Objective: To study the effect of a-linolenic acid on insulin resistance and its mechanism concerning the insulin signal transduction,providing a theoratic basis for applying plant oil rich in a-linolenic acid in preventing and treating diabetes. Methods :The effect of a-linolenic acid on protein kinase B(PKB) signal transduction and expression of glucose transport protein 4(GLUT4) in rat skeletal muscles was detected by primary cell culture and Western blot techniques. Results:At the concentration of 0. 125-1. 0?mol/L, a-linolenic acid promoted the PKB phosphorylation, but didnot influence the expression of PKB. The expression of GLUT4 protein was dose-dependent and time-dependent. Adding PI3K inhibitor LY294002(15 ?mol/L) in a-linolenic acid cultured skeletal muscle cells made no significant difference in the level of PKB phosphorylation and GLUT4 protein. Conclusion:a-linolenic acid can improve the level of GLUT4 protein by promoting skeletal muscle PI3K/ PKB signal transduction,and increase the sensitivity of skeletal muscle on insulin, which can alleviate or avoid insulin resistance and glycometabolic disturbance.

Objective To investigate the effects of protein intake in the early phase and later phase on the outcomes of critically ill patients.Methods A total of 326 critically ill patients admitted in intensive care unit of our hospital from September 2016 to March 2018 were enrolled in this prospective observational study.According to the 28-day prognosis of patients,they were divided into death group and survival group.Early protein target (EPT) was defined as the daily protein intake≥0.8 g/ (kg · d) on days 1-3,and late protein target (LPT) was defined as the daily protein intake≥0.8 g/ (k · d) on days 4-7.Results Daily protein intakes on day 1 and day 3 and cumulative protein intakes on days 1-3 were significantly higher in non-survivors than in the survivors (P＜0.05),but daily protein intakes on day 2,4,5,6 and 7 and cumulative protein intakes on days 4-7 and 1-7 showed no significant difference between two groups (P＞0.05).Hospital mortality was the lowest in the LPT group,the highest in the EPT,and in the middle in the EPT+LPT group and non-EPT+non-LPT group (P＜0.05).The survival curve analysis showed that the survival time of the EPT-only group was significantly lower than that of the LPT-only group (P＜0.05).Multivariate analysis showed that age,sex,cumulative protein and caloric intakes on days 1-7 were the independent risk factors for mortality.Conclusion Early low protein intake is benefit for the outcomes of critically ill patients,and combined with adequate intake of protein in the later stage may further improve the outcomes.

Objective:To evaluate the feasibility of a novel liver fiducial marker implantation method for internal fixation and removal of rabbit livers, in order to use in Cyberknife tracking therapy.Methods:Experiments were conducted in vivo and in vitro. In the in vivo experiment, three fiducial markers were implanted percutaneously in each liver of ten rabbits under anesthesia, and the fourth fiducial marker with an external catheter and fixed thin wire was implanted ten days later. After the reference group (the first and the second maker), and the casing group (the first and the fourth marker) were respectively registered and tracked with the Cyberknife, the implantation success rate, registration accuracy, and removal safety of fiducial markers were assessed. The tensile test was performed using liver in vitro by measuring the resistance required to dislodge the spring coil fiducial markers and the fiducial markers without spring coil from liver. Results:The intrahepatic catheter implantation and removal of fiducial marker in rabbit liver had a success rate of 100% and no distant migration. The operation-related and postoperative complications were not occurred. All fiducial markers were successfully traced. Compared to the reference group, the casing group had slightly higher translational errors in supero-inferior and antero-posterior directions ( Z=-11.77, -4.57, P<0.05), and lower translational errors in left-right direction ( Z=-2.52, P<0.05). The dislodgement forces for spring coil fiducial markers was (2.23±0.85) N, significantly different with (0.81±0.13) N for fiducial markers without spring coil ( Z=- 2.31, P < 0.05). Conclusions:The spiral coil structure provides superior fixation in the punctured needle channel, the thin line limits the distant displacement of the fiducial marker outside the liver, and the catheter establishes a channel for the removal. The general operation is simple and easy.

Objective:To explore the tracking accuracy of the surface optically guided tracking system (OGTS) in radiotherapy.Methods:Phantom verification and clinical trial verification were adopted. Specialized equipment was employed for the phantom verification. Specifically, the displacement of the optical markers as they moved from a predetermined position to the target position on the reflector ball platform was captured using the OGTS, and then the obtained displacement was compared with the fixed distance within the phantom to calculate the accuracy and repeatability of the OGTS. For the clinical trial verification, 45 patients treated with radiotherapy, which consisted of 15 cases with head, breast, and rectal tumors each, were selected to investigate the tracking accuracy and repeatability of the OGTS. For each patient, the values derived from the image-guided positioning system (IGPS) and the OGTS before and after image-guided setup error correction during three times of fractionated radiotherapy were randomly obtained. The translational errors of each error correction were also recorded. Before radiotherapy, patients′ setup errors were corrected and relevant data were obtained using the IGPS. The correction result of translation errors obtained using the IGPS served as a gold standard to verify the accuracy of the OGTS in monitoring the translational motion of patients. Finally, the comprehensive translational deviation of both method was calculated.Results:The phantom measurements showed that the comprehensive translational deviation for tracking accuracy and tracking repeatability of the OGTS had a maximum deviation and a standard deviation of 0.18 mm and 0.03 mm, respectively. The clinical trial result indicated that the tracking accuracy of IGPS and OGTS exhibited statistically significant differences only for the head in the z direction ( t = 2.21, P < 0.05). Conversely, no statistically significant differences were observed for the head in the remaining directions or for the breast and rectum in the three translational directions ( P > 0.05). The analysis showed that comprehensive translational deviations for the head, breast, and rectum derived from OGTS and IGPS were (0.91±0.62), (1.64±1.30), and (1.52±1.29) mm, respectively, satisfying the requirement that the deviations should be below 2 mm. Conclusions:The OGTS, featuring easy operation and high tracking accuracy, can assist the IGPS in real-time respiratory monitoring during radiotherapy.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection can cause acute respiratory distress syndrome, hypercoagulability, hypertension, and multiorgan dysfunction. Effective antivirals with safe clinical profile are urgently needed to improve the overall prognosis. In an analysis of a randomly collected cohort of 124 patients with COVID-19, we found that hypercoagulability as indicated by elevated concentrations of D-dimers was associated with disease severity. By virtual screening of a U.S. FDA approved drug library, we identified an anticoagulation agent dipyridamole (DIP) , which suppressed SARS-CoV-2 replication . In a proof-of-concept trial involving 31 patients with COVID-19, DIP supplementation was associated with significantly decreased concentrations of D-dimers ( < 0.05), increased lymphocyte and platelet recovery in the circulation, and markedly improved clinical outcomes in comparison to the control patients. In particular, all 8 of the DIP-treated severely ill patients showed remarkable improvement: 7 patients (87.5%) achieved clinical cure and were discharged from the hospitals while the remaining 1 patient (12.5%) was in clinical remission.