Esophageal cancer is an aggressive malignancy with high morbidity and poor prognosis. Symptoms of early esophageal cancer are insidious and difficult to detect, while advanced esophageal obstruction, lesion infiltration and metastasis seriously affect patients’ quality of life. Early detection and treatment can help to increase the survival chance of patients. Recently, artificial intelligence (AI) has shown remarkable success in diagnosis of esophageal cancer, highlighting the great potential of new AI-assisted diagnostic modalities. This paper aims to review recent progress of AI in the diagnosis of esophageal cancer and to prospect its clinical application.

Diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN) is one of the chronic complications of diabetic neuropathy, and also the main cause of chronic wounds and disability. Exosomes and exosomal-microRNAs (miRNAs) are closely related to DPN and participate in the signal transduction and protein expression of the peripheral nervous system by mediating intercellular communication. However, the specific role and mechanism of EVs and exosomal-miRNAs in the occurrence and development of DPN in high-glucose environments are not fully understood. This article reviews the promotion of EVs and exosomal-miRNAs in the occurrence and development of DPN in inhibiting axon growth, promoting inflammatory response, and inducing vascular injury in a high glucose environment.

Esophageal cancer is a serious threat to the health of Chinese people. The key to solve this problem is early diagnosis and early treatment, and the most important method is endoscopic screening. The rapid development of artificial intelligence (AI) technology makes its application and research in the field of digestive endoscopy growing, and it is expected to become the "right-hand man" for endoscopists in the early diagnosis of esophageal cancer. Currently, the application of multimodal and multifunctional AI systems has achieved good performance in the diagnosis of superficial esophageal squamous cell carcinoma and precancerous lesions. This study summarized and reviewed the research progress of AI in the diagnosis of superficial esophageal squamous cell carcinoma and precancerous lesions, and also explored its development direction in the future.

ObjectiveTo investigate the social support status and influencing factors of schizophrenics in remission in Northeast Sichuan， and to provide ideas for improving their social support. MethodsFrom May to September 2020， a total of 533 patients who met the diagnosis criteria of the International Classification of Diseases， tenth edition （ICD-10） for schizophrenics in remission at the mental health institutions in Guangyuan， Bazhong and Dazhou cities were selected for the survey， and patients were assessed by self-made demographic and clinical data inventory and Social Support Rating Scale （SSRS）. Then the social support status of schizophrenic in remission and influencing factors were analyzed， meantime， the impact of the second round reimbursement policy of medical insurance benefits on their social support was addressed particularly. Results①The SSRS total score， objective support， subjective support， and utilization of support scores of schizophrenics in remission were lower than those of the national norm （t=5.065~30.382， P<0.01）. ②Univariate analysis showed that SSRS score was relatively high among patients with female gender （t=-3.632）， retired status （F=5.951）， married status （F=5.951）， spouse as primary caregiver （F=23.841）， annual household income >5 000 yuan （F=15.892）， patient's economic income （t=4.083）， and outpatient or online follow-up （F=3.954）， with statistically significant differences （P<0.05 or 0.01）. ③The total and dimensional scores of SSRS in patients with access to the second round medical insurance reimbursement were significantly higher than those without （t=10.195~25.103， P<0.01）. ④Multiple linear regression analysis denoted that gender， work status， marital status， primary caregivers， annual family income， economic income， follow-up visits and the second round medical insurance reimbursement were the factors influencing social support status of schizophrenics in remission （β=0.201~2.115， P<0.05 or 0.01）. ConclusionThe social support of schizophrenics in remission in Northeast Sichuan is below the national average， furthermore， their social support levels are affected by the gender， work status， marital status， primary caregivers， annual family income， economic income， follow-up visits and the second round medical insurance reimbursement， and the second round medical insurance reimbursement may ameliorate the social support status of patients.

Endoscopic resection and surgical resection are the two major therapeutic methods for early esophageal cancer. Endoscopic resection is safe and minimally invasive, but lymph node dissection can not be performed. Although surgery provides a rather thorough resection of the lesions and affected lymph nodes, surgical trauma brings certain negative impact on patients' long-term life quality. A comprehensive assessment of the patient's general condition, the risk of diseased lymph node metastasis, and the risk of the treatment itself is an important measure to optimize treatment decisions and formulate personalized treatment plans.

Objective:To develop an diagnostic equipment with artificial intelligence (AI) real-time assistance under endoscopy (endoscopic AI equipment) for the detection of gastrointestinal protruding lesions, and to evaluate its performance and safety.Methods:From January to December 2017, at Endoscopy Center of West China Hospital, Sichuan University, the endoscopic images of individuals who underwent routine gastroscopy and colonoscopy were collected. The model was established based on convolutional neural network and the endoscopic AI equipment was developed. From June to December 2019, a prospective, single center, blinded and parallel controlled study was conducted to compare the differences in evaluation of protruding lesions of the same patient under gastroscopy or colonoscopy between endoscopist and the endoscopic AI equipment and to evaluated the impact of lesion size (lesions <5 mm and ≥5 mm) on the detection of endoscopic AI equipment. The main outcome measure was the detection time difference in reporting the protruding lesion between endoscopic AI equipment and endoscopist; and the secondary indicator was the accuracy of endoscopic AI equipment in detecting the protruding lesion. Wilcoxon rank sum test and chi-square test were used for statistical analysis.Results:A total of 71 582 white light endoscopy images were used for endoscopic AI equipment training, which included 41 376 images of protruding lesions. The endoscopic AI equipment was successfully developed and obtained the registration certificate of medical devices of the People′s Republic of China (Sichuan Instrument Standard, 20202060049). The accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity of endoscopic AI equipment in detecting protruding lesions were 96.4%, 95.1% and 92.8%, respectively. The detection time of each protruding lesions under gastroscopy of endoscopic AI equipment was 1.524 seconds faster than that of endoscopist; but the detection time of each protruding lesions under colonoscopy was 0.070 seconds slower than that of endoscopist, and the differences were statistically significant ( Z=-5.505 and -4.394, both P<0.01). The detection time of each protruding lesions under gastroscopy or colonoscopy of endoscopic AI equipment was not inferior to that of endoscopist. The detection rate of protruding lesions under colonoscopy by endoscopic AI equipment was 89.9% (249/277) and the sensitivity was 89.9%; the detection rate of protruding lesions under colonoscopy was 87.0% (450/517) and the sensitivity was 86.9%. There were no statistically significant differences in the detection time difference, sensitivity and missed diagnostic rate between the lesions <5 mm and ≥5 mm detected by endoscopic AI equipment under gastroscopy (all P>0.05). The sensitivity of endoscopic AI equipment in detecting the lesions ≥5 mm under colonoscopy was higher than that of lesions <5 mm (96.8% vs. 84.9%), and the missed diagnostic rate was lower than that of lesions <5 mm (3.2%, 3/94 vs. 15.1%, 61/405), and the differences were statistically significant ( χ2=9.615 and 9.612, both P=0.002). No adverse events on patients and medical staffs occurred, and there were no cases of equipment electricity leakage, and abnormal work reported during the use of endoscopic AI equipment. Conclusions:The endoscopic AI equipment can report the protruding lesions simultaneously with endoscopists, and the accuracy is close to 90%, which is expected to be a practical assistant for endoscopists to avoid missed detection of protruding lesions.

Objective To investigate the diagnostic value of B7-H3 and carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) on diagnosis of malignant pleural effusion (MPE).Methods We collected and analysed the expression of B7-H3 and CEA in 40 MPE cases and 22 cases of benign pleural effusion (BPE) using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).Receiver operator characteristic curves (ROC) were drawn according to the expression of B7-H3 and CEA, calculated diagnosis sensitivity, specificity and the area under curve (AUC).Results The diagnosis sensitivity of B7-H3 was 62.5％, specificity 81.0％, with the AUC of 0.777;similarly, The diagnosis sensitivity of CEA was 72.5％, specificity 81.0％, with the AUC of 0.850.Higher AUC of 0.910 was gained in combination ROC, with sensitivity and specificity of 72.5％, 81.0％, respectively.Conclusion B7-H3 and CEA could be available diagnosing markers for MPE.Combined applications of B7-H3 and CEA have higher AUC.They may be widely applied in future clinical practice.

Objective: To investigate the role of fibroblast growth factor receptor(FGFR) 1 in endothelial to-mesenchymal transition(EndMT) and epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition(EMT), and to find out a new strategy to study the vascular endothelial function of diabetic renal fibrosis. Methods: Culture media from FRS2 knockdown HMVECs was transferred to HK-2 cells. Western blot and immunofluorescence staining were used to measure EMT markers and key moleculars of transforming growth factor(TGFβ). Results: It was found that the medium from FRS2 siRNA-transfected HMVECs reduced E-cadherin protein levels, increased EMT markers levels, and activated TGFβ signal pathway in HK-2 cells. Conclusion Endothelial FGFR1 deficiency-induced EndMT leads to EMT in neighboring cells in a manner dependent on TGFβ1 signaling. Endothelial cell FGFR1 is an important molecule for maintaining endothelial homeostasis and epithelial homeostasis, and seems to be a key target for anti-diabetic renal fibrosis.

Objective: To analyze the impact of dual antiplatelet (DAPT) therapy combining with or without proton pump inhibitors (PPI) on the main outcomes after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). Methods: The PubMed, EMBASE and Cochrane Library were searched for relevant literature and the references obtained from these sources were retrieved manually from inception till September 2017. Inclusion and exclusion criteria were established follow the Cochrane review standard. A total of 977 literatures were included, 193 duplicates were excluded, 74 reviews, case reports, letters and systematic reviews were excluded, 667 literatures were excluded after reading the title and abstract, 34 literatures were excluded due to non-randomized control studies and unrelated outcome indicators, and 9 literatures were finally included with a total of 16 589 patients. RevMan 5.3 software was used to compare the incidence of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE), cardiogenic death, recurrent myocardial infarction, target vessel revascularization, all-cause death, stent thrombosis, stroke, gastrointestinal bleeding and gastrointestinal events in patients with DAPT combining with or without PPI after PCI. Results: MACE was observed in 8 out of the 9 included literatures, and the results showed that MACE occurred in 561 out of 6 282 patients receiving DAPT combining with PPI therapy and in 951 out of 9 632 patients using DAPT alone (OR=1.15, 95%CI 0.88-1.51, P>0.05). Cardiogenic death was observed in 7 out of the 9 included literatures, and the results showed that cardiogenic death occurred in 172 out of 6 453 patients receiving DAPT combining with PPI treatment and in 321 out of the 9 839 patients using DAPT alone (OR=0.97, 95%CI 0.80-1.18, P>0.05). Recurrent myocardial infarction was observed in 7 out of the 9 included literatures, the results showed 416 out of 6 282 cases in DAPT combining with PPI therapy group experienced recurrent myocardial infarction and 691 out of 9 632 cases in DAPT group experienced recurrent myocardial infarction (OR=1.01, 95%CI 0.89-1.16, P>0.05). Four out of 9 literatures observed revascularization. The results showed that revascularization was performed in 64 out of 2 173 patients receiving DAPT combining with PPI therapy and in 105 out of the 2 770 patients using DAPT alone (OR=1.33, 95%CI 0.55-3.24, P>0.05). All-cause death was observed in 7 out of the 9 included literatures, and the results showed that all-cause death occurred in 172 out of the 6 453 patients in DAPT combining with PPI therapy group and in 321 out of the 9 839 patients using DAPT alone (OR=0.97, 95%CI 0.80-1.18, P>0.05). Three out of the 9 included articles observed stent thrombosis, and the results showed that stent thrombosis occurred in 99 out of 2 997 patients receiving DAPT combining with PPI therapy and in 245 out of the 6 198 patients treated with DAPT (OR=1.07, 95%CI 0.83-1.37, P>0.05). Stroke was observed in 2 out of the 9 included literatures. The results showed that stroke occurred in 5 out of 2 019 patients receiving DAPT combining with PPI therapy, and in 4 out of the 2 033 patients treated with DAPT (OR=1.00, 95%CI 0.29-3.49, P>0.05). Gastrointestinal bleeding was observed in 6 out of the 9 included literatures. The results showed that gastrointestinal bleeding occurred in 26 out of 3 517 patients receiving DAPT combined with PPI therapy, and in 93 out of the 3 506 patients treated with DAPT, gastrointestinal bleeding was significantly lower in the DAPT combining with PPI group than DAPT alone group (OR=0.27, 95%CI 0.17-0.41, P<0.01). Gastrointestinal events were reported in 6 out of the 9 included articles. Similarly, gastrointestinal events were observed in 51 out of 3 517 patients receiving DAPT combined with PPI therapy, and in 190 out of the 3 506 patients treated with DAPT alone, the incidence of gastrointestinal events in the DAPT combined with PPI group was significantly lower than DAPT alone group (OR=0.24, 95%CI 0.14-0.42, P<0.01). Conclusions The incidence of MACE, cardiogenic death, recurrent myocardial infarction, target vessel revascularization, all-cause death, stent thrombosis and stroke are not affected by DAPT combined with PPI therapy after PCI, while the incidence of gastrointestinal bleeding and gastrointestinal events could be reduced by adding PPI to DAPT in patients undergoing PCI.

Objective To explore the role of fibroblast growth factor receptor ( FGFR ) 1 in endothelial homeostasis via an induction of microRNA let-7s, with effects on AcSDKP(N-acetyl-seryl-aspartyl-lysyl-proline) and associated mitochondrial biogenesis. Methods Blocking FGFR1 signaling pathway, Western blot and immunofluorescence staining were used to measure mitochondrial fusion ( mitofusin-2, MFN2;optic atrophy protein 1, OPA1 ) and fission ( dynamin-related protein-1, DRP1 ) proteins and mitochondrial biogenesis by MitoTraker Green. Also real-time quantitative PCR(qPCR) was performed to test microRNA let-7' expression. Results FGFR1 signaling pathway was critical for AcSDKP maintaining mitochondrial biogenesis through induction of microRNA let-7b. In endothelial cells, the AcSDKP restored the triple[TGF-β2, interleukin (IL)-1β, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α]-suppressed microRNA let-7b-5p expression and associated with mitochondrial biogenesis. Such effect of AcSDKP was lost in either fibroblast growth factor receptor substrate 2 (FRS2) siRNA or neutralizing FGFR1 treated-cells. Similarly, AcSDKP lost its effect on mitochondrial biogenesis in microRNA let-7b-5p inhibitor-treated-cells. In addition, microRNA let-7b-5p mimic reversed the FRS2 siRNA-suppressed mitochondrial biogenesis in endothelial cells. Conclusion These findings demonstrated that FGFR1 is critical for maintaining mitochondrial biogenesis through control of microRNA let-7b-5p in endothelial cells.