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The academic community requires not only responsible research but also responsible academic journals. An exploratory study of Chinese-language academic journals that used mixed methods found Chinese-language academic journals on the humanities and social sciences exhibiting a widespread status bias. Most of them summarily rejected submissions from junior researchers and students without paying due attention to the quality of the research itself. The main reasons for this problem are editorial department resources, the scientific research evaluation system, the editorial department culture, and the wider academic environment. This study recommends that Chinese-language academic journals join the Committee on Publication Ethics, other publishing ethics organizations, and the "Responsible Journals" program as soon as possible.

Osteoporosis is a highly prevalent disease characterized by bone mass loss and structural deterioration. There are evidences that altered differentiation of human bone marrow mesenchymal stromal/stem cells (hBMSCs) is a major cause for osteoporosis. Recent studies suggest that circular RNAs (circRNAs) are dysregulated in osteoporosis patients and involved in the pathogenesis of osteoporosis. In the present study, we are aimed to analyze the circRNA expression profiles in osteoporosis patients and identify potential circRNAs that involved in the differentiation of hBMSCs during osteoporosis. Transcriptome RNA-sequencing was conducted to search for differentially expressed circRNAs. Transwell assay, ARS and ALP staining, and ectopic bone formation model were performed to evaluate osteogenic differentiation of hBMSCs. RNA pull-down assay, RNA immunoprecipitation, western blot, and in vitro binding assay were conducted to evaluate the interaction of circRNAs and RNA-binding protein HuR. We found that hsa_circ_0008842 (designated as circZNF367) was upregulated in osteoporosis patients and decreased in hBMSCs during osteogenic differentiation. CircZNF367 overexpression suppressed migration, invasion and osteogenic differentiation of hBMSCs in vitro and in vivo. In comparison, knockdown of circZNF367 promoted migration, invasion and osteogenic differentiation of hBMSCs. CircZNF367 could interact with the RNA-binding protein HuR, thus reduced the mRNA stability of LRP5. Furthermore, HuR overexpression or LRP5 restoration abrogated the effects of circZNF367 overexpression on osteogenic differentiation of hBMSCs. Our results indicated that circZNF367 played a role in osteogenic differentiation of hBMSCs via reducing HuR-mediated mRNA stability of LRP5.

Dong Fang,1,* Nirmish Singla,2,* Zhengqing Bao,1,3,* Syed M Jafri,4 Xiaohong Su,1 Zhenpeng Cao,1 Gengyan Xiong,1 Lei Zhang,1 Solomon Woldu,2 Ryan Hutchinson,2 Arthur Sagalowsky,2 Yair Lotan,2 Xuesong Li,1 Jay D Raman,4 Vitaly Margulis,2 Liqun Zhou1 1Department of Urology, Peking University First Hospital, Institute of Urology, Peking University, National Urological Cancer Center, Beijing, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of Urology, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA; 3Department of Urology, Beijing Jishuitan Hospital, The Fourth Medical College of Peking University, Beijing, People’s Republic of China; 4Division of Urology, Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, Hershey, PA, USA*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Liqun ZhouDepartment of Urology, Peking University First Hospital, Institute of Urology, Peking University, National Urological Cancer Center, No. 8 Xishiku Street, Xicheng District, Beijing 100034, People’s Republic of ChinaTel +86-10-83575006Fax +86-10-66551726Email zhoulqmail@sina.comPurpose: To analyze the effect of preoperative serum sodium and hemoglobin on oncologic outcomes in upper tract urothelial carcinoma (UTUC) based on a multi-center cohort from China and the United States (U.S.).Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the records of 775 patients with UTUC treated surgically at tertiary care medical facilities in China or the US from 1998 to 2015. We analyzed associations of preoperative serum sodium and hemoglobin with clinicopathological characteristics, overall survival (OS), cancer-specific survival (CSS) and intravesical recurrence free survival (IVRFS).Results: The US patients had comparatively lower serum sodium and similar hemoglobin at baseline. Preoperative low serum sodium value was associated with tumor multifocality, lymph node metastasis (LNM) and lymphovascular invasion (LVI); preoperative anemia was associated with advanced age, tumor multifocality, high tumor grade and LVI. Preoperative low serum sodium was an independent predictor of worse OS in the entire cohort; preoperative anemia was an independent predictor of worse OS and CSS in the US cohort alone, Chinese cohort alone and the combined cohort. We developed a predictive nomogram for OS which exhibited better prognostic value when it included the values of sodium and anemia, and successfully validated it in different cohorts.Conclusion: Preoperative low serum sodium and anemia could be informative in predicting worse pathologic and survival outcomes in different UTUC patient ethnic groups.Keywords: upper tract urothelial carcinoma, serum sodium, anemia, survival, China, the United States

Objectives To characterize antiviral activity of the capsid assembly modulator (CAM-N) JNJ-56136379 against HBV genotypes and variants carrying amino acid substitutions in the core protein. Methods Anti-HBV activity of JNJ-56136379 was investigated against a diverse panel of 53 HBV clinical isolates (genotypes A–H). The impact of core amino acid substitutions using site-directed mutants (SDMs) was assessed in a transient replication assay. Results JNJ-56136379 median 50% effective concentration (EC50) values across all genotypes were 10–33 nM versus 17 nM (genotype D reference). JNJ-56136379 remained active against isolates carrying nucleos(t)ide analogue resistance mutations (median EC50 2–25 nM) or basal core promoter (BCP) ± precore (PC) mutations (median EC50 13–20 nM) or PC mutations (median EC50 11 nM), representing activity against isolates from HBeAg-positive and -negative hepatitis B patients. Core amino acid substitutions in the CAM-binding pocket, when tested as SDMs at positions 23, 25, 30, 33, 37, 106, 110, 118, 124, 127 and 128, reduced JNJ-56136379 anti-HBV activity; EC50 fold increases ranged from 3.0 (S106T) to 85 (T33N). All substitutions were rare in a public database of >7600 HBV core sequences (frequencies 0.01%–0.3%). Nucleos(t)ide analogues retained full activity against these core SDMs. Conclusions JNJ-56136379, a potent HBV CAM-N, currently in Phase 2 clinical development, was generally fully active against an extensive panel of genotype A–H clinical isolates, regardless of the presence of nucleos(t)ide analogue resistance or BCP/PC mutations. JNJ-56136379 activity was reduced by some core amino acid substitutions in the CAM-binding pocket.

The optical output of near-ultraviolet (NUV) light-emitting diodes (LEDs) was improved by including a monolayer of hexagonal close-packed polystyrene (PS) nanospheres. PS nanospheres with different sizes were deposited on the indium tin oxide layer of the NUV LEDs. The electroluminescence results showed that the light extraction efficiency of the NUV LEDs was increased by the inclusion of PS nanospheres, and the maximum optical output enhancement was obtained when the size of the nanospheres was close to the light wavelength. The largest enhancement of the optical output of 1.27-fold was obtained at an injection current of 100 mA. The enhanced optical output was attributed to part of the incident light beyond the critical angle being extracted when the exit surface of the NUV LEDs had a PS nanosphere monolayer. This method may serve as a low-cost and effective approach to raise the efficiency of NUV LEDs.

As the difference from traditional commodity trade, copyright trade not only transmits economic value with real products as carriers, but also transmits cultural value with subject consciousness as form, which often occupies an important position in trade friction. This paper summarizes the position of copyright trade in Sino–US trade friction from the perspective of Sino–US trade history, and considers it is not only one of the key incentives for Sino–US trade friction in the current stage, a game chip between the two sides in the upgrading stage, but also one of the key points of China’s reform in the calming stage. Based on this, this paper analyzes the reason why copyright trade occupies an important position in Sino–US trade friction, and regards that China should draw lessons from history and continuously deepen the reform of copyright trade in the legal system, market cultivation, internationalization of enterprises, so as to promote the sound development of copyright trade.

An intense terahertz laser field is shown to actively manipulate the electronic states, as well as the linear and nonlinear optical absorption coefficients, of the laterally-coupled quantum well wires (LCQWWs). The laser-dressed quantum states of the LCQWWs are achieved using the non-perturbative Floquet method and the two-dimensional diagonalization technique under the effective mass approximation. We have demonstrated that the intense terahertz laser field induces a strong deformation of the confinement potential configuration of the LCQWWs, thus pronouncedly dressing the energy levels and wave functions. An unambiguous picture is depicted for the evolution of the laser-dressed quantum states with the increase of the laser-dressed parameter characterizing the strength of the laser-dressed effect. On this basis, the resonant peak positions of the linear and nonlinear optical absorption coefficients feature a blue shift followed by a red shift with an increase of the laser-dressed parameter. Furthermore, the evolution of the peak values for the linear and third-order nonlinear optical absorption coefficients as a function of the laser-dressed parameter is comprehensively discussed. Moreover, in contrast to the case without intense terahertz laser field, the peak values of the linear, third-order nonlinear, and total optical absorption coefficients can be obviously enhanced at the same frequency position by manipulating the appropriate laser-dressed parameter. A similar feature can be found in the linear, third-order nonlinear, and total refractive index changes. Our findings are conducive to the implementation of the expected quantum states and nonlinear optical effects in the LCQWWs, paving the way for new designs in tunable optical switches, infrared photo-detectors and infrared modulators.

To evaluate the effectiveness of arthroscopic Pushlock anchor fixation with iliac creast bone autograft in the treatment of recurrent anterior shoulder instability with critical bone defect.The clinical data of 80 patients with recurrent anterior shoulder instability with critical bone defect treated by arthroscopic Pushlock anchor fixation with iliac creast bone autograft between January 2016 and January 2019 were retrospectively analyzed. The patients were all male; they were 18-45 years old at the surgery, with an average of 25 years old. The disease duration ranged from 3 months to 5 years, with an average of 2 years. The shoulder joint dislocated 3-50 times, with an average of 8 times. X-ray films, MRI, CT scans and three-dimensional reconstruction of the shoulder were performed before operation. The area of the anterior glenoid defect was 25%-45%, with an average of 27.3%. The shoulder mobility (forward flexion and external rotation in abduction at 90°), the Constant-Murley score, and the Rowe score were used to evaluate the shoulder function before operation and at last follow-up.Patients were followed up 1-3 years, with an average of 2 years. No shoulder dislocation occurred again during follow-up. All partial graft absorption occurred after operation, CT scan showed that the graft absorption ratio was less than 30% at 1 week and 3 months after operation. CT three-dimensional reconstruction at 1 year after operation showed that all grafts had healed to the glenoid. The anterior glenoid bone defect was less than 5% (from 0 to 5%, with an average of 3.2%). At last follow-up, the shoulder mobility (forward flexion and external rotation in abduction at 90°), the Constant-Murley score, and the Rowe score significantly improved when compared with preoperative ones (Arthroscopic Pushlock anchor fixation with iliac creast bone autograft has a good effectiveness in the treatment of recurrent anterior shoulder instability with critical bone defect. The method is relatively simple and the learning curve is short.探讨关节镜下Pushlock免结锚钉软式固定自体髂骨移植治疗复发性肩关节前向不稳伴严重骨缺损的临床疗效。.回顾分析2016年1月—2019年1月采用关节镜下Pushlock免结锚钉软式固定自体髂骨移植治疗的80例复发性肩关节前向不稳伴严重骨缺损患者临床资料。患者均为男性；手术时年龄18～45岁，平均25岁。病程3个月～5年，平均2年。肩关节脱位3～50次，平均8次。术前行肩关节X线片、MRI、CT扫描及三维重建，前方关节盂骨性缺损面积为25%～45%，平均27.3%。采用术前及末次随访时肩关节活动度（前屈上举和外展90° 外旋）、肩关节Constant-Murley评分和肩关节Rowe评分进行肩关节功能评估。.术后患者均获随访，随访时间1～3年，平均2年。随访期间均未发生肩关节再次脱位。术后移植物均发生部分吸收，1周及3个月CT示移植物吸收比例30%。术后1年CT三维重建示所有移植物已愈合至关节盂，前方关节盂骨性缺损面积均≤5%（0～5%，平均3.2%）。末次随访时，患者肩关节前屈上举活动度、外展90° 外旋活动度、Constant-Murley 评分及Rowe评分均较术前显著改善，差异有统计学意义（关节镜下Pushlock免结锚钉软式固定自体髂骨移植治疗复发性肩关节前向不稳伴严重骨缺损效果良好，该方法相对简单，学习曲线短。.

Superconducting qubits provide a promising path toward building large-scale quantum computers. The simple and robust transmon qubit has been the leading platform, achieving multiple milestones. However, fault-tolerant quantum computing calls for qubit operations at error rates significantly lower than those exhibited in the state of the art. Consequently, alternative superconducting qubits with better error protection have attracted increasing interest. Among them, fluxonium is a particularly promising candidate, featuring large anharmonicity and long coherence times. Here, we engineer a fluxonium-based quantum processor that integrates high qubit-coherence, fast frequency-tunability, and individual-qubit addressability for reset, readout, and gates. With simple and fast gate schemes, we achieve an average single-qubit gate fidelity of 99.97% and a two-qubit gate fidelity of up to 99.72%. This performance is comparable to the highest values reported in the literature of superconducting circuits. Thus our work, for the first time within the realm of superconducting qubits, reveals an approach toward fault-tolerant quantum computing that is alternative and competitive to the transmon system.

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A unique challenge in creating high-quality animatable and relightable 3D avatars of real people is modeling human eyes, particularly in conjunction with the surrounding periocular face region. The challenge of synthesizing eyes is multifold as it requires 1) appropriate representations for the various components of the eye and the periocular region for coherent viewpoint synthesis, capable of representing diffuse, refractive and highly reflective surfaces, 2) disentangling skin and eye appearance from environmental illumination such that it may be rendered under novel lighting conditions, and 3) capturing eyeball motion and the deformation of the surrounding skin to enable re-gazing. These challenges have traditionally necessitated the use of expensive and cumbersome capture setups to obtain high-quality results, and even then, modeling of the full eye region holistically has remained elusive. We present a novel geometry and appearance representation that enables high-fidelity capture and photorealistic animation, view synthesis and relighting of the eye region using only a sparse set of lights and cameras. Our hybrid representation combines an explicit parametric surface model for the eyeball surface with implicit deformable volumetric representations for the periocular region and the interior of the eye. This novel hybrid model has been designed specifically to address the various parts of that exceptionally challenging facial area - the explicit eyeball surface allows modeling refraction and high frequency specular reflection at the cornea, whereas the implicit representation is well suited to model lower frequency skin reflection via spherical harmonics and can represent non-surface structures such as hair (i.e. eyebrows) or highly diffuse volumetric bodies (i.e. sclera), both of which are a challenge for explicit surface models. Tightly integrating the two representations in a joint framework allows controlled photoreal image synthesis and joint optimization of both the geometry parameters of the eyeball and the implicit neural network in continuous 3D space. We show that for high-resolution close-ups of the human eye, our model can synthesize high-fidelity animated gaze from novel views under unseen illumination conditions, allowing to generate visually rich eye imagery., ACM Transactions on Graphics, 41 (4), ISSN:0730-0301, ISSN:1557-7368

Dielectric loss is one of the major decoherence sources of superconducting qubits. Contemporary high-coherence superconducting qubits are formed by material systems mostly consisting of superconducting films on substrate with low dielectric loss, where the loss mainly originates from the surfaces and interfaces. Among the multiple candidates for material systems, a combination of titanium nitride (TiN) film and sapphire substrate has good potential because of its chemical stability against oxidization, and high quality at interfaces. In this work, we report a TiN film deposited onto sapphire substrate achieving low dielectric loss at the material interface. Through the systematic characterizations of a series of transmon qubits fabricated with identical batches of TiN base layers, but different geometries of qubit shunting capacitors with various participation ratios of the material interface, we quantitatively extract the loss tangent value at the substrate-metal interface smaller than $8.9 \times 10^{-4}$ in 1-nm disordered layer. By optimizing the interface participation ratio of the transmon qubit, we reproducibly achieve qubit lifetimes of up to 300 $\mu$s and quality factors approaching 8 million. We demonstrate that TiN film on sapphire substrate is an ideal material system for high-coherence superconducting qubits. Our analyses further suggest that the interface dielectric loss around the Josephson junction part of the circuit could be the dominant limitation of lifetimes for state-of-the-art transmon qubits.

Some institutions have issued blacklists of academic journals in China and use them as a basis for research evaluation. However, due to a lack of transparent formulation criteria, the characteristics of blacklisted journals remain unclear. Using blacklisted academic journals of the East China University of Political Science and Law, this study analyzed differences in characteristics between blacklisted and non-blacklisted journals via web surveys and statistical analyses. Statistically significant differences were detected for article review time, article processing charges (APCs), the number of editorial board members, and the journal impact factor. There was no significant difference in the number of editors. While there is scientific merit in creating and publishing a blacklist of academic journals, the list development process requires more rigorous evaluation and a public process of development.

BACKGROUND: Studies regarding the prevalence and factors associated with severe pre-operative chronic kidney disease (CKD) in upper tract urinary carcinoma (UTUC) patients were rare due to the low prevalence of UTUC. We conducted the present study to investigate the prevalence, clinicopathological features, and prognosis in UTUC patients with severe preoperative CKD. METHODS: The study included 731 patients with UTUC treated with radical nephroureterectomy (RNU) in a large Chinese center. Estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) was calculated by re-expressed Modification of Diet in Renal Disease (MDRD) formulas for the Chinese population. Severe preoperative CKD was defined as CKD stage 4–5 (eGFR

BackgroundNumerous studies have investigated the risk factors of intravesical recurrence (IVR) after radical nephroureterectomy (RNU) in patients with upper urinary tract urothelial carcinoma (UTUC). However, few studies explore the predictors for unfavorable pathological types of IVR following RNU.MethodsWe retrospectively reviewed 155 patients diagnosed with bladder cancer (BC) following RNU. Binary logistic regression was used for the univariable and multivariable analyses. Nomograms were developed based on the multivariable analysis. The concordance index (C-index) was used to assess the performance of the nomograms. We performed internal validation by generating calibration plots.ResultsMuscle-invasive BC (MIBC) was significantly correlated with operation interval (p = 0.004) and UTUC T-stage (p = 0.016). Operation interval (p = 0.002) and UTUC T-stage (p = 0.028) were also risk factors for BC > 3 cm. UTUC grade (p = 0.015), operation interval (p = 0.003), and hydronephrosis (p = 0.049) were independent predictors for high-grade BC (HGBC). MIBC (p = 0.018) and surgical approach (p = 0.003) were associated with multifocal IVR. Besides, MIBC and HGBC were associated with UTUC grade (p = 0.009), operation interval (p = 0.001), and hydronephrosis (p = 0.023). Moreover, only operation interval (p = 0.036) was a predictor for BC with at least one unfavorable pathological type. We developed nomograms for MIBC, HGBC, BC > 3 cm, and MIBC and/or HGBC. The calibration curves of the nomograms showed good agreement between the observation and prediction cases. The C-indexes of the nomograms were 0.820 (95% CI, 0.747–0.894), 0.728 (95% CI, 0.649–0.809), 0.770 (95% CI, 0.679–0.861), and 0.749 (95% CI, 0.671–0.827), respectively.ConclusionsThe current study found that operation interval, UTUC T-stage, UTUC grade, surgical approach, and hydronephrosis are independent predictors for unfavorable pathological types of IVR following RNU. Nomograms based on these predictors were developed and internally validated to assess the risk of developing unfavorable pathological types of IVR. Furthermore, patients at high risk of developing unfavorable pathological types BC may benefit from more active follow-up 1 year after RNU by early detection of IVR.

Tuberculous bladder contracture with a bilateral duplicated collecting system is rare. According to anatomic variation, the surgical treatment strategy is highly individualized. We illustrate our robotic technique of urinary tract reconstruction. A 19-year-old girl with a history of pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) as a young child presented with a complaint of increasing frequency of micturition, nocturia, urgency, and urge incontinence starting at the age of 17. Clinical and imaging examinations demonstrated tuberculous contracted bladder with a bilateral duplex collecting system. The patient underwent a robot-assisted Institute of Urology Peking University (IUPU) orthotopic ileal neobladder reconstruction. This is a modified urinary tract reconstructive method, including resection of the end of the duplex ureters and diseased contracted bladder with preservation of the proximal urethra and bladder neck, ileal harvesting and IUPU strategy to reconstruct an ileal neobladder, uretero-ileal anastomosis and neobladder-bladder neck anastomosis. The patient remained symptom-free without recurrence of TB and had improved renal function during the one-year follow-up after surgery. Thus, our robot-assisted IUPU orthotopic ileal neobladder reconstruction method is an effective approach for this benign case. It can effectively increase bladder capacity, reduce intravesical pressure, and improve symptoms such as urination frequency and urgency.

The carbon emission trading system, as a significant policy instrument to ensure the Chinese economy achieves a green and low carbon transition, will also affect economic enterprise efficiency. This paper takes listed enterprises in a Chinese carbon trading pilot from 2011 to 2020 as research samples, constructs a multi-period differential model, and explores the impact of Chinese the carbon emission trading system on enterprise capital allocation efficiency. We find that the Chinese carbon emission trading system effectively improves the capital allocation efficiency of enterprises, which is more significant in enterprises with light pollution intensity and strong regional environmental regulation. Further analysis shows that the carbon emission trading system can improve the efficiency of enterprise capital allocation by improving the efficiency of working capital management and asset operation efficiency, while the path of human capital value is not established. Carbon trading market activity and government efficiency play a positive moderating role in the impact of the carbon emission trading system on enterprise capital allocation efficiency. The higher carbon trading market activity and government efficiency, the stronger the relationship between them. The above conclusions provide empirical evidence for the microeconomic effects of the Chinese carbon emission trading system, and also provide a useful reference for the government to implement carbon trading according to local conditions and improve the efficiency of enterprise capital allocation.

Based on the selective excitations of the forward and backward propagating resonant guided modes, we achieve $dual$ bound states in the continuum ($dual$ BICs) in a compound grating waveguide structure composed of a four-part periodic grating layer and a waveguide layer. Assisted by the quasi-BIC corresponding to forward propagating resonant guided mode (quasi-BIC 1) and the one corresponding to backward propagating resonant guided mode (quasi-BIC 2), large $positive$ and $negative$ GH shifts can be simultaneously realized. Also, in contrast to the GH shift enhanced by conventional transmission-type resonance, large positive and negative GH shifts assisted by dual quasi-BICs possess 100% reflectance, which can be more easily detected and utilized. Our work provides a route to design GH-shift-based high-performance sensors, wavelength division (de)multiplexers and light storage devices.

Background To analyze the safety and clinical significance of performing ureteroscopy after ureteral reconstruction with autologous onlay/graft. To describe the ureteroscopic appearances of the appendiceal onlay flap and lingual mucosa graft. Methods Beginning in August 2018, we conducted a prospective cohort study of autologous onlay/graft techniques to repair ureteral strictures. The perioperative data of 42 patients who had undergone surgery more than 6 months prior were collected prospectively. During the postoperative follow-up, ureteroscopy was performed in 27 patients (64.3%) after surgery (group A), and ureteroscopy was not performed in the other 15 patients (35.7%) (group B). We carried out a comparative study of these two groups of patients. Analyses were conducted mainly on complications related to ureteroscopy and the success rate of ureteral reconstruction surgery. Results There were no significant differences in patient demographic data or the length of ureteral reconstruction between the two groups (P>0.05). For the ureteroscopy group, the median time from repair surgery to ureteroscopy was 3 (range, 2-7) months, there was no poor healing of the anastomosis, and the ureteral lumen of all patients was unobstructed. Some expected observations can be found in the ureteral lumen, such as mucosa edema, stones, follicles and granulation tissue. Among the 27 patients, one patient (3.7%) developed bleeding intraoperatively and 7 patients (25.9%) were found to have low-grade (Clavien-Dindo I and II) postoperative complications, including 5 cases of fever and 2 cases of bleeding. The mean follow-up times of patients in group A and group B were 16.7±6.4 and 19.0±10.1 months, respectively. The objective success (imaging showed hydronephrosis ease) rate of the two groups was 100%. The subjective success (symptom relief) rates of group A and group B were 96.3% and 100%, respectively. Conclusions Patients after autologous onlay flap/graft ureteroplasty do not need to undergo routine ureteroscopy unless there is aggravation of hydronephrosis or other indications for ureteroscopy, such as stones.

Correction for ‘Modulated podosome patterning in osteoclasts by fullerenol nanoparticles disturbs the bone resorption for osteoporosis treatment’ by Kui Chen et al., Nanoscale, 2020, 12, 9359–9365, DOI: 10.1039/D0NR01625J.

Aims: The prognostic significance of murine double minute 2 (MDM2) expression remains unknown in patients with upper tract urothelial carcinoma (UTUC). This study was designed to evaluate MDM2 expr...

This retrospective study investigated the clinical efficacy of individual extracorporeal shockwave treatment (IESWT) for early stage osteonecrosis of the femoral head (ONFH).The study included 56 patients (89 hips) with 28 patients (46 hips) in the IESWT group and 28 patients (43 hips) in the conventional ESWT (CESWT) group. The ONFH was caused by the use of steroids, trauma and alcohol consumption. The IESWT focal point was from the front of the femoral head and the exposed necrotic tissue in 3D environment was guided by simulation software. The CESWT focal point was the side of the femoral head and guided by MRI and X‑ray imaging. The evaluation standards included VAS score, Harris hip score (HHS), necrosis volume and healing rate.For the healing rate the results were 66.67% were improved, 21.43% unimproved and 11.90% aggravated in the CESWT group and 77.78% improved, 17.78% unimproved and 4.45% aggravated in the IESWT group. Statistically significant differences were observed in the healing rate between the two groups (P 0.05). This retrospective study demonstrated that the healing rate for IEWST was higher than for CEWST. There were no statistically significant differences in the VAS score and the HHS between the two groups (P 0.05). The effects of pain relief and functional recovery were not obvious and according to our clinical experience this may be due to a short clinical observation time where a longer time might result in better clinical results. Statistically significant differences were observed in the necrosis volume after 18 months between the 2 groups (P 0.05) and implied that IESWT can significantly reduce the volume of necrosis. The volume after 18 months in the IESWT group was significantly improved compared with baseline (P 0.05).The use of IESWT can significantly reduce the necrosis volume. No complications were found.