BACKGROUND:Traumatic brain injury is a condition in which the normal function of the brain is disrupted by a bump or impact to the head.It is necessary to find effective treatments and objective targets that can help doctors diagnose the injury status and restore the brain function of patients. OBJECTIVE:To explore the effect of electroacupuncture combined with low-frequency transcranial ultrasound stimulation on the electroencephalographic signals of rats with traumatic brain injury. METHODS:Forty 6-week-old SPF male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into five groups:sham group,model group,electroacupuncture group,low-frequency transcranial ultrasound stimulation group and combined group(electroacupuncture+low-frequency transcranial ultrasound stimulation),with eight rats in each group.Feeney weight-drop method was used to establish the animal model of traumatic brain injury.In the sham group,the bone window was only opened without impact.Interventions were started at 1 day after modeling.Electroacupuncture in the electroacupuncture group,low-frequency transcranial ultrasound stimulation in the low-frequency transcranial ultrasound stimulation group,and electroacupuncture+low-frequency transcranial ultrasound stimulation in the combined group were performed for days in total.The modified neurological severity scale score for assessing rats'neurological deficits was performed at 8 hours after modeling.The percentage of spontaneous alternation behavior in the Y-maze was measured at 7 days after modeling.Then,the electroencephalographic signals were collected and electroencephalographic data of α,β,θ,and δ waves were extracted by fast Fourier transform,and the value of oscillation amplitude and energy ratio were calculated in α,β,θ,and δ waves,as well as the Lempel-Ziv complexity and sample entropy. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:Compared with the sham group,the modified neurological severity scale scores in the model group,electroacupuncture group,low-frequency transcranial ultrasound stimulation group and combined group were significantly increased at 8 hours after modeling(P<0.05).Compared with the sham group,the value of oscillation amplitude in δ wave and the value of δ energy ratio were significantly increased in the model group at 7 days after modeling,meanwhile the percentage of spontaneous alternation behavior in Y-maze,and the value of α/β energy ratio,Lempel-Ziv complexity,and sample entropy were significantly decreased(P<0.05).Compared with the model group,the value of oscillation amplitude in α and δ waves was significantly decreased in the combined group(P<0.05),while the value of α/β energy ratio was significantly increased(P<0.05)and the value of δ energy ratio was significantly decreased(P<0.05)in the electroacupuncture group,low-frequency transcranial ultrasound stimulation group and combined group.Compared with the electroacupuncture group and low-frequency transcranial ultrasound stimulation group,the value of δ energy ratio was significantly decreased in the combined group(P<0.05),while the percentage of spontaneous alternation behavior,the value of α/β energy ratio,the Lempel-Ziv complexity,and the sample entropy were significantly increased(P<0.05).To conclude,abnormal electroencephalographic signals can appear in rats with traumatic brain injury,while the electroacupuncture combined with low-frequency transcranial ultrasound stimulation can alleviate the abnormal electroencephalographic signals in rats,which suggests the electroencephalographic frequency domain value and nonlinear features can be used to assess the severity of traumatic brain injury.

BACKGROUND:With the continuous advancement of medical technology,stem cell therapy has been used to treat a variety of diseases,including amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. OBJECTIVE:To review the research progress of stem cell therapy for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis,and prospect the development trend of this field. METHODS:PubMed,China National Knowledge Infrastructure(CNKI),and WanFang Data were searched for articles published from 1995 to 2024 using the key words"amyotrophic lateral sclerosis,mesenchymal stem cells,neural stem/progenitor cells,pluripotent stem cells."A total of more than 1 700 articles were retrieved,and 58 articles were finally included in this review. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis is a neurodegenerative disease that affects lower motor neurons in the brainstem and spinal cord and upper motor neurons in the motor cortex.The related research of stem cells in the treatment of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis has become a research hotspot.In this review,we summarize the application of different types of stem cells in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis research,including mesenchymal stem cells,neural stem progenitor cells,and induced pluripotent stem cells,and evaluate the key points of preclinical research such as stem cell source,cell volume,stem cell modification methods,and drug delivery routes,which lays the foundation for the future application of stem cell therapy.

OBJECTIVE: To explore the effectiveness of primary interventional revascularization combined with secondary perforator composite flap in the treatment of peripheral arterial disease (PAD) accompanied by soft tissue defects around the ankle. METHODS: Between January 2022 and January 2025, 12 patients with PAD and soft tissue defects around the ankle were admitted. Among them, there were 9 males and 3 females; their ages ranged from 52 to 82 years, with an average of 68.9 years. The causes of injury included 4 cases of traffic accident, 5 cases of falls, 1 case of falling from height, 1 case of foreign body puncture injury, and 1 case of electric shock injury. The infection duration ranged from 1 month to 35 years, with a median duration of 3.5 months. The wound size ranged from 5.5 cm×3.0 cm to 15.0 cm×9.0 cm. The ankle-brachial index (ABI) was 0.32±0.12. The visual analogue scale (VAS) score for pain was 3.3±0.5. Preoperative vascular stenosis assessment was performed in all patients, with primary intervention to dredge large and medium-sized arteries, followed by secondary repair of the wound using a perforator composite flap. The flap size ranged from 6.5 cm×4.0 cm to 16.0 cm×10.0 cm. The donor sites were sutured directly or repaired with skin grafts. After two stages of treatment, the effectiveness was evaluated by measuring ABI, observing flap survival and wound healing, assessing VAS scores, and American Orthopedic Foot and Ankle Society (AOFAS) scores. RESULTS: All 12 cases completed two stages of treatment; all patients were followed up after the second-stage treatment, with a follow-up period ranging from 7 to 28 months, with an average of 16.8 months. After the first-stage treatment, the skin temperature around the ankle was significantly higher than that before treatment, and the ABI increased to 0.71±0.07, with a significant difference ( t=9.918, P<0.001). After the second-stage treatment, the blisters on the distal end of the skin flap occurred in 3 cases. The flaps survived and the wounds healed, with a healing time ranging from 10 to 14 days (mean, 11.8 days). The incisions at the donor site healed by first intention, and the skin grafts survived. The VAS score was 0.5±0.5 at 3 weeks, which was significantly lower than that before treatment ( t=13.675, P<0.001). No infection recurrence occurred during follow-up. At 6 months after the second-stage treatment, the AOFAS score of the ankle joint ranged from 92 to 97, with an average of 94.7, all reaching excellent. CONCLUSION Interventional revascularization combined with perforator composite flap for staged treatment of PAD with ankle soft tissue defects can obtain good effectiveness, by unclogging the main blood vessels, improving lower limb blood supply, and improving the survival rate of the skin flap.
Humans ; Male ; Female ; Middle Aged ; Aged ; Peripheral Arterial Disease/surgery* ; Soft Tissue Injuries/surgery* ; Perforator Flap/blood supply* ; Plastic Surgery Procedures/methods* ; Aged, 80 and over ; Ankle/blood supply* ; Treatment Outcome ; Ankle Brachial Index ; Skin Transplantation/methods*

Glioma is difficult to treat due to the unique tumor microenvironment and blood-brain barrier. (13aS)-3-Hydroxyl-6,7-dimethoxyphenanthro[9,10-b] indolizidine (PF403), a phenanthroindolizidine alkaloid, has been identified as a promising therapeutic agent for the treatment of glioma. However, the anti-glioma mechanism of PF403 in vivo has not been conclusively verified and must be further elucidated. Hence, a strategy without chemical modification was applied to identify the target of PF403. In this study, we identified nicotinamide phosphoribosyl transferase (NAMPT) as the target of PF403 by using thermal proteome profiling (TPP). Moreover, microscale thermophoresis (MST), surface plasmon resonance (SPR), and isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC) experiments confirmed that NAMPT exhibits good affinity for PF403. Direct and indirect enzyme activity assays revealed that PF403 inhibited the catalytic activity of NAMPT, leading to a decrease in the concentration of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD⁺) in U87 cells. X-ray diffraction and amino acid spot mutation experiments revealed that PF403 primarily relies on the formation of pi-pi interactions with residue Tyr188 to maintain binding with NAMPT (PDB code 8Y55). After NAMPT was knocked down with lentivirus, PF403 lost or partially lost its antitumor activity at the cellular and animal levels. These findings suggest that PF403 exerts antitumor activity by directly targeting NAMPT.

Objective To develop a highly sensitive and rapid nucleic acid detection method for the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2(SARS-CoV-2). Methods We designed,developed,and manufactured an integrated disposable device for SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acid extraction and detection.The precision of the liquid transfer and temperature control was tested.A comparison between our device and a commercial kit for SARS-Cov-2 nucleic acid extraction was performed using real-time fluorescence reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction(RT-PCR).The entire process,from SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acid extraction to amplification,was evaluated. Results The precision of the syringe transfer volume was 19.2±1.9 μL(set value was 20),32.2±1.6(set value was 30),and 57.2±3.5(set value was 60).Temperature control in the amplification tube was measured at 60.0±0.0 ℃(set value was 60)and 95.1±0.2 ℃(set value was 95)respectively.SARS-Cov-2 nucleic acid extraction yield through the device was 7.10×106 copies/mL,while a commercial kit yielded 2.98×106 copies/mL.The mean time to complete the entire assay,from SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acid extraction to amplification detection,was 36 min and 45 s.The detection limit for SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acid was 250 copies/mL. Conclusion The integrated disposable devices may be used for SARS-CoV-2 Point-of-Care test(POCT).

Objective:To improve the perception of computed tomography(CT)images in detecting fine fracture through multi-task network of global attention,and to realize the detection of the target of fine fracture at case level through multi-task,and to quickly and accurately identify and locate fracture from a large number of CT images,so as to assist doctors to timely conduct treatment.Methods:A grouped Non-local network method was introduced to calculate the remote dependency relationship between each position of CT image continuous sections and channel.A single-stage detector of multi-objective detection model three dimension(3D)RetinaNet was integrated with the medical image semantic segmentation architecture(3D U-Net).A end-to-end multi-task 3D convolutional network was realized,which realized the detection of case level for fine fracture through multi-task collaboration.Select 600 CT scan images from the Rib Frac Dataset of rib fractures provided by the MICCAI 2020 Challenge,and they were divided into training set(500 cases)and test set(100 cases)as the ratio of 5:1 to test the precise performance of multi-task 3D convolutional network.Results:The precise performance of multi-task 3D convolutional network method was better than that of single-task FracNet,3D RetinaNet and 3D Retina U-Net in detection,which average precision was respectively higher 7.8%and 11.4%than 3D RetinaNet and 3D Retina U-Net.It was better than two kinds of single-task network detection method included 3D Faster R-CNN and 3D Mask R-CNN,and the average precision of that was respectively higher 6.7%and 3.1%than them.Conclusion:The integrated different modules of global attention multi-task network can improve the detection performance of fine fracture.The introduction of grouped Non-local network method can further improve the precise performance for the targets of fine fractures in detection.

Ankylosing spondylitis (AS) combined with lower cervical fracture is often categorized into unstable fracture, with a high incidence of neurological injury and a high rate of disability and morbidity. As factors such as shoulder occlusion may affect the accuracy of X-ray imaging diagnosis, it is often easily misdiagnosed at the primary diagnosis. Non-operative treatment has complications such as bone nonunion and the possibility of secondary neurological damage, while the timing, access and choice of surgical treatment are still controversial. Currently, there are no clinical practice guidelines for the treatment of AS combined with lower cervical fracture with or without dislocation. To this end, the Spinal Trauma Group of Orthopedics Branch of Chinese Medical Doctor Association organized experts to formulate Clinical guidelines for the treatment of ankylosing spondylitis combined with lower cervical fracture in adults ( version 2024) in accordance with the principles of evidence-based medicine, scientificity and practicality, in which 11 recommendations were put forward in terms of the diagnosis, imaging evaluation, typing and treatment, etc, to provide guidance for the diagnosis and treatment of AS combined with lower cervical fracture.

Objective:To evaluate the clinical application value of the adaptive aperture by comparing intensity-modulated proton radiotherapy(IMPT) plans using and not using the aperture for brain tumors.Methods:A total of twenty patients treated with postoperative radiotherapy for brain tumors were enrolled in this study. IMPT plans were developed for each patient using and not using the adaptive aperture under the same optimization conditions. The target conformal index (CI) value, target homogeneity index (HI) value, and the dose to normal tissues of the two sets of plans were compared.Results:The IMPT plans designed using the adaptive aperture significantly increased the mean CI value from 0.58 to 0.66, while decreasing the mean 50% prescription dose volume from 797.70 cm 3 to 638.15 cm 3. These plans also reduced the irradiation doses to the cochlea, brainstem, optic chiasm, optic nerve, and lens ( t = 2.06, 3.02, 2.11, 2.58, 2.67, P < 0.05). Additionally, there was no significant difference in the HI value of the target volumes and the machine jumps (MU) between the two sets of plans ( P > 0.05). Conclusions:The adaptive aperture can significantly reduce the irradiation dose to normal tissues outside the target volumes, positively impacting the protection of organs at risk (OARs) around the target values. This demonstrates its great potential for clinical application.

BACKGROUND:Osteoporotic vertebral compression fracture is a common fracture secondary to osteoporosis.At present,there is no effective prediction index and method for osteoporotic vertebral compression fracture. OBJECTIVE:To investigate the predictive effect of the comprehensive index of lumbar vertebral body bone strength on osteoporotic vertebral compression fracture. METHODS:233 patients with osteoporosis were divided into a fracture group and a non-fracture group according to whether a vertebral fracture occurred.The demography,body mass index,vertebral bone mineral density and other details were collected.Lateral X-ray films of the lumbar spine were photographed.The vertebral body width,vertebral body length,sacral slope,pelvic tilt,pelvic incidence,lumbar compressive strength index and the lumbar impact strength index were measured,calculated,and analyzed by univariate and multivariate,and the receiver operating characteristic curve was analyzed.The survival analysis was conducted according to the cut-off value. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:(1)All patients were followed up for 2-4 years,with an average of 3.1 years.During the follow-up period,99 cases(38 cases of L1 vertebral body,61 cases of L2 vertebral body)had fractures(fracture group),and 134 cases(52 cases of L1 vertebral body,82 cases of L2 vertebral body)had no fractures(non-fracture group).Univariate analysis showed that there was no significant difference in age,sex,height,body mass,body mass index and fracture segment between the two groups(P>0.05).(2)Lumbar compressive strength index and lumbar impact strength index in the fracture group were lower than those in the non-fracture group(P<0.05).Pelvic incidence and pelvic tilt in the fracture group were higher than those in the non-fracture group(P<0.05).(3)Multivariate analysis showed that lumbar compressive strength index,lumbar impact strength index and pelvic tilt were risk factors for osteoporotic vertebral compression fractures(P<0.05).(4)Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis showed that the cutoff values of vertebral bone mineral density,lumbar compressive strength index,lumbar impact strength index,pelvic tilt and pelvic incidence were 0.913 5 g/cm2,1.932,0.903,21.5° and 55°,respectively;areas under the curve were 0.630,0.800,0.911,0.633 and 0.568,respectively.(5)According to the survival analysis(with osteoporotic vertebral compression fracture as the end point),the average survival time of the patients with lumbar impact strength index≥0.903 was significantly longer than that of the patients with lumbar impact strength index<0.903(P<0.05).(6)These findings conclude that the comprehensive index of lumbar vertebral body bone strength is more accurate than the bone mineral density of the vertebral body and spine-pelvis sagittal parameters in predicting osteoporotic vertebral compression fractures,which is helpful for early prevention and treatment of osteoporotic vertebral compression fractures.

BACKGROUND:There is less report about mitigating sustained bone grinding injuries during craniotomy based on a model of traumatic brain injury established using the modified Feeney's free-fall method. OBJECTIVE:To modify a modified traumatic brain injury model by altering the opening of the skull window. METHODS:Thirty-six Sprague-Dawley rats were equally randomized into sham group,model group and modified model group.The modified procedure of opening the bone window was used in the modified model group.Six to eight small holes of 0.3-0.5 mm in diameter were punched at the edge of the impact area and the drill was immediately withdrawn without touching the cortex.In the modified model group,the skull window was opened by using the modified method,while the skull window in the model group was opened using the conventional method.The modified model group and model group were established using the Feeney's free-fall method.In the sham group,only the skull window was opened without impact.The modified neurological severity scoring was performed at 1 day after modeling.T2 weighted imaging was performed and T2 values were measured at 1 and 7 days after modeling.Hematoxylin-eosin staining of the brain section was made for histopathological observation at 7 days after modeling.The level of blood viscosity,interleukin-6,interleukin-1β,and tumor necrosis factor-α were determined at 7 days after modeling. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:Compared with the sham group,the modified neurological severity scores in the model group and modified model group were significantly increased at 1 day after modeling(P＜0.000 1).Meanwhile,the modified neurological severity scores in the modified model group were lower than those in the model group(P＜0.000 1).Compared with the sham group,the T2 values were significantly increased in the model group and modified model group at 1 and 7 days after modeling(P＜0.05),while the T2 values in the modified model group were lower than those in the model group(P＜0.05).Compared with the sham group,the level of blood viscosity,interleukin-6,interleukin-1β and tumor necrosis factor-α were increased in the model group and modified model group at 7 days after modeling(P＜0.05),while the level of interleukin-6 in the modified model group was lower than that in the model group(P＜0.05).To conclude,establishing a modified traumatic brain injury model based on the Feeney's free-fall method provides better controls of injury factors during cranial opening.