Lung Cancer Risk Attributable to Active Smoking in China: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Objective: No consensus exists on the relative risk ( RR) of lung cancer (LC) attributable to active smoking in China. This study aimed to evaluate the unified RR of LC attributable to active smoking among the Chinese population. Methods: A systematic literature search of seven databases was conducted to identify studies reporting active smoking among smokers versus nonsmokers in China. Primary articles on LC providing risk estimates with their 95% confidence intervals ( CIs) for "ever" "former" or "current" smokers from China were selected. Meta-analysis was used to estimate the pooled RR of active smoking. Results: Forty-four unique studies were included. Compared with that of nonsmokers, the pooled RR (95% CI) for "ever" "former" and "current" smokers were 3.26 (2.79-3.82), 2.95 (1.71-5.08), and 5.16 (2.58-10.34) among men, 3.18 (2.78-3.63), 2.70 (2.08-3.51), and 4.27 (3.61-5.06) among women, and 2.71 (2.12-3.46), 2.66 (2.45-2.88), and 4.21 (3.25-5.45) in both sexes combined, respectively. Conclusion: The RR of LC has remained relatively stable (range, 2-6) over the past four decades in China. Early quitting of smoking could reduce the RR to some extent; however, completely refraining from smoking is the best way to avoid its adverse effects.

Impact of Smoke-Free Legislation on Acute Myocardial Infarction and Subtypes of Stroke Incidence in Shenzhen, China, 2012-2016: An Interrupted Time Series Analysis.

Objective: This study assesses the impact of smoke-free legislation on the incidence rate for acute myocardial infarction (AMI) and stroke in Shenzhen. Methods: Data on ischemic ( n = 72,945) and hemorrhagic ( n = 18,659) stroke and AMI ( n = 17,431) incidence covering about 12 million people in Shenzhen from 2012 to 2016 were used. Immediate and gradual changes in incidence rates were analyzed using segmented Poisson regression. Results: Following the smoke-free legislation, a 9% (95% CI: 3%-15%) immediate reduction was observed in AMI incidence, especially in men (8%, 95% CI: 1%-14%) and in those aged 65 years and older (17%, 95% CI: 9%-25%). The gradual annual benefits were observed only in hemorrhagic and ischemic stroke incidence, with a 7% (95% CI: 2%-11%) and 6% (95% CI: 4%-8%) decrease per year, respectively. This health effect extended gradually to the 50-64 age group. In addition, neither the immediate nor gradual decrease in stroke and AMI incidence rates did not show statistical significance among the 35-49 age group ( P > 0.05). Conclusion: Smoke-free legislation was enforced well in Shenzhen, which would generate good experiences for other cities to enact and enforce smoke-free laws. This study also provided more evidence of the health benefits of smoke-free laws on stroke and AMI.

The Association between Exposure to Second-Hand Smoke and Disease in the Chinese Population: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Objective: To analyze the association between exposure to second-hand smoke (SHS) and 23 diseases, categorized into four classifications, among the Chinese population. Methods: We searched the literature up to June 30, 2021, and eligible studies were identified according to the PECOS format: Participants and Competitors (Chinese population), Exposure (SHS), Outcomes (Disease or Death), and Study design (Case-control or Cohort). Results: In total, 53 studies were selected. The odds ratio (OR) for all types of cancer was 1.79 (1.56-2.05), and for individual cancers was 1.92 (1.42-2.59) for lung cancer, 1.57 (1.40-1.76) for breast cancer, 1.52 (1.12-2.05) for bladder cancer, and 1.37 (1.08-1.73) for liver cancer. The OR for circulatory system diseases was 1.92 (1.29-2.85), with a value of 2.29 (1.26-4.159) for stroke. The OR of respiratory system diseases was 1.76 (1.13-2.74), with a value of 1.82 (1.07-3.11) for childhood asthma. The original ORs were also shown for other diseases. Subgroup analyses were performed for lung and breast cancer. The ORs varied according to time period and were significant during exposure in the household; For lung cancer, the OR was significant in women. Conclusion: The effect of SHS exposure in China was similar to that in Western countries, but its definition and characterization require further clarification. Studies on the association between SHS exposure and certain diseases with high incidence rates are insufficient.

A digital workflow to predict facial aesthetics in patients with maxillofacial trauma with implant retained prostheses.

Purpose To introduce a digital workflow for the prediction of facial aesthetics, especially in patients with dentation deformity caused by maxillofacial trauma.Methods Cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) and three-dimensional facial scans of patients with radiographic prostheses were collected. The aforementioned data were uploaded to ProPlan CMF software and merged to generate a virtual patient with craniofacial hard tissue, realistic facial soft tissue, and remaining dentition. The radiographic prostheses were scanned to form a digital cast, which was fitted with its CBCT image to create the virtual prostheses. Postoperative facial soft tissue was simulated according to the movement of the virtual prostheses. An appropriate virtual diagnostic prosthesis plan was selected by the patient and dentist. Subsequently, prosthetically driven implant guide and restoration were designed and fabricated.Conclusions A virtual patient was successfully constructed. A 4-mm protrusion of the virtual prosthesis was chosen. Subsequently, implant surgery was performed, and dental prostheses were fabricated based on this location. The fusion of the postoperative facial scan and preoperative facial prediction was found to be coincident. This technique can effectively predict facial aesthetic features of patients with maxillofacial trauma, facilitate communication with patients, reduce chairside time, and guide the multidisciplinary design of implant placement and restoration fabrication.

Lingnan Fire-needle on Inhibiting Melanocyte Apoptosis in Vitiligo Model Mice by Regulating Hippo-YAP Signaling Pathway / 中山大学学报(医学科学版)

ObjectiveTo observe the effects of fire-needle of Lingnan on the vitiligo model after hydroquinone-induced oxidative stress based on the Hippo-YAP signaling pathway. MethodsC57BL/6 mice were randomly divided into normal group （Control）， model group （HQ）， HQ+fire-needle group （FA）， and positive control group （Halometasone）， with 8 mice in each group. The vitiligo model was prepared by hydroquinone （HQ）. The skin pathological changes were observed by depigmentation score， HE staining and Masson-Fontana. Elisa was used to detect the levels of tyrosinase （TYR）， malondialdehyde （MDA） and monoamine oxidase （MAO）.Western-blot and PCR were used to detect the expression of Yap1 and Tp73 among the groups. ResultsCompared with the control group， the epidermis and dermis were significantly thicker. The number of melanocyte hair follicles， basal melanocytes， epidermal cells containing melanin granules were significantly decreased， and the depigmentation score was significantly reduced（P＜0.01）. The level of TYR decreased， and the levels of MDA and MAO increased after modeling（P＜0.01）. The expression of Yap1 and Tp73 were significantly reduced （P<0.01）. The dermis became thinner in the halometasone and FA group after treatment of 4 weeks. The number of melanocyte hair follicles， basal melanocytes， epidermal cells containing melanin granules increased （P<0.05）. Compared with that of the HQ group， the level of TYR in the halometasone group and FA group was significantly increased （P<0.01）. The levels of MDA and MAO in the FA group were decreased （P<0.05）. The expressions of Yap1 and Tp73 in the FA group were significantly increased （P<0.01）， and their effects were better than those in the Halometasone group （P<0.05）. ConclusionsFire-needle of Lingnan protects melanocytes from oxidative stress by activating the Hippo-YAP pathway. It enhances the synthesis and function of melanocytes and promotes repigmentation by reducing the content and activity of oxidative stress products.

Relationships Between Diurnal Changes of Tongue Coating Microbiota and Intestinal Microbiota.

The oral cavity and the intestine are the main distribution locations of human digestive bacteria. Exploring the relationships between the tongue coating and gut microbiota, the influence of the diurnal variations of the tongue coating microbiota on the intestinal microbiota can provide a reference for the development of the disease diagnosis and monitoring, as well as the medication time. In this work, a total of 39 healthy college students were recruited. We collected their tongue coating microbiota which was collected before and after sleep and fecal microbiota. The diurnal variations of tongue coating microbiota are mainly manifested on the changes in diversity and relative abundance. There are commensal bacteria in the tongue coating and intestines, especially Prevotella which has the higher proportion in both sites. The relative abundance of Prevotella in the tongue coating before sleep has a positive correlation with intestinal Prevotella; the r is 0.322 (p < 0.05). Bacteroides in the intestine had the most bacteria associated with the tongue coating and had the highest correlation coefficient with Veillonella in the oral cavity, which was 0.468 (p < 0.01). These results suggest that the abundance of the same flora in the two sites may have a common change trend. The SourceTracker results show that the proportion of intestinal bacteria sourced from tongue coating is less than 1%. It indicates that oral flora is difficult to colonize in the intestine in healthy people. This will provide a reference for the study on the oral and intestinal microbiota in diseases.

A Study of Logistic Regression for Fatigue Classification Based on Data of Tongue and Pulse.

Methods: The Tongue and Face Diagnosis Analysis-1 instrument and Pulse Diagnosis Analysis-1 instrument were used to collect the tongue image and sphygmogram of the subhealth fatigue population (n = 252) and disease fatigue population (n = 1160), and we mainly analyzed the tongue and pulse characteristics and constructed the classification model by using the logistic regression method. Results: The results showed that subhealth fatigue people and disease fatigue people had different characteristics of tongue and pulse, and the logistic regression model based on tongue and pulse data had a good classification effect. The accuracies of models of healthy controls and subhealth fatigue, subhealth fatigue and disease fatigue, and healthy controls and disease fatigue were 68.29%, 81.18%, and 84.73%, and the AUC was 0.698, 0.882, and 0.924, respectively. Conclusion: This study provided a new noninvasive method for the fatigue diagnosis from the perspective of objective tongue and pulse data, and the modern tongue diagnosis and pulse diagnosis have good application prospects.

Assessment Parameters for Arrayed Pulse Wave Analysis and Application in Hypertensive Disorders.

Study on the objectivity of pulse diagnosis is inseparable from the instruments to obtain the pulse waves. The single-pulse diagnostic instrument is relatively mature in acquiring and analysing pulse waves, but the pulse information captured by single-pulse diagnostic instrument is limited. The sensor arrays can simulate rich sense of the doctor's fingers and catch multipoint and multiparameter array signals. How to analyse the acquired array signals is still a major problem in the objective research of pulse diagnosis. The goal of this study was to establish methods for analysing arrayed pulse waves and preliminarily apply them in hypertensive disorders. While a sensor array can be used for the real-time monitoring of twelve pulse wave channels, for each subject in this study, only the pulse wave signals of the left hand at the "guan" location were obtained. We calculated the average pulse wave (APW) per channel over a thirty-second interval. The most representative pulse wave (MRPW) and the APW were matched by their correlation coefficient (CC). The features of the MRPW and the features that corresponded to the array pulse volume (APV) parameters were identified manually. Finally, a clinical trial was conducted to detect these feature performance indicators in patients with hypertensive disorders. The independent-samples t-tests and the Mann-Whitney U-tests were performed to assess the differences in these pulse parameters between the healthy and hypertensive groups. We found that the radial passage (RP) APV h1, APV h3, APV h4, APV h3/h1 (P < 0.01), and APV h4/h1 (P < 0.05) were significantly higher in the hypertensive group than in the healthy group; the intermediate passage (IP) APV h4, APV h3/h1 (P < 0.05), and APV h4/h1 (P < 0.01) and the mean APV h3, APV h3/h1 (P < 0.05), and APV h4/h1 (P < 0.01) were significantly higher in the hypertensive group than in the healthy group, and the ulnar passage (UP) APV h4/h1 (P < 0.05) was clearly elevated in the hypertensive group. These results provide a preliminary validation of this novel approach for determining the APV by arrayed pulse wave analysis. In conclusion, we identified effective indicators of hypertensive vascular function. Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) pulses comprise multidimensional information, and a sensor array could provide a better indication of TCM pulse characteristics. In this study, the validation of the arrayed pulse wave analysis demonstrates that the APV can reliably mirror TCM pulse characteristics.

The effects and mechanism of paeoniflorin in promoting osteogenic differentiation of MC3T3-E1.

BACKGROUND: The incidence of osteoporosis and osteoporotic fractures is increasing every year. Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) can shed new light on the treatment of osteoporosis. This study aimed to explore the role and mechanism of paeoniflorin in promoting osteogenic differentiation of an osteoblast precursor cell line (MC3T3-E1). METHODS: MC3T3-E1 cells were cultured in osteogenic induction medium (OIM) and OIM combined with different concentrations of paeoniflorin. The optimal dose of paeoniflorin was assessed by a cell counting kit-8 (CCK-8) assay. Then, alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and Alizarin Red S (ARS) staining were performed to assess the osteogenic capacity of paeoniflorin. The transcription of osteogenic genes and the expression of osteogenic proteins were assessed by RT-PCR and Western blotting, respectively. The transcription of Wnt/ß-catenin signaling pathway genes and proteins was assessed by RT-PCR and Western blotting, respectively. Finally, Dickkopf-1 (DKK-1), a Wnt/ß-catenin signaling pathway inhibitor, was used to identify whether the Wnt/ß-catenin signaling pathway was involved in the osteogenic differentiation of paeoniflorin. Osteoclastogenesis in RAW264.7 cells was identified by tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase (TRAP) staining. RESULTS: At concentrations ranging from 0.1 to 100 µM, paeoniflorin was not cytotoxic to MC3T3-E1 cells. Paeoniflorin significantly increased the osteogenic differentiation of MC3T3-E1 cells in a dose-dependent manner. Moreover, paeoniflorin significantly increased osteogenic differentiation gene and protein expression. Through bioinformatic analysis, paeoniflorin-affected genes were found to be involved in different signaling pathways, such as the Wnt/ß-catenin signaling pathway. Paeoniflorin enhanced ß-catenin and CyclinD1 expression compared with that of the control groups. DKK-1 partially reversed the promoting effects of paeoniflorin in promoting osteogenic differentiation of MC3T3-E1 cells. Moreover, paeoniflorin inhibited the osteoclastogenesis of RAW264.7 cells. CONCLUSION: Paeoniflorin promotes osteogenic differentiation in MC3T3-E1 cells by regulating the Wnt/ß-catenin pathway. Paeoniflorin is a potential therapeutic agent for the treatment of osteoporosis.

Professor LIN Guo-hua's clinical experience in staging treatment for post-stroke dysphagia / 中国针灸

The paper summarizes professor LIN Guo-hua's clinical experience in staging treatment for post-stroke dysphagia. Professor LIN Guo-hua adheres to "essence and marrow deficiency and primary yang decline" as the pathogenesis and "conducting yin from yang " as the treating principle. By regulating the conception vessel and the governor vessel and focusing on yang meridians, in association with meridian differentiation and the location differentiation, professor LIN provides the staging treatment for post-stroke dysphagia. At the oral phase, yangming is dysfunction, manifested as facial paralysis and flaccid tongue. In treatment, reducing method is predominated at yangming meridian specially. At the pharyngeal phase, shaoyang is invaded by pathogens, manifested as pivoting dysfunction. The treatment focuses on communicating the exterior with the interior and promoting shaoyang meridian. At the esophageal phase, yangming meridian is deficiency and the turbid qi fails to descend, thus the reinforcing method is dominated to promote and tonify yangming. Additionally, the kinesiotherapy of acupuncture is assisted and the Lingnan fire needling therapy is used particularly. All of the summaries above provide the reference for the clinical treatment of post-stroke dysphagia.

A New Method for Syndrome Classification of Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer Based on Data of Tongue and Pulse with Machine Learning.

OBJECTIVE: To explore the data characteristics of tongue and pulse of non-small-cell lung cancer with Qi deficiency syndrome and Yin deficiency syndrome, establish syndrome classification model based on data of tongue and pulse by using machine learning methods, and evaluate the feasibility of syndrome classification based on data of tongue and pulse. METHODS: We collected tongue and pulse of non-small-cell lung cancer patients with Qi deficiency syndrome (n = 163), patients with Yin deficiency syndrome (n = 174), and healthy controls (n = 185) using intelligent tongue diagnosis analysis instrument and pulse diagnosis analysis instrument, respectively. We described the characteristics and examined the correlation of data of tongue and pulse. Four machine learning methods, namely, random forest, logistic regression, support vector machine, and neural network, were used to establish the classification models based on symptom, tongue and pulse, and symptom and tongue and pulse, respectively. RESULTS: Significant difference indices of tongue diagnosis between Qi deficiency syndrome and Yin deficiency syndrome were TB-a, TB-S, TB-Cr, TC-a, TC-S, TC-Cr, perAll, and the tongue coating texture indices including TC-CON, TC-ASM, TC-MEAN, and TC-ENT. Significant difference indices of pulse diagnosis were t4 and t5. The classification performance of each model based on different datasets was as follows: tongue and pulse < symptom < symptom and tongue and pulse. The neural network model had a better classification performance for symptom and tongue and pulse datasets, with an area under the ROC curves and accuracy rate which were 0.9401 and 0.8806. CONCLUSIONS: It was feasible to use tongue data and pulse data as one of the objective diagnostic basis in Qi deficiency syndrome and Yin deficiency syndrome of non-small-cell lung cancer.

A retrospective study to compare the treatment outcomes with and without surgical navigation for fracture of the orbital wall.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the outcomes with and without aid of a computer-assisted surgical navigation system (CASNS) for treatment of unilateral orbital wall fracture (OWF). METHODS: Patients who came to our hospital for repairing unilateral traumatic OWF from 2014 to 2017 were included in this study. The patients were divided into the navigation group who accepted orbital wall reconstruction aided by CASNS and the conventional group. We evaluated the surgical precision in the navigation group by analyzing the difference between actual postoperative computed tomography data and preoperative virtual surgical plan through color order ratios. We also compared the duration of surgery, enophthalmos correction, restoration of orbital volumes, and improvement of clinical symptoms in both groups systemically. Quantitative data were presented as mean ± SD. Significance was determined by the two-sample t-test using SPSS Version 19.0 A p < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. RESULTS: Seventy patients with unilateral OWF were included in the study cohort. The mean difference between preoperative virtual planning and actual reconstruction outcome was (0.869 ± 0.472) mm, which means the reconstruction result could match the navigation planning accurately. The mean duration of surgery in the navigation group was shorter than it is in the control group, but not significantly. Discrepancies between the reconstructed and unaffected orbital-cavity volume and eyeball projection in the navigation group were significantly less than that in the conventional group. One patient had remnant diplopia and two patients had enophthalmos after surgery in the navigation group; two patients had postoperative diplopia and four patients had postoperative enophthalmos in the conventional group. CONCLUSION: Compare with the conventional treatment for OWF, the use of CASNS can provide a significantly better surgical precision, greater improvements in orbital-cavity volume and eyeball projection, and better clinical results, without increasing the duration of surgery.

Exploration of fire needling therapy on coronavirus disease 2019 / 中国针灸

Combined with previous clinical experience in anti-epidemic and acupuncture, the prevention program of fire needling therapy for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) was drawn out. Fire needling therapy has the effects of clearing heat, removing dampness, replenishing for the deficiency, removing stasis and detoxifying, which is mainly aimed at preventing populations, light and common types cases, and cases in the recovery period. Acupoints of governor vessel, lung meridian, bladder meridian and stomach meridian are mainly used in this program. For the special groups, such as children, elderly and weak, and pregnant women, Shenzhu (GV 12), Danshu (BL 19), Geshu (BL 17), Zhigou (TE 6), etc. are added. It is hoped that fire needling therapy will be applied in the community and square cabin hospitals as an effective supplement to anti-epidemic of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM).

Assessing the Quality of Life in Patients With Dentofacial Deformities Before and After Orthognathic Surgery.

PURPOSE: This study aimed to assess the effect of health-related quality of life (QoL) among patients with dentofacial deformities who underwent orthognathic surgery compared with a control group without dentofacial deformities by use of generic oral health and condition-specific approaches. PATIENTS AND METHODS: In this prospective study, 2 questionnaires were administered to 85 patients (31 male and 54 female patients) who were evaluated before undergoing orthognathic surgery. The Short Form Oral Health Impact Profile Questionnaire (OHIP-14) and the Orthognathic Quality of Life Questionnaire (OQLQ) were administered before and 5 to 7 months after orthognathic surgery. The control group comprised 96 young university student volunteers without dentofacial deformities. RESULTS: The questionnaires were collected 5 to 7 months after surgery. The preoperative scores of the patients and the control group were contrasted separately. The respondents' postoperative OHIP-14 and OQLQ scores were significantly lower (P < .001 for total scores). The preoperative OQLQ scores for all domains were significantly higher among the patients than among the controls (P < .001 for total scores), whereas the total scores and 3 subscale scores of the OHIP-14 in the functional and psychological domains were significantly higher among the patients than among the controls (P < .05 for total scores). The preoperative and postoperative OQLQ total scores were remarkably different between male and female patients (P < .05). The postoperative OQLQ total scores were considerably higher in older patients than in younger patients (P < .05). All patients in the Class III group who underwent double-jaw surgery showed remarkable changes after surgery (P < .001 for total scores). CONCLUSIONS: Patients with dentofacial deformities had a poorer QoL compared with the healthy population, especially in functional and psychological aspects. Orthognathic surgery had a significant positive impact on QoL. Patients with Class III malocclusion who underwent double-jaw surgery seemingly benefitted the most after surgery.

Mutation of residue arginine 330 of arginine kinase results in the generation of the oxidized form more susceptible.

Arginine kinase (AK), a crucial enzyme for the energy metabolism of invertebrates, catalyzes the reversible phosphorylation of arginine by Mg(2+)ATP to form phosphoarginine and Mg(2+)ADP. Arginine 330 (R330), not involved in the catalysis of phosphoryl transfer, is a residue highly conserved in the phosphagen kinase family. In order to investigate the role of R330 in AK, it was replaced by lysine (R330K). Non-reduced SDS-PAGE analysis suggested that wild type AK (Wt-AK) and R330K existed in two forms, the reduced form (R-AK or R-R330K) and the oxidized form (O-AK or O-R330K), whereas O-R330K was more susceptible to generate than O-AK. Subsequently, an intramolecular disulfide bond in O-R330K was demonstrated to be formed between Cys201 and Cys271 by site-directed mutagenesis. Biochemical analysis revealed that conformational changes of R330K were concomitant with the sharp decline of catalytic activity. These results were further confirmed by structure modeling of AK and R330K. Therefore, it can be concluded that R330 residue plays an important role in the structural stability and activity of AK.

Investigation of the enhancement fluorescence of ethanol doped SiO2 nanoparticles.

As one of the most commonly used solvents, ethanol exhibits weak fluorescence when excited by ultraviolet (UV) light. Until now, the fluorescence of ethanol-doped nanoparticles has not been studied. In this paper, eleven different concentrations of SiO2 nanoparticles (diameter 100 nm) were doped in ethanol, and corresponding colloids were formed. The excitation and emission spectra of the colloids were measured. The experimental results indicated that the SiO2 nanoparticles obviously enhanced the fluorescence of ethanol. Under excitation at 306 nm, the enhancement effect is the best when the concentration of SiO2 nanoparticles is 4.452 x 10(12) ml(-1), and the enhancement factor is nearly 50 times at the peak position of 360 nm. At the excitation wavelength of 360 nm, the enhancement effect is the best when the concentration of SiO2 nanoparticles is 1.113 x 10(13) ml(-1), and the enhancement factor is nearly 40 times at the peak position of 397 nm. The result of this article will reduce the test limit of ethanol by two magnitudes.