丹参酮生物合成相关SmERF108转录因子的鉴定及其靶基因分析＊

目的 鉴定与丹参酮合成相关转录因子AP2/ERF家族中SmERF108转录因子，并分析转录因子SmERF108的靶基因。方法 利用生物信息学在线分析平台如NCBI、PFAM等分析SmERF108的序列特征；MEGA-X软件用于构建SmERF108与不同功能转录因子的系统进化树；拟南芥原生质体转化法鉴定SmERF108蛋白的亚细胞定位；通过实时荧光定量PCR（Real-time qPCR）对SmERF108基因在丹参不同器官和组织差异表达进行检测；利用酵母体系对SmERF108的转录激活活性进行探究并用酵母单杂技术确定其靶基因。结果 SmERF108具有典型的AP2/ERF保守结构域，属于ERF-B3亚组，系统进化树和保守基序分析显示SmERF108与丹参中SmERF128、青蒿中AaERF2亲缘关系较近且保守基序分布一致；亚细胞定位显示SmERF108蛋白定位于细胞核；SmERF108基因在周皮中表达最高，且呈现周皮（R1）>韧皮部（R2）>木质部（R3）的规律；酵母自激活验证SmERF108具有转录激活活性，同时酵母单杂交确认其能与关键酶基因SmCPS1启动子结合。结论 鉴定到丹参中一个新转录因子SmERF108，生物信息学分析及差异表达分析预测与丹参酮合成相关，分子互作初步证实靶基因为SmCPS1二萜环化酶。     

Inter-rater Accuracy and Reliability of a Palpation Protocol of the C7 Spinous Process Comprising a Combination of 3 Traditional Palpation Techniques

ObjectiveThe purpose of this study was to determine the accuracy and intrarater reliability of a palpatory protocol based on a combination of 3 palpatory methods to identify both the C7 spinous process (C7 SP) and the factors that affect the errors and inaccuracy of palpation.MethodsTwenty-five women between the ages of 18 and 60 years were submitted to a palpation protocol of the C7 SP, and a radiopaque marker was fixed on the skin at the possible location of the vertebrae. A radiograph and a photograph of the cervical spine were obtained in the same posture by a first rater. A second rater performed the same palpation protocol and took a second photograph. The accuracy and measurement error of the palpation protocol of C7 SP were assessed through radiographic images. The inter-rater reliability was estimated by the interclass correlation coefficient and assessed using photographs of each rater. The Pearson's correlation coefficients (r), the Fisher exact test, and the χ² test were used to identify the factors associated with the error and inaccuracy of palpation.ResultsAccuracy of the C7 palpation was 76% with excellent reliability (interclass correlation coefficient = 0.99). There was a moderate correlation between weight and the measurement of palpation error (r = –0.6; P = .003). One hundred percent of inaccuracy palpation was related to the increased soft-tissue thickness (P = .005) in the cervical region.ConclusionThe palpation protocol described in this study was accurate and presented excellent reliability in identifying the C7 SP. Increased weight and dorsocervical fat pad were associated to error and palpation inaccuracy, respectively.     

A meta-analysis for Lianhua Qingwen on the treatment of Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)

BackgroundTraditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has been proven to played a great important role on the treatment of COVID-19. As one of the drugs recommended in Chinese guidelines, Lianhua Qingwen Granules or Capsules (LQ) are widely used.This systematic review and meta-analysis amis to evaluate the clinical efficacy of LQ on the treatment of COVID-19.MethodsSeven databases (PubMed, EMBASE, CENTRAL, CNKI, VIP, CBM and Wanfang) were searched to include all appropriate clinical trials that explore the efficacy of LQ on the treatment of COVID-19.ResultA total of 3 trials including 245 COVID-19 patients were eventually enrolled.Compared with the control group,the LQ group showed great significant difference on reducing the rate of clinical change to severe or critical condition[RR = 0.38, 95 %CI (0.17,0.85), P < 0.05]and the fever time (SMD =-0.57,95 %CI (-0.96,-0.17), P<0.05),as well as the significant improvement on the disappearance rate of the clinical symptoms: fever [RR = 1.36,95 %CI (1.14,1.61), P < 0.05],cough[RR = 1.99,95 %CI (1.39,2.86), P < 0.05],fatigue[RR = 1.52,95 %CI (1.15,2.01), P < 0.05] and anhelation [RR = 4.18,95 %CI (1.99,8.81), P < 0.05], but no significance on expectoration[RR = 2.46,95 %CI (0.81,7.51), P < 0.05].ConclusionThe clinical application of LQ on the treatment of COVID-19 has significant efficacy in improving clinical symptoms and reducing the rate of clinical change to severe or critical condition. Nevertheless, due to the limited quantity and quality of the included studies, more and higher quality trials with more observational indicators are expected to be published.     

Pulmonary Functions in Patients With Chronic Neck Pain: A Case-Control Study

ObjectiveThe purpose of the study was to investigate pulmonary functions of patients with chronic neck pain and compare them with those of asymptomatic controls.MethodsThis case-control study was conducted with 25 patients with chronic neck pain (age, 26.84 ± 7.89 years) and 27 age-matched asymptomatic controls (age, 25.96 ± 7.13 years). Pulmonary function tests were performed using spirometry (Quark PFT, COSMED, Rome, Italy). Forced vital capacity (FVC), forced expiratory volume in the first second (FEV₁), forced expiratory flow at 25% to 75% vital capacity, peak expiratory flow, maximum voluntary ventilation, and the FEV₁/FVC ratio were measured and are expressed as (%) predicted value for patients with chronic neck pain and asymptomatic controls.ResultsThe chronic neck pain group had lower FEV₁ (P = .015), FVC (P = .029), forced expiratory flow at 25% to 75% vital capacity (P = .040), and maximum voluntary ventilation (P = .042) compared with asymptomatic controls; however, FEV₁/FVC (P = .470) and peak expiratory flow (P = .183) were similar in both groups.ConclusionThese results demonstrated that dynamic lung volumes were lower in patients with chronic neck pain compared with asymptomatic controls.     

A meta-analysis on salvage surgery as a potentially curative procedure in patients with isolated local recurrent or persistent esophageal cancer after chemoradiotherapy

BackgroundIsolated local recurrent or persistent esophageal cancer (EC) after curative intended definitive (dCRT) or neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (nCRT) with initially omitted surgery, is a potential indication for salvage surgery. We aimed to evaluate safety and efficacy of salvage surgery in these patients.Material and methodsA systematic literature search following PRISMA guidelines was performed using databases of PubMed/Medline. All included studies were performed in patients with persistent or recurrent EC after initial treatment with dCRT or nCRT, between 2007 and 2017. Survival analysis was performed with an inverse-variance weighting method.ResultsOf the 278 identified studies, 28 were eligible, including a total of 1076 patients. Postoperative complications after salvage esophagectomy were significantly more common among patients with isolated persistent than in those with locoregional recurrent EC, including respiratory (36.6% versus 22.7%; difference in proportion 10.9 with 95% confidence interval (CI) [3.1; 18.7]) and cardiovascular complications (10.4% versus 4.5%; difference in proportion 5.9 with 95% CI [1.5; 10.2]). The pooled estimated 30- and 90-day mortality was 2.6% [1.6; 3.6] and 8.0% [6.3; 9.8], respectively. The pooled estimated 3-year and 5-year overall survival (OS) were 39.0% (95% CI: [35.8; 42.2]) and 19.4% [95% CI:16.5; 22.4], respectively. Patients with isolated persistent or recurrent EC after initial CRT had similar 5-year OS (14.0% versus 19.7%, difference in proportion −5.7, 95% CI [-13.7; 2.3]).ConclusionsSalvage surgery is a potentially curative procedure in patients with locally recurrent or persistent esophageal cancer and can be performed safely after definitive or neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy when surgery was initially omitted.     

Simultaneous Determination of Six Compounds in Rat Plasma by Ultra‑Performance Liquid Chromatography with Tandem Mass Spectrometry: Application in the Pharmacokinetic Study of Qing Gan‑Shu Yu‑Fang

A rapid and high selective ultra?performance liquid chromatography (UPLC) with tandem mass spectrometry method for simultaneous determination of six compounds including albiflorin, paeoniflorin, picroside I, picroside II, saikosaponin A, and saikosaponin D in rat plasma was developed and validated using butyl p-hydroxybenzoate as an internal standard. One-step direct protein precipitation with acetonitrile was used to extract the compounds from the rat plasma samples. Chromatographic separation was achieved using an ACQUITY UPLC BEH C18 column (100 mm × 2.1 mm, 1.7 µm) at a flow rate of 0.4 mL/min, using gradient mode containing 0.1% formic acid in water and acetonitrile were used as the Mobile phase A and B. Electrospray ionization in negative ion mode and multiple reaction monitoring were used to identify and quantify active components. Calibration curves showed good linearity (R2 > 0.9908) over a wide concentration range for all compounds. The intra- and interday precision (relative standard deviation) ranged 2.4%–7.0% and 2.6%–8.0%, respectively. The accuracy (relative error) was from ?13.0% to 13.2% at all quality control levels. The recovery ranged from 81.1% to 92.5%. The validated method was successfully applied to pharmacokinetic study in rats after oral administration of Qing Gan?Shu Yu?Fang. The results show that one can draw a conclusion that these six active ingredients can be quickly absorbed and play a pharmacodynamic role rapidly in vivo.     

Deep learning with biopsy whole slide images for pretreatment prediction of pathological complete response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy in breast cancer：A multicenter study

IntroductionPredicting pathological complete response (pCR) for patients receiving neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) is crucial in establishing individualized treatment. Whole-slide images (WSIs) of tumor tissues reflect the histopathologic information of the tumor, which is important for therapeutic response effectiveness. In this study, we aimed to investigate whether predictive information for pCR could be detected from WSIs.Materials and methodsWe retrospectively collected data from four cohorts of 874 patients diagnosed with biopsy-proven breast cancer. A deep learning pathological model (DLPM) was constructed to predict pCR using biopsy WSIs in the primary cohort, and it was then validated in three external cohorts. The DLPM could generate a deep learning pathological score (DLPs) for each patient; stromal tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) were selected for comparison with DLPs.ResultsThe WSI feature-based DLPM showed good predictive performance with the highest area under the curve (AUC) of 0.72 among the cohorts. Alternatively, the combination of the DLPM and clinical characteristics offered a better prediction performance (AUC >0.70) in all cohorts. We also evaluated the performance of DLPM in three different breast subtypes with the best prediction for the triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) subtype (AUC: 0.73). Moreover, DLPM combined with clinical characteristics and stromal TILs achieved the highest AUC in the primary cohort (AUC: 0.82) and validation cohort 1 (AUC: 0.80).ConclusionOur study suggested that WSIs integrated with deep learning could potentially predict pCR to NAC in breast cancer. The predictive performance will be improved by combining clinical characteristics. DLPs from DLPM can provide more information compared to stromal TILs for pCR prediction.