Sympathetic innervation induces exosomal miR-125 transfer from osteoarthritic chondrocytes, disrupting subchondral bone homeostasis and aggravating cartilage damage in aging mice.

INTRODUCTION: Osteoarthritis (OA) is a progressive disease that poses a significant threat to human health, particularly in aging individuals: Although sympathetic activation has been implicated in bone metabolism, its role in the development of OA related to aging remains poorly understood. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate how sympathetic regulation impacts aging-related OA through experiments conducted both in vivo and in vitro. METHODS: To analyze the effect of sympathetic regulation on aging-related OA, we conducted experiments using various mouse models. These models included a natural aging model, a medial meniscus instability model, and a load-induced model, which were used to examine the involvement of sympathetic nerves. In order to evaluate the expression levels of ß1-adrenergic receptor (Adrß1) and sirtuin-6 (Sirt6) in chondrocytes of naturally aging OA mouse models, we performed assessments. Additionally, we investigated the influence of ß1-adrenergic receptor knockout or treatment with a ß1-adrenergic receptor blocker on the progression of OA in aging mice and detected exosome release and detected downstream signaling expression by inhibiting exosome release. Furthermore, we explored the impact of sympathetic depletion through tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) on OA progression in aging mice. Moreover, we studied the effects of norepinephrine(NE)-induced activation of the ß1-adrenergic receptor signaling pathway on the release of exosomes and miR-125 from chondrocytes, subsequently affecting osteoblast differentiation in subchondral bone. RESULTS: Our findings demonstrated a significant increase in sympathetic activity, such as NE levels, in various mouse models of OA including natural aging, medial meniscus instability, and load-induced models. Notably, we observed alterations in the expression levels of ß1-adrenergic receptor and Sirt6 in chondrocytes in OA mouse models associated with natural aging, leading to an improvement in the progression of OA. Critically, we found that the knockout of ß1-adrenergic receptor or treatment with a ß1-adrenergic receptor blocker attenuated OA progression in aging mice and the degraded cartilage explants produced more exosome than the nondegraded ones, Moreover, sympathetic depletion through TH was shown to ameliorate OA progression in aging mice. Additionally, we discovered that NE-induced activation of the ß1-adrenergic receptor signaling pathway facilitated the release of exosomes and miR-125 from chondrocytes, promoting osteoblast differentiation in subchondral bone. CONCLUSION: In conclusion, our study highlights the role of sympathetic innervation in facilitating the transfer of exosomal miR-125 from osteoarthritic chondrocytes, ultimately disrupting subchondral bone homeostasis and exacerbating cartilage damage in aging mice. These findings provide valuable insights into the potential contribution of sympathetic regulation to the pathogenesis of aging-related OA.

Nerve Guide Conduits Integrated with Fisetin-Loaded Chitosan Hydrogels for Reducing Oxidative Stress, Inflammation, and Nerve Regeneration.

Peripheral nerve injuries (PNI) represent a prevalent and severe category of damage resulting from traumatic incidents. Predominantly, the deficiency in nerve regeneration can be ascribed to enduring inflammatory reactions, hence imposing substantial clinical implications for patients. Fisetin, a flavonoid derived from plants, is naturally present in an array of vegetables and fruits, including strawberries, apples, onions, and cucumbers. It exhibits immunomodulatory properties through the reduction of inflammation and oxidative stress. In the present research, a nerve defect is addressed for the first time utilizing a scaffold primed for controlled fisetin release. In this regard, fisetin-loaded chitosan hydrogels are incorporated into the lumen of polycaprolactone (PCL) nerve guide conduits (NGCs). The hydrogel maintained a steady release of an appropriate fisetin dosage. The study outcomes indicated that the fisetin/chitosan/polycaprolactone (FIS/CS/PCL) NGCs amplified Schwann cell proliferation and neural expression, curtailed oxidative stress, alleviated inflammation, and improved functions, electrophysiological properties, and morphology. This pioneering scaffold has the potential to contribute significantly to the field of neuroengineering.

Electroacupuncture combined with extracorporeal shock wave therapy improves pain symptoms and inflammatory factor levels in knee osteoarthritis patients.

Objective: To compare the clinical efficacy and safety of electroacupuncture combined with extracorporeal shock wave therapy (EESWT) and extracorporeal shock wave therapy (ESWT) in the treatment of knee osteoarthritis (KOA). Methods: A total of 135 KOA patients who received EESWT treatment were selected as the EESWT group, and 135 KOA patients who received extracorporeal shock wave therapy (ESWT) were selected as the ESWT group. The clinical efficacy, inflammatory factors in joint synovial fluid and adverse events during treatment were compared before and after treatment. Results: The clinical effective rate of patients in the EESWT group (89.63 %) after treatment was significantly higher than that of the ESWT group (74.81 %) (p < 0.01). The lysholm kness (LKSS) score and range of motion (ROM) of the patients in the EESWT group after treatment were higher than those of the ESWT group, while Lequesne index score, visual analogue scale (VAS) score and Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Arthritis Index (WOMAC) were lower than those of the ESWT group (p < 0.01). Compared with ESWT group, the changes in the expression levels of nitric oxide (NO), superoxide dismutase (SOD), interleukin 1ß (IL-1ß), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), matrix metalloproteinase-3 (MMP-3), and transforming growth factor ß1 (TGF-ß1) in the synovial fluid of the EESWT group after treatment were significantly greater than those of the ESWT group (p < 0.01). No significant difference in the incidence of adverse events between the EESWT group and the ESWT group (p > 0.05). Conclusion: EESWT significantly improves pain symptoms and inflammatory factor levels in KOA patients and is an optional KOA treatment option worthy of clinical attention.

Inhibition of autophagy and RIP1/RIP3/MLKL-mediated necroptosis by edaravone attenuates blood spinal cord barrier disruption following spinal cord injury.

The disruption of the blood spinal cord barrier (BSCB) after spinal cord injury (SCI) can trigger secondary tissue damage. Edaravone is likely to protect the BSCB as a free radical scavenger, whereas it has been rarely reported thus far. In this study, the protective effect of edaravone was investigated with the use of compression spinal cord injured rats and human brain microvascular endothelial cells (HBMECs) injury. As indicated by the result of this study, edaravone treatment facilitated functional recovery after rats were subjected to SCI, ameliorated the vascular damage, and up-regulated the expression of BSCB-associated proteins. In vitro results, edaravone improved HBMECs viability, restored intercellular junctions, and promoted cellular angiogenic activities. It is noteworthy that autophagy was activated and RIP1/RIP3/MLKL phosphorylation was notably up-regulated. However, edaravone treatment exhibited the capability of mitigating above-mentioned tendency in vivo and in vitro. Moreover, rapamycin (Rapa) treatment deteriorated the protective effect of edaravone while aggravating the phosphorylation of RIP1/RIP3/MLKL expression. In the model of necrotic activator-induced HBMECs, autophagic expression was increased, whereas edaravone prevented autophagy and phosphorylation of RIP1/RIP3/MLKL. In general, our results suggested that edaravone is capable of reducing the destruction of BSCB and promoting functional recovery after SCI. The possible underlying mechanism is that edaravone is capable of protecting angiogenic activity and improving autophagy and the phosphorylation of RIP1/RIP3/MLKL, as well as their mutual deterioration. Accordingly, edaravone can be a favorable option for the treatment of SCI.

The gut microbiota metabolite capsiate regulate SLC2A1 expression by targeting HIF-1α to inhibit knee osteoarthritis-induced ferroptosis.

Ferroptosis is an iron-dependent cell death that has been found to aggravate the progression of osteoarthritis (OA) and gut microbiota- OA axis refers to the bidirectional information network between the gut microbiota and OA, which may provide a new way to protect the OA. However, the role of gut microbiota-derived metabolites in ferroptosis-relative osteoarthritis remains unclear. The objective of this study was to analyze the protective effect of gut microbiota and its metabolite capsiate (CAT) on ferroptosis-relative osteoarthritis in vivo and in vitro experiments. From June 2021 to February 2022, 78 patients were evaluated retrospectively and divided into two groups: The health group (n = 39) and the OA group (n = 40). Iron and oxidative stress indicators were determined in peripheral blood samples. And then in vivo and in vitro experiments, a surgically destabilized medial meniscus (DMM) mice model was established and treated with CAT or Ferric Inhibitor-1 (Fer-1). Solute Carrier Family 2 Member 1 (SLC2A1) short hairpin RNA (shRNA) was utilized to inhibit SLC2A1 expression. Serum iron was increased significantly but total iron binding capacity was decreased significantly in OA patients than healthy people (p < 0.0001). The least absolute shrinkage and selection operator clinical prediction model suggested that serum iron, total iron binding capacity, transferrin, and superoxide dismutase were all independent predictors of OA (p < 0.001). Bioinformatics results suggested that SLC2A1, Metastasis-Associated Lung Adenocarcinoma Transcript 1 (MALAT1), and HIF-1α (Hypoxia Inducible Factor 1 Alpha)-related oxidative stress signaling pathways play an important role in iron homeostasis and OA. In addition, gut microbiota 16s RNA sequencing and untargeted metabolomics were used to find that gut microbiota metabolites CAT in mice with osteoarthritis were negatively correlated with Osteoarthritis Research Society International (OARSI) scores for chondrogenic degeneration (p = 0.0017). Moreover, CAT reduced ferroptosis-dependent osteoarthritis in vivo and in vitro. However, the protective effect of CAT against ferroptosis-dependent osteoarthritis could be eliminated by silencing SLC2A1. SLC2A1 was upregulated but reduced the SLC2A1 and HIF-1α levels in the DMM group. HIF-1α, MALAT1, and apoptosis levels were increased after SLC2A1 knockout in chondrocyte cells (p = 0.0017). Finally, downregulation of SLC2A1 expression by Adeno-associated Virus (AAV) -SLC2A1 shRNA improves osteoarthritis in vivo. Our findings indicated that CAT inhibited HIF-1a expression and reduced ferroptosis-relative osteoarthritis progression by activating SLC2A1.

Mortality among acute myocardial infarction patients admitted to hospitals on weekends as compared with weekdays in Taiwan.

Weekend effect has been considered to be associated with poorer quality of care and patient's survival. For acute myocardial infarction (AMI) patients, the question of whether patients admitted during off-hours have worse outcomes as compared with patients admitted during on-hours is still inconclusive. We conducted this study to explore the weekend effect in AMI patients, using a nationwide insurance database in Taiwan. Using Taiwan National Health Insurance (NHI) claims database, we designed a retrospective cohort study, and extracted 184,769 incident cases of AMI through the NHI claims database between January 2006 and December 2014. We divided the patients into weekend admission group and weekday admission group. Patients were stratified as ST elevation/non-ST elevation AMI and receiving/not receiving percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). We used a logistic regression model to examine the relative risk of in-hospital mortality and 1-year mortality which were obtained from the Taiwan National Death Registry between study groups. We found no difference between weekend group and weekday group for risk of in-hospital mortality (15.8% vs 16.2%, standardized difference 0.0118) and risk of 1-year mortality (30.2% vs 30.9%, standardized difference 0.0164). There was no statistically significant difference among all the comparisons through the multivariate logistic regression analysis adjusting for all the covariates and stratifying by the subtypes of AMI and whether or not executing PCI during hospitalization. As for AMI patients in Taiwan, admission on weekends or weekdays did not have a significant impact on either in-hospital mortality or 1-year cumulative mortality.

Comparative Studies of c- and m-Plane AlN Seeds Grown by Physical Vapor Transport.

The ultra-wide bandgap semiconductor AlN has attracted a great deal of attention owing to its wide application potential in the field of electronics and optoelectronic devices. In this report, based on the mechanism of the physical vapor transport (PVT) growth of AlN crystal, the c- and m-plane AlN seed crystals were prepared simultaneously through special temperature field design. It is proved that AlN crystals with different orientations can be obtained at the same temperature field. The structure parameter of AlN crystal was obtained through the characteristic evaluations. In detail, XPS was used to analyze the chemical states and bonding states of the surface of seed crystals. The content of oxygen varied along with distinct orientations. Raman spectrum documented a small level of compressive stress on these crystal seeds. Tested results confirmed that the prepared AlN crystal seeds had high quality.

The role of TGR5 as an onco-immunological biomarker in tumor staging and prognosis by encompassing the tumor microenvironment.

The relationship between G protein-coupled bile acid receptor 1 (TGR5, GPBAR1) and, specifically, cancer has been studied in in vivo and in vitro experiments, but there is still a lack of pan-cancer analysis to understand the prognostic significance and functioning mechanism of TGR5 in different cancer-driving oncogenic processes. Here, we used Gene Expression Integration, Human Protein Atlas, and The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) to perform a pan-cancer analysis of the role of TGR5 in all 33 tumors. In all TCGA tumors, the TGR5 gene expression has been assessed, and we found that the high TGR5 gene expression in most cancers is associated with poor prognosis of overall survival for cancers such as glioblastoma multiforme (p = 0.0048), kidney renal papillary cell carcinoma (p = 0.033), lower grade glioma (p = 0.0028), thymoma (p = 0.048), and uveal melanoma (p = 0.004), and then the lower expression of TGR5 was linked with poor prognosis in cervical squamous cell carcinoma and endocervical adenocarcinoma (p = 0.014), malignant mesothelioma (MESO) (p = 0.048), sarcoma (p = 0.018), and skin cutaneous melanoma (p = 0.0085). The TGR5 expression was linked with the immune infiltration level of the macrophage M2_TIDE and was also associated with DNA methylation in ovarian and breast cancers. The regulation of hormone secretion, Rap1 pathway, osteoclast differentiation, and bile acid pathway was involved in the functional mechanism of TGR5. Besides, gene expressions were different in different tumors detected by RT-PCR, and cell activity experiments have also found that TGR5 can increase the activity of renal cell carcinoma and reduce the activity of skin cancer and osteosarcoma cells. In this investigation, the aim was to assess the comprehensive overview of the oncogenic roles of TGR5 in all TCGA tumors using pan-analysis.

Arthroscopic Modified Double-Row Biceps Tenodesis versus Labral Repair for the Treatment of Isolated Type II SLAP Lesions in Non-Overhead Athletes.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the postoperative efficacy and the clinical outcomes of arthroscopic modified double-row biceps tenodesis versus labral repair. METHODS: A retrospective study was conducted in 56 patients with isolated type II superior labrum anterior and posterior (SLAP) lesions from March 2015 to November 2018. Thirty patients (male:female = 17:13) were treated with labral repair, and 26 patients (male:female = 15:11) were treated with modified double-row biceps tenodesis. The average age of the labral repair group and the modified double-row biceps tenodesis group were 42.8 ± 10.6 and 40.9 ± 10.2 years, respectively. Pre- and postoperative assessments with the visual analog scale (VAS), University of California Los Angeles (UCLA), and American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons (ASES) scores were compared between the two treatment groups. Additional outcome measures included patient satisfaction, the time to return to previous activities, workers' compensation status, and postoperative complications. RESULTS: At a 2-year follow-up, the tenodesis group showed significant differences in postoperative VAS (1.5 to 1.8, respectively; p = 0.008), patient satisfaction (92.3% vs. 46.7%, p < 0.001), and recovery time to return to their previous activities (6.8 ± 1.8 vs. 8.1 ± 1.5, p = 0.007) compared to the labral repair group; however, there was no significant difference in postoperative ASES and UCLA scores between the two groups. Additionally, one patient in the tenodesis group developed persistent postoperative stiffness, which was resolved by conservative treatment. In the labral repair group, two patients presented with persistent postoperative night pain, three developed persistent postoperative stiffness, and two required a subsequent capsular release. CONCLUSIONS: Compared with the labral repair group, the arthroscopic modified double-row biceps tenodesis showed more encouraging postoperative pain reduction, earlier recovery to previous activities, and higher patient satisfaction.

The Role of Depletion of Gut Microbiota in Osteoporosis and Osteoarthritis: A Narrative Review.

Osteoporosis and osteoarthritis are common diseases in an aging society, are considered metabolic diseases, and affect the quality of life of older adults. In addition, the gut microbiome is considered an additional organ to regulate bone metabolism. In the past decade, people have been studying the relationship between gut microbiota and bone metabolism. The role and mechanism of the gut microbiota in regulating bone metabolism is very important to improve the development of osteoporosis and osteoarthritis. Depletion of the gut microbiota as a method of studying the role of the gut microbiota was provided strategies to enhance the role of the gut microbiota in regulating osteoporosis and osteoarthritis. In this review, we discuss how depletion of the gut microbiota affects osteoporosis and osteoarthritis.

Urchin like inverse spinel manganese doped NiCo2O4 microspheres as high performances anode for lithium-ion batteries.

The ternary transition metal oxides are promising anode material for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). However, their practical applications are greatly hindered by the poor conductivity and huge volume changes. To solve the issues, urchin-like inverse spinel manganese (Mn) doped NiCo2O4 hierarchical microspheres were fabricated through a facile hydrothermal approach and subsequent annealing treatment. The as-obtained Mn-doped NiCo2O4 hold microsphere and sharp fiber-shaped needle multilevel nanoscale architecture, which effectively shortened Li ions (Li+) transmission path and improved the conductivity. In addition, the hierarchical urchin-like Mn-doped NiCo2O4 synthesized at annealing temperature (600 °C) manifested a larger capacity and better cycling performance by controlling the crystallinities and morphologies. As expected, it displays an outstanding cycling performance with a reversible capacity of about 945 mAh g-1 after 500 cycles at 2000 mA g-1. The kinetic analysis and galvanostatic intermittent titration technique (GITT) testing also verifies the superior pseudocapacitance contribution and fast elevated ion migration of Li+. Our work provides a promising design to develop suitable anode materials based on transition metal oxides for high-performance LIBs.

Effect of surgery and radiotherapy on overall survival in patients with chondrosarcoma: A SEER-based study.

PURPOSE: Chondrosarcoma is an orthopedic malignancy, and the purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of surgery and radiotherapy (RT) on the survival of patients with chondrosarcoma. METHODS: Data were obtained from the SEER database for patients diagnosed with chondrosarcoma between 1988 and 2015. All patients were divided into surgery, RT, surgery + RT, and no surgery/no RT groups. Kaplan-Meier curves were used to analyze the overall survival and cancer-specific survival of patients in different treatment groups. The propensity score matching was used to balance baseline covariates between patients in the surgery and surgery + RT groups and in the RT and surgery + RT groups. RESULTS: Data from 3756 patients with chondrosarcoma were included in this study. The number of patients who underwent surgery, RT, surgery + RT, and no surgery or RT was 2885 (76.8%), 112 (3.0%), 403 (10.7%), and 356 (9.5%), respectively. Multivariate Cox regression models showed that treatment modality was independent risk factor for OS and CSS. Before PSM, Kaplan-Meier curves showed that OS and CSS were highest in the surgery group and lowest in the RT group. After PSM, although there was no significant difference in OS (p = .13) and CSS (p = .22) between the surgery and surgery + RT group, OS was longer in the surgery group than in the surgery + RT group. Additionally, OS (p < .001) and CSS (p = .009) were longer in the surgery + RT group than in the RT group after PSM. CONCLUSION: Surgical resection was the key approach for the treatment of chondrosarcoma, while RT confers no significant advantage in improving patient survival time.

Identification of Ferroptosis-Related Genes as Biomarkers for Sarcoma.

Sarcomas are seen as mixed-up nature with genetic and transcriptional heterogeneity and poor prognosis. Although the genes involved in ferroptosis are still unclear, iron loss is considered to be the core of glioblastoma, tumor progression, and tumor microenvironment. Here, we developed and tested the prognosis of SARC, which is a genetic marker associated with iron residues. The ferroptosis-related gene expression, one-way Cox analysis, and least-selection absolute regression algorithm (LASSO) are used to track prognostic-related genes and create risk assessment models. Finally, immune system infiltration and immune control point analysis are used to study the characteristics of the tumor microenvironment related to risk assessment. Moreover, LncRNA-miRNA-mRNA network was contributed in our studies. We determined the biomarker characteristics associated with iron degradation in gene 32 and developed a risk assessment model. ROC analysis showed that its model was accurately predicted, with 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 years of overall survival in TCGA cohort of SARC patients. A comparative analysis of settings found that overall survival (OS) was lower in the high-risk than that in the low-risk group. The nomogram survival prediction model also helped to predict the OS of SARC patients. The nomogram survival prediction model has strong predictive power for the overall survival of SARC patients in TCGA dataset. GSEA analysis shows that high-risk groups are rich in inflammation, cancer-related symptoms, and pathological processes. High risk is related to immune cell infiltration and immune checkpoint. Our prediction model is based on SARC ferritin-related genes, which may support SARC prediction and provide potential attack points.

Comparison of Long-Term Efficacy of MIS-TLIF Intraoperative Implants in Patients with Osteoporosis.

Osteoporosis and degenerative spinal disease are still an unsolvable surgical problem. It is still difficult to solve the complications related to postoperative osteoporosis, such as cage subsidence, displacement, and retraction. Expandable interbody cage is a recent innovation and an increasingly popular alternative to standard static cage. However, the clinical efficacy of MIS-TLIF combined with expandable cage for the treatment of osteoporosis has limited reports. The purpose of this paper was to analyze the efficacy of MIS-TLIF with expandable cage in patients with degenerative lumbar disease with osteoporosis. Patients with osteoporosis who received single-level MIS-TLIF and were followed up for at least 1 year were included. The outcome measures are as follows: clinical features, perioperative period, and neurological complications. JOA score and VAS pain score were used to analyze the improvement of patients' function. Imaging analysis included segmental lordosis (SL), lumbar lordosis (LL), intervertebral disc height (DH), and the ratio of cage height to preoperative DH (RCD). The final data analysis included 284 patients with osteoporosis. 178 patients used static cages, and 106 patients used expandable cages. There was no significant difference in baseline characteristics, surgical indexes, and JOA and VAS scores between the two groups. There was no difference in SL or LL between static group and expandable group. There was no significant difference in preoperative DH between the two groups. The RCD in the expansion group was significantly lower than that in the static group. The intraoperative and postoperative sedimentation rate in the static group was significantly higher than that in the expandable group. The use of expandable cages in MIS-TLIF has shown good results for the treatment of degenerative lumbar diseases with osteoporosis. Through appropriate surgical techniques, the expandable cage can reduce the risk of cage sinking.

The effects of metformin and alendronate in attenuating bone loss and improving glucose metabolism in diabetes mellitus mice.

BACKGROUND: To explore the anti-osteoporosis and anti-diabetes effects and potential underlying mechanisms of treatment with metformin and alendronate in diabetes mellitus mice. METHODS: Eight-week-old C57 BL/KS db/db and db/+ female mice were evaluated according to the following treatment group for 12 weeks: control group, diabetes mellitus group, diabetes mellitus with metformin group, diabetes mellitus with Alendronate group, diabetes mellitus with metformin plus alendronate group. Glucose level, glucose tolerance test, bone mineral density, bone microarchitecture, bone histomorphometry, serum biomarkers, and qPCR analysis. RESULTS: Combined metformin and alendronate can improve progression in glucose metabolism and bone metabolism, including blood glucose levels, blood glucose levels after 4 and 16 hours fasting, glucose tolerance test results, insulin sensitivity and reduces bone loss than the diabetes group. The use of alendronate alone can increase significantly serum glucagon-like peptide-1 levels than the diabetes group. The use of metformin alone can improve bone microstructure such as Tb.Sp and Tb.N of spine in diabetic mice. CONCLUSION: The combined use of alendronate and metformin has an anti-diabetes and anti-osteoporotic effect compared with diabetic mice, but they appear to act no obvious synergistically between alendronate and metformin.

The effect of whole-body vibration in osteopenic patients after total knee arthroplasty: a randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Total knee arthroplasty (TKA) is an important treatment for knee osteoarthritis, but the result of whole-body vibration (WBV) in knee function rehabilitation and bone loss with osteopenia was unknown. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to study whether low-frequency, low-amplitude WBV can improve the clinical outcome of knee osteoarthritis. METHODS: This study was randomized and included 67 osteopenic patients (55-90 years, 85% women) for TKA surgery (control group N = 32, WBV group N = 35). All selected patients after TKA surgery tested clinical results, such as knee function and bone mass in baseline, 3 months after surgery, and 6 months after surgery. RESULTS: Compared to the control group, the WBV group improved pain scores, thigh circumference, lower limb muscle strength, joint activity, and joint function in 6 months after surgery. WBV intervention also improves bone density in the spine, the microstructure of the radius and tibia, and the bone turnover marker. At 3 months after TKA surgery, the WBV group had no significant effect on knee function and bone loss. CONCLUSIONS: Whole-body vibration for osteopenic patients with knee arthroplasty showed good therapeutic results in 6 months after TKA surgery, but the long-term therapeutic effect still needs to be further observed.

The periprocedural and 30-day outcomes of carotid stenting in patients with carotid artery near-occlusion.

The safety of endovascular revascularization in patients with carotid artery near occlusion (CANO) is unknown. We aimed to evaluate the peri-procedural risk in CANO patients receiving carotid artery stenting (CAS). A prospective data base with retrospective review was performed to identify patients who underwent CAS with CANO from July 2006 to July 2020, and had at least 1-month clinical follow-up data. The primary endpoints were stroke, hyperperfusion syndrome, and death within 30 days after CAS. A total of 198 patients with carotid artery stenosis were enrolled including 92 patients with CANO and 106 age and sex-matched patients with 70-99% conventional carotid stenosis. Full distal carotid collapse was found in 45 CANO patients (45/92, 49%). The technical success rate was 100%. The CANO patients had significantly longer lesion lengths compared with those of the non-CANO group. The incidence of hyperperfusion syndrome was comparable (CANO: 2.2%, non-CANO: 0.9%, P = 0.598). The risks of ischemic stroke and death within 30 days were 1.1% and 0% in the CANO group; and 1.9% and 0.9%, in the non-CANO group, respectively, without statistical difference. In conclusion, CAS is safe for patients with CANO, with a similar low 30-day peri-procedural event rate comparable to those of non-CANO.

Chinese Language Feature Analysis Based on Multilayer Self-Organizing Neural Network and Data Mining Techniques.

As one of the oldest languages in the world, Chinese has a long cultural history and unique language charm. The multilayer self-organizing neural network and data mining techniques have been widely used and can achieve high-precision prediction in different fields. However, they are hardly applied to Chinese language feature analysis. In order to accurately analyze the characteristics of Chinese language, this paper uses the multilayer self-organizing neural network and the corresponding data mining technology for feature recognition and then compared it with other different types of neural network algorithms. The results show that the multilayer self-organizing neural network can make the accuracy, recall, and F1 score of feature recognition reach 68.69%, 80.21%, and 70.19%, respectively, when there are many samples. Under the influence of strong noise, it keeps high efficiency of feature analysis. This shows that the multilayer self-organizing neural network has superior performance and can provide strong support for Chinese language feature analysis.

Long-Term Effect of Non-Selective Beta-Blockers in Patients With Rheumatoid Arthritis After Myocardial Infarction-A Nationwide Cohort Study.

Objectives: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an independent nontraditional risk factor for incidence of myocardial infarction (MI) and post-MI outcome is impaired in the RA population. Use of beta-blockers improves the long-term survival after MI in the general population while the protective effect of beta-blockers in RA patients is not clear. We investigate the impact of beta-blockers on the long-term outcome of MI among RA patients. Methods: We identified RA subjects from the registries for catastrophic illness and myocardial infarction from 2003 to 2013. The enrolled subjects were divided into three groups according to the prescription of beta-blockers (non-user, non-selective, and ß1-selective beta-blockers). The primary endpoint was all-cause mortality. We adjusted clinical variables and utilized propensity scores to balance confounding bias. Cox proportional hazards regression models were used to estimate the incidence of mortality in different groups. Results: A total of 1,292 RA patients with myocardial infarction were enrolled, where 424 (32.8%), 281 (21.7%), and 587 (45.5%) subjects used non-user, non-selective, and ß1-selective beta-blockers, respectively. Use of beta-blockers was associated with lower risk of all-cause mortality after adjustment with comorbidities, medications (adjusted hazard ratio [HR] 0.871; 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.727-0.978), and propensity score (HR 0.882; 95% CI 0.724-0.982). Compared with ß1-selective beta-blockers, treatment with non-selective beta-blockers (HR 0.856; 95% CI 0.702-0.984) was significantly related to lower risk of mortality. The protective effect of non-selective beta-blockers remained in different subgroups including sex and different anti-inflammatory drugs. Conclusion: Use of beta-blockers improved prognosis in post-MI patients with RA. Treatment with non-selective beta-blockers was significantly associated with reduced risk of mortality in RA patients after MI rather than ß1-selective beta-blockers.