OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether Buyang Huanwu Decoction (BYHWD) had a good curative effect on the neuroprotection of red nucleus neurons after spinal cord injury (SCI) and the possible molecular mechanism. METHODS: Ninety male Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into 5 groups (n=18 per group) according to a random number table, including the control, model, low- (12.78 g/kg, BL group), medium- (25.65 g/kg, BM group), and high-dose BYHWD groups (51.30 g/kg, BH group). A rubrospinal tract transection model in rats was established, and different doses of BYHWD were intragastrically administrated for 4 weeks. The forelimb locomotor function was recorded using the spontaneous vertical exploration test. Cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) level in red nucleus was detected through an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The morphology and number of red nucleus neurons were observed using Nissl's staining and axonal retrograde tracing by Fluoro-Gold (FG). The expression of cAMP-dependent protein kinase A (PKA), nuclear factor kappa-B (NF-κB) p65, and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in red nucleus were detected using immunohistochemistry and quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction. RESULTS: Compared with the control group, the utilization rate of bilateral forelimbs, unilateral right forelimbs, proportion of FG-labeled positive neurons, cAMP level, protein expressions of PKA and BDNF, and BDNF mRNA expression were significantly decreased in the model group (P<0.01), while NF-κB p65 was increased in the model group (P<0.01). Compared with the model group, the utilization rate of bilateral forelimbs and unilateral right forelimbs were significantly higher in the BL, BM and BH groups (P<0.01), the proportion of FG-labeled positive neurons, cAMP level, protein expressions of PKA and BDNF and BDNF mRNA expression in all BYHWD groups were increased (P<0.05 or P<0.01), while NF-κB p65 were decreased in all BYHWD groups (P<0.05 or P<0.01). CONCLUSIONS BYHWD possesses a sound neuroprotective effect on red nucleus neurons after SCI, and the efficacy was dose-related. The mechanism may be related to regulating the cAMP/PKA/NF-κ B p65 signaling pathway, finally promoting expression of BDNF.
Animals ; Spinal Cord Injuries/pathology* ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal/therapeutic use* ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Male ; Cyclic AMP/metabolism* ; Transcription Factor RelA/metabolism* ; Cyclic AMP-Dependent Protein Kinases/metabolism* ; Signal Transduction/drug effects* ; Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor/genetics* ; Red Nucleus/metabolism* ; Recovery of Function/drug effects* ; Neurons/metabolism* ; Rats

Objective:To study the correlation between the number of hemophagocytes and peripheral blood cells in bone marrow of patients with fever of unknown origin.Methods:A total of 465 patients with fever of unknown origin in our hospital from January 2019 to December 2021 were selected as the research objects,which was to reviewed retrospectively the correlation between the number of hemophagocytes and peripheral blood cells in bone marrow.Results:The positive rates of hemophagocytes detected in the three lines decreased group,the two lines decreased group,the one line decreased group,normal group of the three lines and at least one of the three lines increased group were 86.4％,62.1％,38.3％,34.6％and 33.3％,respectively.The number of hemophagocytes per unit area in the three lines decreased group was significantly higher than that in the other four groups(P＜0.001).The number of hemophagocytes per unit area in the two lines decreased group was higher than that in the one line decreased group,normal group of three lines and at least one of the three lines increased group(P＜0.01).There was no significant difference in the number of hemophagocytes per unit area between the group with a decreased number of one line and the other two groups with a normal number of three lines and the group with at least one increased number of three lines(P＞0.05).The missed rates of hemophagocytes in the five groups were 15.78％,22.03％,62.22％,77.78％and 53.84％,respectively.Conclusion:For patients with fever of unknown origin,especially those with obvious decrease in the number of three lines and two lines in peripheral blood cells,which should pay attention to the detection of hemophagocytes in bone marrow.Meanwhile,if the number of three lines was normal even at least one of the three lines increased,the presence of hemophagocytes in the bone marrow slice should be also carefully observed.

Humans ; Multiple Myeloma/drug therapy* ; Thalidomide/therapeutic use* ; Dexamethasone/therapeutic use* ; Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols ; Neoplasm Recurrence, Local/drug therapy*

INTRODUCTION: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has had an unprecedented impact in Asia and has placed significant burden on already stretched healthcare systems. We examined the impact of COVID-19 on the safety attitudes among healthcare workers (HCWs), as well as their associated demographic and occupational factors, and measures of burnout, depression and anxiety. METHODS: A cross-sectional survey study utilising snowball sampling was performed involving doctors, nurses and allied health professions from 23 hospitals in Singapore, Malaysia, India and Indonesia between 29 May 2020 and 13 July 2020. This survey collated demographic data and workplace conditions and included three validated questionnaires: the Safety Attitudes Questionnaire (SAQ), Oldenburg Burnout Inventory and Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale. We performed multivariate mixed-model regression to assess independent associations with the SAQ total percentage agree rate (PAR). RESULTS: We obtained 3,163 responses. The SAQ total PARs were found to be 35.7%, 15.0%, 51.0% and 3.3% among the respondents from Singapore, Malaysia, India and Indonesia, respectively. Burnout scores were highest among respondents from Indonesia and lowest among respondents from India (70.9%-85.4% vs. 56.3%-63.6%, respectively). Multivariate analyses revealed that meeting burnout and depression thresholds and shifts lasting ≥12 h were significantly associated with lower SAQ total PAR. CONCLUSION Addressing the factors contributing to high burnout and depression and placing strict limits on work hours per shift may contribute significantly towards improving safety culture among HCWs and should remain priorities during the pandemic.
Humans ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Pandemics ; COVID-19/epidemiology* ; Burnout, Psychological ; Health Personnel

Objective: To measure and analyze the shoulder circumferences of adults' permanent teeth crown preparations based on data collected through the intraoral scanning, so as to provide dental anatomy data for clinical diagnosis and analysis. Methods: Intraoral scanning data of 840 complete crown preparations were collected, and were entrusted to the World Dental Laboratory Co., Ltd. in Fuzhou between March 2021 and June 2022. Except the data of the third molar, the rest data were categorized in terms of 14 tooth positions in the upper and lower jaw (each category involved 30 samples from male group and 30 samples from female group). Image measurement software was used to measure the shoulder circumferences of permanent teeth crown preparations. And analysis was conducted to reveal the difference of shoulder circumference diameters between male and female groups. And then they were grouped according to the mean value at each tooth position, on the premise that the difference between the maximum and minimum values and the mean value of the entire group was≤±1.00 mm. Analysis were further conducted to determine the differences of shoulder circumference diameters between each dental position and the differences between male and female in the same groups. Results: Bivariate analysis of variance showed that gender had no effect on the shoulder circumference of full crown preparations (F=0.55, P=1.457), while tooth position had a significant impact on the shoulder circumference of full crown preparations (F=273.15, P<0.001). The samples were classified into 5 groups according to the mean values of shoulder circumference diameters relating to each tooth position. Statistical analysis showed that Group 1, covering maxillary lateral incisor, mandibular central incisor and mandibular lateral incisor, had shoulder circumference with diameters of (16.62±2.21) mm; Group 2, consisting of maxillary central incisor, maxillary cusp, mandibular cusp, mandibular first premolar and mandibular second premolar, had diameters of (20.78±2.48) mm; Group 3, consisting of maxillary first premolar and maxillary second premolar, had diamerters of (22.09±2.72) mm; Group 4, covering maxillary first molar, maxillary second molar and mandibular first molar, had diamerters of (30.21±2.67) mm; while group 5, with mandibular second molar alone its member, had diamerters of (31.34±3.18) mm. The difference among the 5 groups was statistically significant (P<0.05). Conclusions: Significant differences of shoulder circumference diameters could be found between different tooth positions, while at the same tooth position, the differences between male and female are not significant. The 14 tooth positions could be grouped into 5 groups according to their shoulder circumference diameters. Future research could take the grouping as reference.

OBJECTIVE: To summarize the experiences and outcomes of 108 robot-assisted laparoscopic upper urinary tract reconstruction surgeries conducted by a single surgeon. METHODS: We consecutively and retrospectively reviewed 108 patients who underwent robot-assisted laparoscopic upper urinary tract reconstruction surgeries by a single surgeon from November 2018 to January 2020. The patient demographics, perioperative variables, postoperative complications and follow-up data were recorded. Fifty-three modified dismembered pyeloplasties (MDP), 11 spiral flap pyeloplasties (SFP), 11 ure-teroureterostomies (UUT), 4 lingual mucosal onlay graft ureteroplasties (LMU), 5 appendiceal onlay flap ureteroplasties (AU), 11 ureteral reimplantations (UR), 6 Boari flap-Psoas hitch surgeries (BPS) and 7 ileal ureter replacements (IUR) were enrolled finally. The success was defined as the improvement in subjective pain levels, and the improvement in the degree of hydronephrosis at ultrasound. RESULTS: All the surgeries were successfully completed without open or laparoscopic conversion. The median operative time was 141 min (range: 74-368 min), median blood loss was 20 mL (range: 10-350 mL) and median hospital stay was 4 d (range: 3-19 d) in MDP group, with the success rate of 94.3%. The median operative time was 159 min (range: 110-222 min), median blood loss was 50 mL (range: 20-150 mL) and median hospital stay was 5 d (range: 3-8 d) in SFP group, with the success rate of 100%. The median operative time was 126 min (range: 76-160 d), median blood loss was 20 mL (range: 10-50 mL) and median hospital stay was 5 d (range: 4-9 d) in UUT group, with the success rate of 100%. The median operative time was 204 min (range: 154-250 min), median blood loss was 30 mL (range: 10-100 mL) and median hospital stay was 6 d (range: 4-7 d) in LMU group, with the success rate of 100%. The median operative time was 164 min (range: 135-211 min), median blood loss was 75 mL (range: 50-200 mL) and median hospital stay was 8.5 d (range: 6-12 d) in AU group, with the success rate of 100%. The median operative time was 149 min (range: 100-218 min), median blood loss was 20 mL (range: 10-50 mL) and median hospital stay was 7 d (range: 5-10 d) in UR group, with the success rate of 90.9%. The median operative time was 166 min (range: 137-205 min), median blood loss was 45 mL (range: 20-100 mL) and median hospital stay was 5 d (range: 4-41 d) in BPS group, with the success rate of 83.3%. The median operative time was 270 min (range: 227-335 min), median blood loss was 100 mL (range: 10-100 mL) and median hospital stay was 7 d (range: 5-26 d) in IUR group, with the success rate of 85.7%. CONCLUSIONS The surgeon performed and modified numerous complicated upper urinary tract reconstruction surgeries by the robotic platform, which facilitated the development of the standardized upper urinary tract reconstruction surgical technique.
Humans ; Laparoscopy ; Retrospective Studies ; Robotic Surgical Procedures ; Surgeons ; Treatment Outcome ; Ureter

Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) occurring in alveolar epithelial cells plays an important role in the development and progression of pulmonary fibrosis. Previous studies showed that antiflammin-1 (the active fragment of uteroglobin) effectively inhibited bleomycin-induced pulmonary fibrosis. However, its mechanism is still far from being clarified. In this study, we investigated the effects of antiflammin-1 on EMT in A549 cells induced by transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1) and the underlying mechanism by using morphological observation and Western blot. The results showed that the expression of α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA) increased significantly while the expression of E-cadherin decreased significantly in A549 cells following treatment with TGF-β1 concomitant with morphological change of A549 cells from pebble-like shape epithelial cells to spindle-like mesenchymal shape. This process of EMT in A549 cells induced by TGF-β1 was significantly inhibited when A549 cells were co-incubated with TGF-β1 and antiflammin-1. Furthermore, the anti-lipocalin interacting membrane receptor (LIMR) antibody and PD98059 (an ERK signaling pathway blocker) attenuated the inhibitory effect of antiflammin-1 on TGF-β1-induced EMT, respectively. Our findings indicate that antiflammin-1 can inhibit EMT in A549 cells induced by TGF-β1, which is related to LIMR and its downstream ERK signaling pathway.

Objective:To preliminarily verify the cross talk between tissue factor/active coagulation factor Ⅶ (TF/FⅦa) and epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) pathways in human colon cancer cells in culture.Methods:FⅦa was treated to HT-29 (KRAS-wild type) and LoVo (KRAS-mutant) colon cancer cells to activate TF/F Ⅶa pathway,qRT-PCR and Western blot were used to detect the expressions of amphiregulin (AREG) and epiregulin (EREG),ligands of EGFR on mRNA and protein levels,respectively.After knocking down expression of TF by TF-targeted siRNA transfection,FⅦa was treated and mRNA expressions of AREG and EREG were detected to see whether the FⅦa-induced effects were dependent on TF.Expressions of mRNA of TF and FⅦwere detected by qRT-PCR following the activation of EGFR pathway by treatment with epidermal growth factor (EGF) to HT-29 and LoVo cells.Results:After TF/FⅦa pathway was activated,for HT-29 cells,expressions of AREG (on mRNA level) and EREG (both on mRNA and protein level) were significantly down-regulated versus those of control group,gene expressions of AREG and EREG were 0.55 ± 0.09 vs.0.99 ± 0.09,0.67 ± 0.10 vs.1.02 ± 0.02,protein expressions of EREG were 0.54 ± 0.09 vs.1.04 ± 0.13,all P ＜ 0.05.For LoVo cells,expressions of AREG (both on mRNA and protein level) and EREG (on protein level) were significantly up-regulated versus those of control group,gene expression of AREG were 1.87 ± 0.39 vs.0.93 ± 0.23,protein expressions of AREG and EREG were 3.09 ±0.73 vs.1.11 ±0.21,1.53 ±0.19 vs.0.97 ± 0.23,all P ＜0.05.The regulating effect of AREG and EREG mRNA expression by FⅦa in HT-29 and LoVo cells could both be partly blocked by knocking down TF expression.For HT-29 cells,activation of EGFR pathway induced no significant TF mRNA expression,F Ⅶ mRNA expression was not detected.However,for LoVo cells,activation of EGFR pathway induced significantly higher mRNA expressions of both TF and FⅦ,expressions were 1.53 ± 0.23 vs.1.00 ± 0.23,53.20 ± 6.08 vs.1.00 ± 0.15,all P ＜0.05.Conclusion:In colon cancer cell LoVo,when activated,TF/FⅦa pathway and EGFR pathway could interact through upregulating the other pathway's effectors,and mutant KRAS might play a critical role in the two pathways'cross talk.

Objective To observe the effects of therapy of wound-pus promoting granulation tissue growth guided by drug-wound interaction theory on the related factors in granulation tissue during the healing of chronic skin ulcer in rats based on drug-wound interaction. Methods Twenty-four rats were randomly divided into normal group, model group, control group, and treatment group, 6 rats in each group. The rats in the normal group had no skin ulcer and was given normal feeding,and the rats with chronic skin ulcer in the other 3 groups were induced by compound factors-overlapped method of hormone intervention-skin defect-bacterial infection. After modeling,the model group was given external use of saline gauze dressing,the control group given external use of vaseline gauze dressing,and the treatment group given external use of Shengji Xiangpi Ointment,changing fresh dressing for wound daily,the treatment lasting for 14 days. Wound sample was taken from the left back of rats, and therapeutic effect was evaluated according to the changes in the wound surface of the rat right back. After intervention for 3,7,and 14 d,the secreta and granulation tissue in the wound surface of rats were observed, the expression levels of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), inducible nitric oxide synthase(iNOS), arginine-1 (Arg-1), and Notch1 in granulation tissue of rat ulcer wound were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Results The wound in the treatment group has been healed after treatment for 14 days (P < 0.05 or P < 0.01 as compared with the diameter of the ulcer in the model group and the control group) . At the early stage of wound repairing (3 d),the expression levels of VEGF and Arg-1 in the treatment group were increased, and Notch1 expression level was decreased, the difference being statistically significant as compared with those of the model group and the control group (P < 0.05). At the late stage of wound repairing (14 d),the expression level of iNOS in the treatment group was increased,and the difference was statistically significant as compared with that of the model group(P < 0.05). Conclusion The therapy of wound-pus promoting granulation tissue growth guided by drug-wound interaction theory can promote the healing of chronic skin ulcerative wound in rats and improve the general condition of rats. The therapeutic mechanism may be associated with firstly inhibiting the expression of iNOS induced by M1 type macrophage at early stage and then promoting M2 type macrophage phenotype index Arg-1 expression,and regulating the expression of VEGF and Notch1 in the granulation tissue.

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the efficacy and safety of postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy with imatinib in gastrointestinal stromal tumor(GIST) patients who had high risk of recurrence.

METHODSA prospective, open-label, multi-center trial conducted in sixteen teaching hospitals in China was carried out. The criteria of the enrolled patients included age more than 18 years old, CD117 positive GIST, tumor size more than 5 cm, pathological mitosis counts more than 5/50 HPF, and treatment beginning within 4 weeks after complete resection and with imatinib (400 mg, once a day) for at least 12 months. The 1, 3 year recurrence rates, disease free survival, overall survival rate and quality of life were evaluated.

RESULTSFrom Aug. 16th 2004 to Sep. 13th 2005, there were totally 74 patients screened and 57 patients (34 men, 23 women) enrolled in the imatinib treatment group. The primary tumors were located in the stomach in 50.9%, the small intestine in 38.6% and the colorectum in 10.5% of the cases. All the patients received radical resection. Until the cut-off date of interim analysis, there was no evidence of tumor relapse or metastasis in all patients and no death was reported either. Among the 57 enrolled patients with intention to treat(ITT), twelve patients finished the protocol (per protocol, PP). The disease free survival was (268.3 +/-120.2) d in ITT analysis, and (396.7+/-38.2) d in the PP analysis. The incidence of adverse effect was 44.4% . The score in quality of life showed no statistically significant difference between the baseline visit and the follow-up visits.

CONCLUSIONImatinib is a promising postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy in GISTs patients with high risk of recurrence, and the adverse effects are receivable.

Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Benzamides ; Chemotherapy, Adjuvant ; Female ; Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumors ; drug therapy ; Humans ; Imatinib Mesylate ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Neoplasm Recurrence, Local ; Piperazines ; therapeutic use ; Postoperative Period ; Prospective Studies ; Pyrimidines ; therapeutic use ; Young Adult