AIM: To select the prescription of harmine hydrochloride cream and to study the anti-itching effect of harmine hydrochloride cream. METHODS: A comprehensive score system,including appearance,homogeneity,coating performance,viscosity,particle diameter,temperature-resistant test,and centrifugal effect were established as evaluative criteria. Then uniform design was used for selecting the prescription of harmine hydrochloride cream. The histamine phosphate and 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) were used to induce mouse cutaneous pruritus. Then the anti-pruritic effect of harmine hydrochloride cream in contrast to Piyanping Ointment as control group. RESULTS: The optimized prescription was as follows: 8% of monostearin,5% of Vaseline,6. 1% of beeswax, 1. 1% of Span-60,1. 9% of Tween-80. The local application of harmine hydrochloride cream could alleviate the itching induced by histamine phosphate and 5-HT,respectively. And the anti-pruritic effect of harmine hydrochloride cream was stronger than the effect of the positive control group. CONCLUSION: The prescription of the harmine hydrochloride cream is available,reasonable,and reproducible. The harmine hydrochloride cream has the anti-pruritic effect.

Objective To analyze the demographic characteristics and the death causes of the residents in Anhui province,and provide evidence for the disease prevention and control.Methods Using descriptive epidemiological analysis,the demographic characteristics and death data of the national disease surveillance points (DSPs) in Anhui province in 2013 were analyed by areas.Results The aging of the population was observed in all the areas in Anhui,which was most obvious in Jianghuai,followed by Wannan and Huaibei.The overall mortality was 627.10/100 000.The mortalities of diseases varied with sex,area and age.Among the 3 areas,the overall mortality,chronic disease mortality and injury mortality were highest in Huaibei and lowest in Wannan.The area specific difference in mortality of infectious diseases was small.Regardless of areas or the types of diseases,the mortality was higher in males than in females.Deaths caused by diseases with unknown origins were common in residents aged ＞ 65 years.The mortality of chronic diseases was higher in residents aged ＞45 years,especially in those aged 65-84 years.The mortality of injuries was higher in age groups ＞15 years and ＞45 years.The mortality of infectious diseases peaked at both young age group and old age group.The top five death causes were cerebrovascular diseases,malignant tumors,heart diseases,respiratory diseases and injuries.Regardless of sex or area,the major death causes were similar,but the ranks were slightly different.The major death causes varied in different age groups,but they were similar in same age group in different areas.The major death causes were diseases originated in perinatal period,and congenital malformations,deformations and chromosomal abnormalities in children aged ＜ 1 year.The major death causes in children aged 1-14 years were injuries,diseases originated in perinatal period,congenital malformations,deformations and chromosomal abnormalities.Injuries and malignant tumors were the first and second death causes in residents aged 15-44 years.Malignant tumors,injuries,cerebrovascular diseases and heart diseases were the major death causes in residents aged 45-64 years.The major death causes were cerebrovascular diseases,malignant tumors,heart diseases and respiratory diseases in residents aged 65-84 years and heart diseases,cerebrovascular diseases,respiratory diseases and malign tumors in residents aged ≥85 years.Conclusion The major death causes in residents in Anhui province were cerebrovascular diseases,malignant tumors and injuries.Close attention should be paid to the prevention and control of cerebrovascular diseases,malignant tumors and heart diseases in age group ≥45 years.It is necessary to strengthen the prevention and control of injuries in age group 15-44 years.Huaibei is a key area of disease prevention and control in Anhui,especially chronic disease and injury preventions.

Objective To explore the relationship of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) performance in juvenile dermatomyositis (JDM) with clinical characteristics, especially serum muscle enzyme abnormalities. Methods The images of 50 cases of JDM were reviewed, and the affected skin, subcutaneous connective tissue, muscle fascia and muscle were evaluated. The range of muscle edema under MRI images was categorized into 1-3 grades from mild to complete involvement. By comparing the MRI classification with muscle enzyme, we aim to reveal the linkage between the degree of muscle damage and the levels of muscle enzymes. The sequence of MRI examination of the thigh included rapid spin echo sequence FSE T1W, and the fat suppression sequence STIR in both coronary and axial position. Results In the 50 cases of dermatomyositis, there were 49 cases of muscle edema, 28 cases of myofasciitis, 9 cases of subcutaneous connective tissue inflammation, and 4 cases of thickening skin. Of 49 cases of muscle edema, there are 16 cases in grade 1, 24 in grade 2 and 9 in grade 3. The median value of all muscle enzyme in the grade 2 group was higher than that in the other two groups, and the value of AST was statistically significant, P<0.05. Conclusions The detection rate of JDM using MRI is high, which can help judge the severity and range of involvement. The MRI findings of JDM mainly demonstrated muscle edema, mostly moderate degree, followed by muscular fasciitis.

Objective: To investigate the influence of occupational stress on recurrent spontaneous abortion (RSA) in women of childbearing age. Methods: From January to December, 2017, 75 working women of childbearing age (25-35 years) who were admitted to a provisional hospital in Lanzhou, China and diagnosed with RSA were assigned into patient group. At a 1∶4 ratio, 300 age-matched working women who had normal first pregnancy were randomly selected as controls. A case-control study was conducted by a self-made questionnaire and the effort-reward imbalance scale. The impact of occupational stress on RSA in women of childbearing age was analyzed by evaluation of occupational harmful factors, regularity, effort-reward ratio, and sleep quality. Results: There were significant differences in the distribution of sleep, daily exercise, night shift, extrinsic-effort/low-reward score, and effort/low-reward score between the patient group and the control group (χ²=7.867, P<0.05; χ²=7.377, P<0.05; χ²=3.714, P<0.05; χ²=6.651, P<0.05; χ²=8.556, P<0.05) . With controlled factors such as general conditions and living habits, logistic regression analysis showed that poor sleep quality and high-effort/low-reward were risk factors for RSA (odds ratio[OR]=1.462, 95% confidence interval[CI]: 1.032~2.073; OR=3.253, 95%CI: 1.169~9.053) . A regular work was a protective factor against RSA (OR=0.644, 95%CI: 0.438-0.946) . Conclusion In occupational stress, irregular working hours, lack of sleep, and high-effort/low-reward are risk factors for RSA. Working women of childbearing age should ensure adequate sleep, pay attention to effort-reward balance, and make a regular work schedule.

Background Zinc is a trace element essential for normal fetal heart development, and excess zinc can be toxic. The relationship between maternal and fetal zinc levels and the development of congenital heart disease (CHD) in the offspring is unclear. Objective To study the effects of maternal and neonatal zinc exposure levels on the risk of developing CHD in the offspring. Methods The data and biological samples of the study subjects were derived from the birth cohort established by Gansu Provincial Maternity and Child Care Hospital in Lanzhou from 2010 to 2012. Questionnaire surveys were conducted at baseline in the first trimester and at follow-up visits in the second trimester, the third trimester, and 42 d after delivery. Maternal venous blood during the third trimester and neonatal umbilical venous blood at delivery were collected, and information on their birth outcomes was extracted from medical records. Ninety-seven children with CHD diagnosed by echocardiography at birth and confirmed at the follow-up after 42 d were selected as the case group, and 194 healthy full-term infants were selected as the control group, 1∶2 matched for maternal age and geographical location from the database. The zinc concentrations in whole blood of pregnant mothers and umbilical cord blood of fetuses in both groups were measured by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. According to the quartiles P₂₅ and P₇₅ of zinc levels in the whole blood of pregnant mothers and neonatal cord blood in the control group, zinc exposure was divided into three groups: low, medium, and high. After adjusting for maternal vaginal bleeding in early pregnancy, pre-pregnancy folic acid and vitamin supplementation, birth weight, and umbilical cerclage confounders, a multiple conditional logistic regression model was applied to analyze the associations between maternal whole blood and fetal umbilical cord blood zinc levels and the risk of CHD in the offspring, and a further subgroup analysis was performed by disease classification. Results The medians (P₂₅, P₇₅) of maternal whole blood zinc levels in the case group and the control group were 5.034 (3.456, 6.644) and 4.693 (3.411, 5.646) mg·L⁻¹, respectively, with significant differences between the two groups (P=0.029). The medians (P_25, P₇₅) of neonatal cord blood zinc level was 2.153 (1.479, 2.405) mg·L⁻¹ in the case group and 1.636 (1.304, 1.979) mg·L⁻¹ in the control group, with significant differences between the two groups (P<0.001). The zinc levels of maternal whole blood and neonatal cord blood in the simple CHD group were significantly higher than those in the control group (P<0.05). The multiple conditional logistic regression model showed that compared with the maternal medium zinc exposure level group (3.41-5.65 mg·L⁻¹), the risk of offspring CHD was 2.225 times of the high exposure level group (>5.65 mg·L⁻¹) (OR=2.225, 95%CI: 1.017-4.868). Compared with the neonatal medium zinc exposure level group (1.30-1.98 mg·L⁻¹), the neonatal high exposure level group (>1.98 mg·L⁻¹) also had an increased risk of CHD (OR=4.132, 95%CI: 1.801-9.480). The subgroup analysis results showed that compared with corresponding medium exposure level groups, the risk of simple CHD in the offspring of the maternal high zinc exposure level group was increased (OR=4.081, 95%CI: 1.427-11.669), and the risks of simple CHD (OR=7.122, 95%CI: 2.126-23.854) and complex CHD (OR=5.165, 95%CI: 1.859-14.346) of neonates of the neonatal high zinc exposure level group were increased. Conclusion Under the exposure levels of the study population, high concentrations of zinc exposure in pregnant mothers and neonates may be associated with the incidence of CHD.

At present the parkinsonian rigidity assessment depends on subjective judgment of neurologists according to their experience. This study presents a parkinsonian rigidity quantification system based on the electromechanical driving device and mechanical impedance measurement method. The quantification system applies the electromechanical driving device to perform the rigidity clinical assessment tasks (flexion-extension movements) in Parkinson's disease (PD) patients, which captures their motion and biomechanical information synchronously. Qualified rigidity features were obtained through statistical analysis method such as least-squares parameter estimation. By comparing the judgments from both the parkinsonian rigidity quantification system and neurologists, correlation analysis was performed to find the optimal quantitative feature. Clinical experiments showed that the mechanical impedance has the best correlation (Pearson correlation coefficient = 0.872, < 0.001) with the clinical unified Parkinson's disease rating scale (UPDRS) rigidity score. Results confirmed that this measurement system is capable of quantifying parkinsonian rigidity with advantages of simple operation and effective assessment. In addition, the mechanical impedance can be adopted to help doctors to diagnose and monitor parkinsonian rigidity objectively and accurately.

Objective To investigate and validate the effect of relevant parameters of pancreatic anatomic structure under standard pancreatic neck transection in predicting postoperative pancreatic fistula (POPF). Methods A total of 140 patients who underwent pancreaticoduodenectomy (PD) in The General Hospital of Western Theater Command from June 2016 to December 2019 were enrolled as prediction group, and 82 patients who underwent PD in the same hospital from January 2020 to March 2021 were enrolled as validation group. Baseline levels were compared between the two groups. A univariate analysis was performed for the prediction group to screen out the risk factors for POPF, and in the validation group, the interclass correlation coefficient (ICC) was used to compare the consistency between preoperative imaging measurements and actual intraoperative measurements. The risk factors for POPF were validated in each group. The t -test was used for comparison of normally distributed continuous data between groups, and the Mann-Whitney U test was used for comparison of continuous data with skewed distribution between groups; the chi-square test was used for comparison of categorical data between groups. The multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to investigate the risk factors for POPF. Youden index was calculated, GraphPad Prism was used to plot the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve, and the area under the ROC curve (AUC) was calculated. ICC was used for the reliability analysis of preoperative imaging measurements and actual intraoperative measurements. Results Pancreatic duct diameter at the pancreatic neck (odds ratio [ OR ]=0.347, 95% confidence interval [ CI ]: 0.192-0.626, P < 0.001), the major axis of the pancreatic neck parenchyma ( OR =1.127, 95% CI : 1.031-1.231, P =0.008), and the minor axis of the pancreatic neck parenchyma ( OR =1.350, 95% CI : 1.137-1.602, P =0.001) were risk factors for POPF. Pancreatic duct diameter at the pancreatic neck had an AUC of 0.785 (95% CI : 0.128-0.302, P < 0.001) and a cut-off value of 2.7 mm; the major axis of the pancreatic neck parenchyma had an AUC of 0.669 (95% CI : 0.564-0.774, P =0.006) and a cut-off value of 19.3 mm, and the minor axis of the pancreatic neck parenchyma had an AUC of 0.720 (95% CI : 0.627-0.813, P < 0.001) and a cut-off value of 9.9 mm. Preoperative imaging measurements were highly consistent with actual intraoperative measurements for 30 patients in the validation group, with an ICC of > 0.75 ( P < 0.001). Grouping validation of cut-off values showed that there was a significant different in the incidence rate of POPF between the high-risk group and the low-risk group based on pancreatic duct diameter at the pancreatic neck ( χ 2 =0.645, P =0.011), as well as between the high-risk group and the low-risk group based on the minor axis of the pancreatic neck parenchyma ( χ 2 =5.901, P =0.015). Conclusion Structural features of the pancreatic neck under standard pancreatic neck transection are risk factors for POPF, which can be differentiated by preoperative CT, and the method is easy and convenient in clinical practice.