In vitro remodeling and structural characterization of degradable polymer scaffold-based tissue-engineered vascular grafts using optical coherence tomography.

Non-destructive imaging strategies to monitor long-term cultures is essential for vascular engineering. The goal of this study is to investigate whether optical coherence tomography (OCT) can be a suitable approach to monitor the long-term remodeling process of biodegradable polymeric scaffold-based tissue-engineered vascular grafts (TEVG) after pulsatile stimulation and to observe polymeric scaffold degradation during bioreactor cultivation. In the present study, a perfusion system driven by a ventricular assist device was provided for a three-dimensional culture system as a pulsatile force.

Association of p73 G4C14-to-A4T14 polymorphism with lung cancer risk.

Conflicting results were implicated in both single case-control studies and meta-analyses of the correlation between p73 G4C14-to-A4T14 polymorphism and lung cancer risk. We designed this study to further assess the association by meta-analysis. A meta-analysis was performed based on five case-control studies (5,467 subjects) retrieved from PubMed and Embase.

A comparison between acute pressure block of the sciatic nerve and acupressure: methodology, analgesia, and mechanism involved.

Acupressure is an alternative medicine methodology that originated in ancient China. Treatment effects are achieved by stimulating acupuncture points using acute pressure. Acute pressure block of the sciatic nerve is a newly reported analgesic method based on a current neuroscience concept: stimulation of the peripheral nerves increases the pain threshold.

[Three-dimensional conformal radiotherapy combined with stereotactic radiotherapy for locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer: efficacy and complications].

Objective: To evaluate the therapeutic efficacy of three-dimensional conformal radiotherapy (3DCRT) combined with stereotactic radiotherapy (SRT) and the radiation-induced complications in patients with locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

Methods: Sixty-eight patients with locally advanced NSCLC were randomly divided into two groups. The 33 patients in groups A received 3DCRT at the total dose of 66 to 70 Gy in 33 to 35 fractions, and the 35 patents in group B received stereotactic radiotherapy (SRT) at the dose of 20 Gy in 4 fractions (500 cGy per fraction every other day) after 60 Gy 3DCRT.