Objective To observe the effect of kidney-tonifying herbal medicine (KTHM) on the changes of female rat genital system induced by Tripterygium wilfordii Hook(TWH).Methods Thirty female rats with normal oestrus cycle were randomly divided into 3 groups: control group,TWH group and TWH+KTHM group. The changes of genital system in all rats were examined after 90-day feeding. Results Compared with the TWH group,oestrus cycle was normal, estrogen and progestogen level and the weight of reproductive organs increased, the ovary was big,follicle grew well with more corpus luteum and good blood supplying, endometrium was thick with hyperplastic uterine gland,and vaginal epithelium became thick and cornificated in TWH+KTHM group. Conclusion Kidney-tonifying herbal medicine can antagonize the toxic and side effects of Tripterygium Wilfordii on the genital system of female rat.

Purpose To evaluate the clinical value of triple-rule-out (TRO) computed tomographic angiography using adaptive prospective ECG triggering for chest pain patients.Materials and Methods Sixty patients with chest pain were prospectively collected and randomly divided into group A and group B:group A (n=30) performed prospectively gated axial scan and group B (n=30) performed retrospectively gated helical scan.The vascular density,noise and muscle density of the vessels including aorta,pulmonary artery,coronary artery between the two groups were measured and analyzed.The vascular density/noise ratio,contrast noise ratio and effective dose (ED) between the two groups were calculated.The image quality and scanning radiation dose were compared between the two groups.Results There was no significant difference in the image quality of aorta,pulmonary artery and coronary artery between group A and group B (P＞0.05).The ED in group A was lower than that in group B [(5.90±2.10) mSv vs (11.31 ± 2.12) mSv,P＜0.01].Conclusion The technique of TRO computed tomographic angiography triggered by adaptive prospective ECG can significantly reduce the radiation dose while ensuring image quality.

Objective: To examine the prospective effect of cesarean section on pubertal development after controlling the polygenic susceptibility for early puberty in boys and girls,and to provide a reference for choosing a delivervary way beneficial to pubertal development. Methods: Cluster sampling method was used to select 997 students of grade 1 to 3 from 2 priwary schools in Bengbu of Anhui in 2016 to establish the puberty development cohort. Delivery mode,birth weight,gestational age,early teeding way,family income and parental educational background were derived from parental questionnaire. Breast Tanner stage and testicular volume of 997 children were annually assessed. The polygenic risk score (PRS) was computed based on 17 SNPs derived from published genome-wide association studies for early pubertal timing. Kaplan-Meier analyses was used to examine associations between cesarean section with pubertal development in boys and girls. Results: The average age of 997 children was 8.01±0.84 years old, and average BMI was (17.96±2.96) kg/m2. The prevalence of cesarean section for boys and girls was 43.30% and 32.47%, respectively. At baseline, the detection of thelarche in girls delivered by cesarean section (39.89%) was higher than that of girls delivered naturally (4.39%) (χ2=118.65, P<0.01). Similar result was observed during the last follow-up, the detection of thelarche in girls born by cesarean section (95.21%) was higher than girls born vaginally (68.48%), respectively (χ2=51.42, P<0.01). After adjusting for confounding factors (age, BMI, birthweight, infancy feeding, gestational age, household monthly income and parental education), girls delivered by cesarean section had maturation at significantly younger than girls who delivered naturally (Hazard Ratio, HR=1.98，95%CI=1.67-2.34，P<0.01). Conclusion Caesarean section might increase the risk of earlier age at pubertal onset in a sex-specific manner. Whether natural delivery could be one of the protective measures to prevent early pubertal timing in children warrants further investigation.

Objective To summarize the incidence of cardiac allograft vasculopathy (CAV) after heart transplantation and the effect on the long-term survival of recipients. Methods Clinical data of 1 006 heart transplant recipients were retrospectively analyzed. Of 48 CAV patients, 4 cases were not included in this analysis due to lack of imaging evidence. A total of 1 002 recipients were divided into the CAV group (n=44) and non-CAV group (n=958) according to the incidence of CAV. The incidence of CAV was summarized. Clinical data of all patients were statistically compared between two groups. Imaging diagnosis, coronary artery disease, drug treatment and complications, postoperative survival and causes of death of CAV patients were analyzed. Results Among 1 006 heart transplant recipients, 48 cases (4.77%) developed CAV. Compared with the non-CAV group, the proportion of preoperative smoking history, preoperative hypertension history, coronary artery disease and perioperative infection was significantly higher in the CAV group (all P < 0.05). Among 44 patients diagnosed with CAV by imaging examination, 24 cases were diagnosed with CAV by coronary CT angiography (CTA), 4 cases by coronary angiography (CAG), and 16 cases by coronary CTA combined with CAG. Among 44 patients, the proportion of grade Ⅰ CAV was 45% (20/44), 30% (13/44) for grade Ⅱ CAV and 25% (11/44) for grade Ⅲ CAV, respectively. All patients received long-term use of statins after operation, and 20 patients were given with antiplatelet drugs. Among 44 CAV patients, 11 patients underwent percutaneous coronary intervention, 6 cases received repeated heart transplantation, and 8 patients died. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis demonstrated that there was no significant difference in the long-term survival rate between the CAV and non-CAV groups (P > 0.05), whereas the survival rate of patients tended to decline after the diagnosis of CAV (at postoperative 6-7 years). The long-term survival rates of patients with grade Ⅰ, grade Ⅱ and grade Ⅲ CAV showed no significant difference (P > 0.05). Even for patients with grade Ⅰ CAV, the long-term survival rate tended to decline. Conclusions CAV is a common and intractable complication following heart transplantation, and the long-term survival rate of patients after the diagnosis of CAV tended to decline. Deepening understanding of CAV, prompt prevention, diagnosis and treatment should be delivered to improve the long-term survival rate of patients after heart transplantation.

Objective: To determine the possible relations between hair cortisol concentration (HCC) as a biomarker of chronic stress and childhood overweight and obesity. Methods: Children from grade 1 to 3 from 2 primary schools in Bengbu were invited to participate in the study; and those who suffer from mental disorders, endocrine diseases and those who took hormone drugs were excluded. Parental questionnaire was implemented to collect information on physical activity, screen time, sleep duration, sugar-beverage consumption, as well as socio-economic status. Height and weight were examined. Eligible hair samples from 1 263 children (598 boys and 665 girls) were obtained, and the cortisol content was determined. Multivariate logistic regression model analysis was recruited to examine the association between HCC quartiles and overweight and obesity among boys and girls, respectively. Results: HCC in P₅₀ (P₂₅-P₇₅) among girls and boys was separately 11.86 (10.57-13.15) and 11.71 (10.54-13.09) µg/kg (Z=-0.886, P=0.376); HCC in P₅₀ (P₂₅-P₇₅) among non-overweight, overweight and obesity boys was separately 11.62 (10.45-12.82), 12.24 (10.88-13.55) and 12.30 (10.99-13.53) µg/kg (χ²=8.24, P=0.016); HCC in P₅₀ (P₂₅-P₇₅) among non-overweight, overweight and obesity girls was separately 11.35 (10.06-12.62), 12.07 (11.04-13.21) and 12.59 (11.12-13.63) µg/kg (χ²=36.16, P<0.001). After age, physical activity, screen time, sleep duration, sugared beverages and socio-economic status adjusted, compared with HCC in Q1 level, girls whose HCC in Q2, Q3 Q4 level had higher rates in overweight, with OR (95%CI) at 1.10 (1.04-3.32), 2.59 (1.51-4.45) and 3.16 (1.79-5.57), respectively. Girls with HCC in Q3 and Q4 level had higher rates in obesity, with OR (95%CI) at 2.22 (1.16-4.26) and 5.62 (3.04-10.41). Among boys, highest quartiles in HCC was risk factor for overweight, OR (95%CI) was 2.14 (1.18-3.90). Conclusion Hair cortisol had a significant relation with overweight and obesity in 6-9 years old childhood especially among girls.

Objective: To explore the impact of adverse childhood experiences on pubertal development,and to provide a reference for conducting the targeted intervention in the early stage. Methods: A cluster sampling method was used to randomly select students of grades 3 to 4 from three primary schools in Ma’anshan municipality of Anhui province in October 2017. Self-reported childhood adverse experiences (ACEs), including physical, emotional and sexual abuse, as well as physical and emotional neglect were collected. Testicular volume and breast Tanner stage were assessed. A follow-up survey was conducted one year later to assess ACEs and pubertal development. ACEs of each dimension were divided into non-exposure group, transient exposure group and sustained exposure group according to ACEs exposure at baseline and follow-up. Multivariate linear regression model was used to analyze the relationship between ACEs exposure and pubertal development after 1-year follow-up. Results: Sustained emotional abuse was positively associated with increased breast Tanner stage and testicular volume (breast: β=0.36, 95%CI=0.09-0.63, P<0.01; testicular volume: β=1.07, 95%CI=0.47-1.66, P<0.01); sustained physical abuse was positively associated with decreased testicular volume (β=-0.83, 95%CI=-1.58--0.08, P<0.05); sustained and transient sexual abuse were significant positively associated with decreased breast Tanner stages (sustained: β=-1.43, 95%CI=-2.86--0.02, P<0.05; transient: β=-0.45, 95%CI=-0.73--0.19, P<0.05); sustained emotional neglect was positively associated with increased breast Tanner staging (β=0.33, 95%CI=0.06-0.61, P<0.05) and decreased testicular volume (β=-0.19, 95%CI=-1.38--0.19, P<0.01). Conclusion Sustained emotional abuse was associated with early pubertal development in boys and girls,and the specitic mechanisam differences of different ACES puberty development effects and the gender differences of the same ACES puberty development effects need to be furthur explored.

Objective: To determine possible relations between early adiposity rebound and adolescent development. Methods: Prospective children cohort from 2 kindergartens selected through clustering convenience sampling method in Anhui Province was established since Sep. 2010. Participants were classified as Cohort 1 (2010), Cohort 2 (2011) and Cohort 3 (2012) according to the recruiting year. Till Sep. 2015, a toal of 802 girls were included in this study, and received follow-up till primary school. During kindergarten period, physical examination was carried out every 3 months, 8 times in total. In primary school, physical examination was carried out annually; till Sep.2015, the cohort 1, 2, 3 took physical examination for 12, 11, 10 times, respectively. Information on household economic status and child physical activity was acquired through parents questionnaire survey, and breast development were assessed through visual inspection and palpation. Adiposity rebound was determined according to Rolland-Cachera's method for each girl. Differences between early adiposity rebound and normal adiposity rebound groups were compared by using t test and χ² test. Multivariate regression analysis was applied to explore the association between early adiposity rebound and breast development. Results: The average age of participants was (8.90±0.87) years old and the BMI was (17.48±2.70) kg/m². The average age at adiposity rebound was (6.16±0.90) years old and the BMI was (15.33±1.82) kg/m². Premature breast development was found significantly higher in girls in early adiposity rebound group (27.8%, 54/802) than it in normal adiposity rebound group (13.7%) (P<0.001). After current adiposity, age, household economic status, childhood physical activity adjusted, the OR of premature beast development in early adiposity rebound group was 2.41(95%CI: 1.41-4.12). Conclusion Early adiposity rebound increases the risk of premature puberty in girls.

Purpose: Neoadjuvant therapy modality can increase the operability rate and mitigate pathological risks in locally advanced cervical cancer, but treatment response varies widely. It remains unclear whether genetic alterations correlate with the response to neoadjuvant therapy and disease-free survival (DFS) in locally advanced cervical cancer. Materials and Methods: A total of 62 locally advanced cervical cancer (stage IB-IIA) patients who received neoadjuvant chemoradiation plus radical hysterectomy were retrospectively analyzed. Patients’ tumor biopsy samples were comprehensively profiled using targeted next generation sequencing. Pathologic response to neoadjuvant treatment and DFS were evaluated against the association with genomic traits. Results: Genetic alterations of PIK3CA were most frequent (37%), comparable to that of Caucasian populations from The Cancer Genome Atlas. The mutation frequency of genes including TERT, POLD1, NOS2, and FGFR3 was significantly higher in Chinese patients whereas RPTOR, EGFR, and TP53 were underrepresented in comparison to Caucasians. Germline mutations were identified in 21% (13/62) of the cohort and more than half (57%) had mutations in DNA damage repair genes, including BRCA1/2, TP53 and PALB2. Importantly, high tumor mutation burden, TP53 polymorphism (rs1042522), and KEAP1 mutations were found to be associated with poor pathologic response to neoadjuvant chemoradiation treatment. KEAP1 mutations, PIK3CA-SOX2 co-amplification, TERC copy number gain, and TYMS polymorphism correlated with an increased risk of disease relapse. Conclusion We report the genomic profile of locally advanced cervical cancer patients and the distinction between Asian and Caucasian cohorts. Our findings highlight genomic traits associated with unfavorable neoadjuvant chemoradiation response and a higher risk of early disease recurrence.

Objective To investigate the improvement of oxygenation after the treatment of prone position in patients with severe acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) caused by pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia (PJP) after kidney transplantation. Methods Clinical data of 5 cases of moderate and severe ARDS caused by PJP after kidney transplantation were analyzed retrospectively, and clinical characteristics, treatment regimen and prognosis were summarized. Results Clinical manifestations of 5 patients were fever, dry cough, chest tightness, shortness ofbreath,sweating and fatigue, and body temperature fluctuated between 38 ℃ and 39 ℃, percutaneous arterial oxygen saturation(SpO₂) was gradually decreased, and respiratory distress symptoms were worsened. Pulmonary CT scan showed diffuse ground-glass shadow. After transfer to intensive care unit (ICU), immunosuppressive drugs were terminated, and all patients were given with compound sulfamethoxazole, caspofungin, low-dose glucocorticoids against pneumocystis jirovecii (PJ), oxygen therapy and other symptomatic supportive treatments. Four patients diagnosed with severe ARDS upon admission to ICU were treated in a prone position. One patient with moderate ARDS was not kept in a prone position. At 1 d after treatment in a prone position, partial pressure of arterial oxygen (PaO₂) and oxygenation index were increased, whereas alveolar-arterial oxygen difference (A-aDO₂) was decreased compared with before treatment (allP<0.05). Compared with 1 d after treatment, SpO₂, PaO₂ and oxygenation index were all increased, while A-aDO₂ was decreased at 4 d after treatment (all P<0.05). Box diagram showed that oxygenation index showed an overall upward trend after prone-position treatment, whereas A-aDO₂ showed an overall downward trend. The length of ICU stay of 5 patients was 14 (8, 29) d. All patients in a prone position did not develop complications, such as skin pressure sore, tube detachment and tube displacement, etc. Among 5 patients, 4 patients were mitigated, and 1 patient died of septic shock and multiple organ failure. Conclusions For both conscious and intubated patients, a prone position may significantly improve oxygenation and prognosis of patients with severe ARDS caused by PJP after kidney transplantation. Early diagnosis and accurate and standardized treatment play a pivotal role in enhancing cure rate.