[Objective]To evaluate the effectiveness of Yinqiao Piwen Powder,an empirical formula,in the treatment of mild cases of corona virus disease 2019(COVID-19) infection.[Methods]A single-center retrospective cohort study was adopted. A total of 595 patients with mild COVID-19 infection who attended Zhejiang Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine from December 18 to 23,2022 were included in this study and then divided into western medicine group (WM),traditional Chinese medicine group (TCM) and integrated Chinese and western medicine group (TCM-WM) based on their medication,with 153 cases,144 cases and 298 cases in each respectively. The WM group received routine treatment of western medicine according to the Diagnosis and Treatment Protocol for COVID-19 Patients (Tentative 10th Edition),the TCM group received Yinqiao Piwen powder treatment,and the TCM-WM group received Yinqiao Piwen Powder treatment on the basis of the treatment of the WM group. After 14 days,the therapeutic effect of patients was evaluated. Specifically,the baseline characteristics,clinical symptoms and symptom relief time of the patients were collected,the TCM symptom scores were estimated,and the distribution of symptoms and efficacy distribution after treatment in each group were analyzed.[Results]The most common symptoms in patients with mild COVID-19 infection were fever,cough,sputum,fatigue,body aches,sore throat,nasal congestion and runny nose. On the efficacy distribution,the markedly effective rate of the TCM-WM group was significantly higher than that of the WM group,which were both significantly different(x2=14.022,P<0.001) After treatment,the total TCM symptom scores of all three groups were significantly decreased compared with pre-treatment,indicating a great relief in the clinical symptoms in all groups,with a statistically significant difference (P<0.001). Additionally,the median number of the rate of reduction of TCM symptom scores in the TCM-WM group was 100.00(93.21,100.00),higher than the TCM group[100.00(92.15,100.00)]and the WM group[100.00(78.95,100.00)],and showed statistical difference (P<0.05). The differences of TCM symptom scores of three groups between the pre-treatment and post-treatment were significant (P<0.05),and the TCM-WM group changed the most in the scores. Besides,after correction for age and pre-treatment symptom scores,the differences in post-treatment TCM symptom scores among the three groups were still statistically significant ( P<0.05). Moreover,the differences among the three groups in the symptom relief time of sore throat,cough,sputum and fatigue were statistically significant(P<0.05).[Conclusion]Compared with the western medicine treatment alone,the other two treatments achieved better clinical results in improving the efficacy,reducing the TCM symptom scores and shortening the symptom relief time. The results of our study can provide evidence-based medical proof for the benefits of TCM in the prevention and treatment of epidemics.

BACKGROUND:The application of miniscrew in adolescents is increasing day by day,but at present,there are few studies on bone mass in the external oblique line of the mandible in adolescents at home and abroad,and there is no systematic study on bone mass in the external oblique line of the mandible in adolescents in different growth and development periods. OBJECTIVE:To measure the bone mass in the external oblique line of the mandible in adolescents with different cervical vertebral bone ages using a cone-beam CT and to investigate the difference of bone mass in the external oblique line of the mandible in adolescents with different cervical vertebral bone ages and the correlation between bone mass in this area and the cervical vertebral bone age. METHODS:The cone-beam CT data of 105 adolescent patients before orthodontic treatment were collected and divided into CS3 group(n=24),CS4 group(n=26),CS5 group(n=29)and CS6 group(n=26)using the cervical vertebral maturation method.The adolescent mandibular buccal shelf was reconstructed by Mimics Medical 21.0 software.The width of buccal bone at 6 and 11 mm under the cemento-enamel junction and the bone height at 4 and 5 mm buccal to the cemento-enamel junction of right mandibular first and second molars were measured.The measured data were statistically analyzed.The measurement was made on four planes:plane 1 is the plane where the proximal mesial root of the mandibular right first molar is located;plane 2 is the plane where the distal mesial root of the mandibular right first molar is located;plane 3 is the plane where the proximal mesial root of the mandibular right second molar is located;and plane 4 is the plane where the distal mesial root of the mandibular right second molar is located. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:In each group,the bone width on the buccal side of the external oblique line increased gradually from the first molar proximally to the second molar distally in adolescents,and the width of buccal bone at 6 and 11 mm under the cemento-enamel junction showed significant difference among different layers(P<0.05).The bone width of buccal bone at 11 mm under the cemento-enamel junction was greater than that at 6 mm.The bone height on the buccal side of the external oblique line increased gradually from the first molar proximally to the second molar distally in all four groups,and the bone height at 4 and 5 mm buccal to the cemento-enamel junction showed significant differences at different layers(P<0.05).The bone height at 4 mm buccal to the cemento-enamel junction was greater than that at 5 mm.On the fourth plane,the bone width at 11 mm buccal to the cemento-enamel junction was smaller in the CS3,CS4,and CS5 groups than in the CS6 group(P<0.05).On the third plane,the bone heights at 4 mm and 5 mm buccal to the cemento-enamel junction were smaller in the CS3 and CS4 groups than in the CS6 group(P<0.05).On the fourth plane,the bone height at 5 mm buccal to the cemento-enamel junction was smaller in the CS3 and CS4 groups than in the CS6 group(P<0.05).On the fourth plane,the bone height at 4 mm buccal to the cemento-enamel junction was smaller in the CS3 group than in the CS6 group(P<0.05).Spearman correlation analysis showed that there was no correlation between bone mass and the cervical vertebral bone age,except that there was a weak correlation between bone mass at some measurement sites and cervical vertebral bone age.To conclude,the bone mass in the external oblique area of the mandible in adolescents does not change significantly with the increase of cervical vertebral bone age.The buccal side of the mesial root and distal root of the mandibular second molar in the external oblique area of CS3-CS6 adolescents meets the requirement of bone mass for miniscrew implantation,which is a site available for miniscrew implantation.

[Objective]To evaluate the effectiveness of Yinqiao Piwen Powder,an empirical formula,in the treatment of mild cases of corona virus disease 2019(COVID-19) infection.[Methods]A single-center retrospective cohort study was adopted. A total of 595 patients with mild COVID-19 infection who attended Zhejiang Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine from December 18 to 23,2022 were included in this study and then divided into western medicine group (WM),traditional Chinese medicine group (TCM) and integrated Chinese and western medicine group (TCM-WM) based on their medication,with 153 cases,144 cases and 298 cases in each respectively. The WM group received routine treatment of western medicine according to the Diagnosis and Treatment Protocol for COVID-19 Patients (Tentative 10th Edition),the TCM group received Yinqiao Piwen powder treatment,and the TCM-WM group received Yinqiao Piwen Powder treatment on the basis of the treatment of the WM group. After 14 days,the therapeutic effect of patients was evaluated. Specifically,the baseline characteristics,clinical symptoms and symptom relief time of the patients were collected,the TCM symptom scores were estimated,and the distribution of symptoms and efficacy distribution after treatment in each group were analyzed.[Results]The most common symptoms in patients with mild COVID-19 infection were fever,cough,sputum,fatigue,body aches,sore throat,nasal congestion and runny nose. On the efficacy distribution,the markedly effective rate of the TCM-WM group was significantly higher than that of the WM group,which were both significantly different(x2=14.022,P<0.001) After treatment,the total TCM symptom scores of all three groups were significantly decreased compared with pre-treatment,indicating a great relief in the clinical symptoms in all groups,with a statistically significant difference (P<0.001). Additionally,the median number of the rate of reduction of TCM symptom scores in the TCM-WM group was 100.00(93.21,100.00),higher than the TCM group[100.00(92.15,100.00)]and the WM group[100.00(78.95,100.00)],and showed statistical difference (P<0.05). The differences of TCM symptom scores of three groups between the pre-treatment and post-treatment were significant (P<0.05),and the TCM-WM group changed the most in the scores. Besides,after correction for age and pre-treatment symptom scores,the differences in post-treatment TCM symptom scores among the three groups were still statistically significant ( P<0.05). Moreover,the differences among the three groups in the symptom relief time of sore throat,cough,sputum and fatigue were statistically significant(P<0.05).[Conclusion]Compared with the western medicine treatment alone,the other two treatments achieved better clinical results in improving the efficacy,reducing the TCM symptom scores and shortening the symptom relief time. The results of our study can provide evidence-based medical proof for the benefits of TCM in the prevention and treatment of epidemics.

Objective: To investigate clinicopathological features of carcinoma showing thymus-like elements (CASTLE) in the head and neck regions. Methods: Clinicopathological data of 7 patients with CASTLE in the head and neck regions were retrospectively reviewed.Immunohistochemical staining and in situ hybridization for EBER were performed. BRAF^V600E mutation was examined by ARMS method in 6 cases. Results: There were 5 females and 2 males with age between 49 and 78 years (average of 65.6 years). All tumors were solitary nodular lesions with an infiltrative border, including 6 intrathyroid tumors and 1 extrathyroid tumor in the laryngeal pharynx.The tumors were 1.7-4.1 cm in diameter (average of 3.0 cm). Four cases demonstrated lymph node metastasis.All patients were alive without metastasis during follow-up, except one consultation case (with FNA sample) developed recurrence at the primary site. The cases showed different immunoreaction to CD5, diffuse immunoreaction with p63, CK5/6 and CD117, but negative staining for TTF1, TG and calcitonin. One case showed positive immunoreaction with Synin less than 30% tumor cells. The Ki-67 labeling index was between 3% and 90%. No BRAF^V600E mutation and EB virus infection were detected. Conclusions Extrathyroid CASTLE involving laryngeal pharynx shows the similar morphological and immunohistochemical features with intrathyroid CASTLE.Immunohistochemical markers of CD5 and CD117 are helpful in the diagnosis. Ki-67 labeling index can be high in CASTLE, especially in lymphoepithelioma type. CD5-negative CASTLE may have neuroendocrine differentiation. BRAF^V600E mutation and EB virus may not be involved in the carcinogenesis of CASTLE.

Objective To evaluate the expression of metastasis-associated lung adenocarcinoma transcript 1 (MALAT-1) in ovarian cancer cell lines, and to investigate the biological effects of down-regulated MALAT-1 on OVCAR3 cells.Methods qRT-PCR analysis was used to examine the expression level of MALAT-1 gene in ovarian cancer cells, including ES-2, A2780, SKOV3 and OVCAR3 cell lines.For functional research, four shRNA oligos specially targeting MALAT-1 and a empty vector were designed and constructed into pGPU6/GFP/Neo, then transfected into OVCAR3 cells.qRT-PCR was used to confirm the effective suppression of MALAT-1.Changes of proliferation and adhesion of cells were analyzed by CCK-8 and adhesion assays.Wound-healing, transwell migration and invasion assays were used to examine migration and invasion of MALAT-l-silencing cells in vitro.Results The expression of MALAT-1 gene in OVCAR3 cells was high, and qRT-PCR results confirmed successfully the knockdown of MALAT-1 after transient transfection.After successful suppression of MALAT-1, the proliferation, wound-healing and adhesion ability in vitro were inhibited to some degree.In transwell migration assay, the number of migration cells in MALAT-1-silencing group was 52.17±4.48, which is much less than that in the negative and control groups (286.50± 12.23 and 295.67±6.96, respectively).In invasion assay, the number of invasion cells passing the transwell membrane in MALAT-1-silencing group (37.33±2.40) was also decreased significantly, compared to that in the negative and control groups (239.00±15.72 and 222.67±20.85, P ＜ 0.05).Conclusions shRNA-mediated silence of MALAT-1 can effectively inhibit the proliferation, adhesion, migration and invasion abilities of ovarian cancer cell line OVCAR3 in vitro, indicating MALAT-1 is expected to be a target gene for the treatment of ovarian cancer.