Background and Aims: Several hospital ranking systems have been created in China recently, but there is still a lack of comprehensive analysis of the weight and significance of scientific research in hospital ranking. The present study aimed to identify and analyze the role of scientific research competitiveness in various hospital ranking systems in China. Methods: Over 200 materials published between 2010 and 2020 and related to three mainstream hospital ranking systems in China were reviewed. The methodologies applied in the three ranking systems were analyzed and compared. In addition, the comparative learning and analysis of Top 10 and Top 46-55 hospitals according to the ranking system of China's Best Hospital Rankings was performed for a longitudinal study. Results: The three major hospital rankings had different scientific research capability ranking methodologies and emphases of scientific research evaluation systems. The most commonly used indicators were science citation index (SCI) publications, National Scientific Foundation of China funding, a number of national key laboratories, and a number of academicians. The relative standing of several top hospitals showed slightly different in the three major Chinese hospital ranking systems. For the longitudinal study, we found that the fluctuation of the ranking of the Top 46-55 hospitals was significantly higher than that of the Top 10 hospitals, in which scientific research played a vital role. Conclusion: The proportion of scientific research plays an important role in the hospital ranking systems. The quality and quantity of SCI publications, the key indicators of national projects, and top academic talents are the most important factors used to evaluate the level of hospital scientific research, and thus affect the ranking of hospitals.

In order to analyze the expression level of zinc finger matrin-type protein 4 (ZMAT4) gene in T cells of thyroid carcinoma (TC) tissue and its clinical significance to prognosis of patients based on bioinformatics and reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), 389 TC patients with ZMAT4 gene and its corresponding survival and prognosis are searched by the Cancer Genome Atlas database. The expression of ZMAT4 gene is compared between normal thyroid tissue and TC tissue by RT-PCR. The relationship between ZMAT4 expression levels and clinicopathological parameters and baseline data is analyzed. The experimental results show that the low expression of ZMAT4 gene has an important relationship with the development of thyroid cancer, and real-time monitoring of ZMAT4 gene in TC patients can effectively evaluate the prognosis of patients.

Lung metastasis of colorectal cancer is common in the clinic; however, precise targeting for the diagnosis and therapy purposes of those lung metastases remains challenging. Herein, cholera toxin subunit b (CTB) protein was chemically conjugated on the surface of PEGylated liposomes (CTB-sLip). Both human-derived colorectal cancer cell lines, HCT116 and HT-29, demonstrated high binding affinity and cellular uptake with CTB-sLip. In vivo, CTB-sLip exhibited elevated targeting capability to the lung metastasis of colorectal cancer in the model nude mice in comparison to PEGylated liposomes (sLip) without CTB modification. CTB conjugation induced ignorable effects on the interaction between liposomes and plasma proteins but significantly enhanced the uptake of liposomes by numerous blood cells and splenic cells, leading to relatively rapid blood clearance in BALB/c mice. Even though repeated injections of CTB-sLip induced the production of anti-CTB antibodies, our results suggested CTB-sLip as promising nanocarriers for the diagnosis of lung metastasis of colorectal cancer.