AIM: To analyze the changes of uncorrected distance visual acuity(UCDVA)and ocular accommodation before and after excimer laser photorefractive keratectomy(PRK).METHODS: A retrospective study. There were 120 patients(240 eyes)who underwent PRK surgery in our center from December 2017 to December 2019 divided into two groups according to the diopter of spherical equivalent(SE): 70 cases with SE≤-6.00D in the mild to moderate myopia group and 50 cases with -6.00D0.05)and postoperative at 3mo was superior to preoperative operation(P<0.05); High myopia group did not change significantly at 1wk and 1mo after operation compared with preoperative operation(P>0.05), and increased at 3mo after operation compared with preoperative level(P<0.01). For low to moderate myopia group, there was no significant difference in preoperative and postoperative NRA, and at 1wk after operation, NRA of high myopia group temporarily increased compared with preoperative operation(P<0.01). At 1mo after operation, it returned to the preoperative level(P>0.05), and significantly increased at 3mo after operation compared with preoperative operation(P<0.01). Monocular AF for both groups significantly decreased at 1wk after operation compared with preoperative operation, recovered at 1mo after operation and was significantly better at 3mo after operation(all P<0.01); The low-to-moderate group increased more than the high-myopia group.CONCLUSION: PRK has a good correction effect for myopia below -9.00D, and people in low to moderate myopia have a better postoperative UCDVA correction effect than those in high myopia. The eye accommodation will be abnormal in a short period after operation. The recovery and improvement time of accommodative function in low-moderate myopia group are shorter than that in high myopia group, but both groups can recover and improve at 3mo after operation compared with the preoperative levels.

The intestinal barrier function disrupted in sepsis, while little is known about the variation in different phases of sepsis. In this study, mouse models of sepsis were established by caecal ligation and puncture (CLP). The H&E staining of sections and serum diamine oxidase concentration were evaluated at different timepoint after CLP. TUNEL assay and EdU staining were performed to evaluate the apoptosis and proliferation of intestinal epithelium. Relative protein expression was assessed by Western blotting and serum concentrations of pro-inflammatory cytokines was measured by ELISA. The disruption of intestinal barrier worsened in the first 24 h after the onset of sepsis and gradually recovered over the next 24 h. The percentage of apoptotic cell increased in the first 24 h and dropped at 48 h, accompanied with the proliferative rate of intestinal epithelium inhibited in the first 6 h and regained in the later period. Furthermore, the activity of nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) presented similar trend with the intestinal barrier function, shared positive correction with apoptosis of intestinal epithelium. These findings reveal the conversion  process of intestinal barrier function in sepsis and this process is closely correlated with the activity of NF-κB signaling.

Objective: To explore the effect of perioperative chemotherapy on the prognosis of gastric cancer patients under real-world condition. Methods: A retrospective cohort study was carried out. Real world data of gastric cancer patients receiving perioperative chemotherapy and surgery + adjuvant chemotherapy in 33 domestic hospitals from January 1, 2014 to January 31, 2016 were collected. Inclusion criteria: (1) gastric adenocarcinoma was confirmed by histopathology, and clinical stage was cT2-4aN0-3M0 (AJCC 8th edition); (2) D2 radical gastric cancer surgery was performed; (3) at least one cycle of neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) was completed; (4) at least 4 cycles of adjuvant chemotherapy (AC) [SOX (S-1+oxaliplatin) or CapeOX (capecitabine + oxaliplatin)] were completed. Exclusion criteria: (1) complicated with other malignant tumors; (2) radiotherapy received; (3) patients with incomplete data. The enrolled patients who received neoadjuvant chemotherapy and adjuvant chemotherapy were included in the perioperative chemotherapy group, and those who received only postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy were included in the surgery + adjuvant chemotherapy group. Propensity score matching (PSM) method was used to control selection bias. The primary outcome were overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) after PSM. OS was defined as the time from the first neoadjuvant chemotherapy (operation + adjuvant chemotherapy group: from the date of operation) to the last effective follow-up or death. PFS was defined as the time from the first neoadjuvant chemotherapy (operation + adjuvant chemotherapy group: from the date of operation) to the first imaging diagnosis of tumor progression or death. The Kaplan-Meier method was used to estimate the survival rate, and the Cox proportional hazards model was used to evaluate the independent effect of perioperative chemo therapy on OS and PFS. Results: 2 045 cases were included, including 1 293 cases in the surgery+adjuvant chemotherapy group and 752 cases in the perioperative chemotherapy group. After PSM, 492 pairs were included in the analysis. There were no statistically significant differences in gender, age, body mass index, tumor stage before treatment, and tumor location between the two groups (all P>0.05). Compared with the surgery + adjuvant chemotherapy group, patients in the perioperative chemotherapy group had higher proportion of total gastrectomy (χ(2)=40.526, P<0.001), smaller maximum tumor diameter (t=3.969, P<0.001), less number of metastatic lymph nodes (t=1.343, P<0.001), lower ratio of vessel invasion (χ(2)=11.897, P=0.001) and nerve invasion (χ(2)=12.338, P<0.001). In the perioperative chemotherapy group and surgery + adjuvant chemotherapy group, 24 cases (4.9%) and 17 cases (3.4%) developed postoperative complications, respectively, and no significant difference was found between two groups (χ(2)=0.815, P=0.367). The median OS of the perioperative chemotherapy group was longer than that of the surgery + adjuvant chemotherapy group (65 months vs. 45 months, HR: 0.74, 95% CI: 0.62-0.89, P=0.001); the median PFS of the perioperative chemotherapy group was also longer than that of the surgery+adjuvant chemotherapy group (56 months vs. 36 months, HR=0.72, 95% CI:0.61-0.85, P<0.001). The forest plot results of subgroup analysis showed that both men and women could benefit from perioperative chemotherapy (all P<0.05); patients over 45 years of age (P<0.05) and with normal body mass (P<0.01) could benefit significantly; patients with cTNM stage II and III presented a trend of benefit or could benefit significantly (P<0.05); patients with signet ring cell carcinoma benefited little (P>0.05); tumors in the gastric body and gastric antrum benefited more significantly (P<0.05). Conclusion: Perioperative chemotherapy can improve the prognosis of gastric cancer patients.
Chemotherapy, Adjuvant ; Female ; Gastrectomy ; Humans ; Male ; Neoadjuvant Therapy ; Neoplasm Staging ; Prognosis ; Retrospective Studies ; Stomach Neoplasms/surgery*

The intestinal barrier function disrupted in sepsis, while little is known about the variation in different phases of sepsis. In this study, mouse models of sepsis were established by caecal ligation and puncture (CLP). The H&E staining of sections and serum diamine oxidase concentration were evaluated at different timepoint after CLP. TUNEL assay and EdU staining were performed to evaluate the apoptosis and proliferation of intestinal epithelium. Relative protein expression was assessed by Western blotting and serum concentrations of pro-inflammatory cytokines was measured by ELISA. The disruption of intestinal barrier worsened in the first 24 h after the onset of sepsis and gradually recovered over the next 24 h. The percentage of apoptotic cell increased in the first 24 h and dropped at 48 h, accompanied with the proliferative rate of intestinal epithelium inhibited in the first 6 h and regained in the later period. Furthermore, the activity of nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) presented similar trend with the intestinal barrier function, shared positive correction with apoptosis of intestinal epithelium. These findings reveal the conversion  process of intestinal barrier function in sepsis and this process is closely correlated with the activity of NF-κB signaling.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the current status of antibiotic use for very and extremely low birth weight (VLBW/ELBW) infants in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) of Hunan Province. METHODS: The use of antibiotics was investigated in multiple level 3 NICUs of Hunan Province for VLBW and ELBW infants born between January, 2017 and December, 2017. RESULTS: The clinical data of 1 442 VLBW/ELBW infants were collected from 24 NICUs in 2017. The median antibiotic use duration was 17 days (range: 0-86 days), accounting for 53.0% of the total length of hospital stay. The highest duration of antibiotic use was up to 91.4% of the total length of hospital stay, with the lowest at 14.6%. In 16 out of 24 NICUs, the antibiotic use duration was accounted for more than 50.0% of the hospitalization days. There were 113 cases with positive bacterial culture grown in blood or cerebrospinal fluid, making the positive rate of overall bacterial culture as 7.84%. The positive rate of bacterial culture in different NICUs was significantly different from 0% to 14.9%. The common isolated bacterial pathogens Klebsiella pneumoniae was 29 cases (25.7%); Escherichia coli 12 cases (10.6%); Staphylococcus aureus 3 cases (2.7%). The most commonly used antibiotics were third-generation of cephalosporins, accounting for 41.00% of the total antibiotics, followed by penicillins, accounting for 32.10%, and followed by carbapenems, accounting for 13.15%. The proportion of antibiotic use time was negatively correlated with birth weight Z-score and the change in weight Z-score between birth and hospital discharge (r=-0.095, -0.151 respectively, P<0.01), positively correlated with death/withdrawal of care (r=0.196, P<0.01). CONCLUSIONS Antibiotics used for VLBW/ELBW infants in NICUs of Hunan Province are obviously prolonged in many NICUs. The proportion of routine use of third-generation of cephalosporins and carbapenems antibiotics is high among the NICUs.
Anti-Bacterial Agents ; Birth Weight ; Humans ; Infant ; Infant, Extremely Low Birth Weight ; Infant, Newborn ; Intensive Care Units, Neonatal ; Surveys and Questionnaires

BACKGROUNDPrevious studies showed that combining apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) value with the Spondyloarthritis Research Consortium of Canada (SPARCC) index value might provide a reliable evaluation of the activity of ankylosing spondylitis (AS), and that contrast-enhanced (CE) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is unnecessary. However, the results were based on confirming only a small random sample. This study aimed to assess the role of CE-MRI in differentiating the disease activity of AS by comparing ADC value with a large sample.

METHODSA total of 115 patients with AS were enrolled in accordance with Bath AS Disease Activity Index and laboratory indices, and 115 patients were divided into two groups, including active group (n = 69) and inactive group (n = 46). SPARCC, ΔSI, and ADC values were obtained from the short tau inversion recovery (STIR), diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI), and CE-MRI, respectively. One-way analysis of variance and receiver operating characteristic analysis were performed for all parameters.

RESULTSThe optimal cutoff values (with sensitivity, specificity, respective area under the curve, positive likelihood ratio, and negative likelihood ratio) for the differentiation between active and inactive groups are as follows: SPARCC = 6 (72.06%, 82.61%, 0.836, 4.14, 0.34); ΔSI (%) = 153 (80.6%, 84.78%, 0.819, 5.3, 0.23); ADC value = 1.15 × 10-3 mm2/s (72.73%, 81.82%, 0.786, 4, 0.33). No statistical differences were found among the predictive values of SPARCC, ΔSI, and ADC. Multivariate analysis showed no significant difference between the combination of SPARCC and ADC values with and without ΔSI.

CONCLUSIONSUsing large sample, we concluded that the combination of STIR and DWI would play significant roles in assessing the disease activity, and CE-MRI sequence is not routinely used in imaging of AS to avoid renal fibrosis and aggravation of kidney disease.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Contrast Media ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; methods ; Female ; Humans ; Image Enhancement ; methods ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; methods ; Male ; Middle Aged ; ROC Curve ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Spondylitis, Ankylosing ; diagnostic imaging ; physiopathology ; Young Adult

Objective To observe and explore the effect and clinical value of percutaneous electrical stimulation on nerve regeneration after end-to-side neurorrhaphy in rats. Methods Thirty-two SPF male S-D rats were randomly divided into four groups ( n = 8 ): group A, the normal control group; group B, with end to end neurorrhaphy of musculocutaneous nerve injury matched to the ulnar nerve; group C, with end to side neurorrhaphy of musculocutaneous nerve injury matched to the ulnar group; and group D, with end to side neurorrhaphy of musculocutaneous nerve injury matched to the ulnar nerve plus postoperative transcutaneous electrical stimulation ( 30 min per day for 6 weeks ) . Electromyography, postoperational nerve conduction velocity, the histological and ultrastructural changes of the nerve fibers were examined, and NF-200 expression in frozen sections was observed using imunohistological staining, to assess the recovery of muscle strength of the diseased side limb and the neuroregeneration in the rats after treatment. Results The amplitude and conduction velocity of the groups C and D were lower than that of the group A, the latency was higher than that of the group A, while the amplitude and conduction velocity of the group D were lower than that of the group C,and the latency was higher than that of the group C. The wet weight ratio of the biceps brachii muscle and the cross-sectional area of muscle fibers in the groups B, C and D were lower than those in the group A, and the recovery of muscle in the group C was the worst. The expression of NF-200 in the rats of groups B, C and D was significantly lower than that in the group A, and the expression of NF-200 in the group D was significantly higher than that in the group C, but still significantly less than that in the group B ( P < 0. 05 ) . Electron microscopy showed mature myelinated fibers in the group B, whereas unmyelinated fibers were the main component and the myelin sheath was poorly developed in the group C. The myelin regeneration in the group D was better than that in the group C, but still some unmyelinated nerve fibers were seen. Conclusions The percutaneous electrical stimulation can effectively promote nerve axonal regeneration and can delay the atrophy of the target muscle after end-to-side neurorrhaphy. Though there is difference compared with the end-to-end neurorrhaphy, the end-to-side neurorrhaphy is still an effective method in clinical repair of peripheral nerve injury.

Objective·To make clear the role of cerebral microbleeds (CMBs) for early cognitive impairment in small vessel disease (SVD). Methods·Fifty-seven consecutive SVD patients without dementia were strictly recruited. All participants were examined with a comprehensive battery of neuropsychological tests, SWI and DTI. According to the amount of CMBs, the patients were divided into CMBs group and non-CMBs group, or divided into multiple CMBs group (CMBs ≥ 3) and non-multiple CMBs group (CMBs<3). The mean diffusivity (MD) and fractional anisotropy (FA) in periventricular, central semiovale and subcortical white matter was analyzed with a region-of-interest method. Results·The score of multiple CMBs group in attention and memory function was significantly lower than that of the non-multiple CMBs group. Correlation analysis showed that the count of CMBs in the whole brain was significantly correlated with periventricular white matter MD, subcortical white matter MD, periventricular white matter FA and subcortical white matter FA. The count of CMBs in the whole brain adjusted by age, gender, education was significantly correlated with attention/executive function. After adjustment of subcortical/ periventricular white matter FA and MD and locations of CMBs they still had significant correlation. Conclusion·CMBs can reflect the degree of destruction of white matter integrity, and have independent effects on injury of brain parenchyma, resulting in early cognitive impairment. The research also suggests the role of CMBs in cognitive impairment may exist threshold value effect.

Background: Previous studies showed that combining apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) value with the Spondyloarthritis Research Consortium of Canada (SPARCC) index value might provide a reliable evaluation of the activity of ankylosing spondylitis (AS), and that contrast?enhanced (CE) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is unnecessary. However, the results were based on confirming only a small random sample.This study aimed to assess the role of CE?MRI in differentiating the disease activity ofAS by comparingADC value with a large sample. Methods: A total of 115 patients with AS were enrolled in accordance with Bath AS Disease Activity Index and laboratory indices, and 115 patients were divided into two groups, including active group (n = 69) and inactive group (n = 46). SPARCC, ΔSI, and ADC values were obtained from the short tau inversion recovery (STIR), diffusion?weighted imaging (DWI), and CE?MRI, respectively. One?way analysis of variance and receiver operating characteristic analysis were performed for all parameters. Results: The optimal cutoff values (with sensitivity, specificity, respective area under the curve, positive likelihood ratio, and negative likelihood ratio) for the differentiation between active and inactive groups are as follows: SPARCC = 6 (72.06%, 82.61%, 0.836, 4.14, 0.34); ΔSI (%) = 153 (80.6%, 84.78%, 0.819, 5.3, 0.23); ADC value = 1.15 × 10?3 mm2/s (72.73%, 81.82%, 0.786, 4, 0.33). No statistical differences were found among the predictive values of SPARCC, ΔSI, and ADC. Multivariate analysis showed no significant difference between the combination of SPARCC and ADC values with and without ΔSI. Conclusions: Using large sample, we concluded that the combination of STIR and DWI would play significant roles in assessing the disease activity, and CE?MRI sequence is not routinely used in imaging of AS to avoid renal fibrosis and aggravation of kidney disease.

BACKGROUNDAlthough coronary heart disease (CHD) is one of the major cardiovascular diseases, risk factors associated with the health-related quality of life (HRQoL) of CHD patients remain unclear. The present study was designed to determine the profile and significant factors of the HRQoL in CHD patients.

METHODSA cross-sectional study was conducted in rural communities of Fangshan District, Beijing, China. Socio-demographic, lifestyle, and comorbidity information of CHD patients were collected by a structured questionnaire and medical records. HRQoL was measured using European Quality of Life 5-dimensions (EQ-5D) scale and EQ Visual Analog Scale (EQ-VAS). Multiple linear and logistic regressions were performed to explore the association of potential risk factors with HRQoL scores and each EQ-5D, respectively.

RESULTSTotally, 1928 CHD patients (mean age 61.64 ± 9.24 years; female:male = 2.4:1) were enrolled in the study. The mean score of EQ-5D index and EQ-VAS were 0.889 ± 0.172 and 71.56 ± 17.65, respectively. Multiple linear regression revealed that marital status, physical activity, moderate alcohol drinking, and family's population were positive independent correlates of EQ-VAS, whereas diabetes mellitus and stroke were negative independent correlates (all P < 0.05). Age and stroke were negatively while physical activity, moderate alcohol drinking, family's population and household income were positively correlated with EQ-5D index (all P < 0.05) independently. In addition, each of the five HRQoL dimensions had various specific determinants, including obesity, underweight, smoking or education.

CONCLUSIONSFindings of the study highlight certain socio-demographic, lifestyle factors, and comorbid stroke or diabetes mellitus as correlates of HRQoL in Chinese CHD patients. Large-scale cohort studies should be carried out to confirm our results in the future.

Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; China ; epidemiology ; Coronary Disease ; epidemiology ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Female ; Humans ; Linear Models ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Quality of Life ; Risk Factors ; Socioeconomic Factors