Crude soybean lecithin was rubbed on the skin of the inner side of the rightear of the rabbit once every other day for a period of two months or longer.The other ear, for control, was also rubbed mechanically without lecithin. Aconspicuous increase in size, number and activity of the macrophages in thesubcutaneous tissue of the treated ear was demonstrated by means of vital stain-ing through intravenous injection with Trypan blue.

Adult male laboratory animals, including 38 mice, 17 rabbits and 8 rats, were dividedinto the experimental and control groups. The control animals were fed with a basic diet,and the experimental animals were fed with the same diet with 1% of condensed leci-thin in addition. They were maintained on the same diet for various periods (mice for10 weeks, rabbits for more than one year, and rats for 25 weeks) and were sacrificed forvarious cytological studies. The following techniques were adopted for the study of adrenal cortex: 1) Regaud'sfixing and Altmann-Cowdry's staining methods for mitochondria; 2) Ma's modificationof Kopsch-Kolatchev's method for Golgi apparatus; 3) Carnoy's fixing and Kurnick'sstaining methods for nucleic acids; 4) Carnoy's fixing and hematoxylin-eosin or Mallory'sstaining methods for general morphology; and 5) frozen sections for measuring the nu-clear size. The animals fed with lecithin showed an increase in number and size of mitochon-dria in the adrenal cortical cells. The Golgi apparatus of these cells, as compared withthose of the controls, possessed a more complex network of thicker strands and showeda wider distribution both in the individual cells and through the entire cortex. Thelipoid vacuoles, the nuclear size, and the number of the nucleoli were also increasedslightly in these cells in the experimental animals. In spite of some individual varia-tions, the above changes indicated that the fundamental structures of the adrenal corticalcells were strengthened by feeding the animals with lecithin. The appearance of Golgi apparatus and lipoid substance in the cortical cells andtheir relation to the mitochondria were discussed. The reticular zone of the adrenalcortex is considered as a stratum of very active cells.

Objective To examine the difference in myocardial protection provided by continuous and intermittent warm blood cardioplegia during coronary artery bypass (CAB) .Methods Thirty ASA Ⅰ-Ⅱ patients undergoing CAB with warm CPB were randomly divided into two groups : (A) continuous warm blood cardioplegia ( n = 15) and (B) intermittent warm blood cardioplegia ( n = 15) . During CPB the body temperature was maintained at 33℃ -34℃ . Arterial blood samples were taken before skin incision (T0) , 1 h after going on CPB (T1 ) and 6h , 24h after coming off CPB (T2, T3 ), for determination of plasma concentration of cardiac troponin T (cTnT) using ELISA method. A small piece of myocardium was obtained from right ventricle (about 1g ) before aortic crass-clamping and after the aortic clamp was removed for determination of myocardial ATP content and ultrastractural examination. Results The demographic data were comparable between the two groups. Plasma cTnT level increased significantly at T1 and T2 as compared with the baseline values (T0) and then returned to normal level at T3 in both groups. The cTnT level was significantly higher in group B than that in group A at T2 (6h after weaning from CPB)The myocardial ATP content decreased significantly after aortic clamp was removed as compared with that before cross-clamping of aorta, but myocardial ATP content in group A was significantly higher than that in group B after release of arotic clamp. Mitochondria score was significantly higher after release of aortic cross-clamp than that before aortic cross-clamping.Conclusion Continuous warm blood cardiaplegia is superior to intermittent warm blood cardioplegia during CPB in terms of myocardial protection.

The tasks of artificial intelligence (AI) in tumor histopathology include image segmentation and classification. Currently, the specific contents including lymph node metastasis, pathological classification, grade and prognostic evaluation of malignant diseases, such as breast cancer, lung cancer and prostate cancer, have been studied by AI. Evaluation of sentinel lymph node metastasis of breast cancer has been the most mature application of AI technology, whose level can be analogous to the excellent pathologists. In the future, with the close cooperation of pathologists and engineers, the research of AI will be focus on improving the technology of simple and repetitive clinical diagnosis and differential diagnosis, such as the diagnosis of sentinel lymph node metastasis of breast cancer from biopsy frozen section and the judgment of incisal margin. Ultimately, AI will help us to precisely diagnose the tumor.

It is noteworthy that only 5% of more than 7000 described rare diseases are treated. In the era of big data, there is ever-increasing data for understanding biomedicine. The need for efficient and rapid data collection, analyses and characterization methods is pressing. Rare diseases can particularly benefit from artificial intelligence (AI) application. AI, with an emphasis on machine learning, creates a path for such efforts and is being applied to diagnosis and treatment. AI has demonstrated its potential to learn and analyze data from different sources with results in prediction。Presently, there are AI-driven technologies applied for rare diseases and this review aims to summarize these advances. Moreover, this review scrutinizes the limitation and identifies the pitfalls of AI applications in the diagnosis and treatment of rare diseases.

ObjectiveTo investigate the effect and mechanism of Nongsuo Dangguiwan in improving ovarian oxidative stress in rats with ovarian dysfunction. MethodThirty-six adult female SD rats were randomly divided into normal group， model group， positive drug group （Femoston， 0.3 mg·kg^-1）， and high-， medium-， and low-dose groups of concentrated Nongsuo Dangguiwan （2.08， 4.16， 8.32 g·kg^-1）， with six rats in each group. Rats， except for those in the normal group， were injected with 80 mg·kg^-1 vinyl cyclohexene dioxide （VCD） per day for 14 consecutive days to induce ovarian dysfunction. From the 15th day， rats were treated with corresponding drugs by gavage， while those in the model group received 2 mL·kg^-1 saline， once daily for 28 consecutive days. The ovarian index， levels of related hormones including estradiol （E₂）， follicle-stimulating hormone （FSH）， luteinizing hormone （LH）， and anti-mullerian hormone （AMH） in serum， as well as superoxide dismutase （SOD） activity and glutathione （GSH） content in serum were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay （ELISA）. The malondialdehyde （MDA） content in serum was detected by the thiobarbituric acid （TAB） method. Ovarian morphology was observed by hematoxylin-eosin （HE） staining. The expression of nuclear factor E₂-related factor 2 （Nrf2）， heme oxygenase-1 （HO-1）， SOD2， and SOD1 in ovarian tissues was detected by immunohistochemistry （IHC） and Western blot. ResultCompared with the normal group， the model group showed a significant reduction in growing follicles in the ovary， loose arrangement of granulosa cells in the follicle， decreased body weight， ovarian index， and serum AMH and E₂ levels， increased LH and FSH levels （P<0.01）， reduced levels of SOD and GSH in serum （P<0.01）， and increased MDA level （P<0.01）. Compared with the model group， the groups with drug intervention showed increased ovarian index （P<0.05， P<0.01）， increased serum E₂ level （P<0.05， P<0.01）， decreased FSH， AMH， and LH levels （P<0.05， P<0.01）， increased number of growing follicles in the ovary， potentiated SOD activity in serum， increased GSH content， decreased MDA content （P<0.05， P<0.01）， and up-regulated expression levels of Nrf2， HO-1， SOD2， and SOD1 proteins in ovarian tissues （P<0.05， P<0.01）. ConclusionNongsuo Dangguiwan can regulate serum hormone levels， increase the expression of Nrf2， HO-1， SOD2， and SOD1 in ovarian tissues， and improve ovarian antioxidant capacity to resist oxidative stress injury， thereby improving ovarian reserve function.

ObjectiveTo explore the mechanism of Jianpi Yishen Huazhuo prescription in the improvement of ovarian function in polycystic ovary syndrome （PCOS）. MethodSeventy female SD rats in SPF grade were randomly divided into 6 groups， 15 in the blank group and 15 in the model group， 10 in the metformin group （0.1 g·kg^-1·d^-1）， and 10 in the low （1.275 g·kg^-1·d^-1）， medium （2.55 g·kg^-1·d^-1）， and high-dose （5.10 g·kg^-1·d^-1） Jianpi Yishen Huazhuo prescription groups. The blank group was given normal saline （10 mL·kg^-1·d^-1） by gavage and ordinary feed， and the other groups were given letrozole （1 mg·kg^-1·d^-1） by gavage combined with high-fat feed for 21 days to induce the model of PCOS. After modeling， the blank group and model group were given equal volume normal saline by gavage， and each drug group was given the corresponding dose of the drug by gavage for 30 days. The changes in body mass and fasting blood glucose （FPG） of rats before and after modeling were compared. Hematoxylin eosin （HE） staining was used to observe the morphological change in the ovaries of rats in each group. The serum levels of follicle stimulating hormone （FSH）， luteinizing hormone （LH）， testosterone （T）， anti-Mullerian hormone （AMH）， and estradiol （E₂） were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay （ELISA）， and the LH/FSH ratio was calculated. Immunohistochemical staining （IHC） and Western blot were used to detect the protein expression levels of nucleoside binding oligomerization domain protein like receptor 3 （NALP3）， apoptosis-associated speck-like protein （ASC）， cysteine protease-1 （Caspase-1）， nuclear transcription factor-κB （NF-κB）， interleukin-1β （IL-1β）， interleukin-18 （IL-18）， and interleukin-6 （IL-6） in the rat ovaries. ResultAs compared with the blank group， large follicles with polycystic expansion were found in the ovaries of the model group， no dominant follicles were found， the granular layer of follicles decreased and arranged loosely， and the number of corpus luteum decreased significantly. Serum T， LH， AMH and LH/FSH increased in the model group （P<0.05， P<0.01）， while FSH and E₂ decreased （P<0.05， P<0.01）. The relative protein expression levels of NALP3， ASC， Caspase-1， NF-κB， IL-1β， IL-18， and IL-6 increased （P<0.05， P<0.01） in the ovaries of the model group. Compared with the model group， the low， medium， and high-dose Jianpi Yishen Huazhuo prescription groups and the metformin group showed growing follicles and corpus luteum at all levels， the number of cystic expanding follicles decreased， the thickness of follicular granular layer increased， the number of follicular fluid increased， mature follicles were visible， and the local morphology of oocytes was complete. Serum T， LH， AMH， and LH/FSH in these groups decreased （P<0.05， P<0.01）， while E₂ and FSH increased （P<0.05）. The relative protein expressions of NALP3， ASC， Caspase-1， NF-κB， IL-1β， IL-18， and IL-6 in the ovaries of these groups decreased （P<0.05， P<0.01）. There was no significant difference among the treatment groups. ConclusionBy inhibiting the activation of NLRP3 inflammasome， Jianpi Yishen Huazhuo prescription reduces the release of NALP3， ASC， Caspase-1， NF-κB， IL-18， IL-1β， and IL-6 inflammatory factors in ovarian tissues， regulates endocrine level， and effectively reduces PCOS inflammatory statu， so as to play a role in improving ovarian function.