Search

In the past 37 years, human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) has undergone various major transmission routes in China, with the world most complex co-circulating HIV-1 subtypes, even the prevalence is still low. In response to the first epidemic outbreak of HIV in injecting drug users and the second one by illegal commercial blood collection, China issued the Anti-Drug Law and launched the Blood Donation Act and nationwide nucleic acid testing, which has avoided 98,232 to 211,200 estimated infections and almost ended the blood product-related infection. China has been providing free antiretroviral therapy (ART) since 2003, which covered >80% of the identified patients and achieved a viral suppression rate of 91%. To bend the curve of increasing the disease burden of HIV and finally end the epidemic, China should consider constraining HIV spread through sexual transmission, narrowing the gaps in identifying HIV cases, and the long-term effectiveness and safety of ART in the future.

This study explores the cyclical features and the dynamic spillovers among monetary policy cycle, financial cycles (including credit, housing and stock market cycles) and business cycle in China during 1998–2018. We find that the five cycles exhibit a strong synchronicity in terms of responses to extreme events, and the spillovers among them are bi-directional and time-varying. Stock market cycle replacing business cycle becomes the main risk transmitter after the recent global financial crisis, while monetary policy and credit cycles act as risk receivers over the entire sample. Our findings verify the importance of financial cycle shock in business cycle dynamics and monetary policy formulation.

Background Recent guidelines highlighted the association between atherosclerosis and triglyceride-enriched lipoproteins in patients with impaired glucose metabolism. However, evidence from prospective studies for long-term prognostic utility of low-density lipoprotein triglyceride (LDL-TG) in real-world patients with prediabetes (Pre-DM) or diabetes mellitus (DM) and coronary artery disease (CAD) is currently not available. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the impact of LDL-TG on major adverse cardiovascular events (MACEs) in patients with stable CAD under different glucose metabolism status. Methods A total of 4381 patients with CAD were consecutively enrolled and plasma LDL-TG level was measured by an automated homogeneous assay. They were categorized according to both status of glucose metabolism [DM, Pre-DM, normal glycaemia regulation (NGR)] and tertiles of LDL-TG. All subjects were followed up for the occurrence of MACEs. Results During a median of 5.1 (interquartile range 3.9 to 5.9) years’ follow-up, 507 (11.6%) MACEs occurred. Cubic spline models showed a significant association between LDL-TG and MACEs in DM and Pre-DM but not in NGR. When the combined effect of elevated LDL-TG and glucose disorders was considered for risk stratification, the medium tertile of LDL-TG plus DM, and the highest tertile of LDL-TG plus Pre-DM or plus DM subgroups were associated with significantly higher risk of MACEs after adjustment of confounders including triglyceride [hazard ratios (95% confidence intervals): 1.843 (1.149–2.955), 1.828 (1.165–2.867), 2.212 (1.396–3.507), all p Conclusions In this longitudinal cohort study on real-world practice, higher LDL-TG was associated with worse outcomes among Pre-DM and DM patients with stable CAD.

We develop a dynamic stochastic general equilibrium (DSGE) model with housing and banking to study the transmission of financial shocks between the financial and real sectors. A deterioration in the bank's balance sheet induced by financial shocks could have amplified and persistent impacts on real activities. The amplification of the shocks are originated from financial frictions tied to households and banks. We find that a disruption in bank net worth initiated by capital quality shocks generates a decline in household loans, house prices and output. Bank liquidity shocks also have negative effects on these variables. Housing preference shocks could generate a positive comovement between house prices and output. All these findings are qualitatively consistent with empirical evidence, suggesting that these financial shocks are critical to the dynamics of house prices and other macroeconomic variables.

Replantation of a lower extremity amputated at the knee joint level in a child is rare. We present a case of a 3-year-old child with his right leg totally severed from the knee joint in a traumatic accident. After 5 hours of cold ischemia time, together with antishock therapies, the child underwent leg replantation under stable conditions. The replanted lower limb finally survived after several surgical procedures. The patient was discharged 4 weeks after admission and had restored partial motor and sensory functions 6 months after surgery. During follow-ups, the patient underwent sustained rehabilitation and recovered well. Two years after replantation, secondary knee reconstruction was performed and yielded favorable aesthetic and functional improvement. In brief, a successful knee-level replantation in a child is attributed to correct preoperative first aid, excellent microsurgical skills, and intensive postoperative management.

With the change in environment and lifestyle, the number of diabetic patients is increasing rapidly. Diabetes has become one of the most important chronic diseases affecting the health of the Chinese people, and complications, disability, death and treatment costs caused by diabetes have placed a heavy burden on families and society. If the high-risk population of diabetes can be identified and the adverse lifestyle can be changed as soon as possible, the incidence of diabetes can be reduced or the onset of diabetes can be slowed down. Risk prediction model can accurately predict the risk of disease and has been widely used in the field of health management and medical care. This study was based on the special occupational group of steel workers, the risk prediction model of type 2 diabetes was established by using convolutional neural network, and the feasibility of the model was discussed. The results showed that the prediction accuracy of the established model in the training set, verification set, and test set is relatively high, which is 94.5%, 91.0%, and 89.0%, respectively. The area under the ROC curve was 0.950 (95 CI 0.938–0.962), 0.916 (95 CI 0.888–0.945), and 0.899 (95 CI 0.899–0.939), respectively, indicating that the model can accurately predict the risk of type 2 diabetes among steel workers, provide a basis for self-health management of steel workers, facilitate the rational allocation of medical and health resources and the development of health services, and provide a basis for government departments to make decisions.

Sustainable feeding of the growing population in China without ecological destabilization is a grand challenge. In this populous country where agriculture is dominated by smallholder farming, developing innovative technology and translating scientific knowledge into action for smallholder farmers is a crucial step in addressing this challenge. Here, we present a novel approach for technology innovation and dissemination to achieve sustainable intensification in the fields of smallholder farmers. The Science and Technology Backyard (STB) is a hub in a rural area that links knowledge with practices to promote technology innovation and exchange. In this study, the framework and functions of STB are introduced, and the key implications for sustainable intensification across millions of smallholder farmers are explicitly stated: (i) develop innovative technology based on stated demands of farmers; (ii) disseminate technology by innovative social service models though combined top-down approaches with bottom-up measures to enable smallholders in rural areas. This paper provides a perspective on transformation of small-scale agriculture toward sustainable intensification in China and useful knowledge applicable to other developing countries.

Defects in layered semiconductors cause large variation of electric and catalysis properties, and exploiting defect-involved reaction can deeply excavate unearthed characteristics with significant performances. Mo-terminated defects of MoS2 spontaneously guide the oriented growths of ultrasmall Au nanocrystals on specific sites of liquid-exfoliated (LE) nanosheets, which are experimentally and theoretically performed with programmable heterostructures. The conjugated construction of Au plasmonics and MoS2 semiconductors is manipulated with the aim of the optimal synergistic activity. Additionally, with photonic irradiation, hot electrons excited from attached plasmonic nanostructures are injected into MoS2 semiconductors, which remarkably increases the carrier density of catalyst to match the energy level of hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). Obeying the principle of proximity, localized MoS2 defect-adjacent Au plasmonics exhibit a more valid pathway, transferring hot electrons from donators to receptors of catalytic sites, in comparison to planar Au decoration. Meanwhile, Au nanostructures located at basal planes are essential for accelerated electron transport rates between catalysts and electrodes, and high stabilities in plasmonic-motivated electrocatalytic performances are guaranteed. The dual function of location-discriminated Au nanostructures accounts for superior electrocatalytic HER performances with photonic excitation, which imparts high inspiration in expanded heterostructures and integrated plasmonic techniques for catalysis and devices.

Introduction Peripheral Facial paralysis (PFP) results in functional and social dysfunction, when it is under a severe condition at onset, long-term poor outcomes do occur. Different acupuncture method has been reported to be potentially effective for shortening the disease course and reduce the occurrence of sequelae when applying at an early stage. Neuroedema is a common pathological feature in the acute phase, many clinical studies have suggested its effect of reducing facial nerve edema. It is of value to estimate the effectiveness and safety of acupuncture treatment at the onset, and it is worthwhile to assess the most suitable acupuncture method for the acute period. Methods and analysis We will include all the RCTs and quasi-RCTs on acupuncture therapy for PFP at its acute stage. Literature searching will be conducted until September 15th, 2020 from eight databases systematically. Two reviewers will screen the literature and extract the data independently. RevMan software and the Cochrane tool of Risk of Bias will be used to assess the methodological quality of RCTs. Forest plots and summary findings will be generated. If data permits, a meta-analysis will be conducted. Ethics and dissemination Since this study will not involve clinical treatment of patients, ethics approval is not required. The result of this study will be submitted to a peer-reviewed journal for publication and as a proposal for clinical practice and further study on acupuncture treatment at the early stage of PFP. Discussion This review will summarize the evidence on the different type of acupuncture therapy for acute bell’s palsy and Ramsay-Hunt syndrome. We anticipate that it would be safe and effective when applying to the acute phase of PFP, and some specific suitable acupuncture methods would be found resulting from this review.Trial registration number International Prospective Register for Systematic Reviews (PROSPERO) number CRD42020205127

Background The optimal timing to perform a total knee arthroplasty (TKA) after knee arthroscopy (KA) was controversial in the literature. We aimed to 1) explore the effect of prior KA on the subsequent TKA; 2) identify who were not suitable for TKA in patients with prior KA, and 3) determine the timing of TKA following prior KA. Methods We retrospectively reviewed 87 TKAs with prior KA and 174 controls using propensity score matching in our institution. The minimum follow-up was 2 years. Postoperative clinical outcomes were compared between groups. Kaplan-Meier curves were created with reoperation as an endpoint. Multivariate Cox proportional hazards regressions were performed to identify risk factors of severe complications in the KA group. The two-piecewise linear regression analysis was performed to examine the optimal timing of TKA following prior KA. Results The all-cause reoperation, revision, and complication rates of the KA group were significantly higher than those of the control group (p p = 0.002), respectively. Male (Hazards ratio [HR] = 3.2) and prior KA for anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury (HR = 4.4) were associated with postoperative complications in the KA group. There was a non-linear relationship between time from prior KA to TKA and postoperative complications with the turning point at 9.4 months. Conclusion Prior KA is associated with worse outcomes following subsequent TKA, especially male patients and those with prior KA for ACL injury. There is an increased risk of postoperative complications when TKA is performed within nine months of KA. Surgeons should keep these findings in mind when treating patients who are scheduled to undergo TKA with prior KA.

Exosomes have been suggested as promising targets for the diagnosis and treatment of neurological diseases, including schizophrenia (SCZ), but the potential role of exosome-derived metabolites in these diseases was rarely studied. Using ultra-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry, we performed the first metabolomic study of serum-derived exosomes from patients with SCZ. Our sample comprised 385 patients and 332 healthy controls recruited from 3 clinical centers and 4 independent cohorts. We identified 25 perturbed metabolites in patients that can be used to classify samples from patients and control participants with 95.7% accuracy (95% CI: 92.6%–98.9%) in the training samples (78 patients and 66 controls). These metabolites also showed good to excellent performance in differentiating between patients and controls in the 3 test sets of participants, with accuracies 91.0% (95% CI: 85.7%–96.3%; 107 patients and 62 controls), 82.7% (95% CI: 77.6%–87.9%; 104 patients and 142 controls), and 99.0% (95% CI: 97.7%–100%; 96 patients and 62 controls), respectively. Bioinformatic analysis suggested that these metabolites were enriched in pathways implicated in SCZ, such as glycerophospholipid metabolism. Taken together, our findings support a role for exosomal metabolite dysregulation in the pathophysiology of SCZ and indicate a strong potential for exosome-derived metabolites to inform the diagnosis of SCZ.

Background Coronary artery ectasia (CAE) is an angiographic finding of abnormal coronary dilatation. Inflammation plays a major role in all phases of atherosclerosis. We investigated the relationship between CAE and serum high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) levels to test our hypothesis that patient age is associated with the efficacy of anti-inflammatory therapy for CAE. Methods We conducted a prospective analysis of 217 patients with CAE treated at the Department of Cardiology, Shanghai East Hospital, Ji’an Campus and the Baoshan People’s Hospital, from January 1, 2015 to July 30, 2019. Baseline data of patients, including sex; age; and history of hypertension, hyperlipidemia, and diabetes, were collected from patient medical records. Study participants were grouped by age as follows: CAE-A (n = 60, age ≤ 50 years), CAE-B (n = 83, 50 years n = 74, age > 70). Additionally, there was a control (NC) group (n = 73) with normal coronary arteries. Results All patients received oral rosuvastatin therapy (10 mg, QN quaque nocte) when they were diagnosed with CAE and maintained good follow-up, with a loss rate of 0.0% at the end of the 6-month follow-up. The NC group received regular symptom-relieving treatments and rosuvastatin therapy. Of these four groups, the inflammatory markers, hs-CRP and IL-6, were significantly higher in patients with CAE than in the NCs (p P = 0.048, P = 0.025). Logistic regression analysis showed that hs-CRP (OR = 1.782, 95% CI: 1.124–2.014, P = 0.021) and IL-6 (OR = 1.584, 95% CI: 1.112–1.986, P = 0.030) were independent predictors of CAE. The inflammatory markers were higher in the CAE-A group than in the CAE-B group and higher in the CAE-B group than in the CAE-C group. Follow-up after 6 months of rosuvastatin therapy showed a significantly greater reduction in hs-CRP and IL-6 levels in the CAE-A group than in the CAE-B group, which again were greater in the CAE-B group than in the CAE-C group. Conclusions Anti-inflammatory therapy using rosuvastatin was more effective in younger CAE patients, indicating the need for early statin therapy in CAE.

This paper aims to examine whether there is inherent dynamic connectedness among coal market prices, new energy stock prices and carbon emission trading (CET) prices in China under time- and frequency-varying perspectives. For this purpose, we apply a novel wavelet method proposed by Aguiar-Conraria et al. (2018). Specifically, utilizing the single wavelet power spectrum, the multiple wavelet coherency, the partial wavelet coherency, also combined with the partial phase difference and the partial wavelet gains, this paper discovers the time-frequency interaction between three markets. The empirical results show that the connectedness between the CET market price and the coal price is frequency-varying and mainly occur in the lower and higher frequency bands, while the connectedness between the CET market price and the new energy stock price mainly happen in the middle and lower frequency bands. In the high-frequency domain, the CET market price is mainly affected by the coal price, while the CET market price is dominated by the new energy stock price in the middle frequency. These uncovered frequency-varying characteristics among these markets in this study could provide several implications. Main participants in these markets, such as polluting industries, governments and financial actors, should pay close attention to the connectedness under different frequencies, in order to realize their goal of the production, the policymaking, and the investment.

Background The optimal time to perform a total knee arthroplasty (TKA) after knee arthroscopy (KA) was controversial in the literature. We aimed to 1) explore the effect of prior KA on the subsequent TKA; 2) identify who were not suitable for TKA in patients with prior KA; and 3) determine the timing of TKA following prior KA.Methods We retrospectively reviewed 87 TKAs with prior KA and 174 controls using propensity score matching in our institution. The minimum followup was 2 years. Postoperative clinical outcomes were compared between groups. Kaplan-Meier curves were created with reoperation as an end point. Multivariate Cox proportional hazards regressions were performed to identify risk factors of severe complications in the KA group. The two-piecewise linear regression analysis was performed to examine the optimal timing of TKA following prior KA.Results The all-cause reoperation, revision and complication rates of KA group were significantly higher than those of control group (pConclusion Prior KA is associated with worse outcomes following subsequent TKA, especially male patients and those with prior KA for ACL injury. There is an increased risk of postoperative complications when TKA is performed within 9 months of KA. Surgeons should keep these findings in mind when treating patients who are scheduled to undergo TKA with prior KA.

Background Elevation in small dense low-density lipoprotein (sdLDL) is common in patients with diabetes mellitus (DM), which has already been reported to be associated with incidence of coronary artery disease (CAD). The aim of the present study was to investigate the prognostic value of plasma sdLDL level in patients with stable CAD and DM. Methods A total of 4148 consecutive patients with stable CAD were prospectively enrolled into the study and followed up for major cardiovascular events (MACEs) up to 8.5 years. Plasma sdLDL level was measured in each patient by a direct method using automated chemistry analyzer. The patients were subsequently divided into four groups by the quartiles of sdLDL and the association of sdLDL level with MACEs in different status of glucose metabolism [DM, Pre-DM, normal glycaemia regulation (NGR)] was evaluated. Results A total of 464 MACEs were documented. Both Kaplan–Meier analysis and Cox regression analysis indicated that the patients in quartile 4 but not quartile 2 or 3 of sdLDL level had significantly higher rate of MACEs than that in lowest quartile. When the prognostic value of high sdLDL was assessed in different glucose metabolism status, the results showed that the high sdLDL plus DM was associated with worse outcome after adjustment of confounding risk factors (hazard ratio: 1.83, 95% confident interval: 1.24–2.70, p Conclusions The present study firstly indicated that elevated levels of plasma sdLDL were associated with increased risk of MACEs among DM patients with proven CAD, suggesting that sdLDL may be useful for CAD risk stratification in DM.

Familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) is one of the most common causes of premature myocardial infarction (MI). However, The patterns of FH remained unrecognized in clinical care, especially in very young patients (VYPs, ≤35 years) with MI. The present study enrolled a total of 1,093 VYPs (≤35 years) presenting a first MI. Clinical diagnosis of FH was made using Dutch Lipid Clinic Network criteria. Coronary severity was assessed by Gensini score (GS). Patients were followed for a median of 40-months with cardiac death, stroke, MI, post-discharge revascularization or unstable angina as primary endpoints. The detected rates of definite/probable FH were 6.5%. The prevalence reached up to 10.3% in patients ≤25 years. The FH had similar levels of comorbidities but was younger, more likely to be very high risk (VHR) and had higher GS (p

Background Big endothelin-1 (ET-1) has been proposed as a novel prognostic indicator of acute coronary syndrome, while its predicting role of cardiovascular outcomes in patients with stable coronary artery disease (CAD) is unclear. Methods and results A total of 3154 consecutive patients with stable CAD were enrolled and followed up for 24months. The outcomes included all-cause death, non-fatal myocardial infarction, stroke and unplanned revascularization (percutaneous coronary intervention and coronary artery bypass grafting). Baseline big ET-1 was measured using sandwich enzyme immunoassay method. Cox proportional hazard regression analysis and Kaplan–Meier analysis were used to evaluate the prognostic value of big ET-1 on cardiovascular outcomes. One hundred and eighty-nine (5.99%) events occurred during follow-up. Patients were divided into two groups: events group ( n =189) and non-events group ( n =2965). The results indicated that the events group had higher levels of big ET-1 compared to non-events group. Multivariable Cox proportional hazard regression analysis showed that big ET-1 was positively and statistically correlated with clinical outcomes (Hazard Ratio: 1.656, 95% confidence interval: 1.099–2.496, p =0.016). Additionally, the Kaplan–Meier analysis revealed that patients with higher big ET-1 presented lower event-free survival ( p =0.016). Conclusions The present study firstly suggests that big ET-1 is an independent risk marker of cardiovascular outcomes in patients with stable CAD. And more studies are needed to confirm our findings.

BackgroundHypercholesterolemia is the accepted causal risk factor for atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD). 2013 ACC/AHA guideline on the treatment of cholesterol advised to tailor high-intensity statin for patients with coronary artery disease (CAD). However, its impact of real clinical practice has not been examined in China.MethodsIn this cross-sectional study, 3592 patients with CAD were consecutively enrolled who were receiving statins in outpatient department (at least 4weeks) before they were admitted to the ward at five University hospitals from April 2011 to December 2015. Patients were divided into two groups according to the admission time before (group A, n=1521) or after (group B, n=2071) online announcement date of 2013 ACC/AHA guideline. The situation of statin application and LDL-C target achievement (LDL-C

Objective Familial hypercholesterolemia (FH), an autosomal dominant genetic disorder, is often diagnosed in young age and cholesterol accumulation in tissues produces common clinical manifestations including cutaneous xanthomas, premature atherosclerosis, and poor response to medical therapy. The main objective was to investigate the patients of hoFH from China. Patients Over the past 4 years, a cohort of 8 patients with severe FH phenotype due to the characteristic cutaneous xanthomas and extremely high low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) levels from the national lipid clinics were enrolled. Genotype information was obtained. Results Of them, 7 patients had severe coronary atherosclerosis, 6 had family history of hypercholesterolemia, 2 had family history of premature coronary atherosclerosis. The patients had untreated LDL-C of > 13 mmol/L, and received maximal medical therapy. Importantly but not surprisingly, the lipid profile was not significantly improved by the current available concomitant use of rosuvastatin and ezetimibe. In genetic analysis, all patients had the mutations responsible to the FH phenotype and showed to be more heterogeneous than their clinical phenotype. Conclusion In a conclusion, we found a relatively common recruitment of this type of patients in our hospital, which might have an important clinical implication for the identification and management of the patients with FH in China.

The graded refractive index waveguides can perform Fourier transform for an optical wave. According to this characteristic, simpler optical metamaterials with three waveguides are theoretically proposed, in which all of the waveguides are materials with a positive refractive index. By selecting the appropriate refractive index and structure size, the theory and simulations demonstrated that these metamaterials can perform mathematical operations for the outline of incident optical waves, including the first-order derivative, second-order derivative and the integral.

This paper investigates the effects of financial deregulation on the energy enterprises' operational risks in China, based on 230 Chinese energy enterprises' yearly data spanning from 2003 to 2018. The results show that financial deregulation can lower the energy enterprise's operational risks through easing financing constraints and reversing the financialization tendency of energy enterprises. In addition, the impact of financial deregulation is heterogeneous across different features of energy enterprises. After replacing core indicators, changing model settings, and solving endogenous problems, the above conclusions are still robust, which provides robust evidence from the perspective of the interest rates liberalization.

Objective Azathioprine (AZA) is widely used in Crohn's disease (CD) patients with a recommended dose, 2-2.5 mg/kg/d, for Westerners. Asian patients are suggested with a lower dose. However, many clinicians reported a poor efficacy with a reduced dose. Our prospective study aims to find a safe dose providing the best efficacy for Chinese CD patients. Methods Fifty active Chinese CD patients were enrolled in our test and randomly split into 2 groups, 25 each. All other treatments were the same except that group A took 1 mg/kg/d and group B took 2 mg/kg/d of AZA. We analysed the complete remission (CR) rate and the response rate on week 12, 24, 48 and with the method of intent-to-treat (ITT) and Per-Protocol (PP) analysis to evaluate the efficacy. Meantime, we evaluated the adverse events and the recurrence rate in both groups. Results On week 48, the CR rate and response rate in group B (ITT: 50.0% and 59.1%; PP: 57.9% and 68.4%) were significantly higher than those in group A (ITT: 13.0% and 17.4%; PP: 16.7% and 22.2%) (P

Recent guidelines recommended both low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) and non-high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (non-HDL-C) are the primary target of lipid modulating therapy. However, which lipid measure is most closely related to the severity of coronary atherosclerosis has not yet been assessed.We studied 1757 consecutive subjects undergoing coronary angiography who were not receiving any lipid-lowering therapy. Low-density lipoprotein cholesterol was measured directly, and non-HDL-C was calculated. The severity of coronary stenosis was determined using the Gensini Score (GS) system.In the overall population, LDL-C and non-HDL-C were all dramatically increased according to the quartiles of GS (p0.001, both). In patients with coronary atherosclerosis (n=1097), non-HDL-C (r=0.138, p0.001) was more closely related to GS than LDL-C (r=0.113, p0.001) tested by Spearman correlation analysis. Multivariate logistic regression analysis suggested that non-HDL-C (OR=1.326, 95% CI 1.165-1.508, p0.001) was slightly superior to LDL-C (OR=1.286, 95% CI 1.130-1.463, p0.001) in predicting high GS after adjusting for potential confounders. Among patients with LDL-C less than the median, discordant non-HDL-C could not provide extra value in predicting high GS (OR=0.759, 95% CI 0.480-1.201). However, among patients with LDL-C greater than or equal to the median, the cardiovascular risk was overestimated for patients with discordant non-HDL-C (OR=0.458, 95% CI 0.285-0.736).Our data support the use of non-HDL-C ahead of LDL-C in predicting the severity of coronary atherosclerosis, especially among patients with LDL-C greater than or equal to the median.

Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) is considered incurable despite advances in management strategies. New drugs targeting cell pathways are currently being developed for the efficient management of CLL. Various strategies involving different targets have been developed, or are currently in the developing stage. A search was conducted in the electronic database PubMed, for pre-clinical as well as clinically controlled trials reporting various strategies against CLL currently under investigation. Novel strategies included use of antibodies, small cell inhibitors, such as spleen tyrosine kinase, LYN, cyclin-dependent kinase, and histone deacetylase inhibitors. The present review examined these new and emerging strategies for the efficient management of CLL. The review involves a discussion of novel strategies being examined worldwide against CLL, including anti-CD20, anti-CD37, anti-CD23, anti-CD40, SYK/LYN inhibitors, BTK inhibitors, p13k inhibitors and recent developments such as the use of cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitors/histone deacetylase inhibitors.

Potato white mold caused by Sclerotinia sclerotiorum is an important plant disease occurring in many potato-producing areas worldwide. This disease causes considerable yield losses in a large number of potato fields of Hamedan province, Iran. Although several non-chemical methods have been suggested against the pathogen, application of chemicals is considered a major method employed by the growers in Hamedan fields leading to considerable pollution of underground water. Therefore, it is necessary to find techniques to help growers make a more timely decision for chemical application. In this research, a pair of PCR primers was designed according to the nucleotide sequence of a region of DNA amplified by the primer M13. This primer set amplified a 352-bp fragment from all isolates of S. sclerotiorum collected from Hamedan, Iran, and Hangzhou, China. However, this situation was not observed in other tested fungi. A real-time PCR assay was conducted to detect early infection of the pathogen on potato petals. This real-time PCR assay is suggested for growers to make timely decisions on chemical application.

Aim: DCK is a rate-limiting enzyme in cytarabine activation. rs4643786 and rs67437265 (P122S) variants are reported to affect DCK activity. Patients & methods: A total of 282 newly diagnosed acute myeloid leukemia (AML) patients were treated with cytarabine combined chemotherapy and genotyped for rs4643786 and rs67437265. Prognosis data were obtained through regular follow-up. DCK mRNA expression was detected in pretreatment blood or bone marrow mononuclear cells. Results: rs4643786 showed strong linkage disequilibrium with rs67437265. rs4643786 CT heterozygotes showed significantly higher complete remission rate (p = 0.028), superior overall survival (p = 0.006) and relapse-free survival (p = 0.020) than wild-type TT homozygotes. rs4643786 polymorphism was an independent predictor for AML prognosis. Conclusion: DCK rs4643786 may serve as an independent predictor of drug response and AML outcome.

// Xiao-Qing Yuan 1, 2 , Dao-Yu Zhang 1, 2 , Han Yan 1, 2 , Yong-Long Yang 3 , Ke-Wei Zhu 1, 2 , Yan-Hong Chen 1, 2 , Xi Li 1, 2 , Ji-Ye Yin 1, 2 , Xiao-Lin Li 4 , Hui Zeng 4 , Xiao-Ping Chen 1, 2, 5 1 Department of Clinical Pharmacology, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha 410008, P. R. China 2 Institute of Clinical Pharmacology, Central South University, Hunan Key Laboratory of Pharmacogenetics, Changsha 410078, P. R. China 3 Department of Pharmacy, Haikou People’s Hospital and Affiliated Haikou Hospital of Xiangya Medical School, Central South University, Haikou 570311, P. R. China 4 Department of Hematology, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha 410008, P. R. China 5 Hunan Province Cooperation Innovation Center for Molecular Target New Drug Study, Hengyang 421001, P. R. China Correspondence to: Xiao-Ping Chen, email: chenxp74@hotmail.com Hui Zeng, email: androps2011@hotmail.com Keywords: DNMT3A, polymorphism, AML, chemosensitivity, prognosis Received: January 15, 2016 Accepted: July 26, 2016 Published: August 09, 2016 ABSTRACT DNMT3A mutation is known as a recurrent event in acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) patients. However, association between DNMT3A genetic polymorphisms and AML patients’ outcomes is unknown. DNMT3A 11 SNPs (rs11695471, rs2289195, rs734693, rs2276598, rs1465825, rs7590760, rs13401241, rs7581217, rs749131, rs41284843 and rs7560488) were genotyped in 344 diagnostic non-FAB-M3 AML patients from southern China. Patients underwent combined chemotherapy with cytarabine and anthracyclines. DNMT3A mRNA expression was analyzed in PBMCs from randomly selected AML patients. Multivariate analysis and combined genotype analysis showed that rs2276598 was associated with increased while rs11695471 and rs734693 were associated with decreased chemosensitivity ( P

Coronary collateral circulation (CCC) plays an important role in protecting myocardium from ischemic damage. The studies on factors which impact on CCC might be of great clinical interest. The aim of the present study was to evaluate endothelin-1 (ET-1) as a potential predictor for poor or good CCC in patients with angiography-proven ≥95% coronary occlusion.We screened 1038 consecutive patients with ≥95% occlusion in at least one major epicardial coronary artery detected by coronary angiography. Of these, 663 patients were classified into the poor CCC group with Rentrop 0-2 grade collateral circulation and 375 patients into the good CCC group with Rentrop 3 grade. The association of plasma ET-1 levels with collateral status was assessed.We found that patients in the poor CCC group had a higher ET-1 level than those in the good CCC group (0.59±0.48 vs. 0.39±0.32pmol/L, p0.001), and the ET-1 values increased with the descent of the Rentrop grades (p for trend0.001). Moreover, multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed an independent association between ET-1 and collateral status (odds ratio [95% CI] for poor CCC 2.27 [1.60-3.22], p0.001). Additionally, the association presented significance in both men (odds ratio [95% CI] for poor CCC 3.18 [2.20-4.74], p0.001) and women (odds ratio [95% CI] for poor CCC 3.10 [1.36-7.85], p=0.011) when the sex-specific analysis was performed.Plasma ET-1 level may be a useful, easily available marker for predicting the degree of CCC in patients with ≥95% coronary chronic occlusion.

To investigate the association between serum C-reactive protein (CRP) levels and coronary collateral circulation (CCC) in Chinese patients with angiography-proven ≥95% coronary stenosis.In this study, 1158 patients with angiography-proven ≥95% occlusion in ≥1 major epicardial coronary artery were enrolled, and then classified into two groups: poor CCC (Rentrop grades 0-1) and good CCC (Rentrop grades 2-3). CRP levels were grouped using the following two models: Model 1 discretized CRP group with 33.33% and 66.66% as the critical values and Model 2 with 1.0 and 3.0 mg/L as the cut off values.There were significant differences in serum CRP levels between the two groups (5.76 ± 3.45 vs. 3.49 ± 2.44 mg/L, respectively; p 0.001), and compared with the first CRP tertile, the risks of poor CCC were higher in the second and third CRP tertiles (OR 2.31, 95%CI [1.67-3.19], OR 6.25, 95%CI [4.52-8.62], respectively). The receiver operating characteristic curve analysis indicated that the optimal cutoff value of CRP to predict poor CCC was 4.21 mg/L with 59.6% sensitivity and 74.33% specificity.CRP levels are an independent predictor for poor CCC and might supply a useful biomarker in clinical applications. Key messages C-reactive protein (CRP) is a non-specific inflammatory marker that is regarded as an independent risk and prognostic factor for individuals who suffer from coronary artery disease (CAD) and cardiovascular disorders. In a Chinese cohort of patients with coronary artery occlusion or stenosis of ≥95% TIMI grade 1 anterograde-flow, the relationship between CRP concentrations and angiographically visible coronary collateral (CC) was assessed. Our data indicated that elevated CRP associated with a significant impairment in CC development, and might supply a useful biomarker in clinical applications.

Background: Roughly focused extracorporeal shock waves therapy (ESWT) is characterized by a wide focal area, a large therapy zone, easy positioning, and less pain during treatment. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of roughly focused ESWT on the expression of osteoprotegerin (OPG) and bone morphogenetic protein-2 (BMP-2) in osteoporotic fractures in rats. Methods: Seventy-two female Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats, 3 months old, were divided into sham-operated group (n = 6) and an ovariectomized (OVX) group (n = 66). Sixty OVX SD rats were used as a model of double proximal tibial osteotomy and inner fixation. The osteotomy site in the left tibia was treated with roughly focused ESWT once at an energy density of 0.26 mJ/mm2, 60 doses/min, and 2000 pact quantities. The contralateral right tibia was left untreated and served as a control. Expression of OPG and BMP-2 in the callus of the osteoporotic fracture area was assessed using immunohistochemistry, real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and Western blotting analysis. Results: Bone mineral density (BMD) at the proximal tibia, femur, and L5 spine was significantly reduced after ovariectomy. BMD of proximal tibia was 12.9% less in the OVX group than that in the sham-operated group. Meanwhile, bilateral oophorectomy resulted in a lower trabecular bone volume fraction (BV/TV) in the proximal tibia of the sham-OVX animals. Three months after bilateral oophorectomy, BV/TV was 14.29% of baseline BV/TV in OVX legs versus 45.91% in the sham-OVX legs (P < 0.001). These data showed that the SD rats became a suitable model of osteoporosis, 3 months after they were OVX. Immunohistochemical analysis showed higher levels of BMP-2 and OPG expression in the treatment group than those in the control group. Compared with the contralateral controls, decreased expression of OPG and BMP-2 at 3 days after roughly focused ESWT, followed by a later increase at 7 days, was indicated by real-time PCR and Western blotting analysis. The OPG messenger RNA (mRNA) expression levels peaked at 6 weeks after the shock wave treatment, paired with a much earlier (at 4 weeks) increase of BMP-2, and declined close to normal at 8 weeks. Conclusions: Roughly focused ESWT may promote the expression of OPG and BMP-2 in the osteoporotic fracture area in rats. BMP-2 and OPG may act synergistically and may lead to a significant enhancement of bone formation and remodeling.

Introduction Granulocytic sarcoma (GS) is a commonly occurring tumor comprising immature myeloid cells, which are usually related to acute or chronic myelocytic leukemia. The tumor rarely precedes leukemia without bone marrow involvement and is called primary GS. Although primary GS can occur in any body part, the involvement of the oral cavity is uncommon. Patient concerns A 49-year-old woman hospitalized at the Department of Plastic and Maxillofacial Surgery presented with a growing mass in her left maxillary hard palate dating two months back. No obvious physical findings were noted during general examination. She was diagnosed with an oral ulcer at a local clinic, and received antibiotics. However, the symptoms did not improve; the mass became bigger and painful. Diagnosis An incisional biopsy of the oral mass was performed, the immunohistochemistry showed that the tumor cells tested positive for myeloperoxidase, CD4, BCL-2, KI-67. Bone marrow aspiration was negative for malignant cells, and the laboratory test results revealed only monocytosis. Standard bone marrow cytogenetic analysis showed a normal karyotype and leukemia-related fusion gene detection was normal. Therefore, the final diagnosis was intraoral primary GS. Interventions The patient was treated with a chemotherapy regimen based on idarubicin and cytarabine arabinoside. Outcomes After 2 cycles of idarubicin and cytarabine arabinoside regimen chemotherapy, the patient achieved complete remission. The tumor was barely visible in the left maxillary hard palate. There has been no evidence of disease spread and progression after 1 year of follow-up. Conclusions Careful morphological and immunohistochemical analyses, correlating with clinical data are necessary to establish the diagnosis of oral primary GS. Early aggressive systemic chemotherapy can effectively relieve symptoms, significantly reducing primary GS conversion into acute myelocytic leukemia and prolonging overall survival.

Background: The currently available polysomnography (PSG) equipments and operating personnel are facing increasing pressure, such situation may result in the problem that a large number of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) patients cannot receive timely diagnosis and treatment, we sought to develop a nomogram quantifying the risk of OSA for a better decision of using PSG, based on the clinical syndromes and the demographic and anthropometric characteristics. Methods: The nomogram was constructed through an ordinal logistic regression procedure. Predictive accuracy and performance characteristics were assessed with the area under the curve (AUC) of the receiver operating characteristics and calibration plots, respectively. Decision curve analyses were applied to assess the net benefit of the nomogram. Results: Among the 401 patients, 73 (18.2%) were diagnosed and grouped as the none OSA (apnea-hypopnea index [AHI]

Elevated preprocedural N-term pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-pro-BNP) and postprocedural cardiac troponin I (cTnI) are related to a poor cardiac outcome in the non-diabetic population. We hypothesized that preprocedural NT-pro-BNP might be a useful marker in predicting periprocedural myocardial injury (PMI) following elective percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in type 2 diabetes (T2D).We prospectively enrolled 1194 consecutive diabetic patients with normal cardiac function and preprocedural cTnI who were successfully undergoing elective PCI. Preprocedural NT-pro-BNP levels were assessed at admission, and PMI was evaluated by analysis of cTnI within 24 hours. The relationship between preprocedural NT-pro-BNP levels and the peak values of cTnI after PCI was examined.Patients with high baseline NT-pro-BNP levels had higher postprocedural cTnI levels (β = 0.123, p0.001). In the multivariable model, NT-pro-BNP was associated with higher risk of postprocedural cTnI elevation above 1 × upper limit of normal (ULN, OR, 3.13; 95% CI, 1.51-6.50; p = 0.002), 3 × ULN (OR, 2.44; 95% CI, 1.17-5.08; p = 0.018), 5 × ULN (OR, 3.18; 95% CI, 1.44-7.0; p = 0.004), respectively. Moreover, the incidence of cTnI elevation was higher in patients with the upper tertile of NT-pro-BNP levels than that in ones with the lower tertile of NT-pro-BNP levels (1 × ULN: 63.1% vs. 50.0%, p0.001;3 × ULN: 39.2% vs. 31.9%, p = 0.032;5 × ULN: 30.4% vs. 21.9%, p0.006; respectively).Our data, for the first time, demonstrated that increased preprocedural NT-pro-BNP levels were strongly and independently associated with a higher risk of PMI, suggesting that baseline NT-pro-BNP level might be a useful marker for predicting PMI following PCI in diabetic patients without cardiac dysfunction.

Background The objective of this study was to determine whether vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)-A subtypes improve cardiac stem cell (CSC) engraftment and promote CSC-mediated myocardial repair in the infarcted heart. Methods CSCs were treated with VEGF receptor (VEGFR) inhibitors, VCAM-1 antibody (VCAM-1-Ab), or PKC-α inhibitor followed by the treatment with VEGF-A. CSC adhesion assays were performed in vitro. In vivo, the PKH26-labeled and VCAM-1-Ab or PKC-α inhibitor pre-treated CSCs were treated with VEGF-A followed by implantation into infarcted rat hearts. The hearts were then collected for measuring CSC engraftment and evaluating cardiac fibrosis and function 3 or 28days after the CSC transplantation. Results All three VEGF-A subtypes promoted CSC adhesion to extracellular matrix and endothelial cells. VEGF-A-mediated CSC adhesion required VEGFR and PKCα signaling. Importantly, VEGF-A induced VCAM-1, but not ICAM-1 expression in CSCs through PKCα signaling. In vivo, VEGF-A promoted the engraftment of CSCs in infarcted hearts, which was attenuated by PKCα inhibitor or VCAM-1-Ab. Moreover, VEGF-A-mediated CSC engraftment resulted in a reduction in infarct size and fibrosis. Functional studies showed that the transplantation of the VEGF-A-treated CSCs stimulated extensive angiomyogenesis in infarcted hearts as indicated by the expression of cardiac troponin T and von Willebrand factor, leading to an improved performance of left ventricle. Blockade of PKCα signaling or VCAM-1 significantly diminished the beneficial effects of CSCs treated with VEGF-A. Conclusion VEGF-A promotes myocardial repair through, at least in part, enhancing the engraftment of CSCs mediated by PKCα/VCAM-1 pathway.

With the rapid development of China civil Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) market, the unauthorized civil UAVs have invaded the approaching area and clearance area for several times, it has seriously disturbed the normal operation of civil aviation, and poses a great threat to the people’s life and property. The related administrations have poor power to manage these UAVs, due to the embryonic operation regulations and incongruence between regulations and technology. This paper by comparing the established civil UAV operation regulations in the world, with the help of time series axis, we analyzed the development trend of China civil UAVs and general aviation from aspects of marketing demand, regulations and technology. Base on the above studies, we put forward the optimized regulations system. It filled up the margin of China current civil UAV Regulations.

Few studies had examined the role of ABO blood groups on CAD in hypertensive patients with different blood pressure (BP) controls.A total of 2708 patients with primary hypertension (HTN) were consecutively enrolled and underwent coronary angiography (CAG) due to angina-like chest pain. The severity of coronary artery stenosis was assessed by Gensini score (GS). Patients were divided into two groups due to results of CAG: HTN with CAD (n = 2185) and HTN without CAD (n = 523). Poor BP control was defined as systolic BP (SBP) ≥ mean in the study. Multivariable regression analysis was used to determine the potential impact of ABO blood groups on risk of the presence and severity of CAD.Compared to HTN without CAD group, the percentage of A blood group was statistically higher and O blood group was significantly lower in HTN with CAD group. Moreover, percentage of the angiography-proven CAD was higher in A blood group than that in non-A blood group (p0.05). After adjusting for confounding factors, A blood group was independently associated with CAD (odds ratio (OR): 1.422; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.017-1.987; p = 0.039) and GS (β = 0.055, p = 0.046) in patients with poor BP control.A blood group was an independent risk factor for the presence and severity of CAD in hypertensive patients with poor BP control.

Although previous studies have demonstrated the relationship between ABO blood groups and cardiovascular disease, the association of ABO blood type with spontaneous recanalization (SR) in patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) has not been previously investigated.We performed an initial exploratory study on the association of ABO blood groups with the presence of SR in 1209 patients with AMI. They were divided into two groups according to the thrombolysis in myocardial infarction (TIMI) grades: no-SR group (TIMI 0-1, n = 442) and SR group (TIMI 2-3, n = 767). To confirm our primary findings, data from a second AMI population (n = 200) was analyzed.In the initial data, SR group had a significantly higher percentage of blood type O and a lower percentage of blood type A compared to the no-SR group. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that blood type O was positively associated with SR (odds ratio: 1.40, 95% confidence interval: 1.05-1.87, p = .02), and this finding was confirmed in our second population.The present study demonstrates that blood type O was independently and positively associated with an open culprit artery in patients with AMI, suggesting that the ABO blood type is not only associated with the susceptibility to coronary artery disease but also to spontaneous reperfusion in AMI patients.

Background Plasma proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 (PCSK9) has been reported to be related to several risk factors and diseases such as inflammatory markers and coronary artery disease. The aim of present study was to investigate whether plasma PCSK9 concentration was associated with coronary artery calcification. Methods A total of 403 consecutive untreated patients with angina-like chest pain, who received electron beam computed tomography, were enrolled and a coronary artery calcification score (CACS) was also measured. The baseline clinical characteristics were collected and blood sample was taken after 12-h fasting. The plasma PCSK9 concentrations were determined by ELISA in all patients, and the relationship between plasma PCSK9 concentrations and CACS was investigated. Results Patients with coronary artery calcification (CACS > 0) had significant higher plasma PCSK9 concentrations compared with those (CACS = 0) without coronary artery calcification (258.58 ± 69.53 ng/mL vs. 202.53 ± 52.17 ng/mL, P Conclusion A positive association between plasma PCSK9 concentration and coronary artery calcification in untreated patients with angina-like chest pain was observed in our study, suggesting that further investigation may be needed in order to confirm our primary findings and explore the clinical implications.

In order to implement effective detection and utilize large numbers of unlabeled samples,a pedestrian detection method based on Unsupervised learning was presented.We apply deep learning to human detection to acquire pedestrian features with unlabeled data set.The detection method uses unsupervised convolution sparse auto-encoders to train features at all levels from the data set,then trains classifier with end-to-end supervised method.Additionally,we fine-tune the features in a supervised way.Experiments show that the method approach an state-of-art result on all data set.

In this paper, the model of hydraulic vibration system is established and sinusoidal vibration control algorithm is discussed and studied. A sinusoidal control hydraulic vibration system is designed. By simulation, this system has good frequency response characteristic and sine sweep control function.

In this paper, the application background and function of vibration test is introduced. Besides, the composition and working principle of vibration test system is also introduced simply. Furthermore, the characteristic of water and oil is compared with each other in the paper. It is discussed if the water hydraulic is able to be used in the hydraulic vibration test-bed or not. The capability of hydraulic vibration test-bed based on water is simulated by Matlab software. The feasibility of this project is also analyzed.

With the increasing longevity and the growing size of the aging population, China is among the developing countries with the greatest burden of osteoporotic fractures (OFs). Identification of individuals at high fracture risk to provide early treatment in developing countries with limited resources remains a challenge. Our aim was to calculate the FRAX® values in a selected mainland Chinese population the day before the occurrence of an OF and to compare the results with the Osteoporosis Foundation (NOF) thresholds. To define a population at high fracture risk, we selected patients in the orthopedic emergency cohort from Shanghai Sixth People's Hospital, China. To calculate the FRAX® the day before the actual OF, the actual fracture was not considered as a previous fracture. Subjects with a FRAX® value lower than the NOF thresholds were not considered at high risk. One-hundred ninety-eight patients were included with a mean age of 69.9 ± 10.1 years old, and 78.8 % were female. Major fracture sites included hip (41.9 %), proximal humerus (22.2 %), forearm (27.8 %), spine (6.6 %), and pelvis (1.5 %). Overall, only two (1.0 %) patients had a 10-year major fracture probability ≥20 %, and 84 (42.4 %) patients had a 10-year hip fracture probability ≥3 %. More than half of the population was not identified to be at high risk by the FRAX® BMI (body mass index). For age groups 55-59, 60-69, 70-79, and 80-90 years old, respectively, the mean FRAX® BMI values (major OF/hip fracture) were 3.5/0.7, 5.7/1.8, 8.2/4.7, and 8.6/4.8 %. Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry was available for 58 patients, and 41.2 % had a T-score ≤ -2.5 standard deviation (lumbar spine and/or femoral neck and/or total hip). Only six (17.6 %) patients with a normal or osteopenic BMD were classified at high risk by the FRAX® BMD (bone mineral density). The NOF thresholds could only identify fewer than half of the studied population to be at high risk the day before an actual OF, and the 10-year hip fracture probability seemed to perform better than the 10-year major fracture probability. Prospective population-based studies are needed to validate the prediction of Chinese FRAX® model and to establish ideal thresholds.

Patients with familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) are often characterized by premature coronary artery disease (CAD) with heterogeneity at onset. The aim of the present study was to investigate the associations of lipoprotein (a) [Lp(a)] with the FH phenotype, genotype and roles of Lp(a) in determining CAD risk among patients with and without FH.We enrolled 8050 patients undergoing coronary angiography, from our Lipid clinic. Clinical FH was diagnosed using the Dutch Lipid Clinic Network criteria. Mutational analysis (LDLR, APOB, PCSK9) in definite/probable FH was performed by target exome sequencing.Lp(a) levels were increased, with a clinical FH diagnosis (unlikely, possible, definite/probable FH) independent of the patients status, with Lp(a)-hyperlipoproteinemia [Lp(a)-HLP] (median 517.70 vs. 570.98 vs. 604.65 mg/L, p 0.001) or without (median 89.20 vs. 99.20 vs. 133.67 mg/L, p 0.001). Patients with Lp(a)-HLP had a higher prevalence of definite/probable FH than those without (6.1% vs. 2.4%, p 0.05). However, no significant difference in Lp(a) was observed in patients with definite/probable FH phenotype carrying LDLR or LDLR-independent (APOB, PCSK9) or neither mutations (p 0.05). Multivariate analysis showed that Lp(a) and FH phenotype were both significant determinants in predicting the early onset and severity of CAD. Subsequently, patients with Lp(a)-HLP in definite/probable FH increased significantly the CAD risk (all p 0.05).Lp(a) levels were higher in patients with FH phenotype than in those without, but no difference were found in FH patients of different mutated backgrounds. Moreover, Lp(a) and FH played a synergistic role in predicting the early onset and severity of CAD.

Over the past half-century, biomaterials have been used in orthopaedic surgery world widely, but orthopaedic implant-associated infections (OIAIs) are still a puzzle for orthopaedic surgeons, which may result in prolonged hospitalisation, poor functional status and high costs. The presence of implants increases the risk of microbial infection; moreover, the formation of bacterial biofilm leads to a higher resistance to antibiotics and local immune response. In such cases, conventional systemic delivery of drugs seems to be fairly inefficient and out-dated. Owing to this, debridement and/or removing the implant always become the only solution. Hence, it needs a simple, minimally invasive and effective therapy to eradicate the problem. There are abundant evidences showing that extracorporeal shock wave therapy (ESWT) has favourable effects on stimulating callus formation, inducing angiogenesis, promoting osteogenesis and relieving pain. Studies also indicated that ESWs have a significant bactericidal effect on bacterial strains of bone- and implant-associated infections. Therefore, a hypothesis proposed herein is that ESWT may well be an effective adjuvant treatment for OIAI by controlling infection, inducing bone regeneration and promoting re-osseointegration.

Objective Interleukin (IL)-33 is a cytokine belonging to the IL-1 family and was recently identified as a ligand for ST2, which belongs to the IL-1 receptor (IL-1R) family. In this study, we aimed to investigate the possible pathophysiological role of IL-33/sST2 in ankylosing spondylitis (AS). Methods The levels of IL-33/sST2 and vascular endothelial growth factor in serum samples of 140 patients with AS and 90 controls were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Erythrocyte sedimentation rate, C-reactive protein level, and human leukocyte antigen B27 were measured by standard laboratory techniques. Disease activity in AS was measured by the Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Index. Hip involvement, peripheral arthritis, and eye involvement were also recorded. Results The serum levels of IL-33/sST2 were remarkably higher in the patients with AS than the healthy groups and significantly correlated with vascular endothelial growth factor and the Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Index. The sST2 levels correlated with erythrocyte sedimentation rate, C-reactive protein, platelet, and human leukocyte antigen B27. Elevated levels of IL-33/sST2 were detected in the patients with peripheral arthritis, and sST2 were detected to be increased in the patients with hip involvement. By contrast, levels of IL-33 but not sST2 increased in the patients with eye involvement. Conclusion IL-33/sST2 may regulate the immunological or inflammatory process of AS.

Aim: To investigate the effects of two different therapeutic regimes that may obtain equivalent LDL cholesterol (LDL-C) reduction (2400 mg of Xuezhikang [XZK] per day and coadministration of 600 mg of XZK plus 10 mg of ezetimibe [EZT] per day) on plasma levels of inflammatory markers in patients with dyslipidemia. Methods: A total of 46 patients with dyslipidemia were studied and were randomly divided into the two groups: group A (2400 mg XZK per day; n = 23) and group B (600 mg XZK/10 mg EZT per day; n = 23) for 6 weeks. The plasma levels of IL-6, IL-10 and CRP were analyzed at both baseline and 6 weeks. Results: Both therapy regimes resulted in similar reductions of LDL-C (p > 0.05). Compared with baseline, both treatments significantly increased plasma IL-10 and decreased IL-6, as well as CRP levels (p 0.05). Conclusion: When achieving a similar reduction in LDL-C, coadministration of low-dose XZK and EZT coul...