulating tumor microenvironment. However， the pharmacokinetic results show that polyphyllin Ⅱ has low bioavailability in vivo due to the low solubility， poor absorption， unsatisfactory distribution， and slow metabolism， which limit the clinical application. In recent years， there has been an explosion of research on the adverse reactions of polyphyllin Ⅱ， such as the strong hemolytic activity and obvious cytotoxicity to liver， kidney， myocardium and cardiovascular cells. Thus， papers were retrieved from "CNKI"， "VIP"， "Wanfang Data"， "PubMed"， "Web of Science"， and "Elsevier SD" with "Paris saponin Ⅱ"， "Polyphyllin Ⅱ" as the main keywords， and the pharmacological activities and mechanisms， pharmacokinetics， and adverse reactions were summarized. The findings are expected to serve as a reference for the in-depth research， development， and utilization of polyphyllin Ⅱ.