Humans and animals have a fundamental ability to use experiences and environmental information to organize behavior. It often happens that humans and animals make decisions and prepare actions under uncertain situations. Uncertainty would significantly affect the state of animals' minds, but may not be reflected in behavior. How to "read animals' mind state" under different situations is a challenge. Here, we report that neuronal activity in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) of rats can reflect the environmental uncertainty when the task situation changes from certain to uncertain. Rats were trained to perform behavioral tasks under certain and uncertain situations. Under certain situations, rats were required to simply repeat two nose-poking actions that each triggered short auditory tone feedback (single-task situation). Whereas under the uncertain situation, the feedback could randomly be either the previous tone or a short musical rhythm. No additional action was required upon the music feedback, and the same secondary nose-poking action was required upon the tone feedback (dual-task situation); therefore, the coming task was uncertain before action initiation. We recorded single-unit activity from the mPFC when the rats were performing the tasks. We found that in the dual task, when uncertainty was introduced, many mPFC neurons were actively engaged in dealing with the uncertainty before the task initiation, suggesting that the rats could be aware of the task situation change and encode the information in the mPFC before the action of task initiation.
Animals ; Prefrontal Cortex/cytology* ; Uncertainty ; Neurons/physiology* ; Male ; Rats ; Rats, Long-Evans ; Action Potentials/physiology* ; Acoustic Stimulation

Purpose To evaluate the carotid artery elasticity and the influencing factors in the offspring of early-onset type 2 diabetes mellitus by RF-data based quantitative analysis on vessel stiffness.Materials and Methods We continuously encrolled 63 offspring of type 2 diabetes mellitus,depending on the parental diagnostic age of diabetes they were divided into two groups:32 cases of early-onset offspring group,31 cases of late-onset offspring group.32 healthy volunteers who were matched for age,gender and body mass index,were selected as controls.Real-time intima-media thickness and RF-data based quantitative analysis on vessel stiffness were employed to evaluate common carotid intima-media thickness,displacement,diameter,hardness coefficient and pulse wave velocity.The differences among the groups were compared.Results The intima-media thickness,pulse wave velocity and hardness coefficient in early-onset offspring group were higher than late-onset offspring group(t=0.054-1.228,P＜0.05),and displacement was lower than late-onset offspring group(t=0.048,0.109,both P＜0.05).Conclusion Carotid artery stiffness in the offspring of diabetes mellitus patients is significantly higher than the control group.And the carotid elasticity of early-onset offspring group decreased more obviously than late-onset group.

Objective To investigate the value of qualitative and quantitative characteristics of gadolinium ethoxybenzyl diethylenetriamine pentaacetic acid(Gd-EOB-DTPA)enhanced MRI in preoperative prediction of vessels encapsulating tumor clusters(VETC)pattern in hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC).Methods A total of 234 patients diagnosed with HCC by pathology were analyzed retrospectively.A total of 101 VETC-positive HCC patients and 133 VETC-negative HCC patients were included.All patients were divided into training group and validation group according to 7︰3.The training group data were used to construct a prediction model for VETC-positive HCC.Receiver operating characteristic(ROC)curve was drawn and the area under the curve(AUC)was calculated to verify the diagnostic efficiency of the model.Calibration curve was drawn to verify the calibration of the model.Results Multivariate logistic regression analysis predicted the independent risk factors for VETC-positive HCC:portal phase peripheral washout[odds ratio(OR)6.493],necrosis or severe ischemia(OR 4.756),targetoid transitional phase or hepatobiliary phase(OR 0.307),and lesion to liver signal intensity ratio(LLR)on arterial phase(OR 0.074).The AUC of the training group in predicting VETC-positive HCC was 0.790[95%confidence interval(CI)0.720-0.859].The AUC of the validation group in predicting VETC-positive HCC was 0.779(95%CI 0.668-0.889).The calibration curve diagram showed that the calibration curve(the slope was 0.91)almost coincides with the ideal curve,indicating that the prediction model had better calibration.Conclusion The qualitative and quantitative characteristics of Gd-EOB-DTPA enhanced MRI can be used to predict VETC-positive HCC preoperatively,the independent risk factors of VETC include portal phase peripheral washout,necrosis or severe ischemia,targetoid transitional phase or hepatobiliary phase,and LLR on arterial phase.

At present,radiofrequency ablation(RFA)has already replaced medication therapy and become the first-line treatment option for patients with atrial fibrillation.Intraoperative cardiac tamponade is the most commonly-seen fatal complication,and,unfortunately,the absolute number of this pernicious event is increasing with the extensive use of RFA.Therefore,the full understanding of cardiac tamponade and timely management of cardiac tamponade are of great significance in clinical practice.This article reviews the diagnosis,rescue and treatment process,prognosis and prevention strategies of this complication.(J Intervent Radiol,2024,33:325-329)

Objective : To investigate the effect of different decontamination methods, including photodynamic therapy, sandblasting and titanium curette, on titanium surface morphology and bacterial adhesion for the treatment of peri-implant disease. Methods: Porphyromonas gingivalis (Pg) and Fusobacterium nucleatum (Fn) were inoculated on the surface of polished titanium specimens, and titanium specimen surfaces were treated with different decontamination methods after incubation. The titanium specimens were divided into a no-treatment control group, photodynamic group, sandblasting group and titanium curette group according to different decontamination methods. The changes in titanium surface roughness were observed by atomic force microscopy (AFM), and the remaining bacteria on the titanium surface were observed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and live/dead bacteria staining tests. After reinoculation of Pg and Fn, bacterial readhesion was observed on the surface of decontaminated titanium specimens. Results : The AFM results showed that the surface roughness of the titanium curette group was significantly higher than that of the no-treatment control group, photodynamic group and sandblasting group (P<0.05), and there was no statistically significant difference between the no-treatment control group, photodynamic group and sandblasting group (P>0.05). The results of contact angle measurement showed that the surface contact angle of each treatment group was smaller than that of the no-treatment control group (P<0.05). The SEM results obtained after the titanium specimen surface was decontaminated showed that the number of bacteria on the no-treatment control group surface was higher and the bacteria were relatively concentrated. The bacteria on the surface of the photodynamic group, sandblasting group and titanium curette group were scattered and distributed in small numbers, and most bacteria on the surface of the photodynamic group were ruptured. The results of the live/dead bacteria staining experiment showed that the percentage of dead bacteria on the surface of the photodynamic group was significantly higher than that of the no-treatment control group, sandblasting group and titanium curette group (P<0.05). The remaining bacteria on the surface of the sandblasting group and titanium curette groups were mainly live bacteria. The remaining bacterial adhesion on the surface was significantly reduced for the sandblasting group compared to the no-treatment control group and the photodynamic and titanium curette groups (P<0.05). SEM and live/dead bacteria staining results of bacterial readhesion on the surface of titanium specimens showed that there was an aggregation of Pg on the surface of the titanium curette group, and its surface bacterial adhesion was significantly higher than that of the no-treatment control group, photodynamic group and sandblasting group. Conclusion In mechanical decontamination, sandblasting machines are a better option than photodynamic therapy and titanium curettes; however, sandblasting does not remove all bacterial contamination. For sterilization, photodynamic therapy is more effective than sandblasting and titanium curettes. A combination of sandblasting and photodynamic therapy methods for the treatment of peri-implant disease may be considered in clinical practice.

Objective:To explore the changes of left atrial volume and function in patients with early diabetic nephropathy by four-dimensional auto left atrial quantification (4D Auto LAQ).Methods:Forty patients with early diabetic nephropathy (early diabetic nephropathy group), 40 patients with type 2 diabetes (diabetes group) in Henan Provincial People′s Hospital from March 2020 to April 2021 were selected, and 36 healthy volunteers (control group) were collected during the same period. The parameters of conventional echocardiography were measured, and the four-dimensional volume probe was used to obtain the complete left atrial volume image in 5 cardiac cycles. The 4D Auto LAQ software on the EchoPAC workstation was used for analysis to obtain the left atrial volume and strain indicators: left atrial (LA) maximum volume (LAVmax), left atrial minimum volume (LAVmin), pre-systolic volume (LAVpreA), left atrial volume index (LAVImax), left atrial emptying volume (LAEV), left atrial emptying fraction (LAEF), and long axis and circumferential strains in left atrial reserve phase, pipeline phase and systolic phase (LASr, LASr-c; LAScd, LAScd-c; LASct, LASct-c). The differences of these parameters among 3 groups were analyzed.Results:There were no significant differences in interventricular septum end-diastolic thickness(IVSd), left ventricular posterior wall end-diastolic thickness(LVPWd), left ventricular end-diastolic dimension(LVIDd), left ventricular ejection fraction(LVEF), and E/A (ration of early to late diastolic peak flow velocity of mitral orifice) among 3 groups (all P>0.05), and left atrial diameter(LAD), relative wall thickness(RWT), and E/e′ (ration of early diastolic peak flow velocity of mitral orifice to early diastolic velocity of lateral mitral annulus) among 3 groups were significantly different (all P<0.05). Further pairwise comparison results showed that LAD was only significantly different between the early diabetic nephropathy group and control group ( P=0.001 2), and the differences in RWT and E/e′ were statistically significant among 3 groups (all P<0.05). There were no significant differences in LAEV, LAScd-c, and LASct-c among 3 groups (all P>0.05), and LAVmin, LAVmax, LAVpreA, LAVImax, LAEF, LASr, LAScd, LASct, and LASr-c among the 3 groups were significantly different (all P<0.05). The pairwise comparison showed that, compared with the control group and the diabetes group, LAVmin, AVpreA, and LAVImax in the early diabetic nephropathy group were increased, and LAEF, LAScd, LASct, and LASr-c were decreased (all P<0.05). Compared with the control group, LAVmax, LAVImax and LASct in the diabetes group were increased, and LAEF, LAScd, and LASr-c were decreased (all P<0.05). Conclusions:4D Auto LAQ technology can quantitatively evaluate the changes in left atrium volume and function in patients with early diabetic nephropathy. Patients with early diabetic nephropathy have an increase in left atrium volume and a decrease in strain value.

Objective To explore the effect and significance of electronic account books on the management of anesthesia and psychotropic drugs. Methods The data of electronic account books from January 2020 to June 2020 in the inpatient pharmacy of the hospital (observation group), and manual account books from July 2019 to December 2019 (control group) were collected respectively. The data of daily accounting time, monthly settlement accounting time and accounting accuracy between the two groups were compared and analyzed. Results The daily average time for pharmacists to manually accounting was (162.8±22.5) min, and the daily average time for pharmacists to make accounts electronically was (33.2±7.0) min. It took (245.5±7.2) min for manual accounting of monthly settlement and (46.8±2.5) min for electronic accounting of monthly settlement. The accuracy rate of daily counting records, special account books, special register and empty ampoule waste paste recovery records included in electronic accounting is up to 100%. Conclusion The implementation of electronic account books not only significantly improved the work efficiency of pharmacists, but also strengthened drug supervision, formed a comprehensive traceability system, which could ensure the safety of clinical medication, and make the management of narcotic psychotropic drugs more efficient and standardized.

Objective:To establish a long-term mortality rate prediction model for patients aged 60 years and over with atrial fibrillation and coronary heart disease using the machine learning method, and identify the corresponding risk factors of mortality.Methods:In this retrospective cohort study, a total of 329(11 cases lost of follow-up)patients with 183 males(55.6%)and 146 females(44.4%), aged(77.8±7.3)years, and 142 patients aged 80 years or older(43.2%)were selected in our hospitals from January 2013 to March 2015.And their clinical data on atrial fibrillation and coronary heart disease were analyzed.They were divided into the death group(151 cases)and the survival group(167 cases)according to the survival outcome.In addition, 60 patients aged 60 years and over admitted to our hospitals from April to July 2015 with atrial fibrillation and coronary heart disease were selected as external data validation set.The clinical data included age, gender, body mass index, diagnosis, co-morbidity, laboratory indicators, electrocardiogram, echocardiogram, treatment data.These patients were followed up for at least 6 years, and the main adverse cardiovascular and cerebrovascular events(MACCE), including death, were recorded.Finally, the data of the enrolled patients were randomly divided into the training set and the test set according to the ratio of 9∶1, Different models were established to predict the long-term mortality of patients with atrial fibrillation and coronary heart disease by machine learning algorithm.The optimal model was established by substituting external data(60 cases)into the model for verification and comparison.The top 20 risk factors for mortality were determined by Shapley additive explanation(SHAP)algorithm.Results:A total of 329 hospitalized patients were included in this study, the overall median follow-up time was 77.0 months(95% CI: 54.0~84.0), 11 cases lost during follow-up(3.3%), and 151 cases died(45.9%). The analysis found that the areas under the ROC curve for a support vector machine(SVM)model, k-Nearest Neighbor(KNN)model, decision tree model, random forest model, ADABoost model, XGBoost model and logistic regression model were 0.76, 0.75, 0.75, 0.91, 0.86, 0.85 and 0.81, respectively.The random forest model had the highest prediction efficiency, with the accuracy of 0.789 and F1 value of 0.806, which was better than the logistic regression model[the Area Under Receiver Operating Characteristic Curve(AUC): 0.91 vs.0.81, P<0.05]. D-dimer, age, number of MACCE, left ventricular ejection fraction, serum albumin level, anemia, New York Heart Association(NYHA)grade, history of old myocardial infarction, estimated glomerular filtration rate(eGFR)and resting heart rate were important risk factors for predicting long-term mortality. Conclusions:The random forest model based on machine learning method can predict the long-term mortality of patients with atrial fibrillation and coronary heart disease aged 60 years and over, have a good identification ability.Its accuracy is higher than that of the traditional Logistic regression model.Reducing the long-term mortality and improving the long-term outcomes can be achieved by intervening on D-dimer levels, correcting hypoproteinemia and anemia, improving cardiac function and controlling resting ventricular rates.

Objective To explore the anti-inflammatory and hepatoprotective mechanism of Shuganning injection through establishing the active ingredients-targets network and protein interactions network. Methods The main active ingredients of Artemisiae scopariae, Fructus gardenia, Radix scutellariae, Radix isatidis and Ganoderma in Shuganning injection were obtained by TCMSP; GeneCards and OMIM were used to screen the hepatitis-related targets among the corresponding targets of the active ingredient of Shuganning injection; The Cytoscape software was used to construct the active ingredient-targets network of Shuganning injection. The protein interactions network was constructed using the String database and Cytoscape software. The GO and KEGG pathways involved in the targets were analyzed by DAVID database. Results The results showed that 20 active ingredients and 83 targets of Shuganning injection were involved. GO analysis showed that Shuganning injection mainly affected the regulation of cellular processes and biological processes, as well as the response to chemical stimulation and stress. KEGG pathway analysis showed that the targets of the anti-inflammatory and hepatoprotective effect of Shuganning injection mainly involved in signaling pathways such as TNF, IL-17, and MAPK. Conclusion The anti-inflammatory and hepatoprotective effect of Shuganning injection have the characteristics of multiple components, multiple targets and multiple pathways, which may play a role by regulating pathways such as TNF、IL-17 and MAPK .

Objective:To observe the expression of interleukin (IL)-38 in patients with active systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), and to explore the regulatory effect of IL-38 on IκB kinase complex.Methods:The gene expression levels of IL-38 and IκB kinase complex were detected by real-time fluorescence quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Serum IL-38 levels were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The expression of IκB-kinase complex (IκK)α/β and phospho IκKα/β protein weredetermined by Western blotting analysis. Statistical analysis was conducted with or Mann-Whitney rank test.Results:① The expression level of IL-38 mRNA in active SLE patients (0.36±0.09) was significantly lower than that in the normal control group (1.00±0.17) ( Z=-4.07, P<0.01); the expression level of IL-38 protein in active SLE patients (5.86±2.76) significantly reduced as compared with normal control group (18.48±1.35) ( Z=-4.76, P<0.05). ② The expression level of IκKα mRNA (7.45±0.31) and IκKβ mRNA (6.01±1.51) in active SLE patients was significantly higher than that in normal control group (1.16±0.04) and (1.16±0.14) ( Z=-4.67, P<0.05; Z=-4.37, P<0.01), and the expression level of IL-38 mRNA was negatively correlated with IκKα mRNA and IκKβ mRNA in active SLE patients ( r=-0.78, P<0.05; r=-0.83, P<0.05). ③ IκKα/β and phosphorylated IκKα/β protein expression in active SLE patients (2.38±0.03) and (1.90±0.03) increased significantly compared with healthy controls (1.00±0.04) and (1.00±0.08) ( Z=-1.96, P<0.05; Z=-1.99, P<0.05). ④ In vitro experiment, IL-38 caused a significant decrease in the expression level of IκKα mRNA (1.70±0.12) and IκKβ mRNA (2.52±0.10) from active SLE patientscompared with untreated cells (2.56±0.28) and (3.82±0.38) ( Z=-1.96, P<0.05; Z=-1.37, P<0.05). ⑤ In vitro experiment, IL-38 caused a significant decrease in the expression level of IκKα/β (1.54±0.06) and phosphoryl-ated IκKα/β (0.970±0.012) protein expression in active SLE patients compared with untreated cells (2.93±0.08) and (1.572±0.051)( P<0.05). Conclusion:The de-crease of IL-38 level in SLE patients result in the excessive activation of IκB kinase complex IκKα and IκKβ, and therefore triggersystemic lupus erythematosus.