[Standardized diagnosis and treatment of colorectal cancer during the outbreak of novel coronavirus pneumonia in Renji hospital]

Novel coronavirus pneumonia (NCP) is currently raging in China. It has been proven that NCP can be transmitted from human to human and cause hospital infection, which seriously threatens surgical staffs and inpatients. Although colorectal surgery is not a front-line subject in the fight against the epidemic, but in this special situation, now it is a difficult task that with the premise of how to maximize the protection for patients and their families, health of medical staff, and the safety of wards and hospitals, we can provide the highest quality medical services to ensure the orderly development of previous clinical work. Referring to the "Diagnosis and Treatment Scheme for NCP (Trial Version 4 and 5)" and combining the actual practice situation in our hospital with the "Summary of New Coronavirus Files of Shanghai Renji Hospital", we summarize how to carry out the clinical practice of colorectal surgery under the situation of the prevention and control of the NCP epidemiology, meanwhile under such situation aiming the procedure of diagnose and treatment for emergency patients with colorectal tumor, we share the experiences of the diagnosis of colorectal tumor, the management of patients with colorectal cancer who are scheduled to be admitted for surgery, the protection of wards, the perioperative management. More importantly, we introduce in detail the operative management and perioperative management of colorectal surgery patients suspected or diagnosed with new coronary pneumonia, including prevention and control measures for medical staff, operating rooms and surgical instruments. The main points are as follows: (1) Multidisciplinary team (MDT) must be run through the diagnosis and treatment of colorectal cancer. The members include not only routine departments, but also respiratory department and infectious department. (2) Colonoscopy examination may cause cross infection of NCP to patients and doctors. Therefore, it is prior to examine the emergency cases and life-threatening patients (bleeding, obstruction, gastrointestinal foreign bodies, etc.). If the emergent patients (intestinal obstruction) with suspected or confirmed NCP, the surgeons must perform emergency surgery, and intestinal decompressive tube through colonoscopy is not recommended. (3) The colorectal cancer patients with suspected or confirmed NCP should be placed in the isolated room with separate medical devices, and the operative room with negative pressure (under-5 Pa) must be separated. All disposable medical items, body fluids and feces of the patients in perioperative periods must be unified disposed according to the medical waste standard. (4) The surgical medical workers who process colorectal cancer patients with NCP must be protected by three-level. After operation, the medical workers must receive medical observation and be isolated for 14 days. We hope our "Renji experience" will be beneficial to colleagues.

[Countermeasures and treatment for aortic acute syndrome with novel coronavirus pneumonia]

The novel coronavirus pneumonia (NCP) has cost a great loss to the health and economic property of Chines people. Under such a special circumstance, how to deal with such patients with acute aortic syndrome has become a serious challenge. Rapid diagnosis of concomitant NCP, safe and effective transportation, implementation of the interventional procedure, protection of vascular surgical team and postoperative management and follow-up of such patients have become urgent problems for us. Combined with the latest novel government documents, the literature and the experiences from Wuhan, we answered the above questions briefly and plainly. It also hopes to inspire the national vascular surgeons to manage critical emergencies in vascular surgery and even routine vascular diseases with NCP, as a final point to limit the severe epidemic situation, and minimize the damage of NCP.

Adjustable and ultrafast light-cured hyaluronic acid hydrogel: promoting biocompatibility and cell growth

Bio-sourced hydrogels are attractive materials for diagnosing, repairing and improving the function of human tissues and organs.

MiR-1269a acts as an onco-miRNA in non-small cell lung cancer via down-regulating SOX6

OBJECTIVE

Lung cancer, especially non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), remains one of the leading death-causing malignant tumors worldwide. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) have been identified to participate in the development and progression of NSCLC. However, the role of miR-1269a in NSCLC still needs to be elucidated. The objective of this study was to investigate the function of miR-1269a in NSCLC and its underlying mechanism.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

Quantitative Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction (qRT-PCR) was utilized to measure the expression level of miR-1269a in NSCLC tissues and cell lines. After transfection with miR-1269a mimics or inhibitors, the expression level of miR-1269a in NSCLC was up- or down-regulated. Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK-8) assay and colony formation assay were used to measure cell proliferation ability. Flow cytometry assay was applied to verify the cell cycle distributions of established cell lines. The potential target of miR-1269a was determined by using dual-luciferase and Western blot assays.

RESULTS

miR-1269a was significantly over-expressed in NSCLC tissues than that in adjacent normal tissues. The expression of miR-1269a was also up-regulated in NSCLC-derived cell lines. Up-regulation of miR-1269a improved the abilities of cell proliferation, colony formation, and induced cell cycle transition. Meanwhile, down-regulation of miR-1269a decreased the capacities of cell proliferation, colony formation, and arrested the cell cycle. It was further implicated that SOX6 was verified as a target of miR-1269a in NSCLC and over-expressed SOX6 could rescue the effect of miR-1269a up-regulation.

CONCLUSIONS

Our study demonstrated that miR-1299a could function as an onco-miRNA in NSCLC and promote NSCLC growth via down-regulating the expression of SOX6.

Mutation Analysis of Pre-mRNA Splicing Genes PRPF31, PRPF8, and SNRNP200 in Chinese Families with Autosomal Dominant Retinitis Pigmentosa

BACKGROUND

To screen variants in pre-mRNA Splicing genes in 95 Chinese autosomal dominant retinitis pigmentosa (adRP) families.

METHODS

Clinical examination and pedigree analysis were performed. Targeted exome sequencing (TES) and / or Sanger sequencing were performed to detect the variants in genes of Splicing factors and conduct intra-familiar segregation analysis with DNA available. In silico analysis was performed to predict pathogenicity of variants in protein level and in vitro splicing assays were performed to compare splicing variants with their corresponding wildtype about their splicing effect.

RESULTS

In this study, total nine different variants were identified in PRPF31, SNRNP200, and PRPF8 respectively, including six PRPF31 variants [five novel variants 322+1G>A, c.527+2T>G, c.590T>C(p.Leu197Pro), c.1035_1036insGC (p.Pro346Argfs X18), and c.1224dupG (p.Gln409AlafsX66) plus one reported variant c.1060C>T (p.Arg354X)], a recurrent PRPF8 variant c.6930G>T (p.Arg2310Ser), two SNRNP200 variants [one heterozygous and homozygous SNRNP200 recurrent variant c.3260G>A (p.Ser1087Leu), and a reported heterozygous c.2042G>A(p.Arg681His)]. In family 20009, incomplete penetrance was observed. A novel PRPF31 missense variant c.590T>C (p.Leu197Pro) was predicted to be pathogenic in protein level via in silico analysis and in vitro splicing assay demonstrated that two novel splicing PRPF31 variants c.322+1G>A and c.527+2T>G affect splicing compared with the wildtype.

CONCLUSIONS

In our studies, RP-causing variants of pre-mRNA Splicing genes (PRPF31, PRPF8 and SNRNP200) were identified in nine of the ninety-five adRP families respectively, which extend the spectra of RP variant and phenotype. And we provide the first example that SNRNP200-related RP can be caused by both heterozygous and homozygous variants of this gene.

Design of salt-responsive and regenerative antibacterial polymer brushes with integrated bacterial resistance, killing, and release properties

The development of smart materials and surfaces with multiple antibacterial actions is of great importance for both fundamental research and practical applications, but this has proved to be extremely challenging. In this work, we proposed to integrate salt-responsive polyDVBAPS (poly(3-(dimethyl(4-vinylbenzyl) ammonio)propyl sulfonate)), antifouling polyHEAA (poly(N-hydroxyethyl acrylamide)), and bactericidal TCS (triclosan) into single surfaces by polymerizing and grafting polyDVBAPS and polyHEAA onto the substrate in a different way to form two types of polyDVBAPS/poly(HEAA-g-TCS) and poly(DVBAPS-b-HEAA-g-TCS) brushes with different hierarchical structures, as confirmed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), atom force microscopy (AFM), and ellipsometry. Both types of polymer brushes demonstrated their tri-functional antibacterial activity to resist bacterial attachment by polyHEAA, to release ∼90% of dead bacteria from the surface by polyDVBAPS, and to kill ∼90% of bacteria on the surface by TCS. Comparative studies also showed that removal of any component from polyDVBAPS/poly(HEAA-g-TCS) and poly(DVBAPS-b-HEAA-g-TCS) compromised the overall antibacterial performance, further supporting a synergistic effect of the three compatible components. More importantly, the presence of salt-responsive polyDVBAPS allowed both brushes to regenerate with almost unaffected antibacterial capacity for reuse in multiple kill-and-release cycles. The tri-functional antibacterial surfaces present a promising design strategy for further developing next-generation antibacterial materials and coatings for antibacterial applications.

One-Pot and One-Step Fabrication of Salt-Responsive Bilayer Hydrogels with 2D and 3D Shape Transformations

Bilayer hydrogels are one of the most promising materials for use as soft actuators, artificial muscles, and soft robotic elements. Therefore, the development of new and simple methods for the fabrication of such hydrogels is of particular importance for both academic research and industrial applications. Herein, a facile, one-pot, and one-step methodology was used to prepare bilayer hydrogels. Specifically, several common monomers, including N-isopropyl acrylamide, acrylamide, and N-(2-hydroxyethyl)acrylamide, as well as two salt-responsive zwitterionic monomers, 3-(1-(4-vinylbenzyl)-1H-imidazol-3-ium-3-yl)propane-1-sulfonate (VBIPS) and dimethyl-(4-vinylphenyl)ammonium propane sulfonate (DVBAPS), were chosen and employed with different combinations and ratios to understand the formation and structural tunability of the bilayer hydrogels. The results indicated that a salt-responsive zwitterionic-enriched copolymer, which could precipitate from water, plays a dominant role in the formation of the bilayer structure and that the ratio between the common monomer and the zwitterionic monomer had a significant effect on the structure. Due to the salt-responsive properties of polyVBIPS and polyDVBAPS, the resultant bilayer hydrogels exhibited excellent bidirectional bending properties in response to the salt solution. With the optimal monomer pair and ratio determined, the bend of the hydrogel could be reversed from ∼-360 to ∼266° in response to a switch between water and a 1.0 M NaCl solution. Additionally, this method was further used to fabricate small-scaled patterns with structural and compositional distinction in two-dimensional hydrogel sheets. These two-dimensional hydrogel sheets exhibited complex and reversible three-dimensional shape transformations due to the different bending behaviors of the patterned hydrogel stripes under the action of an external stimulus. This work provides greater insight into the mechanism of the one-step, one-pot method fabrication of bilayer hydrogels, demonstrates the ability of this method for the preparation of small-scale patterns in hydrogel sheets to endow the complex with a three-dimensional shape transformation capability, and hopefully opens up a new pathway for the design and fabrication of smart hydrogels.

Electric Assisted Salt-Responsive Bacterial Killing and Release of Polyzwitterionic Brushes in Low-Concentration Salt Solution

Polyzwitterionic brushes with strong antipolyelectrolyte effects have shown great potential as versatile platforms for the development of switchable friction/lubrication and bacterial absorption/desorption surfaces. However, the surface property switches of these brushes are usually triggered by high salt concentrations (>0.53 M), thereby greatly limiting their applications in biological fields where the salt concentration for mammals is ?0.15 M. To solve this problem, an electric field was used to assist the salt-responsive process of the polyzwitterionic brushes to achieve bacterial release at low concentrations of the salt solution. Briefly, poly(3-(dimethyl (4-vinylbenzyl) ammonium) propyl sulfonate) (polyDVBAPS) brushes grafted on ITO surfaces were prepared by surface initiated atom transfer radical polymerization. The bacterial release of this surface was conducted under an electric field, where anions were migrated and enriched around the brush-grafted ITO surface as anode. The local high concentration ion led to the conformation change of the brush and release of the attached bacteria. The effect of salt type, salt concentration, electric field strength, and conducting time on the bacterial release properties were investigated. The results indicated that under an electrical field of 3 V/mm, polyDVBAPS showed release capacities of ?93% for E. coli and ?81% for S. aureus in 0.12 M NaCl electrolyte solution. Furthermore, by the introduction of a bactericidal agent, i.e., Triclosan (TCS), an antibacterial surface with dual functions of killing and release was fabricated. This surface could kill ?90% and release 95% of attached E. coli in a 0.12 M NaCl solution by the application of a 3 V/mm electric field. This work demonstrated the feasibility of triggering a salt-responsive behavior of polyzwitterionic at low salt concentration by assistance of electric field, which would greatly extend the applications of polyzwitterionic, in particular in biological applications.

Extrusion Foaming of Lightweight Polystyrene Composite Foams with Controllable Cellular Structure for Sound Absorption Application

Polymer foams are promising for sound absorption applications. In order to process an industrial product, a series of polystyrene (PS) composite foams were prepared by continuous extrusion foaming assisted by supercritical CO₂. Because the cell size and cell density were the key to determine the sound absorption coefficient at normal incidence, the bio-resource lignin was employed for the first time to control the cellular structure on basis of hetero-nucleation effect. The sound absorption range of the PS/lignin composite foams was corresponding to the cellular structure and lignin content. As a result, the maximum sound absorption coefficient at normal incidence was higher than 0.90. For a comparison, multiwall carbon nanotube (MWCNT) and micro graphite (mGr) particles were also used as the nucleation agent during the foaming process, respectively, which were more effective on the hetero-nucleation effect. The mechanical property and thermal stability of various foams were measured as well. Lignin showed a fire retardant effect in PS composite foam.

Synthesis and characterization of a novel ruthenium(ii) trisbipyridine complex magnetic nanocomposite for the selective oxidation of phenols

Anchoring ruthenium(ii) trisbipyridine complex [Ru(Bpy)₃]²⁺ into a magnetic dendritic fibrous silica nanostructure produces an unprecedented strong nanocatalyst, FeNi₃/DFNS/[Ru(Bpy)₃]²⁺.

Preparation of carbon-based hybrid particles and their application in microcellular foaming and flame-retardant materials

Polymeric microcellular foams with high strength and light weight are very important for industrial applications. However, regulating their cell structure and their weak flame retardancy are problematic. We designed single-arm POSS-based ionic liquids ([bel-POSS][PF₆]), and constructed hybrid composites based on physical interaction between ionic liquids and carbon-based materials in PS microcellular foaming. Ionization of bel-POSS could result in a quaternary ammonium reaction and ion-exchange reaction, and the carbon materials exhibit good dispersion through blending. The prepared hybrid composites showed high CO₂ adsorption. Conical calorimeter tests showed that PS composite materials could reduce the heat release rate, total heat release, toxic gases (CO₂ and CO) release, and amount of smoke generated. These carbon materials could affect PS micropore structure, including the cell diameter and density. Upon addition of 5 wt% of carbon materials, the hole diameter decreased by >50%, and the hole density increased nearly ten folds.

[Effect of short-acting combined oral contraceptives on bleeding after induced abortion]

Objective: To explore the effect of short-acting combined oral contraceptives on vaginal bleeding after induced abortion. Methods: A total of 726 patients, who had took induced abortion from July 2016 to September 2016 in obstetrics and gynecology outpatient department of Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University, were included and divided into the observation group and the control group according to whether they took short-acting combined oral contraceptives after induced abortion, with 312 cases, 414 cases respectively.The vaginal bleeding days, amounts of bleeding, the endometrial thickness 3 weeks later, and whether the patient had menstrual recovery on time were observed and analyzed. Results: The observation group had less bleeding days and amount of bleeding, compared with the control group.69.87% (218/312) patients of the observation group had more than 8mm of endometrial thickness on postoperative day 21, while 61.11% (253/414) of the observation group did, the difference was statistically significant (P=0.034).90.06% (281/312) patients of the observation group had menstrual recovery on time, while 82.61% (342/414) of the observation group did, the difference was statistically significant (P=0.004). Conclusion: Short-acting combined oral contraceptives after induced abortion can significantly shorten the vaginal bleeding days, reduce the amount of bleeding, promote endometrial repair and menstrual recovery.There fore, it has important clinical significance and application value.