BACKGROUND: Some researches suggest that improvement of motor function is closely related to cognitive function. The better the cognitive status is, the better the recovery of motor function is. Early evaluation of cognitive function can predict prognosis of motor function and improve generalized ability, social communication abilities and quality of life (QOL).OBJECTIVE: To observe the correlation of cognitive function in hemiplegia and aphasia and analyze the prognostic factor of early cognitive dysfunction in patients with acute stroke.DESIGN: Contrast study.SETTING: Department of Neurology, Taian Central Hospital; Department of Neurology, Affiliated Hospital of Medical College of Qingdao University.PARTICIPANTS: Fifty patients with acute stroke were enrolled from Neurological Department of Taian Central Hospital and Neurological Department of the Affiliated Hospital of Medical College of Qingdao University from January 2002 to May 2005. They were 32 males and 18 females aged 34-78 years. All patients were coincidence with the Diagnostic Criteria of Acute Stroke established by the Fourth National Cerebrovascular Diseases Meeting and diagnosed with CT or MRI. Patients were told about the evaluation in details. Among them, 44 patients had hemiplegia, including 30 males and 14 females aged 34-78 years; 30 had aphasia, including 17 males and 13 females aged 34-78 years; 20 had non-aphasia, including 14 males and 6 females aged 38-70 years.METHODS: ① Aphasia was tested with Western Aphasia Battery (WAB).Aphasic quotient of ＜ 93.8 was regarded as aphasia; otherwise, it was regarded as non-aphasia. ② Motor function was evaluated with Fugl-Meyer (FMA).Motor function of upper and lower limbs was scored as 100 in total. The higher the points were, the better the motor function was. ③ Cognitive function was evaluated with Loewenstein Occupational Therapy Cognitive Assessment (LOTCA), which contained 4 items (orientation, perceptibility, visual-motor organization and thinking ability) and 22 subtests in total. The higher the points were, the better the cognitive function was. Functional evaluation started at half-month treatment onset. Intergroup comparison of their mean value was tested using Student's test and one-way analysis of variance.MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: ① Correlation between cognitive function and hemiplegia; ② correlation between cognitive function and aphasia.RESULTS: Fifty patients with acute stroke were all involved in the final analysis. ① Correlation between cognitive function and hemiplegia: Scores of orientation, perception, visual-motor organization and cognitive function of 44 patients with hemiplegia were positive positively correlated with FMA scores of motor function (r=0.534, 0.598, 0.500, 0.548, P ＜ 0.01); however,scores of thinking ability was not correlated with FMA scores of motor function (r=0.310, P ＞ 0.05). ② Correlation between cognitive function and aphasia: Scores of orientation, perception, visual-motor organization, thinking operation and cognitive function of patients with aphasia were (4.60±2.37), (15.10±6.02), (14.00±6.93), (12.33±6.77), (1.83±1.09) points,which were lower than those of patients with non-aphasia (7.30±1.08),(23.20±1.11), (24.25±4.08), (24.20±5.43), (3.50±0.76) points (t=5.44 to7.197, P ＜ 0.05).CONCLUSION: The more severe the cognitive dysfunction is, the more severe the hemiplegia is. Cognitive function in stroke patients with aphasia is significantly reduced.

Objective To analyze the effect of dexmedetomidine hydrochloride injection on patients with craniocerebral disease who has no artificial airway in the process of bronchoalveolar lavage treatment.Methods Forty-six patients (age 17-28,average age 56.6±9.2,26 men and 20 women) with craniocerebral disease who has no artificial airway were selected,and were treated by bronchoalveolar lavage for lung infection.The patients were randomly divided into two groups,control and test group.The control group (n=23) received midazolam for sedative and the test group (n=23) received dexmedetomidine hydrochloride for sedative while they were in the process of bronchoalveolar lavage treatment.Heart rate,mean arterial pressure and blood oxygen saturation of fingers collected from patients before and during the process of bronchoalveolar lavage were compared.Results In the process of bronchoalveolar lavage treatment,the minimum blood oxygen saturation of finger artery from the control group was lower than that from the test group,the fastest heart rate from the control group was greater than that from the test group,and the lowest mean arterial pressure from the control group was lower than that from the test group (P＜0.05).In two groups,heart rate in the process of bronchoalveolar lavage treatment was faster than that from before the treatment,while both mean arterial pressure and blood oxygen saturation of finger artery were decreased (P＜0.05).Conclusions Continuous intravenous pumping of dexmedetomidine hydrochloride on patients with craniocerebral disease who has no artificial airway during the process of bronchoalveolar lavage treatment is effective and safe,and it has less inhibitory effect on respiratory function and blood pressure.

Objective To investigate the epidemiological status of visceral leishmaniasis in Hamangou coal mine area of Korla City of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.Methods Based on a hint of possible existence of patients, a retrospective survey was carried out house by house to find cases with suspected signs/symptoms of the disease.Meanwhile, a survey on current status was conducted, including physical examination(liver and spleen palpation) to those less than 15 years-old, leishmanin skin test and rk39 immunochromatographic strip test for part of the residents.Bone marrow smears were examined for the cases with clinical signs/symptoms and positive rk39 strip test.Sandflies were collected using routine methods in and around the area, identified, and dissected to find infection of promastigotes.Results Leishmanin skin test was performed in 185 people with a positive rate of 21.1%(39/185), 39 out of 140 local residents who have lived there for more than 6 years showed positive(27.9%) , while all residents who have lived less than 6 years and children under 5 years old were negative.Of the 81 children under 15 years old with a negative skin test, one showed positive for rk39 strip test, and leishmania body was found in the bone marrow smear of this case, so confirmed as visceral leishmaniasis.12 sandfies were identified as Phlebotomus alexandri, and natural infection with promastigotes was found in one sandly.Conclusion The investigation confirms that visceral leishmaniasis is endemic in the Hamangou coal mine area.

Postoperative delirium involves attention and cognitive impairment and is a common, serious and often fatal condition in the elderly.This review summarizes the definition, diagnosis, pathogenesis, risk factors, prevention and treatment of postoperative delirium in elderly patients with hip fractures.

BACKGROUND: The cardiomyocyte apoptosis is considered as one of major contributions to cardiac remodeling after myocardial infarction (MI). Numerous studies find that circular RNAs (circRNAs) play pivotal roles in a variety of biological functions. However, the role of circ_0068655 in MI and human induced pluripotent stem-derived cardiomyocytes (HCMs) remains unknown. METHODS: The expression of circ_0068655, miR-498, and PRKC apoptosis WT1 regulator (PAWR) in human MI heart tissues and hypoxia subjected HCMs was evaluated with qRT-PCR and Western blot. The effects of circ_0068655 on hypoxia-induced apoptotic death and cell migration in HCMs were evaluated with qRT-PCR, cell viability, cell death ELISA (POD), and Caspase-3 activity assay, and Trans-well assay, respectively. Furthermore, luciferase assay, qRT-PCR, biotin-labeled miRNA pulldown assay, and Western blot were employed in the functional studies. RESULTS: We found that the expression of circ_0068655 and PAWR was enhanced in MI patients and hypoxia subjected HCMs; by contrast, the expression of miR-498 decreased. Inhibited expression of circ_0068655 in HMCs counteracted hypoxia-induced apoptotic death and impaired cell migration, in sharp contrast to circ_0068655 knockdown. We identified that circ_0068655 sponged an endogenous miR-498 to sequester and inhibit its activity, leading to the increased PAWR expression. CONCLUSIONS Our findings reveal that the expression of circ_0068655 can promote cardiomyocyte apoptosis through the modulation of miR-498-PAWR axis in vitro, which highlights the diagnostic and therapeutic value of circ_0068655 in patients with MI.

BACKGROUND: The cardiomyocyte apoptosis is considered as one of major contributions to cardiac remodeling after myocardial infarction (MI). Numerous studies find that circular RNAs (circRNAs) play pivotal roles in a variety of biological functions. However, the role of circ_0068655 in MI and human induced pluripotent stem-derived cardiomyocytes (HCMs) remains unknown. METHODS: The expression of circ_0068655, miR-498, and PRKC apoptosis WT1 regulator (PAWR) in human MI heart tissues and hypoxia subjected HCMs was evaluated with qRT-PCR and Western blot. The effects of circ_0068655 on hypoxia-induced apoptotic death and cell migration in HCMs were evaluated with qRT-PCR, cell viability, cell death ELISA (POD), and Caspase-3 activity assay, and Trans-well assay, respectively. Furthermore, luciferase assay, qRT-PCR, biotin-labeled miRNA pulldown assay, and Western blot were employed in the functional studies. RESULTS: We found that the expression of circ_0068655 and PAWR was enhanced in MI patients and hypoxia subjected HCMs; by contrast, the expression of miR-498 decreased. Inhibited expression of circ_0068655 in HMCs counteracted hypoxia-induced apoptotic death and impaired cell migration, in sharp contrast to circ_0068655 knockdown. We identified that circ_0068655 sponged an endogenous miR-498 to sequester and inhibit its activity, leading to the increased PAWR expression. CONCLUSIONS Our findings reveal that the expression of circ_0068655 can promote cardiomyocyte apoptosis through the modulation of miR-498-PAWR axis in vitro, which highlights the diagnostic and therapeutic value of circ_0068655 in patients with MI.

Objective: This study’s objective is to assess the efficacy and safety of Pulsed Magnetic Therapy System (PMTS) in improving insomnia disorder. Methods: Participants with insomnia disorder were randomly assigned to receive either PMTS or sham treatment for four weeks (n= 153; PMTS: 76, sham: 77). Primary outcomes are the Insomnia Severity Index (ISI) scores at week 0 (baseline), 1, 2, 3, 4 (treatment), and 5 (follow-up). Secondary outcomes are the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index at baseline and week 4, and weekly sleep diary-derived values for sleep latency, sleep efficiency, real sleep time, waking after sleep onset, and sleep duration. Results: The ISI scores of the PMTS group and the sham group were 7.13±0.50, 11.07±0.51 at week 4, respectively. There was a significant group×time interaction for ISI (F3.214, 485.271=24.25, p<0.001, ηp 2=0.138). Only the PMTS group experienced continuous improvement throughout the study; in contrast, the sham group only experienced a modest improvement after the first week of therapy. At the end of the treatment and one week after it, the response of the PMTS group were 69.7% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 58.6%–79.0%), 75.0% (95% CI: 64.1%–83.4%), respectively, which were higher than the response of the sham group (p<0.001). For each of the secondary outcomes, similar group×time interactions were discovered. The effects of the treatment persisted for at least a week. Conclusion PMTS is safe and effective in improving insomnia disorders.

OBJECTIVES: At present, removable partial denture is still one of the main restoration methods for dentition defects. However, the trend for digital partial denture is becoming more and more obvious in the field of oral repair. However, there are relatively few studies on digital removable partial denture. The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of 3 processing technologies (precision casting, digital cutting, and 3D printing) on the fitness for the clasps of cobalt chromium alloy and pure titanium removable partial denture, and to provide a theoretical basis for the clinical application of digital removable partial denture. METHODS: Clasps of Co-Cr alloy and pure titanium were produced by 3 different processing technologies (precision casting, digital cutting, and 3D printing). There are 6 groups, including a casting pure titanium group, a casting cobalt chromium group, a cutting pure titanium group, a cutting cobalt chromium group, a printing pure titanium group, and a printing cobalt chromium group ( RESULTS: There was no statistical difference in fitness between the casting pure titanium group and the casting cobalt chromium group ( CONCLUSIONS The cobalt chromium alloy and pure titanium clasps made by precision casting, digital cutting, and 3D printing have good fitness. Under the same process, there is no significant difference between cobalt chromium alloy and pure titanium clasps. The 3D printing pure titanium clasps have better fitness than casting pure titanium and cutting pure titanium clasps, which meet the needs of clinical application.
Chromium Alloys ; Cobalt ; Denture, Partial, Removable ; Titanium

Tumor-targeted immunotherapy is a remarkable breakthrough, offering the inimitable advantage of specific tumoricidal effects with reduced immune-associated cytotoxicity. However, existing platforms suffer from low efficacy, inability to induce strong immunogenic cell death (ICD), and restrained capacity of transforming immune-deserted tumors into immune-cultivated ones. Here, an innovative platform, perfluorooctyl bromide (PFOB) nanoemulsions holding MnO₂ nanoparticles (MBP), was developed to orchestrate cancer immunotherapy, serving as a theranostic nanoagent for MRI/CT dual-modality imaging and advanced ICD. By simultaneously depleting the GSH and eliciting the ICD effect via high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) therapy, the MBP nanomedicine can regulate the tumor immune microenvironment by inducing maturation of dendritic cells (DCs) and facilitating the activation of CD8⁺ and CD4⁺ T cells. The synergistic GSH depletion and HIFU ablation also amplify the inhibition of tumor growth and lung metastasis. Together, these findings inaugurate a new strategy of tumor-targeted immunotherapy, realizing a novel therapeutics paradigm with great clinical significance.