Subscapularis Transthoracic Versus Posterolateral Approaches in the Surgical Management of Upper Thoracic Tuberculosis: A Prospective,Randomized Controlled Study

The objective of the present study was to evaluate the clinical, radiological, and functional outcomes of a subscapularis transthoracic surgical approach and a posterolateral surgical approach with debridement, bone graft fusion, and internal fixation for the treatment of upper thoracic tuberculosis.There is currently debate over the best surgical approach for the treatment of upper thoracic tuberculosis. Traditionally, the subscapularis transthoracic approach has been preferred; however, the posterolateral approach has gained popularity in the past few years.A prospective, consecutive cohort of 43 upper thoracic tuberculosis patients with a mean age of 39 years (range: 20–52 years) was followed up for a minimum of 12 months (range: 12–60 months). Patients were randomly divided into 2 groups. Group A (n = 21) was treated by the subscapularis transthoracic approach and group B (n = 22) was treated by the posterolateral approach. All cases were evaluated for clinical, radiological, and functional outcomes. Intraoperative blood loss, operative duration, intraoperative and postoperative complications, hospital stay, the cure rate, fusion time, and the Frankel scale were used for clinical and functional evaluation, whereas the kyphosis angle was used for radiological evaluation.Grafted bones were fused by 10 months in all cases. There was no statistically significant difference between groups before surgery in terms of gender, age, segmental tuberculosis, erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), Frankel scale, or Cobb''s angle (P > 0.05). The average operative duration for Group B was lower than that of Group A. There were no significant differences in intraoperative blood loss, intraoperative and postoperative complications, hospital stay, grafted bone fusion time, or cure rate between groups (P > 0.05). The Cobb''s angle correction rate for group B (68.5%) was significantly better than that of group A (30.9%). The neurological score showed significant postoperative improvement in both groups, with no significant difference between the groups.The subscapularis transthoracic approach and the posterolateral approach with debridement, bone graft fusion, and internal fixation are both sufficient and satisfactory for the surgical treatment of upper thoracic tuberculosis. However, the posterolateral approach is superior to the subscapularis transthoracic approach in terms of surgical trauma, operative time, and kyphosis correction.     

PBL与思维导图相结合教学模式在临床教学中的应用

目的探讨PBL与思维导图相结合教学模式在临床教学中的应用。方法本文研究对象为在我院见习的临床本科生,为大理大学2015级一个班级,共55名学生,数据收集时间为2019年1月;按照授课方式的差异将学生分为实验班与对照班,实验班27名学生,对照班28名学生;对照班实施常规教学法,实验班实施PBL与思维导图相结合教学法。结果实验班教学结束测试得分为(85.60±3.46)分,对照班教学结束测试得分为(77.48±3.12)分,差异具有统计学意义(P<0.05);实验班教学方式满意度评分为(90.35±4.12)分,对照班教学方式满意度评分为(80.25±4.05)分,差异具有统计学意义(P<0.05)。结论在临床教学中采用PBL与思维导图相结合教学模式,能够提高学生的专业知识掌握水平与对教学模式的认可度。     

Changes in iodine status among US adults, 2001–2012

Urinary iodine concentrations (UICs) in the US have been reported to be stable since 1988–1994, although those in selected subgroups remained low. We aimed to investigate iodine status among adults (≥20 years) by two different criteria of assessing iodine deficiency in population. Utilizing National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys 2001–2012, we conducted linear logistic regressions adjusting for covariates. The prevalence of <50?μg/L UIC was higher in women than in men; increased from 11.6% (2001–2004) to 13.2% (2009–2012) at the national level and in young adults, non-Hispanic blacks (NHBs) and non-users of iodine-containing supplements (all, p?<0.05); the adjusted odds ratios (95%CI) in young adults (1.54 [1.11–2.15], p =?0.0007) and NHBs (1.70 [1.15–2.52], p =?0.0078). Median UICs confirm women and NHBs being in borderline iodine status. Recognizing the critical consequence of iodine deficiency particularly in women and NHBs, regular monitoring of iodine status is important for public health in the US.     

Learning to Discretize: Solving 1D Scalar Conservation Laws via Deep Reinforcement Learning

Conservation laws are considered to be fundamental laws of nature. It has broad applications in many fields, including physics, chemistry, biology, geology, and engineering. Solving the differential equations associated with conservation laws is a major branch in computational mathematics. The recent success of machine learning, especially deep learning in areas such as computer vision and natural language processing, has attracted a lot of attention from the community of computational mathematics and inspired many intriguing works in combining machine learning with traditional methods. In this paper, we are the first to view numerical PDE solvers as an MDP and to use (deep) RL to learn new solvers. As proof of concept, we focus on 1-dimensional scalar conservation laws. We deploy the machinery of deep reinforcement learning to train a policy network that can decide on how the numerical solutions should be approximated in a sequential and spatial-temporal adaptive manner. We will show that the problem of solving conservation laws can be naturally viewed as a sequential decision-making process, and the numerical schemes learned in such a way can easily enforce long-term accuracy. Furthermore, the learned policy network is carefully designed to determine a good local discrete approximation based on the current state of the solution, which essentially makes the proposed method a meta-learning approach. In other words, the proposed method is capable of learning how to discretize for a given situation mimicking human experts. Finally, we will provide details on how the policy network is trained, how well it performs compared with some state-of-the-art numerical solvers such as WENO schemes, and supervised learning based approach L3D and PINN, and how well it generalizes.     

补骨脂素抗增生性瘢痕作用机制研究

目的探讨补骨脂素抗增生性瘢痕的作用机制。方法体外培养成纤维细胞,按随机数字表法分为正常组(培养正常成纤维细胞)、瘢痕组(培养增生性瘢痕成纤维细胞)、TGF-β1组(10 ng/ml TGF-β1处理增生性瘢痕成纤维细胞5 min^12 h)、Smurf2 RNA干扰组[Smad泛素化调节因子2(Smad ubiquitin regulatory factor2,Smurf2)siRNA转染增生性瘢痕成纤维细胞72 h]、补骨脂素组(10μmol/L补骨脂素处理增生性瘢痕成纤维细胞继续培养72 h)、补骨脂素+TGF-β1组(增生性瘢痕成纤维细胞加入补骨脂素培养72 h后加入TGF-β1培养6 h)。采用Western blot法检测Smurf2、α-平滑肌肌动蛋白(α-actin SMA,α-SMA)蛋白表达;RT-PCR法检测Ⅰ型胶原蛋白mRNA表达;ELISA法检测TGF-β1蛋白分泌。结果与正常组比较,瘢痕组Smurf2蛋白[(0.83±0.08)比(0.38±0.07)]表达增加(P<0.05);与瘢痕组比较,Smurf2 RNA干扰组TGF-β1[(2.2±0.18)比(4.2±0.47)]表达降低(P<0.05);TGF-β1组Smurf2[(0.71±0.06)比(0.42±0.04)]、α-SMA[(1.42±0.12)比(0.91±0.09)]蛋白表达增加(P<0.05),Ⅰ型胶原蛋白mRNA[(0.72±0.09)比(0.41±0.07)]表达增加(P<0.05);补骨脂素组Smurf2[(0.05±0.01)比(0.42±0.04)]、α-SMA[(0.71±0.07)比(0.91±0.09)]蛋白表达降低(P<0.05),Ⅰ型胶原蛋白mRNA表达[(0.12±0.04)比(0.41±0.07)]降低(P<0.05)。结论补骨脂素可能通过TGF-β1/Smurf2信号通路抑制α-SMA蛋白表达,从而降低Ⅰ型胶原蛋白表达,起到抑制瘢痕形成的作用。     

改良俯卧位对俯卧位通气临床疗效及并发症的影响

目的观察改良俯卧位对俯卧位通气(PPV)临床疗效及并发症的影响。方法将该院呼吸和危重症医学科行PPV的52例患者随机分为对照组和实验组各26例,对照组应用常规方法进行PPV,实验组采用改良俯卧位进行PPV。比较两组患者PPV的临床效果和并发症发生情况。结果两组间俯卧位前和俯卧位后12 h的氧合指数无明显差异(P>0.05);两组患者俯卧位后12 h的氧合指数均较各组俯卧位前明显改善(P<0.05);两组患者气管插管脱出、血流动力学显著波动、误吸和面部水肿的发生率无显著差异(P>0.05);实验组皮肤压疮的发生率明显低于对照组(P<0.05)。结论改良俯卧位对PPV的临床疗效无显著影响,但可以降低皮肤压疮的发生率。     

Transient left bundle branch block after posture change to the prone position during general anesthesia: A case report

Rationale:The prone position is commonly used in spinal surgery. There have been many studies on hemodynamic changes in the prone position during general anesthesia. We report a rare case of transient left bundle branch block (LBBB) in a prone position.Patient concern:Electrocardiogram (ECG) of a 64-year-old man scheduled for spinal surgery showed normal sinus rhythm change to LBBB after posture change to the prone position.Diagnosis:Twelve lead ECG revealed LBBB. His coronary angio-computed tomography results showed right coronary artery with 30% to 40% stenosis and left circumflex artery with 40% to 50% stenosis. The patient was diagnosed with stable angina and second-degree atrioventricular block of Mobitz type II.Intervention:Nitroglycerin was administered intravenously during surgery. Adequate oxygen was supplied to the patient. After surgery, the patient was prescribed clopidogrel, statins, angiotensin II receptor blocker, and a permanent pacemaker was inserted.Outcome:Surgery was completed without complications. After surgery, the transient LBBB changed to a normal sinus rhythm. The patient did not complain of chest pain or dyspnea.Lesson:The prone position causes significant hemodynamic changes. A high risk of cardiovascular disease may cause ischemic heart disease and ECG changes. Therefore, careful management is necessary.