Efficacy of Botulinum Toxin in the Treatment of Facial and Cervical Hypertrophic Scar: A Meta-Analysis.

Objective: Maxillofacial-neck hyperplastic scars have long been a persistent concern among individuals in both Western and Eastern countries. These scars exhibit rapid growth within 3-6 months following wound healing, subsequently receding at a slower pace, leading to skin redness, tension, and potential itching. The lack of comprehensive understanding regarding the formation mechanism and biological attributes of these scars has made them a prominent subject of research both domestically and internationally. Methods: Research data from 2010 to 2023 was selected, and relevant literature on the efficacy of botulinum toxin in the treatment of facial and neck hypertrophic scars was searched until August 2023. The literature on the incidence of facial-neck hypertrophic scars included in PubMed, the Cochrane Library, EMbase, and Web of Science was searched. Two researchers independently screened and extracted the data according to strict inclusion and exclusion criteria.Risk bias in Review Manager 5.4, provided by the Cochrane Collaboration, was used for methodological quality assessment and meta-analysis of the included literature. In case of any disagreement, the decision shall be made through consultation with the third party. Scar width, patient satisfaction, and visual analogue scale (VAS) were evaluated. Weighted mean difference (WMD), odds ratio (OR), and 95% confidence interval (95%CI) were used for evaluation. Publication bias was intuitively determined by funnel plot, and sensitivity analysis was conducted by removing literatures one by one for risk assessment. Results: After reading the title, abstract, and full text, a total of 237 patients were included in 7 articles. Scar width was only studied in 6 literatures, and the heterogeneity test of the included studies (χ2 = 148.95, P < .001, I2 = 98%) showed significant heterogeneity among the studies. Therefore, the random effects model was used to merge the data. Combined effect value WMD =-2.85 [95% CI :(-6.51, 0.81), P < .001], the difference between the two groups was statistically significant. The combined OR of the random-effects model was 8.52 [95%CI: (7.96, 9.08), P < .001], and the difference between the two groups was statistically significant. Among them, the heterogeneity test (χ2 = 2.69, P = .44, I² = 0%) was carried out in two studies, indicating good homogeneity among the studies, so the combined WMD was 0.68 [95%CI: (0.38, 0.99), P < .001] by using the fixed-effect model. The median VAS was described in the other two literatures, and the mean scores in the experimental group were 8.9 and 8.25, respectively, while the mean scores in the control group were 7.2 and 6.28, respectively, indicating that local injection of botulinum A toxin at the early stage of wound healing can significantly improve scar quality. Sensitivity analysis suggested that the meta-analysis results were stable and reliable, and publication bias was not analyzed using funnel plots. Conclusion: Botulinum toxin has a positive effect on preventing hyperplastic scars in the maxillofacial and neck areas, and it can also help fade existing scars.

Determining the orientation of acetabular prosthesis in total hip arthroplasty by refering to the anatomical landmarker of acetabular notches.

The aim of this study was to explore a novel method to determine the orientation of acetabular prosthesis in total hip arthroplasty (THA) by refering to the anatomical landmarker of acetabular notches. Forty-one normal developmental hips were included in the present study. The acetabulums were reamed according to standard surgical procedures of THA on life-size 3D printing pelvis models. The inferior edge of acetabular cup were placed (1-5) mm proximal and distal to the proximal line of the anterior and posterior acetabular notches (PLAPAN) respectively to determine cup inclination. The inferior edge of acetabular cup were placed (1-5) mm pronating and supinating around the proximal point of acetabular posterior notch (PPAPN) respectively to determine cup anteversion. The pelvis plain radiographs were took and the inclination and anteversion of the acetabular cup at 22 positions were calculated. In the normal developmental hip, the mean inclination of acetabular prothesis were (35.10 ± 3.22)° and (45.90 ± 2.68)° when the inferior edge of the acetabular cup was 3 mm proximal and 1 mm distal to the PLAPAN. The optimal cup inclination could be obtained when the inferior edge of the acetabular cup was 1 mm proximal to the PLAPAN (the mean inclination was (40.71 ± 2.80)°). The mean anteversion of acetabular prothesis were (10.67 ± 4.55)° and (20.86 ± 4.44)° when the inferior edge of the acetabular cup was 1 mm pronating and 1 mm supinating around the PPAPN. The optimal cup anteversion could be obtained when the inferior edge of the acetabular cup was parallel to the PLAPAN (the mean anteversion was (18.00 ± 1.64)°). The inclination and anteversion of acetabular prosthesis could be determined by refering the anatomical landmarks of acetabular notches, which could help orthopedists to install the acetabular prosthesis quickly and safely in THA.

[Evaluation of COVID-19 Antigen Test Kit Assay Analytical and Clinical Performance].

Objective To rapidly screen patients with novel coronavirus pneumonia (COVID-19) infection including asymptomatic ones. Method Established a rapid detection test kit, and evaluated analytical and clinical performance of it. Result The minimum limit of detection of the reagent was 9.75×102 TCID50/mL; there was no cross-reaction and interference in the high-concentration samples of 29 common respiratory pathogens tested. The diagnostic sensitivity of clinical samples was 98.56%, specificity was 99.00%, and the total coincidence rate was 98.85%; the consistency test Kappa value is 0.974 5. The stratified analysis of positive samples with different Ct values showed that the coincidence rate within each stratum was greater than 95%. Conclusion This COVID-19 antigen test kit with excellent detection performance, fast detection speed, and portable operation. It can be used as a supplementary method for existing nucleic acid detection methods for early screening of new coronavirus.

Full-Length Transcriptome Sequencing and Comparative Transcriptomic Analyses Provide Comprehensive Insight Into Molecular Mechanisms of Cellulose and Lignin Biosynthesis in Cunninghamia lanceolata.

Cunninghamia lanceolata is an essential timber species that provide 20%-30% raw materials for China's timber industry. Although a few transcriptomes have been published in C. lanceolata, full-length mRNA transcripts and regulatory mechanisms behind the cellulose and lignin biosynthesis have not been thoroughly investigated. Here, PacBio Iso-seq and RNA-seq analyses were adapted to identify the full-length and differentially expressed transcripts along a developmental gradient from apex to base of C. lanceolata shoots. A total of 48,846 high-quality full-length transcripts were obtained, of which 88.0% are completed transcriptome based on benchmarking universal single-copy orthologs (BUSCO) assessment. Along stem developmental gradient, 18,714 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were detected. Further, 28 and 125 DEGs were identified as enzyme-coding genes of cellulose and lignin biosynthesis, respectively. Moreover, 57 transcription factors (TFs), including MYB and NAC, were identified to be involved in the regulatory network of cellulose and lignin biosynthesis through weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA). These TFs are composed of a comparable regulatory network of secondary cell wall formation in angiosperms, revealing a similar mechanism may exist in gymnosperms. Further, through qRT-PCR, we also investigated eight specific TFs involved in compression wood formation. Our findings provide a comprehensive and valuable source for molecular genetics breeding of C. lanceolata and will be beneficial for molecular-assisted selection.