Objective To study the phonetic characteristics of patients with abnormal plosive consonant of functional articulation disorders (FAD) and the possible treatment approaches.Methods A total of patients of 4~26 years old with abnormal plosive consonant of FAD received speech assessment and the phonetic characteristics.Incorrect articulation patterns and forms of plosive consonant /b/,/p/,/d/,/t/,/g/ and /k/ were analysed.The targeted speech treatment was established to correct the erroneous places and types of pronunciation.Results The error rate of /t/ (82/87)was the highest,followed by /k/(77/87),/d/(67/87),/g/(60/87),/p/(59/87) and /b/(3/87) which was the lowest.The error rate of fricative was 65.52% as the highest among all the erroneous patterns,followed by unaspiration(63.22%),forward movement of the tongue(54.02%),distortion(33.33%),bilabial(32.18%),and backward movement of the tongue(18.39%).Seventy-one cases were completely cured,and 16 cases partially cured after 2 to 10 times of treatment.The number of incorrect words of plosives decreased to 4.03±2.71 after the speech therapy from 67.97±18.56 prior to that.The differences were statistically significant (t =34.301,P<0.001).Conclusion The articulation errors of plosives occur mainly on /t/,/k/,/d/,/g/and /p/,/b/.The incorrect types of pronunciation are fricatives,unaspiration,distortion and omission.The incorrect places of articulation are forward movement of the tongue,bilabial and backward movement of the tongue.The targeted speech therapy established according to the erroneous places and types of articulation is significantly effective.

Objective To investigate the effect of Santong electroacupuncture (EA) on mRNA and protein expression of p75 neurotroph-in receptor (p75NTR) in rats with spinal cord injury (SCI). Methods A total of 72 female Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly assigned to sham operation group (group A, n=8) and model group (n=64). In the model group, Allen's method was used to make SCI rats model, in which 48 survived model rats were further subdivided into model control group (group B, n=12), EA group (group C, n=12), inhibitor Nogo extra cellular peptide residues 1-40 (NEP1-40) group (group D, n=12) and EA+inhibitor NEP1-40 group (group E, n=12) according to de-sign proposal. The treatment groups were electroacupunctured on Dazhui (GV14) and Yaoyangguan (GV3), bilateral Ciliao (BL32) and Zu-sanli (ST36) with loose-tight wave, for 20 minutes every day. After 7 and 14 days of treatment, injured spinal cord tissue was extracted for detecting. The mRNA and protein expression of p75NTR was detected by real-time fluorescent quantitative PCR, in situ hybridization and Western blotting respectively. The hind limb motor function was assessed with Basso-Beattie-Bresnahan (BBB) score. Results The BBB score increased in the treatment groups compared with group B, and was higher in group E than in groups C and D (P<0.05), as well as on the 14th day than on the 7th day in all the treatment groups (t>2.623, P<0.05). The mRNA and protein expression of p75NTR in spinal cord tissues decreased in the treatment groups compared with group B (P<0.05), and no significant difference was found among the treatment groups (P>0.05). Conclusion Santong elerctroacupuncture treatment could improve the hind limb motor function, which may associate with inhibition of the mRNA and protein expression of p75NTR in rats after SCI.

Objective To explore the effects of the mouth -muscle strengthening training on the phonetic in-telligibility (PI) of children with functional articulation disorders (FAD) .Methods A total of 80 children of 4 to 7 years old with FAD were randomly divided into the common group (n=40) and comprehensive group (n=40) .Both groups accepted routine speech training ,and the comprehensive group was given mouth muscles training additional-ly .All the children received the assessment of speech before the speech training and 3 months after the training .Re-sults Before the speech training ,the PIs of the common and comprehensive groups were 34 .54％ and 33 .52％ ,re-spectively .The differences between the 2 groups were not statistically significant (P> 0 .05) .After 3 months of speech training ,the PI in the common group increased to 77 .02 ± 4 .21％ from 34 .54 ± 7 .28％ of the baseline ,while in the comprehensive group ,the PI increased to 87 .54 ± 4 .31％ from 33 .52 ± 7 .46％ .In both groups ,the PIs after training were significantly higher than those of before the training respectively .The differences were statistically significant (P<0 .05) .The PIs in the comprehensive group were significantly higher than those of in the common group .The differences were statistically significant (t= -8 .862 ,P<0 .001) .Conclusion Strengthening the mouth muscles is beneficial to improve the PI of children with FAD .

Background: and Purpose We investigated the causal relationships between the gut microbiota (GM), stroke, and potential metabolite mediators using Mendelian randomization (MR). Methods: We leveraged the summary statistics of GM (n=18,340 in the MiBioGen consortium), blood metabolites (n=115,078 in the UK Biobank), and stroke (cases n=60,176 and controls n=1,310,725 in the Global Biobank Meta-Analysis Initiative) from the largest genome-wide association studies to date. We performed bidirectional MR analyses to explore the causal relationships between the GM and stroke, and two mediation analyses, two-step MR and multivariable MR, to discover potential mediating metabolites. Results: Ten taxa were causally associated with stroke, and stroke led to changes in 27 taxa. In the two-step MR, Bifidobacteriales order, Bifidobacteriaceae family, Desulfovibrio genus, apolipoprotein A1 (ApoA1), phospholipids in high-density lipoprotein (HDL_PL), and the ratio of apolipoprotein B to ApoA1 (ApoB/ApoA1) were causally associated with stroke (all P<0.044). The causal associations between Bifidobacteriales order, Bifidobacteriaceae family and stroke were validated using the weighted median method in an independent cohort. The three GM taxa were all positively associated with ApoA1 and HDL_PL, whereas Desulfovibrio genus was negatively associated with ApoB/ApoA1 (all P<0.010). Additionally, the causal associations between the three GM taxa and ApoA1 remained significant after correcting for the false discovery rate (all q-values <0.027). Multivariable MR showed that the associations between Bifidobacteriales order, Bifidobacteriaceae family and stroke were mediated by ApoA1 and HDL_PL, each accounting for 6.5% (P=0.028) and 4.6% (P=0.033); the association between Desulfovibrio genus and stroke was mediated by ApoA1, HDL_PL, and ApoB/ApoA1, with mediated proportions of 7.6% (P=0.019), 4.2% (P=0.035), and 9.1% (P=0.013), respectively. Conclusion The current MR study provides evidence supporting the causal relationships between several specific GM taxa and stroke and potential mediating metabolites.

Background/Aims: Low educational attainment is a well-established risk factor for nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) in developed areas. However, the association between educational attainment and the risk of NAFLD is less clear in China. Methods: A cross-sectional study including over 200,000 Chinese adults across mainland China was conducted. Information on education level and lifestyle factors were obtained through standard questionnaires, while NAFLD and advanced fibrosis were diagnosed using validated formulas. Outcomes included the risk of NAFLD in the general population and high probability of fibrosis among patients with NAFLD. Logistic regression analysis was employed to estimate the risk of NAFLD and fibrosis across education levels. A causal mediation model was used to explore the potential mediators. Results: Comparing with those receiving primary school education, the multi-adjusted odds ratios (95% confidence intervals) for NAFLD were 1.28 (1.16 to 1.41) for men and 0.94 (0.89 to 0.99) for women with college education after accounting for body mass index. When considering waist circumference, the odds ratios (95% CIs) were 0.94 (0.86 to 1.04) for men and 0.88 (0.80 to 0.97) for women, respectively. The proportions mediated by general and central obesity were 51.00% and 68.04% for men, while for women the proportions were 48.58% and 32.58%, respectively. Furthermore, NAFLD patients with lower educational attainment showed an incremental increased risk of advanced fibrosis in both genders. Conclusions In China, a low education level was associated with a higher risk of prevalent NAFLD in women, as well as high probability of fibrosis in both genders.

Objective To investigate the association between gallstone and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD)in middle-aged and elderly Chinese. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted in 8934 Chinese adults from Jiading District, Shanghai. Questionnaire interview, anthropometric measurements, biochemical evaluation, and abdominal ultrasonography were performed in all the participants. Results Compared with participants without gallstone,individuals with gallstone had significantly higher prevalence of NAFLD(28.8% and 42.9%,respectively;P<0.01). Using participants without gallstone as the reference,participants with gallstone were associated with an increased risk of NAFLD after adjustment for multiple covariatesodds ratios(OR)and 95% confidence interval(CI)was 1.39(1.45-1.69). In addition,compared with participants without cholecystectomy, participants with cholecystectomy were associated with an increased risk of NAFLD(OR=1. 44, 95% CI 1. 04-1.99). Conclusion The presence of gallstone and cholecystectomy were positively associated with NAFLD in middle-aged and elderly Chinese.

A new definition of metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD) has recently been proposed. We aim to examine the associations of MAFLD, particularly its discordance from non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), with the progression of elevated brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV) and albuminuria in a community-based study sample in Shanghai, China. After 4.3 years of follow-up, 778 participants developed elevated baPWV and 499 developed albuminuria. In comparison with the non-MAFLD group, the multivariable adjusted odds ratio (OR) of MAFLD group for new-onset elevated baPWV was 1.25 (95% confidence interval (CI) 1.01-1.55) and 1.35 (95% CI 1.07-1.70) for albuminuria. Participants without NAFLD but diagnosed according to MAFLD definition were associated with higher risk of incident albuminuria (OR 1.77; 95% CI 1.07-2.94). Patients with MAFLD with high value of hepamet fibrosis score or poor-controlled diabetes had higher risk of elevated baPWV or albuminuria. In conclusion, MAFLD was associated with new-onset elevated baPWV and albuminuria independently of body mass index, waist circumference, and hip circumference. Individuals without NAFLD but diagnosed as MAFLD had high risk of albuminuria, supporting that MAFLD criteria would be practical for the evaluation of long-term risk of subclinical atherosclerosis among fatty liver patients.
Humans ; Pulse Wave Analysis ; Albuminuria ; Ankle Brachial Index ; Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease/diagnosis* ; Vascular Stiffness ; Prospective Studies ; Risk Factors ; China/epidemiology*

Type 2 diabetes (T2D) has been associated with a high prevalence of depression.We aimed to determine the causal relation by performing a Mendelian randomization (MR) study using 34 T2D risk genetic variants validated in East Asians as the instrumental variable (IV). An MR analysis was performed involving 11 506 participants from a large longitudinal study. The T2D genetic risk score (GRS) was built using the 34 typical T2D common variants. We used T2D_GRS as the IV estimator and performed inverse-variance weighted (IVW) and Egger MR analysis. The T2D_GRS was found to be associated with depression with an OR of 1.21 (95% CI: 1.07-1.37) after adjustments for age, sex, body mass index, current smoking and drinking, physical activity, education, and marital status. Using T2D_GRS as the IV, we similarly found a causal relationship between genetically determined T2D and depression (OR: 1.84, 95% CI: 1.25-2.70). Though we found no association between the combined effect of the genetic IVs for T2D and depression with EggerMR(OR: 0.95, 95%CI: 0.42-2.14), we found an association for T2D and depression with IVW (OR: 1.75, 95% CI: 1.31-2.46) after excluding pleiotropic SNPs. Overall, the MR analyses provide evidence inferring a potential causal relationship between T2D and depression.
Aged ; Causality ; China ; epidemiology ; Depression ; epidemiology ; etiology ; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 ; complications ; genetics ; psychology ; Female ; Genetic Variation ; Genotype ; Humans ; Linear Models ; Longitudinal Studies ; Male ; Mendelian Randomization Analysis ; Middle Aged ; Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide ; Psychiatric Status Rating Scales ; Risk Factors ; Sensitivity and Specificity