Objective:To investigate the impact of the interval between neoadjuvant immunotherapy combined with chemotherapy(nICT) and surgery on pathological outcomes and prognosis in patients.Methods:This is a retrospective cohort study. A total of 115 patients with locally advanced esophageal squamous cell carcinoma who underwent nICT followed by sequential surgery at Department of Thoracic Surgery, Peking University People′s Hospital or Department of Thoracic Surgery, the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University from January 2020 to April 2024 were included. Among them, 99 were male and 16 were female, with an age of ( M(IQR)) 65 (11) years (range:45 to 81 years). All patients received 2 to 6 cycles of paclitaxel plus platinum-based doublet chemotherapy combined with PD-1 immune checkpoint inhibitors. The resectability of tumors was assessed based on CT scans of the chest and abdomen, and surgical approaches included Sweet surgery, Mckeown surgery, and Ivor-Lewis surgery. Patients were divided into a short-interval group (4 to <6 weeks) and a long-interval group (6 to 12 weeks) based on the interval between neoadjuvant immunochemotherapy and surgery. General patient data, surgical details, pathological response, and prognosis were collected and analyzed. Data comparisons were performed using independent sample t-test, Mann-Whitney U test, χ 2 test, or Fisher′s exact test. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to identify independent factors influencing pathological complete response (pCR). Survival analysis was conducted using the Kaplan-Meier method and Log-rank test. Results:There were no significant differences in baseline characteristics, neoadjuvant treatment details, surgical outcomes, or postoperative complications between the long-interval group and the short-interval group (all P>0.05). Multivariate Logistic regression analysis revealed that, among clinical factors, interval between neoadjuvant immunochemotherapy and surgery was significantly associated with pCR (long-interval group vs. short-interval group: OR=4.14, 95% CI:1.63 to 10.50, P=0.003). The pCR rate was higher in the long-interval group (43.6% vs. 17.1%, χ2=6.48, P=0.011). Survival analysis showed no significant differences in overall survival ( P=0.094) or disease-free survival ( P=0.840) between the two groups. Conclusion:Appropriately extending the surgical interval after neoadjuvant immunochemotherapy maybe lead to a higher pCR rate, without increasing surgical difficulty or damaging prognosis.

Objective:To observe the clinical efficacy of the modified crowbar-assisted minimally invasive Chevron osteotomy for the treatment of hallux valgus.Methods:A total of 42 patients with hallux valgus who underwent modified crowbar-assisted minimally invasive Chevron osteotomy at Huashan Hospital of Fudan University for hallux valgus from January 2019 to July 2022 were retrospectively analyzed. There were 3 males and 39 females, aged 42.3±8.7 years (range, 26-60 years); 18 left-sided and 24 right-sided, with body mass index 22.9±2.3 kg/m 2. According to the size of the hallux valgus angle (HVA), 26 patients were divided into the mild group (15°≤HVA<20°) and 16 patients were divided into moderate group (20°≤HVA≤40°). All patients were treated with modified crowbar-assisted Chevron osteotomy. The preoperative and postoperative HVA, intermetatarsal angle (IMA), distal metatarsal articular angle (DMAA), visual analogue scale (VAS) and American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society metatarsophalangeal interphalangeal scale (AOFAS Hallux MTP-IP scale) were compared. Results:All patients successfully completed the operation and were followed up for an average of 22.3±6.5 months (range, 18-30 months). The HVA, IMA, and DMAA in the mild group at the last follow-up were 6.6°±1.8°, 8.1°±1.8°, and 4.3°±1.1°, respectively, which were significantly lower than those before operation 17.8°±1.4°, 12.5°±1.5°, and 7.6°±2.4° ( P<0.05). The HVA, IMA, and DMAA in the moderate group at the last follow-up were 7.6°±2.1°, 8.8°±1.6°, and 4.8°±2.9°, respectively, which were significantly lower than those before operation 32.3°±3.5°, 14.8°±3.5°, and 12.7°±5.4° ( P<0.05). At the last follow-up, there was no significant difference in HVA, IMA, or DMAA between the two groups ( P>0.05). The differences of HVA, IMA, and DMAA before and after operation in the moderate group were 24.7°±2.6°, 6.0°±2.3°, and 7.9°±3.8°, respectively, which were greater than those in the mild group 11.2°±1.7°, 4.4°±1.6°, and 3.3°±1.6°, and the differences were statistically significant ( P<0.05). At the last follow-up, the VAS score of the mild group decreased from 2.6±2.0 before surgery to 0.4±0.2, and the difference was statistically significant ( t=6.014, P<0.001). The VAS score of the moderate group decreased from 3.2±2.2 before surgery to 0.4±0.3, the difference was statistically significant ( t=8.777, P<0.001). The preoperative AOFAS Hallux MTP-IP scale of the toe metatarsal joint in the mild group and the moderate group were 71.6±5.9 and 64.3±7.8, respectively, which increased to 93.3±6.0 and 92.3±6.0 at the last follow-up, and the difference was statistically significant ( P<0.05). At the last follow-up, there was no significant difference in AOFAS Hallux MTP-IP scale between the two groups ( P>0.05). Twenty-two of the 26 patients in the mild group were satisfied, and 14 of the 16 patients in the moderate group were satisfied, and the difference in satisfaction between the two groups was not statistically significant ( P>0.05). Conclusion:The clinical efficacy of the modified crowbar-assisted minimally invasive Chevron osteotomy in the treatment of hallux valgus is satisfactory, and it can effectively correct the hallux valgus deformity and improve the function of the metatarsophalangeal joint.

Hallux valgus is one of the common foot deformities. Osteotomy can effectively correct hallux valgus and relieve pain. In recent years, minimally invasive osteotomy for hallux valgus has attracted the attention of doctors and patients due to its perioperative advantages (small incision and fast recovery) and effectiveness. Compared with the first and second generation minimally invasive osteotomy techniques for hallux valgus, the third generation of minimally invasive techniques has the advantages of easy osteotomy, strong correction ability, and stable internal fixation, so it has been rapidly promoted at home and abroad. Although it has been reported that the third generation of minimally invasive techniques has satisfactory therapeutic effects, complications such as nerve damage and metastatic metatarsalgia are reported as well. Therefore, there are many key points and skills in the surgery that deserve attention. A high-torque power system, portable intraoperative fluoroscopy equipment, and appropriate reduction and internal fixation instruments are all prerequisites for the technique. The minimally invasive osteotomy is V-shaped or transverse (some surgeons define the transverse osteotomy as the fourth-generation technique). The direction of osteotomy is recommended to be perpendicular to the second metatarsal. Three-dimensional orthopedics should be paid attention to when extrapolating metatarsal heads such as crowbars, "in-out-in" method can be used to avoid the dorsomedial cutaneous nerve when internal fixation and nail placement, the continuity of the contralateral cortex should be preserved as much as possible when Akin osteotomy is used, the release of the lateral adductor muscle and the tightening of the medial joint capsule are helpful to further achieve soft tissue balance, and good postoperative bandaging and analgesia are also important links to ensure the treatment effect. In summary, it requires a certain learning curve and operational experience to master the minimally invasive technique. Performing surgery according to indications, doing a good job of preoperative evaluation and perioperative management are conducive to obtaining a good prognosis.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1016/j.jpha.2023.08.006.].

The paper summarizes the authorized invention patents, device registration and the relevant published articles of acupuncture medical devices of TCM in recent 5 years, and analyzes the current status and challenges in this field. It is discovered that the optimization and substitution in diagnosis and treatment of acupuncture are involved in the development of acupuncture medical devices. The technology application of these devices are composed of traditional and emerging engineering technologies; and the theoretical guidance for their development requires the integration of traditional acupuncture principles with modern medical theories. The development of acupuncture medical devices highlights the characteristics of multidimensional integration, treatment for specific ailments, portability and wearability, painlessness and non-invasion, precision and personalization, as well as intelligent automation. Upon analysis, it is shown that in the development and product transformation of acupuncture medical devices in recent years, the theoretical principles of acupuncture of TCM have not been fully utilized yet, the transformation of patented product is low, the clinical evidence of product is insufficient, and the market competitiveness needs improvement. In the future, The theoretic guidance of acupuncture of TCM should be enhanced in the development of acupuncture medical devices, a production-education- research model with the combination of medicine and engineering be constructed, clinical verification of product be emphasized, and product development paradigms be advanced, so as to meet the demands of the medical market.
Acupuncture Therapy/trends* ; Humans ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional/instrumentation* ; Equipment and Supplies

Porcine arthritis,one of the common chronic diseases in large-scale pig farms,can signifi-cantly reduce the production performance of meat pigs.In this study,a strain of Haemophilus pa-rasuis(HPS)was isolated from the joint fluid of a lame pig.The HPS was analyzed in terms of se-rotypes,virulence genes,and resistance genes.Additionally,it was treated with sensitive antibiotics to provide a theoretical basis for the comprehensive prevention and treatment of arthritis in meat pigs in future production settings.A strain of HPS type 14 was isolated from the joint fluid of dis-eased pigs.The HPS isolate demonstrated sensitivity to β-lactams and tetracyclines,while florfeni-col and polymyxin effectively inhibited its growth at low concentrations.However,the bacteria ex-hibited resistance to sulfonamides and ciprofloxacin.The treatment of affected pigs with clinical ar-thritis using doxycycline and enrofloxacin injections proved effective.Compared to the infected group,in which the sick pigs experienced difficulty flexing their carpal and tarsal joints and exhibi-ted significant lameness,the pigs in the treatment group showed marked improvement.Their joints were only slightly swollen,and the clinical symptoms of arthropathy were alleviated.

Objective:To evaluate the value of a combined model based on primary lesion 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose ( 18F-FDG) PET/CT radiomics for predicting lymph node metastasis in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) . Methods:A retrospective analysis was conducted on the clinical data of 203 NSCLC patients who underwent pre-treatment PET/CT imaging at Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital from June 2013 to July 2023. Patients were randomly assigned to the training set ( n=142) and the validation set ( n=61) at a ratio of 7∶3. A predictive model was developed in the training set, and its predictive performance and clinical application value were assessed in both the training and validation sets. Traditional PET/CT parameters and PET/CT radiomics features of the primary lesion were obtained by 3D-slicer software. Least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO), random forest, and extreme gradient boosting were performed to extract features. Support vector machine was used to construct a radiomics score (Radscore). Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to predict the influencing factors of lymph node metastasis in NSCLC patients and to establish models. Predictive performance of the models was evaluated by receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curves and clinical application value was assessed by calibration curves and decision curve analysis (DCA) . Results:Among 203 NSCLC patients, 116 had lymph node metastasis, with 64 cases in the training set and 52 cases in the validation set. Three complementary classical machine learning methods were used for feature screening, and finally 10 radiomics features were obtained. The optimal threshold for Radscore-PET was 0.43 and the optimal threshold for Radscore-CT was 0.39. Univariate analysis showed that, sex ( OR=0.48, 95% CI: 0.24-0.95, P=0.036), tumor marker levels ( OR=3.81, 95% CI: 1.84-7.91, P<0.001), long diameter of tumor ( OR=2.56, 95% CI: 1.27-5.16, P=0.009), short diameter of tumor ( OR=3.73, 95% CI: 1.75-7.92, P=0.001), vacuolar sign ( OR=0.32, 95% CI: 0.12-0.86, P=0.024), ring-like metabolism ( OR=3.67, 95% CI: 1.33-10.13, P=0.012), maximum standardized uptake value (SUV max) ( OR=6.57, 95% CI: 3.03-14.25, P<0.001), metabolic tumor volume (MTV) ( OR=2.91, 95% CI: 1.43-5.92, P=0.003), total lesion glycolysis (TLG) ( OR=4.23, 95% CI: 2.08-8.59, P<0.001), Radscore-PET ( OR=21.93, 95% CI: 9.04-53.20, P<0.001) and Radscore-CT ( OR=13.72, 95% CI: 6.12-30.76, P<0.001) were all influencing factors for predicting lymph node metastasis in NSCLC patients. Multivariate analysis showed that, tumor marker levels ( OR=2.55, 95% CI: 1.11-5.90, P=0.028), vacuolar sign ( OR=0.26, 95% CI: 0.08-0.83, P=0.023), SUV max ( OR=5.94, 95% CI: 1.99-17.75, P=0.001), Radscore-PET ( OR=25.51, 95% CI: 5.92-110.22, P<0.001), and Radscore-CT ( OR=8.68, 95% CI: 2.73-27.61, P<0.001) were independent influencing factors for predicting lymph node metastasis in patients with NSCLC. Based on the above independent influencing factors, models were constructed: the traditional model (tumor marker levels, vacuolar sign, SUV max), the PET model (SUV max, Radscore-PET), the CT model (vacuolar sign, Radscore-CT), and the combined model (tumor marker levels, vacuolar sign, SUV max, Radscore-PET, Radscore-CT). ROC curve analysis showed that, the area under curve (AUC) of the traditional, PET, CT, and combined models in the training set were 0.75 (95% CI: 0.67-0.82), 0.90 (95% CI: 0.84-0.95), 0.85 (95% CI: 0.78-0.90), and 0.94 (95% CI: 0.88-0.97), respectively. The predictive value of the combined model was higher than that of the traditional model ( Z=5.01, P<0.001), the PET model ( Z=1.99, P=0.047), and the CT model ( Z=3.25, P=0.001). In the validation set, the AUCs for the traditional model, PET model, CT model, and combined model were 0.65 (95% CI: 0.52-0.77), 0.86 (95% CI: 0.74-0.93), 0.85 (95% CI: 0.73-0.93), and 0.90 (95% CI: 0.80-0.96), respectively. The predictive value of the combined model was superior to that of the traditional model ( Z=3.23, P=0.001). The sensitivity and specificity of the combined model in the training set were 84.37% and 91.03%, while in the validation set, the sensitivity and specificity were 82.61% and 94.74%, respectively. Calibration curves showed a good agreement between the predicted and actual probabilities in both the training and validation sets. DCA showed that the combined models had good discriminative ability in both the training and validation sets. Conclusions:Tumor marker levels, vacuolar sign, SUV max, Radscore-PET, and Radscore-CT are all independent influencing factors for predicting lymph node metastasis in patients with NSCLC. The combined model based on these factors demonstrates excellent predictive performance and clinical application value for predicting lymph node metastasis in NSCLC.

Objective:To observe the clinical efficacy of the modified crowbar-assisted minimally invasive Chevron osteotomy for the treatment of hallux valgus.Methods:A total of 42 patients with hallux valgus who underwent modified crowbar-assisted minimally invasive Chevron osteotomy at Huashan Hospital of Fudan University for hallux valgus from January 2019 to July 2022 were retrospectively analyzed. There were 3 males and 39 females, aged 42.3±8.7 years (range, 26-60 years); 18 left-sided and 24 right-sided, with body mass index 22.9±2.3 kg/m 2. According to the size of the hallux valgus angle (HVA), 26 patients were divided into the mild group (15°≤HVA<20°) and 16 patients were divided into moderate group (20°≤HVA≤40°). All patients were treated with modified crowbar-assisted Chevron osteotomy. The preoperative and postoperative HVA, intermetatarsal angle (IMA), distal metatarsal articular angle (DMAA), visual analogue scale (VAS) and American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society metatarsophalangeal interphalangeal scale (AOFAS Hallux MTP-IP scale) were compared. Results:All patients successfully completed the operation and were followed up for an average of 22.3±6.5 months (range, 18-30 months). The HVA, IMA, and DMAA in the mild group at the last follow-up were 6.6°±1.8°, 8.1°±1.8°, and 4.3°±1.1°, respectively, which were significantly lower than those before operation 17.8°±1.4°, 12.5°±1.5°, and 7.6°±2.4° ( P<0.05). The HVA, IMA, and DMAA in the moderate group at the last follow-up were 7.6°±2.1°, 8.8°±1.6°, and 4.8°±2.9°, respectively, which were significantly lower than those before operation 32.3°±3.5°, 14.8°±3.5°, and 12.7°±5.4° ( P<0.05). At the last follow-up, there was no significant difference in HVA, IMA, or DMAA between the two groups ( P>0.05). The differences of HVA, IMA, and DMAA before and after operation in the moderate group were 24.7°±2.6°, 6.0°±2.3°, and 7.9°±3.8°, respectively, which were greater than those in the mild group 11.2°±1.7°, 4.4°±1.6°, and 3.3°±1.6°, and the differences were statistically significant ( P<0.05). At the last follow-up, the VAS score of the mild group decreased from 2.6±2.0 before surgery to 0.4±0.2, and the difference was statistically significant ( t=6.014, P<0.001). The VAS score of the moderate group decreased from 3.2±2.2 before surgery to 0.4±0.3, the difference was statistically significant ( t=8.777, P<0.001). The preoperative AOFAS Hallux MTP-IP scale of the toe metatarsal joint in the mild group and the moderate group were 71.6±5.9 and 64.3±7.8, respectively, which increased to 93.3±6.0 and 92.3±6.0 at the last follow-up, and the difference was statistically significant ( P<0.05). At the last follow-up, there was no significant difference in AOFAS Hallux MTP-IP scale between the two groups ( P>0.05). Twenty-two of the 26 patients in the mild group were satisfied, and 14 of the 16 patients in the moderate group were satisfied, and the difference in satisfaction between the two groups was not statistically significant ( P>0.05). Conclusion:The clinical efficacy of the modified crowbar-assisted minimally invasive Chevron osteotomy in the treatment of hallux valgus is satisfactory, and it can effectively correct the hallux valgus deformity and improve the function of the metatarsophalangeal joint.

Porcine arthritis,one of the common chronic diseases in large-scale pig farms,can signifi-cantly reduce the production performance of meat pigs.In this study,a strain of Haemophilus pa-rasuis(HPS)was isolated from the joint fluid of a lame pig.The HPS was analyzed in terms of se-rotypes,virulence genes,and resistance genes.Additionally,it was treated with sensitive antibiotics to provide a theoretical basis for the comprehensive prevention and treatment of arthritis in meat pigs in future production settings.A strain of HPS type 14 was isolated from the joint fluid of dis-eased pigs.The HPS isolate demonstrated sensitivity to β-lactams and tetracyclines,while florfeni-col and polymyxin effectively inhibited its growth at low concentrations.However,the bacteria ex-hibited resistance to sulfonamides and ciprofloxacin.The treatment of affected pigs with clinical ar-thritis using doxycycline and enrofloxacin injections proved effective.Compared to the infected group,in which the sick pigs experienced difficulty flexing their carpal and tarsal joints and exhibi-ted significant lameness,the pigs in the treatment group showed marked improvement.Their joints were only slightly swollen,and the clinical symptoms of arthropathy were alleviated.