Abstract Background and objectives: The aim of this study was to analyze risk factors for failure of subclavian vein catheterization. Methods: A retrospective analysis of 1562 patients who underwent subclavian vein puncture performed by the same experienced operator at Peking University Cancer Hospital from January 1, 2016 to January 1, 2019 was conducted. The success or failure of subclavian vein catheterization was registered in all cases. Various patient characteristics, including age, gender, body mass index (BMI), preoperative hemoglobin, preoperative hematocrit, preoperative mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration (MCHC), preoperative albumin, preoperative serum creatinine, puncture needles from different manufacturers and previous history of subclavian vein catheterization were assessed via univariate and multivariate analyses. Results: For the included patients, landmark-guided subclavian vein puncture was successful in 1476 cases and unsuccessful in 86 cases (success rate of 94.5%). Successful subclavian vein catheterization was achieved via right and left subclavian vein puncture in 1392 and 84 cases, respectively. In univariate analyses, age and preoperative hemoglobin were associated with failure of subclavian vein catheterization. In a multivariate analysis, aged more than 60 years was a risk factor while the central venous access with Certofix® was associated with an increased rate of success (p-values of 0.001 and 0.015, respectively). Conclusions: This study has demonstrated that patient aged more than 60 years was a risk factor for failure of subclavian vein catheterization while the central venous access with Certofix® was associated with an increased rate of success.

Abstract In this study, a dynamic centrifuge experiment is designed to investigate the seismic behavior of an existing bridge subjected to the earthquake-induced lateral movement of soft clay soil. The pile-supported bridge abutment at the movable bearing side is modeled at the 1/75 scale. The material and thickness of the soft clay layer are set as the experimental parameters. Under the effect of the lateral movement of the soft clay layer during base shaking, a collision between the bridge abutment wall and the girder occurs, and the bridge abutment wall is restrained at the top; however, the footing largely moves forward, resulting in the large backward inclination of the bridge abutment wall. In addition, it is confirmed that during base shaking, the pile bending moment largely increases due to the ground lateral movement and then remains nearly constant, even at the end of the base shaking phase. Furthermore, it is found that when the soft clay has a high shear strength, the ground lateral movement may cause a high pile earth pressure, resulting in the large corresponding internal bending moment on the pile sections; however, when the soft clay layer is very thick, the high pile earth pressure generally occurs locally, instead of along the whole pile length.

Abstract In this paper, to further understand the bending failure mechanism of a bridge footing subjected to lateral seismic loading, the effect of pile arrangement on the bending performance of a footing is mainly investigated by parametric analysis. The pile location can considerably affect the bending failure pattern of the footing by constraining the extent of yielding of footing top bars. The piles placed at the center of the sides parallel to the loading direction can constrain the extent of yielding of the top bars in the loading direction. Similarly, the piles at the center of the sides perpendicular to the loading direction can constrain the extent of yielding of the top bars in the other direction. The center pile can constrain the extent of yielding of the top bars in two directions. Additionally, based on the analytical results of the parametric analysis, the application condition of the current beam theory-based design method expected to accurately evaluate the footing bending capacity is discussed from the aspect of pile spacing.

Objective: To examine the psychometric properties of the Chinese version of the Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale – Second Edition (Y-BOCS-II). Method: A total of 86 adults with a primary diagnosis of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), ranging in age from 15 to 78 years, participated in the study. Participants were administered the Y-BOCS-II by a trained clinician who also rated overall illness severity on two additional measures. Patients completed the Obsessive Compulsive Inventory-Revised and Depression Anxiety Stress Scale-21. Results: Results indicated high internal consistency and fair 1-week test retest reliability. The Y-BOCS-II scales correlated strongly with clinician-rated obsessive-compulsive severity and modestly with self-reported obsessive-compulsive symptom frequency and distress. The relationship between Y-BOCS-II total score and depressive and anxiety symptoms was strong, which may reflect high rates of comorbid conditions in this sample or the linkage between obsessive-compulsive symptom severity and distress. Factor analysis demonstrated a two-factor structure consisting of obsession and compulsion factors, with interference due to obsessions cross-loading. Conclusions: Overall, these results support the use of the Y-BOCS-II among individuals from China. Future study by an independent group is necessary to replicate these findings, as well as investigate interrater reliability and treatment sensitivity.

Summary Objective: Nitric oxide (NO), carbon monoxide (CO) and hydrogen sulfide (H2S) were endogenously-generated molecules gas. They owned important biological activity and participated in many pathophysiological processes. This study aimed to examine the levels of three gasotransmitters in the early phase of trauma patients. Method: Blood samples were collected from 60 trauma patients and ten healthy volunteers. Concentration of serum iNOS and HO-1 were analyzed by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay and plasma H2S was determined by colorimetric method. Meanwhile, the occurrence of multiple organ dysfunction syndrome (MODS) was also monitored. Results: The levels of iNOS, HO-1 and endogenous H2S in the patients group were significantly different from the healthy control group, and the difference was more obvious with the increase of ISS score. iNOS levels were positively correlated with ISS scores and blood lactic acid values, and HO-1 and endogenous H2S were negatively correlated with ISS scores and blood lactic acid values. Of 60 trauma patients, eight (13.33%) developed MODS. The level of iNOS in the MODS group was higher than that in non-MODS group, while HO-1 and H2S were significant lower in the MODS group. Conclusion: The three gasotransmitters participated in systemic inflammatory responses during early trauma and could be used as important indicators for trauma severity. Their measurements were meaningful for evaluating the severity and prognosis of trauma.

Abstract Background Airway remodeling is a key feature of asthma, characterized by increased proliferation of airway smooth muscle cells (ASMCs). S100A8 is a calcium‑binding protein with a potential to regulate cell proliferation. Here, the effect of exogenous S100A8 protein on the proliferation of ASMCs induced by platelet‑derived growth factor (PDGF) and the underlying molecular mechanism was investigated. Methods Rat ASMCs were cultured with or without a neutralizing antibody to the receptor for advanced glycation end‑products (RAGE), a potential receptor for S100A8 protein. Purified recombinant rat S100A8 protein was then added into the cultured cells, and the proliferation of ASMCs induced by PDGF was detected by colorimetric‑based WST‑8 assay and ampedance‑based xCELLigence proliferation assay. The expression levels of RAGE in ASMCs were analyzed using western blotting assay. Results Results showed that exogenous S100A8 inhibited the PDGF‑induced proliferation of rat ASMCs in a dose‑ dependent manner with the maximal effect at 1 μg/ml in vitro. Furthermore, when ASMCs was pre‑treated with anti‑RAGE neutralizing antibody, the inhibitory effect of S100A8 on PDGF‑induced proliferation was significantly sup‑ pressed. In addition, neither the treatment with S100A8 or PDGF alone nor the pre‑treatment with rS100A8 followed by PDGF stimulation affected the expression levels of RAGE. Conclusions Our study demonstrated that S100A8 inhibits PDGF‑induced ASMCs proliferation in a manner depend‑ ent on membrane receptor RAGE.

BACKGROUND: BrdU is a commonly used reagent in cell proliferation assays, and WST-1 measurement is widely used to detect cell viability. However, no previous study has formally reported the combination of the two assays, which may be used to detect the proliferation and viability simultaneously. In this study, we examined the effect of adding BrdU 2 h prior to the WST-1 assay and tried to test the possibility of the combined detection using rat airway smooth muscle cells. RESULTS: The WST-1 measurements obtained from the combined detection were consistent with those obtained from the separate detection, which suggested that the addition of BrdU 2 h prior to the WST-1 analysis did not affect the WST-1 results. The BrdU measurements obtained from the combined detection also demonstrated the same trend as that obtained from the separate detection, and dosages of 200, 400 and 800 ng/ml testing reagent significantly inhibited the proliferation of rat airway smooth muscle cells. CONCLUSIONS: Our study suggests that the BrdU and WST-1 measurements can be applied simultaneously without mutual interference, which may increase the efficacy and consistency of these measurements to a certain extent.

Single crystalline Ca2Ge7O16 nanowires have been synthesized using CaO and GeO2 as the raw materials. Various factors that affect the formation and size of the Ca2Ge7O16 nanowires have been analyzed. The obtained products are characterized by X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy and scanning electron microscopy. The results show that the calcium germanate nanowires are composed of orthorhombic Ca2Ge7O16 phase with the length and diameter of several dozens of micrometers and about 50 nm, respectively. Hydrothermal temperature plays an important role on the formation and growth of the Ca2Ge7O16 nanowires. The formation process of the Ca2Ge7O16 nanowires is initially interpreted according to the shape evolution of the products obtained from different growth conditions.