Objective To summarize the role of N-myc downstream regulated gene 1 (NDRG1) and the advancement of it in tumor research. Methods Publications on line at home and abroad involving the roles of NDRG1 and the correlation between it and tumor were collected and reviewed. Results NDRG-1, has a number of important functions such as in organism responses in hypoxia, histological differentiation, and so on, especially plays a significant role in generation, metastasis, and invasion of cancer. Conclusion NDRG1 may be a candidate of metastasis relevant gene for cancer and may serve as a useful prognostic marker of carcinoma.
ObjectiveTo summarize the research status and biological characteristics of stromal fibroblast in breast cancer. MethodsRelevant literatures about the breast cancer stromal fibroblasts published recently were collected and reviewed. ResultsIn addition to cancer cells, breast cancer included stromal cells. The fibroblasts were the major components of breast cancer stromal, which had significantly different biological characteristics from normal fibroblasts. The fibroblasts were characterized by α-SMA positive, p53 gene mutation, secretion of various cytokines or chemokines in addition to the production of collagen substances, involving in breast cancer growth, migration, invasion and metastasis through a variety of signaling pathways. ConclusionThe biological characteristics of stromal fibroblasts in breast cancer may reflect lesion properties, be of great importance to diagnosis and differential diagnosis and prognosis prediction of breast cancer. More attentions will be paid to the target therapy for stromal fibroblasts in breast cancer.
Thoracic duct is the largest lymphatic vessel in the body. It originates from the chyle pool in the abdominal cavity, upward across aortic hiatus of the diaphragm into the right thoracic cavity, and finally importing into the left jugular vein angle. Thoracic duct plays a very important role in the transporting process of the body's lymph and chylous fluid. More than 70% of the lymph and chylous fluid transport through it into the blood. If the thoracic duct was damaged, it would lead to fluid and electrolyte imbalance, immune dysfunction, malnutrition and the patient's life would be endangered when it was serious. Therefore, the clinical significance of the thoracic duct is always a hot research issue. Through unremitting exploration in recent years, we have a further understanding about structure and function of the thoracic duct. And we used this to remould and ligate it to cure some intractable disease. Now we summarize the research progress as follows.
Objectives To analyze the status quo of projects on pension services funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC), with the aim of enlarging the perspective and horizon of related studies, and improving both the quantity and quality of such projects in NSFC. Methods NSFC website was systematically searched to collect information of pension service projects funded by NSFC from 2008 to 2017. SPSS 19.0 software was subsequently applied to analyze the characteristics of the projects in terms of study type, regional distribution, profession and institution, and fund scale, etc. Results A total of 39 projects on pension service were included, among which 12 were focused on related strategies (30.8%), 11 on related models (28.2%), and 6 on the effects of different interventions (15.4%). The 39 projects were unbalanced in terms of geographical distribution, institutions and research types. Conclusions NSFC should facilitate the research of pension service by expanding the related fund scale, increasing the fund support, strengthening the exchange of domestically different regions, and enhancing international cooperation.
ObjectiveTo explore the trend and hotspots of research in the field of peripherally inserted central catheter (PICC), so as to provide a reference for clinical nursing and nursing research in the field of vascular access in China.MethodsAll PICC-related articles from 1806 to November 22nd, 2018 were searched in the Foreign Medical Retrieval System. The publication amount, year of publication, language, country, journals and impact factor, high-yield authors and high-frequent medical subject headings (MeSH) of the PICC-related articles were analyzed by using frequency, cumulative frequency, and constituent ratio.ResultsA total of 1 550 articles were included. They were published in 586 journals, of which 393 were included in Science Citation Index. English was the dominant publication language, and the top high-yield country was the United States. The top 16 high-yield authors published 199 articles, the top 3 of whom all had published co-operative papers, ranging from 1 article to 19 articles. The top 3 high-frequent MeSHs were “Catheters, Indwelling” “Catheterization, Central Venous” “Central Venous Catheter”.ConclusionsPICC has become a hotspot in clinical research, and the publication amount of relative literature has increased rapidly since 2000. Chinese scholars should improve their English and carry out multi-center cooperative research to improve the quality of PICC-related literature.
ObjectiveTo analyze the research status and hot spots of health technology assessment (HTA). MethodsDatabases including China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) and PubMed were searched to collect published studies on HTA. The software of BICOMS-2 and VOSviewer 1.6.10 was used to draw the network diagram and to conduct cluster analysis of keywords. ResultsA total of 1170 studies in Chinese and 8584 studies in English were included. The number of HTA-related publications increased annually, among which countries with the most publications were the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada. Fudan University had the largest number of studies published in Chinese and York University had the largest number of studies published in English. The research topics mainly focused on hospital HTA, HTA decision transformation research, pharmacoeconomic evaluation, etc. The most frequent diseases were cancer and depression. Emerging keywords were real-word evidence, randomized controlled trials, cost-benefit analysis, etc. ConclusionHTA-related studies increase annually. Many HTA-related studies are performed in developed countries, such as the United States and the United Kingdom. The relevant research topics involve hospital HTA, HTA decision-making transformation research, and pharmacoeconomic evaluation. Current research focus is on the evaluation of health economics in the field of cancer based on the evidence of real-world research and randomized controlled trials.
ObjectiveTo systematically review the research status of therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) for traditional Chinese medicine. MethodsPubMed, EMbase, The Cochrane Library, CNKI, WanFang Data, CBM, VIP databases, official websites of governments and societies associated with TDM were electronically searched to collect studies on TDM for traditional Chinese medicine from inception to January, 2022. Two reviewers independently screened literature and extracted data. Then, a qualitative systematic review was conducted. ResultsA total of 13 studies were included, all of which came from China and were small sample size studies. The studied population consisted mainly of healthy volunteers (85%), followed by patients of coronary artery disease with blood stasis pattern (31%), patients of rheumatoid arthritis (8%), and patients of acquired immune deficiency syndrome (8%). There were two types of medicine, including proprietary Chinese medicine (69%) and Chinese herbal pieces (31%). The research topics were all theoretical research of TDM, mainly concentration detection methods (77%), followed by influence factors of blood drug concentration (15%), the selection of specimen (15%), the selection of monitoring object (8%) and the concentration reference range (8%). There was no clinical practice study on TDM of traditional Chinese medicine. ConclusionTDM of traditional Chinese medicine is still in the exploratory stage in China. Published studies are mainly on the theoretical research of TDM, and no relevant studies is on clinical practice of TDM of traditional Chinese medicine.
Brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) have become one of the cutting-edge technologies in the world, and have been mainly applicated in medicine. In this article, we sorted out the development history and important scenarios of BCIs in medical application, analyzed the research progress, technology development, clinical transformation and product market through qualitative and quantitative analysis, and looked forward to the future trends. The results showed that the research hotspots included the processing and interpretation of electroencephalogram (EEG) signals, the development and application of machine learning algorithms, and the detection and treatment of neurological diseases. The technological key points included hardware development such as new electrodes, software development such as algorithms for EEG signal processing, and various medical applications such as rehabilitation and training in stroke patients. Currently, several invasive and non-invasive BCIs are in research. The R&D level of BCIs in China and the United State is leading the world, and have approved a number of non-invasive BCIs. In the future, BCIs will be applied to a wider range of medical fields. Related products will develop shift from a single mode to a combined mode. EEG signal acquisition devices will be miniaturized and wireless. The information flow and interaction between brain and machine will give birth to brain-machine fusion intelligence. Last but not least, the safety and ethical issues of BCIs will be taken seriously, and the relevant regulations and standards will be further improved.
Technology in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), which has a long history, provides excellent traditional culture and valuable spiritual wealth in China. TCM standardization technology will provide an important basis for guiding and evaluating the professional level and service quality of technicians in TCM. And it is also conducive to the sustainable development of TCM technology. However, at present, there is no relevant research on the development process of technical specifications for TCM. So, the urgent need is how to develop standardized technical specifications, and apply them to patients in practice. Therefore, this study first convened relevant experts, including TCM clinical experts, epidemiologists, methodology experts, etc., to form the core expert group, implementation group and quality assurance task group. According to the personnel functions, they are divided into technical specification steering committee, consensus expert group, secretariat group, external review group, evidence evaluation group, etc. Then, the initial entries are collected by systematically searching the current TCM technical guidelines, consensus and specifications and referring to the existing technical specifications. Finally, expert opinions were collected based on the Delphi survey, and the final reporting checklist of technical specifications for TCM was formed after consensus discussion. The study can provide evidence-based methodological guidance for the development of TCM technical specifications, and promote the standardization and internationalization of TCM technical specifications.