ObjectiveTo investigate the association of physical activity and balance ability with disability, and to further examine the mediating role of balance ability in the relationship between physical activity and disability. MethodsBased on data from 2021 to 2023 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) cycle, a multivariable Logistic regression model was constructed to evaluate the independent association of physical activity and balance ability with disability, with covariates adjusted in four steps. An interaction model was further developed to assess the multiplicative interaction between physical activity and balance ability. Mediation analysis was performed using the Baron and Kenny three-step approach to examine the mediating role of balance ability, and the proportion of the mediation effect was calculated. The significance of the mediation effect was assessed using the Delta method, and robustness was verified through the Bootstrap method with a fixed random seed. Multiple sensitivity analyses were conducted to ensure the stability of the results. ResultsA total of 3 902 participants were included, with a prevalence of disability of 17.7%. Multivariable regression analysis showed that, after adjusting for all covariates, both light-intensity physical activity (LIPA) (OR = 0.489, 95%CI 0.380 to 0.629, P < 0.001) and high-intensity physical activity (HIPA) (OR = 0.493, 95%CI 0.371 to 0.656, P < 0.001) were significantly associated with a reduced risk of disability, whereas impaired balance ability was significantly associated with an increased risk (OR = 1.579, 95%CI 1.266 to 1.970, P < 0.001). The interaction effect analysis showed that the interaction between physical activity and balance ability were not significant (P > 0.05), however, the main effect of LIPA remained robust (β = -0.597, SE = 0.221, OR = 0.550, P = 0.007), while impaired balance ability was significantly associated with an increased risk of disability (β = 0.577, SE = 0.231, OR = 1.780, P = 0.012). The mediation analysis further indicated that balance ability played a robust mediating role in the association between LIPA and disability, with a mediation proportion of 21.1%. The indirect effect (a × b) was statistically significant (P < 0.001), and the 95% confidence intervals derived from the bootstrap method did not include zero. ConclusionPhysical activity and balance ability are significantly associated with disability, and balance ability may mediate the relationship between physical activity and disability, highlighting its potential value in disability risk assessment and intervention strategies.

Objective:To learn about both the distribution of resources of radiodiagnostic and radiotherapeutic and the frequencies of radiological examinations to provide a basis for rational allocation of medical resources and standardize medical ionizing radiation.Methods:Based on the data on permanent resident population and the data reported by the Suzhou medical institutions in possesion of radiological equipment to the " Suzhou radiological health information management platform", a summary was made of the number of items of radiological equipment and the frequencies of radiological examinations in Suzhou medical institutions in 2022 and 2023.Results:In 2023, there were 368 medical institutions with radiological equipment in Suzhou, including 28 tertiary hospitals, 58 secondary hospitals, 159 primary hospitals and 123 unrated others. The total number of the items of radiological equipment was 1 688, with 39 items more than in 2022, about 1.30 units per 10 000 population. There were 5 187 medical radiation workers in total, with 339 more than in 2022. The frequencies of radiological procedures were 1 157.961/per thousand population, with 37.70% being from computed tomography in 2023.Conclusions:The number of items of radiodiagnostic and radiotherapeutic equipment and the frequencies of radiological procedures was at a relatively high level in China, but the distribution of medical resources were in a unbanlanced state. Efforts should be focused on optimization of the allocation of medical resources for the sake of reducing the public radiation dose and protecting public health.

Objective:To standardize the management of Investigator-Initiated Trials(IITs) and improve the quality of research projects, this study takes a tertiary hospital in Beijing as an example to analyze the key risk points in the implementation process of IITs and proposes countermeasures based on the issues identified during the management process.Methods:The study analyzed the IITs conducted at in the hospital from 2022 to 2023, focusing on 4 aspects: project classification evaluation and management (risk management), project implementation quality (process management), collaboration and support conditions(contract review and execution), and participant protection (medical ethics). It examined the key points and difficulties in project process management to standardize the quality management of IITs.Results:The implementation process management of IITs in medical institutions was an essential component for standardized clinical research management and an effective means to ensure the scientific nature of clinical research and the quality of data.Conclusions:Medical institutions should establish an effective and feasible IIT quality management system to comprehensively enhance the quality of IIT project, aiming to produce high-quality clinical research outcomes.

Objective To explore the value of the corrected-size ratio(c-SR)value of intracranial volume computed tomography angiography(CTA)in predicting the risk of intracranial aneurysm rupture.Methods A total of 81 patients with aneurysms who had follow-up records were selected.Among them,39 patients with unruptured aneurysms and underwent regular follow-ups,while 9 patients with unruptured aneurysms opted for surgical intervention.Additionally,surgery was performed on 33 patients with ruptured aneu-rysms.Three-dimensional reconstruction of CTA was performed to obtain the morphological parameters of aneurysms.The initial size ratio(SR)value of aneurysm and the follow-up SR value or postoperative c-SR value were obtained.The changes in SR values of unruptured aneurysms were analyzed,the preoperative SR values and postoperative c-SR values of aneurysms were analyzed.Finally,the correla-tion between the intial SR value of unruptured aneurysms and the c-SR value of ruptured aneurysms was compared.Results No sig-nificant difference was observed between the initial SR value of unruptured aneurysms and the follow-up SR value(P>0.05).Simi-larly,no significant difference was noted between the preoperative SR value of unruptured aneurysms and the postoperative c-SR value(P>0.05).The preoperative SR value of ruptured aneurysms differed significantly from the postoperative c-SR value(P<0.05).There was a significant difference between the initial SR value of unruptured aneurysms and the postoperative c-SR value of ruptured aneurysms(P<0.05).The receiver operating characteristic(ROC)curve analysis was performed on the initial SR value of unrup-tured aneurysms and the postoperative c-SR value of ruptured aneurysms.The area under the curve(AUC)was 0.860 and the best cut-off value was 1.045.Conclusion Unruptured aneurysms remain stable for an extended period of time,exhibiting no significant change in morphological parameters.It can be concluded that surgical intervention does not affect the SR value of aneurysms.In the case of subarachnoid hemorrhage caused by ruptured aneurysms,the parent artery become thinner,then the preoperative SR value of ruptured aneurysms may be exaggerated,which results in the distortion of the preoperative SR value of ruptured aneurysms.However,the postoperative c-SR value is the true SR value before the rup-ture of aneurysms.

Objective:To assess the clinical value of digital PCR (dPCR) for the prenatal diagnosis of common fetal aneuploidies.Methods:A dPCR-based assay was developed for detecting trisomies 21, 18, and 13. A retrospective analysis was carried out on 173 amniotic fluid samples collected by the Prenatal Diagnosis Center of Taizhou Hospital between January 2017 and December 2023. By using chromosomal karyotyping as the gold standard, the diagnostic performance of the multiplex dPCR system was evaluated in a double-blind manner. This study has been approved by the Ethics Committee of Taizhou Hospital (Ethics No. K20250339).Results:Chromosomal karyotyping has identified 59 cases of trisomy 21, 5 cases of trisomy 18, 2 cases of trisomy 13, 6 cases with chromosomal structural abnormalities or mosaicisms, and 101 cases with a normal karyotype. The dPCR results ( Z-score cutoff = 4.0, CI = 99.997%) showed full concordance with karyotyping (sensitivity = 100%, specificity = 100%, Kappa = 1). Among the 6 structurally abnormal or mosaicism samples, dPCR has accurately detected 4 cases, but mis-classified 2 cases of trisomy 21 with very low-level mosaicisms (3.3%, 6.9%, respectively) as normal. Conclusion:The established multiplex dPCR system demonstrated high diagnostic accuracy for common chromosomal aneuploidies, with results available within 24 hours. It can serve as an efficient supplementary tool to conventional chromosomal karyotyping, providing reliable support for time-sensitive clinical decision-making in prenatal diagnosis.

Sennoside A (SA), a typical prodrug, exerts its laxative effect only after its transformation into rheinanthrone catalyzed by gut microbial hydrolases and reductases. Hydrolases have been identified, but reductases remain unknown. By linking a photoreactive group to the SA scaffold, we synthesized a photoaffinity probe to covalently label SA reductases and identified SA reductases using activity-based protein profiling (ABPP). From lysates of an active strain, Bifidobacterium pseudocatenulatum (B. pseudocatenulatum), 397 proteins were enriched and subsequently identified using mass spectrometry (MS). Among these proteins, chromate reductase/nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH) phosphate (NADPH)-dependent flavin mononucleotide (FMN) reductase/oxygen-insensitive NADPH nitroreductase (nfrA) was identified as a potent SA reductase through further bioinformatic analysis and The Universal Protein Resource (UniProt) database screening. We also determined that recombinant nfrA could reduce SA. Our study contributes to further illuminating mechanisms of SA transformation to rheinanthrone and simultaneously offers an effective method to identify gut bacterial reductases.

Sennoside A(SA),a typical prodrug,exerts its laxative effect only after its transformation into rhei-nanthrone catalyzed by gut microbial hydrolases and reductases.Hydrolases have been identified,but reductases remain unknown.By linking a photoreactive group to the SA scaffold,we synthesized a photoaffinity probe to covalently label SA reductases and identified SA reductases using activity-based protein profiling(ABPP).From lysates of an active strain,Bifidobacterium pseudocatenulatum(B.pseu-docatenulatum),397 proteins were enriched and subsequently identified using mass spectrometry(MS).Among these proteins,chromate reductase/nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide(NADH)phosphate(NADPH)-dependent flavin mononucleotide(FMN)reductase/oxygen-insensitive NADPH nitroreductase(nfrA)was identified as a potent SA reductase through further bioinformatic analysis and The Universal Protein Resource(UniProt)database screening.We also determined that recombinant nfrA could reduce SA.Our study contributes to further illuminating mechanisms of SA transformation to rheinanthrone and simultaneously offers an effective method to identify gut bacterial reductases.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the clinical value of digital PCR (dPCR) for the prenatal diagnosis of common fetal aneuploidies. METHODS: A dPCR-based assay was developed for detecting trisomies 21, 18, and 13. A retrospective analysis was carried out on 173 amniotic fluid samples collected by the Prenatal Diagnosis Center of Taizhou Hospital between January 2017 and December 2023. By using chromosomal karyotyping as the gold standard, the diagnostic performance of the multiplex dPCR system was evaluated in a double-blind manner. This study has been approved by the Ethics Committee of Taizhou Hospital (Ethics No. K20250339). RESULTS: Chromosomal karyotyping has identified 59 cases of trisomy 21, 5 cases of trisomy 18, 2 cases of trisomy 13, 6 cases with chromosomal structural abnormalities or mosaicisms, and 101 cases with a normal karyotype. The dPCR results (Z-score cutoff = 4.0, CI = 99.997%) showed full concordance with karyotyping (sensitivity = 100%, specificity = 100%, Kappa = 1). Among the 6 structurally abnormal or mosaicism samples, dPCR has accurately detected 4 cases, but mis-classified 2 cases of trisomy 21 with very low-level mosaicisms (3.3%, 6.9%, respectively) as normal. CONCLUSION The established multiplex dPCR system demonstrated high diagnostic accuracy for common chromosomal aneuploidies, with results available within 24 hours. It can serve as an efficient supplementary tool to conventional chromosomal karyotyping, providing reliable support for time-sensitive clinical decision-making in prenatal diagnosis.
Humans ; Female ; Pregnancy ; Aneuploidy ; Prenatal Diagnosis/methods* ; Karyotyping ; Retrospective Studies ; Polymerase Chain Reaction/methods* ; Chromosome Disorders/genetics* ; Adult ; Trisomy 13 Syndrome/diagnosis* ; Trisomy 18 Syndrome/genetics* ; Down Syndrome/genetics*

Objective To explore the value of the corrected-size ratio(c-SR)value of intracranial volume computed tomography angiography(CTA)in predicting the risk of intracranial aneurysm rupture.Methods A total of 81 patients with aneurysms who had follow-up records were selected.Among them,39 patients with unruptured aneurysms and underwent regular follow-ups,while 9 patients with unruptured aneurysms opted for surgical intervention.Additionally,surgery was performed on 33 patients with ruptured aneu-rysms.Three-dimensional reconstruction of CTA was performed to obtain the morphological parameters of aneurysms.The initial size ratio(SR)value of aneurysm and the follow-up SR value or postoperative c-SR value were obtained.The changes in SR values of unruptured aneurysms were analyzed,the preoperative SR values and postoperative c-SR values of aneurysms were analyzed.Finally,the correla-tion between the intial SR value of unruptured aneurysms and the c-SR value of ruptured aneurysms was compared.Results No sig-nificant difference was observed between the initial SR value of unruptured aneurysms and the follow-up SR value(P>0.05).Simi-larly,no significant difference was noted between the preoperative SR value of unruptured aneurysms and the postoperative c-SR value(P>0.05).The preoperative SR value of ruptured aneurysms differed significantly from the postoperative c-SR value(P<0.05).There was a significant difference between the initial SR value of unruptured aneurysms and the postoperative c-SR value of ruptured aneurysms(P<0.05).The receiver operating characteristic(ROC)curve analysis was performed on the initial SR value of unrup-tured aneurysms and the postoperative c-SR value of ruptured aneurysms.The area under the curve(AUC)was 0.860 and the best cut-off value was 1.045.Conclusion Unruptured aneurysms remain stable for an extended period of time,exhibiting no significant change in morphological parameters.It can be concluded that surgical intervention does not affect the SR value of aneurysms.In the case of subarachnoid hemorrhage caused by ruptured aneurysms,the parent artery become thinner,then the preoperative SR value of ruptured aneurysms may be exaggerated,which results in the distortion of the preoperative SR value of ruptured aneurysms.However,the postoperative c-SR value is the true SR value before the rup-ture of aneurysms.