Mulberry leaf polysaccharide improves cyclophosphamide-induced growth inhibition and intestinal damage in chicks by modulating intestinal flora, enhancing immune regulation and antioxidant capacity.

Polysaccharides are generally considered to have immune enhancing functions, and mulberry leaf polysaccharide is the main active substance in mulberry leaves, while there are few studies on whether mulberry leaf polysaccharide (MLP) has an effect on immunosuppression and intestinal damage caused by cyclophosphamide (CTX), we investigated whether MLP has an ameliorative effect on intestinal damage caused by CTX. A total of 210 1-day-old Mahuang cocks were selected for this experiment. Were equally divided into six groups and used to evaluate the immune effect of MLP. Our results showed that MLP significantly enhanced the growth performance of chicks and significantly elevated the secretion of cytokines (IL-1ß, IL-10, IL-6, TNF-α, and IFN-γ), immunoglobulins and antioxidant enzymes in the serum of immunosuppressed chicks. It attenuated jejunal damage and elevated the expression of jejunal tight junction proteins Claudin1, Zo-1 and MUC2, which protected intestinal health. MLP activated TLR4-MyD88-NF-κB pathway and enhanced the expression of TLR4, MyD88 and NF-κB, which served to protect the intestine. 16S rDNA gene high-throughput sequencing showed that MLP increased species richness, restored CTX-induced gut microbiome imbalance, and enhanced the abundance of probiotic bacteria in the gut. MLP improves cyclophosphamide-induced growth inhibition and intestinal damage in chicks by modulating intestinal flora and enhancing immune regulation and antioxidant capacity. In conclusion, this study provides a scientific basis for MLP as an immune enhancer to regulate chick intestinal flora and protect chick intestinal mucosal damage.

Exploring the Potential of ChatGPT-4 in Responding to Common Questions About Abdominoplasty: An AI-Based Case Study of a Plastic Surgery Consultation.

BACKGROUND: With the increasing integration of artificial intelligence (AI) in health care, AI chatbots like ChatGPT-4 are being used to deliver health information. OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to assess the capability of ChatGPT-4 in answering common questions related to abdominoplasty, evaluating its potential as an adjunctive tool in patient education and preoperative consultation. METHODS: A variety of common questions about abdominoplasty were submitted to ChatGPT-4. These questions were sourced from a question list provided by the American Society of Plastic Surgery to ensure their relevance and comprehensiveness. An experienced plastic surgeon meticulously evaluated the responses generated by ChatGPT-4 in terms of informational depth, response articulation, and competency to determine the proficiency of the AI in providing patient-centered information. RESULTS: The study showed that ChatGPT-4 can give clear answers, making it useful for answering common queries. However, it struggled with personalized advice and sometimes provided incorrect or outdated references. Overall, ChatGPT-4 can effectively share abdominoplasty information, which may help patients better understand the procedure. Despite these positive findings, the AI needs more refinement, especially in providing personalized and accurate information, to fully meet patient education needs in plastic surgery. CONCLUSIONS: Although ChatGPT-4 shows promise as a resource for patient education, continuous improvements and rigorous checks are essential for its beneficial integration into healthcare settings. The study emphasizes the need for further research, particularly focused on improving the personalization and accuracy of AI responses. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE V: This journal requires that authors assign a level of evidence to each article. For a full description of these Evidence-Based Medicine ratings, please refer to the Table of Contents or the online Instructions to Authors www.springer.com/00266 .

Shear Behaviour and Calculation Methods of Bearing-Shear Connectors for Prefabricated Steel-Concrete Composite Beams.

The bearing-shear connector (B-SC) is a newly developed connector that exhibits excellent shear behaviour and is easy to process. However, research on the application of B-SCs as substitutes for grouped studs in prefabricated steel-concrete composite beams is rare, and systematically studying their shear behaviour is necessary. Thus, a refined numerical model was developed to study the shear behaviour of the B-SCs. The numerical model, validated by push-out tests, was conducted to analyse the stress of the B-SCs and concrete slab during loading and to explore the failure mechanism of B-SCs. Then, a parametric study was performed to identify the key factors influencing the shear behaviour of the B-SCs. The concrete strength, and the thickness and the tensile strength of the shear plate were found to significantly influence the shear behaviour of B-SCs. According to the experiments and numerical analysis, calculation formulae for the ultimate shear resistance and slip modulus were proposed.

ChatGPT in Colorectal Surgery: A Promising Tool or a Passing Fad?

Colorectal surgery is a specialized branch of surgery that involves the diagnosis and treatment of conditions affecting the colon, rectum, and anus. In the recent years, the use of artificial intelligence (AI) has gained considerable interest in various medical specialties, including surgery. Chatbot Generative Pre-Trained Transformer (ChatGPT), an AI-based chatbot developed by OpenAI, has shown great potential in improving the quality of healthcare delivery by providing accurate and timely information to both patients and healthcare professionals. In this paper, we investigate the potential application of ChatGPT in colorectal surgery. We also discuss the potential advantages and challenges associated with the implementation of ChatGPT in the surgical setting. Furthermore, we address the socio-ethical implications of utilizing ChatGPT in healthcare. This includes concerns over patient privacy, liability, and the potential impact on the doctor-patient relationship. Our findings suggest that ChatGPT has the potential to revolutionize the field of colorectal surgery by providing personalized and precise medical information, reducing errors and complications, and improving patient outcomes.

Translation of the Chinese version of the Self-Care for Aspiration Pneumonia Prevention Scale and its validation among Chinese community dwelling elderly with risk of dysphasia.

AIM: To translate the Self-Care for Aspiration Pneumonia Prevention Scale into the Chinese and validate its reliability and validity among community dwelling elderly with risk of dysphasia. DESIGN: A cross-sectional survey. METHODS: A total of 430 elderly with risk of dysphasia were recruited. The reliability was measured by internal consistency, split half reliability, and test-retest reliability. The validity was evaluated by expert consultation and factor analysis. RESULTS: The translated scale had ideal reliability. The content validity index (S-CVI) was 0.952. The 3-factor structure, supported by the eigenvalues, total variance explained, and scree plot, was obtained by using exploratory factor analysis. And as a result of a confirmatory factor analysis, the model fitting indexes were all in the acceptable range. The Chinese version of the Self-Care for Aspiration Pneumonia Prevention scale can contribute to clinical practice and education to improve self-care for aspiration pneumonia prevention among elderly at risk of dysphasia.

Psychometric Properties of the Chinese Version of the Brief-Mindful Self-Care Scale: A Translation and Validation Study.

Objective: This study aimed to translate the Brief-Mindful Self-Care Scale (B-MSCS) into Chinese and validate its reliability and validity among hospice nurses. Methods: A total of 510 hospice nurses were recruited from three provinces in China. The reliability of the translated scale was measured by internal consistency, split-half reliability, and test-retest reliability. The validity of the translated scale was evaluated by expert consultation, exploratory factor analysis, and confirmatory factor analysis. Results: The Cronbach's α value of the Chinese version of B-MSCS was 0.920, and the Cronbach's α value of the dimensions ranged from 0.850 to 0.933. The split-half reliability and test-retest reliability were 0.770 and 0.723, respectively. Furthermore, the content validity index of the scale (S-CVI) was 0.946. The 6-factor structure, supported by the eigenvalues, total variance explained, and scree plot were obtained by using exploratory factor analysis. Moreover, as a result of the confirmatory factor analysis, the model fitting indexes were all in the acceptable range. Conclusion: The Chinese version of B-MSCS had suitable reliability and validity among hospice nurses. The developed scale will evaluate the level of mindful self-care of Chinese hospice nurses, providing an opportunity for development of targeted educational plans. Each item is a direct guide for hospice nurses to develop their mindful self-care practice.

Psychometric evaluation of medication safety competence scale for clinical nurses.

BACKGROUND: Nurses are the most important members of the health care system for medication safety, there are few tools to evaluate their medication safety competence. This study aimed to translate the Medication Safety Competence Scale into Chinese and validate its reliability and validity among clinical nurses. METHODS: A total of 894 clinical nurses were recruited from three cities in China. The original version of the Medication Safety Competence Scale was translated into Chinese using the backward and forward translation procedure. The reliability of the scale was measured by internal consistency, split-half reliability, and stability. The validity of the scale was assessed by the content validity index, exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis. RESULTS: The Cronbach's coefficient of the scale was 0.940, and the coefficient values for the six domains ranged between 0.843 and 0.948. The split-half reliability and stability were 0.671 and 0.703, respectively. The content validity index of the scale was 0.952. The 6-factor structure, supported by the eigenvalues, total variance explained, and scree plot accounted for 71.485 % of the total variance. Moreover, as a result of the confirmatory factor analysis, the average variance extracted values were 0.55 to 0.70, and the model fitting indexes were all in the acceptable range. CONCLUSIONS: The Chinese version of the Medication Safety Competence Scale had ideal reliability and validity among clinical nurses. The evaluation results of the scale can provide a reference for nursing managers to formulate education plans and intervention measures to improve clinical nurses' safe medication competence.

UCA1 promotes cell viability, proliferation and migration potential through UCA1/miR-204/CCND2 pathway in primary cystitis glandularis cells.

Cystitis glandularis (CG) is an unusual proliferative disorder of the urinary bladder. Increasing evidences demonstrated that long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) play important roles in a variety of cellular progresses. However, there are rarely reports about the role and underlying molecular mechanism of lncRNAs in CG. In this study, we firstly isolated the primary cells from the tissues of CG and adjacent normal tissues, and found that UCA1 was up-regulated in the primary CG cells (pCGs). Then, we showed that knock out of UCA1 reduced the cell viability, inhibited the cell proliferation and restrained the migration potential and overexpression of UCA1 promoted that in pCGs. Furthermore, we demonstrated that UCA1 played its role via sponging of the miR-204 in pCGs. In addition, we illustrated that miR-204 exerted its function via targeting CYCLIN D2 (CCND2) 3'UTR at mRNA level in pCGs. Ultimately, we revealed the role and regulation of UCA1/miR-204/CCND2 regulatory axis in pCGs. In summary, our study, for the first time, revealed the role and underlying mechanism of an lncRNA UCA1 in CG, providing a potential biomarker and therapeutic target for human CG.

Vitamin D deficiency and clinical outcomes related to septic shock in children with critical illness: a systematic review.

PURPOSE: Low vitamin D blood levels are related to many clinical outcomes in children with critically illness. However, the relationship of it and septic shock has not been systematically analyzed. The objective of this review was to evaluate the effect of vitamin D on septic shock and predict if vitamin D administration can improve prognosis of it. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Online databases were searched up to June 1st, 2017 for studies on the relation of vitamin D deficiency (VDD) and clinical outcomes on septic shock in children with critical illness. The primary end point was the effect of VDD on occurrence of septic shock. The secondary endpoints were the association of VDD and clinical outcomes related to septic shock. We summarized the strength of association between VDD and each factor on septic shock. Individual factors were defined as strong, moderate, weak, or inconclusive according to the numbers of the article supporting the relation between them. RESULTS: Eight studies published between 2012 and 2017, for a total of 1367 patients, were included in the final analysis. We extracted eight patient-level factors and among them one showed strong association of VDD and septic shock. Four factors demonstrated moderate or weak strength of evidence for it: nonresolution of shock, catecholamine refractory shock, fluid boluses, vasopressor use. But evidence for the association between VDD and severity of illness, stay of pediatric intensive care unit (PICU), are weak. Most of the articles showed no significant association between VDD and mortality. CONCLUSIONS: Among critically ill children, VDD might be associated with the occurrence and resolution of septic shock. A larger multicenter trial could conclusively confirm these findings. Further research is also needed to identify vitamin D administration for better outcomes in pediatric patients.

Effects of probiotics on ghrelin and lungs in children with acute lung injury: A double-blind randomized, controlled trial.

AIM: To assess the effects of probiotics on serum ghrelin levels and protection for lungs in children with acute lung injury (ALI). METHODS: This study was performed as a double-blind, randomized, and controlled trial in a pediatric intensive care unit (PICU). The eligible children with ALI were assigned to either probiotic treatment or an identical placebo for 10 days. Serum ghrelin, SP-A(surfactant protein-A), TNF-α, and IL-6 concentrations were assessed at baseline and at the end of trial. Meanwhile, pulmonary function test and echocardiography were examined, then VPEF (volume to peak tidal expiratory flow), TPEF/TE (the ratio of time taken to reach peak expiratory flow to total expiratory time), MAP (mean arterial pressure), and PAP (pulmonary artery pressure) were recorded. RESULTS: Eighty participants fulfilled the study requirements with 40 children for each group. The groups were comparable in baseline characteristics. Serum SP-A, TNF-α, and IL-6 levels in the probiotic group were 212.6 ± 52.9 ng/mL, 401.9 ± 56.4 pg/mL, and 245.1 ± 55.1 pg/mL on day 10, respectively, significantly lower levels compared to the control group where the same parameters were 248.2 ± 57 ng/mL, 449.4 ± 60.1 pg/mL, and 308.3 ± 92.2 pg/mL (P < 0.01). However, ghrelin concentrations were elevated in the intervention group (P < 0.05). On measurement of pulmonary function, the probiotic group demonstrated a VPEF of 26.1 ± 4.2 mL and TPEF/TE of 29.1 ± 4.7%, which were higher than the control group (24.7 ± 4.3 mL and 26.9 ± 4.7%, respectively) (P < 0.05). MAP and PAP also improved in the probiotic group (P < 0.05). Furthermore, ghrelin, SP-A, TNF-α, IL-6, and PAP were negatively correlated. Positive correlations were found between ghrelin, TPEF/TE, and MAP. There were no probiotic-associated adverse events during the observation. CONCLUSION: Probiotics administrated to children with ALI alleviates the inflammation of lungs, improves pulmonary function and circulation by ghrelin.