Objective To investigate the intervening effect of Qi-Boosting Toxin-Resolving Formula (QBTRF) on the migration potentiality of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) cells and its association with the expressive activities of cellular skeletal protein system based on an experimental study in vitro.Methods In this study,QBTRF medicine-containing plasma of rats was taken as the intervening factor to treat the targeted NPC cells of CEN2Z for evaluating the correlation of changes in migrating potentiality of CEN2Z cells with expression activities of cellular skeletal protein system and their response to the pharmacological intervening effects of QBTRF,compared with the normal plasma of rats as the control.Here,scratching test was taken to evaluate the migration potentiality of targeting cells,immunohistochemical SABC assays were used to determine the expression activities of β-tubulin,F-actin,p-Ezrin and Rac1,which were taken as the typical indicators of cellular skeletal protein system.Scanning electron microscopy was selected to observe the changes in cellular pseudopodia.Reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) procedure was used to detect the transcriptional activity of p-Ezrin mRNA.Results QBTRF showed a very significant inhibitory effect on the migration potentiality of CEN2Z cells,with its migration distance reduced to (25.80 ±8.07) μm and an inhibitory rate reached at 46.59％ at the concentration of IC50.Meanwhile,their cellular pseudopodia was shortened significantly,accompanied with very reduced extension length.Obviously decreased were the expression activities of β-tubulin,F-actin,p-Ezrin and Rac1 proteins,with their figure gray values being 0.857 ±0.059,0.900 ±0.040,0.812 ±0.050 and 0.785 ±0.022,respectively,with statistical significance compared with controls (P ＜0.01).Also seen was the same tendency of transcriptional level of p-Ezrin mRNA when cells cultured with QBTRE medicines-containing plasma together.Conclusions QBTRF holds significantly inhibitory effect on the migration potentiality of CEN2Z NPC cells.This kind of inhibitory effect may be associated with the reduced biological activity of cellular skeletal protein system and corresponding cellular pseudopodia changes.

Objective:To investigate the effects of dexmedetomidine on monocyte pyroptosis in peripheral blood of patients with cardiac valve replacement.Methods:Forty-four American Society of Anesthesiologists physical status Ⅱ or Ⅲ patients of both sexes, aged 45-64 yr, with body mass index of 18-25 kg/m 2, of New York Heart Association Ⅱ or Ⅲ, scheduled for elective cardiac valve replacement, were divided into 2 groups ( n=22 each) using a random number table method: dexmedetomidine group (group Dex) and normal saline group (group NS). In group Dex, dexmedetomidine was intravenously infused in a dose of 0.5 μg/kg over 10 min starting from the end of anesthesia induction, followed by a continuous infusion at 0.5 μg·kg -1·h -1 until the end of operation, while the equal volume of normal saline was given instead of dexmedetomidine in group NS.Before skin incision (T 1), at 30 min after the beginning of cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) (T 2), immediately after the end of CPB (T 3) and at 24 h after CPB (T 4), the blood samples of internal jugular vein were collected for determination of the concentrations of plasma interleukin-18 (IL-18) and IL-1β (by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay), and the expression of NOD-like receptor family, pyrin domain containing 3 (NLRP3), caspase-1 and gasdermin-D (GSDMD) in monocytes (by Western blot). The intraoperative consumption of propofol, sufentanil and norepinephrine, time of postoperative mechanical ventilation and time of intensive care unit stay were recorded. Results:The levels of plasma IL-18 and IL-1β and expression of NLRP3, caspase-1 and GSDMD in monocytes were significantly higher at T 2-4 than at T 1 in two groups ( P<0.05). Compared with group NS, the levels of plasma IL-18 and IL-1β were significantly decreased and the expression of NLRP3, caspase-1 and GSDMD was down-regulated at T 2-4, postoperative mechanical ventilation time was shortened ( P<0.05), and no significant change was found in the consumption of propofol, sufentanil and norepinephrine and time of intensive care unit stay in group Dex ( P>0.05). Conclusion:The mechanism by which dexmedetomidine reduces inflammatory responses may be related to inhibiting the NLRP3/caspase-1 pathway and reducing monocyte pyroptosis in the patients undergoing cardiac valve replacement.

Established in 2017, the Screening Cohort for Asian Nomadic descendants in China (Scan-China) has benefited over 180,000 members of a multi-ethnic population, particularly individuals of Mongolian descent compared with the general population (Han ethnicity), in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, China. This cohort study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of cancer screening and serve as a real-world data platform for cancer studies. The 6 most prevalent cancers in China are considered—namely, breast, lung, colorectal, gastric, liver and esophageal cancer. After baseline cancer risk assessments and screening tests, both active and passive follow-up (based on the healthcare insurance database, cancer registry, the front page of hospital medical records, and death certificates) will be conducted to trace participants’ onset and progression of cancers and other prevalent chronic diseases. Scan-China has preliminarily found a disproportionately lower screening participation rate and higher incidence/mortality rates of esophageal and breast cancer among the Mongolian population than among their Han counterparts. Further research will explore the cancer burden, natural history, treatment patterns, and risk factors of the target cancers.

Pulmonary blast injury has become the main type of trauma in modern warfare, characterized by externally mild injuries but internally severe injuries, rapid disease progression, and a high rate of early death. The injury is complicated in clinical practice, often with multiple and compound injuries. Currently, there is a lack of effective protective materials, accurate injury detection instrument and portable monitoring and transportation equipment, standardized clinical treatment guidelines in various medical centers, and evidence-based guidelines at home and abroad, resulting in a high mortality in clinlcal practice. Therefore, the Trauma Branch of Chinese Medical Association and the Editorial Committee of Chinese Journal of Trauma organized military and civilian experts in related fields such as thoracic surgery and traumatic surgery to jointly develop the Clinical treatment guideline for pulmonary blast injury ( version 2023) by combining evidence for effectiveness and clinical first-line treatment experience. This guideline provided 16 recommended opinions surrounding definition, characteristics, pre-hospital diagnosis and treatment, and in-hospital treatment of pulmonary blast injury, hoping to provide a basis for the clinical treatment in hospitals at different levels.