OBJECTIVE:To observe the clinical efficacy and safety of Qingjin huatan decoction for patients with AECOPD phlegm-heat obstructing lung. METHODS:120 patients with AECOPD phlegm-heat obstructing lung were divided into observation group and control group according to random number table,with 60 cases in each group. Control group received routine therapy as low-flow oxygen therapy,anti-infective,bronchiectasis,expectorant,etc.;observation group additionally received Qingjin huatan decoction(decocted by 400 ml pure water),tid,on the basis of control group. The levels of IL-8,IL-17,IL-23 and TNF-α were observed in 2 groups before and 7 d after treatment. Clinical efficacies and the occurrence of ADR were compared between 2 groups. RESULTS:Before treatment,there was no statistical significance in the levels of IL-8,IL-17,IL-23 and TNF-α between 2 groups (P>0.05). After treatment,the levels of IL-8,IL-17,IL-23 and TNF-α in observation group were significantly decreased and lower than in control group,with statistical significance (P<0.05). The levels of IL-17,IL-23 and TNF-α in control group were decreased significantly compared to before treatment,with statistical significance(P<0.05);the level of IL-8 had no signifi-cant change compared to before treatment,without statistical significance (P>0.05). Excellent rate of observation group was 95.00%,which was significantly higher than 78.95% of control group,with statistical significance(P<0.05). There was no statis-tical significance in the incidence of ADR between 2 groups(P>0.05). CONCLUSIONS:Qingjin huatan decoction shows signifi-cant therapeutic efficacy in the treatment of AECOPD phlegm-heat obstructing lung,and can improve inflammatory factors with good safety.

Objective To evaluate the clinical effect ofXugu-Huoxue decoction combined with anatomical reduction and internal fixation with cannulated screws in patients with femoral neck fractures. Methods A total of 89 patients with femoral neck fractures were randomly divided into a control group and a Xugu-Huoxuegroup according to the random number table, with 46 in the control group and 45 in the Xugu-Huoxuegroup. The control group was treated with anatomical reduction and internal fixation with cannulated screws, while theXugu-Huoxuedecoction group was treated withXugu-Huoxuedecoction on the basis of the control group. The hemodynamics of the femoral vein was evaluated with color Doppler sonography. Hip function was rated with Harris hip score.ResultsAfter 12 months of treatment, the minimum diastolic velocity (12.0 ± 2.2 cm/svs.9.3 ± 2.0 cm/s;t=3.675,P<0.01), diameter (0.8 ± 0.3 cm vs. 0.6 ± 0.1 cm;t=3.675, P<0.01) and blood flow (1 123.4 ± 271.1 ml/minvs.901.2 ±121.1 ml/min;t=5.067,P<0.01) of the femoral vein in theXugu-Huoxuedecoction group were significantly increased than those in the control group. The rates of excellent or good in theXugu-Huoxuedecoction group and the control group was 86.7% (39/45) and 63.0% (29/46), respectively, with statistically significant difference (χ2=5.529,P=0.019). There were 2 patients (4.4%) with delayed fracture healing and 2 patients (4.4%) with femoral head necrosis in theXugu-Huoxuedecoction group, while 3 patients (6.5%) with delayed fracture healing, 5 patients (10.9%) with femoral head necrosis inthe control group, without statically significant difference (χ2value were 0.000, 0.572,P value were 1.000, 0.449, respectively).ConclusionXugu-Huoxue decoction combined with anatomical reduction and internal fixation with cannulated screwscan improve the fracture prognosis and the joint function in patients with femoral neck fractures.

Spasticity is a common complication of stroke.It may cause the function and ability of patients to be restricted significantly and affect the quality of life of both patients and their caregivers.The estimated prevalence of poststroke spasticity (PSS) is 19％ to 42.6％.PSS can be usually assessed by the Modified Ashworth Scale,Modified Tardieu Scale,and electromyography.Therapeutic methods of PSS include physical therapy and drug treatment.The treatment options should be individualized.

Objectives To evaluate the safety and efficacy of endovascular angioplasty for extracranial vertebral artery ( VA ) stenosis caused by atherosclerosis. Methods We analyzed retrospectively data of the 24 patients with extracranial vertebral artery stenosis who had been placed endovascular angioplasty from April 2006 to March 2010. According to Mori classification, there were 21 type A and 3 type B among all cases.The artery stenosis rate was 60％ -95％ , the average was 79％ ± 10％. Results Twenty-four balloon mounted stents were placed, the successful rate was 100％. Postoperatively the stenosis rate decreased to 4％ ± 6％. Patients were followed up from 3 to 36 months, the average was 22 months. Symptomes disappeared in 15 out of 17 patients. Postoperative restenosis on the treatment site with transient brain ischemia occurred in one patient. The symptoms in another patient of multiple cerebral infarction with ataxia and episodic vertigo were not relieved, although the patient didn't suffer from apoplectic seizure after the intervention. Postoperative color Doppler ultrasound revealed an over 50％ residual stenosis in 5 patients. The postoperative restenosis rate was 20. 8％. According to Malek scoring, 22 patients were scored 1 point, 1 patient scored 2 and one scored 4. Conclusions Endovascular angioplasty with stent placement is a safe and effective treatment. The restenosis rate could be futher reduced by technology improvement.

Objectives To compare Doppler noninvasive vascular testing and computed tomographic angiography(CTA) with vascular angiography in the assessment of arteriosclerotic occlusion of the lower limbs. Methods In this study 97 lower extremities in 64 patients suffering from arteriosclerotic occlusion underwent both Doppler and CTA plus angiography. Angiogram results were taken as golden standard.The sensitivity and specificity of Doppler was calculated,the diagnostic accuracy of Doppler scanning and CTA plus angiography was calculated and compared.The statistic analysis was performed using x2 test in SPSS 16.0 format. Results Compared with CTA,Doppler scanning is equally accurate at the segments of iliac artery,common femoral artery,superficial femoral artery,dorsal pedis artery and posterior tibial artery (P ＞ 0.05).At segment of popliteal artery,Doppler scanning yields more accurate results (P ＜0.05 ). Conclusions Being noninvasive convenient and of good accuracy,Doppler examination has a role for the diagnosis of arteriosclerotic occlusion of the lower limbs.

Objective To evaluate the histocompatibility of novel manufactured xenogenic tendon matrix materials by an animal experimental study.Methods The study was conducted on 15 dogs,weighing 10-13 kg.The prepared xenogenic tendon matrix materials were implanted into the bilateral area of spine in dogs subcutaneously (experimental group),and the implantation of silicon served as control group.The animals were killed 14,30,60 days after surgery and the specimens were processed in laboratory to receive gross and histology observation.The histological sections were stained with hematoxylin-eosin and analyzed by light microscopy.Scores were assigned to the inflammatory process and statistically compared by two related samples with non-parametric test.Results All dogs survived well during the embedded test.There was no tissue necrosis,effusion or inflammation at all implantation sites in both groups during the test.The xenogenic implant materials promoted slight to moderate inflammation process after 14 days,with no statistically significant difference compared to the control.However,after 30 days,there was a regression of inflammation.After 60 days,it was observed the presence of well-organized connective tissue,and few inflammatory cells.Score evaluation of inflammation response at different time after operation of two groups showed no statistically significant difference (P＞0.05).Conclusions The new xenogenic tendon matrix materials are considered biocompatible with subcutaneous tissue.

Objective To evaluate the safety and efficacy of endovascular intervention to revise peripheral bypass problems through prosthetic approach.Methods Among 17 cases undergoing graft bypass anastomotic stenosis and graft thrombosis was identifled in 16 cases(inflow or outflow obstructive lesions in 10),inflow obstructive lessions in 1(without anastomotic and graft thrombosis).All revision procedures were taken under local anesthesia,16 patients were treated by means of surgical thrombectomy followed by endovascular intervention through prosthesis itself in addition to one who had no thrombectomy.The graft patency and clinical outcome were observed.Resuits Thirteen stents were implanted in 13patients with distal anastomotic stenosis and 1 with proximal anastomotic stenosis including 10 stentings/PTAs in iliac popliteal,posterior tibial or anterior tibial arteries.One stent was implanted in 1 patient with common femoral stenosis.Stenting were not used(abandoned)in 2 patients,of which one underwent a foot amputation and calf gangrene occurred a week later,and the other had a redo of grafting.Follow-up time is 1-35 months.with an average of 12±4 months.One had a below-knee amputation two months after intervention,the other had symptoms recurred and treated with a redo 3 months afterwards.the third died of myocardial infarction six months later.Grafts remained patent in the rest 13 patients at follow-up.Conclusions Endovascular intervention through prosthesis is a safe and effective method,which offers an alternative means to treat anastomotic stenosis.inflow or outflow obstructive lesions.

This article retrospectively analyzed the clinical data of 8 patients with vesicovaginal fistula after radiotherapy for cervical cancer admitted in our hospital from January 2015 to October 2021. All of them underwent cystostomy under local anesthesia. A single J tube of bilateral ureters was retained under cystoscope, and the single J tube was introduced into the fistula bag through the cystostomy opening. All patients wore diapers for a long time before operation, and used urine pads 0-2 pieces/day after operation. QOL score was 5.3±0.5 points before operation, and 2.5±0.5 points after operation. The patient's body odor basically disappeared. The vesicovaginal fistula can be repaired by surgery, but for patients who cannot be operated or failed repeatedly due to various reasons, a single J tube of bilateral ureters can be drawn out through the cystostomy opening, which can improve the quality of life of patients through minor trauma.

Background: Chronic exposure to elevated levels of saturated fatty acids results in pancreatic β-cell senescence. However, targets and effective agents for preventing stearic acid-induced β-cell senescence are still lacking. Although melatonin administration can protect β-cells against lipotoxicity through anti-senescence processes, the precise underlying mechanisms still need to be explored. Therefore, we investigated the anti-senescence effect of melatonin on stearic acid-treated mouse β-cells and elucidated the possible role of microRNAs in this process. Methods: β-Cell senescence was identified by measuring the expression of senescence-related genes and senescence-associated β-galactosidase staining. Gain- and loss-of-function approaches were used to investigate the involvement of microRNAs in stearic acid-evoked β-cell senescence and dysfunction. Bioinformatics analyses and luciferase reporter activity assays were applied to predict the direct targets of microRNAs. Results: Long-term exposure to a high concentration of stearic acid-induced senescence and upregulated miR-146a-5p and miR- 8114 expression in both mouse islets and β-TC6 cell lines. Melatonin effectively suppressed this process and reduced the levels of these two miRNAs. A remarkable reversibility of stearic acid-induced β-cell senescence and dysfunction was observed after silencing miR-146a-5p and miR-8114. Moreover, V-maf musculoaponeurotic fibrosarcoma oncogene homolog A (Mafa) was verified as a direct target of miR-146a-5p and miR-8114. Melatonin also significantly ameliorated senescence and dysfunction in miR-146a-5pand miR-8114-transfected β-cells. Conclusion These data demonstrate that melatonin protects against stearic acid-induced β-cell senescence by inhibiting miR-146a- 5p and miR-8114 and upregulating Mafa expression. This not only provides novel targets for preventing stearic acid-induced β-cell dysfunction, but also points to melatonin as a promising drug to combat type 2 diabetes progression.

The rapid development of high-throughput sequencing technologies has led to a dramatic decrease in the money and time required for de novo genome sequencing or genome resequencing projects, with new genome sequences constantly released every week. Among such projects, the plethora of updated genome assemblies induces the requirement of version-dependent annotation files and other compatible public dataset for downstream analysis. To handle these tasks in an efficient manner, we developed the reference-based genome assembly and annotation tool (RGAAT), a flexible toolkit for resequencing-based consensus building and annotation update. RGAAT can detect sequence variants with comparable precision, specificity, and sensitivity to GATK and with higher precision and specificity than Freebayes and SAMtools on four DNA-seq datasets tested in this study. RGAAT can also identify sequence variants based on cross-cultivar or cross-version genomic alignments. Unlike GATK and SAMtools/BCFtools, RGAAT builds the consensus sequence by taking into account the true allele frequency. Finally, RGAAT generates a coordinate conversion file between the reference and query genomes using sequence variants and supports annotation file transfer. Compared to the rapid annotation transfer tool (RATT), RGAAT displays better performance characteristics for annotation transfer between different genome assemblies, strains, and species. In addition, RGAAT can be used for genome modification, genome comparison, and coordinate conversion. RGAAT is available at https://sourceforge.net/projects/rgaat/ and https://github.com/wushyer/RGAAT_v2 at no cost.
Genome ; Genomics ; High-Throughput Nucleotide Sequencing ; methods ; standards ; Humans ; Reference Standards ; Sequence Analysis, DNA ; methods ; standards ; Software