Mesoscale Analysis of the Effect of Interfacial Transition Zone on the Compressive Damage of Concrete Based on Discrete Element Method

The coarse aggregate–mortar interface transition zone (ITZ) has a great influence on the mechanical properties of concrete, which cannot be easily studied using laboratory tests in the mesoscale. In this paper, a series of axial compression tests were conducted using the discrete element method (DEM) on concrete specimens for four phases: coarse aggregates, mortars, aggregate–mortar interface transition zones, and voids. The effects of ITZ strength on macroscopic stress and microscopic cracks under different strength reduction factors were investigated through axial compression testing. With the increase in interface transition strength, the compressive strength of the concrete becomes stronger; moreover, the number of cracks decreases, and the anisotropy of contact orientation becomes weaker. Meanwhile, the direction of crack development and the damage mode of compressed concrete specimens were also dependent on the coarse aggregate–mortar interface strength coefficient.     

Serum haptoglobin as a novel molecular biomarker predicting colorectal cancer hepatic metastasis

Early detection of liver metastasis is important for improving colorectal cancer (CRC) patient survival. Our previous studies showed haptoglobin was highly expressed in primary CRC tissues, especially in heterochronous metastatic cases. Here, we assessed the potential of serum haptoglobin (sHP) as a biomarker for early detection of CRC liver metastasis by evaluating the sHP in 475 CRC patients and 152 healthy volunteers. In the training set (250 cases), sHP level in CRC‐M1 (1773.18 ± 690.25 ng/mL) were significantly increased as compared to in CRC‐M0 (1544.37 ± 1497.65 ng/mL) or healthy (917.76 ± 571.59 ng/mL). And the high sHP level was correlated with poor survival. Logistic regression analysis revealed that sHP, serum carcinoembryonic antigen (sCEA) and serum carbohydrate antigen 19.9 (sCA19.9) level were the significant parameters for detecting liver metastasis. In leave‐one‐out‐cross‐validation, these three markers resulted in 89.1% sensitivity and 85.8% specificity for hepatic metastasis detection. In an independent test set (225 cases), receiver operating characteristic curve analysis of sHP in CRC liver metastasis showed an area under the curve of 0.735, with a sensitivity of 87.2% and a specificity of 59.9%. Combination of sHP, sCEA and sCA19.9 improved diagnostic accuracy to 0.880, with a sensitivity of 88.5% and a specificity of 87.8%. Silencing of HP by specific shRNA significantly inhibited the LOVO and SW620 cell invasion, and suppressed xenograft tumor invasive growth. In summary, these results demonstrate that sHP is associated with poor prognosis of CRC patients and that HP promotes colorectal cancer cell invasion. sHP combining with sCA19.9 and sCEA may be used as accurate predictors of CRC liver metastasis.     

中老年人群中心性肥胖与多种慢性病的关联分析

  目的  了解江苏省中老年居民中心性肥胖与慢性阻塞性肺疾病（简称“慢阻肺”）患病的关系,为慢阻肺高危人群的早期发现及制定慢阻肺防控策略和措施提供参考依据。  方法  于2015年7 — 12月采用多阶段整群随机抽样方法在江苏省南京市雨花台区、江阴市、溧阳市、连云港市海州区、淮安市淮安区和扬中市6个监测点抽取3600名 ≥ 40岁中老年居民进行问卷调查、体格检查和肺功能检测。  结果  江苏省3365名 ≥ 40岁中老年居民中,中心性肥胖者1545人（45.9 %）,非中心性肥胖者1 820人（54.1 %）;患慢阻肺者428例,慢阻肺患病率为12.7 %。在调整了性别、年龄、文化程度、职业、吸烟情况、二手烟暴露史、烹饪燃料暴露史、烹饪油烟暴露史、取暖燃料暴露史、职业粉尘或有害气体暴露史、体质指数和是否高血压等混杂因素后,多因素非条件logistic回归分析结果显示,江苏省中心性肥胖的中老年居民慢阻肺患病风险为非中心性肥胖中老年居民的1.41倍（OR = 1.41,95 % CI = 1.05～1.89）。分层分析结果显示,女性、≥ 60岁、小学及以下文化程度、职业为农林牧渔者、无取暖燃料暴露史、有职业粉尘或有害气体暴露史和非高血压的中心性肥胖中老年居民慢阻肺患病风险较高（均P < 0.05）。  结论  江苏省有中心性肥胖的中老年居民慢阻肺患病风险较高。     

盲肠和阑尾的解剖学观测及其临床意义

目的为解剖学和阑尾炎的诊断积累新资料。方法解剖70具福尔马林固定的成年国人尸体腹、盆腔(男63,女7);观察盲肠和阑尾的位置、类型和根部的体表投影;测量盲肠和阑尾的长度,阑尾起始部的直径。结果盲肠长度39.7±1.51 mm,下端位于髂前上棘平面者占24.29%,高于此平面(40.0±2.37 mm)者占57.14%,低于此平面(20.7±0.63 mm)者占17.14%。阑尾直径为6.3±0.17 mm,长度57.2±1.86 mm;盆位占42.86%,盲肠后位21.43%,回肠后位17.14%,盲肠下位15.71%,回肠前位1.43%,小骨盆内位1.43%。盲肠、阑尾位于肝右叶下方占1.43%。阑尾根部恰好在麦氏点(McBurney’s point)者仅21.43%。结论所观测的资料对急腹症的诊断有重要意义。阑尾根部恰好位于McBurney’s点,肝下高位盲肠阑尾和盆腔内盲肠阑尾的出现率极低。     

微信公众平台在医学院校研究生就业指导工作中的应用及满意度分析

为了探索基于微信公众平台的医学院校研究生就业指导模式;通过对首都医科大学研究生就业微信公众平台2015 － 2017 学年的信息发布情况,以及满意度问卷调查进行分析;证实微信公众平台可以结合毕业生的需求提供有效信息,并能在一定程度上改善医学院校研究生培养点分散、无法集中组织就业指导的问题;今后应不断丰富微信公众平台信息发布的内容及形式,侧重于京外地区单位和基层单位的信息发布,增强信息的覆盖面,为毕业生提供更为有效的就业指导。     

Cardiovascular effects and mechanisms of sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 inhibitors

Sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 inhibitors (SGLT2 inhibitors) are a new type of drug for the treatment of diabetes, and they have been proven to have a good hypoglycemic effect. Several lines of clinical evidence have shown that SGLT2 inhibitors can significantly reduce the risks of atherosclerosis, hospitalization for heart failure, cardiovascular death, and all-cause mortality and delay the progression of chronic kidney disease. Because of the protective effects of SGLT2 inhibitors on the heart and kidney, they are being studied for the treatment of heart failure and chronic kidney disease in patients without diabetes. Therefore, it is necessary for cardiologists, patients with diabetes, and nephrologists to fully understand this type of drug. In this review, we summarize the following three aspects of SGLT2 inhibitors: the recent clinical evidence of their cardiovascular benefits, their mechanisms of action, and their safety.     

Expression and clinical significance of B cell translocation gene 2 in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma

Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) is widely known as a highly fatal cancer, and thus it is important to identify tumor-specific and radiosensitivity-specific markers in ESCC. B cell translocation gene 2 (BTG2) has been considered a novel tumor suppressor gene or radiotherapy sensitivity-associated gene. However, the relationship between BTG2 and ESCC development and radiotherapy sensitivity is uncertain. The present study aims to explore the expression and clinical significance of B cell translocation gene 2 (BTG2) in ESCC by analyzing the RNAseq data from the TCGA and immunohistochemical staining of ESCC samples. We found that the level of BTG2 mRNA was significantly decreased in ESCC patients, and further decreased significantly in radiotherapy resistant patients compared to sensitive patients. The positive expression rate of BTG2 protein was 56.0% (103/184) in 184 ESCC tissue samples and 84.0% (42/50) in normal esophageal mucosal samples, respectively. The positive ratios of BTG2 expression in radiotherapy-sensitive group and radiotherapy resistant group were 57.9% (22/38) and 23.5% (4/17), respectively. Furthermore, the analysis indicates that the expression level of BTG2 significantly correlated with lymph node metastasis and clinical staging in ESCC patients. A multivariate analysis with Cox regression model showed that BTG2 level was an independent risk factor affecting the prognosis of ESCC patients. Above all, the downregulation of BTG2 may be used as a molecular marker to identify and predict ESCC progression and radiosensitivity.     

左旋紫草素对顺铂耐药人宫颈癌HeLa细胞的逆转作用研究

目的:探讨左旋紫草素(L-SHK)对顺铂(DDP)耐药人宫颈癌HeLa细胞(HeLa/DDP)的逆转作用及其可能机制。方法:以人宫颈癌HeLa细胞株为研究对象,以DDP诱导获得HeLa/DDP耐药细胞;采用CCK-8法测定HeLa/DDP细胞的耐药指数以及不同剂量L-SHK(0.125、0.25、0.5、1、2、4、8、16μmol/L)对该细胞的抑制率、半数抑制浓度(IC₅₀)和逆转倍数;采用流式细胞术检测低、中、高剂量L-SHK(0.3、0.6、1.2μmol/L)联合DDP对HeLa/DDP细胞周期及凋亡率的影响,采用Western blotting法检测低、中、高剂量L-SHK(0.3、0.6、1.2μmol/L)联合DDP对HeLa/DDP细胞凋亡相关蛋白[剪切型胱天蛋白酶3(Cleaved caspase-3)、Bcl-2、Bax]表达的影响。结果:所得HeLa/DDP细胞的耐药指数为11.8。L-SHK对HeLa/DDP细胞的抑制率有随剂量增加而逐渐升高的趋势。与单用DDP比较,DDP+低、中、高剂量L-SHK组细胞的IC₅₀值...     

脑胶质瘤治疗策略及其研究进展

目的 探讨多巴胺对胶质瘤细胞U251增殖、侵袭及血管内皮生长因子（VEGF）表达的影响及意义。 方法 将人胶质瘤细胞株U251分为5组,分别加入多巴胺0（对照）、10、25、50、100 μmol/L,分别于培养12、24、36、48 h时,采用细胞计数试剂盒（CCK-8）法检测细胞增殖情况,采用流式细胞仪和Transwell实验检测培养48 h后细胞周期及侵袭能力变化,采用Western blot检测细胞中细胞周期蛋白D1（cyclin D1）、细胞周期蛋白依赖性激酶4（CDK-4）、CDK-6及VEGF、基质金属蛋白酶2（MMP-2）、MMP-9表达。 结果 与对照组[（92.36 ± 1.37）%]比较,多巴胺培养48 h时,10、25、50和100 μmol/L组U251细胞增殖百分比[（46.82 ± 1.17）%、（41.96 ± 1.06）%、（37.52 ± 0.98）%、（30.57 ± 1.11）%]明显下降（P < 0.05）,呈剂量依赖性（P < 0.05）;与对照组比较,多巴胺10、25、50和100 μmol/L组U251细胞G0/G1期比例明显增多（P < 0.05）,S期细胞比例明显减少（P < 0.05）,具有剂量依赖性;与对照组[（1 099.82 ± 33.57）个]比较,多巴胺10、25、50和100 μmol/L组U251细胞侵袭数目[分别为（776.52 ± 25.16）、（555.43 ± 22.57）、（442.33 ± 12.03）、（336.82 ± 14.11）个]均明显减少（P < 0.05）,呈一定剂量依赖性（P < 0.05）;与对照组比较,多巴胺10、25、50和100 μmol/L组U251细胞中cyclin D1、CDK4、CDK6及VEGF、MMP-2、MMP-9蛋白表达量均明显降低（P < 0.05）。     

New-onset crescent IgA nephropathy following the CoronaVac vaccine: A case report

Rationale:Although coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) remains a global threat, administering effective and safe vaccines is currently the most promising strategy to curb the ongoing pandemic and decrease the number of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infections. However, there remains some uncertainty regarding the safety of vaccines for patients with kidney disease.Patient concerns:A 58-year-old man presented at our institution with gross hematuria 48 hours after receiving his first dose of the CoronaVac (Sinovac) vaccine.Diagnoses:Analysis of a renal biopsy sample led to the diagnosis of crescentic immunoglobulin A nephropathy (IgAN), which we considered an adverse event of receiving the CoronaVac vaccine in China.Interventions:The patient’s serum creatinine and albumin levels were 1.20 mg/dL and 31.3 g/L, respectively; as such, he was administered a diuretic. His serum creatinine level had risen to 7.45 mg/dL 1 month later, and he developed high blood pressure. The patient then received conventional doses of hormone therapy but developed recurrent fever, which led to the suspicion of active tuberculosis (which he had a history of) and suspension of the hormone therapy.Outcomes:The patient’s renal function deteriorated further, and he ultimately underwent dialysis.Lessons:The patient’s course of events of apparent IgAN exacerbation should prompt nephrologists to closely follow patients with glomerular disease after they receive a COVID-19 vaccine, especially if persistent gross hematuria occurs.