BACKGROUND: Irradiation crosslinking can remarkably increase the abrasive performance of ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE), thereby reducing its wear rate. OBJECTIVE: To review the recent progress in irradiated crosslinking UHMWPE. METHODS: A computer-based online search of ISI Web of knowledge was performed for articles related to irradiated crosslinking UHMWPE published from January1995 to April 2012 using the keywords of“irradiation crosslinking UHMWPE” in English. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: At present, domestic studies on irradiation crosslinking of UHMWPE mainly focus on the wear resistance, oxidation resistance and mechanical properties. Under high-energy radiation, radicals generate from the UHMWPE, which are inter-crosslinked. Irradiation crosslinking dramatical y enhances the UHMWPE wear resistance, while reduces its oxidation resistance and mechanical properties. In the future, the research wil focus on how to develop new UHMWPE composite with good wear resistance, oxidation resistance and mechanical properties.

BACKGROUND:Coculture of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cel s and human umbilical vein endothelial cel s can improve both osteogenic and angiogenic outcomes and provide a promising strategy for bone tissue engineering and osteanagenesis.
OBJECTIVE:To summarize recent researches and related progresses in coculture of human umbilical vein endothelial cel s and bone marrow mesenchymal stem cel s.
METHODS:A computer-based online search of CNKI database from January 2000 to March 2012, PubMed database and Web of Knowledge database from January 1980 to March 2012, was performed with the keywords of“human umbilical vein endothelial cel s, bone mesenchymal stem cel s, coculture, tissue engineering”both in Chinese and English. A total of 135 articles were screened out, 103 of them were excluded due to unrelated study objective and repeated contents, and final y 32 articles were involved in further analysis.
RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:At present, studies on coculture of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cel s and human umbilical vein endothelial cel s mainly focus on mimicking in vivo environments, the interactions between cel s, and the influence of different cel ratios and culture media. Most of these researches play important roles in bone tissue engineering and bone regeneration therapy, but the mechanism of action and concrete regulation in
vivo between bone marrow mesenchymal stem cel s and human umbilical vein endothelial cel s stil need further research and analysis.

Objective To compare the efficacy between bronchial artery infusion (BAI) chemotherapy plus radiation therapy and systemic chemotherapy plus radiation for locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Methods One hundred and twenty-one patients with stage III NSCLC were randomized into treatment group(58 cases) and control group (63 cases). In the treatment group, all patients were administered with BAI for 2-3 sessions, followed by irradiation 4-7 days after BAI. In the control group, altogether 4-6 cycles of standard systemic chemotherapy were given. Radiation was delivered alternately between the cycles of chemotherapy. Results The short-term, long-term survival, median response duration and median survival time were similar between the two groups, except patients with stage Ⅲb who had a higher distant metastasis rate in the treatment group. The major side effects of chemotherapy and radiotherapy were hematological, gastrointestinal toxicities, pneumonitis, mediastinitis, and esophagitis, respectively. The side effects were milder, better tolerated and did not influence the regimen schedule in the treatment group, as compared with the control group. Seven patients withdrew from the control group, and in 28 patients, the scheduled chemotherapy and radiation was delayed or canceled. Conclusions Bronchial artery infusion plus radiation is more advantageous over systemic chemotherapy plus radiation in less toxicities, better compliance, shorter treatment courses and more cost-effectiveness.

Objective:To explore the application effect of blended learning on the teaching of nursing research course for undergraduate nursing students.Methods:From March to July 2019, a total of 118 undergraduate nursing students from Batch 2016 of a university in Xinjiang were collected in this study and divided into two groups randomly: the experimental group ( n = 60) and the control group ( n = 58). At the end of the course, the final examination scores of the nursing students were compared, and questionnaires were used to evaluate the critical thinking, self-directed learning ability and satisfaction of nursing students. SPSS 21.0 was used for independent-sample t-test and chi-square test. Results:After the implementation of the course, the scores of nursing research theory and practice of nursing students in the experimental group were (78.97±6.57) points and (83.02±3.50) points respectively, which were better than those of nursing students in the control group (75.48±7.76) points and (81.48±3.86) points. The total scores of critical thinking ability and self-directed learning ability of nursing students in the experimental group (294.67±25.15) and self-directed learning ability (277.67±30.84) were higher than those in the control group (222.03±18.77) and (203.81±33.19). The satisfaction degree of nursing students in the experimental group (93.33%) was better than that in the control group (60.34%), with statistical significance ( P<0.05). Conclusion:The application of blended learning in nursing research teaching can improve the final examination results of nursing students, and contribute to the improvement of nursing students' critical thinking ability, self-directed learning ability and course satisfaction.

Objective: To evaluate the therapeutic efficacy of penciclovir combined with foscarnet sodium in the treatment of herpes zoster. Methods: The clinical datas of 135 herpes zoster patients from the ward of Department of Dermatology, Tianjin Medical University General Hospital were collected. Among them 64 patients received penciclovir and foscarnet sodium, and the remaining 71 patients only received penciclovir alone.Their general information, the time for vesicle stopped emerging, rash began to scab, pain to relief obviously, the adverse reaction and if they got the postherpetic neuralgia were recorded and included into statistical analysis. Results: The general information showed no significant differences between the 2 groups(all P>0.05). The time for vesicle stopped emerging, rash began to scab, pain to relief obviously in combination group was shorter than the penciclovir group (all P<0.001). The number of patients who developed postherpetic neuralgia of combination group was fewer than that of penciclovir group(P=0.013). There was no statistical significance between the 2 groups the adverse reaction(P=0.928). Conclusions The penciclovir and foscarnet sodium combination therapy showed rapid therapeutic effects on herpes zoster patients, the incidence of postherpetic neuralgia was low, and there was no more side effects than penciclovir alone therapy. The combined therapy may be a reliable way to treat herpes zoster.

Objective:To investigate the clinical characteristics of Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) combined with hyponatremia in Southern China and its risk factors for prognosis.Methods:The retrospective cohort study involved patients who met the diagnostic criteria of GBS from 18 upper first-class hospitals of 6 provinces/cities in southern China (south of Huaihe River) from January 1, 2013 to September 30, 2016. The clinical data of these patients were collected. According to serum sodium levels, they were divided into hyponatremia group (serum sodium concentration<135 mmol/L) and normal serum sodium group (serum sodium concentrations≥135 mmol/L). Based on Medical Research Coucil sum scores at nadir, these patients were divided into mild GBS group (>40), moderate GBS group (30-40), and severe GBS group (<30). Furthermore, according to the Hughes GBS disability scale (H-GBS-DS) scores at discharge, these GBS patients with hyponatremia were divided into favorable prognosis group (H-GBS-DS<3) and poor prognosis group (H-GBS-DS≥3). The incidence of hyponatremia in patients from the mild GBS group, moderate GBS group, and severe GBS group were compared. Multivariate Logistic regression analysis was performed to determine the clinical risk factors for hyponatremia in GBS patients. The clinical data of hyponatremia patients from favorable prognosis group and poor prognosis group were compared; multivariate Logistic regression analysis was used to determine the risk factors for poor prognosis in GBS patients with hyponatremia.Results:(1) Among the 570 patients, 354 had mild GBS, 94 had moderate GBS, and 122 had severe GBS; 134 GBS patients were combined with hyponatremia, 436 GBS patients had normal serum sodium. The hyponatremia incidence in mild, moderate and severe GBS groups increased successively, ( P<0.05). Multivariate Logistic regression analysis showed that facial paralysis ( OR=1.979, 95%CI: 1.172-3.342, P=0.011), respiratory muscle paralysis ( OR=3.218, 95%CI: 1.611-6.428, P=0.001), secondary pulmonary infection ( OR=4.822, 95%CI: 2.835-8.201, P=0.000), severe GBS ( OR=2.611, 95%CI: 1.444-4.721, P=0.001) and length of hospital stay ( OR=1.029, 95%CI: 1.009-1.050, P=0.004) were risk factors for hyponatremia in GBS patients. (2) Among 134 GBS patients with hyponatremia, 80 had poor prognosis and 54 had favorable prognosis. As compared with the favorable group, the poor prognosis group had significantly lower proportion of patients with extraocular muscle paralysis, statistically higher proportions of patients with respiratory muscle paralysis and secondary pulmonary infection, significantly different severities of GBS, signficantly higher proportion of patients accepted intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) and hormone treatments, statistically longer length of hospital stay ( P<0.05). Respiratory muscle paralysis ( OR=25.590, 95%CI: 9.433-69.423, P=0.000), moderate GBS ( OR=17.030, 95%CI: 8.441-34.361, P=0.000), and severe GBS ( OR=51.042, 95%CI: 24.596-105.926, P=0.000) were independent risk factors for poor short-term prognosis of GBS patients with hyponatremia. Conclusions:Severe GBS patients with facial paralysis, respiratory muscle palsy, secondary pulmonary infection, and long hospital stay trend to have hyponatremia. Hyponatremia patients with respiratory muscle paralysis and moderate/severe GBS have poor short-term prognosis.

Objective:To explore the short-term prognostic factors for Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) in children.Methods:The clinical data of children with GBS from 24 hospitals in 10 provinces/municipalities/autonomous regions in southern China (south of Huaihe River) from January 1, 2013 to September 30, 2016 were retrospectively analyzed. The factors affecting the short-term prognoses of children were explored.Results:In these 78 children (50 males and 28 females), the average age was 9.53±5.44 years, and 19 were under 5 years old. Fifty children had history of prodromal events; 28 children had cranial nerve involvement, and 22 had autonomic nerve involvement. Five children needed assisted respiration, and one died during hospitalization. There was no statistically significant difference in percentage of children having poor short-term prognosis (scores of Hughes GBS disability scale≥3 at discharge) between children with different ages, children having different days from onset to admission, children with different clinical classifications or electrophysiological classifications, children with different treatment plans, children having presence or absence of prodromal events, children having presence or absence of cranial nerve involvement ( P>0.05). The proportion of children having poor short-term prognosis in children with autonomic nerve involvement was significantly higher than that of children without autonomic nerve involvement (31.8% vs. 10.7%, P<0.05). Conclusion:The short-term prognosis of children with autonomic nerve involvement is poor.

Objective To analyze the clinical features and validation of Brighton criteria in Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) patients from southern China.Methods The clinical data of hospitalized GBS patients from 69 hospitals of 14 provinces/cities in southern China,the area south of the Huaihe River,between 1 January 2013 and 30 September 2016,were collected and analyzed retrospectively,and patients were classified according to the Brighton criteria of case definition,ranging from a highest (defined as level one) to a lowest (level four) level of diagnostic certainty.Results A total of 1 358 GBS patients were collected,including 51 cases with cranial nerve variants,157 with Miler-Fisher syndrome and 1 150 with classic GBS characterized by flaccid weakness of limbs.Among 1 150 cases of classic GBS,49.57％ (570/1 150) patients had antecedent events,with respiratory infection predominated (71.23％,406/570);83.74％ (963/1 150) presented limb weakness at onset,99.21％ (1 124/1 133) reached the peak within four weeks,with a score of 3.15 ± 1.16 for Hughes Disability Scale;99.56％ (1 128/1 133)developed bilateral weakness and 95.39％ (1 097/1 150) manifested flexia or hyporeflexia;the cerebrospinal fluid showed albuminocytologic dissociation in 80.58％ (772/958) patients whose lumbar puncture was performed;demyelinating GBS accounted for 48.14％ (401/833) and axonal subtype 18.01％ (150/833) respectively in patients with findings of nerve conduction studies available.According to Brighton criteria,the patients were stratified as level one in 44.09％ (507/1 150),level two in 45.74％ (526/1 150),level three in 7.57％ (87/1 150) and level four in 2.61％ (30/1 150) of all the patients,and 69.55％ (507/729),28.67％ (209/729),0％ (0/729) and 1.78％ (13/729),respectively in the patients with complete data (n =729).Conclusions In southern China,demyelinating subtype of GBS is predominant,whereas the proportion of axonal subtype is remarkably lower than that in northern China.The Brighton criteria have a high sensitivity for the diagnosis of GBS in southern China,and examination of cerebrospinal fluid and electrodiagnostic studies are necessary for stratified diagnosis.

Objective To fit and predict the monthly discharge number of a specialist hospital using Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average model (ARIMA) and Long Short-Term Memory Neural Network model (LSTM), and compare the prediction effects of the two models. Methods ARIMA and LSTM models were constructed based on the monthly discharge number of a specialist hospital from 2013 to 2018. The resulting models were then used to predict the monthly discharge numbers in 2019, which were compared with actual data. The mean absolute percentage error (MAPE) was used to evaluate the prediction effect of these two models. Results The MAPE values of ARIMA and LSTM compared to actual data in 2019 were 7.90% and 14.26%, respectively. Conclusion The prediction effect of ARIMA was better than that of LSTM. The prediction results of ARIMA showed that the number of patients discharged from the specialist hospital in 2019 was increasing, which fit well with the actual data.

BACKGROUNDEndostar™ (rh-endostatin, YH-16) is a new recombinant human endostatin developed by Medgenn Bioengineering Co. Ltd., Yantai, Shandong, P.R.China. Pre-clinical study indicated that YH-16 could inhibit tumor endothelial cell proliferation, angiogenesis and tumor growth. Phase I and phase II studies revealed that YH-16 was effective as single agent with good tolerance in clinical use.The current study was to compare the response rate , median ti me to progression (TTP) ,clinical benefit andsafety in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer ( NSCLC) , who were treated with YH-16 plus vi-norelbine and cisplatin (NP) or placebo plus NP.

METHODSFour hundred and ninety-three histologically or cy-tologically confirmed stage IIIB and IV NSCLC patients , withlife expectancy > 3 months and ECOG perform-ance status 0-2 , were enrolledin a randomized ,double-blind ,placebo-controlled , multicenter trial ,either trialgroup : NP plus YH-16 (vinorelbine 25 mg/m² on day 1 and day 5 ,cisplatin 30mg/m² on days 2 to 4 , YH-167.5mg/m² on days 1 to 14) or control group : NP plus placebo (vinorelbine 25 mg/m² on day 1 and day 5 ,cis-platin 30 mg/m² on days 2 to 4 ,0.9% sodium-chloride 3 .75 ml on days 1 to 14) every 3 weeks for 2-6 cycles .The trial endpoints included response rate ,clinical benefit rate ,time to progression,quality of life and safety .

RESULTSOf 486 assessable patients , overall response rate was 35.4% in trial group and 19.5% in controlgroup (P=0 .0003) . The median TTP was 6 .3 months and 3 .6 months for trial group and control group respectively (P < 0 .001) . The clinical benefit rate was 73 .3 %in trial group and 64.0% in control group (P=0 .035) .In untreated patients of trial group and control group ,the response rate was 40 .0% and 23.9%(P=0 .003) ,the clinical benefit rate was 76 .5 % and 65 .0 % (P=0 .023) ,the median TTP was 6 .6 and 3 .7months (P=0 .0000) ,respectively .In pretreated patients of trial group and control group ,the response ratewas 23.9% and 8.5%(P=0 .034) ,the clinical benefit rate was 65.2% and 61.7%(P=0 .68) ,the median TTP was 5 .7 and 3 .2 months (P=0 .0002) ,respectively . The relief rate of clinical symptoms in trial groupwas higher than that of those in control group ,but no significance existed (P > 0 .05) . The score of quality oflife in trial group was significantly higher than that in control group (P=0 .0155) after treatment . There were no significant differences in incidence of hematologic and non-hematologic toxicity , moderate and severe sideeffects betweentrial group and control group .

CONCLUSIONSThe addition of YH-16 to NP regimen results in significantly and clinically meaningful improvement in response rate , median time to tumor progression,and clinical benefit rate compared with NP alone in advanced NSCLC patients . YH-16 in combination with chemotherapy shows a synergic activity and a favorable toxic profile in advanced cancer patients .