Objective To explore the correlation between acute gastrointestinal side effects caused by radiotherapy in pancreatic cancer and degree of gastroduodenal radioactive injury under gastoendoscopy.Methods From February 2010 to May 2015,112 patients with pancreatic cancer and received radiotherapy were enrolled.The correlation between gastroscopic findings and degree of gastrointestinal side effects (grade zero to five) was analyzed.The effects of different radiotherapy on the formation of radiation ulcers were also investigated.Chi-square test and Spearman correlation analysis were performed for statistically analysis.Results The incidence of radioactive gastroduodenitis was 57.1 ％ (64/112).The incidence of radiation-induced ulcer was 42.0 ％ (47/112).Among the 112 patients with pancreatic cancer and received radiotherapy,patients with over grade two nausea,vomiting,dyspepsia and constipation received symptomatic treatment.Thirty-one patients (27.7 ％) of them received appetitestimulating treatment,53 patients (47.3％) were given anti-nausea treatment,39 patients (34.8％)received therapy of promoting digestion,and 24 patients (21.4 ％) received therapy of relieving constipation.The incidence of radiation-induced ulcer in patients with grade one acute gastrointestinal side effects was 25.8 ％ (8/31),lower than that of patients with over grade two acute gastrointestinal side effects (48.1％,39/81),and the difference was statistically significant (x2 =4.595,P=0.032).The grade of acute gastrointestinal side effects was positively correlated with that of radiation-induced injury under gastroendoscopy (r=0.295,P =0.002).The incidences of radiation-induced ulcer of gamma knife radiotherapy and helical tomotherapy were 50.0 ％ (15/30) and 39.2 ％ (31/79),respectively,and the difference was not statistically significant (x2 =1.032,P =0.301).Conclusions The occurrence of radiation ulcers should be alerted if over grade two acute gastrointestinal side effects presented in patients with pancreatic cancer and received radiotherapy.The radiotherapy caused gastrointestinal side effects can not be evaluated just according to clinical symptoms.Endoscopic findings and pathological diagnosis are the gold standard.

Background: and Purpose Patients with aortic disease might have an increased risk of intracranial aneurysm (IA). We conducted this research to assess the prevalence of IA in patients with aortopathy, considering the impact of gender, age, and cardiovascular risk factors. Methods: We searched PubMed and Scopus from inception to August 2019 for epidemiological studies reporting the prevalence of IA in patients with aortopathy. Random-effect meta-analyses were performed to calculate the overall prevalence, and the effect of risk factors on the prevalence was also evaluated. Anatomical location of IAs in patients suffered from distinct aortic disease was extracted and further analyzed. Results: Thirteen cross-sectional studies involving 4,041 participants were included in this systematic review. We reported an estimated prevalence of 12% (95% confidence interval [CI], 9% to 14%) of IA in patients with aortopathy. The pooled prevalence of IA in patients with bicuspid aortic valve, coarctation of the aorta, aortic aneurysm, and aortic dissection was 8% (95% CI, 6% to 10%), 10% (95% CI, 7% to 14%), 12% (95% CI, 9% to 15%), and 23% (95% CI, 12% to 34%), respectively. Gender (female) and smoking are risk factors related to an increased risk of IA. The anatomical distribution of IAs was heterogeneously between participants with different aortic disease. Conclusions According to current epidemiological evidence, the prevalence of IA in patients with aortic disease is quadrupled compared to that in the general population, which suggests that an early IA screening should be considered among patients with aortic disease for timely diagnosis and treatment of IA.

Objective To investigate the effects of melatonin on the proliferation of neural stem cells (NSCs) in cerebral ischemia reperfusion (IR) rats, and to explore the possible mechanisms. Methods Seventy-two rats were randomly divided into the normal control group (n=12), model group (n=30) and melatonin group (n=30) according to the random number table. The rats in the model group and melatonin group were divided into four subgroups: 6 h, 24 h, 72 h and 7 d subgroups according to the time after IR. The morphological changes of the subventricular zone (SVZ) were examined by HE staining;the effects of melatonin on NSCs proliferation were examined by immunofluorescence staining;the effects of melatonin on toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) and nuclear factor (NF)-κB p65 protein were examined by immunohistochemistry staining and Western blotting analysis. The correlation between the proliferating NSCs and TLR4 protein or the NF-κB p65 protein was analyzed by linear regression analysis. Results HE staining showed that the cells in the SVZ of rats in the model group were in disorder and irregular in shape. In the melatonin group, the cells in the SVZ of the injured side were relatively well arranged. Immunofluorescence staining showed that the number of proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA)+Nestin+4',6-diamidino-2-phenylindole (DAPI)+cells in the SVZ of the model (498.47 ± 26.44/mm2) and melatonin groups (623.10 ± 39.70/mm2) increased gradually, and reached a higher level after IR for 7 days, which were significantly higher than the normal control group (203.91 ± 32.23/mm2) (F=35.193, 170.344, 277.536, 285.947, all P＜0.01). The number of PCNA+Nestin+DAPI+cells in the melatonin group rats at each time points was significantly higher than that in the model group (F=102.561, 91.244, 168.502, 38.013, all P＜0.01). Immunohistochemistry staining showed that the numbers of TLR4+and NF-κB p65+cells in the SVZ of the model (740.02±31.63/mm2;710.01± 26.59/mm2) and melatonin groups (555.57 ± 25.28/mm2;528.85 ± 30.60/mm2) increased gradually, and reached a higher level 7 d after IR, which were significantly higher than the normal control group (107.97±12.84/mm2;109.80±13.89/mm2) (F=21.413, 263.059, 873.691, 1 037.098, all P＜0.01;F=26.374, 372.940, 854.826, 929.018, all P＜0.01). There were less TLR4+(F=7.641, 25.135, 66.094, 103.753, all P＜0.05) and NF-κB p65+cells (F=18.612, 69.597, 113.113, 119.814, all P＜0.01) in the melatonin group as compared with those in the model group at each time points. Western blotting analysis showed that the expression of TLR4 (0.87±0.08;0.68±0.06) and NF-κB p65 (0.72±0.05;0.58±0.05) protein was higher in the model and melatonin groups as compared with the normal control group (0.35±0.04, 0.31±0.03;F=107.43, F=132.51, both P＜0.01). The expression of the TLR4 and NF-κB p65 protein was lower in the melatonin group as compared with that in the model group (P＜0.01). Linear regression analysis showed that the differences of PCNA+Nestin+DAPI+cells were all negatively correlated with that of the TLR4+cells and NF-κB p65+cells in the melatonin group (r2=0.838, r2=0.813, both P＜0.01). Conclusion Melatonin can inhibit the expression of TLR4 and NF-κB p65 protein, thus promote the proliferation of endogenous NSCs in cerebral ischemia reperfusion rats.

Objective:To analyze the consistency and correlation of indirect calorimetry (IC) and Harris-Benedict estimation method (H-B) in measuring energy consumption in patients with severe acute pancreatitis (SAP), as well as the characteristics of energy metabolism at resting state of SAP patients with different etiologies, and so as to guide the formulation of clinical energy nutrition support program.Methods:From February 1 to December 31, 2019, 61 SAP patients admitted into the intensive care unit of the First Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University were enrolled. Collected relevant data of patients, such as the etiology of SAP, whether mechanical ventilation was needed, as well as the metabolic status. All SAP patients accepted IC test on the first day after admission to intensive care unit. According to the energy consumption measured by IC (hereinafter referred to as IC value) and the energy consumption measured by H-B (hereinafter referred to as H-B value), SAP patients were determined to be in high, normal or low metabolic state. Bland-Altman method and Pearson linear regression were used to analyze the consistency and correlation of the two methods in measuring energy consumption, and the linear equation was fitted. Paired t test was used for statistical analysis. Results:Among the 61 SAP patients, 13 cases were biliary SAP, 30 cases were hyperlipidemic SAP, 6 cases were alcoholic SAP, and 12 cases were SAP of other causes or unknown causes. Nineteen cases needed mechanical ventilation and 42 cases did not need mechanical ventilation. There were 70.5% (43/61) of SAP patients in high metabolic state, 13.1%(8/61) of SAP patients in normal metabolic state, and 16.4% (10/61) of SAP patients in low metabolic state. The IC value in 61 SAP patients was higher than H-B value((8 604.7±367.8) kJ/d vs. (6 491.2±133.7) kJ/d), and the difference was statistically significant ( t=5.95, P<0.001). The IC value in patients with hyperlipidemic, alcoholic and biliary SAP was (8 815.2±537.9), (7 631.2±890.5), and (8 108.0±933.1) kJ/d, respectively, and the H-B value was (6 869.6±204.5), (5 916.8±153.7), and (5 974.2±200.9) kJ/d, respectively. The IC value in patients with biliary or hyperlipidemic SAP were higher than H-B value, and the differences were statistically significant( t=2.29 and 3.38, both P<0.05). The IC value and H-B value in SAP patients with mechanical ventilation and without mechanical ventilation were (10 485.0±741.1) and (6 462.6±222.8) kJ/d, (6 595.1±364.7) and (6 503.2±166.7) kJ/d, respectively. The IC value in SAP patients with mechanical ventilation was higher than H-B value and the IC value in SAP patients without mechanical ventilation, and the differences were statistically significant ( t=4.71 and 5.20, both P<0.001). The consistency analyzed by Bland-Altman method showed that the two methods had obvious biases, and the average bias value was 92.2 kJ/d. The result of Pearson linear regression analysis indicated that there was a linear relationship between two methods ( r=0.44, P<0.001). The linear equation fitted by the univariate regression was Y=1.240 6 X+ 154.42, in which X was the H-B value and Y was the IC value. Conclusions:SAP patients are mostly in a hypermetabolic state in the early stages of the disease. The IC value is higher than H-B value, and it is recommended to use IC to measure energy consumption in SAP patients.

To investigate the recent prevalence and molecular epidemiological characteristics of por-cine diarrhea viruses in Sichuan Province,this study used fluorescence quantitative PCR to detect porcine diarrhea samples from multiple regions in Sichuan Province from 2021 to 2023.RT-PCR was used to identify the genotypes of PEDV,PoRVA,PDCoV,and PTV,and their genetic variabil-ity,evolutionary characteristics,and recombination events were analyzed.The results showed that PEDV,PoRVA,PDCoV,and PTV were still prevalent in Sichuan region,with overall positive rates of 14.2％(40/281),13.2％(37/281),15.6％(44/281),and 12.5％(35/281),respectively.PEDV mixed infection with other pathogens was the most common.This study obtained a total of six strains of G2b PEDV,three strains of G3 PDCoV,three strains of G9P[13]PoRVA,one strain of G3P[13]PoRVA,three strains of Type 5 PTV,and one strain of Type 9 PTV.Compared to the seven vaccine strains including CV777,DR13,KPEDV-9,Chinju99,KNU-0801,AJ1102,and LW/L,the 6 PEDV strains showed multiple amino acid mutation sites in the COE region and S1D epitope region.Among them,the strains PSCLZ01 and PSCMY04 formed a separate branch in the phylogenetic tree.The three PDCoV strains have a closer genetic evolution distance to the previ-ously prevalent strains in Sichuan,but they also have 6-48 amino acid mutations compared to them.The four PoRVA strains have 104-108 amino acid variations in the VP4 gene compared to the early vaccine strain LLR,and they have 25 common amino acid variations in the VP7 gene.From the phylogenetic tree,the VP7 gene of RSCMY01/G3P[13]belongs to the same branch as the Heilongjiang strain LNCY,but its VP4 gene clusters with the Sichuan strain SCYA-C7,indica-ting that this PoRVA strain may have undergone genetic reassortment during inter-provincial transmission between different genotypes.It is worth noting that in the detected samples of PTV-5 and PTV-9,other diarrheal viruses tested negative,indicating that these two genotypes of PTV may be important pathogens causing porcine diarrhea.Additionally,the S gene of PEDV PSCLZ01 strain and PDCoV PCSCMY02 strain have undergone recombination events,and their parental strains come from different regions,both domestic and international.These findings reveal the main types of porcine diarrheal viruses,as well as their genetic diversity and variations in Sichuan Province in recent years.This study enriches the molecular epidemiological data of porcine diarrhe-al pathogens in the region and provides an important theoretical basis for the prevention,control,and purification of porcine diarrhea in the local area.

Objective To investigate the relationships of pre-radiotherapy body weight,gender,age,EBVDNA,hemoglobin,plasma albumin,and induction chemotherapy regimen with the changes of target area and lymph node volume in adaptive radiotherapy,so as to provide a reference for the timing and population selection of adaptive radiotherapy.Methods A retrospective analysis was conducted on 34 patients who received the first course of radiotherapy at Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center from January 2022 to November 2022.All patients underwent CT scans again after 20 sessions of radiotherapy for developing the secondary radiotherapy plans.The body weight,gender,age,tumor stage,hemoglobin,plasma albumin,induction chemotherapy regimen,and EBVDNA were collected.Results The tumor volume reduction in the primary focus was more evident in patients with pre-treatment plasma albumin≥40 g/L than in those with pre-treatment plasma albumin<40 g/L(t=3.971,P=0.001),and in patients with pretreatment EBVDNA≤4000 copies/mL than in those with pretreatment EBVDNA>4000 copies/mL(t=4.080,P=0.001).Pearson analysis showed that GTVnx volume difference was positively correlated with pre-radiotherapy GTVnx volume(r=0.444,P=0.009),right parotid gland volume difference(r=0.737,P<0.001),left parotid gland volume difference(r=0.435,P=0.010),and hemoglobin(r=0.722,P<0.001).Conclusion The reduction in tumor volume during radiotherapy is more pronounced in nasopharyngeal cancer patients with normal plasma albumin level and those with pretreatment EBVDNA≤4000 copies/mL.The pre-radiotherapy treatment volume of primary focus,parotid gland volume change before and after radiotherapy,and pre-radiotherapy EBVDNA,hemoglobin and plasma albumin levels can be used to predict the degree of tumor volume shrinkage during radiotherapy,providing a reference for the selection of the timing of adaptive radiotherapy for nasopharyngeal carcinoma.

Magnetic resonance based electrical properties tomography (MREPT) is a different method from proton density imaging, Bloch-Siegert shift (BSS) is used in this paper to reconstruct the radiofrequency (RF) field amplitude and calculate the distribution of the permittivity constant. The phase of the RF field is approximated by the phase component of the magnetization intensity, and the conductivity distribution is calculated. In the experiment, Bruker 7.0 T magnetic resonance device was used to image two water models and in vivo Balb/c mice to obtain the image of electrical characteristics. Experimental results show that the Bloch-siegert B₁⁺ image is significantly more efficient than the double-angle B₁⁺ image. The study can provide a reference for selecting appropriate B₁ mapping technology for B₁ field imaging of electrical characteristics organizations, and provide basic research support for promoting the practical application of magnetic resonance characteristics.
Algorithms ; Animals ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy ; Mice ; Phantoms, Imaging ; Tomography

Humans ; Uric Acid ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Spondylarthritis/diagnostic imaging* ; C-Reactive Protein ; Spondylitis, Ankylosing

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is an acute respiratory infectious disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection. It is highly contagious and can cause death in severe cases. As reported by the World Health Organization (WHO), as of 6:36 pm Central European Summer Time (CEST), 12 August 2022, there had been 585 950 285 confirmed cases of COVID-19, including 6 425 422 deaths (WHO, 2022).
Humans ; COVID-19 ; SARS-CoV-2 ; Mental Health ; Cohort Studies ; Quality of Life ; China/epidemiology* ; Health Personnel ; Hospitals ; Lung