Extrahepatic portacaval shunt via a magnetic compression technique: A cadaveric feasibility study

AIM: To explore the anatomical feasibility of portacaval shunt using a magnetic compression technique(MCT) in cadavers.METHODS: Computed tomography(CT) images of 30 portal hypertensive patients were obtained.The diameters of the portal vein(PV),the inferior vena cava(IVC),and distance between the two structures were measured.Similar measurements were performed on 20 adult corpses.The feasibility of portacaval shunt based on those measurements was analyzed.First stage of the extrahepatic portacaval shunt using MCT was performed on five cadavers.Specifically,the PV and IVC were exposed through an abdominal incision of the cadavers.The parent magnet was introduced from the femoral vein and was delivered into the IVC by an anchor wire and a 5F Cook catheter.The daughter magnet was introduced into the PV through the splenic vein using aninterventional guide wire.When the daughter magnet met the parent magnet,they automatically clipped together and the first stage of the portacaval shunt was set up.RESULTS: The average diameters of the PV and the IVC measured from the 30 CT image were 14.39 ± 2.36 mm and 18.59 ± 4.97 mm,respectively,and the maximum and minimum distances between the PV and the IVC were 9.79 ± 4.56 mm and 9.50 ± 4.79 mm,respectively.From 20 cadavers,the average diameters of the PV and the IVC were 14.48 ± 1.47 mm and 24.71 ± 2.64 mm,and the maximum and minimum distances between the PV and the IVC were 10.14 ± 1.70 mm and 8.93 ± 1.17 mm,respectively.The distances between the PV and the IVC from both the CT images and the cadavers were within the effective length of portacaval anastomosis using MCT(30.30 ± 4.19 mm).The PV and IVC are in close proximity to each other with no intervening tissues or structures in between.Simulated surgeries of the first stage using MCT on five cadavers was successfully performed.CONCLUSION: Anatomically,extrahepatic portacaval shunt employing MCT is highly feasible in humans.

Relationship between amygdala and mental disorders

Mental disorders are a group of diseases with changes in cognition,emotion,behavior,and other aspects,which may be accompanied by painful experience or functional impairment.The cognition,emotion,and behavior change make patients feel pain,impaired,or increase the risk of death,disability,etc.The dysfunction and over-activation of the amygdala and its circuits make it always highly sensitive and reactive to threatening stimuli,which is often thought to be related to the pathogenesis of mental disorders.

Scientific workflow execution system based on mimic defense in the cloud environment

With more large-scale scientific computing tasks being delivered to cloud computing platforms, cloud workflow systems are designed for managing and arranging these complicated tasks. However, multi-tenant coexistence service mode of cloud computing brings serious security risks, which will threaten the normal execution of cloud workflows. To strengthen the security of cloud workflows, a mimic cloud computing task execution system for scientific workflows is proposed. The idea of mimic defense contains mainly three aspects: heterogeneity, redundancy, and dynamics. For heterogeneity, the diversities of physical servers, hypervisors, and operating systems are integrated to build a robust system framework. For redundancy, each sub-task of the workflow will be executed simultaneously by multiple executors. Considering efficiency and security, a delayed decision mechanism is proposed to check the results of task execution. For dynamics, a dynamic task scheduling mechanism is devised for switching workflow execution environment and shortening the life cycle of executors, which can confuse the adversaries and purify task executors. Experimental results show that the proposed system can effectively strengthen the security of cloud workflow execution.

Rare earth-based MOF@mesoporous silica nanoplatform for long-term and luminescence trackable chemotherapy

Developing the multifunctional nanocarriers for long-term drug release and luminescence traceability is a challenging assignment.In this task,we designed a novel nanoplatform for long-term and luminescence trackable chemotherapy,which is prepared via a hollow ZIF-8(where ZIF is zeolitic imidazolate frameworks)coated by the Eu^(3+)-doped mesoporous silica(ZIF-8@mesoporous silica).The hollow ZIF-8 is used as a drug library for loading the anticancer drug,and the pH-sensitive properties of ZIF-8 can targeted-release drugs in the tumor and cut down the poisonousness of drugs to normal cells.The shell layer of mesoporous silica can achieve the long-term drug release,which solves the problem of short drug circulation time in the body,reduces the drug administration frequency,and improves the therapeutic effect.Notably,the ZIF-8@mesoporous+doxorubicin(DOX)is injected only once during the 14-day chemotherapy.In addition,Eu^(3+)doped in mesoporous silica ensures luminescence tracking and detection of drug pathways in living cells.Hence,this nanoplatform provides a whole new strategy for the longterm treatment of tumors.

Study of Individual Characteristic Abdominal Wall Thickness Based on Magnetic Anchored Surgical Instruments

Background：Magnetic anchored surgical instruments （MASI）,relying on magnetic force,can break through the limitations of the single port approach in dexterity.Individual characteristic abdominal wall thickness （ICAWT） deeply influences magnetic force that determines the safety of MASI.The purpose of this study was to research the abdominal wall characteristics in MASI applied environment to find ICAWT,and then construct an artful method to predict ICAWT,resulting in better safety and feasibility for MASI.Methods：For MASI,ICAWT is referred to the thickness of thickest point in the applied environment.We determined ICAWT through finding the thickest point in computed tomography scans.We also investigated the traits of abdominal wall thickness to discover the factor that can be used to predict ICAWT.Results：Abdominal wall at C point in the middle third lumbar vertebra plane （L3） is the thickest during chosen points.Fat layer thickness plays a more important role in abdominal wall thickness than muscle layer thickness.＂BMI-ICAWT＂ curve was obtained based on abdominal wall thickness of C point in L3 plane,and the expression was as follow：f（x） =P1 × x^2 ＋ P2 x x ＋ P3,where P1 =0.03916 （0.01776,0.06056）,P2 =1.098 （0.03197,2.164）,P3 =-18.52 （-31.64,-5.412）,R-square：0.99.Conclusions：Abdominal wall thickness of C point at L3 could be regarded as ICAWT.BMI could be a reliable predictor of ICAWT.In the light of ＂BMI-ICAWT＂ curve,we may conveniently predict ICAWT by BMI,resulting a better safety and feasibility for MASI.

Cloning and sequence analysis of chitin synthase gene fragments of Demodex mites

To our knowledge,few reports on Demodex studied at the molecular level are available at present.In this study our group,for the first time,cloned,sequenced and analyzed the chitin synthase(CHS) gene fragments of Demodex folliculorum,Demodex brevis,and Demodex canis(three isolates from each species) from Xi'an China,by designing specific primers based on the only partial sequence of the CHS gene of D.canis from Japan,retrieved from GenBank.Results show that amplification was successful only in three D.canis isolates and one D.brevis isolate out of the nine Demodex isolates.The obtained fragments were sequenced to be 339 bp for D.canis and 338 bp for D.brevis.The CHS gene sequence similarities between the three Xi'an D.canis isolates and one Japanese D.canis isolate ranged from 99.7% to 100.0%,and those between four D.canis isolates and one D.brevis isolate were 99.1%-99.4%.Phylogenetic trees based on maximum parsimony(MP) and maximum likelihood(ML) methods shared the same clusters,according with the traditional classification.Two open reading frames(ORFs) were identified in each CHS gene sequenced,and their corresponding amino acid sequences were located at the catalytic domain.The relatively conserved sequences could be deduced to be a CHS class A gene,which is associated with chitin synthesis in the integument of Demodex mites.