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Background: Contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) refers to a technique that uses contrast medium to strengthen the echo of backscatter, which can significantly improve the resolution, sensitivity and specificity of ultrasound diagnosis. As a quantitative imaging examination of blood flow signals, CEUS has allowed detection of synovial microvascularization in the joints of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). However, the results of these studies have been contradictory. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to evaluate the value of CEUS in the activity of RA disease. Methods: We will search PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, and CNKI from their inception to the December 20, 2020, without restrictions of language and publication status. Two investigators will independently carry out searching literature records, scanning titles and abstracts, full texts, collecting data, and assessing risk of bias. This study will only include high quality clinical cohort or case control studies. Statistical analysis was performed by using the Review Manager version 5.3 and the STATA version 14.0 (Stata Corp, College Station, TX, USA) softwares. Results: This systematic review will determine the value of CEUS in RA activity scores. Conclusion: The results of this study will provide a useful basis for high-quality CEUS to evaluate RA activity score. Systematic review registration: INPLASY2020120125.

This study is the first to examine the efficacy of electrical bioimpedance (EBI) in detecting the onset of high-altitude hypoxia in real time. The novelty of this research includes three aspects. First, the cerebral impedance of rabbits increased immediately during the rising of altitude and decreased quickly to the initial baseline at the phase of descending altitude. Second, there was a significant correlation and high concordance between cerebral impedance and SpO2. Third, cerebral impedance could determine the change of SpO2 resulting from hypoxia.

Background A retrospective study was conducted to summarize the clinical information of childhood infections during the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‐CoV‐2) epidemic. Methods Children with SARS‐CoV‐2 infection in 11 hospitals from three provinces of South China were included in the study. Clinical information was collected and compared with children and adults infected by SARS‐CoV‐2 in Wuhan. Results In total, 52 children were enrolled, including 28 boys. The median age was 9 years (interquartile range [IQR], 4‐12); 44.2% cases were of clustered occurrences, 40.4% patients had fever, 48.1% had cough, and 46.2% had a high lymphocyte count. No abnormalities were found in the liver and kidney function. Also, 82.7% of patients received antiviral therapy, but such therapy did not shorten the time to virus negativity or hospital stay (P = .082). The time to virus negativity was 12.0 days (IQR, 8.0‐16.8) and hospital stay was 14.5 days (IQR, 10.3‐17.9). Compared with reports in Wuhan, there were more acute upper respiratory tract infection (AURTI) and fewer pneumonia cases (P = .000). Compared with the non‐ICU adult COVID‐19 in Wuhan, these children's diseases were relatively mild, with fewer complications. Conclusions Children with SARS‐CoV‐2 infection had a mild fever, lymphocyte elevation was more common than reduction, and antiviral treatment had no obvious effect. The overall clinical manifestations were mild, and the prognosis was good.

During liver surgery, hepatic blood flow needs to be blocked in order to reduce bleeding, which inevitably results in hepatic ischemia/reperfusion injury (HI/R). Paeoniflorin (PF) is the main active ingredient of the traditional Chinese herbal medicine peony, which has been shown to exert anti-oxidative and anti-apoptotic properties. In the present study, a mouse model of HI/R was generated by clamping the hepatoportal vein, hepatic artery, and hepatic duct of BALB/c mice with a vascular clamp for 30 min, followed by reperfusion for 6 h under anesthesia. Six mice in the three PF treatment groups (5, 10 and 20 mg/kg) were then injected with PF, via the tail vein. A sham group, consisting of six mice that did not undergo the procedure, and a vehicle group, consisting of 6 mice that underwent the procedure but subsequently received injections of physiological saline only, were used as controls. Liver injury was indicated by serum levels of the enzymes alanine transaminase (ALT) and aspartate transaminase (AST). The activities of oxidative stress biomarkers, including superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione (GSH), glutathione peroxidase (GSH-PX) and malondialdehyde (MDA), were also measured. Furthermore, the activity of caspase-3 was analyzed in hepatic tissue using a commercial kit. Treatment with PF significantly attenuated HI/R injury histologically, as compared with the vehicle group. In addition, significant reductions in the serum levels of ALT and AST were observed in the PF-treated ischemic mice. Furthermore, treatment with PF enhanced the activities of hepatic tissue SOD, GSH and GSH-PX, but decreased the MDA content. Treatment of ischemic mice with PF markedly reduced the expression levels of inflammatory mediators, including nuclear factor-κB, tumor necrosis factor-α, interleukin (IL)-6, and IL-1β, and decreased the HI/R injury-induced expression of caspase-3. The results of the present study suggest that PF attenuates the HI/R injury of mice via anti-oxidative, anti-inflammatory and anti-apoptotic activities.

Objective The aim of the study was to discuss the X-ray and CT manifestations and characteristics of pulmonary inflammatory pseudotumors.

Objective The aim of this study was to investigate the expression of BRAF of prostate cancer, and to explore its relations with clinic-pathological factors.