Endothelial progenitor cells in peripheral blood may serve as a biological marker to predict severe acute pancreatitis

AIM To investigate the significance of endothelial progenitor cells(EPCs) in predicting severe acute pancreatitis(SAP).METHODS We recruited 71 patients with acute pancreatitis(AP) and excluded 11 of them; finally, cases of mild acute pancreatitis(MAP)(n = 30) and SAP(n = 30), and healthy volunteers(n = 20) were internalized to investigate levels of EPCs, C-reactive protein(CRP), tumor necrosis factor-alpha(TNF-α), fibrinogen(FIB)and white blood cells(WBC) in peripheral blood. RESULTS The levels of TNF-α, WBC, FIB and CRP were higher both in SAP and MAP cases than in healthy volunteers(P < 0.05, all). Interestingly, the level of EPCs was higher in SAP than MAP(1.63% ± 1.47% vs 6.61% ± 4.28%, P < 0.01), but there was no significant difference between the MAP cases and healthy volunteers(1.63% ± 1.47% vs 0.55% ± 0.54%, P > 0.05). Receiver operating characteristics curve(ROC) showed that EPCs, TNF-α, CRP and FIB were significantly associated with SAP, especially EPCs and CRP were optimal predictive markers of SAP. When the cut-off point for EPCs and CRP were 2.26% and 5.94 mg/d L, the sensitivities were 90.0% and 73.3%, and the specificities were 83.3% and 96.7%. Although, CRP had the highest specificity, and EPCs had the highest sensitivity and highest area under the curve value(0.93). CONCLUSION Data suggest that EPCs may be a new biological marker in predicting SAP.

Coordinated deformation control technologies for the high sidewall—bottom transfixion zone of large underground hydro-powerhouses

It is imperative to understand the spatial and temporal coordination deformation mechanism and develop targeted deformation control technologies for high sidewall—bottom transfixion(HSBT)zones to guarantee the stability of rock surrounding underground hydro-powerhouses under complex geological conditions.In this study,the spatial and temporal coordinated deformation control of HSBT zones was addressed from the aspects of the deformation mechanism,failure characteristics,and control requirements,and some coordinated deformation control technologies were proposed.On this basis,a case study was conducted on the deformation control of the HSBT zone of the underground powerhouse at the Wudongde hydropower station,China.The results showed that the relationship between excavation and support,and the mismatch of deformation and support of the surrounding rock mass in the HSBT zone of underground caverns with a large span and high in-situ stress can be appropriately handled.The solution requires proper excavation and construction procedures,fine blasting control,composite and timely support,and real-time monitoring and dynamic feedback.The technologies proposed in this study will ensure the safe,high-quality,and orderly construction of the Baihetan and Wudongde underground caverns,and can be applied to other similar projects.