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Rui Bai,1,2 Yuhang Sui,1,2 Tianqi Lu,1,2 Hua Chen,1,2 Gang Wang,1,2 Rui Kong,1,2 Hongtao Tan,1,2 Yongwei Wang,1,2 Guanqun Li,1,2 Bei Sun1,2 1Department of Pancreatic and Biliary Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University, Harbin, 150001, People’s Republic of China; 2Key Laboratory of Hepatosplenic Surgery, Ministry of Education, The First Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University, Harbin, 150001, People’s Republic of ChinaCorrespondence: Guanqun Li; Bei Sun, Department of Pancreatic and Biliary Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University, No. 23 Youzheng Street, Nangang District, Harbin, 150001, People’s Republic of China, Email liguanqun@hrbmu.edu.cn; sunbei70@hrbmu.edu.cnPurpose: The effects of the step-jump approach on the survival and prognosis of infected pancreatic necrosis (IPN) patients have not yet been determined.Patients and Methods: Between November 2018 and June 2023, 188 patients were included in this study. There were 144 patients in the step-up group (the SU group) and 44 in the step-jump group (the SJ group). In the SU group, patients successfully treated with percutaneous catheter drainage (PCD) alone were classified into the SU-1 group (n=101), while those requiring additional surgery after PCD were categorized into the SU-2 group (n=43). In the SJ group, patients who underwent minimally invasive necrosectomy (MIN) without PCD were assigned to the SJ-1 group (n=34), whereas those who initially underwent PCD followed by immediate open surgery were placed in the SJ-2 group (n=10). Propensity score matching (PSM) was used to mitigate bias.Results: After PSM, a total of 34 pairs were successfully matched. A comparison of the SU group with the SJ-1 group (upfront MIN without PCD) revealed similar mortality rates (P=0.239); however, the incidences of multiple drug-resistant organisms (MDROs) (P=0.029) and surgical complications (P< 0.001) were significantly lower in the SJ-1 group. After comparing the SU-2 and SJ-2 groups (patients who underwent direct open necrosectomy without MIN after PCD failure), the incidences of surgical complications and MDRO in the SJ-2 group were significantly lower (P< 0.05).Conclusion: Compared with the step-up approach, the step-jump approach is safer and more effective and can significantly reduce the incidence of MDRO and surgical complications.Keywords: infected pancreatic necrosis, step-up approach, step-jump approach, propensity score match

Wen Bao,1,&ast; Deqing Wu,1,&ast; Wei Han,1 Rui Kong,1 Nan Wang,1 Jie Lu2 1Department of Gastroenterology, Shanghai Tenth People’s Hospital, Tongji University, Shanghai, 200072, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of Gastroenterology, Gongli Hospital, School of Medicine, Shanghai University, Shanghai, 200135, People’s Republic of China&ast;These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Jie Lu, Email kennisren@hotmail.comBackground: Extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (ESWL) and endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) are the main treatments for chronic calcific pancreatitis (CCP). However, clinical outcomes remain unclear for patients underwent different interventional therapies based on these two techniques.Methods: A total of 125 patients with CCP who underwent ESWL, ERCP or a combined treatment at two medical centers from January 2019 to January 2020 were considered. Patients were divided into four groups according to intervention types (ESWL-alone, ERCP-alone, ESWL-ERCP and ERCP-ESWL). A retrospective survey with a follow-up for 2 years was conducted. The main outcome measures were postoperative complications, abdominal pain and re-intervention during the follow-up. Possible prognostic factors were evaluated by multivariate analysis.Results: Patients in ESWL-ERCP group had the highest complete pain relief rate (49.28%), the lowest pain frequency (1 time/year) and intensity (VAS-score, 1.84± 1.93) during the follow-up, which were statistically significant compared with the other three groups. ESWL-ERCP group also had the lowest postoperative complication rate (6%), while the highest complication rate (16%) was observed in ESWL-alone group. Both ESWL-alone and ESWL-ERCP group had significant lower frequencies of re-interventions (0.44 ± 0.73, 0.57± 0.98, respectively) after the initial treatments. An analysis of treatment-based prognostic factors found significant interactions between age, course of CCP, max pancreatic duct stone diameter, calcium, glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c) and triglyceride.Conclusion: ESWL-ERCP was considered as the most effective interventional therapy for CCP with a better safety in a two-year follow-up. Prognostic factors may help to determine the patients who benefit by this technique.Keywords: chronic calcific pancreatitis, ESWL, ERCP, follow-up

Ao Duan,1,&ast; Zemeng Ma,2,&ast; Wanshun Liu,1,&ast; Kai Shen,1,&ast; Hao Zhou,1,&ast; Shunbing Wang,3 Renyi Kong,4 Yuqi Shao,5 Yunzi Chen,2 Wei Guo,6 Feng Liu1 1Department of Orthopedics, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, 210029, Jiangsu, People’s Republic of China; 2Key Laboratory of Immune Microenvironment and Disease, Department of Immunology, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, 211100, People’s Republic of China; 3Department of Rheumatology and Immunology, Affiliated Hospital of Hospital of North Sichuan Medical College, Nanchong, 637000, People’s Republic of China; 4Department of Orthopedics, Xincheng Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Maanshan, 243131, Anhui, People’s Republic of China; 5Department of Orthopedics, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Xuzhou Medical University, Xuzhou, 221006, Jiangsu, People’s Republic of China; 6Department of Urology, The Affiliated Wuxi No.2 People’s Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Wuxi, 214002, Jiangsu, People’s Republic of China&ast;These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Wei Guo; Feng Liu Email weiguo_gavin@163.com; njliuf@163.comBackground: Osteoarthritis (OA) is the most prevalent chronic joint disease globally. Loss of extracellular matrix (ECM) by chondrocytes is a classic feature of OA. Inflammatory cytokines, such as interleukin-1β (IL-1β) and interleukin-18 (IL-18), secreted mainly by macrophages, promote expression of matrix degrading proteins and further aggravate progression of OA. 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D (1,25VD) modulates inflammation thus exerting protective effects on cartilage tissue. However, the underlying mechanisms of 1,25VD activity have not been fully elucidated.Methods: The destabilization of the medial meniscus (DMM)-induced mice model of OA was established to investigate the protective effects of 1,25VD by micro-CT and Safranin-O and Fast Green staining. And the co-culture system between THP-1 cells and primary chondrocytes was constructed to explore the effects of vitamin D receptor (VDR) and 1,25VD on chondrogenic proliferation, apoptosis, and migration. The immunofluorescence staining and Western blot analysis were used to detect the expressions of ECM proteins and matrix degradation-associated proteases. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was used to examine the expression levels of inflammatory cytokines.Results: The findings of the study showed that 1,25VD prevented cartilage degeneration and osteophyte formation by inhibiting secretion of inflammatory cytokines in OA mice model. These protective effects were exerted through the vitamin D receptor (VDR). Further studies showed that 1,25VD increased ubiquitination level of NLRP3 by binding to VDR, resulting in decrease in IL-1β and IL-18 secretion. These findings indicate that 1,25VD binds to VDR thus preventing chondrogenic ECM degradation by modulating macrophage NLRP3 activation and secretion of inflammatory cytokines, thus alleviating OA progression.Conclusion: Here, our study suggests that 1,25VD, targeting to VDR, prevents chondrogenic ECM degradation through regulating macrophage NLRP3 activation and inflammatory cytokines secretion, thereby alleviating OA. These findings provide information on a novel molecular mechanism for application of 1,25VD as OA therapy.Keywords: osteoarthritis, 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D, vitamin D receptor, NLRP3, inflammatory cytokines

Duan A, Ma Z, Liu W, et al. J Inflamm Res. 2021;14:6523–6542. The Editor and Publisher of Journal of Inflammation Research wish to retract the published article. Concerns were raised following the authors request to replace images from Figure 2 and Figure 8. It was found that images from several figures within the article appeared to have been duplicated. Specifically, Figure 1, MMP13, OA+Vehicle appears to have been duplicated with Figure 2, ADAMTS5, VDR−/–OA+Vehicle. Figure 2, ADAMTS5, VDR−/–OA+Vitamin D appears to have been duplicated with Figure 2, MMP13, VDR−/–OA+Vehicle. Figure 8, LPS&Nig, Mφ-VDRKD+Vehicle appears to have been duplicated with Figure 8, LPS&Nig, Mφ-VDRKD+1,25VD. In addition, it was also found the image from Figure 5F, Mφ-NCKD, LPS&Nig appears to have been duplicated with Figure 2C, IL-1β+PBS from Duan et al, 2021 (https://doi.org/10.1186/s13287-021-02507-2). The authors did respond to our queries and explained the duplication of images occurred due to the poor management of the original data files. It was determined the duplication of images and admission of poor data management did raise concerns about the validity of the findings and the decision was made to retract the article. The authors agree with this decision. Our decision-making was informed by our policy on publishing ethics and integrity and the COPE guidelines on retraction. The retracted article will remain online to maintain the scholarly record, but it will be digitally watermarked on each page as “Retracted”. This retraction relates to this paper

Abstract. Objectives. This study aims to not only investigate the prevalence of social alienation among elderly patients undergoing radical prostatectomy for prostate cancer but also identify the contributing factors. Materials and methods. A total of 245 elderly patients diagnosed with prostate cancer and undergoing radical prostatectomy at a tertiary care general hospital in Jinan were included in this study. To assess the patients, several questionnaires were used. These included the General Situation Questionnaire, General Alienation Scale, Social Impact Scale, Modified Memorial Anxiety Scale for Prostate Cancer, and Perceived Social Support Scale. Pearson correlation analysis was conducted to examine the relationships between variables, whereas multiple linear regression was used to identify the factors influencing social alienation among patients who underwent radical prostatectomy. Results. Patients who underwent radical prostatectomy had a mean total score of 44.13 ± 7.24 on the Social Alienation Scale. The results of the Pearson correlation analysis indicated that social alienation showed an inverse association with social support (r = −0.627, p < 0.05) and positive associations with age, disease stigma, and anxiety (r = 0.325, 0.575, 0.421, all p’s < 0.01) among patients who underwent radical prostatectomy. The findings from multiple linear regression analysis demonstrated that educational level, age, urinary incontinence, disease stigma, anxiety, and social support significantly influenced social alienation among elderly patients who underwent radical prostatectomy (p < 0.05). Conclusions. Elderly patients who undergo radical prostatectomy often experience social alienation. This study found that social alienation was associated with factors such as educational level, age, urinary incontinence, social support, anxiety, and disease stigma. Consequently, healthcare providers should actively monitor the degree of social alienation in elderly patients after radical prostatectomy and provide suitable psychological care to facilitate positive social reintegration and alleviate their feelings of social alienation.

The low temperature disaster in spring is one of the main agro-meteorological disasters affecting the yield and quality of winter wheat by affecting the development process and physiological function, resulting in yield reduction. In order to clarify the quantitative relationship between spring low temperature stress and winter wheat yield and its components in Huang-Huai-Hai Region, an indicator is constructed based on yield reduction rate. Based on 1924 sets of experimental data and control data in 34 retrieved literatures, effects of low temperature stress on wheat yield and its components at green-up stage, jointing stage, booting stage and heading-flowering stage are analyzed by Meta-analysis. Using the minimum temperature and accumulated cold of the process as identification factors, the critical thresholds of 0, 10% and 30% of yield reduction rate are determined by using the Youden's Index to establish and verify the low temperature disaster grade indicator. Results show that the yield and its components of winter wheat are jointly affected by the intensity and duration of low temperature to different extent in different developmental stages. The yield and all its components decrease significantly under low temperature stress, and the sensitivity of panicle number per plant and grain number per panicle to low temperature stress is greater than that of thousand kernel weight. The low temperature disaster grade indicators are constructed according to the yield reduction rate of (0, 10%], (10%, 30%], (30%, 100%]. Taking the minimum temperature (unit: ℃) of the process as identification factor, ranges for low temperature disaster grade (Ⅰ, Ⅱ, Ⅲ) during the green-up stage are [-5.0, -2.0), [-8.5, -5.0),

This paper first introduces the use of data mining technology in the development of the traditional culture of martial arts. This paper begins with the optimized FCM algorithm, obtains the fuzzy pattern through the affiliation function, and builds a prediction model using the clustering algorithm of fuzzy time series. The historical development trend of Chinese martial arts traditional culture is predicted using this model. The results show that the process of defuzzification prediction divides the literature on the development of traditional culture of martial arts into five groups, and the five clustering centers are A1: 3055-4693, A2: 5603-6919, A3: 6388-7497, A4: 7984-8150, and A5: 8876-9483. The predicted values of the FCM algorithm model for the literature of the first group to the fifth group are respectively 3735.3, 5374.05, 6351.57, 7048.56, and 9144.31. The average error of prediction is 0.134, 0.062, 0.094, 0.126, and 0.025, respectively. The average prediction accuracies of the predictions are all >85%, and in particular, the accuracy of predicted values for the fifth group reaches 98%. It can be seen that the prediction model proposed in this paper is effective in predicting the historical development trend of the traditional culture of martial arts.

As the climate warms, the threat of high temperature to China's maize production is increasing. Starting from the concept and classification of high temperature heat damage, the research progress is systematically summarized, expounding the hazard mechanism, meteorological causes, disaster causative indicators, spatial and temporal distribution and defense countermeasure of high temperature heat damage of maize, and the future research trend is also discussed. The high temperature heat damage of maize in China has a long duration, and its impacts can be divided into four categories:Delay, obstacle, poor growth and mixed. High temperature reduces the photosynthetic rate of maize, weakens pollen activity, inhibits the scattering of powder, shortens the filling time, and causes the yield and quality of maize to decrease. The high temperature and heat damage weather in maize growing areas is mainly caused by abnormal circulation and affected by the degree of atmospheric dryness. The meteorological causes, main types and occurrence periods of high temperature and heat damage are different in each dominant maize region. The disaster indicators include physiological and biochemical indicators and meteorological indicators, but there is no clear and unified standard for distinguishing high-temperature heat damage in maize at present. In the past 10 years, the intensity and frequency of heat damage of maize have increased. High temperature and heat damage of spring maize mostly occurs in flowering and pollination period, and the risk is higher in northeast Liaoning and southwest of Northeast China. High temperature heat damage of summer maize is more likely to occur after the jointing period, and is more frequent in southeastern Hebei Province, most of Henan Province and western Shandong Province. There are two methods to prevent the high-temperature heat damage of maize. The research on monitoring and early warning of high-temperature heat damage is still in its infancy, and the adverse effects of high-temperature heat damage on maize can be reduced by selecting appropriate field cultivation and management measures. The future research should focus on establishing a comprehensive dynamic maize high temperature heat damage index system, strengthening the simulation and risk assessment and further developing a refined monitoring and early warning service system.

The viticulture area around the Bohai Bay is the largest grape producing area in China. Waterlogging disaster is a major agricultural meteorological disaster in China, which seriously threatens grape production. Waterlogging indexes are utilized on field crops widely, but most of them can only be evaluated after the end of the growing season, which lacks the timeliness of monitoring and evaluating the process of waterlogging disasters. Taking the main grape producing areas in the Bohai Rim of China as the research object, the waterlogging grade index is constructed based on the daily meteorological data, grape growth stage data and grape waterlogging historical disaster data from 303 meteorological stations in the study area from 1980 to 2019. In the process of index construction, the influence of previous water surplus and deficit status on the current waterlogging process is fully considered, and the climate adaptability of crops in a certain place is considered. The daily waterlogging index of grapes is constructed by referring to the relative humidity index method of crops. Taking historical disaster inversion and disaster process analysis as the main line, Lilliefors test of normal distribution and t-distribution interval estimation method are used to construct the grape waterlogging disaster grade index system suitable for the main grape producing areas around the Bohai Bay, starting from the duration and intensity of waterlogging disaster. Based on the classification index of grape waterlogging disasters constructed above, the frequency of waterlogging disasters at each site in the Bohai Rim from 1980 to 2019 is counted, and the probability of disasters at each site is obtained by using information diffusion theory. Considering the probability and intensity of waterlogging disasters of each grade, the risk index of grape waterlogging in each station in the region is calculated. The results show that the occurrence range of waterlogging disaster in the same growth period of grape decreases with the increase of the disaster level, while the occurrence range of severe waterlogging disaster in different growth periods gradually increases with the advancement of development process. The risk of grape waterlogging is relatively low during the period of bud-shoot growth and flowering and fruit-setting, while the high-risk period of grape waterlogging is the period of fruit expansion and coloring and maturity. The high-risk areas of grape waterlogging disaster are mainly located in the southeast of Shandong Province, the southeast of Liaoning Province and the northeast of Hebei Province.

The disaster of wire icing is one important natural disaster that causes accidents in the power system. Its research progress is summarized from the related concepts and classification of wire icing, the influence and hazard of wire icing, temporal and spatial distribution characteristics, causes, influence factors, forecast models, risk assessment, and preventive measures are integrated. Besides, the further research directions of wire icing are also investigated. In China, wire icing can be classified as two major kinds, including glaze ice and rime ice. The hazards caused by wire icing mainly include line overload accidents, adjacent uneven ice coating or deicing accidents in different periods, insulator string ice flash accidents, and ice-coated wire galloping accidents. The most important conditions for ice accretion are the presence of cold air and sufficient water vapor conditions, which are closely related to the atmospheric circulation situation. The environmental causes of wire icing also include quasi-stationary fronts, vertical atmospheric structure, and temperature inversion. In addition, it is also affected by meteorological factors, terrain, height, the characteristics of the wires themselves and so on. In general, the disaster of wire icing presents a distribution pattern of rime ice in the north and glaze ice in the south. In the north, the areas with frequent wire icing are scattered, and in the south are distributed in strips. The disaster of wire icing mainly occurs in winter, and occasionally occurs in autumn and spring. The earliest start date is usually in October and the last finish date is in the next April, and the dates vary depending on the latitudes. The disaster of wire icing appears more frequently in the winter months of December, January, and February. Under historical climate warming condition, the number of ice accretions has a change in the 1980s and 1990s, which declines after the 1990s. Since the 1950s, various ice accretion prediction models have been developed. In the early days, some fixed models are proposed, and later, many regional models are established using regression methods, artificial neural networks, support vector machines and other methods. The current risk assessment of disaster of wire icing mainly focuses on risks and vulnerabilities. Future research directions include the comprehensive indicators of wire icing based on multidisciplinary indicators, comprehensive risk assessment based on catastrophic processes, and the impact of climate change on wire icing.

It is of great merit to construct apple drought index and analyze its hazard risk so as to support apple drought monitoring, prevention and mitigation, as well as agricultural disaster insurance management. Based on meteorological data, associated with historical disaster and phenophase data, apple drought index (DI) in northern China is firstly constructed, which fully considered previous and current water demand and precipitation supply. Afterwards, historical disaster remodeling, disaster sample reconstruction and process-based historical disaster analysis are comprehensively used as key technologies in evaluating the level of apple drought, integrating the independent sample T-test, Kolmogorov-Smirnov(K-S) test, cumulative probability inverse method, etc. Meanwhile, the apple drought risk is consequently estimated to seek the characteristics of apple drought hazard in detail. The results show that there are significant differences by independent T-test of drought index (DI) between historical recorded disaster samples and the non-disaster samples in three apple tree phenophases, i.e., the tree germinating to flower budding period, flower budding to full bloom and full bloom to mature periods (passing the test of 0.05 level). Therefore, the apple drought index constructed can effectively represent the drought disaster in different stages of apple development. The threshold of DI in the same level is higher in tree germinating to flower budding period, followed by flower budding to full bloom and full bloom to mature periods. The drought risk during flower budding to full bloom is high with regional average apple drought hazard index (M) of 0.44, followed by tree germinating to flower budding period and full bloom to mature period, with reginal average M of 0.40 and 0.25, respectively. Furthermore, the Bohai Bay region and northern Loess Plateau are detected as high-risk areas of apple drought. The evaluation method of apple drought based on historical disaster processing and re-analysis can provide new ideas for economic forest and fruit meteorological disaster research. The results of apple drought hazard risk assessment could provide evidence for the prevention and mitigation of apple drought in northern China.

Objective To investigate the predictive value of neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NLR) in the peripheral blood and its changes (ΔNLR) after radiotherapy in advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients. Methods The clinical data of 70 patients with advanced NSCLC who received simple radiotherapy in our hospital from March 2011 to June 2016 with complete follow-up data were retrospectively analyzed. The patients were divided into 2 groups based on the short-term efficacy: the radiotherapy sensitivity (PR+CR) group and non-sensitivity (SD+PD) group. They were also divided into 2 groups based on the long-term efficacy with median progression-free survival (PFS) as the critical value. Blood routine test was carried out before and after radiotherapy, and the results was compared between the 2 groups. Then with NLR as the critical value, the patients were divided into 2 groups. Differences in short-term efficacy were compared between those with increased NLR and those with decreased NLR. Results Before radiotherapy, NLR and other blood cell parameters had no correlation with radiosensitivity or PFS (P>0.05). After radiotherapy, NLR and ΔNLR were negatively correlated with short-term efficacy (P < 0.05), but was not correlated with PFS. After radiotherapy, NLR median value was 4.93, and objective response rate (ORR) was 69% when NLR < 4.93; and was 37% when ≥4.93. In the group with decreased NLR (ΔNLR < 0) after radiotherapy, ORR was 71%; in the group with increased NLR (ΔNLR≥0) after radiotherapy, ORR was 45%. Platelet to lymphocyte ratio (PLR), monocytes to lymphocyte ratio (MLR), ΔPLR and ΔMLR were also negatively correlated with short-term efficacy after radiotherapy (P < 0.05), and PLR, MLR and NLR were consistent, while ΔPLR, ΔMLR and ΔNLR were also consistent after radiotherapy (r>0.5, P < 0.001). Conclusion After radiotherapy both NLR and ΔNLR can be used as predictive indicators for the short-term efficacy of radiotherapy in NSCLC patients.

Despite the success of various clustering algorithms for Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs), there are few works that consider the interference between clusters. Obviously, interference-free clustering makes the communication more efficient and achieves energy saving. In this paper we propose a new clustering method for large-scale sensor networks. With this method the network is partitioned into clusters. Intra-cluster communication in a cluster has no interference by its neighbor clusters. Moreover, the proposed clustering is based on a Genetic Algorithm (GA), which can achieve optimal performance in terms of the number of isolated nodes. This is demonstrated by the simulation analysis.

Abstract Background Aeromonas spp. have been regarded as "emerging pathogens". Aeromonads possess multifactorial virulence and the production of many of these virulence determinants is associated with high cell density, a phenomenon that might be regulated by quorum sensing. However, only two species of the genus are reported to possess the luxRI quorum sensing gene homologs. The purpose of this study was to investigate if the luxRI homologs are universally present in the Aeromonas strains collected from various culture collections, clinical laboratories and field studies. Results Of all the 73 Aeromonas strains used in the study, seventy-one strains elicited acyl-homoserine lactone-mediated response in multiple biosensor strains. However, dot blot hybridization revealed that the luxRI homologs are present in all the strains. PCR amplification and sequencing revealed that the luxRI homologs shared a very high percentage sequence similarity. No evidence for lateral gene transfer of the luxRI homologs between aeromonads and other genera was noted. Conclusion We propose that the luxRI quorum sensing gene homologs are universally present in the genus Aeromonas independently from their origin. This study is the first genus-wide report of the taxonomic distribution of the luxRI homologs.