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Veno-venous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (VV-ECMO) is a reliable and effective extracorporeal life support during lung transplantation (LTx). However, the clinical benefit of delayed VV-ECMO weaning remains unclear. The current study aims to investigate whether delayed weaning of VV-ECMO is more beneficial to the rehabilitation for lung transplant patients. Patients who underwent LTx with VV-ECMO between January 2017 and January 2019 were included. Enrollment of patients was suitable for weaning off ECMO immediately after surgery. Randomization was performed in the operating room. Postoperative outcomes were compared between the two groups. Besides, univariate and multivariable logistic regressions were performed to estimate risk of postoperative complications. Compared to VV-ECMO weaning immediately after LTx, delayed weaning was associated with shorter hospital length of stay (days, 31 vs. 46; P 0.05), lower incidence of noninvasive ventilation (4.3% vs. 24.4%; P 0.05), primary graft dysfunction (PGD) (6.4% vs. 29.3%; P 0.05), atrial fibrillation (AF) (4.3% vs. 22%, P 0.05), and respiratory failure (4.3% vs. 19.5%; P 0.05). Multivariable logistic regressions revealed that VV-ECMO weaning after LTx was independently correlated with increased risk of developing PGD [odds ratio (OR), 5.97, 95% CI 1.16-30.74], AF (OR, 6.87, 95% CI 1.66-28.47) and respiratory failure (OR, 6.02, 95% CI 1.12-32.49) by comparison of delayed VV-ECMO weaning. Patients with delayed VV-ECMO weaning are associated with lower complications and short hospital length of stay, while it relates to longer mechanical ventilation. These findings suggest that delayed VV-ECMO after LTx can facilitate rehabilitation.

BACKGROUND The safety and efficacy of several vaccine candidates have been tested and found to be effective and safe against COVID-19. But little is known about the actual level of people with lung cancer willing to accept a COVID-19 vaccine and the impact factors that affect acceptability. OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of vaccine hesitancy in lung cancer patients after surgery and characterize underlying factors contributing to reluctance. METHODS An clinical survey was inducted from May 1, 2021, to August 20, 2021. Eligible participants were 18 years or older, were diagnosed with lung cancer, and received lung cancer surgery, including lobectomy, sublobectomy, and pneumonectomy. Data were collected on a self-administered questionnaire from 294 lung cancer patients after surgery. RESULTS Among the final included 281 participants, 54.1% were female, and 93.6% were of Han ethnicity. 48.0% were in pathologic stage I, 36.3% in stage II, 10.3% in stage III, and 5.3% in stage IV. The vaccination hesitancy/refusal rate was 41.6%. In multivariable regression analysis, age over 60 years old, low educational level, duration of cancer (< 1 year), subjective health status, current cancer treatments use, presence of postoperative pain, and report of the items “ever hesitated or refused to get a vaccination,” “get negative information about getting the COVID-19 vaccine”, “worried about vaccine adverse reactions,” and “worried about the COVID vaccine interferes with cancer treatments” were independently associated with hesitant of the COVID-19 vaccine. CONCLUSIONS Vaccine hesitancy is common among lung cancer patients after surgery, related mainly to health status and concerns about side effects, worsens cancer prognosis, and interferes with cancer treatments. These results suggest that vaccination programs may need tailoring to specific populations’ hesitancy.

Background The safety and efficacy of several vaccine candidates have been tested and found to be effective and safe against COVID-19. But, little is known about the actual level of people with lung cancer willing to accept a COVID-19 vaccine and the impact factors that affect acceptability. The survey aimed to determine the prevalence of vaccine hesitancy in lung cancer patients after surgery and characterize underlying factors contributing to reluctance. Methods An clinical survey was inducted from May 1, 2021, to August 20, 2021. Eligible participants were 18 years or older, were diagnosed with lung cancer, and received lung cancer surgery, including lobectomy, sublobectomy, and pneumonectomy. Data were collected on a self-administered questionnaire from 294 lung cancer patients after surgery. Results Among the final included 281 participants, 54.1% were female, and 93.6% were of Han ethnicity. 48.0% were in pathologic stage I, 36.3% in stage II, 10.3% in stage III, and 5.3% in stage IV. The vaccination hesitancy/refusal rate was 41.6%. In multivariable regression analysis, age over 60 years old, low educational level, duration of cancer (

Uniportal video-assisted thoracic surgery is still a technical challenge, especially anatomical segmentectomy for the lateral basal segment (S9), posterior basal segment (S10), or both (S9+10). Different surgical procedures determine a variable pulmonary functional reduction depending on the extent of the resection. This study aimed to compare the efficiency of uniportal video-assisted thoracic surgery S9+10 segmentectomy with video-assisted thoracic surgery basal segmentectomy in preserving pulmonary function.The patients who had undergone single-port video-assisted thoracic surgery S9+10 segmentectomy using a single-direction approach were age, sex, and pulmonary function matched with those undergoing video-assisted thoracic surgery basal segmentectomy. The pulmonary function tests were performed preoperatively, and at 3 and 6 months postoperatively. The operative details, postoperative complications, and pulmonary function were statistically analyzed.After matching, a total of 46 patients undergoing video-assisted thoracic surgery S9+10 segmentectomy and 58 patients undergoing video-assisted thoracic surgery basal segmentectomy were eligible for analysis. There was no significant difference in the average blood loss, the duration of chest tube, intensive care unit stay, or hospital stay between these 2 groups. There were no major postoperative complications and surgical mortality was found in the 2 groups. The uniportal video-assisted thoracic surgery S9+10 segmentectomy group had a greater preserved pulmonary function (concerning the values of the forced vital capacity, forced expiratory volume in 1 second, forced expiratory volume in 1 second %, and diffusion capacity of carbon monoxide %) than video-assisted thoracic surgery basal segmentectomy group at 1 and 3 months postoperatively.Uniportal video-assisted thoracic surgery anatomic S9+10 segmentectomy using a single-direction approach was safe and feasible for early stages of nonsmall cell lung cancer, and it offered significantly better functional preservation compared with basal segmentectomy.

Background Post-thymectomy myasthenia gravis (PTMG) is defined as thymoma patients without signs of myasthenia gravis (MG) pre-operation, but develop MG after radical surgical resection. PTMG might be misdiagnosed not only because of its rare incidence, but also the uncertain interval between the removal of thymoma and the new onset MG. Additionally, some surgeons and anesthesiologists pay less attention to those asymptomatic thymoma patients in perioperative management, leading to the neglect of new onset PTMG, and miss the best time to treat it. Case presentation Majority of cases of PTMG with onset at stage I–II on the basis of Myasthenia Gravis Foundation of America (MGFA) classification have been reported, but rarely at stage V, which requiring intubation or non-invasive ventilation to avoid intubation. Herein, we presented a 70-year-old male with PTMG onset at MGFA stage V, meanwhile, he had severe pulmonary infection interfering with the diagnosis of PTMG, and eventually progressed to refractory PTMG, which requiring much more expensive treatments and longer hospital stays. Conclusion In the perioperative management of asymptomatic thymoma patients, careful preoperative evaluation including physical examination, electrophysiological test and acetylcholine receptor antibodies (AChR-Ab) level should be done to identify subclinical MG. Complete resection should be performed during thymectomy, if not, additional postoperative adjuvant therapy is neccessary to avoid recurrence. It’s important to identify PTMG at a early stage, especially when being interfered with by postoperative complications, such as lung infection, so that treatments could be initiated as soon as possible to avoid developing to refractory PTMG.

Objective To explore the application of plan–do–check–action (PDCA) cycle in the management of the naked medicine dispensing about the automatic package and to analyze the practice improved in the quality of naked medicine dispensing medicine management. Methods The PDCA theory was used to analyze the data, to find out the causes of the problem, and to formulate the corresponding countermeasures to intervene. The data of the naked medicine/adverse drug events satisfaction degree of the inpatients in 18 inpatient departments given for the adoption of PDCA cycle in January 2017 were set as the observation group. The number of the naked medicine/adverse drug events satisfaction degree of patients in 18 inpatient departments before adoption of PDCA cycle in December 2016 was set as the control group. The number of the naked medicine/adverse drug events satisfaction degree of patients in 18 inpatient departments before and after adoption of PDCA cycle was observed and analyzed. Results The number of the naked medicine/adverse drug events after implementing the method of PDCA cycle management rate was significantly lower than before the implementation method of PDCA cycle management, and the difference had statistical significance (P < 0.05). The satisfaction degree of the inpatients after implementing the method of PDCA cycle management rate was significantly higher than that before the implementation method of PDCA cycle management, and the difference had statistical significance (P < 0.05). Conclusion Application of PDCA cycle in the management of the naked medicine dispensing about the automatic package can help to reduce the adverse drug events, to improve the safety of drug treatment, and to increase the patients’ satisfaction degree.

Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) are organic pollutants (POPs) with the characteristics of environmental persistence, long-distance transmission in nature, biological accumulation and toxic effects on human health. To investigate the level of contamination due to PBDEs in typical indoor public places in Hangzhou, dust samples were collected from ten supermarkets, three electronic markets and five different areas throughout one commodity market. Based on sample pretreatment and GC-ECD instrumental analysis, the contamination characteristics, sources and the influencing factors of 14 PBDE congeners were analyzed. The results revealed that the mean of ∑14PBDEs in dust in the supermarkets and electronic markets was 546.13 ng/g and 1140.05 ng/g, respectively, while in the commodity market the mean was 1005.42 ng/g and varied in the five different areas as follows: shoe areas (1367.22 ng/g) > parking lot (1001.05 ng/g) > waiting halls (970.31 ng/g) > packet areas (933.23 ng/g) > curtain areas (755.28 ng/g). The high levels of PBDE were attributed to the quantity of electrical appliances in the supermarkets (r = 0.708*, p

PM2.5 samples were collected at a roadside site in Wuhan, China, for one year period. Ion chromatography was used to determine the water soluble ions in PM2.5 samples. Results showed that the overall average of PM2.5 mass was 118.1 ± 70.3 μg m−3, being slightly higher than those measured in urban sites in Wuhan, China. The major water soluble ions were NH4+ (8.7 ± 4.0 μg m−3), NO3− (12.1 ± 9.5 μg m−3), SO42− (15.2 ± 8.2 μg m−3), accounting for 21%、29%、37% of quantified total ions, respectively. NH4+, NO3−, and SO42− were closely correlated, and (NH4)2SO4 and NH4NO3 were possibly their main existing forms. Ion concentrations differed greatly in different seasons, with inconsistent variation pattern for individual ions. Values of NOR (nitrogen oxidation ratio) and SOR (sulfur oxidation ratio) peaked in winter and in summer, respectively. NO3−/SO42− ratio revealed that emission from stationary sources was still remarkable. Significant correlation was observed between Mg2+ and Ca2+, possibly due to their common source of soil dust. On the other hand, Cl− linked with K+, NO3−, NH4+, and SO42−. The data reported here will provide inputs for human exposure and air pollution control studies in Wuhan, China.

The 2019 novel coronavirus has spread rapidly around the world. Cancer patients seem to be more susceptible to infection and disease deterioration, but the factors affecting the deterioration remain unclear. We aimed to develop an individualized model for prediction of coronavirus disease (COVID‐19) deterioration in cancer patients. The clinical data of 276 cancer patients diagnosed with COVID‐19 in 33 designated hospitals of Hubei, China from December 21, 2019 to March 18, 2020, were collected and randomly divided into a training and a validation cohort by a ratio of 2:1. Cox stepwise regression analysis was carried out to select prognostic factors. The prediction model was developed in the training cohort. The predictive accuracy of the model was quantified by C‐index and time‐dependent area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (t‐AUC). Internal validation was assessed by the validation cohort. Risk stratification based on the model was carried out. Decision curve analysis (DCA) were used to evaluate the clinical usefulness of the model. We found age, cancer type, computed tomography baseline image features (ground glass opacity and consolidation), laboratory findings (lymphocyte count, serum levels of C‐reactive protein, aspartate aminotransferase, direct bilirubin, urea, and d‐dimer) were significantly associated with symptomatic deterioration. The C‐index of the model was 0.755 in the training cohort and 0.779 in the validation cohort. The t‐AUC values were above 0.7 within 8 weeks both in the training and validation cohorts. Patients were divided into two risk groups based on the nomogram: low‐risk (total points ≤ 9.98) and high‐risk (total points > 9.98) group. The Kaplan‐Meier deterioration‐free survival of COVID‐19 curves presented significant discrimination between the two risk groups in both training and validation cohorts. The model indicated good clinical applicability by DCA curves. This study presents an individualized nomogram model to individually predict the possibility of symptomatic deterioration of COVID‐19 in patients with cancer., This is the first study to present a nomogram model to individually predict the deterioration of COVID‐19 in cancer patients. Clinical symptoms, computed tomography image features, cancer types, and comorbidities were incorporated in the model. Risk stratification was carried out targeting cancer populations for COVID‐19 deterioration. Cancer type was a critical factor affecting symptomatic deterioration. The COVID‐19 patients with lymphoma had the highest risk score for symptomatic deterioration.

Hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) results in high neonatal mortality and severe neurological impairments, and its underlying molecular mechanism underwent extensive investigations. Long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) is considered to be an important regulator on brain development and many neurological diseases. Currently, little is known about the role of Vof-16 (lncRNA) in HIE. We detected the relative expression level of Vof-16 in the cortex and hippocampus of hypoxic-ischemic (HI) models whose successful establishment was verified by TTC staining. Then, Vof-16 knockout rats were generated using the CRISPR/Cas engineering technology to search the specific function of the Vof-16 through a series of behavioral evaluations including Neurological severity scores (NSS), Y-maze test, Morris water maze (MWW) test, open field test, and Rotarod test. The results demonstrated the expression of Vof-16 was substantially up-regulated in the cortex and hippocampus of rats with HI injury. Importantly, Vof-16 knockout facilitated the recovery from long-term HI induced nerve damage and neurobehavioral dysfunctions. In conclusion, this study suggests Vof-16 knockout is a promising treatment target for neonatal HIE. Refereed/Peer-reviewed

A double Q-switch (DQS) Ho:Sc 2 SiO 5 laser modulated by a acousto-optic modulators (AOM) combined with a Cr 2+ :ZnSe saturable absorber (SA) was reported for the first time. The actively Q-switch (AQS) and passively Q-switch (PQS) were also studied. For the DQS mode, a maximum average output power of 2.49 W under the incident pump power of 12.5 W was obtained, corresponding to a slope efficiency of 24%. The characteristics of the DQS Ho:SSO laser versus different repetition frequencies (RF) of the AOM were researched. The maximum single-pulse energy of the DQS Ho:SSO laser was calculated to 1.98 mJ. The maximum peak power of the DQS Ho:SSO laser was 49.5 kW. The output beam quality factor M 2 of DQS Ho:SSO laser was measured to be 1.15 with the highest peak power by knife-edge method at different positions.

// Fu-chao Chen 1 , Lin-hai Wang 2 , Xiao-yu Zheng 3 , Xiu-min Zhang 1 , Jun Zhang 4 , Lin-Jun Li 4 1 Department of Pharmacy, Dongfeng Hospital, Hubei University of Medicine, Shiyan, Hubei, 442008, P.R. China 2 Department of Pharmacy, Renmin Hospital, Hubei University of Medicine, Shiyan, Hubei, 442000, P.R. China 3 International School of Software, Wuhan University, Wuhan, Hubei, 430079, P.R. China 4 Department of Oncology, Renmin Hospital, Hubei University of Medicine, Shiyan, Hubei, 442000, P.R. China Correspondence to: Lin-Jun Li, email: rmyyllj@sina.com Keywords: paclitaxel, dexamethasone, allergic reaction, meta-analysis Received: September 14, 2016 Accepted: November 19, 2016 Published: November 29, 2016 ABSTRACT Background: Dexamethasone premedication is required to prevent paclitaxel-related hypersensitivity reactions (HSRs). Oral dexamethasone (PO-D) has been considered the standard premedication regimen. However, whether intravenous dexamethasone (IV-D) is feasible for preventing paclitaxel-related HSRs is still unclear. We conducted a meta-analysis to compare these two regimens. Methods: We performed a systematic search in the PubMed, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, and Web of Science databases for relevant articles published before June 2016. Outcomes included HSRs and severe HSRs. Statistical analyses were performed using RevMan 5.2 software. Result: Six studies comprising 1347 patients were included in the meta-analysis. The PO-D premedication regimen showed a significantly decreased incidence of severe HSRs compared with the IV-D regimen with an OR of 0.53 (95% CI 0.28-0.99, p = 0.05). However, there was no difference in the overall paclitaxel-related HSR rates between the two premedication regimens (OR 0.76, 95% CI 0.55-1.06, p = 0.11). Subgroup analyses according to study type and country of origin showed similar statistical results between the two premedication regimens. Conclusion: Our meta-analysis showed that the PO-D premedication regimen is superior to the IV-D regimen in preventing paclitaxel-related HSRs. Additional randomized controlled trials are needed to confirm our findings.

The purpose of this study is to summarize the currently available evidence regarding the concerned issue by performing a comprehensive meta-analysis. Relevant publications reporting the association of metformin use with survival of lung cancer patients with diabetes were electronically searched to identify eligible studies. The meta-analysis was performed with hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) as effect measures for disease-free survival(DFS) and overall survival(OS) estimates. A total of 17 individual studies from 10 publications were included in the meta-analysis. Overall, the results revealed a significant association of metformin use with a better survival of lung cancer patients with diabetes(for DFS: HR = 0.65, 95%CI = 0.52-0.83; for OS: HR = 0.78, 95%CI = 0.64-0.93). The subgroup analyses showed similar association in Asian region(for DFS:HR = 0.69, 95%CI = 0.59-0.80; for OS: HR = 0.55, 95%CI = 0.46-0.67) but not in Western region. Such association was also presented in small cell lung cancer (for DFS: HR = 0.54, 95%CI = 0.38-0.77; for OS: HR = 0.52, 95%CI = 0.39-0.69) and in non-small cell lung cancer(for DFS: HR = 0.70, 95%CI = 0.51-0.96; for OS: HR = 0.75, 95%CI = 0.58- 0.97). Analyses stratified by treatment strategy showed a reduction in the risk of cancer-related mortality in patients receiving chemotherapy(for DFS: HR = 0.71, 95%CI = 0.64-0.83; for OS: HR = 0.58, 95%CI = 0.47-0.71) but not in patients receiving chemoradiotherapy. The meta-analysis demonstrated that metformin use was significantly associated with a favorable survival outcome of lung cancer patients with diabetes.

We employed catastrophe theory and entropy method to measure and compare the environmental performance and economic performance of 40 listed companies from the thermal power and steel industries in China, to explore their relationship. The results showed that the environmental performance of the steel industry was less than that of the thermal power industry, but their economic performance was similar. This means that steel industry has had lower resource use efficiency and more pollutant emission, and has a larger potential to saving resources, energy and environment pollution. Both the correlation analysis and regression analysis indicated that there existed a significant positive relationship between the environmental performance and economic performance of the steel industry and thermal power industry in China. This means that it is very possible to gain win-win situation of these two performances, if the listed companies tend to make advanced production and environment protection activities come into a benevolent cycle, by means of technology upgrading and transformation.

Vertical integration of hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) and graphene for the fabrication of vertical field-effect transistors or tunneling diodes has stimulated intense interest recently due to the enhanced performance offered by combining an ultrathin dielectric with a semi-metallic system. Wafer scale fabrication and processing of these heterostructures is needed to make large scale integrated circuitry. In this work, by using remote discharged, radio-frequency plasma chemical vapor deposition, wafer scale, high quality few layer h-BN films are successfully grown. By using few layer h-BN films as top gate dielectric material, the plasmon energy of graphene can be tuned by electrostatic doping. An array of graphene/h-BN vertically stacked micrometer-sized disks is fabricated by lithography and transfer techniques, and infrared spectroscopy is used to observe the modes of tunable graphene plasmonic absorption as a function of the repeating (G/h-BN)n units in the vertical stack. Interestingly, the plasmonic resonances can be tuned to higher frequencies with increasing layer thickness of the disks, showing that such vertical stacking provides a viable strategy to provide wide window tuning of the plasmons beyond the limitation of the monolayer.

In this study, air quality characteristics in Wuhan were assessed through descriptive statistics and Hierarchical Cluster Analysis (HCA). Results show that air quality has slightly improved over the recent years. While the NO2 concentration is still increasing, the PM10 concentration shows a clearly downward trend with some small fluctuations. In addition, the SO2 concentration has steadily decreased since 2008. Nevertheless, the current level of air pollutants is still quite high, with the PM10 and NO2 levels exceeding the air quality standard. Seasonal variation exists consistently for all the pollutants, with the highest concentration in winter and the lowest in summer. Cluster analysis evidenced that nine urban monitoring sites could be classified into three clusters. Cluster I consists of only the LY site, which is located in the famous East Lake scenic area with the best air quality. Cluster II corresponds to three monitoring sites with heavily trafficked roads nearby, where relatively severe NO2 pollution occurred. Cluster III is comprised of the remaining five sites, characterized by PM10 and SO2 pollution.

Utility based resource allocation strategy in multi-cell orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) system plays a critical role in next generation mobile communication systems. Based on the analysis of risk aversion utility functions, this article proposed the system utility based utility, which is named the customer satisfaction (CS) utility. Compared with the proportional fairness (PF) utility, the CS utility reflects the user demands better, and enables the system to adjust its resource allocation according to both the traffic requirements and the resource situation.

The Te doped NbSe2-xTex (x=0, 0.10, 0.20) single crystals were prepared by vapor transport method and the variations of structure and superconducting properties with Te content were studied. It is found that the Te substitution increases the degree of disorder and causes sharp decrease of superconducting transition temperature (Tc). The temperature dependence of upper critical field (Hc2) of pure NbSe2 crystal can be fitted by the two-band model, and the effect of Te substitution on Hc2(T) is discussed.

The red cell distribution width (RDW) has also been reported to reliably reflect the inflammation and nutrition status and predict the prognosis across several types of cancer, however, the prognostic value of RDW in esophageal carcinoma has seldom been studied.A retrospective study was performed to assess the prognostic value of RDW in patients with esophageal carcinoma by the Kaplan-Meier analysis and multivariate Cox regression proportional hazard model. All enrolled patients were divided into high RDW group (≧15%) and low RDW group (15%) according to the detected RDW values.Clinical and laboratory data from a total of 179 patients with esophageal carcinoma were retrieved. With a median follow-up of 21months, the high RDW group exhibited a shorter disease-free survival (DFS) (p0.001) and an unfavorable overall survival (OS) (p0.001) in the univariate analysis. The multivariate analysis revealed that elevated RDW at diagnosis was an independent prognostic factor for shorter PFS (p=0.043, HR=1.907, 95% CI=1.020-3.565) and poor OS (p=0.042, HR=1.895, 95% CI=1.023-3.508) after adjustment with other cancer-related prognostic factors.The present study suggests that elevated preoperative RDW(≧15%) at the diagnosis may independently predict poorer disease-free and overall survival among patients with esophageal carcinoma.

A compact intra-cavity pumped low-threshold passively Q-switched (PQS) Ho:Sc2SiO5 (Ho:SSO) laser is reported for the first time. The Tm:YAlO3 (Tm:YAP) crystal and the Ho:SSO crystal are placed in the same laser cavity. A laser diode with a central wavelength of 793 nm is used to realize the output of the Ho:SSO laser. Both the continuous wave (CW) and PQS operation are investigated. A Cr2+:ZnSe is used as the saturable absorber in the PQS Ho:SSO laser. For the CW mode, the laser threshold is only 750 mW, which is 980 mW in the PQS mode. A maximum pulse energy of 699 µJ is primarily obtained, corresponding to the pulse width of 96 ns. The maximum repetition frequency is 1.46 kHz. The maximum pulse peak power can be calculated to be 7.28 kW. The beam quality factor M 2 is calculated to be 1.4 with the maximum output power.

To explore the effects of reconstructing method (narrow gastric tube (NGT) versus whole stomach (WS)) on health-related quality of life (HRQL) in patients during a 3-year follow-up.In a prospective randomized single-center study from 2007 to 2008, 104 patients underwent esophagectomy for cancer. They were divided into NGT (n = 52) and WS (n = 52) groups. To assess HRQL, a questionnaire in references to EORTC-QLQ-C30 and QLQ-OES18 was administered at 3 weeks, 6 months, 1 year, 2 year and 3 years post-operation. Their clinical data were collected prospectively and follow-up was performed regularly.The patients in the NGT group reported significantly (P0.05) better average scores of HRQL at both 6 months and 1 year.However, no significant difference in average scores of HRQL was found at 3 years. Patients in the NGT group reported significantly (P0.05) better scores of reflux at 3 weeks, 6 months and 1 year.Nausea was the only item with significant difference on HRQL at 2 years and 3 years.No significant difference existed between two groups with regards to cumulative survival rate at 3 years.No significant difference existed between two groups with regards to cumulative survival rate at 3 years. The patients with gastric tube reconstruction after oncologic esophagectomy present better HRQL.Further studies are warranted to perform survival analysis beyond 3 year post-operation.

Ophiocordyceps sinensis (syn. Cordyceps sinensis), a traditional Chinese medicine called DongChongXiaCao (DCXC) in Chinese, is well known and has been used in Asia countries since the fifteenth century, and it contains some valuable medicinal component defined by modern pharmacological science. DCXC only appears at high altitudes on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. Consequently, it is difficult to find and harvest. Because of its rarity and medicinal value, DCXC has always been one of the most expensive medicines known. As the price of DCXC has risen in recent years, thousands of migrants have entered into the various grasslands to search for them in season, which makes ecological environments of the grassland more fragile. In order to relieve the environmental pressures and protect this valuable resource, the artificial cultivation of DCXC involving two aspects of the genus Hepialus and the fungi of the host larvae should be employed and applied at the first available time point. In this article, the reproduction of moth larvae of the genus Hepialus is first described, which includes their ecological characteristics and the methods of artificial feeding. Second, the generation and isolation method of the fungi from DCXC are subsequently summarized, and then the mechanism of fungal spores to attack the moth larvae are restated. Finally, the basic model of artificial cultivation of DCXC is introduced; meanwhile, the potential application of modern biotechnology to the artificial cultivation is analyzed in prospect. This review article will not only expand people's knowledge regarding the artificial cultivation of DCXC, but also hopefully provide an informative reference for the development of this valuable resource and the environmental protection of alpine meadows.

© 2016 Author(s). Systematic ac susceptibility measurements have been performed to investigate the vortex dynamics in a BaFe1.9Ni0.1As2 single crystal as a function of temperature, frequency, ac field amplitude, and dc magnetic field. The complex activation energy U (T, B, j) is derived in the framework of thermally activated flux creep theory and can be expressed in one simple formula. A power law dependence of U ∼ B α with α = -0.46 is observed. The activation energy reaches 104K at low fields, suggesting strong pinning in the material. The nonlinear function of the activation energy vs. the current density is determined, which has the expression of U ∝ j-0.1. ispartof: Journal of Applied Physics vol:119 issue:16 status: published

To prepare and optimize the gastrodin dispersible tablets by orthogonal design using the disintegration time as index. The quality of gastrodin dispersible tablets was evaluated by the initial stability test. The results showed that the disintegration time of optimized prescription formulation was 106s, i.e. L-HPC and CMS-Na was used by combining exterior and interior and the dissolution percent in vitro was obviously super to the conventional tablets. Moreover, the quality of the dispersible tablets was very well by stability test.