Advances in targeted therapy and immunotherapy for esophageal cancer / 中华医学杂志(英文版)

Esophageal cancer (EC) is one of the most common aggressive malignant tumors in the digestive system with a severe epidemiological situation and poor prognosis. The early diagnostic rate of EC is low, and most EC patients are diagnosed at an advanced stage. Multiple multimodality treatments have gradually evolved into the main treatment for advanced EC, including surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy, targeted therapy, and immunotherapy. And the emergence of targeted therapy and immunotherapy has greatly improved the survival of EC patients. This review highlights the latest advances in targeted therapy and immunotherapy for EC, discusses the efficacy and safety of relevant drugs, summarizes related important clinical trials, and tries to provide references for therapeutic strategy of EC.

Application of debate-based immersive experiential teaching in the nursing practice teaching of stomatology / 中华医学教育探索杂志

Objective:To investigate the application of debate-based immersive experiential teaching in the nursing practice teaching of stomatology.Methods:A total of 82 nursing interns of stomatology in Beijing Tongren Hospital, Capital Medical University, were selected as research subjects and were then divided into control group and observation group using the lottery method, with 41 interns in each group. The interns in the control group received traditional teaching, while those in the observation group received debate-based immersive experiential teaching. The two groups were compared in terms of the scores of comprehensive evaluation indices, nursing thinking ability, empathy ability, and recognition of teaching. SPSS 22.0 was used to perform the chi-square test and the t-test. Results:Compared with the control group, the observation group had significant increases in the scores of theoretical examination, operation examination, nursing medical record writing, reading report writing, basic nursing, communication ability, and comprehensive performance and the total score of these dimensions ( P<0.05). Compared with the control group, the observation group also had significant increases in the scores of nursing thinking ability and empathy ability ( P<0.05). The observation group had a significantly higher degree of recognition of teaching than the control group ( P<0.05). Conclusion:In the nursing practice teaching of stomatology, debate-based immersive experiential teaching can improve the comprehensive ability, nursing thinking ability, and empathy ability of interns, with a relatively high degree of recognition of teaching.

Pediatric reference intervals for plasma and whole blood procalcitonin of in China: a multicenter research / 中华检验医学杂志

Objective:To establish the biology reference interval (RI) of peripheral blood procalcitonin (PCT) for children between 3 days and 6 years old in China.Methods:Totally 3 353 reference individuals with apparent health or no specific diseases were recruited in 18 hospitals throughout the country during October 2020 to May 2021. Reference individuals were divided into four groups: 3-28 days, 29 days - 1 year, 1-3 years and 4-6 years. Vein blood or capillary blood were collected by percutaneous puncture from every reference individual. The PCT level in serum and the capillary whole blood were assayed by Roche Cobas e601 and Norman NRM411-S7 immunoanalyzer. Outliers were deleted and 95th percentiles of every group were provided as RIs. Man-Whitney U test or Kruskal-Wallis test were used performed to assess the difference among different gender, age or method groups. Results:The difference of PCT distribution between male and female is not statistically significant, but the difference between serum and capillary whole blood is statistically significant. The differences between age groups are significant too. For Roche e601, serum PCT RI of 3-28 days group is <0.23 μg/L, 29 days - 6 years are <0.11 μg/L. For NRM411, Serum PCT RI of 3-28 days group is <0.21 μg/L, 29 days - 1 year: <0.09 μg/L, 1 - 6 years: <0.10 μg/L. For whole blood PCT, RI of 3-28 days group is <0.26 μg/L, 29 days - 6 years is <0.15 μg/L.Conclusions:Serum and capillary whole blood PCT have different RIs, however, capillary whole blood PCT testing is valuable in pediatric application. Children in 3-28 days show higher PCT levels than other age group. To establish the RIs and understand the differences among different groups are essential for the interpretation and clinical application of peripheral blood PCT testing results.

A socioecological framework for research on work and obesity in diverse urban transit operators based on gender, race, and ethnicity

Urban transit (bus and rail) operators, totaling nearly 700,000 persons, are one of the heaviest occupational groups in the United States (US). Little is known about occupational risk factors for weight gain and obesity and their interrelationship with health-related behaviors, particularly among female minority (African Americans and Hispanics) transit operators who are at greater risk for obesity. As a step towards developing successful obesity interventions among urban transit operators, this paper aims to present a new socioecological framework for studying working conditions, chronic strain, health-related behaviors, weight gain/obesity, and obesity disparity in diverse urban transit operators based on gender, race, and ethnicity. Our framework is a synthesis of several different theories and disciplines: the resource-work load model (work stress), occupational ergonomics, the theory of intersectionality, and worksite health promotion. The framework was developed utilizing an extensive literature review, results from our on-going research on obesity, input from focus groups conducted with Los Angeles transit operators as well as interviews and meetings with transit operator stakeholders (management, unions, and worksite transit wellness program), and ride-along observations. Our hypotheses highlighted in the framework (see Fig. 1) are that adverse working conditions, largely characterized as a combination of high demands and low resources, will increase the risk for weight gain/obesity among transit operators directly through chronic strain and hypothalamic dysfunction (hyper-and hypo-activations), and indirectly through health-related behaviors and injuries/chronic severe pain. We also hypothesize that the observed increase in adiposity among female minority operators is due to their greater exposure to adverse occupational and non-occupational conditions that reflect their intersecting social identities of lower social class and being a minority woman in the US. Our proposed framework could greatly facilitate future transit worksite obesity studies by clarifying the complex and important roles of adverse working conditions in the etiology of weight gain/obesity and obesity disparity among transit operators and other working populations.

Effects of laser solid forming of porous titanium on proliferation of osteoblast and RANKL/OPG expression / 中南大学学报(医学版)

To evaluate the effect of laser solid forming (LSF) of porous titanium on receptor activator of NF-κB ligand (RANKL)/osteoprorotegerin (OPG) expression and osteoblast cells growth.
 Methods: The DMEM and sterile saline were used for porous titanium extract. The osteoblast cells were cultured in the extract while equal amount of  DMEM and sterile saline were added to the control group. The growth of the cells were observed under an inverted phase contrast microscope. MTT was used to detect the growth inhibitory rates. The adhesion capacity of osteoblasts were measured. The growth in the material surface was examined by the electron microscope, and the expressions of RANKL and OPG were determined by Westen blot.
 Results: At the first day, the osteoblast proliferation rate was significantly different (P0.05); at each time point, the osteoblast proliferation rate were significantly different between the two groups (P0.05). The laser solid forming of porous titanium showed well bone compatibility.
 Conclusion: The porous titanium did not affect osteoblast proliferation due to its well bone compatibility. It did not affect the OPG/RANKL/RANK-axis system of bone metabolism, exibiting a wide applicable prospect for tissue engineering.

Adhesion,proliferation and ALP activity of osteoblasts on porous Ti processed by laser solid forming / 实用口腔医学杂志

Objective:To study the biocompatibility of porous Ti processed by laser solid forming(LSF)with osteoblasts.Methods:SD rat osteoblasts were seeded on porous Ti surface processed by LSF.Adhesion,proliferation and ALP activity of the osteoblasts were measured at different time,and all samples were observed under SEM.Dense sand-blasted Ti sheets were used as the controls.All data were statistically analyzed.Results:Adhered cells on porous Ti were more than those on nonporous Ti sheets after 2 and 3 hours of culture(P <0.05).At 4 and 7 days,cell proliferation and ALP activity were significantly higher on porous Ti than those on the controls(P <0.05).Conclusion:Porous Ti processed by LSF possesses good biocompatibility with osteoblasts.