The authors observed the development of the organ of Corti in the temporal bones of 64 human fetuses of various fetal ages by means of comparing celloid sections with surface preparations. The organ of Corti just begins to appear in the second month. Most rapid development occurs in the period from the third to the fifth month. Afterwards, the principal structure of the organ of Corti tends to be stable with no further major changes, except for the differentiation and maturation of the intracellular components. In the fifth month, the major part of the higher columnar epithelial cells on the inner Side of the tunnel begins to degenerate and disintegrate before the formation of the inner spiral sulcus. But a few epithelial cells turn into large wandering cells. The authors discussed the characteristics, function and possible transformation of the wandering cells and compared them with essentially similar cells that appear in the developing central nervous system.

Objective:To observe the effect of Rhei Radix et Rhizoma and Persicae Semen on inflammatory cytokines and intestinal mucosal barrier in rats with postoperative adhesive intestinal obstruction, and to explore its mechanism. Methods:Sixty SD rats were randomly divided into normal group, sham operation group, model group, low, medium and high dose of Rhei Radix et Rhizoma and Persicae Semen group. Except for the normal group and the sham operation group, and the other animals groups were established the model of postoperative adhesive intestinal obstruction. Rhei Radix et Rhizoma and Persicae Semen low, medium and high dose groups were perfused with Rhei Radix et Rhizoma and Persicae Semen decoction with the concentration of 0.2, 0.6 and 1.8 g/ml, the normal group, sham operation group and model group were gavaged with equal volume of sterile saline from the first day after the operation, once a day. After corresponding treatment, the adhesion score was observed on the 7th day after the operation, the contents of interleukin-1 β (IL-1β), D-lactic acid (D-LA), diamine oxidase (DAO) and vascular endotoxin (ET) in serum were detected by ELISA method, and the expression of SIgA, CD4 +T and CD8 +T cells in intestinal mucosa were assessed by immunohistochemical method. Results:Compared to the model group, the adhesion score in the low, medium and high dose of Rhei Radix et Rhizoma and Persicae Semen group significantly decreased ( P<0.05), the level of serum IL-1β [(8.66 ± 1.07) ng/L, (8.15 ± 1.23) ng/L, (7.99 ± 1.11) ng/L vs. (14.08 ± 2.54) ng/L] significantly decreased ( P<0.01), the expression of SIgA (1.38 ± 0.15, 2.87 ± 1.17, 2.79 ± 0.80 vs. 0.65 ± 0.12) in intestinal mucosa in the low, medium and high dose of Rhei Radix et Rhizoma and Persicae Semen group significantly increased ( P<0.01). The levels of serum D-LA [ (8.57 ± 1.73) mg/L, (7.13 ± 1.75) mg/L vs. (14.58 ± 2.81) mg/L], ET [ (77.39 ± 6.83) mg/ml, (50.49 ± 7.80) mg/ml vs. (138.22 ± 7.79) mg/ml] significantly decreased ( P<0.01), the expression of CD4 +T (2.61 ± 0.83, 2.91 ± 1.62 vs. 1.15 ± 0.98) and CD8 +T (2.88 ± 0.69, 3.01 ± 1.86 vs. 1.26 ± 0.74) cells in intestinal mucosa in the medium and high dose of Rhei Radix et Rhizoma and Persicae Semen group significantly increased ( P<0.01). Conclusion:Rhei Radix et Rhizoma and Persicae Semen decoction can improve intestinal mucosal permeability, protect intestinal mucosal immune barrier and reduce inflammatory reaction in the treatment of adhesive intestinal obstruction.

Objective:The paper aims to explore the structure and effectiveness of three health service systems in Anhui province and provide policy recommendations to promote the integration of health care systems. Methods:By using typical sampling method, this paper conducts case study analysis of health service system in Ma’anshan, Feidong and Feixi county of Anhui province. The data mainly come from questionnaires for the institutions, doctors and patients, as well as from interviews with key informants. By integrating quantitative and qualitative data analysis, this paper uses social network analysis method to analyze the system structure and its degree of integration. Results:The degree of integration of health service structure in Ma’anshan is the highest, followed by Feixi, and Feidong is the lowest. The system effectiveness is same as the degree of integration. All three health service systems have advantages and disadvantages regarding to system integration. Conclusion:The effectiveness of health service system integration and its implementation is the product of combined effects of internal and external environment of each health service system. The reforms in Ma’anshan and Feixi health service systems have not only integrated health care structures, but also had a positive impact on the effectiveness of the health service systems.

Objective: A resilient health system plays a crucial role in pandemic preparedness and response. Although the World Health Organization (WHO) has required all states parties to strengthen core capacities to respond to public health emergencies under the International Health Regulations (2005), the actions of most countries to combating coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has showed that they are not well-prepared. This cross-sectional study aimed to examine the health system resilience of selected countries and analyze their strategies and measures in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.Methods: This study selected five countries including the Iran, Japan, Republic of Korea (South Korea), the U.K., and the U.S., based on the severity of the national epidemic, the geographical location, and the development level. Cumulative number of death cases derived from WHO COVID-19 dashboard was used to measure the severity of the impact of the pandemic in each country; WHO State Parties Self-Assessment Annual Reporting (SPAR) Scores and Global Health Security (GHS) Index were applied to measure the national health system resilience; and research articles and press materials were summarized to identify the strategies and measures adopted by countries during response to COVID-19. This study applied the resilient health systems framework to analyze health system resilience in the selected countries from five dimensions, including awareness, diversity, self-regulation, integration and adaptation. Results: The SPAR Scores and GHS Index of the four developed countries, Japan, South Korea, the U.K. and the U.S. were above the global and regional averages; the SPAR Scores of Iran were above the global average while the GHI Index lain below the global average. In terms of response strategies, Japan, the U.K. and the U.S. invested more health resources in the treatment of severe patients, while South Korea and Iran had adopted a strategy of extensive testing and identification of suspected patients. In terms of specific measures, all the five countries adopted measures such as restrictions on entry and international travel, closure of schools and industries, lockdown and quarantine. Nevertheless, the effectiveness of implementing these measures varied across countries, based on the response strategies. Conclusion: Although SPAR Scores and GHS Index have evaluated the national core capacities for preparedness and response, the actions to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic has revealed the fact that most countries still do not build resilient health systems in response to public health emergencies. Health system strengthening and health security efforts should be pursued in tandem, as part of the same mutually reinforcing approach to developing resilient health systems.

ObjectiveTo analyze the spatiotemporal characteristics and prevention and control measures of the pandemic caused by the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant in Shanghai in 2022， aiming to optimize future prevention and control strategies. MethodsDescriptive statistical method was used to analyze data on daily infections released by the Shanghai Municipal Health Commission from March 1 to June 30， 2022. ResultsAs of 30 June， a total of 627 110 infections and 588 deaths had been reported in Shanghai. Most of the cases were in Pudong New Area （35.47%）， Minhang District （10.18%） and Huangpu District （9.27%）. The cumulative infection rate was 8.78% in Huangpu District， which was the highest among all the districts. With the progress of the pandemic， the prevention and control measures were strengthened from a “precise prevention and control” strategy to “block and grid” screening， and then upgraded to city-wide lockdown. All daily new infections were identified from the quarantined population on April 29， 2022， reaching the goal of “clearance of community transmission”. ConclusionThe cumulative infections in Shanghai exceeded any previous epidemics in mainland China. Given the enhanced transmissibility and vaccine-induced immune escape of the Omicron variant， timely and strong public health measures are needed to suppress the pandemic under the general policy of "Dynamic zero-COVID".

Objective: The characteristics of prescription medication for constipation in Wumen doctors in Ming and Qing Dynasties were analyzed by data mining method, so as to provide reference for the treatment of contemporary clinical constipation. Methods: The Wumen medical school doctors in Ming and Qing Dynasties treating constipation in clinical case were selected for digital acquisition and process. The association rules and complex networks analysis were used for data mining in order to explore experience of famous doctors in Wumen medical treated constipation. Results: A total of 202 cases records of constipation were collected from acient TCM books by the database of ancient books and literatures of library of Nanjing University of Traditional Chinese Medicine. The results showed that the highest syndromes of 202 prescriptions was Qi stagnation and yin deficiency, followed by damp-heat, blood deficiency and liver-stomach disharmony, and the top ten medicines for internal use were angelica, almond, arborvitae, flaxseed, pinellia, cistanche, dried rehamnnia root, radix paeoniae alba, rhubarb, poria, licorice, etc. The core medicine in pairs included the Platycodon grandiflorum-almonds, safflower-peach kernel, safflower-angelica and other drugs outside, carthami-semen pruni-Peach kernel, carthami-semen pruni-Angelica, carthami-angelica-peach, peony-rhubarb-magnolia. Conclusions Most of the doctors in the Ming and Qing Dynasties believed that constipation was based on deficiency and reality, took Xinrun Tongluo as its treatment method, and paid attention to the treatment of activating blood circulation, warming yang and regulating qi and resolving phlegm, and emphasized the relationship between constipation and lung, spleen, liver and kidney.

OBJECTIVE To investigate the effect of Banxia Xiexin decoction(BXD) on colitis associated cancer(CAC) mice and its related mechanism. METHODS Seventy-five C57BL/6 mice were randomly divided into normal group, model group, Banxia Xiexin decoction low-dose group, high-dose group and mesalazine group. Except for the normal group, the mice in the other groups were intraperitoneally injected with azoxymethane combined with oral dextran sodium sulfate to establish the CAC model. BXD and mesalazine were given respectively for intervention. The general conditions of all mice were observed and recorded, and the changes of body weight, disease activity index, colon length and tumor number were monitored. HE staining was utilized to observe the pathological changes of colon tissue. The expression levels of PCNA, NF-κB P65 and IκB-α were detected by immunohistochemistry. The mRNA levels of IL-17A, N-cadherin, E-cadherin and Bcl-2 were detected by qRT-PCR. Macrophage infiltration was measured using immunostaining analysis. Western blotting was applied to analyze the expression of NF-κB, E-cadherin and N-cadherin proteins in colon tissues of each group. RESULTS There was no significant tumor occurrence in the normal group, while the body weight of the model group mice was significantly reduced and the number of colon tumors increased. The colon length, number of tumors, and degree of inflammatory cell infiltration in the BXD group were significantly improved compared to the model group. Immunohistochemical results showed that the expression of PCNA, NF-κB P65 and IκB-α protein in colon tissue of model group was remarkably increased (P<0.01). Immunofluorescence results showed that the number of F4/80, CD80 and CD206 positive macrophages in the colon tissue of the model group increased (P<0.05 or P<0.01). The results of RT-PCR demonstrated that the levels of IL-17A, N-cadherin and Bcl-2 mRNA in the colon tissue of the model group were significantly increased (P<0.01), while the level of E-cadherin mRNA was fundamentally decreased (P<0.01). Western blotting results displayed that the expression levels of NF-κB and N-cadherin protein in colon tissue of model group were up-regulated (P<0.01), while E-cadherin was significantly down-regulated (P<0.01). Compared with the model group, the changes of the above indexes in the BXD and mesalazine groups were ameliorated, with statistical differences (P<0.05 or P<0.01), and the changes in the BXD high-dose group were more significant. CONCLUSION BXD exhibits strong anti-inflammatory and anti-tumor benefits in CAC mice, inhibiting macrophage activation in colon tissue and promoting M2 polarization, while reducing the expression of tumor associated proteins PCNA and Bcl-2, and block the progression of EMT related proteins (E-cadherin and N-cadherin). The mechanism may connect to suppressing NF-κB P65 and IκB-α activation to regulate the NF-κB signaling pathway.

OBJECTIVE To investigate the effect of Banxia Xiexin decoction(BXD) on colitis associated cancer(CAC) mice and its related mechanism. METHODS Seventy-five C57BL/6 mice were randomly divided into normal group, model group, Banxia Xiexin decoction low-dose group, high-dose group and mesalazine group. Except for the normal group, the mice in the other groups were intraperitoneally injected with azoxymethane combined with oral dextran sodium sulfate to establish the CAC model. BXD and mesalazine were given respectively for intervention. The general conditions of all mice were observed and recorded, and the changes of body weight, disease activity index, colon length and tumor number were monitored. HE staining was utilized to observe the pathological changes of colon tissue. The expression levels of PCNA, NF-κB P65 and IκB-α were detected by immunohistochemistry. The mRNA levels of IL-17A, N-cadherin, E-cadherin and Bcl-2 were detected by qRT-PCR. Macrophage infiltration was measured using immunostaining analysis. Western blotting was applied to analyze the expression of NF-κB, E-cadherin and N-cadherin proteins in colon tissues of each group. RESULTS There was no significant tumor occurrence in the normal group, while the body weight of the model group mice was significantly reduced and the number of colon tumors increased. The colon length, number of tumors, and degree of inflammatory cell infiltration in the BXD group were significantly improved compared to the model group. Immunohistochemical results showed that the expression of PCNA, NF-κB P65 and IκB-α protein in colon tissue of model group was remarkably increased (P<0.01). Immunofluorescence results showed that the number of F4/80, CD80 and CD206 positive macrophages in the colon tissue of the model group increased (P<0.05 or P<0.01). The results of RT-PCR demonstrated that the levels of IL-17A, N-cadherin and Bcl-2 mRNA in the colon tissue of the model group were significantly increased (P<0.01), while the level of E-cadherin mRNA was fundamentally decreased (P<0.01). Western blotting results displayed that the expression levels of NF-κB and N-cadherin protein in colon tissue of model group were up-regulated (P<0.01), while E-cadherin was significantly down-regulated (P<0.01). Compared with the model group, the changes of the above indexes in the BXD and mesalazine groups were ameliorated, with statistical differences (P<0.05 or P<0.01), and the changes in the BXD high-dose group were more significant. CONCLUSION BXD exhibits strong anti-inflammatory and anti-tumor benefits in CAC mice, inhibiting macrophage activation in colon tissue and promoting M2 polarization, while reducing the expression of tumor associated proteins PCNA and Bcl-2, and block the progression of EMT related proteins (E-cadherin and N-cadherin). The mechanism may connect to suppressing NF-κB P65 and IκB-α activation to regulate the NF-κB signaling pathway.

ObjectiveTo observe the effects of Aurantii Fructus Immaturus， Atractylodis Macrocephalae Rhizoma， and their combination on slow transit constipation via PTEN-induced putative kinase 1 （PINK1）/Parkin pathway-mediated mitophagy. MethodFifty-six male SD rats were randomly assigned into normal group， model group， natural recovery group， Aurantii Fructus Immaturus group， Atractylodis Macrocephalae Rhizoma group， Aurantii Fructus Immaturus combined with Atractylodis Macrocephalae Rhizoma group， and mosapride group， with 8 rats in each group. Slow transit constipation model was established by gavage with loperamide （3 mg·kg^-1·d^-1） for 14 days in other groups except the normal group. After successful modeling， except that the model group was continuously induced by loperamide， the normal group and the natural recovery group were administrated with 0.9% normal saline by gavage， and the rats in the Aurantii Fructus Immaturus （1.35 g·kg^-1·d^-1） group， the Atractylodis Macrocephalae Rhizoma （2.7 g·kg^-1·d^-1） group， the Aurantii Fructus Immaturus combined with Atractylodis Macrocephalae Rhizoma （4.05 g·kg^-1·d^-1） group， and the mosapride （1.56 mg·kg^-1·d^-1） group were administrated with corresponding drugs by gavage for 7 days. The amount of feces， fecal water content， and intestinal propulsion rate of rats were determined. The pathological changes of the colon were evaluated by hematoxylin-eosin （HE） staining and Alcian blue-periodic acid-Schiff （AB-PAS） staining. The activity of respiratory chain complex and the ultrastructure of the colon tissue were determined by ultraviolet spectrophotometry and observed by transmission electron microscopy， respectively. Real-time fluorescence quantitative polymerase chain reaction（Real-time PCR） was employed to determine the mRNA levels of PINK1， Parkin， and p62， and Western blot to determine the protein levels of microtubule-associated protein 1 light chain 3 （LC3）， PINK1， and Parkin. ResultCompared with the normal group， the model group and the natural recovery group showed decreases in the amount of feces， fecal water content， intestinal propulsion rate （P<0.05，P<0.01）， and activities of mitochondrial respiratory chain complexes Ⅱ， Ⅲ， and Ⅳ in the colon tissue （P<0.05，P<0.01）. Further， the mRNA levels of PINK1 and Parkin and the protein levels of PINK1， Parkin， and LC3 were up-regulated （P<0.01） and the mRNA level of p62 was down-regulated in the model group （P<0.05） and the natural recovery group. Compared with the model group and the natural recovery group， the Aurantii Fructus Immaturus combined with Atractylodis Macrocephalae Rhizoma group showed increased amount of feces， fecal water content， intestinal propulsion rate， and activities of mitochondrial respiratory chain complexes Ⅱ， Ⅲ， and Ⅳ （P<0.05，P<0.01）. Moreover， the combination meliorated the degree of mitochondrial swelling in the colon tissue， down-regulated the mRNA levels of PINK1 and Parkin and the protein levels of PINK1， Parkin， and LC3 （P<0.05，P<0.01）， and up-regulated the mRNA level of p62 （P<0.05）. ConclusionAurantii Fructus Immaturus and Atractylodis Macrocephalae Rhizoma， and their combination may remedy the colonic motility disorders in rats with slow transit constipation by blocking PINK1/Parkin signaling pathway to inhibit the excessive mitophagy in interstitial cells of Cajal in the colon tissue.

The outbreak of COVID-19 has spread quickly across 114 countries/territories/areas in six continents worldwide and has been announced as a pandemic by WHO. This study analyzed global COVID-19 epidemiological trends, examined impact of the pandemic on global health security, diplomacy, and social environment in China, and provided short- and long-term strategic policy recommendations for China’s subsequent preparedness and responses.