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Injectable calcium sulphate/phosphate cement (CSPC) with degradable characteristic was developed by introduction of calcium sulphate (CS) into calcium phosphate cement (CPC). The setting time, compressive strength, composition, degradation, cells and tissue responses to the CSPC were investigated. The results show that the injectable CSPC with optimum L/P ratio exhibited good injectability, and had suitable setting time and mechanical properties. Furthermore, the CSPC had good degradability and its degradation significantly faster than that of CPC in Tris-HCl solution. Cell culture results indicate that CSPC was biocompatible and could support MG63 cell attachment and proliferation. To investigate the in vivo biocompatibility and osteogenesis, the CSPC were implanted in the bone defects of rabbits. Histological evaluation shows that the introduction of CS into CPC enhanced the efficiency of new bone formation, and CSPC exhibited good biocompatibility, degradability and osteoconductivity with host bone in vivo. It can be concluded that the injectable CSPC had a significant clinical advantage over CPC, and might have potential to be applied in orthopedic, reconstructive and maxillofacial surgery, especially for minimally invasive techniques.

BackgroundThis study investigated the clinical efficiency of enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) using uniportal video‐assisted thoracoscopic surgery for lung cancer.MethodsThe clinical data of 83 patients with early‐stage non‐small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) at the First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University from January 2016 to February 2017 were retrospectively analyzed. ERAS was applied to 38 patients (ERAS group), while 45 patients received conventional surgical treatment (control group). The operative duration, number of lymph nodes retrieved, blood loss, visual analogue scale (VAS), postoperative duration of chest tube placement, length of hospital stay, and postoperative complications were compared between the groups.ResultsSurgeries were conducted successfully in all patients, and no mortality occurred during the perioperative period. The ERAS group had better VAS on the third postoperative day, shorter chest tube duration, and shorter length of hospital stay (P < 0.05). No differences between the groups in terms of operative duration, number of lymph nodes retrieved, blood loss, VAS on the first postoperative day, or complication rate were found (P > 0.05).Conclusions ERAS using uniportal video‐assisted thoracoscopic surgery for NSCLC patients is safe and practicable, and could also reduce the length of hospital stay.

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Abstract. SWI/SNF chromatin remodeling complexes are frequently mutated in a variety of human cancers. We investigated the mutation incidence and the role of mSWI/SNF (BAF) complexes in human lung cancer. In the present study, we analyzed somatic mutations of BAF complexes and other driver mutated genes of lung carcinoma deposited in the Catalogue of Somatic Mutations in Cancer (COSMIC) database. BAF complexes were mutated in 282 of 803 (35.12%) lung carcinoma samples analyzed, ranking second to TP53. Significantly, BAF-mutated samples exhibited more genomic mutations than BAF wild-type ones. Moreover, a significant positive correlation existed between the BAF mutations and overall genomic mutations in these lung carcinoma samples (P<0.001, Pearson's correlation analysis). Specifically, the mutant-typing of 6 BAF genes, SMARCA4, ARID2, ARID1B, BCL11A, BCL11B and BRD9 was associated with more overall mutations in the lung carcinoma samples. A mutation reporter system was developed by means of the establishment of stable cell sublines with slippage-luciferase transcript in a lung adenocarcinoma cell line, Calu-3. SMARCA4, the most frequently mutated BAF gene in lung cancer, was stably knocked down by pSUPER constructs carrying short hairpin RNA (shRNA). Mutation ratios determined from the mutation reporters of Calu-3 cells were significantly increased upon stable SMARCA4 knockdown. We demonstrated that genetic mutations of BAF complexes lead to genome instability of lung carcinoma. Therefore, BAF complexes play an important role in maintaining genome stability in human lung cancer.

Intervertebral disc degeneration (IDD) is a major pathological process implicated in low back pain and is a prerequisite to disk herniation. Interleukin-1 α (IL-1α) was thought to be involved in the pathogenesis of disc degeneration by increasing the production of extracellular matrix degradation enzymes and by inhibiting extracellular matrix synthesis. IL-1α may provide insight about the etiology of IDD. We performed a hospital-based case-control study involving 200 IDD patients and 200 controls in the Chinese Han population. Genotyping was performed using a custom-by-design 48-Plex single nucleotide polymorphism Scan™ Kit. Our study indicated that IL-1α -899C/T polymorphism could increase the risk of IDD under the homozygous, recessive, and allelic models. Subsequently, we validated this significant association by a meta-analysis. Stratification analysis of ethnicity in this meta-analysis also obtained a significant association among Asians and Caucasians. In conclusion, the present study finds that IL-1α -899C/T polymorphism is associated with the risk of IDD. Larger studies with more diverse ethnic populations are needed to confirm these results.

We describe a 63-year-old Chinese woman with generalized granuloma annulare (GGA) associated with chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection for 10 years. She developed non-annular papule lesions after a previous infection of hepatitis B virus. Since then, her clinical course was aggressive with involvement of the trunk, extremities and neck. Histologically, granulomatous inflammations were found in the upper to mid dermis. The HBV DNA in these lesions was demonstrated by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). GGA was totally regressed after treatment of interferon-alpha for 3 months. To the best of our knowledge, GGA associated with chronic HBV infection has never been reported in literature. The prognostic significance of the association of granulomatous inflammation and virus infection is reviewed.

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