Surgical counting interruptions in operating rooms.

BACKGROUND: Operating rooms are complex working environments with high workloads and high levels of cognitive demand. The first surgical count which occurs during the chaotic preoperative stage and is considered a critical phase, is a routine task in ORs. Interruptions often occur during the first surgical count; however, little is known about the first surgical counting interruptions. This study aimed to observe and analyse the sources, outcomes, frequency of the first surgical counting interruptions and responses to interruptions. METHODS: A retrospective observational study was carried out to examine the occurrence of the first surgical counting interruptions between 1st August 2023 and 30th September 2023. The data were collected using the "Surgical Counting Interruption Event Form", which was developed by the researchers specifically for this study. RESULTS: A total of 66 circulating nurses (CNs) and scrub nurses (SNs) were observed across 1015 surgeries, with 4927.8 min of surgical count. The mean duration of the first surgical count was 4.85 min, with a range of 1.03 min to 9.51 min. In addition, 697 interruptions were identified, with full-term interruptions occurring an average of 8.7 times per hour. The most frequent source of interruption during the first surgical counts was instruments (N = 144, 20.7%). The first surgical counting interruptions mostly affected the CN (336 times; 48.2%), followed by the ORNs (including CNs and SNs) (243 times; 34.9%) and the SN (118 times; 16.9%). Most of the outcomes of interruptions were negative, and the majority of the nurses responded immediately to interruptions. CONCLUSIONS: The frequency of the first surgical counting interruption is high. Managers should develop interventions for interruptions based on different surgical specialties and different nursing roles.

Development and external validation of a nomogram for the early prediction of acute kidney injury in septic patients: a multicenter retrospective clinical study.

Background and purpose: Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a common serious complication in sepsis patients with a high mortality rate. This study aimed to develop and validate a predictive model for sepsis associated acute kidney injury (SA-AKI). Methods: In our study, we retrospectively constructed a development cohort comprising 733 septic patients admitted to eight Grade-A tertiary hospitals in Shanghai from January 2021 to October 2022. Additionally, we established an external validation cohort consisting of 336 septic patients admitted to our hospital from January 2017 to December 2019. Risk predictors were selected by LASSO regression, and a corresponding nomogram was constructed. We evaluated the model's discrimination, precision and clinical benefit through receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves, calibration plots, decision curve analysis (DCA) and clinical impact curves (CIC) in both internal and external validation. Results: AKI incidence was 53.2% in the development cohort and 48.2% in the external validation cohort. The model included five independent indicators: chronic kidney disease stages 1 to 3, blood urea nitrogen, procalcitonin, D-dimer and creatine kinase isoenzyme. The AUC of the model in the development and validation cohorts was 0.914 (95% CI, 0.894-0.934) and 0.923 (95% CI, 0.895-0.952), respectively. The calibration plot, DCA, and CIC demonstrated the model's favorable clinical applicability. Conclusion: We developed and validated a robust nomogram model, which might identify patients at risk of SA-AKI and promising for clinical applications.

Investigating the causal impact of polycystic ovary syndrome on gestational diabetes mellitus: a two-sample Mendelian randomization study.

Introduction: Determining the causal relationship between polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) and gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) holds significant implications for GDM prevention and treatment. Despite numerous observational studies suggesting an association between PCOS and GDM, it remains unclear whether a definitive causal relationship exists between these two conditions and which specific features of PCOS contribute to increased incidence of GDM. Methods: The causal relationship between polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), its characteristic indices, and gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) was investigated using a two-sample Mendelian randomization study based on publicly available statistics from genome-wide association studies (GWAS). The inverse-variance weighted method was employed as the primary analytical approach to examine the association between PCOS, its characteristic indices, and GDM. MR Egger intercept was used to assess pleiotropy, while Q values and their corresponding P values were utilized to evaluate heterogeneity. It is important to note that this study adopts a two-sample MR design where PCOS and its characteristic indices are considered as exposures, while GDM is treated as an outcome. Results: The study results indicate that there is no causal relationship between PCOS and GDM (all methods P > 0.05, 95% CI of OR values passed 1). The IVW OR value was 1.007 with a 95% CI of 0.906 to 1.119 and a P value of 0.904. Moreover, the MR Egger Q value was 8.141 with a P value of 0.701, while the IVW Q value was also 8.141 with a P value of 0.774, indicating no significant heterogeneity. Additionally, the MR Egger intercept was 0.0004, which was close to zero with a P value of 0.988, suggesting no pleiotropy. However, the study did find a causal relationship between several other factors such as testosterone, high-density lipoprotein, sex hormone-binding globulin, body mass index, waist-hip ratio, apolipoprotein A-I, number of children, diabetes illnesses of mother, father and siblings, hemoglobin A1c, fasting insulin, fasting blood glucose, years of schooling, and GDM based on the IVW method. Conclusion: We observed no association between genetically predicted PCOS and the risk of GDM, implying that PCOS itself does not confer an increased susceptibility to GDM. The presence of other PCOS-related factors such as testosterone, high-density lipoprotein, and sex hormone-binding globulin may elucidate the link between PCOS and GDM. Based on these findings, efforts aimed at preventing GDM in individuals with PCOS should prioritize those exhibiting high-risk features rather than encompassing all women with PCOS.

Buzhong Yiqitang Regulates Apoptosis via Nrf2/ROS Pathway to Alleviate Cisplatin Resistance in A549/DDP Cells / 中国实验方剂学杂志

ObjectiveTo explore the mechanism of Buzhong Yiqitang-containing serum in alleviating the cisplatin resistance in human non-small cell lung cancer （A549/DDP） cells via regulating the nuclear factor E2-related factor 2 （Nrf2）/reactive oxygen species （ROS） signaling pathway. MethodThe serum containing Buzhong Yiqitang was prepared and A549/DDP cells were cultured and randomly grouped： blank （10% blank serum）， cisplatin （10% blank serum+20 mg·L-1 cisplatin）， Buzhong Yiqitang （10% Buzhong Yiqitang-containing serum+20 mg·L-1 cisplatin）， ML385 （10% blank serum+5 μmol·L-1 ML385+20 mg·L-1 cisplatin）， Buzhong Yiqitang+ML385 （10% Buzhong Yiqitang-containing serum+5 μmol·L-1 ML385+20 mg·L-1 cisplatin）， tertiary butylhydroquinone （TBHQ） （10% blank serum+5 μmol·L-1 TBHQ+20 mg·L-1 cisplatin）， and Buzhong Yiqitang+TBHQ （10% Buzhong Yiqitang-containing serum+5 μmol·L-1 TBHQ+20 mg·L-1 cisplatin）. The median inhibitory concentration （IC50） of cisplatin in each group was determined by the cell counting kit-8 （CCK-8） method and the resistance index （RI） was calculated. The apoptosis rate was detected by flow cytometry. The ROS content of each group was determined with the DCFH-DA fluorescence probe. Western blot was employed to determine the protein levels of Nrf2， cleaved cysteinyl aspartate-specific protease-3 （cleaved Caspase-3）， cytochrome C （Cyt C）， and B-cell lymphoma-2 （Bcl-2）. ResultCompared with those in the cisplatin group， the IC50 and RI of A549/DDP cells to cisplatin in Buzhong Yiqitang， ML385， and Buzhong Yiqitang+ML385 groups decreased （P˂0.05）. Compared with the blank group， the cisplatin， Buzhong Yiqitang， ML385， and Buzhong Yiqitang+ML385 groups showed increased apoptosis rate of A549/DDP cells （P˂0.05）. Compared with the blank group， cisplatin promoted the expression of Nrf2 （P˂0.05）. Compared with the cisplatin group， Buzhong Yiqitang， ML385， and Buzhong Yiqitang+ML385 inhibited the expression of Nrf2 （P<0.05）， elevated the ROS level （P˂0.05）， up-regulated the protein levels of cleaved Caspase-3 and Cyt C， and down-regulated the protein level of Bcl-2 （P<0.05）， which were the most significant in the Buzhong Yiqitang+ML385 group. Compared with the cisplatin group， the TBHQ group showed increased IC50 and RI of cisplatin （P<0.05）， decreased apoptosis rate of A549/DDP cells （P<0.05）， up-regulated protein levels of Nrf2 and Bcl-2 （P<0.05）， lowered level of ROS （P˂0.05）， and down-regulated protein levels of cleaved Caspase-3 and Cyt C （P<0.05）. Compared with the TBHQ group， Buzhong Yiqitang+TBHQ decreased the IC50 and RI of cisplatin in A549/DDP cells （P<0.05）， increased the apoptosis rate （P<0.05）， down-regulated the protein levels of Nrf2 and Bcl-2 （P<0.05）， increased ROS （P˂0.05）， and up-regulated the protein levels of cleaved Caspase-3 and Cyt C （P<0.05）. ConclusionBuzhong Yiqitang induced apoptosis by inhibiting Nrf2/ROS pathway to alleviate cisplatin resistance in A549/DDP cells.

Knowledge Graph Enhanced Transformers for Diagnosis Generation of Chinese Medicine / 中国结合医学杂志

Chinese medicine (CM) diagnosis intellectualization is one of the hotspots in the research of CM modernization. The traditional CM intelligent diagnosis models transform the CM diagnosis issues into classification issues, however, it is difficult to solve the problems such as excessive or similar categories. With the development of natural language processing techniques, text generation technique has become increasingly mature. In this study, we aimed to establish the CM diagnosis generation model by transforming the CM diagnosis issues into text generation issues. The semantic context characteristic learning capacity was enhanced referring to Bidirectional Long Short-Term Memory (BILSTM) with Transformer as the backbone network. Meanwhile, the CM diagnosis generation model Knowledge Graph Enhanced Transformer (KGET) was established by introducing the knowledge in medical field to enhance the inferential capability. The KGET model was established based on 566 CM case texts, and was compared with the classic text generation models including Long Short-Term Memory sequence-to-sequence (LSTM-seq2seq), Bidirectional and Auto-Regression Transformer (BART), and Chinese Pre-trained Unbalanced Transformer (CPT), so as to analyze the model manifestations. Finally, the ablation experiments were performed to explore the influence of the optimized part on the KGET model. The results of Bilingual Evaluation Understudy (BLEU), Recall-Oriented Understudy for Gisting Evaluation 1 (ROUGE1), ROUGE2 and Edit distance of KGET model were 45.85, 73.93, 54.59 and 7.12, respectively in this study. Compared with LSTM-seq2seq, BART and CPT models, the KGET model was higher in BLEU, ROUGE1 and ROUGE2 by 6.00-17.09, 1.65-9.39 and 0.51-17.62, respectively, and lower in Edit distance by 0.47-3.21. The ablation experiment results revealed that introduction of BILSTM model and prior knowledge could significantly increase the model performance. Additionally, the manual assessment indicated that the CM diagnosis results of the KGET model used in this study were highly consistent with the practical diagnosis results. In conclusion, text generation technology can be effectively applied to CM diagnostic modeling. It can effectively avoid the problem of poor diagnostic performance caused by excessive and similar categories in traditional CM diagnostic classification models. CM diagnostic text generation technology has broad application prospects in the future.

The Uptake and Distribution Evidence of Nano- and Microplastics in vivo after a Single High Dose of Oral Exposure / 生物医学与环境科学（英文）

OBJECTIVE@#Tissue uptake and distribution of nano-/microplastics was studied at a single high dose by gavage in vivo.@*METHODS@#Fluorescent microspheres (100 nm, 3 μm, and 10 μm) were given once at a dose of 200 mg/(kg∙body weight). The fluorescence intensity (FI) in observed organs was measured using the IVIS Spectrum at 0.5, 1, 2, and 4 h after administration. Histopathology was performed to corroborate these findings.@*RESULTS@#In the 100 nm group, the FI of the stomach and small intestine were highest at 0.5 h, and the FI of the large intestine, excrement, lung, kidney, liver, and skeletal muscles were highest at 4 h compared with the control group ( P < 0.05). In the 3 μm group, the FI only increased in the lung at 2 h ( P < 0.05). In the 10 μm group, the FI increased in the large intestine and excrement at 2 h, and in the kidney at 4 h ( P < 0.05). The presence of nano-/microplastics in tissues was further verified by histopathology. The peak time of nanoplastic absorption in blood was confirmed.@*CONCLUSION@#Nanoplastics translocated rapidly to observed organs/tissues through blood circulation; however, only small amounts of MPs could penetrate the organs.

CircSLC8A1_005 Inhibits the Fibrotic Phenotype of Cardiac Fibroblasts by Encoding Protein / 中山大学学报(医学科学版)

ObjectiveTo investigate the effect of circSLC8A1_005 on the fibrotic phenotype of cardiac fibroblasts and the potential mechanism involved. MethodsThe effect of adenovirus-mediated overexpression of circSLC8A1_005 on the expression of fibrosis-related genes， collagen type I alpha 1 chain （Col1a1）， collagen type Ⅲ alpha 1 chain （Col3a1） and smooth muscle actin alpha 2 （Acta2）， in mouse cardiac fibroblasts （mCFs） were detected. The proliferation and migration activities of mCFs were detected by EdU and wound-healing assay， respectively. Dual luciferase reporter gene assay was performed to detect the activity of potential internal ribozyme entry site （IRES） in circSLC8A1_005. CircSLC8A1_005-translated protein， SLC8A1-605aa， and its intracellular distribution was identified by Western blot assay. The effect of SLC8A1-605aa protein on transcription activity of Sod2 gene was detected by the dual luciferase reporter gene assay. RNA binding protein immunoprecipitation （RIP） was utilized to verify the interaction between SLC8A1-605aa and superoxide dismutase 2 （Sod2） mRNA. Actinomycin D treatment was used to detect the effect of SLC8A1-605aa on Sod2 mRNA stability in mCFs. ResultsAn efficient adenovirus-mediated overexpression of circSLC8A1_005 was achieved in mCFs. The enforced expression of circSLC8A1_005 suppressed proliferation and migration of mCFs， and inhibited the expression of fibrosis-related genes in mCFs. The dual luciferase reporter gene assay revealed the activities of 2 IRES in circSLC8A1_005. Results of Western blot assay showed that circSLC8A1_005 could translate protein SLC8A1-605aa with the prospected molecular weight of 70 ku， which is predominantly distributed in the nucleus. Overexpression of the circSLC8A1_005 and SLC8A1-605aa could consistently inhibit the fibrotic phenotype of mCFs. SLC8A1-605aa could up-regulate superoxide dismutase 2 （Sod2） expression， but not at the transcriptional level. RIP assay indicated that SLC8A1-605aa could specifically interact with Sod2 mRNA， and the results of actinomycin D assay showed that SLC8A1-605aa could enhance the stability of Sod2 mRNA in mCFs. ConclusionCircSLC8A1_005 inhibits the fibrotic phenotype of cardiac fibroblasts via translating SLC8A1-605aa protein， and SLC8A1-605aa may be a potential target for the treatment of myocardial fibrosis.

Clinical Characteristics and Potential Risk Factors Analysis of Liver Injury Related to Epimedii Folium Preparation / 中国实验方剂学杂志

ObjectiveThis paper aims to analyze the clinical characteristics and medication rationality of liver injury related to Epimedii Folium preparation （EP） and explore the possible risk factors of liver injury， so as to provide a reference for the safe clinical application of Epimedii Folium （EF）. MethodA retrospective analysis was conducted on liver injury cases related to EP from 2012 to 2016. ResultThe number of reported liver injury cases and the proportion of severe cases related to the use of EP show an increasing trend， indicating the objective existence of liver injury caused by EP. There are more cases of liver injury related to EP in women than in men， with an onset age range of 15-91 years old and a median onset age of 60 years old （median onset ages for men and women are 59 and 60 years old， respectively）. The time span from taking EP alone to the occurrence of liver injury is 1-386 days， with a median of 38 days. The time span from taking both EP and Western medicine to the occurrence of liver injury is 1-794 days， with a median of 34 days. EF-related liver injury preparations are mostly composed of traditional Chinese medicines that promote immunity and tonify the liver and kidney， indicating that immune stress in the body may be the mechanism of liver injury caused by the use of EP alone or in combination. There is no increasing trend of toxicity with time or dose in the liver injury caused by EP. By further exploring its risk factors， it is found that patients have unreasonable medication methods such as excessive dosage， repeated use， and multi-drug combination， which may also be one of the important risk factors for EF-related liver injury. ConclusionEP has a certain risk of liver injury and should be emphasized in clinical diagnosis and treatment. Immune stress may be the mechanism of liver injury caused by EP， and in clinical use， it is necessary to be vigilant about the risk of liver injury caused by unreasonable use and combined use with Western medicine.

BFGF attenuates aortic valvular interstitial cell calcification by inhibiting endoplasmic reticulum stress-mediated apoptosis.

The potential protective effect of basic fibroblast growth factor (BFGF) on the cardiovascular system has been proposed previously, however, its effect on calcific aortic valve disease (CAVD) and underlying mechanisms have not been elucidated. The valvular interstitial cell (VIC) were isolated from porcine aortic valve leaflets. To investigate the effect of BFGF on osteogenic differentiation of VIC, the osteogenic induced medium (OIM) and BFGF were added. The protein expression level was detected by Western blot, and apoptosis was determined by flow cytometry. The effect of BFGF on CAVD process in vivo was assessed by a rat CAVD model, which was identified by echocardiography and Alizarin red staining. The expression level of BFGF in the aortic valve and serum were significantly upregulated in CAVD patients compared to control group. In addition, exogenous BFGF injection attenuates CAVD process in vivo. The protein markers of osteogenic differentiation, endoplasmic reticulum stress (ERS), and apoptosis were significantly upregulated by culture with OIM. On the contrary, the aforementioned proteins were suppressed after adding 100 ng/mL of BFGF. Inhibition of PI3K/Akt and ERK1/2 pathways by specific inhibitors abolished the protective effect of BFGF. In conclusion, BFGF could alleviate the VIC calcification by inhibiting ERS-mediated apoptosis, which is partly regulated by activation of the PI3K/Akt and ERK1/2 signaling pathways. BFGF may provide a potential avenue for CAVD therapy.

Progress of the application clinical prediction model in polycystic ovary syndrome.

Clinical prediction models play an important role in the field of medicine. These can help predict the probability of an individual suffering from disease, complications, and treatment outcomes by applying specific methodologies. Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a common disease with a high incidence rate, huge heterogeneity, short- and long-term complications, and complex treatments. In this systematic review study, we reviewed the progress of clinical prediction models in PCOS patients, including diagnosis and prediction models for PCOS complications and treatment outcomes. We aimed to provide ideas for medical researchers and clues for the management of PCOS. In the future, models with poor accuracy can be greatly improved by adding well-known parameters and validations, which will further expand our understanding of PCOS in terms of precision medicine. By developing a series of predictive models, we can make the definition of PCOS more accurate, which can improve the diagnosis of PCOS and reduce the likelihood of false positives and false negatives. It will also help discover complications earlier and treatment outcomes being known earlier, which can result in better outcomes for women with PCOS.

Vitamin D supplementation reduced blood inflammatory cytokines expression and improved graft function in kidney transplant recipients.

Background: Chronic allograft dysfunction(CAD) is the leading cause of graft loss in kidney transplant recipients (KTRs). Inflammatory process is believed to be one of the major contributors to CAD. The aim of this study is to explore the anti-inflammatory effect of vitamin D (VD) supplementation in KTRs and its role in the graft function improvement(protection). Methods: A retrospective cohort of 39 KTRs with chronic antibody mediated rejection(CAMR)or stable renal function and a prospective cohort of 42 KTRs treated or untreated with VD were enrolled. Serum levels of vitamin D metabolism and serum inflammatory cytokines, renal graft function, and routine blood biomarkers were tested and dynamically tracked within 12 months post-transplant. Results: Compared with the stable group, the CAMR group exhibited significantly elevated serum levels of inflammatory cytokines IL-1ß, IFN-γ, IL-2, IL-10, IP-10, and HMGB1 (P <0.05). The supplementation of vitamin D effectively increased the serum concentration of vitamin D in kidney transplant recipients (KTRs) in the treated group. During the course of treatment, the treated group exhibited a gradual increase in eGFR levels, which were significantly higher than those observed in the untreated group at 12 months post-transplant (p<0.05). Notably, as eGFR improved, there was a significant decrease in levels of IL-1ß, IFN-γ, IL-2, IL-10, IP-10 and HMGB1 in the treated group compared to the untreated group (P<0.05). Conclusion: This study confirmed that immune-inflammation is a crucial factor in the development of CAD in KTRs.VD deficiency impairs its anti-inflammatory activity. By assisting in the regulation of excessive immune inflammation and restoration of immune homeostasis, effective VD supplementation contributes to protection and maintenance of graft function in KTRs.

Grassroots autonomous organizations embedding, non-agricultural employment and farmer homestead withdrawal behavior: based on the research data of Qionglai City, Sichuan Province, China.

In the context of the rapid rise of the village revitalization in China, the study examines the impact of grassroots autonomous organizations embedding level and farmer non-agriculture employment on the farmer homestead exit behavior. Based on 421 household surveys in Qionglai, this study obtained three results through empirical analysis. (1) The system embedding level of grassroots autonomous organization and the interests embedding level of grassroots autonomous organization have a significant positive impact on the farmer homestead withdrawal behavior, but the emotion embedding level of grassroots autonomous organizations has a significant negative impact on the farmer homestead withdrawal behavior. (2) The farmer non-agriculture employment level is beneficial for the farmer homestead exit behavior. (3) Further mechanism analysis shows that the non-agricultural employment level plays an inhibitory role in the positive influence of grassroots organizations to mobilize farmers to exit homestead. Therefore, it is suggested that when mobilizing farmers to voluntarily withdraw from the homestead, grassroots organizations should actively improve their embedding level, improve the construction of farmers' social network, and accelerate the accumulation of farmers' material capital.

Substituent Effect on Ligand-Centered Electrocatalytic Hydrogen Evolution of Phosphorus Corroles.

There have been few reports on the substituent effect of main-group-element corrole complexes as ligand-centered homogeneous electrocatalysts for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). The key to comprehend the catalytic mechanism and develop efficient catalysts is the elucidation of the effects of electronic structure on the performance of energy-related small molecules. In this work, the "push-pull" electronic effect of the substituents on electrocatalytic HER of phosphorus corroles was investigated by using 5,10,15-tris(phenyl) corrole phosphorus (1P), 10-pentafluorophenyl-5,15-bis(phenyl) corrole phosphorus (2P), 10-phenyl-5,15-bis(pentafluorophenyl) corrole phosphorus (3P), 5,10,15-tris(pentafluorophenyl) corrole phosphorus (4P) complexes bearing hydroxyl axial ligands and different numbers of fluorine atoms on the meso-aryl substituents. The results revealed that the catalytic HER activity of phosphorus corroles decreased with the increasing of fluorine atom numbers, it follows in the order 1P>2P>3P>4P. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations show that the corrole 1P has the lowest free energy barrier in catalytic HER.

Increased oxidative stress caused by impaired mitophagy aggravated liver ischemia and reperfusion injury in diabetic mice.

AIMS/INTRODUCTION: Emerging evidence has suggested the detrimental role of oxidative stress in aggravating ischemia and reperfusion (IR) injury in diabetic livers. Interplay between oxidative stress and mitophagy has been shown. However, the role and mechanism of mitophagy in regulating oxidative stress and IR injury in diabetic livers remain unclear. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Wild-type and db/db (DB) mice were subjected to a partial warm liver IR model. Liver injury, oxidative stress, mitophagy and related molecular pathways were analyzed. RESULTS: Here, we found that increased liver IR injury was observed in DB mice, as evidenced by higher levels of serum alanine aminotransferase and serum aspartate, worsened liver architecture damage and more hepatocellular death. DB mice also showed increased mitochondrial oxidative stress. Mitochondrial reactive oxygen species scavenge alleviated liver IR injury in DB mice. Mechanistic analysis showed that 5' adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase-mediated mitophagy was suppressed in DB mice post-IR. Pharmacological activation of 5' adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase by its agonist effectively restored mitophagy activation, leading to decreased mitochondrial oxidative stress and attenuated liver IR injury in DB mice. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings showed that diabetes increased oxidative stress to exacerbate liver IR injury by impairing 5' adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase-mediated mitophagy. Strategies targeting oxidative stress and mitophagy might provide a promising approach to ameliorate liver IR injury in diabetes patients.

The Role of SDF-1α-CXCR4/CXCR7 in Migration of Human Periodontal Ligament Stem Cells

Background and Objectives@#Regenerative endodontic procedures (REPs) are a research hotspot in the endodontic field. One of the biggest problems of REPs is that it is difficult to realize regeneration of pulp-dentin complex and functional reconstruction. The reason is still not clear. We hypothesize that the migration may be different in different dental stem cells. Periodontal ligament stem cells (PDLSCs) may migrate faster than stem cells of apical papilla (SCAPs), differentiating into cementum-like tissue, bone-like tissue and periodontal ligament-like tissue and, finally affecting the outcomes of REPs. Hence, this study aimed to explore the mechanism that regulates the migration of PDLSCs. @*Methods@#and Results: After isolating and culturing PDLSCs and SCAPs from human third molars, we compared the migration of PDLSCs and SCAPs. Then we investigated the role of SDF-1α-CXCR4/CXCR7 axis in PDLSC migration. We further investigated the impact of Porphyromonas gingivalis (P. gingivalis) lipopolysaccharide (LPS) on PDLSC migration and the potential mechanism. PDLSCs showed better migration under both noninflammatory and inflammatory conditions than SCAPs. SDF-1α can promote the migration of PDLSCs by elevating the expression of CXCR4 and CXCR7, increasing the interaction between them, promoting expression of β-arrestin1 and activating the ERK signaling pathway. P. gingivalis LPS can promote the migration of PDLSCs toward SDF-1α through increasing the expression of CXCR4 via the NF-κB signaling pathway, promoting the expression of β-arrestin1, and activating the ERK signaling pathway. @*Conclusions@#This study helped elucidate the potential reason for the difficulty in forming pulp-dentin complex.

Recent advances of pharmaceutical 3D printing extrusion molding technology / 药学学报

3D printing is an additive manufacturing technology with the help of digital control. Since FDA approved the first 3D printing drug in 2015, its research enthusiasm in the pharmaceutical field has been increasing year by year. In printing technology, fused deposition molding (FDM) and semi-solid extrusion (SSE) are the two most widely used extrusion molding technologies. In this review, recent advances of pharmaceutical 3D printing extrusion molding technology are reviewed from six aspects: mechanism, equipment, pharmaceutical excipients, applications, design and industrialization prospects of extrusion molding technology.

Etiological analysis of single small subcortical infarction with different imaging features / 中华神经科杂志

Objective:To investigate the etiological mechanism in single small subcortical infarction (SSSI) with different imaging features.Methods:The patients registered in a database of ischemic stroke in the Department of Neurology of the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University from January 2016 to December 2019 were analyzed. According to the lowest slice (LS) and the total number of involved slices (TNS) on diffusion-weighted imaging, the SSSI was divided into 3 types: proximal SSSI (pSSSI; LS≤2), distal and large SSSI (dl-SSSI; LS>2, TNS>2) and distal and small SSSI (ds-SSSI; LS>2, TNS≤2). The clinical and imaging features among 3 different lesion patterns were compared by using χ 2 test, Kruskal-Wallis H test and multiple Logistic regression analysis, etc. Results:In the 3 groups of ds-SSSI ( n=205), dl-SSSI ( n=157) and pSSSI ( n=166), the prevalences of parent artery disease (PAD)[10.7% (22/205) , 19.1% (30/157) , 42.8% (71/166), respectively, χ 2=54.89, P<0.001], coronary artery disease [8.3% (17/205), 14.0% (22/157), 16.9%(28/166), respectively, χ 2=6.44, P=0.040] and severe white matter hyperintensities (sWMHs)[58.0% (119/205), 43.3% (68/157), 41.0% (68/166), respectively, χ 2=12.94, P<0.001], the level of serum homocysteine (Hcy)[18.01 (13.54, 25.56), 16.03 (12.50, 21.09), 14.72 (11.12, 19.14) μmol/L, respectively, H=19.36, P<0.001], and the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) score[2(1, 3), 3(1, 4), 3(2, 6), respectively, H=39.53, P<0.001] showed statistically significant differences. Multiple Logistic regression analysis showed that compared with dl-SSSI patients, the lesion pattern of patients with higher proportion of PAD ( OR=3.12, 95% CI 1.86-5.24, P<0.001) was closer to pSSSI; the lesion pattern of patients with higher serum Hcy level ( OR=1.02, 95% CI 1.00-1.04, P=0.046) or higher proportion of sWMHs ( OR=1.79, 95% CI 1.12-2.86, P=0.015) was closer to ds-SSSI, and the lesion pattern of patients with higher proportion of PAD ( OR=0.50, 95% CI 0.27-0.93, P=0.029) or higher NIHSS score ( OR=0.84, 95% CI 0.77-0.92, P<0.001) was closer to dl-SSSI. Conclusions:The pathogenesis of ds-SSSI tends to be cerebral small vessel disease. The pathogenesis of pSSSI is related to atherosclerosis. The patients with dl-SSSI have the intermediate characteristics of pSSSI and ds-SSSI and may be unstable.

Survey on status quo of psychosomatic medical service ability and training needs among general practice resident physicians / 中华全科医师杂志

Objective:To investigate the current status of psychosomatic medical service competence and training needs among general practice resident physicians.Methods:An online questionnaire survey was conducted from August to September 2021, among general practice resident physicians selected by cluster sampling from 4 affiliated hospitals of Tongji University. The questionnaire contained the basic information, the self-assessment and training needs of psychosomatic medical service competence of participants, and psychosomatic medical service requirements of patients in the community.Results:A total of 159 questionnaires were distributed, and 140 were collected (88.1%). The survey showed that 25.7% (36/140) of participants believed that 50% or more patients had physical symptoms accompanied by emotional problems; 29.3% (41/140) thought that 50% or more patients had sleep problems, but 60.0% (84/140) of them failed to provide appropriate treatment. The rate of "core knowledge and concepts of psychosomatic medicine" was 47.5% (665/1 400) and the correct rate of "common psychosomatic diseases" was (64.6±23.4)%. Merely 21.4% (30/140) participants reported satisfaction with the psychosomatic medical service competence; 62.8% (88/140) respondents believed that the coverage rate of the above-mentioned competence training in the current general practice residential training program was less than 50%, and 66.4% (93/140) supported that more psychosomatic training was "necessary". The acceptance rate of online training, workshops, MDT, and clinical practice ranged from 56.4% (79/140) to 63.4% (89/140).Conclusions:The survey indicates that there are large needs for psychosomatic medical services among patients in community, but the competence and confidence of general practice resident physicians to provide the service are significantly insufficient. Therefore, it is suggested to strengthen the training of psychosomatic medical service competence in the general practice residency training program.

Comprehensive comparison between Halcyon 2.0 and Truebeam VMAT plans for different treatment sites: dosimetric quality and plan complexity / 中华放射肿瘤学杂志

Objective:To analyze the differences in dosimetric quality and plan complexity of volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT) plans based on Halcyon 2.0 and Truebeam for different treatment sites of the patients.Methods:Halcyon 2.0 VMAT plans in head & neck, chest, abdomen, and pelvis treatment sites of 49 cases were retrospectively selected and the VMAT plans were re-designed based on Truebeam with the same optimization parameters. The differences in dosimetric metrics and plan complexity between the two types of plans were compared and analyzed. P<0.05 was considered as statistically significant. Results:In terms of PTV, Halcyon 2.0 plans showed better homogeneity index (HI), conformal index (CI) in the head & neck and chest. Besides, Halcyon 2.0 plans yielded better D 98% and CI in the abdomen and better D 2% in the pelvis. For organs at risk (OAR), the D 20% and D mean of bilateral lungs, and D meanof heart for Halcyon 2.0 plans in the chest were lower than those for Truebeam plans (all P<0.05). For the complexity metrics, the median average aperture area variability (AAV) of Halcyon 2.0 plans in the head & neck, abdomen and pelvis were 0.414, 0.425 and 0.432, which were better than 0.385, 0.368 and 0.361 of Truebeam plans in the corresponding sites, respectively. In the abdomen and pelvis, Halcyon 2.0 plans showed better median modulation complexity score (MCS) than Truebeam plans (0.320 vs. 0.268, 0.303 vs. 0.282; both P<0.05). The median small aperture score (SAS) for all plans of Halcyon 2.0 were better than that of Truebeam plans (all P<0.05), and the median plan average beam area (PA) of all plans of Halcyon 2.0 were larger than that of Truebeam plans (all P<0.05). Conclusions:Compared with conventional fractionated VMAT plans based on Halcyon 2.0 and Truebeam, Halcyon 2.0 plans have similar or even better dosimetric quality. However, Halcyon 2.0 plans have lower plan complexity, which makes it an advantage in clinical application.