Objective:To analyze the survival efficacy, prognostic factors and failure patterns of patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) underwent postoperative radiotherapy (PORT) using modified clinical target volume (CTV) based on postoperative high-frequency recurrence regions, so as to provide reference for the further optimization of CTV of PORT.Methods:The patients with ESCC underwent radical operation in Comprehensive Cancer Center of Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital, Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing University Medical School from April 28, 2014 to November 29, 2018 were retrospectively analyzed. Patients with stage pT 3-4aN 0 or N +, who underwent PORT with modified CTV based on postoperative high-frequency recurrence regions, were included in the study. Kaplan-Meier method was used to calculate overall survival (OS) and locoregional recurrence free survival (LRFS) , adverse events of patients were evaluated, Cox proportional hazards model was used for univariate and multivariate survival analysis, and the failure patterns of patients after PORT were analyzed. Results:A total of 85 patients were included in this study, and the median follow-up time was 52.6 months. The median OS of the whole group was 74.1 months. The 1-year, 2-year and 3-year OS rates were 97.6%, 84.7% and 71.7% respectively. The median LRFS was not reached, and the 1-year, 2-year and 3-year LRFS rates were 92.9%, 78.6% and 71.5% respectively. The incidence of grade 3-4 adverse events was 17.6% (15/85) , mainly including lymphopenia, bone marrow suppression, gastrointestinal reaction and skin reaction. Univariate analysis of OS after PORT showed that the degree of differentiation (set G1+G1-2+G2 group as the control group, G2-3+G3 group HR=4.19, 95% CI: 1.91-9.17, P<0.001; NA+basal-like group HR=4.16, 95% CI: 1.29-13.44, P=0.017) and postoperative stage ( HR=2.19, 95% CI: 1.09-4.39, P=0.030) were the influencing factors of OS. Cox multivariate analysis showed that the degree of differentiation was an independent prognostic factor for OS after PORT (set G1+G1-2+G2 group as the control group, G2-3+G3 group HR=5.24, 95% CI: 2.30-11.93, P<0.001; NA+basal-like group HR=4.83, 95% CI: 1.33-17.62, P=0.017) . The first failure patterns analysis showed that 39 cases (45.9%) had recurrence, among which, 22 cases (25.9%) had locoregional recurrence with the median onset time of 15.2 months after operation, 19 cases (22.4%) had distant metastasis with the median onset time was 14.1 months after operation, and 2 cases (2.4%) were mixed failure mode. Among the locoregional recurrence, 16 cases (72.7%) recurred in the radiation field. Among all the local recurrence sites, the lymph node drainage regions in the supraclavicular, upper middle mediastinum and upper abdominal perigastric/celiac artery trunk areas were the most common sites. Among the distant metastatic organs, lung, bone and liver metastases were the most common. Conclusion:Patients of ESCC with high risk of recurrence after radical esophagectomy have long survival time and high safety after PORT with modified CTV according to the high-frequency recurrence regions. It is worthy of further confirmation by multicenter, large sample and prospective clinical trials.

Atherosclerosis (AS) is a chronic and progressive arterial disease. It is an important cause of the occurrence and development of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases. With the development of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), TCM has many advantages in the therapy of AS, with less adverse reactions. Studies have shown that TCM can resist AS, and the mechanism mainly belongs to regulating lipid metabolism, anti-lipid peroxidation, anti-inflammation, anticoagulation, and protecting the structure and function of vascular endothelial cells. The mechanism of TCM for AS is warranted to be studied systematically, and the chemical components need to be further clarified.

Objective:To establish a IgA nephropathy (IgAN) standard dataset for the structured and standardization of IgAN clinical information, which will be beneficial to the integration and utilization of clinical information among different medical institutions. Therefore, the IgAN Expert Collaboration Group composed the "IgA Nephropathy Standard Dataset".Methods:Referring to the domestic information standards, guidelines, data standard and consensus of related fields, based on electronic medical history, the patient identification number was used as the primary key of the system to collect information. By standardizing each data element in the data set, the standardization of the management system in data and information exchange, data collaboration and sharing was ensured, and a quality control system was developed.Results:This standard dataset included 607 data elements and 8 business domains, which were patient information, medical history information, physical examination, laboratory examination, assistant examination, renal pathology, drug treatment, and follow-up, respectively. Each module was composed of module name, data element name, English name, definition, range, reference standard, etc. At the same time, a corresponding quality control system was formulated to evaluate data quality from multiple dimensions such as completeness, standardization, accuracy, timeliness, and security for ensuring the high quality and security of the data.Conclusion:The IgAN standard dataset is established, which will contribute to the structuration and standardization of clinical information of IgAN patients.

Objective The specific binding peptide of Mycobacterium tuberculosis PPE17 protein was screened by phage display technique. Methods PPE17 gene was amplified from Mycobacterium tuberculosis genome, cloned into pET28a, expressed in E. coli BL21, purified by Ni2+ column, and identified by SDS-PAGE and Western blot. The purified PPE17 protein was coated into an ELISA plate and screened by phage 7 peptide library. After three rounds of panning, phage plaques were randomly selected for sequencing. DNAMAN was used to analyze and compare the amino acid sequences of the polypeptide encoded by the positive clones. Results PPE17 gene was successfully constructed and expressed, and soluble protein with molecular weight of about 37kD was obtained. From the third round of eluents, 20 plaque were randomly selected. The sequencing results could be translated into 8 polypeptide molecules, among which the polypeptide sequence repeated for 6 times was LKWGHVY. Conclusion The specific binding peptide of PPE17 protein is screened by phage display technology, which is expected to be a small molecular diagnostic reagent for the identification of this antigen.

Objective To explore the application values of GeneXpert MTB/RIF assay (Xpert assay) for rifampicin resistance and multidrug resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB).Discordance of Xpert and L-J proportion DST of rifampicin was analyzed.Methods Specimens of 1 300patients from January 2014to June 2016in our hospital were collected for solid culture, Xpert assay and L-J proportion drug susceptibility test (DST).Rifampicin resistance detected by Xpert assay was compared with L-J proportion method as a gold standard.Sequencing of rpoB gene and determination of minimum inhibition concentration were accomplished on the discordant MTB strains between Xpert and L-J proportion DST.Results Compared with the DST, the sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive value of Xpert assay for rifampicin resistance were 99.31％, 97.82％, 92.88％and 99.80％, respectively.Among 1 300culture-positive specimens, mutations were detected from 309specimens by Xpert assay, which included 125initial treatment and 184retreatment patients.Among309specimens with rpoB gene mutations, mutations detected by probes E, D and B were common, and the rates were 65.70％, 14.56％and 10.68％, respectively.Totally 239patients were MDR-TB[77.35％ (239/309) ], of which 94initial treatment patients[75.20％ (94/125) ]and 145retreatment patients[78.80％ (145/184) ]were MDR-TB.Among 22strains which were detected rpoB gene mutations by Xpert, but sensitive by L-J proportion DST, 6strains had no mutation in rpoB gene rifampicin resistance determining region (RRDR);16strains had mutations, which were mainly located in L511Pcodon (8strains) and L533Pcodon (4strains).Among 2strains which had no rpoB gene mutation by Xpert, but were resistant by L-J proportion DST, 1strain had no mutation in rpoB gene RRDR region;1strain had mutation which was located in E546G codon outside RRDR region.Conclusion Xpert assay can be used to rapidly detect rifampicin resistance and to screen MDR-TB.Mutations in codon 511and 533are related to low-level resistance to rifampicin.

Objective To investigate the effects of artesunate combined with arsenic trioxide (ATO) on the proliferation and apoptosis of NB4 cells.Methods The NB4 cells were treated with different concentrations of artesunate and arsenic trioxide respectively for 48 h.The cell proliferation was detected by methyl thiazolyl tetrazolium (MTT) method.The cells were divided into 4 groups:control group,artesunate group,arsenic trioxide group,and the combination of artesunate and arsenic trioxide group.The cell cycle and apoptosis were detected by flow cytometry (FCM).The protein expression levels of Bcl-2 and Bax were detected by Western blot.Results The MTT results showed that compared with the control group,the proliferation inhibition rates of 0.25,0.50,1.00,2.00,4.00 μmol/L artesunate group (19.26％ ± 3.59％,36.53％ ± 2.67％,61.32％ ± 2.50％,70.30％ ± 3.15％,86.92 ± 0.02％) significantly increased (P＜0.05);the proliferation inhibition rates of 1,2,4,8,16 μmol/L arsenic trioxide group (12.69％ ± 2.43％,64.26％ ± 2.02％,85.10％ ± 2.67％,92.06％ ± 2.21％,93.67％ ± 3.36％) significantly increased (P＜0.05);and the proliferation inhibition rate (40.17％ ± 5.49％ vs.32.23％ ± 3.52％) of combination of artesunate and arsenic trioxide group significantly higher than the arsenic trioxide group (P＜0.05).Compared with the arsenic trioxide group,the percentage of G0/G1 phase cells (74.20％ ± 1.43％ vs.66.14％ ± 1.78％),the apoptosis rate (58.00％ ± 2.41％ vs.34.57％ ± 1.22％),and the expression level of Bax protein (1.35 ± 0.09 vs.1.13 ± 0.09) in the combination of artesunate and arsenic trioxide group significantly increased (P＜0.05),the expression level of Bcl-2 protein (0.45 ± 0.09 vs.1.03 ± 0.10) in the combination of artesunate and arsenic trioxide group significantly decreased (P＜0.05).Conclusions Artesunate can significantly enhance the proliferation inhibition and apoptosis induced by arsenic trioxide on NB4 cells.The possible mechanism of proliferation inhibition and apoptosis of NB4 cells by artesunate combined with arsenic trioxide may be related to reduce the expression of anti-apoptotic protein Bcl-2 and increase the expression of apoptotic protein Bax.

OBJECTIVE: To observe the clinical efficacy of long-time needle retaining at Baihui (GV 20) on post-stroke cognitive disorder of deficiency and blood stasis. METHODS: A total of 70 patients (3 cases dropping) with post-stroke cognitive disorder of deficiency and blood stasis were randomized into an observation group (34 cases) and a control group (33 cases). Neurological routine treatment and western medicine rehabilitation therapy were given in the control group as the basic treatment, on the basis of the treatment as the control group, long-time needle retaining at Baihui (GV 20) was applied in the observation group. The treatment was given once every other day, 3 times a week for a total of 4 weeks. The National Institute of Health stroke scale (NIHSS), mini-mental state examination (MMSE), Montreal cognitive assessment (MoCA) and deficiency blood stasis syndrome scale score were observed before and after treatment, and the clinical efficacy was compared between the two groups. RESULTS: After 4 weeks of treatment, the NIHSS scores of the two groups were lower than those before treatment (both <0.01), and the MMSE and MoCA scores were higher than those before treatment (<0.05, <0.01), and the scores in the observation group were better than those in the control group (all <0.01). After treatment, the scores of deficiency and blood stasis syndrome were lower than those before treatment (all <0.01). The scores of the shortness of breath, facial color, tongue pulse and dizziness in the observation group were better than those in the control group (all <0.05), there was no significant difference in the degree of spontaneous sweating between the two groups (>0.05). The total effective rate was 94.1% (32/34) in the observation group, which was higher than 75.8% (25/33) in the control group (<0.05). CONCLUSION Long-time needle retaining at Baihui (GV 20) is safe and effective in treating with post-stroke cognitive disorder of deficiency and blood stasis.
Cognition ; Cognition Disorders ; etiology ; therapy ; Humans ; Qi ; Stroke ; complications ; Treatment Outcome

Objective: To investigate the predictive value of transient elastography (FibroScan), aspartate aminotransferase-to-platelet ratio index (APRI) in the detection of esophagogastric varices in patients with liver cirrhosis. Methods: 236 patients with liver cirrhosis who met the criteria were selected. All patients underwent gastroscopy. According to the degree of esophagogastric varices, patients were divided into four groups: none, mild, moderate, and severe. The patient's liver stiffness (LSM) and aspartate aminotransferase- to-platelet ratio index (APRI) were measured within 3 days of gastroscopy. One-way analysis of variance was used to compare multi-group data. The ROC curves of LSM, APRI, LSM+APRI in patients with liver cirrhosis with esophageal varices were plotted and their area under the ROC curve (AUC) were compared. Results: The area under the ROC curve of LSM, APRI, LSM + APRI in patients with mild esophagogastric varices were 0.856, 0.900, and 0.906, respectively; moderate esophagogastric varices were 0.857, 0.924, and 0.923 respectively; and severe esophagogastric varices were 0.801, 0.903, and 0.901, respectively. Conclusion APRI and LSM+APRI have better predictive value for patients with cirrhosis who have esophagogastric varices.

Objective To investigate the surgical strategies for management of unstable fractures of intertrochanteric lateral wall.Methods From July 2012 to June 2014,50 patients with unstable fractures of intertrochanteric lateral wall received osteosynthesis with proximal femoral nail anti-rotation.They were 37 men and 13 women,with an average age of 65.6 years (range,from 42 to 87 years).According to our morphology classification,25 patients belonged to type Ⅰ (comminuted fracture of lateral wall),4 to type Ⅱ (split fracture of lateral wall with loss of medial support),21 to type Ⅲ (comminuted fracture of lateral wall and subtrochanteric part with loss of medial support).The fractures were managed differently according to our classification.Type Ⅰ were treated by intramedullary fixation with compression screws to reconstruct the lateral wall,type Ⅱ by intramedullary fixation after reconstruction of the lateral wall lby cables,and type Ⅲ by intramedullary fixation after optimal reduction of the coronal plane and neck-shaft angle because the lateral wall could not be reconstructed.Results The 50 patients obtained an average follow-up of 17 months (range,from 5 to 24 months).No deep infection or wound dehiscence happened.Deep vein thrombosis occurred in 2 patients.No nonunion,cutout of the sliding screw,or coxa vara occurred.The operation time,blood loss,time of weight loading after operation and time of union increased with our increased classification.One patient died from a heart disease 5 months after operation.Functional outcome of the other 49 patient was assessed by Harris hip score one year after operation.Forty patients were excellent,6 good and 3 fair,giving an excellent to good rate of 93.9％.Conclusion Unstable fractures of intertrochanteric lateral wall should be treated using different surgical strategies based on the morphology classification system.

Objective:To explore the calvarial critical size defect (CSD)in rats with type 2 diabetes mellitus(T2DM).Methods:T2DM model of SD rats(weighted 300-320 g)was induced by high fat and high sugar diet and low dose intraperitoneal streptozotocin (STZ)injection.The rats with T2DMand the normal controls were divided into 4 groups(n=3)respectively.Defects with the diame-ter(mm)of 2,3,4 and 5 were made on the central calvaria of each rat.General observation,X-ray examination and histological study were performed 8 weeks postoperatively.Results:In the T2DM group,only the defects of 2 mm diameter were healed completely,X-ray resistance and new bone formation were observed;the defects of 3,4 and 5 mm diameter were unhealed,X-ray transmission was observed and newly formed bone was insufficient.In the control group,the defects of 2,3 and 4 mm diameter were healed completely, X-ray resistance and new bone formation were observed;the defects of 5 mm diameter were unhealed,X-ray transmission was ob-served,newly formed bone was insufficient.Conclusion:The calvarial CSD of T2DM rat model can be defined as the defect with the diameter of 3 mm.