Objective: This cross-sectional investigation aimed to determine the incidence, clinical characteristics, prognosis, and related risk factors of olfactory and gustatory dysfunctions related to infection with the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron strain in mainland China. Methods: Data of patients with SARS-CoV-2 from December 28, 2022, to February 21, 2023, were collected through online and offline questionnaires from 45 tertiary hospitals and one center for disease control and prevention in mainland China. The questionnaire included demographic information, previous health history, smoking and alcohol drinking, SARS-CoV-2 vaccination, olfactory and gustatory function before and after infection, other symptoms after infection, as well as the duration and improvement of olfactory and gustatory dysfunction. The self-reported olfactory and gustatory functions of patients were evaluated using the Olfactory VAS scale and Gustatory VAS scale. Results: A total of 35 566 valid questionnaires were obtained, revealing a high incidence of olfactory and taste dysfunctions related to infection with the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron strain (67.75%). Females(χ2=367.013, P<0.001) and young people(χ2=120.210, P<0.001) were more likely to develop these dysfunctions. Gender(OR=1.564, 95%CI: 1.487-1.645), SARS-CoV-2 vaccination status (OR=1.334, 95%CI: 1.164-1.530), oral health status (OR=0.881, 95%CI: 0.839-0.926), smoking history (OR=1.152, 95%CI=1.080-1.229), and drinking history (OR=0.854, 95%CI: 0.785-0.928) were correlated with the occurrence of olfactory and taste dysfunctions related to SARS-CoV-2(above P<0.001). 44.62% (4 391/9 840) of the patients who had not recovered their sense of smell and taste also suffered from nasal congestion, runny nose, and 32.62% (3 210/9 840) suffered from dry mouth and sore throat. The improvement of olfactory and taste functions was correlated with the persistence of accompanying symptoms(χ2=10.873, P=0.001). The average score of olfactory and taste VAS scale was 8.41 and 8.51 respectively before SARS-CoV-2 infection, but decreased to3.69 and 4.29 respectively after SARS-CoV-2 infection, and recovered to 5.83and 6.55 respectively at the time of the survey. The median duration of olfactory and gustatory dysfunctions was 15 days and 12 days, respectively, with 0.5% (121/24 096) of patients experiencing these dysfunctions for more than 28 days. The overall self-reported improvement rate of smell and taste dysfunctions was 59.16% (14 256/24 096). Gender(OR=0.893, 95%CI: 0.839-0.951), SARS-CoV-2 vaccination status (OR=1.334, 95%CI: 1.164-1.530), history of head and facial trauma(OR=1.180, 95%CI: 1.036-1.344, P=0.013), nose (OR=1.104, 95%CI: 1.042-1.171, P=0.001) and oral (OR=1.162, 95%CI: 1.096-1.233) health status, smoking history(OR=0.765, 95%CI: 0.709-0.825), and the persistence of accompanying symptoms (OR=0.359, 95%CI: 0.332-0.388) were correlated with the recovery of olfactory and taste dysfunctions related to SARS-CoV-2 (above P<0.001 except for the indicated values). Conclusion: The incidence of olfactory and taste dysfunctions related to infection with the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron strain is high in mainland China, with females and young people more likely to develop these dysfunctions. Active and effective intervention measures may be required for cases that persist for a long time. The recovery of olfactory and taste functions is influenced by several factors, including gender, SARS-CoV-2 vaccination status, history of head and facial trauma, nasal and oral health status, smoking history, and persistence of accompanying symptoms.
Female ; Humans ; Adolescent ; SARS-CoV-2 ; Smell ; COVID-19/complications* ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; COVID-19 Vaccines ; Incidence ; Olfaction Disorders/etiology* ; Taste Disorders/etiology* ; Prognosis

OBJECTIVE: To compare the clinical efficacy between closed reduction combined with semi-circular external fixator and minimally invasive percutaneous plate osteosynthesis (MIPPO) in the treatment of middle anddistal tibia fractures. METHODS: The clinical data of sixty patients with middle and distal tibia fractures admitted between January 2019 and November 2022, were retrospectively analyzed. These patients were categorized into external fixation group (n=30) and internal fixation group (n=30). There were 18 males and 12 females in the external fixation group, with an average age of (49.29±2.35) years old. Among them, 14 patients presented with fractures on the left side, and 16 patients presented with fractures on the right side. Closed reduction, arched wire, and semi-circular external fixator were used for treatment. There were 20 males and 10 females in the internal fixation group, with an average age of (48.96±1.87) years old. Among them, 15 patients presented with fractures on the left side, and 15 patients presented with fractures on the right side. MIPPO technique was used for the treatment. Perioperative parameters, including time injury to surgery, surgical duration, incision length, intraoperative bleeding, time to active activity, and incision healing level, were compared between the two groups. Clinical outcomes were also assessed, including Johner-Wruhs scores, time to minimum pain-adapted full weight-bearing, visual analog scale (VAS), SF-36 scale, and complications. RESULTS: The external fixation group exhibited a significantly shorter incision length (1.36±0.86) cm and lower intraoperative bleeding (10.83±5.73) ml compared to the internal fixation group (12.74±3.12) cm and (86.47±8.90) ml, respectively(P<0.05). The postoperative active activity time (1.50±0.54) days and minimum pain-adapted full weight-bearing activity time(108.87±3.43) days in the external fixation group were slightly delayed than the internal fixation group(1.15±0.98) days and (105.27±3.68) days, respectively(P<0.05). Over a mean postoperative follow-up duration of (6.23±1.89) months, both groups showed improved VAS and SF-36 scale scores. There were no statistically significant differences in VAS and SF-36 scale scores 1, 3, 6 months post-operatively between the two groups(P>0.05). The intraoperative surgical time in the external fixation group (35.42±9.31) minutes was shorter than that in the internal fixation group(74.22±7.81) minutes (P<0.05). There was no intraoperative vascular or nerve injury, nor postoperative skin necrosis in the external fixation group. However, skin necrosis was observed in 6 patientsin the internal fixation group, representing a statistically significant difference (P<0.05). CONCLUSION Both external fixation and plate internal fixation are effective methods for the treatment of middle and distal tibia fractures. External fixation exhibits the advantage of less surgical trauma and a lower incidence of complications.
Female ; Male ; Humans ; Middle Aged ; Retrospective Studies ; Tibia ; Treatment Outcome ; Ankle Fractures ; Tibial Fractures/surgery* ; External Fixators ; Pain ; Necrosis

OBJECTIVE: To observe the effect of acupotomy on the fat infiltration degree of lumbar multifidus muscle (LMM) in patients with lumbar disc herniation after percutaneous transforaminal endoscopic discectomy (PTED). METHODS: A total of 104 patients with lumbar disc herniation treated with PTED were randomly divided into an observation group (52 cases, 3 cases dropped off) and a control group (52 cases, 4 cases dropped off). Patients of both groups received rehabilitation training of two weeks 48 h after PTED treatment. The observation group was treated with acupotomy (L₃-L₅ Jiaji [EX-B 2]) once within 24 h after PTED. In the two groups, the fat infiltration cross sectional area (CSA) of LMM was compared before and 6 months after PTED, the visual analogue scale (VAS) score and Oswestry disability index (ODI) score were observed before and 1, 6 months after PTED. The correlation between fat infiltration CSA of LMM in each segment and VAS score was analyzed. RESULTS: Six months after PTED, the fat infiltration CSA of LMM in L₄/L₅ and the total L₃-S₁ segments of the observation group was lower than that before PTED (P<0.05), and the fat infiltration CSA of LMM in L₄/L₅ of the observation group was lower than the control group (P<0.01). One month after PTED, the ODI and VAS scores of the two groups were lower than those before PTED (P<0.01), and those in the observation group were lower than the control group (P<0.05). Six months after PTED, the ODI and VAS scores of the two groups were lower than those before PTED and 1 month after PTED (P<0.01), and those in the observation group were lower than the control group (P<0.01). There was a positive correlation between the fat infiltration CSA of LMM in the total L₃-S₁ segments and VAS scores in the two groups before PTED (r = 0.64, P<0.01). Six months after PTED, there was no correlation between the fat infiltration CSA of LMM in each segment and VAS scores in the two groups (P>0.05). CONCLUSION Acupotomy can improve the fat infiltration degree of LMM, pain symptoms and activities of daily living in patients with lumbar disc herniation after PTED.
Humans ; Intervertebral Disc Displacement ; Activities of Daily Living ; Paraspinal Muscles ; Treatment Outcome ; Lumbar Vertebrae ; Retrospective Studies ; Endoscopy ; Diskectomy ; Acupuncture Therapy

Objective: To establish reference values for carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT) of adult dwellers in Shenzhen City. Methods: The study was conducted based on the Shenzhen heart failure epidemiological survey from 2021 to 2022. In this survey, residents aged 18 years and above in Shenzhen were selected by using a multi-stage stratified random sampling method. General information, cardiovascular disease (CVD) related behavior and carotid ultrasound examination and etc. were collected from the participants. People with CVD factors, a history of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, carotid plaque or having no carotid ultrasound examination results were excluded. The parameter regression model based on fractional polynomial was used to establish the reference values of CIMT by age and sex. Results: A total of 2 163 healthy individuals were enrolled in the final analysis, including 576 males (26.6%) and 1 587 females (73.4%). The fractional polynomial regression of the CIMT mean and standard deviation was obtained. For men, the regression was mean_CIMT=0.324 7+0.006 9×age and SD_CIMT=0.076 9+0.001 2×age. For women, the regression was mean_CIMT=0.354 9+0.005 4×age and SD_CIMT=0.041 6+0.002 0×age. Conclusion: The age and sex reference values for CIMT of adult people in Shenzhen established in this study could provide the latest reference standards for early screening of subclinical CVD.
Male ; Humans ; Adult ; Female ; Carotid Intima-Media Thickness ; Cardiovascular Diseases ; Reference Values ; Carotid Arteries/diagnostic imaging* ; Ultrasonography, Carotid Arteries ; Risk Factors ; Carotid Artery Diseases

Objective: To evaluate the impact of coronavirus disease 2019 ( COVID-19 ) prevention and control measures in Huzhou on influenza epidemic strength and characteristics in 2020, so as to provide reference for formulating influenza prevention measures. Methods: Using the influenza surveillance data of the national influenza sentinel surveillance system from January 2015 to July 2020, the seasonal characteristics of influenza epidemic were analyzed, the proportion of influenza-like illness cases ( ILI% ) and the positive rate of influenza virus in January to July of 2020 were compared with those of the same period in 2015-2019, in order to evaluate the impact of COVID-19 prevention and control measures. Results : The ILI% and the positive rate of influenza virus in Huzhou were 3.90% and 15.32% during 2015-2019, while were 4.41% and 12.63% from January to July of 2020. The trends of ILI% during 2015-2019 fluctuated similar, but continued to drop since January 2020. The positive rate of influenza virus peaked from December to March in 2015-2019, also peaked from December 2019 to January 2020, but decreased to 0 in March. ILI% was positively correlated with the positive rate of influenza virus ( r=0.682, P<0.05). The growth rates of ILI% from January to July 2020 were 4.75%, -11.27%, 0.68%, 19.84% and 0.92%, compared with the same period of 2015-2019, respectively. The growth rates of ILI% in January 2020 were much higher ( >57.00% ) and from April to July were much lower ( <-33.00% ) . The growth rates of influenza virus positive rate from January to July 2020 were -47.96%, -36.53%, -3.44%, -35.92% and -39.37%, compared to the same period of 2015-2019, respectively. The growth rates of influenza virus positive rate in January 2020 were much higher ( >11.00% ) and from February to March were much lower ( <-61.00% ). Conclusion Since COVID-19 prevention and control measures were implemented in January 2020 in Huzhou, the ILI% and the positive rate of influenza virus in sentinel hospitals decreased significantly.

Alzheimer's disease （AD） is currently the most common neurodegenerative disorder characterized by insidious onset and slow progression， which has seriously endangered the physical and mental health of the elderly. It is therefore very important to carry out the early diagnosis and active prevention and treatment. Biomarkers are essential for its diagnosis. Looking for ideal biomarkers is helpful for early identification of this disease. The prevention and treatment of AD with traditional Chinese medicine （TCM） has always been a hot spot in scientific research due to good safety and small side effects. Proteomics is an advanced omics technology that enables the identification and characterization of proteins. Its high-throughput， dynamic， and comprehensive characteristics coincide with the concept of holism emphasized in TCM diagnosis and treatment， which makes proteomics suitable for identifying biomarkers with diagnostic potential， objectifying TCM syndrome differentiation and treatment， and developing new Chinese medicinal prescriptions for precise and targeted treatment. Although the proteomics technology is becoming increasingly mature， it still faces challenges in the diagnosis and treatment of AD. There exist such shortcomings as high heterogeneity and poor reproducibility of protein omics results， requirement for the combination with other advanced omics technologies， and high sequencing cost. In the future， the protein omics technology should be constantly updated and optimized to boost precision medicine， disease prevention， and drug research and development. This paper retrieved related articles from Pubmed， China National Knowledge Infrastructure （CNKI） and reviewed the application of proteomics in the early diagnosis of AD and its prevention and treatment with TCM in recent years， in order to provide reference for the in-depth study of AD diagnosis as well as its prevention and treatment with TCM.

Objective:To monitor and evaluate in vivo dose changes of intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) in patients with cervical cancer in a real-time manner. Methods:Twelve patients with cervical cancer admitted to our hospital were enrolled in this study. The in vivo doses were monitored by PerFRACTION?. Electronic portal imaging device (EPID) were collected in each treatment fraction for two-dimensional in vivo dose verification[γ index and dose difference (DD) index]. Log files were recorded for three-dimensional in vivo dose verification (γ index). The correlation between in vivo dose and treatment duration was analyzed by Pearson correlation analysis. Results:A total of 206 sets of EPID images and corresponding Log files were collected. The three-dimensional in vivo dose verification γ 1%/1mm of all patients was not correlated with treatment fraction ( P>0.05). Among them, the absolute difference of γ 1%/1mm of 94.66% fractions was< 1%. The mean DD 3% of two-dimensional in vivo dose verification of all patients was negatively correlated with treatment fraction ( P<0.05). Among which, the average γ 3%/3mm of 9 patients was>89% in the treatment fractions, and the average γ 3%/3mm of 98.57% fractions of these 9 patients was>93%. The other 3 patients had an average γ 3%/3mm ranged from 38% to 100%. CBCT images showed that the bladder volume of these 3 patients was significantly decreased with the relative changes by 82.08%, 84.41% and 73.59%, respectively, and the target area was retracted significantly with the relative changes by 38.12%, 59.79% and 24.46%, respectively. Conclusion:Combined with γ index and DD index, PerFRACTION? can monitor the mechanical stability of accelerator and MU delivery accuracy during treatment fractions, and monitor the changes of in vivo dose in patients with cervical cancer, which can improve the safety and quality assurance of IMRT for cervical cancer patients and provide guidance for patients with adaptive radiotherapy.

Objective::To study the chemical constituents of pericarps of Zanthoxylum bungeanum. Method::The dried pericarps of Z. bungeanum were smashed, and then extracted and concentrated in 95%ethanol to obtain the total extract. The total extract was loaded on a silica gel CC, eluted with different polar solvents in sequence, and then concentrated to obtain corresponding parts. The methylene chloride fraction and the n-butanol fraction were separated and purified by silica gel column chromatography, Sephadex LH-20 gel column chromatography, ODS column chromatography, semi-preparative HPLC, etc. And their structures were identified based on physicochemical properties and various spectroscopic methods. Result::Fourteen compounds were isolated from the dichloromethane fraction and the n-butanol fraction of the Z. bungeanum and identified as(1S, 3S)-1-methyl-1, 2, 3, 4-tetrahydro-β-carboline-3-carboxylic acid(1), (3S)-1, 2, 3, 4-tetrahydro-β-carboline-3-carboxylic acid(2), apigenin-7, 4′-dimethyl ether(3), genkwanin(4), lcariside F₂(5), breyniaionoside A(6), 3-methoxyphenethyl alcohol-4-O-β-D-glucopynanoside(7), 1-O-β-D-glucopyranosyloxy-3-methoxy-5-hydroxybenzene(8), orcinol-O-β-D-glucopyranoside(9), syringin(10), 4-[(3S)-3-hydroxybutyl]-2-methoxyphenyl-β-D-glucopyranoside(11), (+ )-lyoniresinol-3a-O-β-D-glucopyranoside(12), 2-methylpropanyl-6-O-β-D-apiofuranosyl-β-D-glucopyranoside(13)and(E)-6-hydroxy-2, 6-dimethylocta-2, 7-dienoic acid(14). Conclusion::All compounds were isolated from Z. bungeanum for the first time, and compounds 1-4, 12 and 14 were isolated from this genus for the first time.