The prevalence of AF has increased in recent years, and it was positively correlated with socioeconomic status, sex (women), location (rural areas), and stroke.

ObjectiveIn China, despite a high coverage rate, health insurance is not used for all illness episodes. Our goal is to identify subjects’ characteristics associated with insurance utilization and the association between utilization and medical expenditure.MethodsA survey was conducted in January and February of 2012. 2093 middle-aged and elderly subjects (45 years old and above) were surveyed.ResultsHeath insurance was not utilized for 12.6% (inpatient), 53.3% (outpatient), and 72.6% (self-treatment) of disease episodes. Subjects’ characteristics were associated with insurance utilization. Inpatient and outpatient treatments were expensive. In the multivariate analysis of outpatient treatment expenditure, insurance utilization was significantly associated with higher treatment cost, lost income, and gross total cost.ConclusionUtilization of health insurance may need to be improved. Insurance utilization can reduce out-of-pocket medical expenditure. However, the amount paid by the insured is still high. Policy intervention is needed to further improve the effectiveness of health insurance.

AIM:To investigate the antioxidant activity of chitooligosaccharides (COSs) on pancreatic islet cells in diabetic rats induced by streptozotocin. METHODS:The antioxidant effect of COSs on pancreatic islet cells was detected under optical microscopy and with colorimetric assay and gel electrophoresis. The activities of glutathione peroxidase and superoxide dismutase, total antioxidant capacity, and content of malondialdehyde in serum and tissue slices of pancreas were examined after 60 d to determine the effect of COSs in streptozotocin-induced diabetes in rats. RESULTS:COSs can prohibi t the apoptosis of pancreatic islet cells. All concentrations of COSs can improve the capability of total antioxidant capacity and activity of superoxide dismutase and decrease the content of malondialdehyde drastically. Morphological investigation in the pancreas showed that COSs have resulted in the reduction of islets, loss of pancreatic cells, and nuclear pyknosis of pancreatic cells. CONCLUSION:COSs possess various biological activities and can be used in the treatment of diabetes mellitus.

There was no difference between LH and RFA in terms of OS in patients with a single, small HCC. However, RFA was less invasive than the LH, but LH was associated with increased RFS.

Background Approximately 8.3–15.9% of patients with clinical stage I non‐small cell lung cancer are subsequently shown to have lymph node metastasis. However, the clinical characteristics of patients with lymph node metastasis in China are not fully understood. Methods This is a multicenter retrospective analysis of pathological T1 non‐small cell lung cancer patients who underwent surgical resection from 2 January 2014 to 27 December 2017. Clinical and pathological information was collected with the assistance of the Large‐scale Data Analysis Center of Cancer Precision Medicine‐LinkDoc database. The clinical and pathological factors associated with lymph node metastasis were analyzed by univariate and multivariate logistic regression. Results A total of 10 885 participants (51.6% women; 15.3% squamous cell carcinoma) were included in the analysis. The median age was 60.0 years (range 12.9–86.6 years). A total of 1159 patients (10.6%) had metastases in mediastinal nodes (N2), and 640 patients (5.9%) had metastasis in pulmonary lymph nodes (N1). Most patients had T1b lung cancer (4766, 43.8%). Of the patients, 3260 (29.9%) were current or former smokers. The univariate and multivariate analyses showed that younger age, squamous cell carcinoma, poor differentiation, larger tumor size, carcinoembryonic antigen level ≥5 ng/mL, and vascular invasion (+) were significantly associated with higher percentages of lymph node metastases ( P < 0.001 for all). Conclusion This real‐world study showed the significant association of lymph node metastasis with age, tumor size, histology and differentiation, carcinoembryonic antigen levels, and status of vascular invasion. Female patients with T1a adenocarcinoma in the right upper lobe barely had lymph node metastasis.