Dose escalation in radical radio(chemo)therapy for cervical and upper thoracic esophageal cancer with 3DCRT/IMRT (ChC&UES): a multicenter retrospective study.

Background: Cervical and upper thoracic esophageal cancer (ESCA) presents treatment challenges due to limited clinical evidence. This multi-center study (ChC&UES) explores radical radio(chemo)therapy efficacy and safety, especially focusing on radiation dose.

Method: We retrospectively analyzed clinical data from 1,422 cases across 8 medical centers.

Immune checkpoint inhibitors combined with or without radio(chemo)therapy for locally advanced or recurrent/metastatic esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.

Objective: This study was designed to investigate the efficacy and prognostic factors for immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) combined with or without radio(chemo)therapy and to evaluate their toxicity in patients with locally advanced or recurrent/metastatic esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (LA/RM ESCC).

Methods: In this study, 198 patients with locally advanced or recurrent/metastatic (LA/RM) ESCC who received ICIs combined with or without radiotherapy/chemotherapy in the Department of Radiotherapy of the Fourth Hospital of Hebei Medical University were retrospectively analyzed. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to determine the prognostic factors for overall survival (OS) and progression free survival (PFS).

Mid-titer human convalescent plasma administration results in suboptimal prophylaxis against SARS-CoV-2 infection in rhesus macaques.

Introduction: ARS-CoV-2 is a respiratory pathogen currently causing a worldwide pandemic, with resulting pathology of differing severity in humans, from mild illness to severe disease and death. The rhesus macaque model of COVID-19 was utilized to evaluate the added benefit of prophylactic administration of human post-SARS-CoV-2 infection convalescent plasma (CP) on disease progression and severity.

Methods: A pharmacokinetic (PK) study using CP in rhesus monkeys preceded the challenge study and revealed the optimal time of tissue distribution for maximal effect.

Relationship between postoperative nodal skip metastasis of mid-thoracic esophageal squamous cell carcinoma and patient prognosis and its value in guiding postoperative adjuvant treatment.

Objective: To evaluate the predictive role of nodal skip metastasis (NSM) in the prognosis of lymph node-positive mid-thoracic esophageal squamous cell carcinoma, and to evaluate the significance of postoperative adjuvant treatment in patients with different sites of metastatic nodes.

Methods: A retrospective analysis was performed on clinical data of 321 lymph node-positive mid-thoracic esophageal squamous cell carcinoma patients who underwent surgery in the Fourth Hospital of Hebei Medical University. Based on the site and condition of lymph node metastasis by postoperative pathology, the patients were divided into two groups: NSM group and non-NSM (NNSM) group.

Clinical characteristics of membranous nephropathy with spontaneous remission: An analysis of 24 patients.

Purpose: To investigate the prognosis of patients with spontaneous remission (SR) of phospholipase A2 receptor (PLA2R)-associated membranous nephropathy (MN).

Patients And Methods: Patients diagnosed with MN were recruited after examining their renal biopsy in the Renal Department of China-Japan Friendship Hospital between January 2015 and September 2021. Among them, 24 patients with SR were included in this study and follow-up.

Construction of a predictive model of abdominal lymph node metastasis in thoracic esophageal squamous cell carcinoma and preliminary analysis of its effect on target for postoperative radiotherapy.

Purpose: To investigate the influencing factors of abdominal lymph node metastasis in thoracic esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (TESCC), and to construct its predictive model, in order to analyze the targets for postoperative radiotherapy.

Methods And Materials: From January 2008 to December 2014, the clinicopathological data of 479 patients who underwent radical resection for esophageal cancer in the Fourth Hospital of Hebei Medical University were collected and retrospectively analyzed. The influencing factors of postoperative abdominal lymph node metastasis were analyzed, and a predictive model was constructed based on their independent influencing factors.

Preliminary analysis of the benefits of different irradiation types on patients with postoperative locoregional recurrence of esophageal cell squamous carcinoma.

Background: To explore the benefits of different types of irradiation on patients with postoperative locoregional recurrence (LRR) of thoracic esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC).

Methods: We analyzed the medical records of 344 patients with recurrent esophageal cancer (EC) at the Fourth Hospital of Hebei Medical University. All patients met an inclusion criteria that included having postoperative LRR (without distant metastasis), and having received either chemotherapy, radiotherapy, or chemoradiotherapy after LRR.

Effect of SIB-IMRT-based selective dose escalation of local tumor on the prognosis of patients with esophageal cancer.

Background: To investigate the effect of SIB-IMRT-based selective dose escalation to local tumor on the prognosis of patients with esophageal cancer (EC).

Methods: A total of 302 EC patients were enrolled. The prognostic factors of the entire group were initially analyzed, and the composition ratios of the two groups and the different doses of each fraction for PTV were compared.

Dosimetric Predictors of Radiation Gastritis Due to Postoperative Intensity Modulated Irradiation Therapy in Patients with Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma After Radical Esophagectomy.

To explore the association between the incidence of acute radiation gastritis attributed to postoperative intensity modulated irradiation therapy (IMRT) and the dose volume of intrathoracic stomach of patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) after radical esophagectomy. The authors retrospectively collected the data of 49 ESCC patients who participated in postoperative IMRT treatment after radical esophagectomy, and analyzed the incidence of acute radiation gastritis during the treatment. Among all the 49 patients, acute grade ≥2 radiation gastritis was observed in 19 patients (39%).

Duloxetine effects on striatal resting-state functional connectivity in patients with major depressive disorder.

Reward deficits and associated striatal circuitry disturbances have been implicated in the onset and progression of major depressive disorder (MDD). However, no studies have been conducted to investigate how the striatal circuitry changes during standard antidepressant, which is important for development of novel and targeted treatments for MDD. We examined the seed-to-whole-brain functional connectivity (FC) for six striatal subregions based on resting-state fMRI data of 23 MDD patients before and after 8-week duloxetine, a serotonin, and noradrenaline reuptake inhibitor.

Complement depletion with cobra venom factor alleviates acute hepatic injury induced by ischemia‑reperfusion.

Increasing evidence has demonstrated that complement activation is required for ischemia‑reperfusion injury (IRI)‑induced hepatic damage, and cobra venom factor (CVF) can deplete the complement components. The aim of the current study was to investigate the effect and intrinsic mechanism of CVF pretreatment on IRI‑induced acute hepatic injury in rats. Acute hepatic injury in rats was induced by bone fracture to simulate trauma, followed by hemorrhage for 90 min, and then the rats were resuscitated for a period of 20 min of reperfusion.

Expression of the intrarenal angiotensin receptor and the role of renin-angiotensin system inhibitors in IgA nephropathy.

The critical role of the intrarenal renin-angiotensin system (RAS) in the development of kidney disease has been well demonstrated in animal and cell-culture experiments, but evidence from human kidney tissues is lacking. In this study, we screened 438 patients with IgA nephropathy (IgAN) and analyzed their clinical characteristics. Renal biopsy revealed the expression of angiotensin II type 1 receptor (AT1R), angiotensin II type 2 receptor (AT2R), and MAS receptor (MASR) in the tissues of 260 patients not treated with RAS inhibitors, 32 patients treated with angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEIs), and 89 patients treated with angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs).

[Value of Pediatric Early Warning Score in identifying the condition of critically ill children].

Objective: To study the value of Pediatric Early Warning Score (PEWS) in identifying the condition of critically ill children.

Methods: A total of 120 children who were transferred to the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) from the general ward during hospitalization or admitted to the PICU after emergency treatment in the Xiangya Hospital of Central South University from January to December, 2016 were enrolled as the PICU group. The other 120 children who were admitted to the general ward in the hospital were used as the control group.

1,25-Dihydroxyvitamin D inhibits the proliferation of rat mesangial cells induced by high glucose via DDIT4.

1,25-Dihydroxyvitamin D(1,25(OH) D) is a secosteroid with antiproliferative property. It also plays a pivotal renoprotective role in diabetic nephropathy. We investigated whether 1,25(OH)D could inhibit the proliferation of rat mesangial cells exposed to high glucose via the DNA-damage-inducible transcript 4/mammalian target of rapamycin(DDIT4/mTOR) pathway.

Necroptosis regulated proteins expression is an early prognostic biomarker in patient with sepsis: a prospective observational study.

Background And Aim: Increasing researchers indicate that necroptosis is playing an important role in the regulation of systemic inflammatory response syndrome. The current study was to investigate the prognostic biomarker of the regulated proteins of necroptosis in sepsis patients.

Results: One hundred and twenty-four patients were divided into three groups: 43 patients (34.

Analysis of the causes of failure after radical surgery in patients with TNM thoracic esophageal squamous cell carcinoma and consideration of postoperative radiotherapy.

Background: Five-year overall survival rate of TESCC after surgery is low (approximately 30% to 60%), so it is meaningful to discuss the significance of PORT.

Methods: We retrospectively collected the data of 227 patients with TNM esophageal cancer (EC). The failure pattern after surgery was analyzed.

Inhibition of PI3K/AKt/mTOR signaling pathway protects against d-galactosamine/lipopolysaccharide-induced acute liver failure by chaperone-mediated autophagy in rats.

Objective: This study aims to investigate the effects of PI3K/AKt/mTOR signaling pathway on the proliferation and apoptosis in acute liver failure (ALF) by chaperone mediated autophagy (CMA).

Methods: The hepatocytes extracted from both normal rats and rats with ALF were assigned to control, acute injury, P13K agonist, and P13K inhibitor groups. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) and western blotting were used as part of this investigation to detect the expression of PI3K/AKt/mTOR signaling pathway related-proteins (PI3K, AKt, mTOR), apoptosis related-proteins (Fas, Bax, Bcl-2), chaperone-mediated autophagy (CMA) marker proteins (LAMP-2A, HSC 70), p-PI3K, p-AKt, p-4E-BPI, and p-S6K.

Analysis of failure patterns in patients with resectable esophageal squamous cell carcinoma receiving chemoradiotherapy.

Purpose: This study investigates the failure pattern after chemoradiotherapy of patients with resectable esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC).

Materials And Methods: We retrospectively analyzed 92 patients with T1-2, N0-1, and M0 ESCC. These patients were inoperable because of poor performance, comorbidities, poor tumor region, or refusal of operation.

Interleukin-18 and miR-130a in severe sepsis patients with thrombocytopenia.

Background: Thrombocytopenia is one of the most common laboratory abnormalities encountered in patients with severe sepsis. It has been reported that thrombocytopenia is linked to mortality in patients with severe sepsis. However, the mechanism of thrombocytopenia in sepsis is unknown.