Preterm birth is the most common maternal complication in twin pregnancies. In recent years, cervical cerclage has been of long-standing interest in the prevention of preterm birth in twin pregnancies. However, its clinical application in the treatment of cervical insufficiency of twin pregnancies remains a controversial subject. In addition, infection or inflammation conditions are considered to be closely related to the perinatal outcomes of twin pregnancies after cervical cerclage. This paper reviews the research progress on cervical cerclage in twin pregnancies, recommending cervical cerclage for twin pregnancies with cervical length≤15 mm or cervical dilatation, while it is not suggested for those with cervical length of 15-25 mm or history-indicated cervical cerclage. The clinical significance of preoperative evaluation of intraamniotic infection or inflammation of twin pregnancies needs to be further explored, but it is necessary to avoid the effect of antibiotic use on the evaluation of surgical effects.

Objective To introduce and enhance an experimental technique for intraventricular drug delivery via an implantable osmotic pump.Methods Eight-week-old male SD rats were selected and the requisite equipment and reagents were prepared.The osmotic pump was assembled and brought to operational status before conducting the implantation surgery.Following anesthesia,the rats underwent skin preparation and the upper surface of the skull was surgically exposed.A point directly above the ventricle was located using a brain stereotaxic apparatus,and a small hole was drilled at that location with a high-speed cranial drill.The pump body was then implanted subcutaneously in the neck and the needle was inserted into the drilled hole,and secured with dental cement.Once solidified,the needle base was removed,the subcutaneous soft tissue and scalp were sutured in layers,and the animal was returned to its cage for rearing in isolation.Results The osmotic pump was successfully implanted subcutaneously in the rat's neck,the needle was securely fixed to the skull,and the catheter interface remained intact.The rats were sacrificed and the brain tissue was removed.Examination of the extracted brain tissue revealed no significant hematoma around the puncture site or needle tract,and the presence of blue dye in the ventricular and adjacent tissues indicated successful drug delivery to the ventricle.Conclusions The introduction of a brain stereotaxic apparatus to aid localization,coupled with enhancements to the operational procedure,may improve the accuracy and safety of the implantation process resulting in a high success rate for intraventricular drug administration.

Objective:To analyze the performance of emergency response to 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) positive cases in an international test competition in an Winter Olympic Game venue and provide evidences for the COVID-19 prevention and control in similar competitions.Methods:A retrospective analysis on the epidemiological investigation and nucleic acid test results of the cases, the implementation of prevention and control measures, including the communication with sport teams and others, was conducted.Results:The positive cases of 2019-nCoV among entering people were detected before entry, at airport, hotel and venue. Two positive cases were reported before entry, 2 positive cases infected previously and 3 asymptomatic cases were reported after the entry. The venue public health team and local CDC conducted epidemiological investigation and contact assessment jointly in a timely and efficient manner. No local secondary transmission occurred, but the nucleic acid test results of positive persons fluctuated, posing serious challenges to the implementation of prevention and control measures.Conclusion:In large scale international competition, there is high risk of imported COVID-19. It is necessary to fully consider the fluctuation of nucleic acid test results, the criteria for determination and cancellation of positive results and give warm care to positive cases in the emergency response.

Objective:To investigate the effect and mechanism of tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α) and its inhibitor etanercept (ETA) on the invasion ability of extravillous trophoblast in patients with unexplained recurrent spontaneous abortion (URSA).Methods:(1) Patients were collected from March to June in 2019. They were divided into the URSA group ( n=15) and the normal control group ( n=15), according to whether diagnosed with URSA or not. The mRNA expression levels of TNF-α in villi tissue of patients in the two groups were detected by quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR). (2) The mRNA and protein expression levels of matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2), Slug and CXC chemokine rceptor 4 (CXCR4) in HTR-8/SVneo cells were detected by qRT-PCR or western blot after being stimulated by exogenous TNF-α (0.2, 2, 20 ng/ml) alone or TNF-α along with ETA, or phosphate buffered saline (PBS) as control. (3) The invasion ability of HTR-8/SVneo cells was investigated by transwell test after stimulating by TNF-α alone or TNF-α along with ETA. (4) The mRNA and protein expression levels of MMP-2, Slug and CXCR4 in HTR-8/SVneo cells, which were stimulated by TNF-α (2 ng/ml) alone after nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) inhibitor, BAY 11-7028, preconditioning, were detected by qRT-PCR or western blot. Results:(1) The mRNA expression level of TNF-α in villi tissue of URSA group (4.10±0.49) was 4.1 times as much as the normal control group ( t=10.51, P<0.05). (2) The mRNA and protein expression levels of MMP-2, Slug and CXCR4 in HTR-8/SVneo cells of TNF-α group were significantly lower than those in PBS control group ( P<0.05) and those in TNF-α along with ETA group ( P<0.05). (3) The invasion ability of HTR-8/SVneo cells in TNF-α group was significantly decreased than PBS group and TNF-α along with ETA group (78±14 vs 373±26 vs 227±44, P<0.05). (4) The mRNA and protein expression levels of MMP-2, Slug and CXCR4 in HTR-8/SVneo cells with BAY 11-7028 preconditioning (mRNA: 1.03±0.10, 1.03±0.06, 1.09±0.08; protein: 1.09±0.03, 1.49±0.03, 1.12±0.03) were significantly higher than without preconditioning after being stimulated by TNF-α (all P<0.05). Conclusions:The expression of TNF-α in the villi of URSA patients is much higher than normal early pregnant women. TNF-α could decrease the capacity of invasion by suppressing the expression of MMP-2, Slug and CXCR4 through NF-κB signaling pathway in extravillous trophoblast cells. While ETA could improve the invasiveness capability of extravillous trophoblast cells through inhibiting the negative effect of TNF-α.

OBJECTIVES: Clarifying the expression of breast cancer receptor is the key to clinical treatment for breast cancer. This study aims to explore the correlation between X-ray and clinical characteristics of 4 molecular subtypes and their receptor types of breast cancer. METHODS: A total of 439 breast cancer patients who confirmed by pathology and performed X-ray examination were enrolled. The X-ray and clinical characteristics of 4 molecular subtypes and the expression of their receptors were analyzed. RESULTS: Luminal A type showed the highest proportion of spiculate masses, and the lowest calcification score, showing significant difference with other 3 subtypes (all CONCLUSIONS Four molecular subtypes of breast cancer and their receptor expressions are correlated with X-ray and clinical characteristics, which can provide a basis for clinical diagnosis and treatment.
Biomarkers, Tumor ; Breast Neoplasms/genetics* ; Female ; Humans ; Receptor, ErbB-2/genetics* ; Receptors, Estrogen ; Receptors, Progesterone ; X-Rays

Objective To compare the expression of leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF), interleukin-6 (IL-6) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in tissue and fluid samples from patients with endometriosis, and investigate whether LIF and IL-6 regulate VEGF in human endometriotic stromal cells (ESC). Methods The levels of VEGF, LIF, IL-6 in serum, peritoneal fluid of patients with and without endometriosis were measured by ELISA. The mRNA of these three factors in the ectopic and eutopic endometrial tissue and stromal cells were measured by real-time PCR. ESC derived from ovarian endometriomas were cultured using the method of primary cell culture with LIF and IL-6, and the level of VEGF mRNA and protein were measured by the method of real-time PCR and ELISA respectively.Results VEGF and IL-6 concentration were 1.2 and 1.3 times higher in the serum of patients with endometriosis than in the control group [(94±19) versus (78±17) ng/L; (45±14) versus (35±9) ng/L; all P<0.05]. VEGF and IL-6 concentration were 1.2 and 1.4 times higher in the peritoneal fluid of patients with endometriosis than in the control group [(110±25) versus (91±21) ng/L; (69±20) versus (49±15) ng/L; all P<0.05]. VEGF and IL-6 concentrations in peritoneal fluid of patients with endometriosis were 1.2 and 1.5 times higher than in serum (all P<0.01). VEGF, LIF and IL-6 mRNA expression were 2.2, 8.6, 44.7 times higher in ESC compared with the matching eutopic endometrial stromal cells (all P<0.01). LIF and IL-6 mRNA were 2.0 and 64.8 times higher in ectopic endometrial tissue than the matching eutopic endometrial tissue (all P<0.05).ESC cultured with LIF, IL-6 and LIF+IL-6 induce VEGF protein secretion [(106±18), (124±30), (140±27) ng/L] by 1.3 , 1.5 and 1.7 times (all P<0.05). Conclusion Overexpression of LIF and IL-6 may synergistically contribute to upregulation of VEGF in ESC and promote development of endometriosis.

OBJECTIVETo perform a prospective,multicenter,open,randomized study to determine a treatment regimen for treatment-naive patients with refractory chronic hepatitis C (RHC) using the predictive value (PV) of early virological response (EVR).

METHODSA total of 438 patients from 18 hospitals were recruited between December 2008 and December 2010 and administered peg-interferon/ribavirin treatment for 12 weeks. Patients who achieved complete EVR (cEVR) were assigned to group A for a 48-week course of treatment, while patients without cEVR were randomly allocated to either group B 1 for a 72-week course of treatment or to group B2 for a 96-week course of treatment. Serum hepatitis C virus RNA levels at baseline,treatment weeks 4, 12 and 24, end of treatment, and post-treatment week 24 were measured and used to evaluate the efficiency of therapy.

RESULTSThe overall sustained virological response (SVR) rate was 85.1%. In all, 91.0% of patients achieved cEVR and were assigned to group A, which had an SVR rate of 90.8%. There was no statistically significant difference in the SVR rates of groups B1 and B2 (29.4% vs. 25.0%, P more than 0.05). The positive PV of rapid virological response (RVR), cEVR and delayed virological response (DVR) for SVR was 93.4%, 90.8% and 77.8% respectively, and the negative PV of RVR, EVR and DVR for SVR was 28.0%, 93.3% and 100% respectively. Overall, 66.9% of the patients experienced adverse events (AEs), but only 1.9% of patients experienced sevcre AEs.

CONCLUSIONThe majority of Chinese RHC treatmentna(i)ve patients (91.0%) can achieve cEVR and a high SVR rate with a low rate of severe AEs using the cEVR guided personal treatment regimen.

Malignant pleural effusion is a common complication of advanced cancer.The present study employed chest circulating hot infusion chemotherapy for 55 cases of malignant pleural effusion.The outcomes were complete remission (n =23,41.8％),partial remission (n =25,45.5％),stable disease (n=4,7.3 ％) and progressive disease (n =3,5.5％).And the effective rate was 87.3％.After treatment,the levels of interleukin-10 (IL-10) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) were significantly lower than those before treatment (P ＜ 0.05).And the levels of interleukin-2 (IL-2) and interferon-gamma (IFN-γ) were significantly higher than those before treatment (P ＜ 0.05).Pleural circulation perfusion chemotherapy is both safe and effective in the treatment of malignant pleural effusion.And it helps to enhance immune functions and improve the quality-of-life of patients.

Objective To study the X-ray imaging characteristics of gouty arthritis. Methods The X-ray plates from gouty arthritis were analyzed. Results The gouty arthritis usually occurred in the first metatarsophalangeal joint. The X-ray findings were dissymmetric swellings of soft tissue,bony erosion defect with sharp and hard edge,narrowed joint space and irregular articular surface,emergence of fiber stiffness,even joint malformations and sublimation or dislocation, associated with hyperosteogeny and nearby osteoporosis. Conclusion Diversification was presented in X-ray findings of gouty arthritis, which could be easily confused with other single or multiple bone joint diseases. As a result, accurate diagnosis should be based on careful analysis about X-ray findings.