Use of Modified Balthazar Grades for the Early Prediction of Acute Pancreatitis Severity in the Emergency Department.

Objective: To develop a new approach based on Balthazar grades of acute pancreatitis (AP) and to assess this modified method as a tool for the early prediction of AP severity in the emergency department (ED).

Methods: Data pertaining to AP patients ≥18 years old that had undergone computed tomography (CT) scanning within 24 h following ED admission between January 1, 2017 and September 30, 2017 were retrospectively analyzed. Patients were separated into two groups based on the length of time between the onset of their AP symptoms and the completion of CT scanning (Group 1: <72 h; Group 2: ≥72 h).

Evaluation of the Prognostic Value of Red Cell Distribution Width to Total Serum Calcium Ratio in Patients with Acute Pancreatitis.

Introduction: Acute pancreatitis (AP) is a sudden inflammatory process in the pancreas with variable involvement of nearby organs or other organ systems, and it is a common cause for hospitalization of gastrointestinal origin. Early prediction of the prognosis of patients with AP is important to help physicians triage the patients and decrease mortality. Red cell distribution width (RDW) and total serum calcium (TSC) have been reported to be useful predictors of the severity of AP, but if these parameters are associated with the prognosis of AP is unknown.

Effectiveness and safety of Liuhedan for treating acute pancreatitis: A protocol for systematic review and meta analysis.

Background: Liuhedan is a famous traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) formula used to treat acute pancreatitis (AP) in China. However, there is no systematic reviews for the evidence and the therapeutic effectiveness and safety of Liuhedan for treating AP. The aim of this study is to summarize previous evidence, assessing the efficacy and safety of Liuhedan in the treatment of AP.

Effectiveness and safety of proton pump inhibitors for treating acute pancreatitis: A protocol for systematic review and meta analysis.

Background: Previous studies have showed that anti-acid therapy with proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) can inhibit pancreatic secretion and it may be used in treating acute pancreatitis (AP). But at present, there is no systematic reviews for the evidence and the therapeutic effectiveness and safety of anti-acid therapy with PPIs in AP were not unclear. Therefore, we will undertake a systematic review of the literature to summarize previous evidence regarding this topic, in order to clarify the effectiveness and safety of anti-acid therapy with PPIs in AP.

Efficiency of free thyroxine in predicting severity and mortality of patients with acute pancreatitis: A protocol for systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Previous studies suggest that free thyroxine may be used as a severity indicator of patients with acute pancreatitis (AP) in emergency department, helping determine the differential care of AP. However, there are no systematic reviews and the association between free thyroxine and AP is still not completely understood. Therefore, we will undertake a systematic review of the literature to summarize previous evidence regarding this topic, in order to clarify whether free thyroxine can help us pick out the mild AP cases.

Benefits of anti‑inflammatory therapy in the treatment of ischemia/reperfusion injury in the renal microvascular endothelium of rats with return of spontaneous circulation.

The aim of the present study was to investigate whether prostaglandin E1 (PGE1), target temperature management (TTM) and a combined intervention involving the two would be beneficial as anti‑inflammatory therapies for ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury to the renal microvascular endothelium of rats with return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC). In each group of rats with different interventions, following successful cardiopulmonary resuscitation, the levels of thrombomodulin (TM), interleukin‑6 (IL‑6) and tumor necrosis factor‑α (TNF‑α) in the plasma were evaluated. The expression of vascular endothelial (VE)‑cadherin and vascular cell adhesion molecule‑1 (VCAM‑1) mRNA was analyzed in the kidney.

[The Protective Effect of Target Temperature Management Combined with Prostaglandin E₁ on Ischemia/Reperfusion Injury of Cerebral Micro-vascular Endothelium of ROSC Rat].

Objective: To investigate the protective effect of target temperature management (TTM) combined with prostaglandin E₁ (PGE₁) on ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury of cerebral micro-vascular endothelium cell (CMEC) in the return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC) rats with successful cardiopulmonary resuscitation.

Methods: Transoesophageal cardiac pacing with alternating current was used to induce ventricular fibrillation in rats. Five groups were set: Sham group (S group), ROSC group (R group), PGE₁ group (P group), TTM group (T group) and PGE₁/TTM group (PT group).

[Multivariate factors analysis on length of stay in Lushan earthquake victims].

Objective: To clarify the factors associate with the length of stay (LOS) in Lushan Earthquake victims.

Methods: We retrospectively analyzed the medical information of 263 traumatic patients admitted to West China Hospital, Sichuan University after the Lushan Earthquake. Ten variables extracted for the analysis, including gender, age, injuried time, multiple injury, infection, comorbidities, Injury Severity Score (ISS), Revised Trauma Score (RTS) CRAMS score, and Prehospital Index (PHI).

SODOCK: swarm optimization for highly flexible protein-ligand docking.

Protein-ligand docking can be formulated as a parameter optimization problem associated with an accurate scoring function, which aims to identify the translation, orientation, and conformation of a docked ligand with the lowest energy. The parameter optimization problem for highly flexible ligands with many rotatable bonds is more difficult than that for less flexible ligands using genetic algorithm (GA)-based approaches, due to the large numbers of parameters and high correlations among these parameters. This investigation presents a novel optimization algorithm SODOCK based on particle swarm optimization (PSO) for solving flexible protein-ligand docking problems.