Background The Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region is a vast area with a wide array of ecological environments, resulting in considerable regional variations in air pollution characteristics. Current research is limited by a scarcity of systematic, region-wide studies and risk assessments. Objective To assess the health risks associated with inhalation exposure to nine heavy metal and metalloid elements in atmospheric fine particulate matter (PM_2.5) for the population of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. Methods From the 10th to the 16th of each month throughout 2023, atmospheric PM_2.5 samples were collected at designated monitoring sites in 12 leagues (cities) across the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region to analyze the characteristics and trends in concentration. The health risk assessment model developed by the United States Environmental Protection Agency was employed to evaluate both the non-carcinogenic and carcinogenic risks associated with the heavy metal elements beryllium (Be), cadmium (Cd), chromium (Cr), hydrargyrum (Hg), plumbum (Pb), manganese (Mn), and nickel (Ni) and the metalloid elements stibium (Sb) and arsenic (As). Results In 2023, a total of 1206 valid PM_2.5 samples were analyzed from the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. The annual average PM_2.5 concentrations in Inner Mongolia, as well as in the cities of Ordos, Wuhai, and the Alxa League, all exceeded the national limit of 35 μg·m⁻³. The PM_2.5 concentrations across the leagues (cities) exhibited a clear seasonal variation, peaking in winter, followed by spring, and reaching a minimum in summer and autumn. The median PM_2.5 concentration in Ordos throughout the year was higher than that in the other leagues (cities) of the region. Concerning health risks, the non-carcinogenic risks associated with the 9 elements detected in each league (city) were all below 1, indicating acceptable levels. However, the non-carcinogenic risk values for Mn, Cr, and As were relatively high; specifically, Ordos City displayed the highest non-carcinogenic risk values for Mn (7.74×10⁻¹) and Cr (2.97×10⁻²), while Chifeng City recorded the highest value for As (2.34×10⁻³). The carcinogenic risk values for As, Cd, Cr, and Ni fell within the range of 1×10⁻⁹ to 1×10⁻⁵, representing an acceptable level. The health risks varied with age, and the elderly residents faced the highest non-carcinogenic and carcinogenic health risks. Conclusion While the carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic risks from heavy metals and metalloids within atmospheric PM_2.5 in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region are generally within acceptable limits, the potential risks that Mn, As, and Cr pose to the health of elderly people warrants particular attention, and Ordos and Chifeng cities exhibit notably higher health risks among other areas. It is recommended that regular, long-term monitoring be conducted, taking into account the specific conditions at monitoring sites across each league (city), and that targeted air quality management strategies be implemented to protect public health.

OBJECTIVE: To develop a clinical automated diagnostic system for temporomandibular disorders (TMD) based on the diagnostic criteria for TMD (DC/TMD) to assist dentists in making rapid and accurate clinical diagnosis of TMD. METHODS: Clinical and imaging data of 354 patients, who visited the Center for TMD & Orofacial Pain at Peking University Hospital of Stomatology from September 2023 to January 2024, were retrospectively collected. The study developed a clinical automated diagnostic system for TMD using the DC/TMD, built on the. NET Framework platform with branching statements as its internal structure. Further validation of the system on consistency and diagnostic efficacy compared with DC/TMD were also explored. Diagnostic efficacy of the TMD clinical automated diagnostic system for degenerative joint diseases, disc displacement with reduction, disc displacements without reduction with limited mouth opening and disc displacement without reduction without limited mouth opening was evaluated and compared with a specialist in the field of TMD. Accuracy, precision, specificity and the Kappa value were assessed between the TMD clinical automated diagnostic system and the specialist. RESULTS: Diagnoses for various TMD subtypes, including pain-related TMD (arthralgia, myalgia, headache attributed to TMD) and intra-articular TMD (disc displacement with reduction, disc displacement with reduction with intermittent locking, disc displacement without reduction with limited opening, disc displacement without reduction without limited opening, degenerative joint disease and subluxation), using the TMD clinical automated diagnostic system were completely identical to those obtained by the TMD specialist based on DC/TMD. Both the system and the expert showed low sensitivity for diagnosing degenerative joint disease (0.24 and 0.37, respectively), but high specificity (0.96). Both methods achieved high accuracy (> 0.9) for diagnosing disc displacements with reduction and disc displacements without reduction with limited mouth opening. The sensitivity for diagnosing disc displacement without reduction without limited mouth opening was only 0.59 using the automated system, lower than the expert (0.87), while both had high specificity (0.92). The Kappa values for most TMD subtypes were close to 1, except the disc displacement without reduction without limited mouth opening, which had a Kappa value of 0.68. CONCLUSION This study developed and validated a reliable clinical automated diagnostic system for TMD based on DC/TMD. The system is designed to facilitate the rapid and accurate diagnosis and classification of TMD, and is expected to be an important tool in clinical scenarios.
Humans ; Temporomandibular Joint Disorders/diagnosis* ; Retrospective Studies ; Male ; Female ; Adult ; Middle Aged ; Facial Pain/diagnosis* ; Diagnosis, Computer-Assisted/methods* ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Young Adult

Objective To explore the application status and development trend of machine learning in the field of pharmacovigilance worldwide,and to provide reference for the research on the application of machine learning in the field of pharmacovigilance.Methods Relevant literature was searched in the Web of Science with the key words of"machine learning"and"pharmacovigilance"from the inception to March 1,2023.R language and other software were used to quantitatively analyze the literature data in this field.The clustering,co-occurrence and emergence visual analysis were carried out on the characteristics of annual published papers,institutions,countries,keywords and other aspects.Results A total of 904 literature were included.The number of literature published showed a fluctuating upward trend since 1994.There was cross-regional,cross-regional and cross-agency cooperation among the cooperative network institutions.The top 5 countries in the number of publications were the United States,China,Japan,South Korea and India,China and the United States had relatively close cooperation in this field.Signal detection,social media and electronic health records were high-frequency keywords in this field.Clustering and association rule analysis showed that this field focused on three aspects signal recognition,unstructured text mining and analysis,and processing and analysis of electronic medical information.At present,machine learning has made significant progress in signal recognition,social media information mining,and unstructured text processing of electronic medical information,which broaden the data sources of pharmacovigilance,improve the real-time monitoring ability of adverse drug reactions,bringing innovation impetus to the field of pharmacovigilance.Conclusion The rapid development of big data and artificial intelligence technologies has led to an increasing integration of machine learning into the field of pharmacovigilance,which promotes technical exchanges and cooperation and cross-disciplinary integration.It is necessary to optimize each machine learning algorithm to improve its accuracy and stability in pharmacovigilance,strengthen the protection measures of data privacy and security to ensure the safety of patient information.Integrating expertise in the fields of science,medicine,and data statistics with a view to promoting technological progress in the field of pharmacovigilance.

Objective:To observe the therapeutic effect of compound Duzhong Jiangu granule on Kashin-Beck disease (KBD), and to provide a new alternative for the treatment of patients with KBD.Methods:According to the principle of random distribution, patients with KBD diagnosed clinically in Linyou County and Yongshou County of Shaanxi Province who meet the inclusion criteria were divided into a traditional Chinese medicine group and a Western medicine group, and they were treated with compound Duzhong Jiangu granule (Chinese medicine group) and ibuprofen sustained release capsule + 21 jinvita + chondroitin sulfate (Western medicine group), respectively, for a duration of one month. Questionnaire survey was conducted to collect the clinical data of all survey respondents before and after medication by using the Joint Dysfunction Index Scale and the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Arthritis Index (WOMAC) scales, for evaluation and analysis. The incidence of adverse reactions of the two groups were recorded.Results:A total of 218 KBD patients that met the inclusion criteria were selected, including 167 patients in the Chinese medicine group and 51 patients in the Western medicine group. There were 94 males and 73 females in the Chinese medicine group, aged (62.93 ± 6.72) years. In the Western medicine group, there were 18 males and 33 females, aged (63.29 ± 7.02) years. There was no statistically significant difference in age between the two groups ( Z = - 0.24, P = 0.813). After taking the compound Duzhong Jiangu granules for treatment of KBD patients in the traditional Chinese medicine group, there were significant changes in the number of patients with joint rest pain, joint movement pain, morning stiffness, maximum walking distance and lower limb mobility in the Joint Dysfunction Scale compared to before treatment. The difference between before and after medication was statistically significant (χ 2 = 37.93, 29.64, 50.40, 13.57, 25.25, P < 0.001). After 1 month of medication, there were 13 cases of significant effect, 64 cases of effectiveness, and 90 cases of ineffectiveness in the traditional Chinese medicine group, with a total effective rate of 46.11%. There were 0 cases of significant improvement, 13 cases of effectiveness, and 38 cases of ineffectiveness in the Western medicine group, with a total effective rate of 25.49%. The difference in total effective rates between the two groups was statistically significant (χ 2 = 8.62, P = 0.013). In addition, there was a statistically significant difference in the improvement of lower limb mobility (difficulty of daily activities) between the Chinese medicine group and the Western medicine group (χ 2 = 8.21, P = 0.017). After taking medication, the joint pain, stiffness, and difficulty of daily activities scores in the WOMAC scale of KBD patients in the Chinese medicine group and the Western medicine group were significantly reduced. The differences in scores before and after medication were statistically significant (Chinese medicine group, Z = - 7.60, - 7.74, - 9.75, P < 0.001; Western medicine group, Z = - 5.20, - 3.81, - 3.93, P < 0.001). There was a significant differences in the improvement degree of daily activity difficulty and total score between the Chinese medicine group and the Western medicine group ( Z = - 3.75, - 3.34, P < 0.01). During the medication period, the incidence of adverse reactions in the traditional Chinese medicine group was lower than that in the western medicine group (Chinese medicine group, 29.34%; Western medicine group, 45.09%, χ 2 = 4.38, P = 0.036). Conclusions:Compound Duzhong Jiangu granule has a good therapeutic effects on KBD, significantly improving joint dysfunction of patients. It has advantages in improving the activity ability of KBD patients and reducing the difficulty of daily activities, and has less adverse reactions else.

In order to mine candidate vaccine antigens against ticks and to control ticks safely and effectively,the aim of this study was to immunize rabbits with purified aquaporins(AQPs)rD-mAQP1,rDmAQP2 and rDmAQP3 of Dermacentor marginatus.Blood collections for Western blot and ELISA tests were performed.The anti-tick challenge was conducted.The optimal expression conditions of rDmAQP1,rDmAQP2 and rDmAQP3 were screened by SDS-PAGE gel electrophore-sis.The three recombinant proteins were purified by HisSepNi-NTA6FF purification column.Rab-bits were divided into four groups of three rabbits each,including a control group and three immu-nized groups.The three purified recombinant proteins were separately immunized to three groups of rabbits,and the rabbits were immunized once on the 0th,14th and 21st day.Blood samples were collected every 7 days to prepare polyclonal antibodies.The reactivity was detected by Western blot and the antibody titer was detected by ELISA.Tick challenge test was carried out after the anti-body titer increased.The results showed that the optimal expression conditions for rDmAQP1 were induced for 8 h at IPTG concentration of 1.0 mmol/L and 37 ℃;the optimal expression conditions for rDmAQP2 were induced for 7 h at IPTG concentration of 1.0 mmol/L and 37 ℃;and the opti-mal expression conditions for rDmAQP3 were induced for 5 h at IPTG concentration of 1.0 mmol/L and 37 ℃.Western blot results showed that rDmAQP1,rDmAQP2 and rDmAQP3 all had certain reactivity.The ELISA results showed that the antibody titers of rabbits immunized with rD-mAQP1,rDmAQP2 and rDmAQP3 were as follows:the total anti-tick effect of rDmAQP1 protein was 79.74％,and the inhibition rates on average full-blooded tick weight,average egg weight and average egg hatching rate were 9.43％,25.17％and 63.81％,respectively.The total anti-tick effect of rDmAQP2 protein was 78.78％,and the inhibition rates of average full-blooded tick weight,av-erage egg weight and average egg hatching rate of Dermacentor marginatus were 8.30％,20.14％and 68.26％,respectively.The total anti-tick effect of rDmAQP3 protein was 87.91％,and the inhi-bition rates of average full-blooded tick weight,average egg weight and average egg hatching rate were 3.23％,22.47％and 80.5％,respectively.Through serological test and anti-tick test,it has been found that rDmAQP1,rDmAQP2 and rDmAQP3 all have the potential of candidate antigens against ticks,among which rDmAQP3 has the best immune effect,which lays a foundation for the study of the function of rDmAQP1,rDmAQP2 and rDmAQP3.

Objective:To explore the impact of early and late antibody-mediated rejection (AMR) on treatment options and allograft outcomes after kidney transplantation (KT).Methods:From January 2013 to December 2022, the study retrospectively enrolled 141 KT allograft recipients receiving allograft biopsy and diagnosed as AMR according to the Banff 2019 criteria. Recipients with a diagnosis of AMR within 30 days post-KT were classified into early AMR group (n=19) while the remainders assigned as late AMR group (n=122). The outcome endpoints included recipient survival rate, death-censored graft survival rate, follow-up estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) and immunodominant donor-specific antibody (DSA) intensity. Wilcoxon's test was utilized for assessing the differences in eGFR and DSA intensity while Kaplan-Meier curve and Log-rank test were employed for evaluating graft survival impact. Treatment regimens for AMR were collected and categorized.Results:The median follow-up duration was 2.6(1.2, 5.2) year. No graft failure was noted in early AMR group while 44 recipients in late AMR group experienced graft failure, with 34 cases (77.2%) due to AMR progression. The 5-year death-censored graft survival rate was significantly better in early AMR group than that in late AMR group [100% vs 60.1%(50.5%, 71.6%), P=0.002]. The one-year change in eGFR for early AMR group was significantly superior to that of late AMR group [19.3(-2.6, 38.1) vs -3.3(-14.0, 5.4), P=0.001]. One-year mean fluorescent intensity (MFI) of early AMR group was 1 158(401.5, 3 126.5). It was significantly lower than that when diagnosed with early AMR [3 120.5(2 392.8, 9 340.0)] and one-year MFI of late AMR group [8 094(2 251.5, 13 560.5)] ( P=0.005, P<0.001). Early AMR group primarily received standard treatment (3/19, 15.8%) and regimens centered on rituximab and/or bortezomib (7/19, 43.8%). Late AMR group mainly received standard (16/122, 13.1%) or intensified regimens (9/122, 7.4%) and regimens focused upon rituximab and/or bortezomib (32/122, 26.2%) and MP monotherapy (21/122, 17.2%). Conclusion:The outcome for early AMR is significantly better than that for late AMR. For early AMR, early and robust immunosuppression is recommended. For late AMR, early detection and timely treatment are crucial and individualized strategies should be implemented.

Objective:To investigate the endoscopic combined serological diagnosis strategy for G1 and G2 gastric neuroendocrine neoplasms (G-NENs), and to evaluate the safety, short-term, and long-term efficacy of two endoscopic treatment procedures: endoscopic mucosal resection (EMR) and endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD).Methods:This study retrospectively analyzed the clinical data of 100 consecutive patients with G-NENs who were hospitalized at the Cancer Hospital of the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences from January 2011 to October 2023. These patients underwent endoscopic treatment, and propensity score matching (PSM) was used to compare clinicopathological characteristics, as well as short-term and long-term efficacy of lesions in the EMR group and ESD group before and after treatment.Results:Among the 100 patients with G-NENs, the median age was 54 years old. Before surgery, 29 cases underwent endoscopic combined serological examination, and 24 of them (82.2%) had abnormally elevated plasma chromogranin A. The combined diagnostic strategy for autoimmune atrophic gastritis (AIG) achieved a diagnostic accuracy of 100%(22/22). A total of 235 G-NEN lesions were included, with 84 in the ESD group and 151 in the EMR group. The median size of the lesions in the ESD group (5.0 mm) was significantly larger than that in the EMR group (2.0 mm, P＜0.001). Additionally, the ESD group had significantly more lesions with pathological grade G2[23.8%(20/84) vs. 1.3%(2/151), P＜0.001], infiltration depth reaching the submucosal layer [78.6%(66/84) vs. 51.0%(77/151), P＜0.001], and more T2 stage compared to the EMR group[15.5%(13/84) vs. 0.7%(1/151), P＜0.001]. After PSM, 49 pairs of lesions were successfully matched between the two groups. Following PSM, there were no significant differences in the en bloc resection rate [100.0%(49/49) vs. 100.0%(49/49)], complete resection rate [93.9%(46/49) vs. 100.0%(49/49)], and complication rate [0(0/49) vs. 4.1%(2/49)] between the two groups. During the follow-up period, no recurrence or distant metastasis was observed in any of the lesions in both groups. Conclusions:The combination of endoscopy and serology diagnostic strategy has the potential to enhance the accuracy of diagnosing G1 and G2 stage G-NENs and their background mucosa. Endoscopic resection surgery (EMR, ESD) is a proven and safe treatment approach for G1 and G2 stage G-NENs.

Objective:To investigate the endoscopic combined serological diagnosis strategy for G1 and G2 gastric neuroendocrine neoplasms (G-NENs), and to evaluate the safety, short-term, and long-term efficacy of two endoscopic treatment procedures: endoscopic mucosal resection (EMR) and endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD).Methods:This study retrospectively analyzed the clinical data of 100 consecutive patients with G-NENs who were hospitalized at the Cancer Hospital of the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences from January 2011 to October 2023. These patients underwent endoscopic treatment, and propensity score matching (PSM) was used to compare clinicopathological characteristics, as well as short-term and long-term efficacy of lesions in the EMR group and ESD group before and after treatment.Results:Among the 100 patients with G-NENs, the median age was 54 years old. Before surgery, 29 cases underwent endoscopic combined serological examination, and 24 of them (82.2%) had abnormally elevated plasma chromogranin A. The combined diagnostic strategy for autoimmune atrophic gastritis (AIG) achieved a diagnostic accuracy of 100%(22/22). A total of 235 G-NEN lesions were included, with 84 in the ESD group and 151 in the EMR group. The median size of the lesions in the ESD group (5.0 mm) was significantly larger than that in the EMR group (2.0 mm, P＜0.001). Additionally, the ESD group had significantly more lesions with pathological grade G2[23.8%(20/84) vs. 1.3%(2/151), P＜0.001], infiltration depth reaching the submucosal layer [78.6%(66/84) vs. 51.0%(77/151), P＜0.001], and more T2 stage compared to the EMR group[15.5%(13/84) vs. 0.7%(1/151), P＜0.001]. After PSM, 49 pairs of lesions were successfully matched between the two groups. Following PSM, there were no significant differences in the en bloc resection rate [100.0%(49/49) vs. 100.0%(49/49)], complete resection rate [93.9%(46/49) vs. 100.0%(49/49)], and complication rate [0(0/49) vs. 4.1%(2/49)] between the two groups. During the follow-up period, no recurrence or distant metastasis was observed in any of the lesions in both groups. Conclusions:The combination of endoscopy and serology diagnostic strategy has the potential to enhance the accuracy of diagnosing G1 and G2 stage G-NENs and their background mucosa. Endoscopic resection surgery (EMR, ESD) is a proven and safe treatment approach for G1 and G2 stage G-NENs.