Objective: To evaluate the safety and feasibility of hybrid thoracoscopic surgery and catheter ablation in treating the patients of long-standing persistent atrial fibrillation (AF) with preliminary experience. Methods: A total of 15 consecutive relevant patients treated in our hospital by hybrid thoracoscopic surgery and catheter ablation from 2014-04 to 2016-03 were studied. The average AF time was (4.0±3.9) years including 13 male. All patients received thoracoscopic surgical ablation including pulmonary vein isolation, left atrial (LA) posterior wall isolation, Waterston's groove Ganglionated plexi ablation by bipolar radiofrequency ablation clamp and LA appendage removal, Marshall ligament dividing. Then establishing LA 3D-modeling, based on LA 3D voltage mapping, catheter ablation was conducted to reinforce surgical ablation or modification in order to confirm bidirectional blocking. Meanwhile, LA ridge and mitral isthmus ablation was performed, some patients received LA anterior wall and tricuspid isthmus ablation. The patients were followed-up at 3, 6 and 12 months after the procedure. Results: 13 patients were restored to sinus rhythm after the procedure and no operative complications occurred. The average follow-up time was (12.1±11.5) months. 2 patients with recovered sinus rhythm had re-catheter ablation since atrial flutter at 3 months post-procedure and sinus rhythm was restored. The overall success rate was 86.7% (13/15), no patient had anti-arrhgthmia medication. Conclusion: Hybrid thoracoscopic ablation and catheter ablation have been a minimally invasive, safe and effective method in treating the patients of long-standing persistent AF.

Objective:To establish a sensing technology of catalytic hairpin self-assembly (CHA) combining with clustered interspaced short palindromic repeats with associated protein 12a (CRISPR-Cas12a) for the detection of exosomal microRNA-21 (miR-21), and to analyze the performance.Methods:Eight patients diagnosed as breast cancer in the First Affiliated Hospital of the Army Military Medical University from September to October 2023 were selected as the breast cancer group; 8 healthy individuals who underwent physical examinations during the same period were selected as the healthy control group. Plasma exosomes and their miR-21 were extracted using the kit. DNA hairpins and CRISPR RNA sequences were designed for miR-21 sequences. The feasibility of detection technology was validated using polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and fluorescence spectrophotometer. Hairpins concentration, CHA reaction time, Cas12a protein concentration and Cas12a protein reaction time were further optimized. On this basis, miR-21 was detected at different concentrations (0, 0.1, 0.5, 1.0, 2.5, 5.0, 7.5, 10.0 nmol/L), and fluorescence intensity was collected for unary linear regression analysis to evaluate methodological sensitivity; meanwhile, different types of miRNAs (miR-31, miR-26a, miR-192, miR-25-3p) and blank controls were detected to evaluate methodological specificity. A case-control study was conducted to detect the relative expression level of plasma exosomal miR-21 in breast cancer group and healthy control group using this detection technology and reverse transcription PCR (RT-PCR) to evaluate the detection ability of clinical samples.Results:A detection method for exosomal miR-21 was established using CHA combining with CRISPR-Cas12a. The concentration of miR-21 detected by this method showed a good linear relationship with fluorescence intensity (the linear correlation coefficient 0.966 7), and the linear detection range was 0.1-10.0 nmol/L, and the detection limit was 87.81 pmol/L. The fluorescence intensity of miR-21 was 450.27±23.96 which was higher than that of miR-31, miR-26a, miR-192, miR-25-3p, and the blank group (98.89±7.35, 98.12±2.07, 98.93±2.45, 96.66±2.45, 82.93±3.54, respectively), with statistical significance ( P<0.001). The results of RT-PCR showed that the relative expression levels of plasma exosomal miR-21 in the breast cancer group were higher than that in healthy control group (1.83±0.27 vs 0.93±0.12, P<0.001); CHA combining with CRISPR-Cas12a detection technology showed that the relative expression levels of plasma exosomal miR-21 in breast cancer group were higher than that in healthy control group (1.94±0.21 vs 0.98±0.08, P<0.001); There was no significant difference in the relative expression levels of plasma exosomal miR-21 between CHA combining with CRISPR-Cas12a detection technology and reverse transcription PCR in breast cancer group and healthy control group ( P>0.05). Conclusion:In this study, a highly sensitive and specific sensing technology of CHA combining with CRISPR-Cas12a for exosomal miR-21 was established. The results of detecting plasma exosomal miR-21 were consistent with the results of reverse transcription PCR, which can be used for screening of breast cancer patients.

Objective To investigate the effects of Gli2 on the proliferation,growth,migration,and invasion of oral cancer cells(Tca8113)at the cellular level,and to clarify the molecular mechanism of how Gli2 regulation affects the migration and invasion of oral cancer cells.Methods Small interfering(si)RNA was used to inhibit Gli2 expression in Tca8113 cells.The effects of Gli2 on the proliferation,growth,migration,and invasion of Tca8113 cells were examined by CCK-8,platb cloning,and transwell chamber assay.Further qRT-PCR and Western blot assays were used to explore the mechanism of how Gli2 regulation effects the malignant proliferation and metastasis of Tca8113 cells.Results The mRNA and protein expression of Gli2 in oral cancer cells(Tca8113)increased.Interference of Gli2 expression inhibited the proliferation,growth,migration,and invasion of Tca8113 cells.Further experiments showed that interfering with Gli2 expression inhibited the mRNA and protein expression of key factors in the Hedgehog(Hh)pathway.In addition,interference of Gli2 expression significantly affected the mRNA and protein expression of key factors in epithelial mesenchymal transformation(EMT)pathways.Conclusions Gli2 is abnormally activated during oral cancer,and interference of Gli2 expression significantly inhibits the proliferation,growth,migration,and invasion of oral cancer cells.Gli2 influences the migration and invasion of oral cancer cells by regulating the Hh and EMT pathways.This study has provided a new way to elucidate the pathogenesis of oral cancer and new perspectives on the clinical treatment of oral cancer.

ObjectiveExploring the formula rules of commonly used traditional Chinese medicines（TCMs） for epidemic treatment from the Qin and Han dynasties to the Qing dynasty through data mining， providing reference for the prevention and control of contemporary epidemics. MethodsThe articles on epidemic treatment in the electronic database of Chinese Medical Code V5.0 were systematically searched， and the contents such as source， dynasty， author， diagnosis， formula name， therapeutic method and efficacy， and composition of medicines from each article that met the inclusion criteria were extracted. Then， an Excel standardized database was established， and Python programs were used for data mining to summarize the frequency of commonly used medicines and perform hierarchical cluster analysis， Pearson correlation analysis， and association rule analysis. ResultsA total of 1 595 formulas were included， involving 558 TCMs. The efficacy of these medicines could be classified into two categories， namely， expeling pathogenic factors and reinforcing healthy Qi. According to the frequency deconstruction analysis， high-frequency medicines were mainly detoxification， Fu-organ dredging， aromatization and promoting blood circulation， followed by the medicines with the effect of treating the lungs， such as clearing the lungs and resolving phlegm， clearing heat and purging the lungs， relieving cough and asthma， and purging the lungs and relieving asthma. And the proportions of acrid-warm herbs and acrid-cold herbs varied in different periods. Hierarchical clustering and correlation analysis both suggested TCMs for expeling pathogenic factors and reinforcing healthy Qi often formed stable combinations with high association degrees. Association rule analysis showed that the core acrid-warm herb was mainly Ephedrae Herba， and the core acrid-cold herb was mainly Forsythiae Fructus， resulting in the core formulas of Maxing Shigantang and Yinqiaosan. ConclusionThroughout history， the prevention and control of epidemics have been based on the principle of "preserving healthy Qi and avoiding toxic Qi"， focusing on the treatment of the causes and characteristics of epidemics through detoxification， Fu-organ dredging， and aromatization， emphasizing the use of Rhei Radix et Rhizoma and other herbs to dredge Fu-organ， eliminate toxins and pathogens， and playing the role of actively intervene with symptomatic medication. And based on the external manifestations of the body's struggle between evil and righteousness， diagnose and treatment according to syndrome differentiation was performed.

ObjectiveExploring the formula rules of commonly used traditional Chinese medicines（TCMs） for epidemic treatment from the Qin and Han dynasties to the Qing dynasty through data mining， providing reference for the prevention and control of contemporary epidemics. MethodsThe articles on epidemic treatment in the electronic database of Chinese Medical Code V5.0 were systematically searched， and the contents such as source， dynasty， author， diagnosis， formula name， therapeutic method and efficacy， and composition of medicines from each article that met the inclusion criteria were extracted. Then， an Excel standardized database was established， and Python programs were used for data mining to summarize the frequency of commonly used medicines and perform hierarchical cluster analysis， Pearson correlation analysis， and association rule analysis. ResultsA total of 1 595 formulas were included， involving 558 TCMs. The efficacy of these medicines could be classified into two categories， namely， expeling pathogenic factors and reinforcing healthy Qi. According to the frequency deconstruction analysis， high-frequency medicines were mainly detoxification， Fu-organ dredging， aromatization and promoting blood circulation， followed by the medicines with the effect of treating the lungs， such as clearing the lungs and resolving phlegm， clearing heat and purging the lungs， relieving cough and asthma， and purging the lungs and relieving asthma. And the proportions of acrid-warm herbs and acrid-cold herbs varied in different periods. Hierarchical clustering and correlation analysis both suggested TCMs for expeling pathogenic factors and reinforcing healthy Qi often formed stable combinations with high association degrees. Association rule analysis showed that the core acrid-warm herb was mainly Ephedrae Herba， and the core acrid-cold herb was mainly Forsythiae Fructus， resulting in the core formulas of Maxing Shigantang and Yinqiaosan. ConclusionThroughout history， the prevention and control of epidemics have been based on the principle of "preserving healthy Qi and avoiding toxic Qi"， focusing on the treatment of the causes and characteristics of epidemics through detoxification， Fu-organ dredging， and aromatization， emphasizing the use of Rhei Radix et Rhizoma and other herbs to dredge Fu-organ， eliminate toxins and pathogens， and playing the role of actively intervene with symptomatic medication. And based on the external manifestations of the body's struggle between evil and righteousness， diagnose and treatment according to syndrome differentiation was performed.

In this study, we cloned the complete coding sequence (CDS) of chicken foxp3 (chfoxp3) gene, analyzed its structure, and investigated its expression profile in different chicken tissues. To be specific, chfoxp3 was cloned from the splenic tissue of 50-day-old specific-pathogen-free chickens, and analyzed by using online bioinformatics tools or software. The expression profiles of the chfoxp3 gene in different chicken tissues were detected by quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR). The results indicated that the chfoxp3 gene contains an 882-bp open reading frame, encoding 293 amino acids hydrophilic protein with a molecular weight of 33.44 kDa. The chFoxp3 protein has a forkhead domain and carries a nuclear localization signal, which is typical in the Fox transcription factor family. The secondary structure of chFoxp3 consists of α-helix (29.35%), extended chain (10.92%), β-turn (5.12%) and random coil (54.61%). The expression of chfoxp3 varied in different tissues. The expression levels of chfoxp3 in chicken heart and pancreas were higher than in spleen, bursa of Fabricius, thymus, and other immune organs (P < 0.01), which was quite different from that of mammals. Phylogenetic tree analysis showed that chFoxp3 belonged to the same clade as other wild birds did, but was far different from that of mammals. These results may facilitate further research on the role of chFoxp3 in immune regulation.
Amino Acid Sequence ; Animals ; Chickens/genetics* ; Cloning, Molecular ; Gene Expression Regulation ; Mammals/genetics* ; Phylogeny

Objective To explore the postoperative characteristics and management experience of patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) undergoing cardiac and vascular surgery. Methods From December 7, 2022 to January 5, 2023, the patients with COVID-19 who were admitted to Cardiovascular Hospital Affiliated to Kunming Medical University and underwent cardiac and vascular surgery were selected. The clinical history, surgical information, postoperative recovery process and treatment plan were analyzed retrospectively. Results There were 18 patients in this group, including 11 (61.1%) males and 7 (38.9%) females, with an average age of 58.1±10.9 years. There were 7 patients of hypertension, 5 patients of diabetes, 3 patients of respiratory diseases, and 2 patient of chronic renal insufficiency. There were 5 (27.8%) patients receiving emergency operations and 13 (72.2%) elective operations. All the 18 patients underwent cardiac and vascular surgery in the period of COVID-19, and the time between the last positive nucleic acid test and the surgery was 1.50 (1.00, 6.25) days. There were 8 patients of pulmonary imaging changes, including 3 patients with chest patch shadow, 3 patients with thickened and disordered lung markings, and 2 patients with exudative changes before operation. Antiviral therapy was not adopted in all patients before operation. Three patients were complicated with viral pneumonia after operation, including 2 patients with high risk factors before operation, who developed into severe pneumonia after operation, and underwent tracheotomy. One patient with thrombus recovered after anticoagulation treatment. Another patient of mild pneumonia recovered after antiviral treatment. The other 15 patients recovered well without major complications. There was no operation-related death in the whole group. One patient died after surgery, with a mortality rate of 5.6%. Conclusion Patients with COVID-19 are at high risk of cardiac and vascular surgery, and patients with high-risk factors may rapidly progress to severe pneumonia. Patients with preoperative lung imaging changes or other basic visceral diseases should consider delaying the operation. Early antiviral combined with immunomodulation treatment for emergency surgery patients may help improve the prognosis.

Objective To explore the postoperative characteristics and management experience of patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) undergoing cardiac and vascular surgery. Methods From December 7, 2022 to January 5, 2023, the patients with COVID-19 who were admitted to Cardiovascular Hospital Affiliated to Kunming Medical University and underwent cardiac and vascular surgery were selected. The clinical history, surgical information, postoperative recovery process and treatment plan were analyzed retrospectively. Results There were 18 patients in this group, including 11 (61.1%) males and 7 (38.9%) females, with an average age of 58.1±10.9 years. There were 7 patients of hypertension, 5 patients of diabetes, 3 patients of respiratory diseases, and 2 patient of chronic renal insufficiency. There were 5 (27.8%) patients receiving emergency operations and 13 (72.2%) elective operations. All the 18 patients underwent cardiac and vascular surgery in the period of COVID-19, and the time between the last positive nucleic acid test and the surgery was 1.50 (1.00, 6.25) days. There were 8 patients of pulmonary imaging changes, including 3 patients with chest patch shadow, 3 patients with thickened and disordered lung markings, and 2 patients with exudative changes before operation. Antiviral therapy was not adopted in all patients before operation. Three patients were complicated with viral pneumonia after operation, including 2 patients with high risk factors before operation, who developed into severe pneumonia after operation, and underwent tracheotomy. One patient with thrombus recovered after anticoagulation treatment. Another patient of mild pneumonia recovered after antiviral treatment. The other 15 patients recovered well without major complications. There was no operation-related death in the whole group. One patient died after surgery, with a mortality rate of 5.6%. Conclusion Patients with COVID-19 are at high risk of cardiac and vascular surgery, and patients with high-risk factors may rapidly progress to severe pneumonia. Patients with preoperative lung imaging changes or other basic visceral diseases should consider delaying the operation. Early antiviral combined with immunomodulation treatment for emergency surgery patients may help improve the prognosis.

Objective    To evaluate short-term clinical outcomes of skeletonized bilateral internal mammary artery (sBIMA) in coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). Methods    The clinical data of 62 patients (54 males and 8 females with an average age of 56.8±6.0 years) undergoing isolated CABG using sBIMA in our hospital from October 2016 to May 2017 were retrospectively analyzed. The coronary graft flow, perioperative clinical outcomes and CT results were reviewed. Results    All the operations were carried out under extracorporeal circulation. Anastomosis of 124 internal mammary arteries was performed and 116 great saphenous veins were used simultaneously with an average anastomosis site of 4.5±0.8 for each patient. The cardiopulmonary bypass time was 116.4±22.9 min, aortic clamping time was 83.0±18.3 min, mechanical ventilation time was 20.8±21.3 h and ICU stay was 2.7±1.7 d. The graft flow of left internal mammary artery (LIMA), right internal mammary artery (RIMA) and great saphenous vein were 28.8±12.4 mL/min, 32.8±13.8 mL/min and 41.5±21.5 mL/min, respectively. There was no significant difference in the graft flow between LIMA and RIMA (P=0.112). There was no perioperative mortality, myocardial infarction or cerebrovascular accident. Only one male patient suffered sternal complication and poor wound healing and then received debridement as well as suturing. Coronary CT angiography showed that distal anastomosis of 7 vein grafts and 5 artery grafts was demonstrated shallow and 1 vein graft was undemonstrated, suggesting occlusion. Conclusion    CABG with sBIMA is a safe and reliable technique with excellent early results.