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Objective Hyperuricaemia is common in Bai individuals; however, its prevalence remains unclear. This work aimed to investigate high-altitude hyperuricaemia prevalence and risk factors in Bai individuals. Methods All eligible participants of Bai ethnicity (aged ≥18 years and undergoing routine medical examination at the People’s Hospital of Jianchuan County between January and December 2019) were consecutively enrolled. Demographic and laboratory data were collected to investigate hyperuricaemia prevalence and associated risk factors. Results A total of 1393 participants were assessed, comprising 345 (24.8%) with hyperuricaemia showing a male predominance (287/865 [33.2%] males versus 58/528 [11.0%] females). Hyperuricaemia prevalence was significantly higher in participants aged ≥50 years (100/332 [30.1%]) versus those aged 30–40 years (59/308 [19.2%]), and in overweight/obese individuals compared with those showing an underweight or normal body mass index (BMI; 267/885 [30.2%] versus 78/508 [15.4%]). Finally, haemoglobin concentrations and serum uric acid levels were positively correlated. Conclusion Besides traditional risk factors, including age, sex and BMI, polycythaemia due to prolonged exposure to high altitude may also cause hyperuricaemia in Bai individuals residing in Yunnan Province.

In this study, we experimentally identify the effect of liquid dielectrophoresis (LDEP) force on a superhydrophobic surface in directing the trajectory of moving water droplets across designed interdigitated electrodes and show that this method is capable of rapidly selecting droplets at a high speed (200 mm/s). As the droplets traverse down the surface by the electric field, their deflection on the edge of these electrodes is achieved successively, allowing for the selective manipulation of discrete droplets. A series of experiments were conducted to validate the relationships among droplet deflections, applied electric fields, and dynamic contact angles. Our findings reveal that the principal driving force behind the droplet deflections is the LDEP force, which can provide instant manipulation of moving droplets rather than a variation in contact angles brought about by electrowetting. This study presents a proof-of-concept experiment utilizing LDEP for high-throughput droplet selection and also highlights the potential applications of this mechanism in high-speed digital microfluidics (DMF) and biological separation methodologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Central South University is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Journal of Central South University is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Over the past seven decades, the grain yield of maize (Zea mays L.) has increased continuously in China, mostly due to hybridization innovations, particularly recent genetic improvements in photosynthesis. In order to reveal photosynthetic characters of elite inbred lines in different ears, a field experiment was conducted at the North China Plain of Shandong Province in China. Six parental lines of maize introduced in three eras (the 1960s, 1980s, and 2000s) were investigated diurnal variation of gas exchange, chlorophyll fluorescence, and photosynthetic response characteristic at the grain filling stage. Compared to earlier parental lines, the 2000s parental lines always had higher net photosynthetic rate (Pn) throughout the day, especially at noon, and a mid-day depression in Pn did not occur in all hybrids parental lines. Moreover, the stomatal conductance (Gs) and water use efficiency (WUE) of the 2000s’ lines showed higher value than those of the 1960s’ and 1980s’ lines. The inbred lines differences in photosynthetic parameters were partly owing to their different quantum carboxylation efficiencies and light synthase activities. Simultaneously, the 2000s parental lines exhibited lower light and CO2 compensation points, and their higher apparent quantum yield, and carboxylation efficiency. These suggested that the modern parental lines required lower light intensity and less CO2 to maintain a relatively high photosynthetic capacity, substantially increasing leaf physical quality and stress resistance. It provided crucial information of high photo-efficiency and stress-resistance breeding in maize.

Objective: As a traditional herbal formula, Mahuang Xixin Fuzi decoction (MXFD) has been used to treat allergic rhinitis (AR). It regulates the transcription factor GATA3 in T cells, blocks Th2 skewing and rebalances the Th1/Th2 immunity. Type 2 innate lymphoid cells (ILC2s) are closely associated with GATA3. However, it remains unknown whether ILC2s could be one mechanism through which MXFD acts. We sought to elucidate the efficacy and mechanism of action of this decoction in AR treatment. Methods: Forty C57BL/6J female mice were equally divided into control, model, loratadine- and MXFD-treated groups in random. AR was induced by ovalbumin (OVA), and then treatment with loratadine or MXFD was administered. AR scores were evaluated and compared before and after treatment. Pathological changes in the nasal mucosa and lung were observed using hematoxylin-eosin staining of tissue samples. Activation of ILC2 in nasal mucosa was assessed by immunofluorescence and quantitative polymerase chain reaction analysis. ILC2 cell count in lungs was measured by flow cytometry and levels of interleukin- (IL) 4, IL-5 and IL-13 in serum were detected by ELISA. Results: The decoction alleviated the symptoms of AR in mice, improved vascular congestion and expansion, glandular hyperplasia and inflammatory cell infiltration in mouse nasal mucosa and slowly improved the interstitial pneumonia and lesions. Meanwhile, MXFD reduced the number and percentage of ILC2s in the nasal mucosa and lungs, downregulated the expression of GATA3 mRNA and RORα mRNA, and reduced the related inflammatory cytokine levels, including IL-4, IL-5 and IL-13. Conclusion: These data suggest that inhibition of ILC2s by MXFD may be an important means by which to treat AR. Keywords: Mahuang Xixin Fuzi decoction, Allergic rhinitis, Type 2 innate lymphoid cells

Improving residential building energy consumption (RBEC) efficiency is important. The authors here test whether the measure truly reflects efficiency, and found that RBEC per square meter decreases with the increase of the building area per household, indicating the dilution effect.

Background: Dengue fever (DF) is the most rapidly spreading mosquito-borne viral disease. Practical vaccines or specific therapeutics are still expected. Environmental factors and genetic factors affect the susceptibility of Dengue virus (DV) infection. Asthma is a common allergic disease, with house dust mites (HDMs) being the most important allergens. Asthmatic patients are susceptible to several microorganism infections. Methods: A nationwide population-based cohort analysis was designed to assess whether to determine whether asthma can be a risk factor for DF. Results: Unexpectedly, our data from a nationwide population-based cohort revealed asthmatic patients are at a decreased risk of DF. Compared to patients without asthma, the hazard ratio (HR) for DF in patients with asthma was 0.166 (95% CI: 0.118–0.233) after adjustment for possible confounding factors. In the age stratification, the adjusted HR for DF in young adult patients with asthma was 0.063. Dendritic cell-specific intercellular adhesion molecule 3-grabbing non-integrin (DC-SIGN) of dendritic cells (DCs) is an important entry for DV. Through another in vitro experiment, we found that HDM can diminish surface expression of DC-SIGN in monocyte-derived DCs and further decrease the cellular entry of DV. Conclusions: Decreased DC-SIGN expression in DCs of allergic asthmatic patient may be one of many factors for them to be protected against DF. This could implicate the potential for DC-SIGN modulation as a candidate target for designing therapeutic strategies for DF. Keywords: Asthma, DC-SIGN, Dendritic cells, Dengue fever, House dust mite

Abstract. Background:. Collagen type IV (COL4)-related nephropathy includes a variety of kidney diseases that occur with or without extra-renal manifestations caused by COL4A3-5 mutations. Previous studies revealed several novel mutations, including three COL4A3 missense mutations (G619R, G801R, and C1616Y) and the COL4A3 chr:228172489delA c.4317delA p.Thr1440ProfsX87 frameshift mutation that resulted in a truncated NC1 domain (hereafter named COL4A3 c.4317delA); however, the mutation mechanisms that lead to podocyte injury remain unclear. This study aimed to further explore the mutation mechanisms that lead to podocyte injury. Methods:. Wild-type (WT) and four mutant COL4A3 segments were constructed into a lentiviral plasmid, then stably transfected into human podocytes. Real-time polymerase chain reaction and Western blotting were applied to detect endoplasmic reticulum stress (ERS)- and apoptosis-related mRNA and protein levels. Then, human podocytes were treated with MG132 (a proteasome inhibitor) and brefeldin A (a transport protein inhibitor). The human podocyte findings were verified by the establishment of a mus-Col4a3 knockout mouse monoclonal podocyte using clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats/CRISPR-associated protein 9 (CRISPR/Cas9) technology. Results:. Our data showed that COL4A3 mRNA was significantly overexpressed in the lentivirus stably transfected podocytes. Moreover, the COL4A3 protein level was significantly increased in all groups except the COL4A3 c.4317delA group. Compared to the other test groups, the COL4A3 c.4317delA group showed excessive ERS and apoptosis. Podocytes treated with MG132 showed remarkably increased intra-cellular expression of the COL4A3 c.4317delA mutation. MG132 intervention improved higher ERS and apoptosis levels in the COL4A3 c.4317delA group. Mouse monoclonal podocytes with COL4A3 chr:82717932insA c.4852insA p.Arg1618ThrfsX4 were successfully acquired; this NC1-truncated mutation suggested a higher level of ERS and relatively remarkable level of apoptosis compared to that of the WT group. Conclusions:. We demonstrated that excessive ERS and ERS-induced apoptosis were involved in the podocyte injury caused by the NC1-truncated COL4A3 mutation. Furthermore, proteasome pathway intervention might become a potential treatment for collagen type IV-related nephropathy caused by a severely truncated COL4A3 mutation.

Abstract Background Currently, there is no consensus on the effects and safety of lamivudine therapy for chronic hepatitis B (CHB) in children. Method Both English and Chinese databases were searched comprehensively. An odds ratio (OR) and a standard mean difference (SMD) were used to assess the effects and safety of lamivudine therapy for CHB in children. Results Thirteen eligible studies were included in our analysis. The rates of Hepatitis B virus (HBV) response, biochemical response, hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg) loss, HBeAg seroconversion, and hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) loss were significantly higher in the lamivudine (LAM) therapy group than in the control group. The changes in children’s weight and height were similar between the two groups. Conclusions LAM therapy was efficacious for CHB in children. Additionally, it had no side effect on children’s height and weight.

Objectives: With the appearance of direct-acting antiviral agents (DAAs), sofosbuvir (SOF)-based DAAs are recommended for patients with hepatitis C virus (HCV) recurrence after liver transplantation (LT). Whether ribavirin (RBV) is needed by patients after LT in combination with SOF-based DAAs remains to be determined. This meta-analysis was conducted to evaluate the necessity of RBV with SOF-based DAAs for post-LT patients. Methods: PubMed, Web of Science, Cochrane Library and EMBASE databases were systematically searched for eligible studies from the databases’ inceptions until November 2018. We accepted the studies that included HCV recurrence in post-LT patients who were treated with SOF-based DAAs ± RBV, and evaluated the rate of sustained virological response 12 weeks (SVR12) after the end of treatment. Results: Twelve studies, comprising a total of 1466 LT recipients, were included in this study. The pooled SVR12 of these patients was 91% (95% CI: 84% to 95%). There was no statistical difference of SVR12 in the patients treated with SOF-based DAAs + RBV versus –RBV group (risk ratio [RR] = 0.97; 95% CI: 0.92 to 1.03; P = 0.35) by different therapy duration (P = 0.26), with different targets of DAAs (P = 0.13) and in different regions (P = 0.34) but a tendency for a higher incidence of anemia in the +RBV group than in the −RBV group (RR = 5.18; 95% CI: 3.41 to 7.86; p

Abstract. Background:. Renal artery stenosis (RAS) is always associated with abnormalities in renal microvascular perfusion (RMP). However, few imaging methods can simultaneously evaluate the degree of luminal stenosis and RMP. Thus, this study will aim to evaluate the feasibility of using contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) for assessing both RAS and RMP to achieve a one-stop assessment of patients with suspected renovascular hypertension. Methods:. This will be a single-center diagnostic study with a sample size of 440. Patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) and suspected of having resistant hypertension will be eligible. Patients with Stages 1–3 CKD will undergo CEUS and computed tomography (CT) angiography (CTA). Values obtained by CEUS and CTA for diagnosing low-grade (lumen reduced by

Objective: To compare the anti-peritoneal fibrotic effects between a mammalian target of rapamycin complex 1-specific blocker and a phosphatidyl-inositol 3-kinase/mammalian target of rapamycin dual-blocker. Methods: A total of 40 male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into five groups with eight animals per group. The normal group (N group) did not receive any intervention. The normal saline group (NS group) received an intraperitoneal injection of normal saline at 1 ml/100 g daily. The model group (3 W group), rapamycin (RAPA) group and BEZ235 (PI3K/mTOR dual-blocker) group all received an intraperitoneal injection of 0.1% chlorhexidine gluconate at 1 ml/100g daily. And the RAPA and BEZ235 groups also received a 0.5 mg/d RAPA or 2.5 mg/d BEZ235 gavage every day, respectively. Rats in each group were sacrificed after 3 weeks. Results: Immunohistochemistry, real-time PCR and western blotting analysis of fibrosis-related indicators (FN, Col 1, and α-SMA) confirmed that RAPA and BEZ235 significantly inhibited peritoneal fibrosis and that these two drugs had similar effects. The p-Akt, p-mTOR, p-p70S6K expression levels were significantly up-regulated in the 3 W group compared to the NS group, confirming that the mTOR pathway was significantly activated during peritoneal fibrosis. RAPA significantly inhibited the phosphorylation of mTOR and p70S6K but did not have significant effects on p-Akt upstream of mTOR. BEZ235 had significant inhibitory effects on all signaling molecules (p-Akt, p-mTOR, and p-p70S6K) in the mTOR pathway. Conclusion: RAPA did not up-regulate p-Akt in a negative feedback fashion. Both drugs effectively inhibited peritoneal fibrosis.

Abstract Background Prenatal dexamethasone treatment has been shown to enhance the susceptibility of offspring to postnatal high-fat (HF) diet-induced programmed obesity. We investigated the metabolic phenotypes, nutrient-sensing signal and circadian-clock genes in adipose tissue that are programmed by prenatal dexamethasone exposure and postnatal HF diet. Methods Male offspring of Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into four experimental groups: normal diet, prenatal dexamethasone exposure, postnatal HF diet, and prenatal dexamethasone plus postnatal HF diet. Postnatal HF diet was prescribed from weaning to 6 months of age. Results Prenatal dexamethasone and postnatal HF diet exerted synergistic effects on body weight and visceral adiposity, whereas prenatal dexamethasone and postnatal HF diet altered the metabolic profile and caused leptin dysregulation. Prenatal dexamethasone and postnatal HF diet distinctly influenced nutrient-sensing molecules and circadian-clock genes in adipose tissue. The mRNA expression of mTOR, AMPK-α2, PPAR-α, and PPAR-γ was suppressed by prenatal dexamethasone but enhanced by postnatal HF diet. Conclusion Prenatal dexamethasone and postnatal HF treatment cause dysregulation of nutrient-sensing molecules and circadian-clock genes in visceral adipose tissue. Characterizing altered nutrient-sensing molecules and circadian-clock genes has potential therapeutic relevance with respect to the pathogenesis and treatment of prenatal stress and postnatal HF diet-related metabolic disorders.

Antiallergic activities of Lactobacillus plantarum (L. plantarum) prepared from kimchi as orally administered probiotics were examined in type I peanut allergy mice models. Oral administration with L. plantarum restored the deteriorated profile of enteric flora in mice sensitized with peanut allergen and attenuated allergic symptoms, including diarrhea scores, clinical scores, serum specific immunoglobulin E (IgE) and histamine production. The mRNA expression of interleukin-10 and interferon-γ was suppressed and enhanced, respectively by L. plantarum administration. Thus, L. plantarum probably promoted anti-allergic activities via modulating enteric flora, intestinal cytokines mRNA expression in type I allergic mice, resulting in alleviation of allergic symptoms, including serum specific IgE and clinical hypersensitivity scores.

Impact of high-speed jet (HSJ) treatment on morphology, crystalline structure, retrogradation, thermal and rheological properties of Arenga pinnata (Wurmb.) Merr starch (APS) was investigated. Decreasing with the number of HSJ treatment passes were the turbidity values of pastes (long-term retrogradation), the gelatinization enthalpy, and the crystallinity. Scanning electron microscopy showed APS granule structure was degraded into tiny round particle and thin sheet structures. X-ray diffraction illustrated that the C-type X-ray pattern was changed toward a weak A-type X-ray pattern. With further increases in the number of passes, the weak A-type pattern was changed to amorphous pattern. Dynamic oscillation analysis revealed that HSJ treatment significantly altered the viscoelasticity of APS. During a dynamic frequency sweep, G′ values and G″ at 10 Hz decreased from 589.9 Pa (HSJ0) to 194.9 Pa (HSJ8) and from 101.6 Pa (HSJ0) to 24.5 Pa (HSJ8), respectively, implying that HSJ treatment had a great influence on the elasticity of the APS gel. The results indicated that degradation of APS granular and crystalline structure was mainly involved and HSJ treatment was a potential physical modification technique.

The dysfunction of the medial prefrontal cortex is associated with affective disorders and non-motor features in Parkinson’s disease. However, the exact role of the mediodorsal thalamic nucleus in the function of the prefrontal cortex remains unclear. To study the possible effects of the mediodorsal thalamic nucleus on the neurological function of the medial prefrontal cortex, a model of Parkinson’s disease was established by injecting 8 µg 6-hydroxydopamine into the substantia nigra compacta of rats. After 1 or 3 weeks, 0.3 µg ibotenic acid was injected into the mediodorsal thalamic nucleus of the midbrain. At 3 or 5 weeks after the initial injury, neuronal discharge in medial prefrontal cortex of rat brain was determined electrophysiologically. The numbers of dopamine-positive neurons and tyrosine hydroxylase immunoreactivity in substantia nigra compacta and ventral tegmental area were detected by immunohistochemical staining. Results demonstrated that after injury, the immunoreactivity of dopamine neurons and tyrosine hydroxylase decreased in the substantia nigra compacta and ventral tegmental areas of rats. Compared with normal medial prefrontal cortical neurons, at 3 and 5 weeks after substantia nigra compacta injury, the discharge frequency of pyramidal neurons increased and the discharge pattern of these neurons tended to be a burst-discharge, with an increased discharge interval. The discharge frequency of interneurons decreased and the discharge pattern also tended to be a burst-discharge, but the discharge interval was only higher at 3 weeks. At 3 weeks after the combined lesions, the discharge frequency, discharge pattern and discharge interval were restored to a normal level in pyramidal neurons and interneurons in medial prefrontal cortex. These findings have confirmed that mediodorsal thalamic nucleus is involved in regulating neuronal activities of the medial prefrontal cortex. The changes in the function of the mediodorsal thalamic nucleus may be associated with the abnormal discharge activity of the medial prefrontal cortex neurons after substantia nigra compacta injury. All experimental procedures were approved by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee of Xi’an Jiaotong University, China (approval No. XJTULAC2017-067) on August 26, 2017.

Background: A regional antibiotic susceptibility database of certain pathogens is crucial for first-line physicians in terms of providing clinical judgement and appropriate selection of antimicrobial agents. The aim of this study is to update the epidemiological data of Salmonella serogroups and drug resistance in pediatric patients. Methods: This is a single-center retrospective study enrolling patients aged from 0 to 18 years who were hospitalized with cultured proven non-typhoidal Salmonella (NTS) infection from 2004 to 2019. The isolates were collected and the demographic data, serogroups of Salmonella and antimicrobial susceptibilities were further analyzed. Results: A total of 1583 isolates of NTS were collected. Serogroup C2 was prone to cause invasive non-typhoidal salmonellosis (iNTS), especially bacteremia. Patients aged < 2 years were associated with serogroups B and C2 infection, while those aged ≥ 2 years were associated with serogroups D and E infection. The prevalence of serogroup B declined with simultaneous increase in prevalence of serogroups D and E. Serogroups B and E were associated with ceftriaxone resistance, while Serogroup D was less drug-resistant than the others. The prevalence of ceftriaxone-resistant Salmonella had not increased, although more ciprofloxacin-resistant isolates were found in iNTS infection. Conclusions: Age < 2 years is a risk factor of iNTS for children, and the distribution of serogroup changes should be closely monitored. Ceftriaxone is still the drug of choice for treating pediatric iNTS infection, and although no increase was observed in the prevalence of ceftriaxone-resistant strains in this study, continuing surveillance of such cases is warranted.

Backgrounds: Drugs with the ability to displace bilirubin from albumin-binding sites subsequently leading to an increased bilirubin level may cause hyperbilirubinemia in neonates. Ibuprofen is commonly used to treat patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) in neonates, yet the use of ibuprofen has drawn mixed conclusions. We performed a retrospective study to determine how ibuprofen use influences the total serum bilirubin (TSB) level in neonates of differing birth weight (BW). Materials and methods: Neonates (including premature infants) born at Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Taiwan during January 2004 to July 2020 were entered into this study. We recorded the phototherapy duration, including the initial day and end day, and determined the average influence of one-day phototherapy on TSB level. The highest monitored TSB level post-ibuprofen use minus the one measured prior to ibuprofen use was considered the TSB change following ibuprofen administration in this study, and the above-mentioned influence of daily phototherapy on the TSB level was used to correlate the results. Neonates with any of the following conditions were excluded: those who received ceftriaxone, those with intraventricular hemorrhage, and those infected with TORCH. Results: The average daily influence of phototherapy on the TSB level of neonates was −0.20 (−0.57~0.05) mg/dL, −0.28 (−0.84~0.13) mg/dL, −0.75 (−1.77~0.10) mg/dL, and −1.60 (−2.70~−0.50) mg/dL in neonates with BWs of p = 0.026, one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA)). Conclusions: As ibuprofen use is correlated with an apparent increase in TSB level in neonates with a lower BW, especially in those with a BW < 1 kg, iv acetaminophen can be an appropriate alternative to ibuprofen for ELBW neonates for the treatment of PDA if they are experiencing severe unconjugated hyperbilirubinemia.

In this paper, we study a reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS)-aided multiuser MISO system with imperfect hardware, where the transceiver design is based on the statistical channel state information (CSI). Considering the transceiver hardware impairments (HWI), we aim to maximize the minimum average user data rate, where the precoding matrices at the base station (BS) and the reflecting phase shifts at the RIS are jointly optimized. Since the problem is nonconvex and the objective function cannot be derived in closed form, we adopt the deep deterministic policy gradient (DDPG) algorithm to deal with this challenging optimization problem, where we generate a set of CSI vectors in an offline way, and then these data sets are used to train the neural networks. The simulation results demonstrate the rapid convergence speed of the adopted DDPG algorithm and also emphasize that it is crucial to consider the HWI when optimizing the transceiver.

Uneven illumination and space radiation can cause inhomogeneous grayscale distribution, low contrast, and noisy images in in-orbit cameras. A binarization algorithm based on morphological classification is proposed to solve the problem of inaccurate image binarization caused by space image degradation. Traditional local binarization algorithms generally calculate thresholds based on statistical information of gray dimensions within the local window, often ignoring the morphological distribution information, leading to poor results in degraded images. The algorithm presented in this paper demonstrates the property of the side window filtering (SWF) kernel on morphological clustering. First, the eight-dimensional SWF convolution kernel is used to describe the morphological properties of the pixels. Then, the positive and negative types of each pixel in the local window are identified, and the local threshold is calculated according to the difference between the two types. Finally, the positive pixel is used to filter the threshold of each pixel, with the binarization threshold satisfying the morphologically smooth and continuous property. A self-built dataset is used to evaluate the algorithm quantitatively and the results are compared with the three existing classical techniques using the quantitative measures FM, PSNR, and DRD. The experimental results show that the algorithm in this paper yields good binarization results for different degraded images, outperforms the comparison algorithm in terms of accuracy and robustness, and is insensitive to noise.

Background: Coronary artery calcification (CAC) may provide insight to the patients' coronary artery disease (CAD) risks and influence early intervention. With increasing use of non-gated CT scans in clinical practice, the visual coronary artery scoring system (Weston Method) could quickly provide clinicians with important information of CAC for patient triage and management.Methods: We retrospectively studied the available CT imaging data and estimated CAC burden using the Weston method in 493 emergency room or other hospitalized patients. The Weston scores were calculated by the sum of the score for each vessel including the left main, left anterior descending, left circumflex artery and right coronary artery (range 0–12). The primary endpoint was a composite of the major adverse cardiac events (MACEs), including cardiac death, myocardial infarction, stroke, and coronary revascularization.Results: During a median follow-up of 85 months, a total of 25 (5.1%) MACE were recorded and 57 (11.2%) patients died from any causes. Detectable CAC was most common (96%) in the left anterior descending coronary arteries. Multivariable analysis showed that CAC total scores were independent predictors for MACE and all-cause mortality. Receiver operating characteristic analysis showed that CAC total score ≥5 was the optimal cutoff value for predicting MACEs.Conclusions: In the emergency room and hospitalized patients, the semi-quantitation of CAC burden using the Weston score system was related to the long-term cardiovascular outcomes including mortality. Clinicians and radiologists should maximize the value of non-contrast chest CT images by reporting CAC details.

Objective To evaluate the clinical efficacy of free flap transplantation combined with Ilizarov bone transport in the treatment of severe composite tibial and soft tissue defects. Methods We retrospectively analyzed the clinical data of 40 patients with severe composite tibial and soft tissue defects who underwent free flap transplantation combined with Ilizarov bone transport. The clinical efficacy was evaluated according to the following criteria: success rate of wound repair by free flap transplantation, incidence or recurrence rate of deep infection, healing rate of bone defects and external fixation index, incidence of complications, and functional score of affected extremities. Results All infections were generally well controlled by radical debridement and negative-pressure therapy, and all 40 patients’ wounds healed after repair and reconstruction of the tibia and soft tissues. Postoperative complications were alleviated by active treatment. The mean external fixation time was 12.83 ± 2.85 months, and the external fixation index was 1.55 m/cm. According to the Association for the Study and Application of Methods of Ilizarov (ASAMI) score, an excellent or good functional outcome was attained in 85% of patients. Conclusion Free flap transplantation combined with Ilizarov bone transport is an effective treatment for severe composite tibial and soft tissue defects.