Objective: To investigate the level and influencing factors of health literacy among the elderly in Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Gansu Province, so as to provide the evidence for developing the strategy to improve health literacy among the elderly. Methods: A total of 3 125 residents at ages of 60 years and older were recruited from Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture with a multistage random cluster sampling method from June to September, 2021. The level of health literacy was investigate among the elderly using the Questionnaire on the Health Literacy among Chinese Residents, and factors affecting the health literacy were identified using a multivariable logistic regression model. Results: A total of 3 125 questionnaires were allocated and 3 022 valid questionnaires were recovered, with an effective recovery rate of 96.70%. The respondents included 1 562 men (51.69%) and 1 460 women (48.31%), and had a mean age of (67.37±5.78) years. The participants included 1 234 individuals with an ethnic minority (40.83%). The overall prevalence of health literacy was 5.99% among participants, and the prevalence rates of basic healthy knowledge and attitudes, healthy lifestyles and behaviors and basic health-related skills were 13.57%, 8.97% and 7.67%, respectively. Multivariable logistic regression analysis identified Han Ethnicity (OR=2.266, 95%CI: 1.497-3.431), educational level (illiteracy/semi-illiteracy, OR=0.097, 95%CI: 0.038-0.246; primary school, OR=0.125, 95%CI: 0.051-0.303; junior high school, OR=0.276, 95%CI: 0.113-0.672; high school/vocational high school/technical secondary school, OR=0.307, 95%CI: 0.125-0.757), enterprise workers (OR=1.791, 95%CI: 1.089-2.947) and annual household income of less than 10 000 RMB (OR=0.526, 95%CI: 0.294-0.940) as factors affecting health literacy among the elderly in Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture. Conclusions The level of health literacy is low among the elderly in Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, and ethnicity, educational level, occupation and annual household income are main factors affecting the level of health literacy among the elderly in Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture.

Objective To assess the left ventricular(LV)segmental function by velocity vector imaging(VVI)in uremic patients with diffferent quantity of parathyroid hormone(PTH).Methods Sixty patients with uremia were divided into 2 groups according to the value of PTH:group A with PTH less than 3 times of upper normal limit,group B with PTH more than 3 times of upper normal limit.Normal control group was 30 healthy subj ects.All people were evaluated by VVI.The parameters,including the longitudinal systolic strain rate(SSR),diastolic strain rate(DSR),were analysed among the three groups.Results Compared with normal group,in group A and B,SSR,DSR in all segments were lower.Compared with group A,in group B,DSR were all significantly lower(P＜0.05),SSR in apex of laternal wall,medium of anterior septum wall,posterior wall,medium and apex of posterior septum wall and superior wall,base,medium and apex of anterior wall were significantly lower(P＜0.05).There was no statistically significant difference of left ventricular ejection fraction between the two groups(P＞0.05).Conclusions VVI is a viable objective tool to quantitatively assess LV segmental function damaged by different quantity of PTH.

Objective To improve the understanding of blastic plasmacytoid dendric cell neoplasm (BPDCN). Methods The clinicopathological features of 2 cases with BPDCN diagnosed in the Department of Pathology in Cancer Hospital of Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College were analyzed retrospectively. The relevant literatures were reviewed as well. Results The two BPDCN patients were both elderly men with skin nodules. The tumor cells infiltrated diffusely into the whole dermis with sparing the epidermis. BPDCN cells were small to medium size with round or oval irregular nuclei and small nucleoli. Numerous mitoses figures were seen. Immunohistochemistry stain showed that CD4 and CD56 were positive and CD20 and CD3 were negative in the 2 BPDCN cases. Only 1 case was positive for CD123. Conclusions BPDCN is a rare malignant hematopoietic tumor, which is likely to involve skin. The features of morphology and immunophenotype are crucial to make correct diagnosis.

G protein- coupled receptors (GPCRs), also known as seven- transmembrane domain receptors, constitute the largest superfamily of cell surface receptors. By coupling to heterotrimeric G proteins, arrestins and other signaling molecules, GPCRs modulate diverse signal transduction pathways under physiological and pathological conditions. Recent studies have revealed crucial roles of GPCRs in tumorigenesis and development of cancer metastasis. This review summarizes roles of GPCRs, particularly the roles of those coupled to chemokines, prostaglandin, lysophosphatidic acid, endothelin, catecholamine and angiotensin in proliferation, invasion, metastasis and angiogenesis of hepatoma cells and development of hepatocellular carcinoma. The potential of GPCRs- based therapeutics being used for hepatocellular carcinoma is also highlighted.

Objective:To explore the characteristics of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) syndromes in sepsis patients with different blood urea nitrogen (BUN) levels.Methods:From January 2017 to December 2018, 252 sepsis patients, who were admitted in the Department of Intensive Care Unit of the Second Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine (Guangdong Provincial Hospital of Chinese Medicine) and met the inclusion criteria, were divided into lower level group (BUN<9.25 mmol/L) and higher level group (BUN≥9.25 mmol/L) according to BUN levels. The baseline data, complications, infection sites and other data were collected. TCM syndromes were judged according to the four diagnostic information of TCM and BUN levels. Variables with P<0.2 in univariate analysis were introduced as candidate variables, and the correlation between TCM syndrome elements and BUN was analyzed by multivariate logistic regression. Results:The comparison of TCM syndromes showed that the proportion of blood stasis syndrome in higher level group was significantly higher than that of the lower level group [74.60% (94/126) vs. 53.17% (67/126), P<0.01)], and the proportion of toxic heat syndrome in the higher level group was significantly lower than that of the lower level group [52.38% (66/126) vs. 65.87% (83/126), P=0.029]. The comparison of TCM deficiency syndromes showed that the proportion of qi deficiency syndrome and yang deficiency syndrome in the higher level group was significantly higher than that of the lower level group [67.46% (85/126) vs. 45.24% (57/126), P<0.01; 11.90% (15/126) vs. 3.97% (5/126), P=0.032, respectively]. Logistic regression analysis showed that the higher blood urea nitrogen level was correlated with the increased incidence of qi deficiency syndrome ( OR=3.425, 95% CI: 1.934-6.068, P<0.01), yang deficiency syndrome ( OR=3.460, 95% CI: 1.160-10.325, P=0.026) and kidney deficiency syndrome ( OR=2.212, 95% CI: 1.173-4.173, P=0.014) in sepsis patients. Conclusion:Sepsis patients with higher blood urea nitrogen level have a higher proportion of blood stasis syndrome, qi deficiency syndrome and yang deficiency syndrome and may be related to the increased incidence of qi deficiency syndrome, yang deficiency syndrome and kidney deficiency syndrome.

A mouse model for acute hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection was established by using the hydrodynamical injection of mouse tail vein, in which the immunocompetent BALB/c mice were hydrodynamically injected with a competent replication plasmid pAAV-HBV1.2 having 1.2 fold over-length of HBV DNA. On day 1, 2, 4, 6 and 8 after injection, the levels of HBsAg, HBeAg and HBV DNA in blood serum were detected by using ELISA and fluorogenic quantitative PCR assay (FQ-PCR). And on day 8. HBsAg and HBeAg in liver tissue were assayed by immunohistochemical staining. It was found that HBsAg in blood serum could be detected on day 1 after infection in 14 of 16 mice (85.7%) injected with pAVV-HBV1.2 by using ELISA assay and the peak levels of HBsAg and HBeAg were attained during the first day after injection and then it dropped down gradually up to day 8 following injection. The titer of HBV DNA in blood serum attained its peak on day 2 and maintained a high level later on. On day 8 after injection, its titer was 1.9×10~4 copies/mL. The percentage of HBcAg-positive hepatocytes and HBsAg-positive hepatocytes in liver tissues were 5% and 2% respectively. Thus, by using the hydrodynamic injection with the competent replication plasmid, a mouse model for acute HBV infection is successively developed.

Objective To explore the clinical characteristics and prognostic factors of breast carcinosarcoma.Methods Clinical data of 37 breast carcinosarcoma patients treated at Tianjin Cancer Hospital from 1974 to 2014 was analyzed retrospectively.Kaplan-Meier unvariate analysis was used to calculate the survival rate and compare the survival rates.Multivariate factors for survival were analyzed by COX proportional hazards regression model.Results 37 cases of breast carcinosarcoma were all female.The median age was 55 years.Among them 31 cases complained for painless mass,six cases had breast mass with skin ulceration.21 cases were three-negative breast cancer.Ten cases had axillary lymph node metastasis,ten cases had distant metastasis.The 5-year survival rate was 62.3％.Unvariate analysis showed that axillary lymphnodes metastasis (P =0.045) and therapeutic schedule (P =0.016) significantly influenced the oulcome of the patients.COX multivariate analysis validated that the therapy modality was an independent prognostic factor for breast carcinosarcoma(P =0.041).Conclusions Breast carcinosarcoma is rare and has a poor prognosis.ER,PR and HER-2 expressions in most cases are negative.If there is axillary lymph node metastasis,the prognosis is poor.A reasonable and comprehensive treatment can improve the prognosis.

Objective To explore the common bleeding location, disease features, and the management strategies of intractable aged epistaxis. Methods 134 serious epistaxis patients were examined step by step according to nasal anatomic structure and treated by a stepwise way under endoscopy. Results The bleeding location of the intractable aged epistaxis were found as follows:2 cases (1. 49%) in anterosu-perior area, 44 cases (32. 84%) in anteroinferior area, 18 cases (13. 43%) in posterosuperior area, 22 cases (16. 42%) in posteroinferi-or area, 3 cases (2. 24%) in nasopharynx, and the bleeding site of the other 45 cases (33. 58%) were not found. All the patients were healed. The final treatment way were:46 cases (34. 33%) with pharmacotherapy or cauterization (grade Ⅰ~Ⅲ), 88 cases (65. 67%) with anterior nasal packing (grade Ⅳ), 9 cases (6. 72%) with posterior packing(gradeⅤ),1 case (0. 75%) with selective angiographic embolization (grade Ⅵ). There were 82 cases (61. 19%) succeed with the initial hemostasis methods while 52 cases (38. 81%) succeed with the upgrade therapy. Both hemostasis methods and upgrade therapy had statistical significance in different nasal position groups ( hemo-stasis methods:χ2 =16. 35,P=0. 00; upgrade therapy: χ2 =16. 35,P=0. 00). Conclusion Compartmental examination and classified treatment steps by using endoscope may locate and stop nose bleeding promptly while decrease patients' pain and medical cost.

Transforming growth factor β(TGF-β)superfamily ligands play an important role in regulating cellular homeostasis including proliferation,differentiation,apoptosis,immune sur-veillance and angiogenesis.Type Ⅲ TGF-βreceptor (TβRⅢ) is considered to be the coreceptor of TGF-βsuperfamily.TβRⅢnot only has an effect on classical Smad signaling pathway,but also on non-Smad signaling pathway.TβRⅢplays a crucial role in fibrosis,tumor,cardiovascular diseases via mediating kinds of signaling pathways.This paper reviews TβRⅢ mediated sig-naling pathway and its role in fibrotic diseases.

AIM To observe the therapeutic effects of Shengjiang Xiexin Decoction (Zingiberis recens Rhizoma,Zingiberis Rhizoma,Coptidis Rhizoma,etc.) on irinotecan (CPT-11)-induced delayed diarrhea in colorectal carcinoma mice and to discuss its possible action mechanism.METHODS The AOM/DSS-induced female colorectal carcinoma mice were randomly divided into normal group,model group and Shengjiang Xiexin Decoction group.The Shengjiang Xiexin Decoction group was intragastrically administered with Shengjiang Xiexin Decoction,the normal group and the model group were intragastrically administered with normal saline.The diarrhea index and rectum pathologic morphology were measured,and the β-glucuronide activity,IL-15 content and UGT1A1 expression were detected.RESULTS The diarrhea index of Shengjiang Xiexin Decoction group was significantly lower than that of the model group,which might be related to the significant inhibition of β-glucuronide activity,and sig-nificant improvement of IL-15 content and UGT1A1 expression.CONCLUSION Shengjiang Xiexin Decoction shows therapeutic effects on irinotecan-induced delayed diarrhea in AOM/DSS-induced colorectal carcinoma mice.