Objective:To investigate the molecular mechanism and distribution characteristics of RhD negative phenotypes in Han population of blood donors in Wuhu city.Methods:A total of 210 RhD-samples from August 2021 to August 2022 were screened by serological test and collected from Wuhu Central Blood Station for the voluntary blood donor population.Exons 1 and 10 of the RHD gene were amplificated by PCR to determine whether the samples had the RHD gene.Exons 1-10 of the RHD gene were amplificated by PCR and zygosity analysis were performed in 82 samples containing D gene,and Sanger sequencing was performed on 55 samples containing all RHD exons to determine the genotype.Results:Among 210 RhD-specimens,128 cases(60.38％)had RHD gene deletion.27 cases had partial exons of RHD,including 2 cases with RHD*DVI.3/RHD*01N.01,24 cases with RHD*01N.04/RHD*01N.01,and 1 case with RHD-CE(2-10)/RHD*01N.01.55 cases had retained all of 10 exons,including 4 cases with RHD*01/RHD*01N.01,6 cases with RHD*15/RHD*01N.01,1 case with RHD*01W.72/RHD*01N.01,1 case with RHD*15/RHD*01EL.01,39 cases with RHD*01EL.01/RHD*01N.01,and the remaining 4 cases were determined to have no RHD gene deletion by zygosity analysis and sequencing showed the presence of 1227G＞A mutation loci.Conclusion:There is polymorphism in the molecular mechanism of RhD-D gene in Wuhu blood donor population,among which RHD*01EL.01 and RHD*15 are the main variants in this region.The results of this study provide a theoretical basis for RhD blood group identification and clinical blood transfusion in this region.

OBJECTIVE: To observe the effect of fire needling on prostate symptoms, quality of life, average daily number of nightly urination, urine flow rate and prostat volume in patients with mild to moderate benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) of kidney yang deficiency. METHODS: A total of 60 patients with mild to moderate BPH of kidney yang deficiency were randomly divided into an observation group (30 cases, 3 cases dropped off) and a control group (30 cases, 4 cases dropped off). The observation group was treated with fire needling at Guanyuan (CV 4), Shuidao (ST 28) and Qugu (CV 2) twice a week (2-3 d interval between each treatment), continuous treatment for 4 weeks. The control group received lifestyle advice and education, once a week for 4 weeks. In the two groups, the international prostate symptom score (IPSS), the quality of life (QoL) score and the average daily number of nightly urination were observed before treatment, after treatment and during the follow-up of the 4th week; the urinary maximum flow rate (Qmax), the average flow rate (Qave), and the prostate volume were assessed before and after treatment in the two groups. The safety was observed in the observation group. RESULTS: After treatment and during follow-up, the IPSS scores, QoL scores, and the average daily number of nightly urination in the observation group were decreased compared with those before treatment (P<0.05), and those in the observation group were lower than the control group (P<0.05). After treatment, there was no significant difference in Qmax, Qave and prostate volume between the two groups and within the each group (P>0.05). There were no fire needling-related adverse reactions, and no obvious abnormality was found in urine routine and coagulation function tests before and after treatment in the observation group. CONCLUSION Fire needling can improve lower urinary tract symptoms and quality of life, reduce frequency of nightly urination in patients with mild to moderate BPH of kidney yang deficiency, and has good safety.
Male ; Humans ; Prostatic Hyperplasia/therapy* ; Quality of Life ; Yang Deficiency ; Treatment Outcome ; Kidney

Objective: To compare the effects of two administration time strategies for rabbit antihuman thymocyte immunoglobulin (rATG) of 5mg/kg total dose in matched sibling donor hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (MSD-HSCT) . Methods: This study retrospectively analyzed the clinical data of 32 patients who received MSD-HSCT with 5 mg/kg rATG conditioning regimen at the Department of Hematology of the First Medical Center of the People's Liberation Army General Hospital from October 2020 to April 2022. The patients were classified into two groups: the 4d-rATG group (16 cases), who received antithymocyte globulin (ATG) from day -5 to day -2, and the 2d-rATG group (16 cases), who received ATG from day -5 to day -4. Between the two groups, the transplantation outcomes, serum concentrations of active antithymocyte globulin (ATG) in patients from -4 days to 28 days after graft infusion (+28 days), and the reconstitution of lymphocyte subsets on days +30, +60, and +90 were compared. Results: The cumulative incidences of acute graft-versus-host disease at 100 days after graft infusion were 25.0% (95% CI 7.8% -47.2% ) and 18.8% (95% CI 4.6% -40.2% ) (P=0.605) in the 4d-rATG group and 2d-rATG group, respectively. The 1-year cumulative incidences of chronic graft-versus-host disease were 25.9% (95% CI 8.0% -48.6% ) and 21.8% (95% CI 5.2% -45.7% ) (P=0.896). The 1-year cumulative incidence of relapse was 37.5% (95% CI 18.9% -65.1% ) and 14.6% (95% CI 3.6% -46.0% ) (P=0.135), and the 1-year probabilities of overall survival were 75.0% (95% CI 46.3% -89.8% ) and 100% (P=0.062). The total area under the curve (AUC) of serum active ATG was 36.11 UE/ml·d and 35.89 UE/ml·d in the 4d-rATG and 2d-rATG groups, respectively (P=0.984). The AUC was higher in the 4d-rATG group than that in the 2d-rATG group (20.76 UE/ml·d vs 15.95 UE/ml·d, P=0.047). Three months after graft infusion, the average absolute count of CD8(+) T lymphocytes in the 4d-rATG group was lower than that in the 2d-rATG group (623 cells/μl vs 852 cells/μl, P=0.037) . Conclusion: The efficiencies of GVHD prophylaxis in MSD-PBSCT receiving 4d-ATG regimen and the 2d-rATG regimen were found to be similar. The reconstruction of CD8(+)T lymphocytes in the 2d-rATG group was better than that in the 4d-rATG group, which is related to the lower AUC of active ATG after transplantation.
Animals ; Rabbits ; Humans ; Antilymphocyte Serum/therapeutic use* ; Siblings ; Retrospective Studies ; Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation ; Tissue Donors ; Graft vs Host Disease/drug therapy* ; Transplantation Conditioning

Objective:To explore the prognostic risk factors of thymoma patients after resection, and establish a novel nomogram to predict progression free survival(PFS) of patients with thymoma.Methods:A retrospectively analysis was performed on clinicopathological datas of 267 cases of thymoma patients underwent thymoma resection in Beijing Tongren Hospital from January 2010 to December 2019. The univariate and multivariate Cox risk ratio models were used to analyze the related factors that might affect PFS, and the prediction nomogram of PFS after thymoma resection was established using the screened independent risk factors. Then the predictive ability of the model was evaluated. Results:The univariate analysis showed that age, type of surgery, completeness of resection, WHO histologic classification, TNM stage and postoperative adjuvant therapy were significantly correlated with PFS after thymoma resection( P<0.05). The multivariate analysis showed that only age and TNM stage were independent prognostic factors affecting PFS after thymoma resection( P<0.05). The concordance index( C- index) of the prediction model for the prognosis of thymoma patients established by this method was 0.866(95% CI: 0.809-0.923), which had remarkable predictive efficiency. Conclusion:The nomogram model is constructed and verified based on age and TNM stage, excluding the interference of other clinicopathological factors on prognosis assessment, and which is convenient for clinicians to quickly and individually evaluate the prognosis of patients after thymoma resection.

ObjectiveTo investigate the risk factors for pulmonary fungal infection in lung cancer patients， construct and validate a risk prediction model using available clinical data to predict the risk of pulmonary fungal infections in patients with lung cancer. MethodsWe conducted a retrospective study and collected information of 390 lung cancer patients treated at Zhongshan People's Hospital from January 2021 to March 2023. Demographic and clinical characteristics of the patients with and without pulmonary fungal infections were used to construct column line graphs to predict the occurrence of pulmonary fungal infections. All enrolled patients were randomly assigned to training set and internal validation set in the ratio of 7：3. For the modelling group， LASSO regression was applied to screen variables and select predictors， and multivariate logistic regression with a training set was used to construct the Noe column line graph model. The judgment ability of the model was determined by calculating the area under the curve （AUC）， and in addition， calibration analysis and decision curve analysis （DCA） were performed on the model. ResultsLASSO regression identified 14 potential predictive factors， and further logistic regression analysis showed that hepatic injury， surgery， anemia， hypoalbuminemia， illness course， invasive operation， hospital stay at least 2 weeks and glucocorticoid used for at least 2 weeks were independent predictors for the occurrence of pulmonary fungal infection in lung cancer patients. A predictive model was established based on these variables， with an AUC95%CI of 0.980 （0.973， 0.896） for the training set and an AUC95%CI of 0.956 （0.795， 1.000） for internal validation， indicating high discriminative ability. The calibration curves for both the training set and validation set were distributed along the 45°line， and the decision curve analysis （DCA） showed net benefit for threshold probabilities greater than 0.03. ConclusionsThe construction and validation of a predictive model for the risk of lung fungal infections in lung cancer patients will help clinical practitioners to identify high-risk groups and give timely intervention or adjust treatment decisions.

Taking the Chinese city of Xiamen as an example, simulation and quantitative analysis were performed on the transmissions of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) and the influence of intervention combinations to assist policymakers in the preparation of targeted response measures. A machine learning model was built to estimate the effectiveness of interventions and simulate transmission in different scenarios. The comparison was conducted between simulated and real cases in Xiamen. A web interface with adjustable parameters, including choice of intervention measures, intervention weights, vaccination, and viral variants, was designed for users to run the simulation. The total case number was set as the outcome. The cumulative number was 4,614,641 without restrictions and 78 under the strictest intervention set. Simulation with the parameters closest to the real situation of the Xiamen outbreak was performed to verify the accuracy and reliability of the model. The simulation model generated a duration of 52 days before the daily cases dropped to zero and the final cumulative case number of 200, which were 25 more days and 36 fewer cases than the real situation, respectively. Targeted interventions could benefit the prevention and control of COVID-19 outbreak while safeguarding public health and mitigating impacts on people's livelihood.
COVID-19/prevention & control* ; China/epidemiology* ; Humans ; Machine Learning ; Pandemics/prevention & control* ; Policy ; Reproducibility of Results ; SARS-CoV-2

Objective:To investigate the 10-year outcome and prognostic factors of laparo-scopic D 2 radical distal gastrectomy for locally advanced gastric cancer. Methods:The retrospec-tive cohort study was conducted. The clinicopathological data of 652 patients with locally advanced gastric cancer who were admitted to 16 hospitals from the multicenter database of laparoscopic gastric cancer surgery in the Chinese Laparoscopic Gastrointestinal Surgery Study (CLASS) Group, including 214 cases in the First Affiliated Hospital of Army Medical University, 191 cases in Fujian Medical University Union Hospital, 52 cases in Nanfang Hospital of Southern Medical University, 49 cases in West China Hospital of Sichuan University, 43 cases in Xijing Hospital of Air Force Medical University, 25 cases in Jiangsu Province Hospital of Chinese Medicine, 14 cases in the First Medical Center of the Chinese PLA General Hospital, 12 cases in No.989 Hospital of PLA, 12 cases in the Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-Sen University, 10 cases in the First Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University, 9 cases in the First People's Hospital of Foshan, 7 cases in Zhujiang Hospital of Southern Medical University, 7 cases in Fujian Medical University Cancer Hospital, 3 cases in Zhongshan Hospital of Fudan University, 2 cases in Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, 2 cases in Peking University Cancer Hospital & Institute, from February 2004 to December 2010 were collected. There were 442 males and 210 females, aged (57±12)years. All patients underwent laparoscopic D 2 radical distal gastrectomy. Observation indicators: (1) surgical situations; (2) postoperative pathological examination; (3) postoperative recovery and complications; (4) follow-up; (5) prognostic factors analysis. Follow-up was conducted by outpatient examination and telephone interview to detect the tumor recurrence and metastasis, postoperative survival of patients up to March 2020. Measurement data with normal distribution were represented as Mean± SD, and measurement data with skewed distribution were represented as M( Q1, Q3) or M(range). Count data were described as absolute numbers or percen-tages, and comparison between groups was conducted using the chi-square test. Comparison of ordinal data was analyzed using the rank sum test. The life table method was used to calculate survival rates and the Kaplan-Meier method was used to draw survival curves. Log-Rank test was used for survival analysis. Univariate and multivariate analyses were analyzed using the COX hazard regression model. Results:(1) Surgical situations: among 652 patients, 617 cases underwent D 2 lymph node dissection and 35 cases underwent D 2+ lymph node dissection. There were 348 cases with Billroth Ⅱ anastomosis, 218 cases with Billroth Ⅰ anastomosis, 25 cases with Roux-en-Y anastomosis and 61 cases with other digestive tract reconstruction methods. Twelve patients had combined visceral resection. There were 569 patients with intraoperative blood transfusion and 83 cases without blood transfusion. The operation time of 652 patients was 187(155,240)minutes and volume of intraoperative blood loss was 100(50,150)mL. (2) Postoperative pathological examina-tion: the maximum diameter of tumor was (4.5±2.0)cm of 652 patients. The number of lymph node dissected of 652 patients was 26(19,35), in which the number of lymph node dissected was >15 of 570 cases and ≤15 of 82 cases. The number of metastatic lymph node was 4(1,9). The proximal tumor margin was (4.8±1.6)cm and the distal tumor margin was (4.5±1.5)cm. Among 652 patients, 255 cases were classified as Borrmann type Ⅰ-Ⅱ, 334 cases were classified as Borrmann type Ⅲ-Ⅳ, and 63 cases had missing Borrmann classification data. The degree of tumor differentiation was high or medium in 171 cases, low or undifferentiated in 430 cases, and the tumor differentiation data was missing in 51 cases. There were 123, 253 and 276 cases in pathological stage T2, T3 and T4a, respectively. There were 116, 131, 214 and 191 cases in pathological stage N0, N1, N2 and N3, respectively. There were 260 and 392 cases in pathological TNM stage Ⅱ and Ⅲ, respectively. (3) Postoperative recovery and complications: the time to postoperative first out-of-bed activities, time to postoperative first flatus, time to the initial liquid food intake, duration of postoperative hospital stay of 652 patients were 3(2,4)days, 4(3,5)days, 5(4,6)days, 10(9,13)days, respectively. Among 652 patients, 69 cases had postoperative complications. Clavien-Dindo grade Ⅰ-Ⅱ, grade Ⅲa, grade Ⅲb, and grade Ⅳa complications occurred in 60, 3, 5 and 1 cases, respectively (some patients could have multiple complications). The duodenal stump leakage was the most common surgical complication, with the incidence of 3.07%(20/652). Respiratory complication was the most common systemic complication, with the incidence of 2.91%(19/652). All the 69 patients were recovered and discharged successfully after treatment. (4) Follow-up: 652 patients were followed up for 110-193 months, with a median follow-up time of 124 months. There were 298 cases with postoperative recurrence and metastasis. Of the 255 patients with the time to postoperative recurrence and metastasis ≤5 years, there were 21 cases with distant metastasis, 69 cases with peritoneal metastasis, 37 cases with local recurrence, 52 cases with multiple recurrence and metastasis, 76 cases with recurrence and metastasis at other locations. The above indicators were 5, 9, 10, 4, 15 of the 43 patients with the time to postoperative recurrence and metastasis >5 years. There was no significant difference in the type of recurrence and metastasis between them ( χ2=5.52, P>0.05). Cases in pathological TNM stage Ⅱ and Ⅲ were 62 and 193 of the patients with the time to postoperative recurrence and metastasis ≤5 years, versus 23 and 20 of the patients with the time to postoperative recurrence and metastasis >5 years, showing a significant difference in pathological TNM staging between them ( χ2=15.36, P<0.05). Cases in pathological stage T2, T3, T4a were 42, 95, 118 of the patients with the time to postoperative recurrence and metastasis ≤5 years, versus 9, 21, 13 of the patients with the time to postoperative recurrence and metastasis >5 years, showing no significant difference in pathological T staging between them ( Z=-1.80, P>0.05). Further analysis showed no significant difference in cases in pathological stage T2 or T3 ( χ2=0.52, 2.08, P>0.05) but a significant difference in cases in pathological stage T4a between them ( χ2=3.84, P<0.05). Cases in pathological stage N0, N1, N2, N3 were 19, 44, 85, 107 of the patients with the time to postoperative recurrence and metastasis ≤5 years, versus 12, 5, 18, 8 of the patients with the time to postoperative recurrence and metastasis >5 years, showing a significant difference in pathological N staging between them ( Z=-3.34, P<0.05). Further analysis showed significant differences in cases in pathological stage N0 and N3 ( χ2=16.52, 8.47, P<0.05) but no significant difference in cases in pathological stage N1 or N2 ( χ2=0.85, 1.18, P>0.05). The median overall survival time was 81 months after surgery and 10-year overall survival rate was 46.1% of 652 patients. The 10-year overall survival rates of patients in TNM stage Ⅱ and Ⅲ were 59.6% and 37.5%, respectively, showing a significant difference between them ( χ2=35.29, P<0.05). In further analysis, the 10-year overall survival rates of patients in pathological TNM stage ⅡA, ⅡB, ⅢA, ⅢB and ⅢC were 65.6%, 55.8%, 46.9%, 37.1% and 24.0%, respectively, showing a significant difference between them ( χ2=55.06, P<0.05). The 10-year overall survival rates of patients in patholo-gical stage T2, T3 and T4a were 55.2%, 46.5% and 41.5%, respectively, showing a significant difference between them ( χ2=8.39, P<0.05). The 10-year overall survival rates of patients in patholo-gical stage N0, N1, N2 and N3 were 63.7%, 56.2%, 48.5% and 26.4%, respectively, showing a signifi-cant difference between them ( χ2=54.89, P<0.05). (5) Prognostic factors analysis: results of univariate analysis showed that age, maximum diameter of tumor, degree of tumor differentiation as low or undifferentiated, pathological TNM staging, pathological T staging, pathological stage N2 or N3, post-operative chemotherapy were related factors for the 10-year overall survival rate of locally advanced gastric cancer patients undergoing laparoscopic D 2 radical distal gastrectomy ( hazard ratio=1.45, 1.64, 1.37, 2.05, 1.30, 1.68, 3.08, 0.56, 95% confidence interval as 1.15-1.84, 1.32-2.03, 1.05-1.77, 1.62-2.59, 1.05-1.61, 1.17-2.42, 2.15-4.41, 0.44-0.70, P<0.05). Results of multivariate analysis showed that maximum diameter of tumor >4 cm, low-differentiated or undifferentiated tumor, pathological TNM stage Ⅲ were independent risk factors for the 10-year overall survival rate of locally advanced gastric cancer patients undergoing laparoscopic D 2 radical distal gastrectomy ( hazard ratio=1.48,1.44, 1.81, 95% confidence interval as 1.19-1.84, 1.11-1.88, 1.42-2.30, P<0.05) and postoperative chemotherapy was a independent protective factor for the 10-year overall survi-val rate of locally advanced gastric cancer patients undergoing laparoscopic D 2 radical distal gastrec-tomy ( hazard ratio=0.57, 95% confidence interval as 045-0.73, P<0.05). Conclusions:Laparoscopic assisted D 2 radical distal gastrectomy for locally advanced gastric cancer has satisfactory 10-year oncologic outcomes. A high proportion of patients in pathological TNM stage Ⅲ, pathological stage T4a, pathological stage N3 have the time to postoperative recurrence and metastasis ≤5 years, whereas a high proportion of patients in pathological TNM stage Ⅱ or pathological stage N0 have the time to postoperative recurrence and metastasis >5 years. Maximum diameter of tumor >4 cm, low-differentiated or undifferentiated tumor, pathological TNM stage Ⅲ are independent risk factors for the 10-year overall survival rate of locally advanced gastric cancer patients undergoing laparos-copic D 2 radical distal gastrectomy. Postoperative chemotherapy is a independent protective factor for the 10-year overall survival rate of locally advanced gastric cancer patients undergoing laparos-copic D 2 radical distal gastrectomy.

During the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) epidemic, there have been concerns about the impact of vaccines on people's fertility, including the fertility of those who are currently preparing for pregnancy and those who might become pregnant in future. However, there is still a lack of research on the effect of the COVID-19 vaccine on male fertility, and it is not surprising that couples and donors have concerns regarding vaccination. In this study, a retrospective cohort study was conducted to examine semen quality before and after receipt of the inactivated COVID-19 vaccine. There were no statistically significant changes in semen parameters (volume, sperm concentration, progressive motility, and total progressive motile count) after two doses of vaccine (all P > 0.05). In summary, our study updates the most recent studies on the effects of the COVID-19 vaccine on male fertility, and the information from this study could be used to guide fertility recommendations for assisted reproductive technology (ART) patients and donors.
COVID-19 ; COVID-19 Vaccines ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Pregnancy ; Retrospective Studies ; Semen ; Semen Analysis ; Sperm Count ; Sperm Motility ; Spermatozoa ; Vaccination ; Vaccines, Inactivated

Purpose: The aim of this study was to compare the efficacy of liver transplantation (LT) and liver resection (LR) for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients with portal vein tumor thrombus (PVTT) and to investigate risk factors affecting prognosis. Materials and Methods: A total of 94 HCC patients with PVTT type I (segmental PVTT) and PVTT type II (lobar PVTT) were involved and divided into LR (n=47) and LT groups (n=47). Recurrence-free survival (RFS) and overall survival (OS) were compared before and after inverse probability of treatment weighting (IPTW). Prognostic factors for RFS and OS were explored. Results: Two treatment groups were well-balanced using IPTW. In the entire cohort, LT provided a better prognosis than LR. Among patients with PVTT type I, RFS was better with LT (p=0.039); OS was not different significantly between LT and LR (p=0.093). In subgroup analysis of PVTT type I patients with α-fetoprotein (AFP) levels >200 ng/mL, LT elicited significantly longer median RFS (18.0 months vs. 2.1 months, p=0.022) and relatively longer median OS time (23.6 months vs. 9.8 months, p=0.065). Among patients with PVTT type II, no significant differences in RFS and OS were found between LT and LR (p=0.115 and 0.335, respectively). Multivariate analyses showed treatment allocation (LR), tumor size (>5 cm), AFP and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) levels to be risk factors of RFS and treatment allocation (LR), AFP and AST as risk factors for OS. Conclusion LT appeared to afford a better prognosis for HCC with PVTT type I than LR, especially in patients with AFP levels >200 ng/mL.