sbdcsierra Chapter 1449 Slow and steady wins the race
Chapter 1449 Slow and steady wins the race
Chapter 1449 Slow and steady wins the race
Yang Ping was woken up by his alarm clock at 6:30 a.m.
He lay in bed, staring at the ceiling for a few seconds, his mind racing like a computer booting up, a multitude of thoughts surfacing one after another. There was a lot to do today: Director He's carina reconstruction plan needed final confirmation; Xia Shu's coronary artery bypass graft patient had a follow-up coagulation function test; Mainstein had a 10 a.m. discussion about the paper; Weber's peer review comments weren't finished yet; and Tang Shun had several new PhDs to interview.
Yang Ping sat up, glanced at Xiao Su who was still fast asleep beside him, and quietly got out of bed.
Sanbo Hospital was already bustling with activity in the early morning. Long queues had formed in the outpatient hall, where nurses at the information desk were patiently answering patients' questions. People were also queuing in front of the elevators in the inpatient department, including patients in hospital gowns, family members carrying breakfast, and nurses pushing treatment carts.
Yang Ping walked through the crowd and entered the research institute building.
He heard Tang Shun's voice as soon as he stepped out of the elevator.
"This data is incorrect. Please check the original records again. The data in the lab logbook does not match the electronic version. We cannot make this mistake again."
Yang Ping stepped out of the elevator and saw Tang Shun standing at the entrance of the cell laboratory, talking to a young PhD student. The PhD student had his head down, his face flushed, and he was clutching his lab notebook tightly in his hand.
"Tang Shun!" Yang Ping called out.
Tang Shun turned his head, saw Yang Ping, and his expression softened: "Professor, good morning."
"What's wrong?" Yang Ping walked over.
“Xiao Wang’s experimental data doesn’t match.” Tang Shun took the notebook from the young PhD student, turned to a page, and handed it to Yang Ping. “Look, the original notebook says to incubate at 37 degrees Celsius for two hours, but the electronic version says to incubate at 37 degrees Celsius for four hours. That’s a whole two hours difference. How can this experiment be replicated?”
Yang Ping glanced at the notebook, then at the young PhD student. Xiao Wang was a newly recruited PhD, having been in the lab for less than three months and still getting acquainted with the procedures.
"Xiao Wang, explain yourself." Yang Ping's tone wasn't stern, but it wasn't exactly gentle either.
Xiao Wang swallowed hard, his voice trembling slightly: "Professor Yang, I... I remembered it wrong. It really did take two hours, but I made a mistake when I entered it into the electronic version."
"Wrongly recorded?" Tang Shun raised his voice. "Can experimental data be written wrong? This one mistake could make the entire research group work for nothing for a month!"
Yang Ping raised his hand to signal Tang Shunxian not to rush. He looked at Xiao Wang and said, "What is the core of scientific research?"
Xiao Wang paused for a moment, then answered uncertainly, "Is it...is it about being realistic?"
“Yes, that’s being realistic,” Yang Ping said. “In the future, we must develop a rigorous habit and try our best to reduce such basic mistakes.”
"Understood," Xiao Wang's voice was even softer.
"Let it go this time, but don't let it happen again." Yang Ping handed the notebook back to Xiao Wang. "Go back and correct the electronic version, and then note the reason for the correction in the remarks."
Xiao Wang took the notebook and left with a sigh of relief.
Tang Shun watched Xiao Wang's retreating figure and shook his head: "Professor, some of the newly recruited doctoral students don't have a solid foundation. They seemed fine during the interview, but their weaknesses were exposed as soon as they entered the lab."
“That’s normal,” Yang Ping said. “Interviews and actual work are two different things. You should mentor them more. Everything takes time. If they really can’t handle it, then let them go.”
Yang Ping walked into the office, turned on his computer, and began processing the backlog of emails.
He receives many emails, mostly peer review invitations from academic journals. He currently serves on the editorial boards of several mainstream journals, reviewing seven or eight manuscripts every month. These manuscripts come from all over the world, some well-written and some poorly written. He carefully reviews the well-written ones, offering constructive feedback; he is equally lenient with the poorly written ones, rejecting them without hesitation.
One of the emails caught his attention.
The email was from an editor at *The Lancet*, saying that a paper on protocellular therapy for spinal cord injury was being considered for peer review and they wanted Yang Ping to do a quick evaluation. Yang Ping glanced at the abstract; the authors were a research team from Europe, and their research overlapped with Mainstein's work.
Yang Ping didn't rush to reply. Instead, he printed out the abstract, intending to discuss it with Mainstein later.
He read through several more emails, some about grant applications, some about academic conferences, and some about collaborative research. He processed them one by one, replying to those that needed replying, forwarding those that needed forwarding, and archiving those that needed archiving.
It was almost eight o'clock when I finished dealing with the emails.
Yang Ping stood up, stretched his neck, and then picked up Director He's medical record and began to look through it.
The difficulty of this surgery, which involves carina resection and reconstruction combined with pulmonary artery replacement, lies not in any single procedure, but in the combination of all the procedures. It's like an acrobat walking a tightrope; walking a tightrope while simultaneously spinning a hula hoop, throwing a ball, and riding a unicycle is already difficult enough. Each movement alone isn't too hard, but together they create an extreme challenge.
Yang Ping mentally rehearsed the surgical procedure.
Starting with the incision, he chose a midline sternal incision plus a right anterolateral sternal incision. This approach allows for simultaneous exposure of the mediastinum and right pleural cavity, providing ample operating space. Next comes exploration to determine the actual extent of tumor invasion. If it is wider than shown on imaging, it may be necessary to expand the resection area or even abandon surgery altogether.
If the exploration results are satisfactory, the next step is to manage the blood vessels. Yang Ping's plan is to first free the superior vena cava and apply a occlusion band, just in case. Then, he will free the main pulmonary artery and the left and right pulmonary artery branches to assess the length and angle required for replacement.
After the blood vessels are dealt with, the resection and reconstruction of the carina begins. This is the core step of the entire surgery and also the most technically demanding part. The anastomosis between the trachea and the main bronchus must be seamless, airtight, and without any tension. Yang Ping plans to use a "side-to-end-side" anastomosis method—anastomosing the left main bronchus to the side wall of the trachea, and then anastomosing the right main bronchus to the side wall of the left main bronchus. This way, there is no tension at any of the three anastomoses, and the blood supply is also good.
Finally, pulmonary artery replacement is performed, involving the selection of an appropriately sized prosthetic blood vessel and an end-to-end anastomosis. The anastomosis site is sealed with bio-adhesive to reduce postoperative bleeding.
If he were to perform the entire surgery, it would probably only take two hours, but if Director He were to perform the surgery, it would be expected to take five to six hours.
Yang Ping wrote down the key steps and precautions on a piece of paper, intending to hand them to Director He when they met later.
At 8:30, someone knocked on the door.
"Come in."
The person who pushed open the door was Lu Xiaolu. He was wearing a dark jacket and carrying a notebook, and looked like he had just come from the tumor laboratory.
"Professor, you wanted to see me?" Lu Xiaolu asked.
"Sit down!" Yang Ping gestured to the chair opposite him. "There's something I'd like to talk to you about."
Lu Xiaolu sat down, placed the notebook on his lap, and waited for Yang Ping to speak.
"The research institute needs a deputy director to help Tang Shun with some management work. I'd like you to be the deputy director. What are your thoughts?" Yang Ping got straight to the point, without beating around the bush.
Lu Xiaolu was taken aback, clearly not expecting Yang Ping to have summoned him for this matter. "Professor, I..." Lu Xiaolu carefully chose his words, "I'm afraid I'm not capable enough. Dr. Tang is so capable; I'm far from being as good as him."
Yang Ping said, "You've worked in the oncology lab for several years, and your management skills are evident to everyone. Besides, you're not working alone; you're Tang Shun's deputy. With him guiding you, what are you afraid of?"
Lu Xiaolu was silent for a moment, then said, "Professor, may I consider it?"
“Of course,” Yang Ping said. “There’s no rush. Think it through. Our institute will have more and more laboratories in the future, and we definitely need expert-level talent in management positions.”
“Okay, I’ve thought it over and will tell you.” Lu Xiaolu stood up, walked to the door, then turned back. “Professor, thank you for trusting me.”
"Go ahead!" Yang Ping waved his hand.
After Lu Xiaolu left, Yang Ping sat for a while, then picked up the case file from Director He and went to the general thoracic surgery department.
When Yang Ping arrived, Director He had just finished presiding over the morning meeting. Seeing Yang Ping, he immediately stood up: "Professor Yang, what brings you here? Didn't we agree that I would come to see you?"
“I’m going that way anyway.” Yang Ping handed the documents to Director He. “I’ve written out the surgical plan, and the key steps and precautions are all on it. Just follow this, and there shouldn’t be any major problems.”
Director He took the documents, holding them like precious treasures. He flipped through them and saw that they were filled with neat handwriting on several pages, clearly organized.
"Professor Yang, this..." Director He was somewhat agitated, "Did you write this by hand?"
"I wrote this last night," Yang Ping said. "Take a good look at it, make sure you understand each step, and ask me any questions you may have. Don't hesitate to voice any differing opinions."
"Thank you, Professor Yang! Thank you!" Director He said repeatedly.
Yang Ping waved his hand, turned around and left the Department of Thoracic Surgery.
He went to the cardiac surgery department.
Li Zehui and Xia Shu were both in the office, discussing something while looking at the image on the film reader. Seeing Yang Ping enter, they both turned around simultaneously.
“Professor Yang, you’ve come at the right time.” Li Zehui pointed to the film on the film viewing light. “We’re discussing the coronary artery bypass grafting plan. The diagram you drew for Xia Shu yesterday is very ingenious, but there are still some details that need to be confirmed.”
Yang Ping walked over and stood in front of the film reading lamp.
“Look here,” Li Zehui pointed to a spot on the film. “The distal vessel of the posterior descending artery is of very poor quality, with a lumen diameter of perhaps less than one millimeter. In your dual-supply design, the radial artery needs to be anastomosed to the posterior descending artery, but with such a thin vessel, will it be patent after the anastomosis?”
Yang Ping carefully observed the area and then said, "You're right, the distal end of the posterior descending artery is indeed too thin to be suitable for anastomosis. We'll reroute the radial artery to the posterior branch of the left ventricle. The posterior branch of the left ventricle has a larger lumen diameter and better quality. In this way, the posterior descending artery will still be supplied solely by the great saphenous vein, while the radial artery will supply the posterior branch of the left ventricle, maintaining the goal of dual blood supply."
It seems that Li Zehui is not bad; he doesn't blindly believe in authority and has the habit and ability to question.
Xia Shu listened from the side, her pen flying across the paper as she took notes.
“There’s another issue,” Li Zehui added. “We performed an ultrasound assessment of the patient’s right internal mammary artery. The flow rate and diameter are acceptable, but there are some calcified plaques on the vessel wall. Will using such a vessel for anastomosis affect the long-term patency rate?”
Yang Ping thought for a moment and said, "If the calcification of the right internal mammary artery is not too severe, it can still be used. But you have to be careful when anastomosing it. Don't insert the needle at the calcified site; choose a normal vessel wall. If the calcification is too severe, then abandon the right internal mammary artery and use the radial artery and bilateral great saphenous veins instead. The plan should be flexible and not rigid."
"Understood!" Li Zehui nodded.
The three of them discussed for another ten minutes or so, going over all the details of the surgical plan. Yang Ping explained every point that needed attention in great detail, and Li Zehui and Xia Shu listened attentively, occasionally raising their own questions and ideas.
After the discussion ended, Yang Ping checked the time; it was almost ten o'clock.
He rushed back to the research institute, where Mainstein was already waiting for him in the laboratory.
“Professor, you’re late.” Mainstein glanced at his watch. “It was supposed to be 10:00, it’s 10:03 now.”
“Excuse me, I was just discussing a case in the cardiac surgery department.” Yang Ping sat down opposite Mainstein. “Where’s your paper? Let me see it.”
Mannstein handed the printed manuscript to Yang Ping; it was a thick stack of papers, at least thirty pages long.
Yang Ping took it and started reading from the first page.
Mannstein's English was very well written, with precise vocabulary, varied sentence structure, and a beautiful style. But Yang Ping didn't have time to appreciate the writing style; his attention was entirely focused on the data and conclusions.
Mainstein's experimental design was rigorous, with a sufficient sample size, a reasonable control group, and appropriate statistical methods. The data were also impressive, showing clear trends, significant differences, and good reproducibility. While the conclusions were bold, they were supported by ample evidence and not based on mere speculation.
Yang Ping read through the manuscript page by page, occasionally writing annotations in the margins. Some annotations were questions—"This data is the mean ± standard deviation, why not report the median and quartiles?" Some annotations were suggestions—"The logic in this part could be further refined, first explaining the phenomenon, then the mechanism, and finally the significance." Some annotations were affirmations—"This experiment was well-designed and can be used as a template."
Mannstein sat quietly beside him, occasionally taking a sip of his tea. He knew Yang Ping's habit of not speaking or commenting until the paper was finished. So he wasn't in a hurry and waited patiently.
Twenty minutes later, Yang Ping turned to the last page.
He put down his paper and rubbed his eyes.
"How is it?" Mainstein asked impatiently.
“Very good,” Yang Ping said. “The data is reliable, the conclusions are reasonable, and the paper is very clear, but I have a few questions.”
"you say!"
Yang Ping opened the manuscript and pointed to the annotations he had made, explaining them one by one.
Mannstein listened attentively, nodding as he did so, occasionally jotting down key points in his notebook.
“The problems you mentioned do exist,” Mainstein said. “I can change the statistical methods immediately, and I can adjust the paper structure, but mechanism research takes time, at least two months.”
“Then let’s take two months to get it done,” Yang Ping said. “We’re not in a rush, we’ll take it slowly.”
“Yes, slow and steady wins the race,” Mainstein said.