AIM: To observe the supplementation action of the crude and processed Epimedium Sapittatum Maxim. METHODS: The effects of different extracts of Epimedium Sagittatum Maxim. on the castrated mice were observed. RESULTS: The aqueous and alcohol extracts of the crude and processed Epimedium Sagittatum maxim. showed same marked inhibition on atrophy of castrated mice. CONCLUSION: The crude and processed Epimedium Sagittatum maxim. both have the supplementation action and show no marked difference in action.

Objective: To explore the clinical effects of electroacupuncture (EA) at Zusanli (ST 36) and Fenglong (ST 40) in treating senile dementia. Methods:A total of74 patients were randomly divided into an EA group and a medication group based upon the random digital table, 37 cases in each group. EA at Zusanli (ST 36) and Fenglong (ST 40) was given in the EA group, once every day, for six treatments per week. Donepezil Hydrochloride Tablets were given to the medication group, 5 mg per time and once a day in the former four weeks, 10 mg per time and once a day after 4 weeks, oral administration before sleep at night. The courses of the treatment were 12 weeks in both groups. The scores of mini-mental state examination (MMSE) and Barthel index (BI) were observed before and after the treatment, for processing the comparative analysis of the clinical effects after the course of the treatment. Results:The total effective rate was 86.5% in the EA group and 70.3% in the medication group. The therapeutic effect was better in the EA group than that in the medication group, and the difference between the two groups was statistically significant (P<0.05). MMSE and BI scores after the treatment in the two groups were all elevated than those of the same groups before the treatment (P<0.05,P<0.01). The improving situation was obviously better in the EA group than that in the medication group, and the difference between the two groups was statistically significant (P<0.05). Conclusion:EA at Zusanli (ST 36) and Fenglong (ST 40) is affirmative in the therapeutic effect for senile dementia and can also improve the cognitive function and enhance the patients’ quality of life .

Objective To study the angle and articular facet curvature of lumbar zygapophyseal joints in adults.Methods The lumbar zygapophyseal joints in 120 healthy subjects without lumbar diseases were detected using spiral CT and mutiple planner re-construction.The angle and articular facet curvature of zygapophyseal joints were measured.The differences in the measured param-eters between male and female or different age groups were compared.Results ①There were no significant differences in the angle of the same lumbar zygapophyseal joints between males and females or different age groups (P >0.05);however,the significant differences in the angle between different lumbar segments were found (P <0.05).②There were no significant differences in articu-lar facet curvature of the same lumbar zygapophyseal joints between males and females or different age groups (P >0.05);however, there were significant differences in the curvature between different lumbar segments (P <0.05).The maximum articular facet cur-vature of L3-L4 was 22.1°±6.0°.Conclusion The angle and articular facet curvature of lumbar zygapophyseal joints varies from different lumbar segments with different contributions for the lumbar stability.

OBJECTIVE: To explore the clinical and genetic characteristics of two children with Williams-Beuren syndrome (WBS). METHODS: Two children who had presented at the Department of Pediatrics, General Hospital of Ningxia Medical University respectively on January 26 and March 18, 2021 were selected as the study subjects. Clinical data and results of genetic testing of the two patients were analyzed. RESULTS: Both children had featured developmental delay, characteristic facies and cardiovascular malformation. Child 1 also had subclinical hypothyroidism, whilst child 2 had occurrence of epilepsy. Genetic testing revealed that child 1 has harbored a 1.54 Mb deletion in the 7q11.23 region, whilst child 2 has a 1.53 Mb deletion in the same region, in addition with a c.158G>A variant of the ATP1A1 gene and a c.12181A>G variant of the KMT2C gene. Based on the guidelines from the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics, the c.158G>A and c.12181A>G variants were rated as variants of unknown significance (PM1+PM2_Supporting+PP2+PP3；PM2_Supporting). CONCLUSION Both children had characteristic features of WBS, for which deletions of the 7q11.23 region may be accountable. For children manifesting developmental delay, facial dysmorphism and cardiovascular malformations, the diagnosis of WBS should be suspected, and genetic testing should be recommended to confirm the diagnosis.
Child ; Humans ; Williams Syndrome/diagnosis* ; Genetic Testing ; Facies ; Epilepsy/genetics* ; Chromosomes, Human, Pair 7/genetics* ; Chromosome Deletion

Clinical decision-making is a series of activities of medical scheme selection, which determines the direction of medical behavior and the level of patients' welfare. In practice, clinical decision-making is not only restricted by medical technology factors, but also by non-technical factors. Therefore, it is necessary to analyze and predict the possible influence of non-technical factors in clinical decision-making. Game theory is a scientific system of strategic choice, which can effectively predict and analyze the impact of non-technical factors on clinical decision-making process. According to the game analysis results between doctors and patients, medical management and pharmaceutical enterprises, we can predict the non-technical impacts in clinical decision-making and their influence paths, guide clinical decision-makers to choose excellent strategies, abide by rationality and give up moderately, so as to improve the level of clinical decision-making and the welfare of patients.

Objective To evaluate the effect of dexmedetomidine combined with erector spinae plane block on inflammatory responses and cellular immune function after thoracic interbody fusion in patients.Methods Ninety American Society of Anesthesiologists physical status Ⅰ or Ⅱ patients of both sexes,aged 18-60 yr,with body mass index of 19-25 kg/m2,scheduled for elective thoracic interbody fusion with the vertebral segments involved in the operation ＜6,were divided into 3 groups (n =30 each) using a random number table method:general anesthesia group (group G),dexmedetomidine group (group D) and dexmedetomidine plus erector spinae plane block group (group DE).In group D and group DE,dexmedetomidine was intravenously infused over 10 min at a loading dose of 0.5 μg/kg starting from 30 min before anesthesia induction,followed by continuous infusion of 0.5 μg · kg-1 · h-1 until 15 min before the end of operation.In group DE,bilateral erector spinae blocks were performed under ultrasound guidance at 20 min before anesthesia induction,and 0.25％ ropivacaine 30 ml was injected into each side.Patients received patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) after operation.The consumption of propofol was recorded.The patients were followed up for 48 h after operation,and the pressing times of PCA and consumption of sufentanil were recorded.The emergence time,extubation time and volume of blood loss were also recorded.Blood samples were collected from the radial artery immediately before induction (T1),at 30 min of operation (T2),and at 1 h and 1,3 and 5 days after operation (T3-6) for determination of plasma CD42+,HLA-DR+ and CD14+ concentrations,white blood cell (WBC) count (by electrical impedance method) and plasma C-reactive protein (CRP) concentrations (by latex-enhanced scattering turbidimetry assay).CD42+/CD14+ and HLA-DR+/CD14+ ratios were calculated.Results Compared with group G,the pressing times of PCA and consumption of sufentanil were significantly decreased,CD42+/CD14+ ratio was decreased,and HLA-DR+/CD14+ ratio was increased at T3-6 in group D,and the emergence time,extubation time,pressing times of PCA and consumption of sufentanil and propofol were significantly decreased,CD42+/CD14+ ratio was decreased,HLA-DR+/CD14+ratio was increased at T3-6,and the plasma CRP concentrations and WBC count were decreased at T2-6 in group DE (P ＜0.05).Compared with group D,the emergence time,extubation time,pressing times of PCA and consumption of sufentanil and propofol were significantly decreased,CD42+/CD14+ ratio was decreased at T5,HLA-DR+/CD14+ratio was increased at T3.4,and the plasma CRP concentrations and WBC count were decreased at T3-6 in group DE (P ＜0.05).Conclusion Dexmedetomidine combined with erector spinae plane block can reduce inflammatory responses and improve cellular immune function after thoracic interbody fusion in patients.

Objective To investigate the predictive value of preoperative frailty for pulmonary com-plications(PPCs)after cardiac surgery in elderly patients.Methods A total of 162 elderly patients,109 males and 53 females,aged 65-83 years,BMI 18-36 kg/m2,ASA physical status Ⅱ-Ⅳ,underwent elec-tive open heart surgery from July 2022 to January 2023 were collected.The patients were divided into two groups according to the occurrence of PPCs:the PPCs group(n=57)and the non-PPCs group(n=105).General information,smoking history,alcohol consumption history,EuroSCORE Ⅱ,frailty,chronic comorbidities(hypertension,diabetes mellitus,myocardial infarction,pulmonary hypertension,chronic ob-structive pulmonary disease,sleep apnea syndrome,etc.),Hb,creatinine,albumin,pulmonary function indices,left ventricular ejection fraction,type of surgery,duration of surgery,aortic clamping time,and cardiopulmonary bypass time were collected.Factors with P＜0.2 and clinically significant in the univariate regression analysis were included in the multivariate logistic regression analysis,and the predictive efficacy of the Fried frailty scale and EuroSCORE Ⅱ for PPCs were compared by the area under the ROC curve(AUC).Results PPCs occurred in 57 patients(35.2％).Multifactorial Logistic regression analysis showed that frailty(OR=3.14,95％CI 1.05-9.37,P＜0.05)and EuroSCORE Ⅱ(OR=2.16,95％CI 1.01-4.60,P＜0.05)were risk factors for the development of PPCs.The predictive power of Fried frailty scale(AUC=0.76,95％CI 0.68-0.82)was significantly higher than that of EuroSCORE Ⅱ(AUC=0.65,95％CI 0.57-0.72)(P＜0.05).Conclusion Preoperative frailty is the independent risk factors for pulmonary complications after cardiac surgery in elderly patients,and the Fried frailty scale has a better predictive efficacy compared to EuroSCORE Ⅱ,a traditional risk predictor.

Objective:To investigate the efficacy and safety of radiotherapy for all metastases in patients with metachronous oligo-metastatic prostate cancer after radical treatment.Methods:From October 2011 to February 2021, 41 patients with prostate cancer with less than 5 metastases after radical treatment were retrospectively analyzed in a single center. The median age at radiotherapy was 68 (57-81) years. Forty patients (98%) received androgen deprivation therapy (ADT). There were 28 patients in the hormone sensitive (HSPC) group and 13 patients in the hormone resistant (CRPC) group. The median initial PSA was 24.4 (7.4-399.0) ng/ml. Tumor stage: T 2 stage 11 patients, T 3 stage 27 patients, T 4 stage 3 patients.30 patients were in N 0 stage and 11 patients in N 1 stage. Gleason score was 7 in 12 patients, 8 in 9 patients, 9 in 18 patients, and 10 in 2 patients.33 patients were treated with surgery, and 8 patients were treated with radiotherapy. The time span from diagnosis to metastasis was 3.1 (0.2-1.8) years. Conventional imaging examination (CT/ MRI/bone scan) before radiotherapy was used in 7 patients, and PSMA PET/CT examination was used in 34 patients.The median PSA before radiotherapy was 1.3(0.1-33.8) ng/ml. There were 62 metastases in 41 patients, including 1 lesion in 28 patients, 2 lesions in 9 patients, 3 lesions in 2 patients, and 5 lesions in 2 patients. Fifty-four patients had bone metastases and eight had retroperitoneal lymph node metastases. Twenty-two bone metastases were located in the pelvis, 18 in the vertebral body, 12 in the ribs, one in the femur and one in the sternum.The median metastatic volume was 5.8(0.2-81.7) cm 3.Daily image-guided rotational intensity modulated radiotherapy was used to cover all metastases.Dose segmentation modes include 37.5Gy/7.5Gy/5F, 60Gy/3Gy/20F, 65-70Gy/2.6-2.8Gy/25F.The median biological effective dose (BED 3) was 120 (67-147) Gy. The primary endpoint was biochemical progression-free survival (BPFS), the secondary endpoints were acute and late toxic side effects, local relapse-free survival (LPFS), and overall survival (OS). Results:The median follow-up time was 21 months (range 5-72 months). All patients completed radiotherapy, and 16 patients had grade 1 to 2 acute toxicity and side effects, and no grade 3 or above acute and late stage side effects. 1-year LPFS was 97.1%.The 1-year and 2-year BPFS were 77.5% and 59.2%, respectively. The median BPFS time was 29 months (range 13.9-44.2 months). Univariate analysis showed that the HSPC group ( P<0.001) and the group with total metastatic volume ≤ 5.8cm 3 ( P=0.010) had higher BPFS. The median BPFS time was 37 months in the retroperitoneal lymph node metastases subgroup and 17 months in the bone metastases subgroup ( P=0.141). In the HSPC group, the median BPFS was 30(22-38) months. After radiotherapy, PSA decreased in all 28 patients, and increased in 6 patients. The median BPFS was 12(4-18) months. In the CRPC group, the median BPFS was 4(0-8) months. PSA decreased in 10 patients (76.9%) after radiotherapy, and PSA decreased in 6 patients. The median BPFS was 5(3-28) months. Three patients’PSA did not decrease after radiotherapy, and they were treated with new endocrine therapy drugs, chemotherapy, immunotherapy and other systemic therapy. Conclusions:For patients with metachronous metastases after radical treatment, full coverage radiotherapy has good safety and high local control rate. HSPC patients and patients with low tumor load could be recommended to receive radiotherapy for all metastatic lesions preferentially, and patients with only retroperitoneal lymph node metastases may have better prognosis after radiotherapy than patients with bone metastases.

BACKGROUND: The study aimed to explore the factors influencing protective behavior and its association with factors during the post-COVID-19 period in China based on the risk perception emotion model and the protective action decision model (PADM). METHODS: A total of 2830 valid questionnaires were collected as data for empirical analysis via network sampling in China. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was performed to explore the relationships between the latent variables. RESULTS: SEM indicated that social emotion significantly positively affected protective behavior and intention. Protective behavioral intention had significant direct effects on protective behavior, and the direct effects were also the largest. Government trust did not have a significant effect on protective behavior but did have a significant indirect effect. Moreover, it was found that government trust had the greatest direct effect on social emotion. In addition, we found that excessive risk perception level may directly reduce people's intention and frequency of engaging in protective behavior, which was not conducive to positive, protective behavior. CONCLUSION In the post-COVID-19 period, theoretical framework constructed in this study can be used to evaluate people's protective behavior. The government should strengthen its information-sharing and interaction with the public, enhance people's trust in the government, create a positive social mood, appropriately regulate people's risk perception, and, finally, maintain a positive attitude and intent of protection.
Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; COVID-19/prevention & control* ; China/epidemiology* ; Communicable Disease Control ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Emotions ; Female ; Health Behavior ; Humans ; Intention ; Latent Class Analysis ; Male ; Middle Aged ; SARS-CoV-2 ; Social Behavior ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Trust ; Young Adult

OBJECTIVETo study the situation of sports and its influencing factors among students in order to improve health related education and promotion programs.

METHODSA multistage random sampling method was used on 3 600 students from three cities to understand their physical exercise behavior. Both t and χ(2) test were used to measure the scale of psychology and to describe the time spent on exercise. Single variance factor was used to measure the levels of change on behavior of physical activities, psychological and physical exercise behaviors.

RESULTSThe weekly exercise time for students was 2.66 ± 1.801 days, with 81.4% of the students less than four days. Data showed that 37.3%, 23.6%, 20.5% of the high school students were in pre-contemplation stage, in contemplation stage, or in preparation stage respectively, with only 18.6 percent of the high school students in the action phase and maintaining phase. Students in the stages of change increase the amount of physical exercises. Scores with statistically significant differences were seen in the following areas: between five stages of behavior change on strategies (F = 77.442, P < 0.001), forward effects on the balance of decision-making (F = 29.498, P < 0.001), having negative effects (F = 14.784, P < 0.001)and self-efficacy (F = 135.544, P < 0.001). Changing strategy on the intention stage of front maintenance phase, positive effects on decision-making balance and self-efficacy scores were increasing along with the increasing stages of changing. The effect of balancing the negative effects increased when the change of phase decreased.

CONCLUSIONStudents were in lack of physical exercise per week. The differences related to the behavior on physical exercise did exist but most of the high school students were in the primary stage. Psychological factors played important role in the different stages of changing, suggesting that high school students should receive different health education and psychological intervention measures to enhance the effectiveness of physical exercise.