Data analysis guidelines for single-cell RNA-seq in biomedical studies and clinical applications.

The application of single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) in biomedical research has advanced our understanding of the pathogenesis of disease and provided valuable insights into new diagnostic and therapeutic strategies. With the expansion of capacity for high-throughput scRNA-seq, including clinical samples, the analysis of these huge volumes of data has become a daunting prospect for researchers entering this field. Here, we review the workflow for typical scRNA-seq data analysis, covering raw data processing and quality control, basic data analysis applicable for almost all scRNA-seq data sets, and advanced data analysis that should be tailored to specific scientific questions. While summarizing the current methods for each analysis step, we also provide an online repository of software and wrapped-up scripts to support the implementation. Recommendations and caveats are pointed out for some specific analysis tasks and approaches. We hope this resource will be helpful to researchers engaging with scRNA-seq, in particular for emerging clinical applications.

A novel approach for posterior acetabular fractures: Surgical technique.

This article describes a novel approach, the Direct Posterior Approach (DPA) for the treatment of posterior acetabular fractures (posterior column, posterior wall, or both posterior column and wall). This technique allows direct visualization of the entire posterior wall, part of the hip capsule and the posterior column between the space of the gluteus medius and the piriformis superiorly. The approach spares the division of short external rotators, abductors, and hip capsule, thus preventing iatrogenic damage to the medial femoral circumflex artery, sciatic nerve, and superior and inferior gluteal neurovascular bundles, as well as protecting the vascularity of the fracture fragments. In addition to the low blood loss, short operative time and low risk of iatrogenic injury, patients who are treated by the DPA approach exhibit positive functional recovery in follow-up. DPA is an effective, safe and minimally-invasive technique for the treatment of posterior acetabular fractures.

[Case-control study on the iliac bone flap transplantation with deep circumflex iliac artery and quadratus femoris bone flap transplantation for the treatment of Garden III/IV femoral neck fracture of young and middle-aged patients].

OBJECTIVE: To compare the clinical effects between hip anterior S-P approach combined with iliac bone flap transplantation with deep circumflex iliac artery and posterior K-L approach combined with quadratus femoris bone flap transplantation for the treatment of femoral neck fracture of Garden III-IV in young and middle-aged patients. METHODS: From January 2004 to January 2011,46 patients with femoral neck fractures were treated by two kinds of operation. Among them, 20 cases were treated with anterior S-P approach combined with iliac bone flap transplantation with deep circumflex iliac artery, included 12 males and 8 females with an average age of (32.1 ± 7.3) years old, involved 12 cases of Garden III and 8 cases of Garden IV. The other 26 cases were treated with posterior K-L approach combined with quadratus femoris bone flap transplantation, included 20 males and 6 females with an average age of (37.8 ± 6.9) years old, involved 16 cases of Garden III and 10 cases of Garden IV. The index of hospitalization (hospitalization time, total cost, operative time, intraoperative blood loss, postoperative complications), the quality index of operation (fracture reduction, position of internal fixation, fracture healing time, nonunion and femoral head necrosis) of two groups were observed and compared. Hip joint function were evaluated by Harris score. RESULTS: All patients were followed up from 28 to 41 months with an average of 36 months. The intraoperative blood loss of group S-P (92.3 ± 10.4) ml was less than that of group K-L (132.4 ± 11.2) ml, there was significant difference between two groups (P < 0.05). The operation time of group S-P (81.4 ± 9.2) min was more than that of group K-L (67.1 ± 4.5) min, the difference was statistically significant (P < 0.05). One case in group S-P and 9 cases in group K-L appeared postoperative complications, there was significant difference between two groups (P < 0.05). The fracture healing time of S-P group (83.5 ± 7.3) d was shorter than that of group K-L (103.2 ± 12.6) d, there was significant difference between two groups (P < 0.05). At 30 months after operation, there were significant difference in Harris scoring between two groups (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Anterior S-P approach combined with iliac bone flap transplantation with deep circumflex iliac artery for treatment of femoral neck fracture of Garden III-IV of young and middle-aged patients, it has characteristics in clear anatomic and easy to operate. As compared with K-L approach, S-P approach can better reserve residual blood supply of femoral neck. While combining with the iliac bone flap transplantation with deep circumflex iliac artery, it could better reconstruct the blood supply of femoral neck to promote fracture healing.

Characterizing the microenvironment surrounding phosphorylated protein sites.

Protein phosphorylation plays an important role in various cellular processes. Due to its high complexity, the mechanism needs to be further studied. In the last few years, many methods have been contributed to this field, but almost all of them investigated the mechanism based on protein sequences around protein sites. In this study, we implement an exploration by characterizing the microenvironment surrounding phosphorylated protein sites with a modified shell model, and obtain some significant properties by the rank-sum test, such as the lack of some classes of residues, atoms, and secondary structures. Furthermore, we find that the depletion of some properties affects protein phosphorylation remarkably. Our results suggest that it is a meaningful direction to explore the mechanism of protein phosphorylation from microenvironment and we expect further findings along with the increasing size of phosphorylation and protein structure data.

[Study and clinical application of auto-compressive and anti-rotate intramedullary nail].

OBJECTIVE: To design an auto-compressive and anti-rotate intramedullary nail (ACACIN) and to evaluate the preliminary clinical efficacy on fixing adult femur fracture. METHODS: From January 1998 to June 2001, 23 patients with femur fracture were stabilized with auto-compressive and anti-rotate intramedullary nail. 2-4 elastic blocks were installed into the proximal and distal different distance of quincunx nail to defend rotate and axis compress. RESULTS: Fracture healing were obtained in all 23 patients treated with auto-compressive and anti-rotate intramedullary nail, the time of fracture healing was 6-13 weeks in 21 cases and 15-22 weeks in 2 cases of old fracture. There was no complication related to infection, nail break, abnormal union and joint ankylosis. The results were excellent in 19 cases, good in 3 cases, and moderate in 1 case according Kolmert's criterion for function; the effective rate was 95.7%. CONCLUSION: Auto-compressive and anti-rotate intramedullary nail has a suitable radian for adult femur, can afford stable fixation, anti-rotate and axis compress.