Liver stiffness measurement (LSM) has been widely used in predicting portal hypertension in clinical practice, and in recent years, spleen stiffness measurement (SSM) has also become a diagnostic tool. Studies have shown that SSM can predict portal hypertension and its complications such as esophagogastric variceal bleeding in patients with chronic liver diseases and assist in the risk stratification management of portal hypertension and esophagogastric variceal bleeding. It can accurately predict clinically significant portal hypertension, high-risk esophageal and gastric varices, decompensation rate, and mortality rate in patients with chronic liver diseases. At present, SSM data in most studies are obtained by detection using the liver equipment FibroScan Ⓡ (SSM@50 Hz). FibroScan Ⓡ 630 is a new scanner dedicated for SSM with a special mode for SSM (SSM@100 Hz). This article elaborates on the significance of SSM in predicting portal hypertension and briefly introduces the advantages and disadvantages of the new equipment for SSM.

Self-organized blastoids from extended pluripotent stem (EPS) cells possess enormous potential for investigating postimplantation embryo development and related diseases. However, the limited ability of postimplantation development of EPS-blastoids hinders its further application. In this study, single-cell transcriptomic analysis indicated that the "trophectoderm (TE)-like structure" of EPS-blastoids was primarily composed of primitive endoderm (PrE)-related cells instead of TE-related cells. We further identified PrE-like cells in EPS cell culture that contribute to the blastoid formation with TE-like structure. Inhibition of PrE cell differentiation by inhibiting MEK signaling or knockout of Gata6 in EPS cells markedly suppressed EPS-blastoid formation. Furthermore, we demonstrated that blastocyst-like structures reconstituted by combining the EPS-derived bilineage embryo-like structure (BLES) with either tetraploid embryos or tetraploid TE cells could implant normally and develop into live fetuses. In summary, our study reveals that TE improvement is critical for constructing a functional embryo using stem cells in vitro.
Pregnancy ; Female ; Animals ; Mice ; Tetraploidy ; Blastocyst ; Embryo, Mammalian ; Cell Differentiation ; Embryonic Development

OBJECTIVE To Establish a liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis method to comprehensively and quickly identify the chemical components in Gleditsiae Fructus Abnormalis. METHODS The ultra-high liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole time-of-flight tandem mass spectrometry(UHPLC-Q-TOF-MS/MS) was applied for the composition analysis of Gleditsiae Fructus Abnormalis extract; its mobile phase was 0.1% formic acid(A)-acetonitrile(B) with gradient elution at a flow rate of 0.3 mL·min-1. Accurate ion mass and secondary fragmentation information were obtained in negative ion mode, combined with databases and standard reference for structure elucidation. RESULTS A total of 78 compounds(32 flavonoids, 15 phenolic acids, 22 lignans and 9 chemical constituents of monoterpenoid acids) with 14 potential new compounds were screened. CONCLUSION This study comprehensively analyzes the chemical composition of Gleditsiae Fructus Abnormalis, and provides a basis for the investigation of the pharmacodynamic basis and quality standards of this drug.

In order to fulfill the new requirement of educational and teaching reform in the new era, the Teaching and Research Section of Parasitology in Guangxi Medical University have constructed online courses of Parasites Invasion— Human Parasitology on the platform of Xueyin Online, providing resources in professional learning and general education. In the construction concept, we recombine teaching content to give consideration to both scientificity and interest. In terms of the curriculum content, the curriculum includes micro lecture, PPT, in-lass quiz, case analysis and other diversified teaching resources. In the curriculum management, teachers interact with students in real time with the help of various functions of the platform to fully play the role of supervision. In the assessment, teachers pay attention to students' learning process and carry out comprehensive evaluation. Since the online course was put into operation, good teaching effects has been achieved.

Objective:To explore the method of ultrasonography for detecting the fetal umbilical vein diameter, blood flow volume and normalized volume blood flow and establish normal reference ranges with umbilical vein diameter, blood flow volume and normalized blood flow and Z-scores for umbilical vein diameter and blood volume flow.Methods:This was a prospective study on 907 normal fetuses in the Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University and Women and Children Healthcare Hospital of Zhuzhou from March 2019 to December 2020. The umbilical vein diameter (Duv), umbilical vein blood flow volume (Quv) and normalized volume blood flow (nQ = Quv/estimated fetal weight) of the free loop of umbilical vein (FUV) and fetal intra-abdominal umbilical vein (IUV) were collected. And the mean values and 90% confidence intervals of Duv, Quv and nQ in two segments of umbilical veins at different gestational ages were calculated. Regression analysis of Duv, Quv and nQ were performed with gestational age (GA), and the parameters of umbilical vein in different segments were compared. Finally, with gestational age (GA) as the independent variable, Z-scores of the Duv and Quv were built.Results:The mean values and 90% confidence intervals of Duv, Quv, and nQ in 858 (94.6%) normal fetal umbilical veins were successfully obtained. The Duv, Quv of the FUV and IUV increased as pregnancy progressed. The Quadratic curve of Duv and Linear curve of Quv were of the highest fitnesses, respectively( r=0.951, 0.941, 0.986, 0.982; all P<0.001). While nQ increased with GA followed by a decreased trend, and the Quadratic curve was the highest fitting curve of nQ( r=0.610, 0.611; all P<0.001). Duv-FUV was greater than Duv-IUV( P<0.001), nQ-FUV was bigger than Quv-IUV( P=0.001), and he difference was not statistically significant between Quv-FUV and Quv-IUV( P=0.133). Z-scores models of Duv and Quv were successfully established, and all Z-scores were Gaussian distribution. Conclusions:The normal ranges and Z-scores of umbilical vein parameters are useful to improve the evaluation of placental circulation and provide a strong basis for the monitoring of fetus-related diseases and the evaluation of pregnancy prognosis. The choice of FUV or IUV umbilical vein to evaluate placental circulation may depend on the actual situation in clinical application.

Objective:To investigate the efficacy and safety of DOS regimen in adjuvant chemotherapy after D2 radical resection for advanced gastric adenocarcinoma.Methods:The clinical data of 130 patients who received adjuvant chemotherapy after D2 radical resection for advanced gastric adenocarcinoma in Jincheng People's Hospital from January 2017 to January 2019 were retrospectively analyzed. According to treatment regimens, the patients were divided into DOS regimen chemotherapy group (DOS group, 63 cases) and SOX (oxaliplatin, S-1) regimen chemotherapy group (SOX group, 67 cases). The short-term efficacy and adverse reactions of the two groups were compared.Results:Due to the irregular treatment time, 2 cases in each group were removed. Finally, there were 61 cases in DOS group and 65 cases in SOX group. The 1-, 2- and 3-year disease-free survival (DFS) rates of the DOS group were 80.33%, 73.77% and 62.30%, and the DFS rates of the SOX group were 73.85%, 55.38% and 41.54%. The difference in DFS between the two groups was statistically significant ( χ2 = 5.43, P = 0.022). The 1-, 2- and 3-year overall survival (OS) rates of the DOS group were 93.44%, 80.33% and 70.50%, and the OS rates of the SOX group were 96.92%, 73.85% and 52.31%. The difference in OS between the two groups was statistically significant ( χ2 = 4.38, P = 0.045). There were no statistical differences in the incidence rates of grade Ⅰ-Ⅱ nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, bone marrow suppression and fatigue between the two groups (all P > 0.05). There were no statistical differences in the incidence rates of grade Ⅲ-Ⅳ nausea, vomiting and fatigue (both P > 0.05), but there were statistical significances in the incidence rates of grade Ⅲ-Ⅳ diarrhea and bone marrow suppression (both P < 0.05). Conclusions:Adjuvant DOS regimen in the treatment of advanced gastric adenocarcinoma after D2 radical resection has good curative efficacy and can improve the survival of patients, and the adverse reactions can be tolerated.

Chemically defined medium is widely used for culturing mouse embryonic stem cells (mESCs), in which N2B27 works as a substitution for serum, and GSK3β and MEK inhibitors (2i) help to promote ground-state pluripotency. However, recent studies suggested that MEKi might cause irreversible defects that compromise the developmental potential of mESCs. Here, we demonstrated the deficient bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) signal in the chemically defined condition is one of the main causes for the impaired pluripotency. Mechanistically, activating the BMP signal pathway by BMP4 could safeguard the chromosomal integrity and proliferation capacity of mESCs through regulating downstream targets Ube2s and Chmp4b. More importantly, BMP4 promotes a distinct in vivo developmental potential and a long-term pluripotency preservation. Besides, the pluripotent improvements driven by BMP4 are superior to those by attenuating MEK suppression. Taken together, our study shows appropriate activation of BMP signal is essential for regulating functional pluripotency and reveals that BMP4 should be applied in the serum-free culture system.
Animals ; Bone Morphogenetic Protein 4/metabolism* ; Cell Differentiation ; Chromosomal Instability ; Endosomal Sorting Complexes Required for Transport ; Mice ; Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase Kinases/metabolism* ; Mouse Embryonic Stem Cells/cytology* ; Pluripotent Stem Cells/cytology* ; Signal Transduction ; Ubiquitin-Conjugating Enzymes

Abstract: To investigate the effect of human angiopoietin-like protein 4(ANGPTL4) on the invasion and migration of gefitinib-resistant lung adenocarcinoma strains and its mechanism. Methods: The expression of ANGPTL4 in PC9/GR cells was interfered by siRNA method, and the interference effect was verified by Western blot and qRT-PCR. The CCK-8 experiment was performed to verify the inhibitory effect of interfering with ANGPTL4 on the proliferation of PC9/GR cells. The scratch experiment and transwell experiment were performed to detect the invasion and metastasis ability of cells; the expression levels of Vimentin, E-cadherin and N-cadherin were detected by Western blot experiment. Results: The expression of ANGPTL4 in PC9/GR cells was significantly higher than that in PC9 cells. The CCK-8 experiment proved that the IC50of PC9/GR cells to gefitinib was higher than that of PC9 cells, and the IC50was significantly reduced after interfering with the expression of ANGPTL4 in PC9/GR cells; scratch experiment and Transwell migration experiment showed that after interfering with the expression of ANGPTL4 in PC9/GR cells, the wound healing ability, migration and invasion ability of the cells were significantly reduced. The results of Western blot experiments showed that the expression of N-cadherin and Vimentin decreased and the expression of E-cadherin increased in PC9/GR cells after interference. Conclusion ANGPTL4 may participate in the acquired drug resistance of gefitinib in lung adenocarcinoma, and promote the invasion and metastasis of PC9/GR cells. Interference with ANGPTL4 can inhibit the EMT process of PC9/GR cells.

Ischemic stroke (IS) is a kind of cerebrovascular disease caused by temporary or permanent decrease in local cerebral blood flow. The research of this disease by revealing its pathophysiological process and exploring new therapeutic targets from the cellular and molecular levels has always been the hot spot. In recent years, the competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) regulatory network mediated by long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) has been proved to play a key role in the pathology and physiology of IS, which can effectively improve the diagnosis, treatment and prognosis of IS. This article aims to describe the mechanism of micro RNA (miRNA) and lncRNA in IS and the role of lncRNA as miRNA's ceRNA in the cell apoptosis, cell viability, angiogenesis, inflammatory response, oxidative stress, and neuroprotection of IS patients, in order to broaden the vision of the occurrence and development of IS and provide new ideas for its diagnosis and treatment.

Objective To investigate the feasibility of using optimized protocol of iodine contrast agent with fixed injection time in triple-rule-out CT examination of acute chest pain patients. Methods A prospective study was conducted. The patients who underwent triple-rule-out CT examination of acute chest pain at the Second Hospital of Shanxi Medical University from September 2017 to June 2018 were enrolled. According to the patient's body mass index (BMI), they were divided into BMI ≤ 23 kg/m2 group and BMI > 23 kg/m2 group. The patients in each group were subdivided into two subgroups according to the random number table, and they were given two iodine contrast injection protocols with fixed injection time (14 s). Protocol 1 was performed with 55 mL of total iodinated contrast media: iodinated contrast media was first injected at 5.0 mL/s for 8 s, followed by the same contrast media injection at 2.5 mL/s for 6 s, finally followed by injection of 40 mL of saline at a rate of 2.5 mL/s. Protocol 2 with 60 mL of total iodinated contrast media: iodinated contrast media was first injected at 5.0 mL/s for 10 s, followed by the same contrast media injection at 2.5 mL/s for 4 s, finally followed by injection of 40 mL of saline at a rate of 2.5 mL/s. The primary and objective evaluation was conducted on the image quality of the patients' blood vessels in different segments. The primary score, CT value and contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) of the pulmonary artery, coronary artery, aorta and total effective radiation dose for the examination were recorded. Results A total of 92 patients were enrolled in the analysis. There were 44 patients in BMI≤ 23 kg/m2 group, in which 22 patients received in protocol 1 and protocol 2, 48 patients in BMI > 23 kg/m2 group, in which 24 patients in protocol 1 and protocol 2, respectively. There was no significant difference in the effective radiation dose between the two subgroups receiving different injection protocols in different BMI groups (mSv: 6.7±1.1 vs. 6.5±0.8 between protocol 1 and protocol 2 in BMI ≤ 23 kg/m2 group; 7.8±1.0 vs. 8.0±1.1 between protocol 1 and protocol 2 in BMI > 23 kg/m2 group, both P > 0.05). In BMI ≤ 23 kg/m2 group, the CT value, CNR and primary scores of pulmonary artery images in patients receiving protocol 2 were significantly higher than those receiving protocol 1 [CT value (HU): 584±110 vs. 472±86 for main pulmonary artery, 561±93 vs. 467±78 for left pulmonary artery, 555±91 vs. 472±83 for right pulmonary artery; CNR: 24.2±7.5 vs. 18.7±4.6 for main pulmonary artery, 23.2±6.8 vs. 18.6±4.8 for left pulmonary artery, 22.9±6.7 vs. 18.8±4.7 for right pulmonary artery; primary score:4.0 (4.0, 4.0) vs. 3.5 (3.0, 4.0), all P < 0.05]; and there was no statistically significant difference in the primary or objective evaluation of coronary artery or aortic image quality between the two protocols. In BMI > 23 kg/m2 group, the CT value, CNR and primary scores of coronary artery and aortic images in patients receiving protocol 2 were significantly higher than those receiving protocol 1 [CT value (HU): 369±63 vs. 315±61 for proximal right coronary artery (RCA), 388±63 vs. 323±63 for proximal left coronary artery (LCA), 328±83 vs. 272±51 for ascending aorta, 348±82 vs. 272±49 for aortic arch; CNR: 15.0±4.6 vs. 12.3±4.7 for proximal RCA, 15.7±3.8 vs. 12.8±5.2 for proximal LCA, 13.2±5.3 vs. 10.4±4.1 for ascending aorta, 14.1±5.3 vs. 10.4±3.9 for aortic arch; primary score: 4.0 (3.0, 4.0) vs. 3.0 (3.0, 4.0) for coronary, 4.0 (3.0, 4.0) vs. 3.0 (2.0, 4.0) for aorta; all P < 0.05]; and there was no statistically significant difference in the primary or objective evaluation of pulmonary artery image quality between the two protocols. Conclusions The effective radiation dose of triple-rule-out CT examination of acute chest pain is relatively low. The low-dose iodine contrast agent application program with fixed injection time can meet the needs of clinical diagnosis of triple-rule-out CT examination of acute chest pain patients. For patients with BMI ≤ 23 kg/m2, both protocols 1 and 2 can obtain excellent image quality; in order to avoid the influence of superior vena cava artifacts, protocol 1 is recommended. For patients with BMI > 23 kg/m2, application protocol 2 can obtain stable, excellent image quality that is more suitable for clinical applications.