Objective To analyze the predictive value of serum levels of procalcitonin(PCT)and cytokines on the prognosis of patients with COVID-19 at admission.Methods From November 2022 to February 2023,patients diagnosed with COVID-19 who were admitted to Beijing Chest Hospital were enrolled.Chemiluminescence was used to detect serum PCT levels,and flow microsphere array was used to detect serum cytokines IL-1β,IL-2,IL-4,IL-5,IL-6,IL-8,IL-10,IL-12p70,IL-17A,IL-17F,IL-22,TNF-α,TNF-β,IFN-γ level.ICU admission,mechanical ventilation and in-hospital death were defined as poor prognosis.After excluding patients with bacterial infection,the relationship between serum PCT and cytokine levels at admission and the prognosis of COVID-19 patients was analyzed.After excluding patients with bacterial infection,the relationship between serum PCT and cytokine levels at admission and the prognosis of COVID-19 patients was analyzed.Results A total of 176 patients with complete data were included,including 134 in the PCT-normal group and 42 in the PCT-elevated group,with a median age of 71.50 years and 71.59%males.Patients in the PCT elevated-group had significantly higher rates of ICU admission(38.41%vs.13.11%,P<0.05),mechanical ventilation(76.92%vs.24.59%,P<0.001)and in-hospital mortality(38.46%vs.6.56%,P<0.001)were significantly higher than those in the PCT-normal group.Serum levels of cytokines IL-6(7.40 pg/mL vs.4.78 pg/mL,P = 0.033 4)and IL-8(10.97 pg/mL vs.5.92 pg/mL,P<0.001)were significantly higher in patients with poor prognosis than in those with good prognosis.The area under the curve for PCT,IL-6,and IL-8 to predict poor prognosis in COVID-19 patients was 0.687,0.660,and 0.746,respectively;sensitivity was 52.78%,55.17%,and 72.41%,respectively;and specificity was 81.58%,74.19%,and 74.19%,respectively,as calculated from the ROC curve.When PCT,IL-6 and IL-8 jointly predict the prognosis of COVID-19 patients,the area under the curve is 0.764,the sensitivity is 70.00%,and the specificity is 80.00%.Conclusion Serum PCT and cytokines IL-6 and IL-8 could be used as predictive markers for poor prognosis in patients with COVID-19.

Objective: To explore the therapeutic effects of ginseng total saponins (GTSs) on cognitive impairments in astronauts caused by prolonged exposure to microgravity environment. Methods: Fifty specific pathogen-free (SPF) male Wistar rats were randomized into control, hindlimb suspension (HLS), Huperzine A (HLS-Hup A 0.1 mg/kg), low-dose GTSs (HLS-GTSs 100 mg/kg), and high-dose GTSs (HLS-GTSs 200 mg/kg) groups, based on the completion time of reward-directed conditioning tasks. Except for rats in the control group, the others were subjected to HLS and treated with drugs (day 20 – 58), received reflex test under the condition of rewarding, and underwent Nissl body staining and Western blot detection on hippocampal. Results: After modeling, rats in HLS group exhibited a reduction in the number of lever presses and an increase in the completion time of the reward-directed operant conditioning task Ⅰ (P < 0.05) when compared with the control group, which were not substantially altered in the HLS-GTSs 100 and 200 mg/kg groups (P > 0.05). In the reward-directed operant conditioning task Ⅱ, the HLS group rats demonstrated a marked decrease in the number of lever presses (P < 0.05) and nose pokes (P < 0.01) when compared with the control group rats; the HLS-GTSs 100 mg/kg showed a significant increase in the number of lever presses and nose pokes (P < 0.05), while the HLS-GTSs 200 mg/kg demonstrated a significant reduction in completion time and an elevation in the number of lever presses (P < 0.05) when compared with the HLS group rats. In visual signal discrimination task, compared with the control group rats, the HLS group rats showed decrease in the indexes of the visual signal discrimination(P < 0.01), while HLS-GTSs 100 and 200 mg/kg groups exhibited manifest increase in it (P < 0.01). In reward extinction experiment, the number of lever presses in HLS rats significantly increased when compared with the control group (P < 0.01); compared with the HLS group, HLS-GTSs 100 and 200 mg/kg groups demonstrated a marked descrease (P < 0.05). The expressions of N-methyl-D-aspartic acid receptor 1 (NR1) and phosophorylated N-methyl-Daspartic acid receptor 2B (p-NR2B) proteins were markedly decreased in rats in the HLS group (P < 0.05 and P < 0.01, respectively), while that of NR2B protein maintained the same (P > 0.05). GTSs increased the expression levels of p-NR2B (P < 0.01). Conclusion GTSs improved the learning and memory ability of complex operations by regulating the NR1/NR2B phosphorylation pathways in rats.

Objective:To evaluate the protective effect of foam dressing in preventing intraoperative acquired pressure injury (IAPI), and to provide reference basis for prevention and treatment of IAPI during clinical operation.Methods:The clinical data of 455 surgical patients admitted to Xinhua Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University from October 2020 to January 2021 were retrospectively collected. According to whether foam dressing was used at the compression site during operation, the patients were divided into dressing group (101 cases) and control group (354 cases). The two groups were matched with age, body mass index, preoperative Braden and cerebrovascular disease as covariates, and were finally divided into 89 patients in the dressing group and 162 patients in the control group. Logistic regression analysis and stratified analysis were used to comprehensively evaluate the actual effect of foam dressing on the occurrence of IAPI in the surgical patients.Results:Among the 251 patients, there were 14 (15.7%) cases with IAPI in the dressing group and 13 (8.0%) cases in the control group, and the difference was not statistically significant ( χ2=3.41, P>0.05). Among the patients in the prone position, compared to the control group, the dressing group can effectively reduce the risk of IAPI in surgical patients by 77% ( OR=0.23, 95% CI 0.05-0.98, P<0.05). There was no interaction between foam dressing and intraoperative surgical characteristics ( P>0.05). Conclusions:Foam dressing plays a protective role in preventing the occurrence of IAPI in patients undergoing surgery in the prone position. There was no significant protective effect of intraoperative foam dressing in patients with other surgical characteristics.

To study the protective effect of Xingnaojing Injection on early global brain ischemia-induced deep coma in rats.
 Methods: The deep coma model was induced by global brain ischemia by using four-vessel occlusion method in male SD rats. According to the body weight, the rats were randomly divided into 8 groups: a model control group, three different dose of Xingnaojing Injection (1.8, 3.6 and 5.4 mL.kg-1) groups, a Xingnaojing Injection (3.6 mL.kg-1) plus PI3K inhibitor group, a naloxone injection (0.04 mL.kg-1) group and a naloxone injection (0.04 mL.kg-1) plus Xingnaojing Injection (3.6 mL.kg-1) group (n=8 per group). In addition, eight animals served as the sham group were performed same operation with the model group excepting no blockage of the blood vessels. After the operation, three different doses of Xingnaojing Injection and/or naloxone injection were given intravenously once a day for three days. Ten μL PI3K inhibitor (LY294002, 10 mmol/L) was injected via anterior cerebral ventricle at once after global brain ischemia. The awakening time after the first drug treatment, the grasping power and the autonomous activity within 10 min after the last drug treatment were recorded. The levels of both dopamine (DA) and glutamate (Glu) in cerebrospinal fluid were detected by ELISA. The pathological changes were observed in brain tissue slices with HE staining and the protein levels of Akt/p-Akt and cAMP-response element binding protein (CREB)/p-CREB in hippocampus were detected by Western blotting.
 Results: Comparing with the model group, single administration of Xingnaojing Injection could significantly shorten the waking time (P<0.05) and continuous administration of Xingnaojing Injection for 3 d could increase grasping power, distance, frequency and duration of autonomous activities (P<0.05 or P<0.01) in the deep coma rat. Also, Xingnaojing Injection could inhibit these increases in neurotransmitters DA and Glu contents (P<0.05 or P<0.01), and improve pathological changes of hippocampal tissue. Xingnaojing Injection significantly induced protein phosphorylation of both Akt and CREB (P<0.05 or P<0.01); this effect was inhibited by PI3K inhibitor (P<0.05 or P<0.01). Moreover, the protective effects of naloxone on awakening time, grasping power, the autonomous activity and hippocampus damage in global brain ischemia-induced deep coma could be enhanced by joint use of Xingnaojing Injection (P<0.05 or P<0.01).
 Conclusion: Xingnaojing Injection could significantly improve deep coma induced by global brain ischemia in rat, which is related to inducing PI3K/Akt-dependent protein phosphorylation of CREB, and reducing hippocampal damage. The protective effect of Xingnaojing Injection is synergistically enhanced by naloxone.
Animals ; Brain ; Brain Ischemia ; Coma ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; Male ; Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinases ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley

Adipocytokines are polypeptides or proteins that are secreted by fat cells with a wide range of biological activities. Adiponectin is a fatty cytokine with insulin sensitization. It possesses the function of anti- diabetes, atherosclerosis and anti-inflammation. Adiponectin may participate in regulating the development of cognitive impairment, which is considered as a new regulatory factor for cognitive impairment.
Adiponectin ; Cognitive Dysfunction ; Diabetes Mellitus ; Humans ; Insulin ; Insulin Resistance

Objective To study the protective effect of shenfu injection on cerebral ischemia reperfusion injury in rats.Methods 120 male Sprague Dawley (SD) rats(320-350 g) were randomly divided into sham operation group,model control group,Nimodipine injection group,low,medium and high dose group of shenfu injection according to gender weight.20 males in each group were given medicine once a day for 7 days before operation.The cerebral ischemia model was established by thread embolization after 5 days of administration.In the sham operation group,the other operations were the same as those in the model group except for carotid artery ligation and thread insertion.After 24 hours of perfusion,the neurological score,abdominal aorta blood flow,malondialdehyde (MDA),superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione (GHS) levels in brain tissues were measured.Triphenyltetrazolium chloride (TTC) staining was used to calculate the area of cerebral infarction and pathological examination of brain tissues.Results Compared with the model control group,the middle and high dosage of shenfu injection could obviously improve the nerve function and increase the percentage of cerebral infarction area (P ＜ 0.05);the high dosage group of shenfu injection could obviously decrease the whole blood viscosity (P ＜ 0.01);the middle and high dosage of shenfu injection could obviously reduce the level of MDA in rat brain tissue (P ＜ 0.01) while increasing the levels of SOD and GSH (P ＜0.01),finally could significantly improve the pathological changes of brain tissues such as mild swelling of nerve fibers,mild neuronal degeneration,inflammatory interstitial edema and inflammation.Conclusions Shenfu injection has obvious protective effect on cerebral ischemia reperfusion model in rats.

Objective To explore the current situation of mobile phone addiction and the relationship between mobile phone addiction and impulsive behavior among nursing students .Methods Using convenience sampling, 213 students from College of Nursing in Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine were investigated by the mobile phone addiction index scale ( MPAI) and Barratt impulsiveness scale ( Chinese version BIS-11) from May 2014 to November 2014.The correlation of mobile phone addiction and impulsive behavior among nursing students was analyzed.Results Among 213 students, 18.3 percent of the students were addicted to mobile phones (39/213).In the students who were addicted to mobile phones , the BIS score was (62.05 ±7.18) ;attentional impulsivity, exercising impulsivity and unplanned impulsivity were (15.62 ±2.22),(20.92 ±3.55)and(23.21 ± 3.87)respectively, which were all higher than those in the students who were not addicted to mobile phones .The significant differences existed in the BIS score , the scores of attentional impulsivity and exercising impulsivity (P<0.05).No significant difference was found in the unplanned impulsivity ( P >0.05).Mobile phone addiction among nursing students was positively correlated with impulsive behavior , attentional impulsivity and exercising impulsivity(r=0.328,0.493,0.210;P<0.01).Impulsive behavior could effectively predict mobile phone addiction of nursing students .The forecast value was 10.3%.Conclusions Mobile phone addiction is common among nursing students .A higher level of impulsive behavior in nursing students often brings a higher level of mobile phone addiction .

AIM:To investigate the effect of microRNA-16 ( miR-16) on the proliferation, invasion and cyto-kine secretion of rheumatoid arthritis ( RA) synovial fibroblasts ( RASFs) from the RA patients.METHODS: miR-16 mimic and miR-16 inhibitor were synthesized, and then Transfected into RASFs isolated from RA patients with lipo-fectamine.MTT assay, Transwell chamber and flow cytometry were used to determine the effect of miR-16 on proliferation, invasion and apoptosis of RASFs.The expression of matrix metalloproteinase 3/13 ( MMP3/13) and interleukin 1β( IL-1β) was measured by RT-PCR and Western blotting.RESULTS: The proliferation and invasion of RASFs were signifi-cantly inhibited by miR-16 mimic.The result of flow cytometry demonstrated that miR-16 had no effect on apoptosis of RASFs.Furthermore, miR-16 down-regulated the expression of MMP3/13 and IL-1β.CONCLUSION:miR-16 plays an important role in the development of RA and may inhibit the proliferation and invasion of RASFs through down-regulating the expression of MMP3/13 and IL-1β.

Objective To evaluate the effect of cesarean section (CS) and vaginal delivery (VD) on postpartum stress urinary incontinence (SUI) and pelvic floor muscles strength and to find out the correlated obstetric factors and preventions for postpartum SUI. Methods Totally, 788 women, who visited the antenatal clinics, delivered and had the follow-up at 6-8 weeks after delivery in Beijing Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital in the year of 2008, were enrolled in this study and were divided into 3 groups: CS group (n=212); normal vaginal delivery (NVD) group (n=534) and forceps delivery (FD) group(n=42). Women in the NVD and FD group were merged into one VD group and then divided into SUI and non-SUI group. Information of delivery mode and the correlated obstetric factors were obtained through questionnaires and medical records. Femiscan pelvic floor muscle examine system was applied to measure the pelvic floor muscle strength to understand the relationship between postpartum SUI and pelvic floor muscle strength. Results (1) Incidence of SUI: The overall proportion of women who complained of urinary incontinence (UI) during pregnancy was 15.4% (121/788), and it was 15.9% (85/534), 11.9%(5/ 42) and 14.6% (31/212) in the NVD, FD and CS group, respectively(P>0.05). The overall incidence of postpartum SUI was 17. 1% (135/788), and it was 19.1% (102/534), 26.2% (11/42) and 10.4% (22/212) in the NVD, FD and CS group, respectively, with significant difference between the NVD and FD group, and between the CS and NVD group (all P < 0.01). (2) The associated obstetric factors of postpartum SUI: Among the VD group, 113 women were in the postpartum SUI group and 463 in the non-SUI group. Univariate analysis and logistic multivariate analysis showed that delivery mode, neonatal birth weight and UI during pregnancy were risk factors of postpartum SUI. CS decreased and higher neonatal birth weight and UI during pregnancy increased the risk of postpartum SUI. In the VD group, neonatal birth weight, forceps delivery and UI during pregnancy increased the incidence of postpartum SUI(P<0.01), but no correlation was found with labor analgesia, duration of labor, episiotomy, breast feeding, volume of postpartum bleeding, gestational weeks at delivery, induction and pre-pregnant BMI, etc (all P>0.05).(3) Pelvic floor electromyogram: Pelvic floor muscles strength in the CS group was significantly higher than that of the VD group [activity value: (19. 7±9.9) μv vs (14. 8±8.4) μv; work value: (84. 5±37.2) μv vs (78. 8±28.2) μv; peak value: (25.5±12. 5) μv vs (19. 7±11.8) μv, all P<0.01]. Among women in the VD group, the relaxation value and the ratio of relaxation value over activity value (r/a) in the postpartum SUI group were significantly lower than those in the non-SUI group [relaxation value: (1.7±1.8) μv vs (3.0±3.9) μv; r/a ratio: 0. 2±0. 2 vs 0. 3±0. 5, all P <0.01]. The r/a ratio in the VD group showed no difference compared to that in the CS group (0. 2±3.5 vs 0. 2±0. 2, P>0.05).Conclusion Women experienced vaginal delivery, either NVD or FD, have a higher incidence of postpartum SUI than those delivered through CS. UI during pregnancy, forceps delivery and neonatal birth weight are risk factors of postpartum SUI.

Objective To observe the biological activities of human doppel (Dpl) protein transiently expressed and Dpl-like protein PrPΔ32-121 on a human neuroblastoma cell line SH-SY5Y. Methods Recombinant mammalian expression plasmids containing human PRND gene and truncated PrPΔ32-121 fragment were generated by PCR. The expression and location of Dpl and PrPΔ32-121 post-transfection were observed by IFA. The cytotoxicity was measured by MTT analysis. Cellular apoptosis was investigated by flow cytometry and Western blot. Results Both Dpl and PrPΔ32-121 protein were expressed and mainly located on the cell membrane. Remarkable cytotoxicity was detected on SH-SY5Y cells after 24 h transfection. Meanwhile, more Annexin V/PI positively-stained cells as well as lower levels of cellular pro-caspase-3 and Bel-2 were detected in the cells receiving Dpl and PrPΔ32-121 expressing plasmids. Conclusion Dpl protein transiently expressed and PrPΔ32-121 can lead to the similar neural cytotoxicity, probably triggering the cell apoptosis program.