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Objective To investigate the correlation between plasma cystatin C (CysC) level and carotid atherosclerotic plaque in patients with ischemic stroke.Methods The clinical data in patients with acute ischemic stroke were analyzed retrospectively.According to the results of carotid artery ultrasound,the patients were divided into either a non-plaque group or a plaque group.Then the plaque group was redivided into a stable plaque subgroup and a vulnerable plaque subgroup.Multivariate logistic regression analysis and Pearson correlation analysis were used to explore the risk factors for carotid atherosclerotic plaque.Results A total of 226 patients with acute ischemic stroke were enrolled,172 of them had carotid plaque,and 54 had no plaque.Of the patients with carotid plaque,94 were stable plaque and 78 were vulnerable plaque.The age (71.82 ± 9.94 years vs.60.74 ± 13.81 years; t =6.160,P =0.014),proportion of patients with ischemic heart disease (11.6％ vs.1.9％; x2=6.169,P=0.020),systolic blood pressure (148.770± 21.007 mm Hg vs.142.240 ± 19.404 mm Hg; t =2.029,t =0.044),plasma CysC concentration (1.046 ± 0.438 mg/L vs.0.860 ±0.214 mg/L; t =3.006,P =0.003),and carotid IMT (1.122 ±0.278 mm vs.0.878 ±0.250 mm; t =5.762,P=0.000) in the plaque group were significantly higher than those in the non-plaque group.Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that the age (odds ratio [OR] 1.079,95％ confidence interval [CI] 1.044-1.116; P=0.000) and IMT (OR 31.450,95％ CI 6.233-158.692; P=0.000) was the independent risk factor for carotid plaque,while there was no significant independent correlation between the plasma CysC level and carotid plaque (P =0.217).Only IMT in the stable plaque subgroup was significantly higher than the vulnerable plaque group (1.176 ±0.285 mm vs.1.058 ±0.258 mm; t =-2.824,P =0.005),and it was the independent protective factor for the carotid plaque stability (OR 0.195,95％ CI 0.059-0.064; P =0.007).Pearson correlation analysis showed that the plasma CysC level was positively correlated with the age (r =0.375,P =0.000) and serum creatinine level (r =0.462,P =0.000),but it was not significantly correlated with carotid IMT (r =0.075,P =0.264).Conclusions In patients with ischemic stroke,no correlations were found between the plasma CysC level and carotid atherosclerotic plaque,plaque stability,and IMT.

Objective:To explore the application effect of interactive group management mode in puerpera with postpartum diastasis recti abdominis, and to provide reference for optimizing the health management of puerpera with rectus abdominis separation.Methods:This study was a randomized controlled trial. Convenience sampling method was used to select 114 puerpera with postpartum diastasis recti abdominis who were treated in Maternal and Child Health Hospital of Zhenjiang City from January to June 2022 as the research objects. According to the random number table method, the postpartum women were divided into an intervention group and a control group with 57 cases each. The intervention group received interactive group management for 12 weeks, while the control group received routine health guidance. Before and after the intervention, the two groups were evaluated by diastasis recti abdominis, rehabilitation knowledge-attitude-practice, general self-efficacy, and the duration of the first-level test results of the eight-level abdominal bridge.Results:The 55 cases were included in the final intervention group, while 56 cases were included in the control group. After intervention, the separation distance of rectus abdominis of the intervention group was (2.27 ± 0.47) cm, and that of the control group was (2.48 ± 0.39) cm. The difference between the two groups was statistically significant ( t = 2.53, P<0.05). The knowledge-attitude-practice total score and each item score of diastasis recti abdominis rehabilitation in the intervention group were (106.84 ± 5.78), (61.53 ± 4.29), (25.42 ± 2.26), (19.89 ± 1.89) points respectively while in the control group were (73.77 ± 8.33), (38.48 ± 7.56), (20.73 ± 3.07), (13.55 ± 1.99) points. The differences between the two groups were statistically significant ( t values were 9.16 -24.28, all P<0.01). The general self-efficacy score of the intervention group was (27.47 ± 3.16) points, and that of the control group was (26.05 ± 3.43) points. The difference between the two groups was statistically significant ( t = 2.26, P<0.05). The first-level test time of eight-level abdominal bridge in the intervention group was (80.29 ± 11.50) s, which was significantly higher than (29.39 ± 6.09) s in the control group, and the difference was statistically significant ( t = 29.20, P<0.01). The completion rate of exercise in the intervention group was (90.20 ± 1.83)%. Higher than (69.52 ± 8.04)% in the control group, with a statistically significant difference ( t = 13.73, P<0.01). Conclusions:Interactive group management can significantly ameliorate the separation distance of diastasis recti abdominis, increase the level of knowledge-attitude-practice of diastasis recti abdominis rehabilitation and the compliance of rehabilitation exercise, improve the self-efficacy, prolong the first-level test time of eight-level abdominal bridge, and improve the abdominal core muscle strength for puerpera.

OBJECTIVETo understand the characteristics and retention situation of clients in extension clinic of methadone maintenance therapy.

METHODSFrom December 20, 2010 to March 10, 2011, the system sampling method was used to get the cases. A total of 462 heroin addicts from 22 methadone maintenance therapy clinics and extension clinics located in Mangshi, Ruili, Longchuan, Yingjiang, Lianghe of Dehong prefecture, Yunnan province were interviewed, and the demographic characteristics, quality of life, urine testing results for morphine of the patients between the extension MMT clinic and standard MMT clinic were also collected and compared. A cohort study was conducted to analyze retention situation of the new clients with Kaplan Meier method during 9 months treatment.

RESULTSOf the 462 cases, 239 cases were from standard MMT clinic, and 223 cases were from the extension MMT clinic. Among them, 117 cases were new research objects into the group during the investigation. Among the clients of extension MMT clinic, 96.7% (147/152) of them were males, 37.5% (57/152) were Dai nationality, and 61.2% (93/152) were married, 38.8% (59/152) with primary school education, 95.4% (145/152) lived with their family or relatives, 96.7% (147/152) could arrive at the clinic from their habitation within 15 minutes. The positive detection rates 72% (13/18), 71% (24/34), 58% (30/52), 29% (15/52), 14% (6/44), 14% (4/29), 15% (5/34), 17% (6/35), 6% (2/33), 16% (5/31) of urine-morphine testing among new clients of extension MMT clinics decreased as the period of treatment lengthened (χ(2) = 61.04, P < 0.05). The period of retention of the clients in extension MMT clinics was 175-days averagely, with an average retention 122 days of when withdrawing. The retention rates of the clients were 52% (37/71)and 61% (28/46) at 9th month of the extension MMT clinics and standard MMT clinics respectively. There was no difference in the retention rate between those of two types of clinics (χ(2) = 0.82, P = 0.37) .

CONCLUSIONMost of the clients in extension MMT clinics lived with their family or relatives, and spent less time on the way to the clinics. After 9 months methadone maintenance therapy, the quality of life of clients in extension clinics was improved while addiction among them decreased. The extension clinic was an effective strategy for retention in remote areas.

China ; Cohort Studies ; Demography ; Heroin Dependence ; Humans ; Male ; Methadone ; Opiate Substitution Treatment ; Quality of Life ; Substance-Related Disorders ; Treatment Outcome

Many brain disorders do not show visible lesions and most likely are resulted from abnormalities in regional brain activity or connectivity.Conventional diagnostic neuroimaging techniques are not capable of precisely localizing the abnormal brain activity,but the recently developed integrated PET/MR technology may have the potential to bridge this gap.Integrated PET/MR has been used in clinical practice.However,its primary application is still a combination of functional PET imaging and structural MRI.Simultaneous PET/fMRI,a "functional+functional" imaging technique,holds the advantages of high spatial and temporal resolution,high sensitivity and specificity,and non-invasiveness.Globally,simultaneous PET/fMRI research is still in its beginning stage,and a few initial PET/fMRI studies have shown that voxel-wise correlation between PET and fMRI metrics was not very high,indicating that they may reflect very different aspects of brain activity.To date more than 5 integrated PET/MR scanners have been set up in mainland China.China has the largest patient population,rapidly developing PET imaging techniques,and well-established capabilities in fMRI neuroimaging analytics.PET/fMRI studies require multi-disciplinary collaborations in nuclear medicine,radiology,chemistry,medical physics,computation science,and cognitive neuroscience.At the moment,the research management system in Chinese hospitals is not conducive to such collaborations and further improvement is needed to encourage multi-disciplinary research such as PET/fMRI.Given the known advantages in patient population and other resources,multi-center and multi-disciplinary studies hold the potential to put China at the leading edge of PET/fMRI research and produce high value results that will advance both neuroimaging sciences and future patient care in brain disorders.

Synthetic electroactive microbial consortia, which include exoelectrogenic and electrotrophic communities, catalyze the exchange of chemical and electrical energy in cascade metabolic reactions among different microbial strains. In comparison to a single strain, a community-based organisation that assigns tasks to multiple strains enables a broader feedstock spectrum, faster bi-directional electron transfer, and greater robustness. Therefore, the electroactive microbial consortia held great promise for a variety of applications such as bioelectricity and biohydrogen production, wastewater treatment, bioremediation, carbon and nitrogen fixation, and synthesis of biofuels, inorganic nanomaterials, and polymers. This review firstly summarized the mechanisms of biotic-abiotic interfacial electron transfer as well as biotic-biotic interspecific electron transfer in synthetic electroactive microbial consortia. This was followed by introducing the network of substance and energy metabolism in a synthetic electroactive microbial consortia designed by using the "division-of-labor" principle. Then, the strategies for engineering synthetic electroactive microbial consortiums were explored, which included intercellular communications optimization and ecological niche optimization. We further discussed the specific applications of synthetic electroactive microbial consortia. For instance, the synthetic exoelectrogenic communities were applied to biomass generation power technology, biophotovoltaics for the generation of renewable energy and the fixation of CO₂. Moreover, the synthetic electrotrophic communities were applied to light-driven N₂ fixation. Finally, this review prospected future research of the synthetic electroactive microbial consortia.
Microbial Consortia ; Synthetic Biology ; Electron Transport ; Electricity ; Biodegradation, Environmental

OBJECTIVE：To investigate the effects of curcumin on bone metabolism balance in ovariectomized osteoporosis model rats ，and to investigate its potential mechanism. METHODS ：Totally female Wistar rats were randomly divided into blank group（group A ），model group （group B ），estradiol group [group C （positive control ），estradiol valerate 50 μg（/ kg·d）]， curcumin low-dose ，medium-dose and high-dose groups [group D-F ，55，110，165 μg（/ kg·d）]，with 15 rats in each group. Except for group A ，other rats were ovariectomized to establish osteoporosis model. After modeling ，group A and B were given normal saline intrgastrically ，and administration groups were given relevant medicine intrgastrically 30 mL/kg，once a day ，for consecutive 12 weeks. The contents of serum bone metabolism markers [BALP ，CBF-α1，CTX-Ⅰ，PINP and OC] were determined by ELISA. The bone mineral density （BMD）and trabecular structure indexes [relative bone volume fraction （BV/TV），trabecular number （Tb.N），trabecular thickness （Tb.Th），connectivity density （Conn. D ），trabecular separation （Tb.Sp）and structure model index （SMI）] were determined by micro CT imaging system. The mRNA and protein expression of OPG and RANKL in hypothalamus and femur were determined by RT-PCR and Western blotting assay. RESULTS ：Compared with group A ，the contents of serum bone metabolism markers ，BMD，BV/TV，Tb.N，Tb.Th，Conn.D，mRNA and protein expression of OPG were decreased significantly in group B ，while Tb.Sp ，SMI，mRNA and protein expression of RANKL were increased significantly @qq.com （P＜0.05）. Compared with group B ，the contents of serum bone metabolism markers ，BMD，BV/TV，Tb.N，Tb.Th，Conn.D，mRNA and protein expression of OPG were increased significantly in administration groups ；Tb.Sp，SMI，mRNA and protein expression of RANKL were decreased significantly ，in a dose-dependent manner among curcumin groups （P＜0.05 or P＜0.01）. CONCLUSIONS ：Curcumin can improve the level of bone metabolism，increase BMD ，improve the trabecular microstructure and inhibit bone absorption in ovariectomized osteoporosis model rats. Its mechanism may be related to the regulation of OPG/RANKL signaling pathway.