Objective: To investigate the factors affecting social alienation among elderly stroke patients, so as to provide the reference for the prevention of social alienation among elderly patients with chronic disease. Methods: The stroke patients aged ≥60 years who visited Hangzhou Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine from January to June 2024 were selected as subjects. Demographic information and disease status were collected through questionnaire surveys. Social alienation, stigma and social support were assessed using the General Alienation Scale, Stroke-Specific Stigma Scale and Perceived Social Support Scale, respectively. Factors affecting social alienation among elderly stroke patients were analyzed by using a multiple linear regression model. Results: Totally 283 elderly stroke patients were surveyed, including 165 males (58.30%) and 118 females (41.70%). The mean age was (69.55±8.72) years. The mean scores for social alienation, stigma and social support was (41.72±6.10), (43.70±8.96) and (59.86±10.22) points, respectively. Multiple linear regression analysis identified educational level (high school/technical secondary school, β' =-0.157; college degree or above, β' =-0.322), household monthly income per capita (≥3 000 yuan, β' =-0.260), number of stroke occurrences (recurrent stroke, β' =0.181), number of comorbid chronic diseases (≥2, β' =0.165), self-care ability (partially self-care, β' =0.142; unable to self-care, β' =0.308), stigma (β' =0.277) and social support (β' =-0.253) as factors affecting social alienation among elderly stroke patients. Conclusion Social alienation among elderly stroke patients is associated with educational level, household monthly income per capita, number of stroke occurrences, number of comorbid chronic diseases, self-care ability, stigma and social support.

Objective To investigate the effects and mechanisms of Glutamine (Gln) supplementation on neurobehavioral outcome,neuronal apoptosis,microglia polarization,and neuroinflammatory response after traumatic brain injury (TBI) in rats.Methods TBI animal models were established using Feeney's method.Sixty Wistar rats were randomly divided into three groups:control group (Con),traumatic brain injury group (TBI),and glutamine supplementation group (TBI+Gln).We measured rat behavioral outcomes by modified neurologic severity score (mNSS) tests at day 1,3,7 and 14 after TBI.Apoptotic neurons were determined by Nissl staining.The microglia polarization relatived protein (Iba-1,CD16,CD86) expressions in TBI cerebral cortices were determined by immunohistochemistry staining and western blotting,respectively.While,the serum levels of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α),interleukin (IL)-1 and interferon (IFN)-γ were tested by enzyme linked immunosorbent Assay (ELISA).Results Compared with the Con group,the levels of neurobehavioral outcome,neurons apoptosis,microglia polarization and neuroinflammatory factors were significantly increased in the other two groups (P=0.00).Compared with the TBl group,glutamin supplementation improvedneurobehavioral outcome [7 d:(10.74±0.25) points vs.(8.94±0.24) points,P=0.01;14 d:(8.77± 0.16) points vs.(7.43±0.13) points,P=0.03].Meanwhile,glutamin supplementation suppressed the apoptotic rates of neurons [3d:(80.18±8.38)％ vs.(65.47±7.02)％,P=0.01;7 d:(58.90±6.12)％ vs.(42.73±4.88)％,P=0.01;14d:(39.56±2.95)％vs.(31.12±3.16)％,P=0.01],inhibited protein expressions of Iba-1 and CD16,and increased the protein expression of CD86,which promoted the phenotypic shift of microglia from M1 to M2 phenotype,inhibited microglial activation,and thus reduced TBI-induced neuroinflammatory factors [TNF-α:(125.42 ± 12.81) pg/ml vs.(74.36 ± 9.25) pg/ml,P =0.01;IL-1:(69.04±8.48) pg/ml vs.(34.73±3.92) pg/ml,P=0.01;TNF-α:(89.75±9.40) pg/ml vs.(45.62±6.64) pg/ml,P=0.02].Conclusion Glutamine supplementation can markedly reduce neuron apoptosis and improve neurological outcomes after TBI,possibly mediated by promoting the phenotypic shift of microglia from M1 to M2 phenotype and thus reducing TBI-induced neuroinflammatory factors.

Objective:To investigate the clinicopathological characteristics, genetic features, diagnosis and differential diagnosis of pulmonary artery intimal sarcoma (PAIS).Methods:Three cases of PAIS were collected from Jiangsu Province People′s Hospital (from February 2016 to November 2019). The clinical data, imaging examination, morphology, immunostaining, and molecular changes were retrospectively analyzed.Results:There were 1 male and 2 females (age: 32, 50, 60 years), who had symptoms of cough, asthma or chest tightness. Imaging findings indicated low density filling defects which were suspected as thrombus, embolism or myxoma. Grossly, the main tumor was located in the elastic arteries and their lobar branches, also extended into the atrium and ventricle, with lung parenchymal infiltration focally. Microscopically, tumor cells were predominantly composed of abundant spindle cells with obvious atypia and myxoid background, resembling fibroblastic or myofibroblastic differentiation. Active mitotic figures and necrosis could be seen in some areas. Immunohistochemical staining of vimentin was strongly positive, while pan-cytokeratin, S-100, desmin, Fli-1, CD31, SMA and ERG etc were variably positive only in focal areas. FISH detection showed amplification of MDM2 gene in three cases and EGFR gene in two cases. Metastatic lesions were found in one case by 18, 32 and 42 months after surgery respectively. There was no recurrence or metastasis in the other two cases.Conclusions:PAIS is one of exceptionally poor differentiated mesenchymal tumor that arises from the arterial intima of elastic pulmonary arteries. There was no definite differention in morphology. Gene detection shows amplification of MDM2 and EGFR gene. This tumor often has poor prognosis with aggressive behavior. Complete resection is the only effective therapeutic option. There is disagreement as to whether chemotherapy and radiotherapy can improve survival.

Alfalfa(Medicago sativa L.)is the most important legume forage crop worldwide with high nutritional value and yield.For a long time,the breeding of alfalfa was hampered by lacking reliable information on the autotetraploid genome and molecular markers linked to important agro-nomic traits.We herein reported the de novo assembly of the allele-aware chromosome-level genome of Zhongmu-4,a cultivar widely cultivated in China,and a comprehensive database of genomic variations based on resequencing of 220 germplasms.Approximate 2.74 Gb contigs(N50 of 2.06 Mb),accounting for 88.39％of the estimated genome,were assembled,and 2.56 Gb contigs were anchored to 32 pseudo-chromosomes.A total of 34,922 allelic genes were identified from the allele-aware genome.We observed the expansion of gene families,especially those related to the nitrogen metabolism,and the increase of repetitive elements including transposable elements,which probably resulted in the increase of Zhongmu-4 genome compared with Medicago truncatula.Population structure analysis revealed that the accessions from Asia and South America had rela-tively lower genetic diversity than those from Europe,suggesting that geography may influence alfalfa genetic divergence during local adaption.Genome-wide association studies identified 101 sin-gle nucleotide polymorphisms(SNPs)associated with 27 agronomic traits.Two candidate genes were predicted to be correlated with fall dormancy and salt response.We believe that the allele-aware chromosome-level genome sequence of Zhongmu-4 combined with the resequencing data of the diverse alfalfa germplasms will facilitate genetic research and genomics-assisted breeding in variety improvement of alfalfa.

OBJECTIVETo study the clinical and histopathologic features of metanephric adenoma (MA).

METHODSEight cases of recently diagnosed MA were retrieved from archival file. Immunohistochemical study was carried out. The clinical characteristics, pathologic parameters, differential diagnosis, treatment options and prognosis of MA were analyzed, with literature review.

RESULTSThe patients included 6 females and 2 males. The age of patients ranged from 12 to 70 years (mean=43.6 years). Eight cases were located in renal cortex and showed well-defined borders. Histologically, the tumor was composed of tubules lined by small basophilic cells and embedded in an edematous stroma. Papillary structures and psammoma bodies were focally seen. Immunohistochemical study showed that the tumor cells were positive for PAX2 and vimentin in all the 8 cases. WT-1 was positive in 2 cases, focal and weak in 5 cases, and negative in 1 case. CK-Pan was positive in 3 cases. CK7 staining was mostly negative, with focal and weak positivity only in 1 case. The proliferative index, as highlighted by Ki-67 staining, was less than 2% in 7 cases and focally around 5% in 1 case. The expressions of CK20, CD10, RCC, epithelial membrane antigen, CD56, synaptophysin and chromogranin A were negative. Follow-up information from 7 to 57 months was available in all patients; and none of them developed local recurrence or distant metastasis.

CONCLUSIONSThe diagnosis of MA relies primarily on thorough histologic examination and immunohistochemical study (vimentin and PAX2 positive, WT-1 focally and weakly positive in some cases, and low proliferative index). Correlation with clinical and radiologic findings would also be helpful.

Adenoma ; diagnostic imaging ; metabolism ; pathology ; surgery ; Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Biomarkers, Tumor ; metabolism ; Carcinoma, Renal Cell ; metabolism ; pathology ; Child ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Kidney Neoplasms ; diagnostic imaging ; metabolism ; pathology ; surgery ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Nephrectomy ; methods ; PAX2 Transcription Factor ; metabolism ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed ; Vimentin ; metabolism ; WT1 Proteins ; metabolism ; Wilms Tumor ; pathology ; Young Adult