Objective To investigate the relationships of serum angiopoietin-like protein 4 (ANGPTL4) and fibroblast growth factor-23 (FGF-23) levels with the severity and prognosis of patients with diabetic nephropathy. Methods A total of 120 patients (diabetic nephropathy group) with diabetic nephropathy were selected from July 2018 to July 2020 and divided into mild group (n=62) and severe group (n=58) according to the staging criteria of diabetic nephropathy; based on the prognosis within 3 years, they were also divided into good prognosis group (n=94) and poor prognosis group (n=26). Additionally, 102 diabetic patients were enrolled as diabetic group, and 81 healthy volunteers were selected as control group. The serum levels of ANGPTL4 and FGF-23 in diabetic nephropathy patients were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Logistic regression analysis was used to analyze the influencing factors of prognosis, and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were drawn to analyze the values of ANGPTL4, FGF-23 and their combination in assessing the severity and prognosis of diabetic nephropathy. Results The levels of ANGPTL4 and FGF-23 in the diabetic nephropathy group and simple diabetic group were significantly higher than those in the control group (P < 0.05); compared with the simple diabetic group, the levels of ANGPTL4 and FGF-23 in the diabetic nephropathy group were significantly increased (P < 0.05); the levels of ANGPTL4 and FGF-23 in the severe group were significantly higher than those in the mild group (P < 0.05); the ROC curve analysis revealed that the areas under the curve (AUCs) for assessing disease severity of ANGPTL4, FGF-23 and their combination were 0.748, 0.781 and 0.858 respectively, and the combined diagnosis was significantly better than FGF-23 (Z=2.149, P=0.032) and ANGPTL4 (Z=2.886, P=0.004) alone; the levels of ANGPTL4 and FGF-23 in the good prognosis group were significantly lower than those in the poor prognosis group (P < 0.05); significant differences were observed in diabetes duration, blood urea nitrogen (BUN), serum creatinine (Scr), fasting blood glucose (FBG), glycated hemoglobin (HbA1C), hypertension, ANGPTL4 and FGF-23 levels between diabetic nephropathy patients with different prognoses (P < 0.05); the Scr, ANGPTL4 and FGF-23 levels were all risk factors affecting the prognosis of diabetic nephropathy (P < 0.05); the ROC curve analysis for prognosis assessment showed that the AUCs of ANGPTL4, FGF-23 and their combination were 0.774, 0.795 and 0.874 respectively; the combined diagnosis was significantly better than FGF-23 (Z=2.385, P=0.171) and ANGPTL4 (Z=2.317, P=0.021) alone. Conclusion The serum levels of ANGPTL4 and FGF-23 are significantly increased in diabetic nephropathy patients, and they have certain reference value for the clinical diagnosis and prognosis assessment of diabetic nephropathy patients.

Objective:To discuss the effect of sialic acid-binding immunoglobulin-like lectin-15(Siglec15)derived from M2 tumor-associated macrophages(M2-TAMs)on promoting the malignant biological behavior of the esophageal squamous cell carcinoma(ESCC)through bioinformatics analysis,and to validate the findings through cell experiment.Methods:The Tumor Immune Estimation Resource(TIMER)online Database was used to analyze the expression differences and immune infiltration of Siglec15 in pan-cancer and adjacent normal tissues.Real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR(RT-qPCR)method was used to detect the expression levels of Siglec15 mRNA in M2-TAMs and ESCC EC109 and KYSE150 cells.Based on the non-contact co-culture of M2-TAMs and ESCC cells,the following groups were set up,such as EC109/KYSE150 group,EC109/KYSE150+si-NC group(transfected with si-NC sequence),and EC109/KYSE150+si-Siglec15 group(transfected with si-Siglec15#1 and si-Siglec15#2 sequences).CCK-8 method was used to detect the proliferation activities of the cells in various groups;wound healing assay was used to detect the wound healing rates of the cells in various groups;Transwell chamber assay was used to detect the numbers of migration and invasion cells in various groups;flow cytometry was used to detect the apoptotic rates of the cells in various groups.Results:The bioinformatics analysis results showed that compared with adjacent normal tissue,the expression levels of Siglec15 mRNA in pan-cancer tissues such as esophageal cancer,colon cancer,and head and neck squamous cell carcinoma tissues were increased(P＜0.05 or P＜0.01),and the expression level of Siglec15 mRNA in esophageal cancer tissue was significantly positively correlated with the infiltration of the macrophages(P＜0.05).Compared with the EC109 cells and KYSE150 cells,the expression level of Siglec15 mRNA in M2-TAMs was significantly increased(P＜0.01).There was no significant difference in the proliferation rate of the cells among EC109/KYSE150 group,EC109/KYSE150+si-NC group,and EC109/KYSE150+si-Siglec15 group(P＞0.05).Compared with EC109/KYSE150 group,after treated for 24 and 48 h,the wound healing rate of the cells in EC109/KYSE150+si-NC group was increased(P＜0.01),the numbers of migration and invasion cells were increased(P＜0.05),and the apoptotic rate was decreased(P＜0.01).Compared with EC109/KYSE150+si-NC group,the wound healing rates of the cells in EC109/KYSE150+si-Siglec15#1 group and EC109/KYSE150+si-Siglec15#2 group were decreased(P＜0.05),the numbers of migration and invasion cells were decreased(P＜0.05),and the apoptotic rates of the cells had no significant difference(P＞0.05).Conclusion:Siglec15 derived from M2-TAMs may be a key factor in promoting the migration and invasion of the ESCC cells.

Objective To investigate the expression,synergistic relationship and clinical significance of alcohol de-hydrogenase(ADH1A)and vascular endothelial growth factor-A(VEGFA)in hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC).Methods The expression and correlation of ADH1A and VEGFA in HCC and adjacent normal tissues were ana-lyzed by GEPIA.TCGA and GSEA were used to analyze the pathway of ADH1A in HCC.The clinical and patho-logical data of 84 patients with HCC were collected,and 54 patients with paracancer normal tissue samples were se-lected as controls to analyze the correlation between ADH1A and VEGFA and clinicopathological parameters of HCC.Immunohistochemistry was used to detect the protein expression of ADH1A and VEGFA in cases and con-trols,and the correlation between the expression of ADH1A and VEGFA and the clinical progression and prognosis of patients with HCC was analyzed based on clinical pathological parameters and Kaplan-Meier.Results Bioinfor-matics analysis found that ADH1A was low-expressed in HCC and VEGFA was highly expressed in HCC,and there was a negative correlation between the two(P<0.001);immunohistochemical detection results showed that the expression of ADH1A in HCC tissue was lower than that in normal tissue adjacent to cancer(P<0.01)while the expression rate of VEGFA in HCC tissue was significantly higher than that of normal tissue adjacent to cancer(P<0.01);The recurrence rate of vascular thrombus and HCC patients in HCC group with high expression of ADH1A was lower(P<0.05).The proportion of tumor diameter>5 cm,high TNM stage,microsatellite and G2-G3 dif-ferentiation in HCC tissues in VEGFA high expression group was higher(P<0.05).Kaplan-Meier survival analy-sis showed that patients with high ADH1A expression and low VEGFA expression had a higher five-year survival rate.Conclusion Low expression of ADH1A and high expression of VEGFA in tumor tissues of patients with HCC indicate tumor progression and can be used as one of the prognostic evaluation indicators for patients with HCC.

Renal interstitial fibrosis is a common pathway in the progression of many renal diseases. Whether it is chronic kidney disease or acute kidney injury that cannot be fully recovered, the progression process mostly enters end-stage renal failure after renal interstitial fibrosis. The animal model of renal interstitial fibrosis is an important research tool for exploring the pathogenesis of renal interstitial fibrosis and new diagnostic and treatment methods. Different animal models have their own characteristics. Researchers can establish different models based on their own experience and experimental purposes, and carry out scientific research on this basis to provide more new methods for the prevention and treatment of kidney diseases. The authors focused on several common animal models of renal interstitial fibrosis to provide the reference for related researchers, including surgical models induced by unilateral ureteral obstruction, ischemia-reperfusion injury, 5/6 nephrectomy, and microembolization; chemical models induced by cyclosporine A, adriamycin, aristolochic acid, mercuric chloride（HgCl₂）, gentamicin, cisplatin, and adenine; transgenic hybridization and kidney injury molecule 1 (KIM-1) induced transgenic modification model; composite model induced by bilateral ischemia-reperfusion injury (BIRI) combined with gentamicin, unilateral nephrectomy combined with angiotensin II (Ang II), and unilateral ischemia-reperfusion injury (UIRI) combined with pLVX-shTNC plasmid.

Objective:To study the changing characteristics and impact factors of helical tomotherapy (HT)for longitudinal dose fall-off outside the target, in order to guide the plan junction or pretreatment target and implementation efficiency in clinical.Methods:Eight patients with head and neck tumors admitted to the Department of Oncology Radiotherapy of the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University in December 2019 were retrospectively selected as the research objects. The planning target area and dose drop structure were outlined in the head and neck images with a thickness of 1 mm obtained by Siemens SOMATOM Definition AS positioning computerized tomography (CT). Different field widths (FW, 5.0 cm/2.5 cm/1.0 cm) and pitches (0.430/0.287/0.215) were assembled for planning with the same modulation factor (1.8), finest does calculation grid (0.195 cm ×0.195 cm) and other planning parameters were consistent. The plans were designed by different parameters, and the result was analyzed by univariate analysis.Results:The that different pitch curves coincided under the same field width by comparative analyzing, so pitchs had no effect on dose drop. The different field width curves were independent of each other, indicating that the field width had an effect on dose drop in the head and foot direction. The relationship between the longitudinal dose drop speed outside the target and the change of the field width was inversely correlated: the larger field widths meant the slower dose fall-off and the larger penumbra, while the smaller field widths meant the faster fall-off and the smaller penumbra. When the dose fall-off to 50% of the prescribed dose, the distance from the target was approximately equal to half the field widths, and the pitchs had not affect the rate of dose-drop, while the dose at different distances from the target boundary could be calculated by the fitting formulas. The field widths and pitchs had little effect on the CI and HI index of the target, relatively, the target area was best when the field width was 2.5 cm. The total beam-on time gradually decreased with the increase of the field widths and pitches.Conclusions:When segment target therapy needs to consider planning junction, execution efficiency, and controlling longitudinal dose fall-off and considered the execution, the optimal planned parameters such as field widths and pitches could be selected or the target at the junction regions could be adducted according to the longitudinal dose drop formula, so as to achieve the ideal dose distribution.

Objective: To achieve quantitative analysis of image quality parameters and establish warning and action thresholds for the on-board imaging (OBI) system of linear accelerator. Methods: The Catphan604 phantom was repeatedly scanned in the Full-Fan and Half-Fan CBCT scanning modes on a Varian EDGE linear accelerator, and the software based on Python language development in-house was utilized to analyze image quality parameters, such as CT number linearity, geometric consistency, slice thickness, spatial resolution, uniformity and low-contrast resolution. The quantitative analysis results of each image quality parameter obtained from 16 times of scanning within 16 months were normalized to the mean and the standard deviations were recorded. A run chart analysis was created to determine the warnings and action thresholds. Results: The software built in-house can quantitatively analyze the image parameters of the two scanning modes of OBI system. The low-contrast resolution of Half-Fan was better than that of Full-Fan, whereas the spatial resolution of Full-Fan was superior to that of Half-Fan. One standard deviation (1σ) was set as the warning threshold and 2 standard deviations (2σ) as the action threshold, respectively. The tolerance level of Half-Fan was smaller than that of Full-Fan. Conclusion Self-developed software enables quantitative analysis of accelerator image quality parameters, establishes warning and action tolerance of quality assurance and provides guidance for image quality assurance under image-guided radiotherapy specification.

Objective To explore the correlation between exon region polymorphism of PPP1R3A gene and schizophrenia in Uygur Chinese population. Methods PPP1R3A gene exon region DNA amplification was performed using multiple PCR targeted capture next-generation sequencing method in 528 patients with schizophrenia and 576 healthy controls of Uyghur descent, Illumina HiSeq X Ten was used for sequencing, the symptoms of schizophrenia were assessed by positive and negative symptoms scale (PANSS). Results The allelic and genotypic distributions in rs1800000 of PPP1R3A gene between patients with schizophrenia and healthy controls had significant difference (P＜0.05), rs1799999 in genotype frequency between the female case and control groups showed significant difference (P＜0.05). Furthermore, the allelic distributions of rs8192686 between male cases and controls had significant difference (P＜0.05). Conclusion PPP1R3A gene rs1800000 may be associated with the development of schizophrenia in Uygur Chinese population; rs1799999 may be a risk factor for susceptibility of female Uygur Chinese schizophrenia; The C allele at rs8192686 may be associated with male Uygur Chinese schizophrenia.

Objective To assess the influences of early implementation of patient-controlled epidural analgesia (PCEA) in labor on uterine myoelectrical activity and delivery outcomes. Methods A prospective study was conducted on 240 singleton cephalic primiparae with spontaneous labor at Guangzhou Women and Children's Medical Center from January 2015 to October 2018. Those women, who were ready to accept PCEA, were randomly assigned to early- or late-PCEA group based on cervical dilation of 0-3 cm or 3-6 cm at the time of commencing PCEA, while those who refused PCEA in labor were classified as non-PCEA group. Uterine electromyographic activity and visual analogue score (VAS)were recorded before and 1 h and 2 h after PCEA. Patient satisfaction with labor, duration of the first stage of labor, volume of postpartum bleeding within 2 h after delivery and neonatal Apgar score were compared between different groups using multivariate analysis of variance, repeated measures analysis of variance, LSD-t test or Chi-square test. Results The VAS values 1 h after PCEA in the early- and late-PCEA group were both lower than that in the non-PCEA group (2.08±1.34 and 2.00±1.28 vs 7.65±1.04, LSD-t were － 27.713 and － 27.663, P<0.001) and those before PCEA (7.65±0.91 and 7.62±0.86, LSD-t were －32.879 and －33.349, P<0.001). The VAS values 2 h after PCEA in the early- and late-PCEA group were both lower than that in the non-PCEA group (1.63±1.53 and 1.41±1.56 vs 7.66±0.87, LSD-t were －27.018 and －27.823, P<0.001) and those before PCEA (LSD-t were －31.379 and －32.718, P<0.001).The patient satisfaction rate with labor was higher in the early-PCEA group comparing to the late-PCEA group [80.0% (72/90) vs 61.1% (55/90), P<0.001], and the two figures above were both higher than that of the non-PCEA group [20.0% (12/60), both P<0.001]. There was no significant difference in the duration of the first stage of labor, the volume of postpartum blood loss 2 h after delivery, oxytocin usage rate, the rate of convertion to cesarean section, neonatal birth weight or Apgar score at 1 or 5 min among the three groups (all P>0.05). There was also no significant difference in uterine electromyographic parameters among the three groups before or 2 h after PCEA (all P>0.05). The number and duration of burst, power density spectrum peak frequency, root mean square and total power 1 h after PCEA in the early- and later-PCEA group were all lower than those in the non-PCEA group [4.80±2.49 and 5.54±3.04 vs 9.67±2.44; (34.41±1.21) and (36.94±1.18) vs (41.68±1.53) s; (0.36±0.08) and (0.36±0.07) vs (0.48±0.05) Hz ; (0.05±0.04) and (0.05±0.05) vs (0.07±0.05) mV; (4.33±0.51) and (5.36 ±0.59) vs (9.90±1.43) pV2; all P<0.05]. Conclusions The effect of PCEA on uterine myoelectrical activity has no association with the commencing time. While early PCEA could alleviate the labor pain as soon as possible, which enable us to improve the efficacy of labor analgesia, patient satisfaction and maternal and neonatal safety without increasing cesarean section rate.

Objective To investigate the optimal distance between upper and lower target volumes and their correlated planning parameters by analyzing the dose distribution in the abutment regions during total body irradiation ( TBI) using helical tomotherapy. Methods A total of 10 patients with acute leukemia and with a height around 120 cm were enrolled. All patients were scanned by a Siemens simulation computerized tomography (CT) at a slice thickness of 5 mm. A lead wire was placed 10. 0 cm above the patella as a marker of the separation boundary for the upper and lower target volumes. The delineations of target volumes and organs at risk ( OARs ) were performed in the Varian Eclipse 13. 5 workstation with targets shrunk beyond the separation boundary at different distances. After contours and CT images were transferred to HT workstation, treatment plans were designed with different field width (FW, 5. 0 cm/2. 5 cm/1. 0 cm) and pitch values (0. 430/0. 287) at a modulation factor of 1. 8. All the plans were optimized with a dose calculation grid of 0. 195 cm × 0. 195 cm and identical planning parameters. The correlation between treatment planning parameters and targets shrunk distances were investigated by analyzing the dose distributions in the abutment area. Results The study demonstrated that the dose distributions in the abutment area were influenced only by the field width parameters: when the gap distance between the upper and lower targets was 5. 0 cm, the optimal FW is 5. 0 cm;Similarly when the gap distances were 2. 0 cm and 1. 0 cm, and the optimal FW 2. 5 cm and 1. 0 cm, respectively. In another words, the dose distribution of the abutment region was optimal when the target gap distance was equal to FW. Pitch values did not affect the quality of dose distribution in the abutment region and the overall treatment time ratio. Overall treatment time was inversely related to the FW. Conclusions Consistent target distance and FW is helpful to improve the dose homogeneity in the abutment area during TBI with HT. Appropriate planning parameters is critical to balance the treatment efficacy and efficiency.

Objective:To detect the expression of BTLA on Treg cells of HIV-infected patients and investigate the role of BTLA in HIV infection.Methods: Forty-four HIV-1-infected patients (twenty-four early HIV infection,fourteen chronic HIV-infected patients with CD4+ T counts> 200 cells/μl,AIDS patients with CD4+T counts<200 cells/μl) and nine healthy people served as normal controls were selected to detect the expression of BTLA on Treg cells by flow cytometry.The correlations between BTLA expression on Treg cells and disease progression or immune activation were studied.Results: There was a higher percentage of BTLA on Treg cells in chronic HIV patients and AIDS patients than that in early HIV infected patients(P<0.05,P<0.01),and the expression of BTLA on Treg cells in AIDS patients was higher than that in normal controls(P<0.05).The expression of BTLA on Treg cells was negatively correlated with CD4+T lymphocyte counts and positively correlated with viral load (P<0.001,P<0.01).The percentage of BTLA on Treg cells was positively correlated with CD4+CD38+T lymphocytes and CD4+HLA-DR+T lymphocytes(P<0.001,P<0.001).Conclusion: Increased BTLA expression on HIV-infected Treg cells is associated with disease progression,suggesting that it may accelerate disease progression by enhancing Treg cells inhibitory function and may provide intervention information for HIV infection in the future.