Objective To campare biomechanical effects of different postural compression techniques on three-dimensional model of lumbar disc herniation(LDH)by finite element analysis.Methods Lumbar CT image of a 48-year-old female patient with LDH(heighted 163 cm,weighted 53 kg)was collected.Mimics 20.0,Geomagic Studio,Solidwords and other software were used to establish three-dimensional finite element model of LDH on L4,5 segments.Compression techniques under horizon-tal position,30° forward bending and 10° backward extension were simulated respectively.After applying the pressure,the ef-fects of compression techniques under different positions on stress,strain and displacement of various tissues of intervertebral disc and nerve root were observed.Results L4,5 segment finite element model was successfully established,and the model was validated.When compression manipulation was performed on the horizontal position,30° flexion and 10° extension,the annular stress were 0.732,5.929,1.286 MPa,the nucleus pulposus stress were 0.190,1.527,0.295 MPa,and the annular strain were 0.097,0.922 and 0.424,the strain sizes of nucleus pulposus were 0.153,1.222 and 0.282,respectively.The overall displace-ment distance of intervertebral disc on Y direction were-3.707,-18.990,-4.171 mm,and displacement distance of nerve root on Y direction were+7.836,+5.341,+3.859 mm,respectively.The relative displacement distances of nerve root and interverte-bral disc on Y direction were 11.543,24.331 and 8.030 mm,respectively.Conclusion Compression manipulation could make herniated intervertebral disc produce contraction and retraction trend,by increasing the distance between herniated interverte-bral disc and nerve root,to reduce symptoms of nerve compression,to achieve purpose of treatment for patients with LDH,in which the compression manipulation is more effective when the forward flexion is 30°.

Objective:To investigate the causal correlation between depression and stress urinary incontinence(SUI)using Mendelian randomization(MR)analysis.Methods:We searched the FinnGen Consortium database for genome-wide association studies(GWAS)on depression and obtained 23 424 case samples and 192 220 control samples,with the GWAS data on SUI provided by the UK Biobank,including 4 340 case samples and 458 670 control samples.We investigated the correlation between depression and SUI based on the depression data collected from the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium(PGC).We employed inverse-variance weighting as the main method for the MR study,and performed sensitivity analysis to verify the accuracy and stability of the findings.Results:Analysis of the data from the UK Biobank and FinnGen Consortium showed that depression was significantly correlated with an increased risk of SUI(P=0.005),but not SUI with the risk of depression(P=0.927).And analysis of the PGC data verified the correlation of depression with the increased risk of SUI(P=0.043).Conclusion:Depression is associated with an increased risk of SUI,while SUI does not increase the risk of depression.

Objective: To investigate the application value of computed tomography (CT) examination of lymph node short diameter in evaluating cardia-left gastric lymph node metastasis in thoracic esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). Methods: A total of 477 patients with primary thoracic ESCC who underwent surgical treatment in the Affiliated Cancer Hospital of Zhengzhou University from January 2013 to December 2017 were collected. All of them underwent McKeown esophagectomy plus complete two-field or three-field lymph node dissection. Picture archiving and communication system were used to measure the largest cardia-left gastric lymph node short diameter in preoperative CT images. The postoperative pathological diagnosis results of cardia-left gastric lymph node were used as the gold standard. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to evaluate the efficacy of CT lymph node short diameter in detecting the metastasis of cardia-left gastric lymph node in thoracic ESCC, and determine the optimal cut-off value. Results: The median short diameter of the largest cardia-left gastric lymph node was 4.1 mm in 477 patients, and the largest cardia-left gastric lymph node short diameter was less than 3 mm in 155 cases (32.5%). Sixty-eight patients had cardia-left gastric lymph node metastases, of which 38 had paracardial node metastases and 41 had left gastric node metastases. The lymph node ratios of paracardial node and left gastric node were 4.0% (60/1 511) and 3.3% (62/1 887), respectively. ROC curve analysis showed that the area under the curve of CT lymph node short diameter for evaluating cardia-left gastric lymph node metastasis was 0.941 (95% CI: 0.904-0.977; P<0.05). The optimal cut-off value of CT examination of the cardia-left gastric lymph node short diameter was 6 mm, and the corresponding sensitivity, specificity and accuracy were 85.3%, 91.7%, and 90.8%, respectively. Conclusion: CT examination of lymph node short diameter can be a good evaluation of cardia-left gastric lymph node metastasis in thoracic ESCC, and the optimal cut-off value is 6 mm.
Humans ; Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma/pathology* ; Cardia/surgery* ; Esophageal Neoplasms/pathology* ; Lymphatic Metastasis/pathology* ; Lymph Nodes/pathology* ; Lymph Node Excision ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed/methods* ; Esophagectomy/methods* ; Retrospective Studies

Objective: To investigate the application value of computed tomography (CT) examination of lymph node short diameter in evaluating cardia-left gastric lymph node metastasis in thoracic esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). Methods: A total of 477 patients with primary thoracic ESCC who underwent surgical treatment in the Affiliated Cancer Hospital of Zhengzhou University from January 2013 to December 2017 were collected. All of them underwent McKeown esophagectomy plus complete two-field or three-field lymph node dissection. Picture archiving and communication system were used to measure the largest cardia-left gastric lymph node short diameter in preoperative CT images. The postoperative pathological diagnosis results of cardia-left gastric lymph node were used as the gold standard. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to evaluate the efficacy of CT lymph node short diameter in detecting the metastasis of cardia-left gastric lymph node in thoracic ESCC, and determine the optimal cut-off value. Results: The median short diameter of the largest cardia-left gastric lymph node was 4.1 mm in 477 patients, and the largest cardia-left gastric lymph node short diameter was less than 3 mm in 155 cases (32.5%). Sixty-eight patients had cardia-left gastric lymph node metastases, of which 38 had paracardial node metastases and 41 had left gastric node metastases. The lymph node ratios of paracardial node and left gastric node were 4.0% (60/1 511) and 3.3% (62/1 887), respectively. ROC curve analysis showed that the area under the curve of CT lymph node short diameter for evaluating cardia-left gastric lymph node metastasis was 0.941 (95% CI: 0.904-0.977; P<0.05). The optimal cut-off value of CT examination of the cardia-left gastric lymph node short diameter was 6 mm, and the corresponding sensitivity, specificity and accuracy were 85.3%, 91.7%, and 90.8%, respectively. Conclusion: CT examination of lymph node short diameter can be a good evaluation of cardia-left gastric lymph node metastasis in thoracic ESCC, and the optimal cut-off value is 6 mm.
Humans ; Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma/pathology* ; Cardia/surgery* ; Esophageal Neoplasms/pathology* ; Lymphatic Metastasis/pathology* ; Lymph Nodes/pathology* ; Lymph Node Excision ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed/methods* ; Esophagectomy/methods* ; Retrospective Studies

Objective:To study the safety and efficacy of laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC) in treatment of T2a and lower stages of gallbladder carcinoma.Methods:A retrospective study was performed on patients who were diagnosed with gallbladder cancer and underwent surgical treatment from January 2016 to January 2021 at Hunan Provincial People's Hospital. These patients were divided into the simple treatment group and the radical treatment group based on the surgical methods used. The simple treatment group consisted of 64 patients who underwent LC for accidental gallbladder cancers. The radical treatment group consisted of 30 patients who underwent laparoscopic radical cholecystectomy (LRC). The baseline characteristic of the two groups of patients were matched in a 1∶1 ratio using propensity score matching. After matching, there were 26 patients in each of the 2 groups. There were 7 males and 19 females in the simple group, with mean ± s. d. age of (60.6±9.6) years. There were 8 males and 18 females, with mean ± s. d. age (60.9±9.1) years in the radical treatment group. Blood loss, operation time, postoperative hospital stay, biliary leakage, acute pulmonary embolism, and incisional infection were compared between the two groups.Results:In the simple group, the operative time was (78.7±62.9) min, intraoperative blood loss was (10.7±11.6) ml and postoperative hospital stay was (4.4±2.6) d. These results were significantly better than those in the radical group with operative time (298.7±101.3) min, intraoperative blood loss (161.9±96.7) ml and postoperative hospital stay (9.9±4.0) d (all P<0.05). There were no significant difference in the postoperative complications and disease free survival rates between the two groups (both P>0.05). Conclusion:LC was safe and effective for treatment of T2a and lower stages of gallbladder cancer, and it could achieve a similar disease-free survival rate as LRC.

Objective:To evaluate the efficacy of oral levothyroxine on abortion rate and preterm birth rate in pregnant women with thyroid autoimmunity (TAI) and normal thyroid function.Methods:The relevant studies of oral levothyroxine tablets in the treatment of TAI pregnant women were systematically searched in Pubmed, Cochrane, CBM, CNKI, VIP and Wanfang databases. The retrieval period was established until August 2020. Two researchers independently screened the literatures, extracted the data and evaluated the risk of bias in the included study. Meta-analysis was performed using Revman5.3 software.Results:1) Totally six eligible studies were all randomized controlled studies, involving 1427 patients. 2) Compared with control group, the meta-analysis suggests oral levothyroxine tablets cannot effectively reduce the preterm delivery rate and the abortion rate. 3) Further subgroup analysis of the data according to the natural pregnancy group and assisted reproduction group found that oral levothyroxine tablets in natural pregnancy women with TAI can effectively reduce the preterm delivery rate ( RR=0.54, 95% CI=0.31-0.95, P=0.03), but not reduce the abortion rate ( RR=0.86, 95% CI=0.69-1.06, P=0.15). However, oral levothyroxine tablets cannot reduce the abortion rate for TAI women conceived by reproductive technology ( RR=0.80, 95% CI=0.47-1.36, P=0.41). Conclusion:Oral levothyroxine tablets can effectively reduce the premature delivery rate of TAI women who are naturally pregnant, but it is not beneficial to reduce the abortion rate. There is only one study on TAI women who are pregnant with reproductive technology, so it is impossible to evaluate whether this population can benefit from taking levothyroxine tablets. In view of the above results, it is recommended that the two groups of patients be managed separately.

Objective:To evaluate the efficacy of oral levothyroxine on abortion rate and preterm birth rate in pregnant women with thyroid autoimmunity (TAI) and normal thyroid function.Methods:The relevant studies of oral levothyroxine tablets in the treatment of TAI pregnant women were systematically searched in Pubmed, Cochrane, CBM, CNKI, VIP and Wanfang databases. The retrieval period was established until August 2020. Two researchers independently screened the literatures, extracted the data and evaluated the risk of bias in the included study. Meta-analysis was performed using Revman5.3 software.Results:1) Totally six eligible studies were all randomized controlled studies, involving 1427 patients. 2) Compared with control group, the meta-analysis suggests oral levothyroxine tablets cannot effectively reduce the preterm delivery rate and the abortion rate. 3) Further subgroup analysis of the data according to the natural pregnancy group and assisted reproduction group found that oral levothyroxine tablets in natural pregnancy women with TAI can effectively reduce the preterm delivery rate ( RR=0.54, 95% CI=0.31-0.95, P=0.03), but not reduce the abortion rate ( RR=0.86, 95% CI=0.69-1.06, P=0.15). However, oral levothyroxine tablets cannot reduce the abortion rate for TAI women conceived by reproductive technology ( RR=0.80, 95% CI=0.47-1.36, P=0.41). Conclusion:Oral levothyroxine tablets can effectively reduce the premature delivery rate of TAI women who are naturally pregnant, but it is not beneficial to reduce the abortion rate. There is only one study on TAI women who are pregnant with reproductive technology, so it is impossible to evaluate whether this population can benefit from taking levothyroxine tablets. In view of the above results, it is recommended that the two groups of patients be managed separately.

Objective:To examine the clinical experience and outcomes of coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) using radial artery as the second arterial graft.Methods:Totally 585 patients in whom both left internal thoracic artery and radial artery as arterial conduits were used in CABG in Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, Nanjing Hospital Affiliated to Nanjing Medical University from April 2008 to August 2019 were consecutively enrolled. There were 436 males and 149 females, aging (63±10) years (range: 36 to 86 years). There were 40.7%(238/585) of patients had diabetes and 75.6%(442/585) of them had multivessel disease (two-vessel or three-vessel diseases). From January 2017, transit time flow measurement was performed on every patient. Demographic and perioperative data were retrospectively collected, as well as follow-up data for patients who underwent CABG from January 2014 to August 2019. Analysis were made on their early and late outcomes.Results:Most patients(81.9%(479/585)) in this cohort received on-pump CABG and 11 patients had intraoperative intro-aortic balloon counterpulsation (prior to CABG) support. Forty-three patients had concomitant valve procedures. The number of distal anastomosis was 3.6±0.9 (range: 2 to 6) and number of arterial distal anastomosis was 2.1±0.3(range:2 to 5). Radial artery was anastomosed to left obtuse marginal artery in 95.8%(560/585) patients. All target vessels for radial artery conduit had significant proximal stenosis (>70%) and 72.5%(424/585) patients′ target vessels had proximal stenosis which was >90%. Intraoperative transit-time flow measurement of 151 cases showed that radial artery conduits had a flow of (29.8±10.2) ml/minutes (range: 10 to 150 ml/minutes), and a pulsatility index of 2.5±1.4 (range: 0.7 to 5.0). There was no operative death. Two in-hospital deaths occurred more than 30 days after index surgery. There was no perioperative myocardial infarction. There were 188 patients who received CABG from January 2014 to August 2019 followed-up for a median duration of 3.2 years. There were 2 noncardiac deaths. No patient had myocardial infarction or myocardial revascularization.Conclusions:Radial artery as the second arterial conduit is a safe and effective strategy for CABG. Good selection of target vessel and intraoperative transit-time flow measurement may help achieve good patency, as well as the short and mid-term outcome.

Comprehensive Laboratory of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology is a compulsory open online course that integrates lab skill training and innovation ability training for undergraduates majoring in biology in Beijing Normal University. This course focuses on alkaline phosphatase, including cloning of the Escherichia coli alkaline phosphatase gene, expression and purification of the protein, research on its enzymatic characteristics, preparation of its antibody and determination the titers of the antibody, etc. The comprehensive lab course covers from the gene to the protein, so that students can learn and master commonly used biochemical and molecular biology experimental techniques systematically. Escherichia coli alkaline phosphatase is an ideal experimental research object. And there are very classic and systematic scientific research literature reports. As important auxiliary teaching means, these literature resources can help teachers and students to carry out learning inquiries, form rational and critical scientific attitudes and spirits, and also greatly improve the quality of teaching and students' scientific research quality, which plays an important role in the construction of first-class course of Comprehensive Laboratory of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.