ObjectiveTo analyze the epidemiological characteristics of long COVID and to investigate its main influencing factors by examining individuals infected with SARS-CoV-2 between March and June 2022 in two communities in Shanghai, to lay the foundation for further research on the mechanism and clinical treatment of long COVID, and to provide the basis for the development of inexpensive, convenient, and feasible prevention and intervention strategies. MethodsA cross-sectional study was conducted, enrolling 6 410 individuals infected with SARS-CoV-2. Data were collected through a questionnaire survey. The incidence and common symptoms of long COVID were analyzed, along with their associations with demographic characteristics, medical history, and behavioral factors. A logistic regression model was used to identify the major factors associated with the development of long COVID symptoms. ResultsThe overall incidence rate of long COVID among the study population was 13.9%. The most commonly reported symptoms included fatigue (65.1%), attention disorders (23.1%), and cough (16.9%). The analysis showed that having underlying chronic diseases (OR=2.580, 95%CI: 2.165‒3.074), a history of allergies (OR=1.418, 95%CI: 1.003‒1.971), current smoking (OR=1.461, 95%CI: 1.013‒2.079), ever smoking (OR=2.462, 95%CI: 1.687‒3.551), a greater number of symptoms during the acute phase [1 symptom (OR=1.778, 95%CI: 1.459‒2.162), 2 symptoms (OR=2.749, 95%CI: 2.209‒3.409), ≥3 symptoms (OR=7.792, 95%CI: 6.333‒9.593)] and aggravated symptoms during the acute phase (OR=1.082, 95%CI: 1.070‒1.094) were factors associated with a higher risk of developing long COVID symptoms. Additionally, individuals who had consumed alcohol in the past year (OR=1.914, 95%CI: 1.344‒2.684) were more prone to objective long COVID symptoms. Among individuals under 50 years of age, females (OR=1.427, 95%CI: 1.052‒1.943) were more likely to develop objective long COVID symptoms. ConclusionThis study has identified the diversity of long COVID symptoms, which involve multiple organs and systems, including fatigue, attention disorders, cough, and joint pain. It has also revealed associations between long COVID and various demographic factors (e.g., age, gender), personal medical history (e.g., underlying chronic diseases, history of allergies), acute-phase characteristics (e.g., number and severity of symptoms), and behavioral factors (e.g., smoking, alcohol consumption). These findings highlight the need for further research and ongoing surveillance of long COVID and may inform the development of more targeted health management strategies for specific populations.

OBJECTIVE: To establish a similarity measurement model for patients with dentofacial deformity based on 3D craniofacial features and to validate the similarity results with quantifying subjective expert scoring. METHODS: In the study, 52 cases of patients with skeletal Class Ⅲ malocclusions who underwent bimaxillary surgery and preoperative orthodontic treatment at Peking University School and Hospital of Stomatology from January 2020 to December 2022, including 26 males and 26 females, were selected and divided into 2 groups by sex. One patient in each group was randomly selected as a reference sample, and the others were set as test samples. Three senior surgeons rated the similarity scores between the test samples and the reference sample. Similarity scores ranged from 1 to 10, where 1 was completely different, and 10 was exactly the same. Scores larger than 7.5 was considered as clinically similar. Preoperative cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) and 3D facial images of the patients were collected. The three-dimensional hard and soft tissue features, including distances, angles and 3D point cloud features were extracted. The similarity measurement model was then established to fit with the experts' similarity scoring by feature selection algorithm and linear regression model. To verify the reliability of the model, 14 new patients were selected and input to similarity measurement model for finding similar cases. The similarity scoring of these similar cases were rated by experts, and used to evaluate the reliability of the model. RESULTS: The similarity metric models indicated that the features of the middle and lower craniofacial features were the main features to influence the craniofacial similarity. The main features that were related to the expert' s similarity scoring included distance of anterior nasal spine-menton (ANS-Me), distance of right upper canion point-Frankfurt horizontal plane (U3RH), distance of left superior point of the condyle-left gonion (CoL-GoL), distance of left gonion-menton (CoL-Me), distance of pogonion-midsagittal plane (Pog-MSP), distance of right alar base-left alar base (AlR-AlL), angle of pronasale-soft tissue pogonion-labrale inferius (Pn-Pog' -Li), distance of trichion-right tragus (Tri-TraR), distance of left exocanthion-left alar base (ExL-AlL), lower 1/3 of skeletal face, middle and lower 2/3 of skeletal face and upper lip region of soft tissue. Fourteen new patients were chosen to evaluate the model. The similar cases selected by the model had an average experts' similarity scoring of 7.627± 0.711, which was not significantly different with 7.5. CONCLUSION The similarity measurement model established by this model could find the similar cases which highly matched experts' subjective similarity scoring. The study could be further used for similar cases retrieval in skeletal Ⅲ malocclusion patients.
Humans ; Male ; Female ; Imaging, Three-Dimensional/methods* ; Cone-Beam Computed Tomography ; Malocclusion, Angle Class III/surgery* ; Orthognathic Surgical Procedures/methods* ; Face/anatomy & histology* ; Cephalometry/methods* ; Adult ; Adolescent ; Dentofacial Deformities/surgery* ; Young Adult

Objective:To compare the differences in postoperative healing rates, hearing improvement, and complication rates between endoscopic butterfly inlay cartilage tympanoplasty and underlay cartilage tympanoplasty in Small-to-Medium-Sized Tympanic Membrane Perforations, and to provide clinical basis for indication of the butterfly inlay cartilage tympanoplasty. Methods:This study enrolled patients with chronic suppurative otitis media or traumatic tympanic membrane perforations who were treated at the Department of Otorhinolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, the First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, between January 2022 and May 2023. Inclusion criteria comprised a dry ear period exceeding 3 months, absence of middle ear or mastoid pathology confirmed by temporal bone CT, and an air-bone gap of less than 40 dB. All surgeries were performed by the same surgeon using tympanoplasty techniques. Based on the surgical approach and perforation size, patients were categorized into four groups: Group A（butterfly cartilage tympanoplasty, perforation ≤3 mm）: 23 cases. Group B（butterfly cartilage tympanoplasty, perforation 3-5 mm）: 17 cases. Group C（full-thickness cartilage underlay tympanoplasty, perforation ≤3 mm）: 12 cases. Group D（full-thickness cartilage underlay tympanoplasty, perforation 3-5 mm）: 22 cases. Data collected included perforation duration, preoperative Eustachian Tube Score（ETS）, pure-tone audiometry, otoscopic findings, and postoperative follow-up data on pure-tone thresholds, otoscopic outcomes, and complications such as graft infection and otorrhea. Results: The mean postoperative follow-up period was 4 months （range: 3-12 months）. A total of 74 patients were enrolled, including 40 undergoing butterfly cartilage tympanoplasty and 34 receiving full-thickness cartilage inlay tympanoplasty. In the <3 mm perforation subgroup, the patients receiving butterfly technique （23 cases） exhibited a postoperative air-bone gap （ABG） improvement of （2.33±8.21） dB, and those receiving the inlay technique （12 cases） showed an ABG improvement of （2.49±7.9） dB, with no statistically significant difference between the two groups （P>0.05）. In the 3-5 mm perforation subgroup, the patients receiving butterfly technique （17 cases） demonstrated an ABG improvement of （8.16±5.69） dB, and those receiving the inlay technique （22 cases） achieved an ABG improvement of （8.08±10.42） dB, which were not significantly different （P>0.05）. Tympanic membrane healing rates across the four subgroups were 95.65%, 94.12%, 100%, and 95.45%, respectively, with no statistically significant differences （P>0.05）. Conclusion:In patients with tympanic membrane perforations ≤3 mm and 3-5 mm, butterfly cartilage tympanoplasty achieves comparable audiological outcomes to full-thickness cartilage underlay tympanoplasty. Compared with the underlay technique, the butterfly method is less invasive, preserves the normal anatomical structure of the tympanic membrane, requires a shorter dry ear period, and yields higher patient satisfaction. Therefore, it can be safely recommended for perforations ≤5 mm that do not require tympanotomy exploration.
Humans ; Tympanic Membrane Perforation/surgery* ; Tympanoplasty/methods* ; Treatment Outcome ; Endoscopy ; Cartilage/transplantation* ; Male ; Female ; Adult ; Middle Aged ; Myringoplasty/methods* ; Otitis Media, Suppurative/surgery* ; Aged

Small nuclear RNAs (snRNAs) refer to a class of highly abundant and functionally important non-coding small RNAs that are localized in the eukaryotic nucleus. These snRNAs are highly conserved in different eukaryotes during evolution and form complexes with specific chaperones to fulfill critical biological functions, including precursor messenger RNA (pre-mRNA) splicing and ribosomal RNA (rRNA) modification. Consequently, the regulation of snRNA gene expression is a crucial biological process for plants. In plants, the transcription and processing of snRNAs are regulated by RNA polymerase (Pol), snRNA-activating protein complex (SNAPc), defective in snRNA processing (DSP), and specific cis-elements in the snRNA promoter regions. Proper regulation of snRNA expression is essential for normal plant growth, development, and stress responses. This review summarizes the classification, structures, transcriptional regulation, and biological functions of plant snRNA genes, while outlining future research directions for snRNAs.
RNA, Small Nuclear/physiology* ; Gene Expression Regulation, Plant ; Transcription, Genetic ; Plants/metabolism* ; RNA, Plant/genetics*

Objective: To explore the factors affecting language development delay among children aged <3 years, so as to provide a basis for the prevention and early intervention of children's language development problems. Methods: Eighty-one children aged <3 years with language development delay who visited the children's language development clinic of Shaoxing Maternal and Child Health Hospital from January to December 2024 as the case group. Meanwhile, 118 children who underwent routine physical examinations at the children's health clinic during the same period, had normal language development were randomly selected as the control group. Data on children's basic information, parenting environment, and screen exposure were collected through questionnaire surveys. Language development delay was assessed using the Early Language Milestone Scale and the Gesell Developmental Diagnosis Scale. The factors for language development delay were analyzed using a multivariable logistic regression model. Results: The case group comprised 81 children, including 56 boys (69.14%) and 25 girls (30.86%), with a mean age of (23.14±4.84) months. The control group consisted of 118 children, including 81 boys (68.64%) and 37 girls (31.36%), with a mean age of (23.81±4.60) months. Multivariable logistic regression analysis showed that daily parental companionship time of ≥2 hours (OR=0.121, 95%CI: 0.040-0.367), attending childcare institutions (OR=0.103, 95%CI: 0.030-0.352), the average daily screen exposure time <1 hour (OR=0.614, 95%CI: 0.400-0.942), interactive parental accompaniment during screen exposure (OR=0.350, 95%CI: 0.157-0.779), and restricting screen exposure time (OR=0.162, 95%CI: 0.056-0.470) were associated with a lower risk of language development delay among children aged <3 years. Conclusion Daily paternal companionship of 2 hours or more, attending childcare institutions, daily screen exposure time of less than 1 hour, interactive parental companionship during screen time, and limiting screen exposure time can reduce the risk of language developmental delay among children aged under 3 years.

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a neuroinflammatory demyelinating disease, mediated by pathogenic T helper 17 (Th17) cells. However, the therapeutic effect is accompanied by the fluctuation of the proportion and function of Th17 cells, which prompted us to find the key regulator of Th17 differentiation in MS. Here, we demonstrated that the triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells 2 (TREM-2), a modulator of pattern recognition receptors on innate immune cells, was highly expressed on pathogenic CD4-positive T lymphocyte (CD4⁺ T) cells in both patients with MS and experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) mouse models. Conditional knockout of Trem-2 in CD4⁺ T cells significantly alleviated the disease activity and reduced Th17 cell infiltration, activation, differentiation, and inflammatory cytokine production and secretion in EAE mice. Furthermore, with Trem-2 knockout in vivo experiments and in vitro inhibitor assays, the TREM-2/zeta-chain associated protein kinase 70 (ZAP70)/signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) signal axis was essential for Th17 activation and differentiation in EAE progression. In conclusion, TREM-2 is a key regulator of pathogenic Th17 in EAE mice, and this sheds new light on the potential of this therapeutic target for MS.
Animals ; Humans ; Mice ; CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes/pathology* ; Cell Differentiation ; Encephalomyelitis, Autoimmune, Experimental/metabolism* ; Mice, Inbred C57BL ; Multiple Sclerosis ; Th1 Cells/pathology*

Objective To investigate the value of unenhanced CT combined with clinical features in predicting adnexal torsion in women with abdominal pain and an adnexal mass. Methods A retrospective selection of patients with abdominal pain and an adnexal mass underwent operation in 2 tertiary hospitals from January 2018 to September 2023. The torsion group (n＝53) and non-torsion group (n＝53) were matched in a 1∶1 ratio. 15 CT signs of adnexal masses were reviewed independently by two radiologists using a double-blind method. The high-risk factors were screened using multivariate logistic regression analysis. The diagnostic values of high-risk factors for adnexal torsion were assessed using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves. Results According to the surgical and pathological results, the most common adnexal mass in torsion group was mature cystic teratoma (32.1%), and the most common mass in the non-torsion group was adnexal abscess (20.8%). The age, fever rate, white blood cell count, location of mass, thickened fallopian tube rate, and pelvic effusion rate were not statistically different between the two groups, the nausea and vomiting and remaining CT signs were significant different between the two groups (P＜0.05). Multivariate logistic analysis showed that nausea and vomiting (OR＝4.886), navel sign (OR＝22.733), and whirl sign (OR＝43.462) were independently associated with adnexal torsion (P＜0.05). The area under the curve (AUC) of nausea and vomiting, navel sign, and whirl sign were 0.717, 0.802, and 0.840, respectively; AUC of the combination of all three was 0.877 with 92.45% of sensitivity, 84.91% of specificity, 85.96% of positive predictive value, 91.84% of negative predictive value, and 88.68% of accuracy. Conclusions For women with abdominal pain and an adnexal mass, nausea and vomiting, navel sign, and whirl sign are help of predicting adnexal torsion, and combination value of all three is best.

A combined radiation-wound injury refers to a radiation injury combined with a traumatic wound, with the characteristics of repeated ulceration and a long and difficult healing process, which is a focus in the field of research on difficult-to-heal wounds. To research combined radiation-wound injuries, the establishment of animal models is a key part, and appropriate animal models are a guarantee of reliable experimental results. This review summarizes the current research progress on various animal models of combined radiation-wound injuries in terms of radiation types, animal species, and injury types and location, aiming to provide a scientific basis for establishing standardized animal models, studying injury mechanisms, and evaluating prevention and treatment efficacy for combined radiation-wound injuries.

Objective:To study the clinical value of enhanced recovery after surgery(ERAS) strategy combined with early intestinal fluid reinfusion among neonates receiving jejunostomy due to intestinal obstruction.Methods:From December 2018 to December 2022, neonates with intestinal obstruction receiving jejunostomy in the Department of Neonatal Surgery of our hospital were prospectively enrolled. They were randomly assigned into ERAS group and traditional treatment (TT) group after surgery. The ERAS group was treated with ERAS strategy plus early intestinal fluid reinfusion. The TT group was treated with conventional gastrointestinal decompression, analgesia as needed and enteric fluid reinfusion according to the amount of defecation. The postoperative parenteral nutrition (PN) duration (T pn), central venous catheter (CVC) duration (T cvc), daily weight gain, duration of postoperative hospital stay (T hos), complications and readmission rate within 30 days were compared between the two groups. Results:A total of 22 cases were included in the ERAS group and 20 cases were in the TT group. T pn [(22.6±9.4) d vs. (30.7±11.3) d], T cvc [(5.9±0.8) d vs. (9.9±2.1) d] and T hos [(26.8±9.8) d vs. (33.8±11.5) d] in the ERAS group were significantly shorter than the TT group ( P<0.05). No significant difference existed in daily weight gain between the two groups ( P>0.05). The incidence of postoperative gastrointestinal mucosal bleeding in the ERAS group was significantly lower than the TT group (13.6% vs. 45.0%)( P<0.05). No significant differences existed in the following items between the two groups: feeding intolerance, PN-associated cholestasis, CVC-related bloodstream infection, intestinal fluid reinfusion-related complications, premature closure of fistula and readmission rate within 30 days (all P>0.05). Conclusions:The application of ERAS strategy plus early intestinal fluid reinfusion in neonates with enterostomy is safe and feasible, which can reduce the postoperative durations of PN, CVC and hospital stay and accelerate the recovery.