Polygonati Rhizoma demonstrates significant potential for addressing both chronic and hidden hunger. The supply of high-quality seedlings is a primary factor influencing the development of the Polygonati Rhizoma industry. Warm water soaking is often used in agriculture to promote the rapid germination of seeds, while its application and molecular mechanism in Polygonati Rhizoma have not been reported. To rapidly obtain high-quality seedlings, this study treated Polygonatum kingianum var. grandifolium seeds with sand storage at low temperatures, warm water soaking, and cultivation temperature gradients. The results showed that the culture at 25 ℃ or sand storage at 4 ℃ for 2 months rapidly broke the seed dormancy of P. kingianum var. grandifolium, while the culture at 20 ℃ or sand storage at 4 ℃ for 1 month failed to break the seed dormancy. Soaking seeds in 60 ℃ warm water further increased the germination rate, germination potential, and germination index. Specifically, the seeds soaked at 60 ℃ and cultured at 25 ℃ without sand storage treatment(Aa25) achieved a germination rate of 78. 67%±1. 53% on day 42 and 83. 40%±4. 63% on day 77. The seeds pretreated with sand storage at 4 ℃ for 2 months, soaked in 60 ℃ water, and then cultured at 25 ℃ achieved a germination rate comparable to that of Aa25 on day 77. Transcriptomic analysis indicated that warm water soaking might promote germination by triggering reactive oxygen species( ROS), inducing the expression of heat shock factors( HSFs) and heat shock proteins( HSPs), which accelerated DNA replication, transcript maturation, translation, and processing, thereby facilitating the accumulation and turnover of genetic materials. According to the results of indoor controlled experiments and field practices, maintaining a germination and seedling cultivation environment at approximately 25 ℃ was crucial for the one-year seedling cultivation of P. kingianum var. grandifolium.
Germination ; Seedlings/genetics* ; Water/metabolism* ; Seeds/metabolism* ; Polygonatum/genetics* ; Temperature ; Plant Proteins/genetics* ; Plant Dormancy

Objective:To investigate the effect of immune checkpoint inhibitors on reducing residual lymph node metastasis in patients with gastric cancer.Methods:The cohort of this retrospective study comprised patients from Nanfang Hospital of Southern Medical University and the First Affiliated Hospital of Xiamen University who had undergone systemic treatment prior to gastrectomy with D2 lymphadenectomy and had achieved Grade 1 primary tumor regression (TRG1) from January 2014 to December 2023. After exclusion of patients who had undergone preoperative radiotherapy, data of 58 patients (Nanfang Hospital: 46; First Affiliated Hospital of Xiamen University: 12) were analyzed. These patients were allocated to preoperative chemotherapy (Chemotherapy group, N=36 cases) and preoperative immunotherapy plus chemotherapy groups (Immunotherapy group, N=22 cases). There were no significant differences between these groups in sex, age, body mass index, diabetes, tumor location, pathological type, Lauren classification, tumor differentiation, pretreatment depth of invasion by primary tumor, pretreatment lymph node stage, pretreatment clinical stage, mismatch repair protein status, number of preoperative treatment cycles, or duration of preoperative treatment (all P>0.05). The primary outcome measure was postoperative lymph node downstaging. Secondary outcomes included postoperative depth of invasion by tumor, number of lymph nodes examined, and factors affecting residual lymph node metastasis status. Results:Lymph node downstaging was achieved significantly more often in the Immunotherapy group than the Chemotherapy group (pN0: 90.9% [20/22] vs. 61.1% [22/36]; pN1: 4.5% [1/22] vs. 36.1% [13/36]; pN2: 4.5% [1/22) vs. 0; pN3: 0 vs. 2.8% [1/36], Z=-2.315, P=0.021). There were no significant difference between the two groups in number of lymph nodes examined (40.5±16.3 vs. 40.8±17.5, t=0.076, P=0.940) or postoperative depth of invasion by primary tumor (pT1a: 50.0% [11/22] vs. 30.6% [11/36]; pT1b: 13.6% [3/22] vs. 19.4% [7/36]; pT2: 13.6% [3/22] vs. 13.9% [5/36]; pT3: 13.6% [3/22] vs. 25.0% [9/36]; pT4a: 9.1% [2/22] vs. 11.1% [4/36], Z=-1.331, P=0.183). Univariate analysis revealed that both preoperative treatment regimens were associated with residual lymph node metastasis status in patients whose primary tumor regression was TRG1 (χ 2=6.070, P=0.014). Multivariate analysis incorporated the following factors: pretreatment depth of invasion by primary tumor, pretreatment lymph node stage, pretreatment clinical stage, number of preoperative treatment cycles, and preoperative treatment duration. We found that a combination of immunotherapy and chemotherapy administered preoperatively was an independent protective factor for reducing residual lymph node metastases in study patients whose primary tumor regression was TRG1 (OR=0.147, 95%CI: 0.026–0.828, P=0.030). Conclusion:Compared with preoperative chemotherapy alone, a combination of preoperative immunotherapy and chemotherapy achieved greater reduction of residual lymph node metastases in the study patients who achieved TRG1 tumor regression in their primary lesions.

Objective:To investigate the effect of immune checkpoint inhibitors on reducing residual lymph node metastasis in patients with gastric cancer.Methods:The cohort of this retrospective study comprised patients from Nanfang Hospital of Southern Medical University and the First Affiliated Hospital of Xiamen University who had undergone systemic treatment prior to gastrectomy with D2 lymphadenectomy and had achieved Grade 1 primary tumor regression (TRG1) from January 2014 to December 2023. After exclusion of patients who had undergone preoperative radiotherapy, data of 58 patients (Nanfang Hospital: 46; First Affiliated Hospital of Xiamen University: 12) were analyzed. These patients were allocated to preoperative chemotherapy (Chemotherapy group, N=36 cases) and preoperative immunotherapy plus chemotherapy groups (Immunotherapy group, N=22 cases). There were no significant differences between these groups in sex, age, body mass index, diabetes, tumor location, pathological type, Lauren classification, tumor differentiation, pretreatment depth of invasion by primary tumor, pretreatment lymph node stage, pretreatment clinical stage, mismatch repair protein status, number of preoperative treatment cycles, or duration of preoperative treatment (all P>0.05). The primary outcome measure was postoperative lymph node downstaging. Secondary outcomes included postoperative depth of invasion by tumor, number of lymph nodes examined, and factors affecting residual lymph node metastasis status. Results:Lymph node downstaging was achieved significantly more often in the Immunotherapy group than the Chemotherapy group (pN0: 90.9% [20/22] vs. 61.1% [22/36]; pN1: 4.5% [1/22] vs. 36.1% [13/36]; pN2: 4.5% [1/22) vs. 0; pN3: 0 vs. 2.8% [1/36], Z=-2.315, P=0.021). There were no significant difference between the two groups in number of lymph nodes examined (40.5±16.3 vs. 40.8±17.5, t=0.076, P=0.940) or postoperative depth of invasion by primary tumor (pT1a: 50.0% [11/22] vs. 30.6% [11/36]; pT1b: 13.6% [3/22] vs. 19.4% [7/36]; pT2: 13.6% [3/22] vs. 13.9% [5/36]; pT3: 13.6% [3/22] vs. 25.0% [9/36]; pT4a: 9.1% [2/22] vs. 11.1% [4/36], Z=-1.331, P=0.183). Univariate analysis revealed that both preoperative treatment regimens were associated with residual lymph node metastasis status in patients whose primary tumor regression was TRG1 (χ 2=6.070, P=0.014). Multivariate analysis incorporated the following factors: pretreatment depth of invasion by primary tumor, pretreatment lymph node stage, pretreatment clinical stage, number of preoperative treatment cycles, and preoperative treatment duration. We found that a combination of immunotherapy and chemotherapy administered preoperatively was an independent protective factor for reducing residual lymph node metastases in study patients whose primary tumor regression was TRG1 (OR=0.147, 95%CI: 0.026–0.828, P=0.030). Conclusion:Compared with preoperative chemotherapy alone, a combination of preoperative immunotherapy and chemotherapy achieved greater reduction of residual lymph node metastases in the study patients who achieved TRG1 tumor regression in their primary lesions.

Objective:To investigate the efficacy and side effects of concurrent chemoradiotherapy with or without nimotuzumab in the treatment of locally advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma after neoadjuvant chemotherapy.Methods:In the prospective study, 100 patients with stage Ⅲ-Ⅳa locally advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma (except T 3N 0M 0 stage) who met the inclusion criteria were randomly divided into the experimental and control groups using the random number table method. Patients in both groups were treated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy using TPF (paclitaxel liposome, cisplatin, and 5-fluorouracil) regimen for 2 cycles. At 2 weeks after chemotherapy, concurrent chemoradiotherapy plus nimotuzumab targeted therapy was given in the experimental group, and concurrent chemoradiotherapy was delivered in the control group. The main observation index was the distant metastasis-free survival (DMFS) rate. Log-rank test and multivariate Cox regression analysis were used. Results:The objective remission rate and complete remission rate in the experimental and control groups were 100% vs. 98% ( P=1.000) and 92.0% vs. 80% ( P=0.084). The 3-year DMFS in the experimental and control groups were 91.4 % vs. 76.1 % ( P=0.043). The 3-year progression-free survival (PFS), locoregional recurrence-free survival (LRFS) and overall survival (OS) in two groups were 87.3 % vs. 74.1 % ( P=0.097), 94.5 % vs. 85.6 % ( P=0.227) and 90.5% vs. 85.2% ( P=0.444). Subgroup analysis showed that patients with age<60 years ( HR=0.34, 95% CI=0.12-0.94, P=0.037), neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR)≤4 ( HR=0.34, 95% CI=0.13-0.89, P=0.028) received concurrent chemoradiotherapy plus nimotuzumab obtained better PFS. Multivariate analysis showed that NLR was an independent risk factor for disease progression ( HR=5.94, 95% CI=1.18-29.81, P=0.030) and distant metastasis ( HR=13.76, 95% CI=1.52-124.36, P=0.020). Conclusions:Compared with concurrent chemoradiotherapy alone, concurrent chemoradiotherapy combined with nimotuzumab after neoadjuvant chemotherapy can significantly increase DMFS rate for patients with locally advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma. The incidence of side effects is similar in two groups. Concurrent chemoradiotherapy plus nimotuzumab after neoadjuvant chemotherapy may be a preferred treatment strategy for locally advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma.

Objective:To investigate the application value of intrathoracic double-flap tech-nique (Kamikawa anastomosis) in combined thoracoscopic and laparoscopic radical resection for esophagogastric junction cancer.Methods:The retrospective and descriptive study was conducted. The clinicopathological data of 10 patients with esophagogastric junction cancer who were admitted to the First Affiliated Hospital of Xiamen University between July 2022 and April 2023 were collec-ted. There were 7 males and 3 females, aged 62(range, 53-71)years. All the 10 patients underwent combined thoracoscopic and laparoscopic radical resection for esophagogastric junction cancer. Reconstruction was performed with an intrathoracic Kamikawa anastomosis. Observation indicators: (1) intraoperative and postoperative situations; (2) postoperative pathological examination; (3) follow-up and survival. Measurement data with normal distribution were represented as Mean± SD, and measurement data with skewed distribution were represented as M(range). Count data were described as absolute numbers. Results:(1) Intraoperative and postoperative situations. All the 10 patients underwent surgery successfully. The operation time and volume of intraoperative blood loss were (347±41)minutes and (91±41)mL. The time to postoperative fluid diet intake, time to removal of postoperative abdominal drainage tube, time to removal of postoperative chest drainage tube, duration of postoperative hospital stay were (4.3±1.1)days, (5.0±1.6)days, (10.5±3.9)days, (13.3±3.8)days. Six patients had postoperative complications, including 1 case of Clavien-Dindo grade ⅢB, 3 cases of Clavien Dindo grade Ⅱ, 2 cases of Clavien Dindo grade Ⅰ. An upper gastrointestinal contrast at postoperative day 7 showed no anastomotic leak or anastomotic stricture in the 10 patients. (2) Postoperative pathological examination. Results of postoperative pathological examination in the 10 patients showed negative surgical margin. The number of lymph node dissected was 22±6. There were 3 patients with 5 positive lymph nodes. The tumor diameter and distance from center of tumor to squamocolumnar mucosal junction were (3.3±0.5)cm and (1.9±1.4)cm. One patient had tumor differentiation degree as high and moderate differentiation, 5 cases as moderate differentiation, 3 cases as moderate and low differentiation, 1 case as low differentiation. There were 5 patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagogastric junction and 5 patients with adenocarcinoma of the esophagogastric junction. (3) Follow-up and survival. All the 10 patients were followed up for 7(range, 3?12)months, achieving disease-free survival. The visick quality of life grade Ⅰ, Ⅱ, Ⅲ, Ⅳ were observed in 7, 3, 0, 0 patients. Postoperative gastroscopy was completed in 7 patients, in which mild anastomotic strictures were noted in 2 patients, but no treatment was required. There was no reflux esophagitis.Conclusion:Intrathoracic Kamikawa anastomosis in combined thoracoscopic and laparoscopic radical resection for esophagogastric junction cancer is safe and feasible, with satisfactory short-term efficacy.

Objective:To investigate the application value of transanal endoscopic partial intersphincteric resection for ultra-low rectal cancer.Methods:The retrospective and descriptive study was conducted. The clinicopathological data of 9 ultra-low rectal cancer patients undergoing transanal endoscopic partial intersphincteric resection at the First Affiliated Hospital of Xiamen University from December 2017 to August 2020 were collected. There were 8 males and 1 female, aged from 39 to 62 years, with a median age of 58 years. Observation indicators: (1) surgical and postoperative situations; (2) postoperative pathological examination; (3) follow-up. Follow-up was conducted using outpatient examination and telephone interview to detect postoperative tumor local recurrence and distant metastasis, survival of patients, ileostomy closure, anus function at 3 months after ileostomy closure, male urinary and sexual function and female sexual function at 6 months after rectal surgery. The follow-up was up to February 2021. Measurement data with normal distribution were represented as Mean± SD, and measurement data with skewed distribution were represented as M(range). Count data were described as absolute numbers. Results:(1)Surgical and postoperative situations: all 9 patients underwent surgery successfully, without conversion to open surgery. Seven of the 9 patients underwent transanal endoscopic partial intersphincteric resection and the rest of 2 patients with tumor close to the dentate line underwent transanal endoscopic modified partial intersphincteric resection. The operation time and volume of intraoperative blood loss of 9 patients were (267±48)minutes and 50 mL(range, 30?60 mL), respectively. Five of the 9 patients underwent transanal specimen extraction, and 4 patients underwent specimen extraction by an abdominal incision. All 9 patients underwent transanal hand-sewn coloanal anastomosis and protective ileostomy, and two pelvic drainage tubes were indwelled. Transanal drainage tube was placed after anastomosis in 3 of 9 patients. Three cases had intraoperative adverse events and there were no intraoperative adverse event reported in the remaining 6 cases. The time to postoperative initial stoma exhausting and time to postoperative first semi-liquid food intake of 9 patients were 3 days(range, 2?4 days) and 5 days(range, 4?7 days), respectively. One case had Clavien-Dindo grade Ⅰ complication and 2 cases had Clavien-Dindo grade Ⅱ complication during postoperative 30 days and the rest of 6 cases had no postoperative complication. No anastomotic stricture, hemorrhage or urinary retention occurred in 9 patients. The duration of postoperative hospital stay and cost of hospitalization of 9 patients were 11 days(range, 9?23 days) and (6.8±1.3)×10 4 yuan, respectively. (2) Postoperative pathological examination: the diameter of tumor, the distance of distal resection margin, the number of lymph node dissected and the number of positive lymph node of 9 patients were (3.2±1.4)cm, 0.6 cm(range, 0.5?1.5 cm), 17±7 and 0(range, 0?7), respectively. The tumor histopathological type was adenocarcinoma with negative tumor nodule and nerve infiltration in all 9 patients. Only 1 case of 9 patients was found vascular tumor thrombus. The surgical specimens of all 9 patients showed negative for distal and circumferential margins and complete mesorectum. Results of postoperative pathological TNM staging showed that of 6 cases with preoperative T1-T2 staging tumors, 3 cases were classified as pT2N0M0 stage, and 3 cases were classified as pT2N1M0 stage, pT2N2M0 stage or pT3N1M0 stage, respectively. Three cases with preoperative T3 staging tumors were classified as ypT0N0M0 stage, ypT2N0M0 stage or ypT3N0M0 stage, respectively. (3) Follow-up: all 9 patients were followed up for 6 to 13 months, with a median follow-up time of 9 months. No local recurrence, distant metastasis or tumor-related death was found during follow-up. Of the 9 patients, only 1 case did not receive stoma closure and undergo anus function assessment, and the rest of 8 cases underwent stoma closure. Results of postoperative anus function assessment showed 5 cases of accessibility, 2 cases of mild impairment and 1 case of severe impairment. Results of urogenital function assessment showed 6 cases of the 8 male patients of mild impairment, 1 case of moderate impairment and 1 case of severe impairment in micturition function, respectively, and 3 cases of accessibility, 2 cases of mild impairment and 3 cases of moderate impairment in sexual function, respectively. The female patient underwent accessibility of sexual function and the six-item version of the female sexual function index was 25. Conclusion:Transanal endoscopic partial intersphincteric resection can be used for the treatment of ultra-low rectal cancer.

Objective:To understand the mental health status of pregnant women in the third trimester of pregnancy, and explore the influencing factors.Methods:The general demographic information and pregnancy information of 575 pregnant women in the Chinese Pregnant Women Cohort Study were collected. The mental health status of pregnant women in the third trimester was investigated by using Edinburgh Postpartum Depression Scale, Self-Rating Anxiety Scale and University of California at Los Angeles. Multivariate unconditional logistic regression was used to analyze the influencing factors for mental health of pregnant women.Results:In the third trimester of pregnancy, the incidence of depression was 16.52%, the incidence of anxiety was 11.13%, and the incidence of feeling loneliness was 26.26%. Logistic regression analysis showed that compared with those with education level of junior high school below, those with education level of college or bachelor's degree ( OR=0.418, 95% CI: 0.184-0.950) and master's degree or above ( OR=0.116, 95% CI: 0.027-0.503) were less likely to feel loneliness. Pregnant women with higher annual family income (10 000 RMB yuan) were less likely to suffer from depression (≥20 vs. <10: OR=0.527, 95% CI: 0.279-0.998), anxiety (10-20 vs. <10: OR=0.363, 95% CI: 0.180-0.731; ≥20 vs. <10: OR=0.271, 95% CI: 0.132-0.554) and feeling loneliness (≥20 vs. <10: OR=0.477, 95% CI: 0.276-0.826). Conclusions:The education level and family income have impacts on the mental health status of pregnant women in the third trimester. Medical staff should give targeted psychological advice to pregnant women to improve their mental health status.

Under the limitation of cross-sectional studies, more researchers are turning their attention to maternal and child cohort studies. However, some problems do exist in the traditional maternal and child cohort studies, if data is only gathered from the hospitals. The limitation would include the contents of research and the high rate of loss to follow-up. With the integration of different medical traits and the progress in big data, the development of maternal and child related cohorts, with characteristics of dynamic follow-up and data sharing, through combining the information and health service systems of different institutions, seem in urgent need. This paper aims to provide some basic achievements in conducting maternal and child cohorts that can serve the related health problems through full-life cycle, and provide new references on conducting cohort studies, aiming at special population or diseases.

Objective:To investigate the effect of changes in physical activities on depressive symptoms in the second trimester of pregnancy.Methods:Data from the Chinese Pregnant Women Cohort Study, from July 25, 2017 to November 26, 2018, were used. Women who had effectively completed the survey of physical activity and depressive symptoms in the first and second trimesters of pregnancy, were recruited. Both International Physical Activity Questionnaire-short and Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale were used, respectively. Pregnant women who had completed two surveys were included in our study and were divided into two groups according to the depressive symptoms, measured at the baseline. Among the pregnant women without depressive symptoms at the baseline, logistic regression was used to analyze the effects of changes in physical activity on the prevention of depressive symptoms. Effect on the reduction of depressive symptoms was analyzed, using the same method.Results:The prevalence rates of depressive symptoms were 23.83 % and 20.57 % in the baseline and second trimester, respectively. After adjusting for age, education level, occupation, family annual income and pre-pregnancy BMI, data from the logistic regression showed that women without depressive symptoms and with increased and adequate physical activities in the baseline, were with lower risks to develop depressive symptoms in the second trimester ( OR=0.479, 95 %CI: 0.335-0.684; OR=0.566, 95 %CI: 0.394-0.815). Among women with depressive symptoms in the baseline survey, association between physical activity and depressive symptoms was not statistically significant ( P>0.05). Conclusions:Increased and adequate physical activities showed preventive effects on depressive symptoms during pregnancy, but the remission effect was not obvious in women with depressive symptoms. Pregnant women should be encouraged to increase their physical activities while screening programs should also be carried out to reduce the depressive symptoms during pregnancy.

Objective To investigate whether elevated levels of C?reactive protein ( CRP ) and neutrophil (NE) in the blood is associated with an increased risk of lung cancer incidence. Methods From 2006 to 2007, all employees and retirees from Kailuan (Group) Limited liability Corporation were included in this Kailuan Cohort study. The last follow?up date was December 2015. Data on new cases of lung cancer were collected, and multivariable Cox proportional hazards regression models were used to the relationship between baseline CRP and NE at baseline and risk of lung cancer. Results A total of 92 735 participants were enrolled in this study. During the follow?up, 850 new cases of lung cancer were identified. All subjects were divided into four groups according to the combination level of CRP and NE at baseline: CRP≤3 mg／L and NE≤4×109／L(Group A), CRP≤3 mg／L and NE＞4×109／L( Group B), CRP＞3 mg／L and NE≤4× 109／L(Group C), CRP＞3 mg／L and NE＞4×109／L(Group D). The cumulative incidence of lung cancer were 950／100 000, 1 030／100 000, 1 081／100 000 and 1 596／100 000 in these four groups, respectively (P＜0.001 ). Multivariate Cox proportional risk model showed that participants from Group D had an significantly increased 72% risks of lung cancer when compared to Group A ( 95% CI: 1.40～2.12, P＜0.001). Stratified analyses gender showed that males in Group D had higher risk of lung cancer when compared with participants in Group A (HR＝1.73, 95% CI: 1.40～2.15,P＜0.001).Conclusion Elevated levels of CRP and NE might increase the risk of lung cancer.