Evaluation on the effect of prevention and control of coal-burning-borne endemic fluorosis in Sichuan Province from 2018 to 2021 / 中华地方病学杂志

Objective:To evaluate the effectiveness of prevention and control of coal-burning-borne endemic fluorosis in Sichuan Province, and to provide basis for further development of targeted prevention and control measures.Methods:According to the requirements of the Implementation Plan for the Elimination and Evaluation of Coal-burning-borne Endemic Fluorosis in Sichuan Province, from 2018 to 2021, the assessment of the elimination of coal-burning-borne endemic fluorosis was carried out in all the endemic fluorosis villages of 23 counties (cities, districts) in Sichuan Province. In each village, 30 households were selected to be investigated the use of improved stoves, the drying of corn and pepper for human consumption, and the prevalence of dental fluorosis among all children aged 8 - 12 years old in the village.Results:A total of 222 242 households were surveyed in 1 640 villages, 196 towns, 23 counties (cities, districts) in Sichuan Province. Among them, the rate of qualified improved stoves was 99.99% (222 238/222 242), the correct use rate of qualified improved stoves was 99.90% (212 026/222 238), and the correct drying rate of corn and pepper for human consumption was 99.96% (212 630/212 721). A total of 135 125 children aged 8 to 12 years old were examined, and 5 927 cases of dental fluorosis were detected. The prevalence of dental fluorosis in children was 4.39%. The grading of dental fluorosis was mainly very mild and mild, which were 2.71% (3 656/135 125) and 1.32% (1 783/135 125), respectively. In the county-level self-assessment of 1 640 villages, 1 621 villages had reached the elimination standard, with the elimination rate of 98.84%. Taking counties as a unit, the elimination rate of diseased villages ranged from 96.69% to 100.00%, and 23 diseased counties (cities, districts) had reached the elimination standard. In the provincial-level review results of 174 villages with endemic fluorosis, 174 diseased villages had reached the elimination standard, with the consistency rate of 98.85% (172/174) with the county-level self-assessment results. Among them, except for Gulin County, the consistency rate of self-assessment results was 7/9, the consistency rate of other counties (cities, districts) was 100.00%.Conclusions:The prevention and control of coal-burning-borne endemic fluorosis in Sichuan Province has achieved remarkable results, and all the diseased counties (cities, districts) have reached the elimination standard. In the future, we should continue to take active prevention and control measures to ensure that the elimination status is maintained.

Clinical Efficacy of High Dose Methotrexate, Temozolomide and Rituximab in the Treatment of Patients with Primary Central Nervous System Lymphoma / 中国实验血液学杂志

OBJECTIVE@#To investigate the clinical efficacy of high dose methotrexate (HD-MTX), temozolomide (TMZ), and rituximab (R) in the treatment of patients with primary central nervous system lymphoma (PCNSL).@*METHODS@#Clinical data of patients with PCNSL diagnosed and treated in Guangdong Provincial People's Hospital from February 2010 to May 2017 were collected. First, patients were given 6-8 cycles of MTX (3.5 g/m@*RESULTS@#There were 42 patients enrolled in the study, 17 cases in HD-MTX+TMZ group and 25 cases in HD-MTX+TMZ+R group. The median PFS and OS times in HD-MTX+TMZ+R group were 56.7 months and N/A, respectively, while, 7.3 months and 34.7 months in HD-MTX+TMZ group, respectively. In addition, there was no significant difference in median survival between patients who received TMZ maintenance therapy and those who were only actively monitored. During the induction period, all the patients had grade 1-2 nausea and vomiting, while in the consolidation treatment period, no grade 3/4 toxicity was observed.@*CONCLUSION@#The combination of HD-MTX+TMZ+R in the treatment of PCNSL patients shows a definite short-term effect, which can increase the survival rate of the patients. The side effects are mild, and the patients can generally tolerate.

Correlation of the preoperative peripheral blood lymphocyte-to-monocyte ratio with the prognosis of laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma / 医学研究生学报

Objective This study aimed to investigate the correlation of the preoperative peripheral blood lymphocyte-to-monocyte ratio (LMR) with the prognosis of laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC). Methods We retrospectively analyzed the clinical data on 147 cases of LSCC treated by surgical resection in our hospital between January 2008 and December 2017. According to the optimal cut-off value of preoperative LMR in the ROC curve analysis, we divided the patients into a high-LMR and a low-LMR group, analyzed the relationship between LMR and the clinicopathological features, and assessed its influence on the overall survival of the patients. Results The optimal cut-off value of preoperative LMR was 3.24. Of the total number of patients, 81 were found with an LMR ≥ 3.24 (the high-LMR group) and the other 66 with an LMR < 3.24 preoperatively (the high-LMR group). The 1-year, 3-year and 5-year overall survival rates were significantly higher in the high-LMR (98.76%, 92.59% and 85.18%) than in the low-LMR group (87.88%, 69.70% and 60.60%) (P < 0.01). Multivariate analysis with the Cox proportional hazard model showed that the risk factors influencing the overall survival of the LSCC patients included the N stage (OR = 0.336, 95% CI: 0.149-0.758) and low preoperative LMR (OR = 0.474, 95% CI: 0.248-0.907) (P < 0.05). Conclusion LSCC patients with a higher preoperative LMR have a higher rate of overall survival. The preoperative LMR plays a valuable role in predicting the postoperative survival of LSCC patients.

Comparison on application of five kinds of elastic registration methods in the CT image registration of radiotherapy / 中国医学装备

Objective: To compare the applications of five kinds of routine elastic registration methods included of Horn-Schunck optical flow method, Demons algorithm, accelerated Demons algorithm, level set algorithm and fast free deformation algorithm in radiotherapy. Methods: 10 patients who underwent radiotherapy on pelvic cavity were enrolled in the research. And their CT images at the time of location and during radiotherapy were collected, and the five kinds of routine elastic registration methods were applied in the research, and through autonomic programming to implement elastic registration, and then the registered results were further compared. Results: The average minimum mean square error (MSE) of five kinds of routine elastic registration methods have been decreased 6.7%-26.0%, and the average correlation coefficient(CC) has been increased 2.6%-3.7%, and the average registration time was 107.5s-220.8s. Conclusions: All of the five kinds of elastic registration methods get better results, and it is recommended to use Horn-Schunck optical flow method for elastic registration of radiotherapy CT. And through using elastic registration model can more accurate simulate the movement of organ, and it is a direction of further study that monitor individual dosage of organ at risk.

Rapid identification for Mycobacterium fortuitum with RNA isothermal transcription-mediated amplification and real-time detection assay / 中国人兽共患病学报

The aim of the study is to establish and evaluate a RNA isothermal transcription-mediated amplification and realtime detection assay (RIARD-MF) for the identification of Mycobacterium fortuitum in clinical isolates.RNA probes and specific primers of reverse transcription and amplification for T7 promoter were designed based on the sequence of M.fortuitum 16S rRNA.The isothermal successive cycles of amplification were performed for real-time detection by using T7 RNA polymerase at 42 ℃.Five non-mycobacterium strains,20 Mycobacterium strains and 259 clinical strains were detected by the established assay to evaluate the specificity and sensitivity,and the results were compared with those of PCR sequencing.In the test of 5 non-mycobacterium strains and 20 Mycobacterium strains,only M.fortuitum was positive,and the remaining 24 strains of bacteria were negative,which was consistent with PCR gene sequencing.The sensitivity and specificity of RIARD-MF reached 60 CFU/mL and 100％.In the test of 259 strains of clinical isolates,5 strains were identified to be M.fortuitum,the remaining 254 strains were not identified to be M.Fortuitum,which was also consistent with PCR gene sequencing.Both the specificity and sensitivity reached up to 100％ in the detection of clinical isolates.It suggested that the RIAR-DMF established in this study is a specific,sensitive,accurate and rapid method for the identification of M.Fortuitum and it may be hopeful for rapid identification of M.fortuitum in clinical isolates.

Rapid identification for Mycobacterium fortuitum with RNA isothermal transcription-mediated amplification and real-time detection assay / 中国人兽共患病学报

The aim of the study is to establish and evaluate a RNA isothermal transcription-mediated amplification and realtime detection assay (RIARD-MF) for the identification of Mycobacterium fortuitum in clinical isolates.RNA probes and specific primers of reverse transcription and amplification for T7 promoter were designed based on the sequence of M.fortuitum 16S rRNA.The isothermal successive cycles of amplification were performed for real-time detection by using T7 RNA polymerase at 42 ℃.Five non-mycobacterium strains,20 Mycobacterium strains and 259 clinical strains were detected by the established assay to evaluate the specificity and sensitivity,and the results were compared with those of PCR sequencing.In the test of 5 non-mycobacterium strains and 20 Mycobacterium strains,only M.fortuitum was positive,and the remaining 24 strains of bacteria were negative,which was consistent with PCR gene sequencing.The sensitivity and specificity of RIARD-MF reached 60 CFU/mL and 100％.In the test of 259 strains of clinical isolates,5 strains were identified to be M.fortuitum,the remaining 254 strains were not identified to be M.Fortuitum,which was also consistent with PCR gene sequencing.Both the specificity and sensitivity reached up to 100％ in the detection of clinical isolates.It suggested that the RIAR-DMF established in this study is a specific,sensitive,accurate and rapid method for the identification of M.Fortuitum and it may be hopeful for rapid identification of M.fortuitum in clinical isolates.

Bupropion for Interferon-Alpha-Induced Depression in Patients with Hepatitis C Viral Infection: An Open-Label Study

Interferon (IFN)-alpha therapy for chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is frequently associated with major depressive episodes. Bupropion, a commonly used antidepressant agent, has recently found to have strong anti-inflammatory effects in animal models. Despite of the theoretical relevancy, the antidepressant effect of bupropion in IFN-alpha-induced depression has never been studied. Ten HCV patients with IFN-alpha-induced depression were recruited to receive 8-week bupropion treatment and were assessed every 2 weeks for depressive symptoms by the Hamilton rating scale for depression (HAMD) and somatic symptoms by the Neurotoxicity Rating Scale (NRS). Four of the 10 patients met the criteria for remission (total HAMD scores< or =7), and 5 patients met the criteria for response (at least 50% reduction in total HAMD scores). In addition, 5 patients had 50% decreases in NRS for neuropsychiatric symptoms. This preliminary open-label study suggests that bupropion is effective in treating IFN-alpha-induced depressive and somatic symptoms.

Tumour length is an independent prognostic factor of esophageal squamous cell carcinomas / 中华医学杂志(英文版)

<p><b>BACKGROUND</b>The latest version of the American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) TNM staging system has not comprehensively evaluated the impact of tumour length on survival in patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma. Our study explored the relationship between tumour length and clinicopathological characteristics as well as long-term survival.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>All 202 cases of esophageal resections done from January 1, 2004 to December 31, 2008 in Huashan Hospital, Fudan University were reviewed and followed up.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Patients with tumour length = 3 cm were related to more advanced tumour stage (χ(2) = 55.9, P < 0.001), more metastatic lymph nodes (χ(2) = 14.6, P < 0.001), increased metastatic lymph node ratio χ(2) = 16.1, P < 0.001) and worse overall TNM stage (χ(2) = 48.1, P < 0.001). Univariate and multivariate analyses indicated that tumour length was a significant prognostic risk factor (95% CI 0.235 - 0.947, P = 0.035). Subgroup analyses disclosed that tumour length was a valuable prognostic predictor in patients with lower T stage, absence of metastatic lymph nodes and lower TNM stage.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>Esophageal tumour length is a predictive factor for long-term survival especially for lower tumour stage, absence of metastatic lymph nodes and lower TNM stage patients. Tumour length should be incorporated in the staging system as an important grouping factor for better prognostic evaluation.</p>

Therapeutic effects of common cold of wind-cold type at early stage treated by different cupping duration / 中国针灸

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To observe the differences of therapeutic effects on common cold of wind-cold type at early stage treated by different cupping duration.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Sixty cases of common cold of wind-cold type were randomly divided into an observation group and a control group by fifty-fifty. Flash cupping was applied at Dazhui (GV 14), Fengmen (BL 12), Feishu (BL 13), Xinshu (BL 15) and Geshu (BL 16), etc., and the cupping was retained for 25-30 min in the observation group and 15 min in the control group. The therapeutic effects were compared after twice treatments.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The total effect rate was 93.3% (28/30) in observation group, superior to that 66.7% (20/30) in control group (P < 0.01).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The therapeutic effect of common cold of wind-cold type at early stage treated with cupping for 25-30 min is obvious, superior to that for 15 min.</p>

In-vivo targeted imaging of hepatocellular carcinoma in nude mice using quantum dot probes / 中华病理学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To explore in-vivo targeted imaging techniques for liver cancer detection using quantum dots (QDs) labeled probes in a nude mouse model of human hepatocellular carcinoma.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Mercaptoacetic acid (MAA) modified QDs were linked to mouse-anti-human alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) monoclonal antibody to form water soluble QD-AFP-Ab probes, which were validated by spectra analyses and transmission electron microscope. The probes were firstly used to detect AFP antigen in human hepatocellular carcinoma cell line HCCLM6 in-vitro by one-step immunofluorescence method. In-vivo tumor xenografts and lung metastases models were then established by inoculation of HCCLM6 cells subcutaneously and into the tail vein of nude mice, respectively. QD-AFP-Ab probes were injected into the tail vein of the tumor bearing mice for live animal fluorescence imaging. Spectra of tumor and normal tissue were analyzed under illumination of Ti: sapphire laser. Serum levels of alanine amino transferase, aspartate amino transferase, blood urea nitrogen and creatinine were determined by conventional biochemical analysis. The liver, spleen, lungs, kidneys, heart and brain of the experimental nude mice were investigated for nonspecific uptake of the probes by confocal microscope.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The QD-AFP-Ab probes had broad excitation spectra and high fluorescence intensity. They could specifically and efficiently recognize AFP antigen in hepatocellular carcinoma cells. Tumor targeting imaging using these probes were successful without any acute toxicity to the experimental animals. Spectra analysis showed that the probes per field were lower in the centre than the periphery of the tumor. Non-specific uptake of QD-AFP-Ab probes occurred mainly in the liver, spleen and lungs.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>QD-AFP-Ab probes have good optical properties and biocompatibility for in-vivo targeted imaging of hepatocellular carcinoma. Such approach promises to be highly desirable for molecular targeted research of liver cancer.</p>

Screening and analysis of genes encoding hepatocellular carcinoma associated tumor antigens / 中华肝脏病杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVES</b>To screen and clone the genes encoding hepatocellular carcinoma associated tumor antigens.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>A hepatocellular carcinoma cDNA express library was constructed with ZAP vector and analyzed by serological analysis of recombinant cDNA expression library (SEREX) with sera from autologous and allogenous patients. Monoclonalized positive phage clones were converted into pBK-CMV phagemid forms by in vivo excision. The cDNA inserts were determined by restriction endonuclease digestion with EcoR I and Xho I. The cDNA inserts were sequenced and analyzed with bioinformatics. LIMS1 insert was cut from the clone HCL5-70 and constructed into pQE 31 express vector. The recombinant LIMS1 was expressed in M15 and analyzed with SDS-PAGE and Western blot.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Fourteen genes were cloned from autologous screening and eleven genes were obtained with allogeneous analysis. One gene, kinectin, was identified in both autologous and allogeneous screening. Eight of the total twenty-four genes were unknown for their functions; the other sixteen genes can be classified into eight groups according to their established or putative function. Recombinant LIMS1 was expressed in M15.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The identification of hepatocellular carcinoma associated tumor antigens provides potential targets for immunotherapy of hepatocellular carcinoma patients and will help in the understanding of the carcinogenesis of hepatocellular carcinoma.</p>