Environmental pollution is a significant public health challenge worldwide, and investigating the causal relationship between environmental exposure and population health outcomes is a key objective of environmental epidemiology research. In recent years, the complexity of environmental exposures has increasingly come to the forefront, making it challenging for observational studies that dominate environmental epidemiology to accurately estimate causal effects. Causal inference methods are particularly advantageous in controlling for confounding factors, thus holding great potential in environmental epidemiology research. Researchers can use appropriate causal inference methods to simulate the process of randomization, providing strong support for revealing the causal relationship between environmental exposure and health outcomes. However, there is a lack of reviews on the application of causal inference methods in environmental epidemiology studies in China. Therefore, this study introduced the basic principles of common causal inference statistical methods in environmental epidemiology, summarized the applicable conditions, advantages and disadvantages of various methods, and provided R software implementation codes for these methods, aiming to offer guidance for optimizing research design and practicing causal inference statistical methods.

Objective:To evaluate the differential expression of RNA in blood monocytes in patients with Juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) treated with TNF antagonists (TNFi), and to explore the effect and mechanism of gene expression on the efficacy of JIA.Methods:A total of 29 children with JIA treated with methotrexate (MTX) and TNFi in Guangzhou Women and Children′s Medical Center of Guangzhou Medical University from April 2021 to November 2023 were enrolled. After 6 months, the children were divided into two groups according to the treatment effect, 13 cases in the ineffective group and 16 cases in the effective group, the peripheral blood of the children was collected, the blood mononuclear cells were isolated for transcriptome sequencing, the differentially expressed genes between the groups were analyzed, the signaling pathways and metabolic pathways related to the efficacy of TNFi were analyzed by GO and KEGG enrichment, and the mechanism related to the efficacy of TNFi was explored. This study was approved by Medical Ethics Committee of the Guangzhou Women and Children′s Medical Center of Guangzhou Medical University (Ethics No.: 2023-330B00).Results:There was a statistically significant difference in the gender and age distribution between the two groups of children ( P<0.05), while no statistically significant differences were observed in disease duration, rheumatoid antibody levels, or JIA subtypes ( P> 0.05). After sequencing data quality control and comparison of reference genomes, a total of 18 523 protein-coding genes were identified in all children′s samples. A total of 705 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified between the effective group and the invalid group through differential analysis, of which 579 were up-regulated in the effective group and 126 in the inactive group. GO function and KEGG pathway enrichment analysis showed that DEG was significantly enriched in 55 GO entries and 32 KEGG metabolic pathways, which were mainly related to IL-1β; production and regulation, cytokine production and regulation, cytokine-cytokine receptor interaction, immune response regulation, and Toll-like receptor signaling pathway. Conclusion:DEG between the effective and ineffective groups of TNFi treatment may be involved in the biological processes such as cytokine production and regulation, cytokine-receptor interaction, and immune response regulation, which will be helpful to predict the efficacy and prognosis of TNFi treatment for JIA.

Flow diverter (FD) devices have gradually become the mainstream approach for interventional treatment of intracranial aneurysms. In-stent stenosis (ISS) is a common complication after FD implantation, which can lead to ischemic events and affect the prognosis of patients. Current studies have shown that ISS occurrence is closely related to hemodynamic changes. From the perspective of hemodynamics, this article reviews the research progress of mechanisms, evaluation methods and treatments of ISS after FD implantation, in order to provide reference for clinical practice.

Objective The purpose of this study is to investigate the expression of histone lysine-specific demethylase 1 (KDM1A) and ubiquitin carboxyl-terminal hydrolase L3 (UCHL3) in thyroid cancer (TC) tissue and its relationship with clinical features and prognosis. Methods 94 TC patients diagnosed and treated at the Third Hospital of Heilongjiang Province from January 2017 to January 2019 were retrospectively selected as the study subjects. Immunohistochemistry was used to detect the expression of KDM1A and UCHL3 in tissues. Spearman correlation analysis was used to investigate the correlation between KDM1A and UCHL3. Kaplan-Meier survival curve was used to analyze the relationship between the levels of KDM1A and UCHL3 and the 5-year progression-free survival rate of TC patients. Multivariate COX regression model was used to analyze the prognostic factors of TC patients. Results The positive rates of KDM1A (68.09％) and UCHL3 (65.96％) in cancer tissues were higher than those in adjacent tissues(10.64％,8.51％),and the differences were statistically significant(x2=64.984,66.369,all P<0.001). The protein expression of KDM1A and UCHL3 was significant protein correlation (r=0.714,P<0.001). The positive rates of KDM1A (87.50％,90.91％) and UCHL3 (85.00％,87.88％) in TNM stage Ⅲ～Ⅳ and lymph node metastatic TC cancer tissues were higher than those in stage Ⅰ～Ⅱ(53.70％,53.85％)and non-lymph node metastatic(55.74％,54.10％) cancer tissues,and the differences were statistically significant(x2=9.985～12.191,all P<0.001). The 5-year progression-free survival rates of TC patients in the KDM1A positive and negative groups were 62.50％ (40/64) and 86.67％ (26/30),with significant differences,the 5-year progression-free survival rates of UCHL3 positive and negative patients were 58.06％ (36/62) and 90.63％ (29/32),with significant differences (Log-Rankx2=5.670,9.724,P=0.017,0.002). KDM1A positive,UCHL3 positive,TNM stage Ⅲ～Ⅳ,lymph node metastasis were risk factors affecting the prognosis of TC patients (Waldx2=1.315～1.697,all P<0.001). Conclusion KDM1A and UCHL3 are upregulated in TC,and played a pro-cancer role. They are new tumor markers for evaluating the prognosis of TC patients.

Objective To prepare and characterize caspofungin acetate-loaded solid lipid nanoparticles using glycerol monostearate （CAS-SLNs）, and investigate the antifungal effect of potentiation on Candida albicans in vitro and in vivo. Methods A high performance liquid chromatography method was established for the determination of caspofungin acetate （CAS）. CAS-SLNs were prepared by the melt-emulsification method and characterized. The minimum inhibitory concentration （MIC） and the inhibitory effect on Candida albicans biofilm were determined. A systemic infection model of Candida albicans was established in mice, and the growth curve models for body weight and fungal load of kidneys of the animals were investigated after intravenous infection. Results The retention time of CAS was 6.8 min. The calibration curve showed good linearity, and the precision and stability met the requirements of the assay. Transmission electron microscopy revealed that CAS-SLNs were spherical, with a particle size of （135.97±1.73） nm. The Zeta potential was （19.33±0.37） mV, drug loading was （7.55±0.68）%, and encapsulation efficiency was （67.71±1.74）%. CAS-SLNs showed significant in vitro antifungal inhibition with a MIC of 9.78×10⁻⁴ g/ml, which was significantly better than CAS group and the physical mixture group of CAS and GMS, as well as the same biofilm inhibition was observed （P<0.001）. Pharmacodynamic studies demonstrated that CAS-SLNs maintained stable body weight gain compared to the control （P<0.01） and CAS groups in Candida albicans invasive infection model, and that CAS-SLNs significantly reduced renal fungal burden load relative to the CAS group （P<0.05）. In vivo study revealed that a stable body weight was maintained in CAS-SLNs group compared to the control group （P<0.01） in Candida albicans invasive infection model. CAS-SLNs also significantly reduced renal fungal load compared to the CAS group （P<0.05）. Conclusion CAS-SLNs significantly enhanced the antifungal effects of CAS in vitro and in vivo, which provided a valuable insight for the research of new formulation of CAS.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the differential expression of RNA in blood monocytes in patients with Juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) treated with TNF antagonists (TNFi), and to explore the effect and mechanism of gene expression on the efficacy of JIA. METHODS: A total of 29 children with JIA treated with methotrexate (MTX) and TNFi in Guangzhou Women and Children's Medical Center of Guangzhou Medical University from April 2021 to November 2023 were enrolled. After 6 months, the children were divided into two groups according to the treatment effect, i.e., 13 cases in the ineffective group and 16 cases in the effective group, the peripheral blood of the children was collected, the blood mononuclear cells were isolated for transcriptome sequencing, the differentially expressed genes between the groups were analyzed, the signaling pathways and metabolic pathways related to the efficacy of TNFi were analyzed by GO and KEGG enrichment, and the mechanism related to the efficacy of TNFi was explored. This study was approved by Medical Ethics Committee of the Guangzhou Women and Children's Medical Center of Guangzhou Medical University (Ethics No.: 2023-330B00). RESULTS: There was a statistically significant difference in the gender and age distribution between the two groups of children (P < 0.05), while no statistically significant differences were observed in disease duration, rheumatoid antibody levels, or JIA subtypes (P > 0.05). After sequencing data quality control and comparison of reference genomes, a total of 18 523 protein-coding genes were identified in all children's samples. A total of 705 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified between the effective group and the invalid group through differential analysis, of which 579 were up-regulated in the effective group and 126 in the inactive group. GO function and KEGG pathway enrichment analysis showed that DEG was significantly enriched in 55 GO entries and 32 KEGG metabolic pathways, which were mainly related to IL-1β production and regulation, cytokine production and regulation, cytokine-cytokine receptor interaction, immune response regulation, and Toll-like receptor signaling pathway. CONCLUSION DEG between the effective and ineffective groups of TNFi treatment may be involved in the biological processes such as cytokine production and regulation, cytokine-receptor interaction, and immune response regulation, which will be helpful to predict the efficacy and prognosis of TNFi treatment for JIA.
Humans ; Arthritis, Juvenile/blood* ; Female ; Male ; Child ; Methotrexate/therapeutic use* ; Child, Preschool ; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha/antagonists & inhibitors* ; Transcriptome ; Adolescent ; RNA/genetics* ; Signal Transduction ; Gene Expression Profiling

Objective To investigate the value of fragmented QRS complex(fQRS)in the electro-cardiogram,heart rate variability(HRV)and LVEF in evaluating the prognosis in patients with dilated cardiomyopathy(DCM).Methods A retrospective analysis was conducted on 59 DCM pa-tients admitted in the Second Affiliated Hospital of Wannan Medical College from January 2020 to December 2023.According to the occurrence of MACE during 6-month follow-up period,they were classified into a poor prognosis group(26 cases)and a good prognosis group(33 cases).Clin-ical baseline data,positive rate of fQRS,HRV and LVEF were compared between the two groups.Time-domain measurements of HRV included standard deviation of normal NN intervals(SDNN),standard deviation of the averages of NN intervals in all 5 min segments of the entire recording(SDANN),mean of the standard deviation of NN intervals for all 5 min segments of the entire recording(SDNN index),root mean square of standard deviation of NN intervals(r-MSSD)and HRV triangular index.Spearman/Pearson correlation analysis was performed to analyze the correlation of prognosis of DCM with positive rate of fQRS,HRV and LVEF.ROC curve was drawn to analyze the efficiency of fQRS,HRV and LVEF in predicting the prognosis of DCM.Results The poor prognosis group exhibited significantly higher positive rate of fQRS and obvi-ously reduced SDNN,SDANN,SDNN index,r-MSSD,triangular index and LVEF when compared with the good prognosis group(P＜0.01).Correlation analysis suggested that poor prognosis of DCM was positively correlated with the positive rate of fQRS(P＜0.01),and negatively with SDNN,SDANN,SDNN index,r-MSSD,triangular index and LVEF(P＜0.05,P＜0.01).ROC curve analysis revealed that the AUC value of above indicators in turn in predicting the prognosis of DCM was 0.718,0.7 56,0.7 62,0.807,0.858,0.805 and 0.747,respectively,and the AUC value of their combination was 0.980(P＜0.01).Conclusion fQRS,HRV and LVEF have important cor-relation with poor prognosis of DCM patients.Their combination can be used as an effective mark-er for clinical evaluation and prediction of poor prognosis of DCM.

The clinical data of an infant with chondrodysplasia accompanied by early-onset epilepsy and medial temporal lobe dysgenesis due to the FGFR3 gene mutation, who was treated in the Affiliated Hospital of Jining Medical University in March 2024 were retrospectively analyzed.The 9-day-old male infant presented with frequent apnea at 5 hours after birth and experienced first seizure at 24 hours after birth.Physical examination revealed short limbs.Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed abnormal changes in bilateral temporal lobes, hippocampal structure and bilateral lateral ventricular temporal angles, so cerebral developmental abnormalities were considered in this child.Whole exome sequencing confirmed a heterozygous variation in the FGFR3 gene [c.1620C>A(p.Asn540Lys)].After receiving Phenobarbital monotherapy, the child still had frequent seizures, but the seizure was completely controlled after the additional use of Lvetiracetam.To August 2024, a total of 14 patients with achondroplasia, epilepsy, and medial temporal lobe dysplasia caused by FGFR3 gene mutations were identified.These patients typically experienced frequent seizures in early infancy, which could be accompanied by apnea and psychomotor retardation.MRI consistently showed abnormal development of bilateral temporal lobes and hippocampus.Seizures were hardly controlled by anti-seizure medications, and Phenobarbital was effective in some cases.Whole exome sequencing revealed gene variations of c.1620C>A or c. 1620C>G (p.Asn540Lys).Patients with achondroplasia caused by FGFR3 gene mutations may present with early-onset epilepsy and medial temporal lobe dysplasia.Early seizures are frequent and difficult to control, and Phenobarbital is effective in some cases.

Objective The purpose of this study is to investigate the expression of histone lysine-specific demethylase 1 (KDM1A) and ubiquitin carboxyl-terminal hydrolase L3 (UCHL3) in thyroid cancer (TC) tissue and its relationship with clinical features and prognosis. Methods 94 TC patients diagnosed and treated at the Third Hospital of Heilongjiang Province from January 2017 to January 2019 were retrospectively selected as the study subjects. Immunohistochemistry was used to detect the expression of KDM1A and UCHL3 in tissues. Spearman correlation analysis was used to investigate the correlation between KDM1A and UCHL3. Kaplan-Meier survival curve was used to analyze the relationship between the levels of KDM1A and UCHL3 and the 5-year progression-free survival rate of TC patients. Multivariate COX regression model was used to analyze the prognostic factors of TC patients. Results The positive rates of KDM1A (68.09％) and UCHL3 (65.96％) in cancer tissues were higher than those in adjacent tissues(10.64％,8.51％),and the differences were statistically significant(x2=64.984,66.369,all P<0.001). The protein expression of KDM1A and UCHL3 was significant protein correlation (r=0.714,P<0.001). The positive rates of KDM1A (87.50％,90.91％) and UCHL3 (85.00％,87.88％) in TNM stage Ⅲ～Ⅳ and lymph node metastatic TC cancer tissues were higher than those in stage Ⅰ～Ⅱ(53.70％,53.85％)and non-lymph node metastatic(55.74％,54.10％) cancer tissues,and the differences were statistically significant(x2=9.985～12.191,all P<0.001). The 5-year progression-free survival rates of TC patients in the KDM1A positive and negative groups were 62.50％ (40/64) and 86.67％ (26/30),with significant differences,the 5-year progression-free survival rates of UCHL3 positive and negative patients were 58.06％ (36/62) and 90.63％ (29/32),with significant differences (Log-Rankx2=5.670,9.724,P=0.017,0.002). KDM1A positive,UCHL3 positive,TNM stage Ⅲ～Ⅳ,lymph node metastasis were risk factors affecting the prognosis of TC patients (Waldx2=1.315～1.697,all P<0.001). Conclusion KDM1A and UCHL3 are upregulated in TC,and played a pro-cancer role. They are new tumor markers for evaluating the prognosis of TC patients.

The clinical data of an infant with chondrodysplasia accompanied by early-onset epilepsy and medial temporal lobe dysgenesis due to the FGFR3 gene mutation, who was treated in the Affiliated Hospital of Jining Medical University in March 2024 were retrospectively analyzed.The 9-day-old male infant presented with frequent apnea at 5 hours after birth and experienced first seizure at 24 hours after birth.Physical examination revealed short limbs.Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed abnormal changes in bilateral temporal lobes, hippocampal structure and bilateral lateral ventricular temporal angles, so cerebral developmental abnormalities were considered in this child.Whole exome sequencing confirmed a heterozygous variation in the FGFR3 gene [c.1620C>A(p.Asn540Lys)].After receiving Phenobarbital monotherapy, the child still had frequent seizures, but the seizure was completely controlled after the additional use of Lvetiracetam.To August 2024, a total of 14 patients with achondroplasia, epilepsy, and medial temporal lobe dysplasia caused by FGFR3 gene mutations were identified.These patients typically experienced frequent seizures in early infancy, which could be accompanied by apnea and psychomotor retardation.MRI consistently showed abnormal development of bilateral temporal lobes and hippocampus.Seizures were hardly controlled by anti-seizure medications, and Phenobarbital was effective in some cases.Whole exome sequencing revealed gene variations of c.1620C>A or c. 1620C>G (p.Asn540Lys).Patients with achondroplasia caused by FGFR3 gene mutations may present with early-onset epilepsy and medial temporal lobe dysplasia.Early seizures are frequent and difficult to control, and Phenobarbital is effective in some cases.