Objective:To explore the clinical significance of event-related potential P300 in the diagnosis and treatment of cognitive function in patients with chronic insomnia combined with anxiety and depression.Methods:Sixty patients with chronic insomnia complicated with anxiety and depression treated in Wuhan First Hospital from October 2020 to March 2021 were selected as the observation group, and 60 healthy volunteers were selected as the control group in the same period.Hamilton anxiety scale (HAMA) and Hamilton depression scale (HAMD) were used to evaluate the anxiety and depression status of patients.Mini mental state examination (MMSE) and Montreal cognitive assessment scale (MoCA) were used to evaluate the cognitive function of the subjects.All subjects were tested for P300 event-related potential, and the latency and amplitude of P300 event-related potential were recorded.SPSS 25.0 software was used for statistical analysis.Independent sample t-test was used for comparison between groups.Pearson correlation analysis was used to analyze the correlation between cognitive function and P300 event-related potential. Results:The scores of HAMA ((16.65±5.10), (9.30±4.42)) and HAMD ((18.07±3.97), (8.48±3.21)) in the observation group were higher than those in the control group ( t=8.438, 14.545, both P<0.05), and the MoCA score (22.35±4.25) was lower than that(25.65±2.29) in the control group ( t=-5.291, P<0.05). In the eight dimensions of MoCA, the scores of visual space and executive ability ((3.38±1.46), (4.63±0.69)), naming ((2.37±0.78), (2.65±0.48)), language ((2.17±0.96), (2.53±0.81)) and delayed recall ((2.58±1.45), (4.17±0.85))in the observation group were lower than those in the control group ( t=-5.991, -2.394, -2.259, -7.292, all P<0.05). Compared with the control group, the latencies of P300 (N1, N2, P3) in the observation group were significantly prolonged ( t=3.281, 4.342, 4.492, all P<0.01). The latencies of P300 (N1, N2, P3) were positively correlated with HAMD score ( r=0.242, 0.301, 0.311, all P<0.05). The latencies of P300 (N2, P3) were positively correlated with HAMA score ( r=0.205, 0.207, both P<0.05). The latencies of P300 (N2, P3) were negatively correlated with the delayed recall score of MoCA ( r=-0.197, -0.236, both P<0.05). Conclusion:There are different degrees of cognitive impairment in patients with chronic insomnia combined with anxiety and depression.P300 in patients with chronic insomnia combined with anxiety and depression shows prolonged latency.P300 latency is related to depression, anxiety and cognition in patients with chronic insomnia combined with anxiety and depression.Event-related potential P300 may be used as a neurophysiological objective evaluation tool for cognitive impairment in patients with chronic insomnia combined with anxiety and depression.

Objective:To verify the reliability, accuracy and stability of the machine performance check (MPC) system of Varian′s TrueBeam series accelerator.Methods:After the installation was completed, the acceptance data were compared with the results of the first MPC operation to verify the reliability of the MPC results; the accuracy of the MPC results in the image-guided radiotherapy (IGRT) application was verified by the method of artificially introducing errors. The mechanical performance results of 60 groups of MPC from March 2019 to March 2020 were collected to calculate the mean value and standard deviation and compare the stability differences of each index.Results:The equipment error parameters obtained by MPC were all lower than those obtained by acceptance. The maximum difference between two sets of data was only 2mm and the threshold ratio was less than 20%. MPC had a high sensing accuracy for radiation and imaging position shift, and the r values were more than 90%. The vertical direction of the couch had a poor sense of displacement accuracy, and the r value was less than 73.7%. For this verification project, the angle of the treatment bed was the most stable, and the standard deviation did not exceed 0.01. The stability of other indexes did not significantly differ.Conclusions:MPC can be used as a verification tool for routine quality assurance of IGRT. The verification accuracy of radiation and imaging centers are better than the mechanical accuracy of gantry, collimator and couch.

OBJECTIVE The abnormal amyloid-β(Aβ)and oxidative stress assiociated with the progression of Alzheimer disease(AD).Quercetin has been reported to possess antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties in neurodegenerative disorders.In this present study,we designed to characterize the mechanisms by which quer-cetin exerts neuroprotective effects in murine neuroblas-toma N2a cells stably expressing human Swedish mutant amyloid precursor protein(N2a/APP).METHODS N2a/APP cells were treated with quercetin at concentrations of 10,20 and 50 μ mol·L-1 for 24 h.Cell viability was examined with CCK-8 assays.The protein levels of ERK1/2 and Akt were detected by Western blotting.Intra-cellular reactive oxygen species(ROS)was detected by a fluorescent probe 2,7-dichlorofluorescein diacetate(DCFH-DA).The mitochondrial membrane potential(Δψ m)in N2a/APP cells was detected by using JC-1 staining method.Immunofluorescence was used to detect the generation of 8-hydroxy-2′-deoxyguanosine(8-OHdG)and 4-hydroxynonenal(4-HNE).RESULTS Quercetin attenuated the enhancement of p-ERK1/2,reductions of p-Akt,and decreased levels of APP expression.More-over,quercetin alleviated loss of mitochondria membrane potential(MMP)since it attenuates these oxidative stress,as reflected in the levels of ROS,4-HNE and 8-OHdG,was elevated in N2a/APP cells and these effects were again ameliorated by quercetin.CONCLUSION Neuroprotection by quercetin in N2a/APP cells involves normalizing the impaired mitochondrial function and reducing oxidative stress via inactivation of the ERK1/2 and activation of the Akt pathways.

Objective To improve the efficiency of blood collection in hemodialysis patients by inventing and applying new blood collection needles.Methods One hundred and eighty cases of hemodialysis patients were randomly divided into control group 1(CG1),control group 2(CG2),experimental group(EG). Comparison of the three groups in time of blood collection,the number of operation that had the risk of acupuncture injury and the number of the blood samples that had been contaminated. Results There were statistically significant difference (P<0.05)in three groups.The number of times of blood collection in the number of operations that had the risk of acupuncture injury,and the number of the blood sample that had been contaminated. CG1 had the longest blood collection time(12.55 min),EG had the shortest blood collection time(5.09 min);the risk of acupuncture injury was the highest in CG2 and the lowest in the EG.The number of contamination of blood samples and the amount of inaccurate sample in CG1 were the highest,and the lowest in the EG. Conclusions The working efficiency of transfer type anti-acupuncture needle(TTAN)during blood sample collection in hemodialysis patients is signifi-cantly better than that of traditional blood collection method,and it is helpful to reduce the risk of acupuncture injury and the risk of contamination in blood samples,which is worthy of promotion.

Objective:To investigate the current status and quality and safety of radiation therapy resources in medical institutions in Hunan province.Methods:The basic situation questionnaire, quality and safety self-assessment form were designed according to the content of the survey, distributed and recovered through the network, and the survey was conducted on all medical institutions (excluding military hospitals) conducting radiotherapy in Hunan province in 2022, and the quality and safety evaluation was checked by the Hunan Radiotherapy Quality Control Center using stratified sampling field inspection. The differences between the self-evaluation scores of radiotherapy quality and safety and the on-site inspection scores of each unit was compared using Wilcoxon test.Results:By the end of 2022, there were 76 medical institutions (excluding military hospitals) conducting radiotherapy in Hunan province, including 62 tertiary hospitals and 14 secondary hospitals, with a total of 44 253 radiotherapy patients admitted annually. The total number of personnel engaged in radiotherapy was 1 381, including 746 physicians, 205 physicists, 397 technicians and 33 maintenance engineers. There were a total of 88 accelerators (including 3 tomotherapy units), 10 gamma knives, and 28 rear-loading machines, with 1.33 gas pedals per million population. There were 36 units that were carrying out three-dimensional conformal technology, 60 static intensity modulation technology, 20 volumetric rotational intensity modulation, 27 stereotactic radiotherapy, 44 image-guided radiotherapy, 33 respiratory motion management, and 27 rear-loading radiotherapy. In the quality and safety evaluation situation, the basic requirements of radiotherapy specialty scored high, with 2 units achieving full marks and no failing units. Radiotherapy personnel and organization, radiotherapy process, documentation record score and other aspects of no full-score units, the score was concentrated in 60~＜80 points, and all have part of the unit failed.Conclusions:The radiotherapy industry in Hunan province has been developed steadily in recent years in general, and the structure of radiotherapy personnel tends to be reasonable, but there still exists uneven distribution of radiotherapy resources, poor utilization of equipment in some areas, and inadequate development of technology. The overall quality and safety evaluation are good, but there are still many deficiencies in the organizational requirements of radiotherapy personnel, process requirements and documentation, which need to be continuously optimized and improved in the future, and at the same time, field inspections will be intensified to ensure the quality and safety of radiotherapy.

Objective:To analyze clinical characteristics and high-frequency ultrasound features of localized scleroderma, and to construct and validate a non-invasive prediction model for staging of skin lesions based on the high-frequency ultrasound features.Methods:Patients with localized scleroderma were retrospectively collected from the Department of Dermatology and Venereology, Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University from February 1, 2021 to February 28, 2023, and clinical data as well as high-frequency ultrasound and pathologic features of 85 lesions from these patients were analyzed. Lesions were divided into modeling cohort and validation cohort according to the chronological order of patient enrollment. The univariate analysis and multivariable logistic regression models were used to analyze the independent influential factors in the staging of localized scleroderma lesions in the modeling cohort, construct the regression equation, and to build a nomogram prediction model. The Bootstrap validation method was used for internal validation, and the predictive performance of the nomogram model in the modeling cohort and validation cohort was further evaluated by the calibration curve and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve.Results:In the modeling cohort, 60 patients with localized scleroderma, including 16 males and 44 females, were enrolled, with the age [ M ( Q1, Q3) ] being 22.0 (10.0, 39.2) years, and there were 28 lesions in the oedematous phase and 32 lesions in the fibrotic and atrophic phase; in the validation cohort, 25 patients with localized scleroderma, including 8 males and 17 females, were enrolled, with the age being 18.0 (7.0, 30.0) years, and there were 9 lesions in the oedematous phase and 16 lesions in the fibrotic and atrophic phase. Univariate analysis in the modeling cohort showed no significant differences in the age and gender of patients or the location of lesions between the oedematous phase group and the fibrotic and atrophic phase group (all P > 0.05) ; compared with the oedematous phase group, the fibrotic and atrophic phase group showed an increased proportion of patients with disease duration ≥ 2 years (20/32 cases vs. 10/28 cases, χ2 = 4.29, P = 0.038), decreased thicknesses of the subcutaneous fat layer in skin lesions (1.4 [0.0, 26.0] mm vs. 1.8 [0.1, 14.3] mm, Z = -2.14, P = 0.032), increased decrements in the subcutaneous fat layer thickness in the lesional sites compared with non-lesional control sites (1.8 [0.5, 11.0] vs. 0.3 [-1.9, 8.0] mm, Z = -4.72, P < 0.001), increased ratios of the lesional elasticity values to control elasticity values (2.9 [1.8, 6.9] vs. 1.8 [1.1, 5.9], Z = -4.34, P < 0.001), and increased ultrasound-based lesional activity scores (5.0 [3.0, 8.0] points vs. 3.0 [0.0, 5.0] points, Z = -4.76, P < 0.001). Multivariable logistic stepwise regression analysis showed that the disease duration ≥ 2 years ( P = 0.032), increased ratios of the lesional elasticity values to control elasticity values ( P = 0.019), increased ultrasound-based lesional activity scores ( P = 0.013), and increased decrements in the subcutaneous fat layer thickness in the lesions compared with the controls ( P = 0.013) helped to confirm localized scleroderma lesions in the fibrotic and atrophic phase. Based on the results of regression analysis, a total of 4 factors were included in the nomogram prediction model, including the disease duration, the decrement in the subcutaneous fat layer thickness in lesions compared with controls, the ratio of the lesional elasticity values to control elasticity values, and the ultrasound-based lesional activity score; additionally, the constructed logistic regression model formula for predicting the probability (p) of skin lesions in fibrotic and atrophic phase was "ln (p/[1 - p]) = -9.595 + 2.204 × the disease duration + 0.784 × the decrement in the subcutaneous fat layer thickness in the lesions compared with the controls (mm) + 0.887 × the ratio of the lesional elasticity values to control elasticity values + 1.374 × the ultrasound-based lesional activity score". The calibration curve showed a good predictive performance of the model through the Bootstrap validation method, and the ROC curve demonstrated good discrimination and accuracy (modeling cohort: area under the curve = 0.936, 95% CI: 0.879 - 0.994; validation cohort: area under the curve = 0.889, 95% CI: 0.748 - 1.000) . Conclusions:High-frequency ultrasound could provide essential details for staging the localized scleroderma lesions. Based on the disease duration, subcutaneous fat layer thickness, skin elasticity values, and ultrasound-based lesional activity scores, the constructed prediction model could predict the stages of localized scleroderma lesions with excellent discrimination, accuracy, and predictive performance.

As a member of the AFF (AF4/FMR2) family, AFF4 is a transcription elongation factor that is a component of the super elongation complex. AFF4 serves as a scaffolding protein that connects transcription factors and promotes gene transcription through elongation and chromatin remodelling. Here, we investigated the effect of AFF4 on human dental follicle cells (DFCs) in osteogenic differentiation. In this study, we found that small interfering RNA-mediated depletion of AFF4 resulted in decreased alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity and impaired mineralization. In addition, the expression of osteogenic-related genes (DLX5, SP7, RUNX2 and BGLAP) was significantly downregulated. In contrast, lentivirus-mediated overexpression of AFF4 significantly enhanced the osteogenic potential of human DFCs. Mechanistically, we found that both the mRNA and protein levels of ALKBH1, a critical regulator of epigenetics, changed in accordance with AFF4 expression levels. Overexpression of ALKBH1 in AFF4-depleted DFCs partially rescued the impairment of osteogenic differentiation. Our data indicated that AFF4 promoted the osteogenic differentiation of DFCs by upregulating the transcription of ALKBH1.
Biomarkers ; metabolism ; Cell Differentiation ; Cells, Cultured ; Dental Sac ; drug effects ; metabolism ; Gene Expression Regulation ; Humans ; Osteogenesis ; genetics ; Repressor Proteins ; Transcription Factors ; genetics ; metabolism ; Transcriptional Elongation Factors ; metabolism