Objective: To analyze the unregistered treatment situation and its influencing factors among pulmonary tuberculosis patients in Quzhou City, Zhejiang Province from 2017 to 2023, so as to provide a basis for promoting the management of tuberculosis patients and optimizing disease prevention and control strategies. Methods: Data of pulmonary tuberculosis patients including demographic information, etiological results, and mortality status were collected through the China Disease Prevention and Control Information System Infectious Disease Reporting and Surveillance System and the Tuberculosis Management Information System. Pulmonary tuberculosis patients not matched in the Tuberculosis Management Information System were defined as unregistered treatment patients, and the unregistered treatment rate was analyzed. Factors affecting unregistered treatment among pulmonary tuberculosis patients were analyzed using a multivariable logistic regression model. Results: A total of 10 779 pulmonary tuberculosis patients were reported in Quzhou City from 2017 to 2023, including 7 700 males (71.44%) and 3 079 females (28.56%). There were 5 484 cases aged <65 years, accounting for 50.88%. Among them, 630 cases were unregistered treatment, with an unregistered treatment rate of 5.84% (95%CI: 5.42%-6.38%). Multivariable logistic regression analysis showed pulmonary tuberculosis patients aged ≥65 years (OR=1.829, 95%CI: 1.512-2.212) had a higher risk of being unregistered treatment than those aged <65 years; patients with non-local household registration (OR=5.710, 95%CI: 4.724-6.901) had a higher risk than local patients; and patients engaged in housework/unemployed (OR=2.001, 95%CI: 1.421-2.818) or other occupations (OR=2.396, 95%CI: 1.789-3.137) had a higher risk than farmers. The mortality of unregistered treatment pulmonary tuberculosis patients was higher than the registered treatment patients (26.67% vs. 5.02%),with a significantly elevated mortality risk (OR=7.147, 95%CI: 5.738-8.902). Conclusions The unregistered treatment rate among pulmonary tuberculosis patients was well controlled in Quzhou City from 2017 to 2023, but the elderly, patients with non-local household registration, and those engaged in housework/unemployed had a higher risk of unregistered treatment. It is recommended to improve medical and social security policies, strengthen health education on tuberculosis prevention, enhance treatment adherence, and reduce mortality risk.

OBJECTIVE: To explore the preparation of nano-silver acupuncture needles and evaluate the appearance, structure and properties. METHODS: Stainless steel acupuncture needles were pretreated by polishing with sandpaper and cleaning with ultrapure water and absolute ethanol. As the working electrodes, the needles were placed in an electrolyte solution contained silver nitrate (AgNO₃), potassium nitrate (KNO₃), and polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP); and the silver nanoparticles were deposited at a constant voltage of -0.2 V for 1 200 s. The heat-treatment was conducted at 600 ℃ for 15 min in an argon atmosphere to strengthen the adhesion between the nanoparticles and the substrate. The surface appearance and structure of nano-silver acupuncture needles were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity and biocompatibility of the needles were evaluated. The cytotoxicity and biocompatibility of the sample were assessed using the CCK-8 assay. According to the national standard, Acupuncture Needles (GB 2024-2016), the other physicochemical performances of nano-silver acupuncture needles were tested. RESULTS: ①By controlling the AgNO₃ concentration and the molar ratio of AgNO₃ to PVP, it was found that at an AgNO₃ concentration of 2 mmol/L and a molar ratio of 5∶1, silver nanoparticles with the diameter of 50-100 nm, regular appearance, and uniform distribution were obtained. At a lower concentration, the size of silver nanoparticles was smaller and unevenly distributed particles, whereas a higher concentration tended to produce a dendritic structure. ②By sandpaper polishing, acid etching pretreatment, and heat-treatment at 600 ℃ under argon for 15 min, the adhesion of silver nanoparticles on the surface of the needle body was strengthened, and the simulated pig skin puncture test showed the intact coating without shedding. ③SEM found that the silver nanoparticles were uniformly deposited, forming a nanofilm approximately 1.5 μm thick; XRD analysis showed the diffraction peaks corresponding to cubic crystal silver (111), (200), (220) and (311); and XPS detected characteristic peaks of Ag 3d3/2 and Ag 3d5/2, confirming the successful deposition and good crystallinity of the silver nanoparticles. ④Resistivity measurements indicated that the nano-silver acupuncture needles exhibited a resistivity of approximately 0.15 Ω·cm, about three times lower than that of unmodified stainless steel needles. The infrared thermography demonstrated that their thermal conductivity was superior to that of traditional acupuncture needles. In vitro CCK-8 cytotoxicity assay showed that the nano-silver acupuncture needles had no adverse effects on human skin fibroblasts and possessed good biocompatibility. ⑤ The key parameters such as needle tip performance, hardness, and the adhesion between the needle body and handle were in compliance with the requirements in Acupuncture Needles (GB 2024-2016), ensuring a quality guarantee provided for clinical applications. CONCLUSION The preparation of nano-silver acupuncture needles effectively overcomes the insufficient toughness of traditional silver needles and improves the electrical and thermal conductivity of stainless acupuncture needles.
Silver/chemistry* ; Needles ; Acupuncture Therapy/instrumentation* ; Metal Nanoparticles/chemistry* ; Humans ; Electric Conductivity ; Animals

Debates persist regarding the efficacy and safety of azvudine, particularly its real-world outcomes. This study involved patients aged ≥60 years who were admitted to 25 hospitals in mainland China with confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection between December 1, 2022, and February 28, 2023. Efficacy outcomes were all-cause mortality during hospitalization, the proportion of patients discharged with recovery, time to nucleic acid-negative conversion (T _NANC), time to symptom improvement (T _SI), and time of hospital stay (T _HS). Safety was also assessed. Among the 5884 participants identified, 1999 received azvudine, and 1999 matched controls were included after exclusion and propensity score matching. Azvudine recipients exhibited lower all-cause mortality compared with controls in the overall population (13.3% vs. 17.1%, RR, 0.78; 95% CI, 0.67-0.90; P = 0.001) and in the severe subgroup (25.7% vs. 33.7%; RR, 0.76; 95% CI, 0.66-0.88; P < 0.001). A higher proportion of patients discharged with recovery, and a shorter T _NANC were associated with azvudine recipients, especially in the severe subgroup. The incidence of adverse events in azvudine recipients was comparable to that in the control group (2.3% vs. 1.7%, P = 0.170). In conclusion, azvudine showed efficacy and safety in older patients hospitalized with COVID-19 during the SARS-CoV-2 omicron wave in China.

Breast cancer (BC) is one of the most prevalent malignant tumors affecting women worldwide, with its incidence rate continuously increasing. As a result, treatment strategies for this disease have received considerable attention. Research has highlighted the crucial role of the Hedgehog (Hh) signaling pathway in the initiation and progression of BC, particularly in promoting tumor growth and metastasis. Therefore, molecular targets within this pathway represent promising opportunities for the development of novel BC therapies. This study aims to elucidate the therapeutic mechanisms by which natural compounds modulate the Hh signaling pathway in BC. By conducting a comprehensive review of various natural compounds, including polyphenols, terpenes, and alkaloids, we reveal both common and unique regulatory mechanisms that influence this pathway. This investigation represents the first comprehensive analysis of five distinct mechanisms through which natural compounds modulate key molecules within the Hh pathway and their impact on the aggressive behaviors of BC. Furthermore, by exploring the structure-activity relationships between these compounds and their molecular targets, we shed light on the specific structural features that enable natural compounds to interact with various components of the Hh pathway. These novel insights contribute to advancing the development and clinical application of natural compound-based therapeutics. Our thorough review not only lays the groundwork for exploring innovative BC treatments but also opens new avenues for leveraging natural compounds in cancer therapy.

There are limited reports available regarding the treatment of amputated noses. This article presented a case of an incompletely amputated nose in a 47-year-old male who was admitted to Dalian University Affiliated Xinhua Hospital in July 2023. He was characterized by an amputated right nasal tip and alar region, with an avulsion area of approximately 4 cm×4 cm. The broad pedicle was connected to the nasal base, approximately 5 mm below the remaining nasal column, and only the nasal column retained a satisfactory arterial blood supply. During the operation, the amputated tissue was implanted in situ, and clindamycin was employed to prevent infection after the operation by intravenous infusion. Bloodletting with flaps, wet application of heparin saline, and massage were employed and all the amputated tissue survived. The appearance of the nose was deemed acceptable. By reviewing relevant literature, the author discussed and summarized the methods of nasal blood supply and treatment for nasal amputated injuries, thereby providing a reference for the management of similar cases.

There are limited reports available regarding the treatment of amputated noses. This article presented a case of an incompletely amputated nose in a 47-year-old male who was admitted to Dalian University Affiliated Xinhua Hospital in July 2023. He was characterized by an amputated right nasal tip and alar region, with an avulsion area of approximately 4 cm×4 cm. The broad pedicle was connected to the nasal base, approximately 5 mm below the remaining nasal column, and only the nasal column retained a satisfactory arterial blood supply. During the operation, the amputated tissue was implanted in situ, and clindamycin was employed to prevent infection after the operation by intravenous infusion. Bloodletting with flaps, wet application of heparin saline, and massage were employed and all the amputated tissue survived. The appearance of the nose was deemed acceptable. By reviewing relevant literature, the author discussed and summarized the methods of nasal blood supply and treatment for nasal amputated injuries, thereby providing a reference for the management of similar cases.

OBJECTIVE To investigate the predictive value of prognostic nutritional index(PNI) and lymphocyte-monocyte ratio(LMR) in severe radiotherapy-induced oral mucositis(RIOM) during treatment of patients with head and neck cancer,and to construct a risk prediction model and test the prediction effect. METHODS A total of 502 patients with head and neck cancer who underwent radiotherapy were recruited from September 2021 to October 2023 in Xiangya Hospital Central South University. The participants were randomly divided into training group and validation group at a ratio of 7:3. According to whether severe RIOM occurred,they were divided into severe RIOM group and non-severe RIOM group. Univariate analysis and logistic regression analysis were used to screen the risk factors of severe RIOM. The receiver operating characteristic(ROC) curve was used to evaluate its prediction effect and R4.3.2 software was used to draw nomograms and decision curve. RESULTS The risk prediction model for patients with head and neck cancer during treatment had five factors,including the number of comorbidities(OR=2.221,95％CI=1.185-4.165),surgical history(OR=2.938,95％CI=1.393-6.198),the degree of tumor differentiation(OR=1.511,95％CI=1.090-2.094),PNI(OR=0.892,95％CI=0.852-0.934),LMR(OR=0.512,95％CI=0.254-1.030). Model formula:Y=2.102+0.413×degree of differentiation+0.798×number of comorbidities+1.078×surgical history-0.114×PNI-0.669×LMR. The validation results of the prediction model showed that the area under the ROC curve of the training group was 0.847(P<0.001),the area under the curve of the validation group was 0.808(P<0.001),and the P values of the Hosmer-Lemeshow test of the modeling group and the validation group were both greater than 0.05. The decision curve was above the reference line within most of the high-risk thresholds. CONCLUSION The risk prediction model constructed in this study has good effect,which can predict the risk of severe RIOM during radiotherapy in patients with head and neck cancer,providing the reference for taking preventive intervention measures for high-risk patients.

Objective To develop an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)-borne radiation monitoring system with high detection efficiency and nuclide identification ability for airborne monitoring in nuclear emergency. Methods The UAV-borne CeBr₃ radiation monitoring system was composed of four cerium bromide (CeBr₃) crystal detectors coupled with silicon photomultipliers (SiPMs) and other components including integrated modules, intelligent electronic devices, and new composite materials. Results According to various performance tests on the system, the crystal energy resolution was better than 5% (@0.662 MeV), the peak drift of the energy spectrum was within ±1 channel, the linear fit of energy was 0.99997, the change in the count rate of each energy window during 12 h long-term measurement was less than 5%, and the detection efficiency was higher compared with that of NaI (Tl) detectors of the same volume. Conclusion Through ground point source testing and theoretical calculation, the system has reliable ability to identify radionuclides, which can be used in nuclide identification and the preparedness and response for nuclear and radiation emergencies.

Objective:To investigate the value of quantitative ultrashort-echo-time (UTE) adiabatic T 1ρ (AdiabT 1ρ) in the diagnosis of articular cartilage degeneration of knee. Methods:A prospective case-control study was used. From March 2023 to September 2024, 30 healthy volunteers and 50 patients with osteoarthritis (OA) were recruited in the Second Affiliated Hospital, South China University of Technology and the Fifth Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University. The unilateral knee joints were scanned by using three-dimensional (3D) UTE-Cones-AdiabT 1ρ sequence. The articular cartilages of knee were divided into 13 subregions slice by slice, with a total of 3 837 subregions. The whole-organ magnetic resonance-imaging score (WORMS) was evaluated in each subregion. According to the extent of lesions, the subregions cartilages were divided into normal group (WORMS 0, 2 589 subregions), localized lesion group (WORMS 1, 2, 2.5, 911 subregions) and diffuse lesion group (WORMS 3, 4, 5, 337 subregions). According to the depth of lesions, they were divided into normal group (WORMS 0, 2 589 subregions), partial cartilage layer lesions group (WORMS 1, 2, 3, 4, 1 108 subregions) and full-thickness lesion group (WORMS 2.5, 5, 140 subregions). WORMS 1 was early cartilage degeneration. The Kellgren-Lawrence (KL) grade of the knee joints was assessed and divided into normal group (KL grade 0, 1 323 subregions), suspicious or mild OA group (KL grades 1 and 2, 1 738 subregions), and moderate or severe OA group (KL grades 3 and 4, 776 subregions). The UTE-Cones-AdiabT 1ρ values and curves for each subregion were obtained by Matlab 2017b software. The ANOVA was used to compare the differences in UTE-Cones-AdiabT 1ρ between different WORMS groups and KL groups. Spearman correlation analysis was used to evaluate the correlation between UTE-Cones-AdiabT 1ρ and WORMS and KL groups. The receiver operating characteristic curve and area under the curve (AUC) were used to determine the efficacy of UTE-Cones-AdiabT 1ρ in diagnosing early cartilage degeneration and suspicious or mild OA. Results:Both normal volunteers and OA patients were able to obtain good cartilage images and well-fitting UTE-Cones-AdiabT 1ρ curves. There were 2 589, 569, 277, 65, 199, 63 and 75 cartilage subregions with WORMS scores of 0, 1, 2, 2.5, 3, 4 and 5, respectively, and the UTE-Cones-AdiabT 1ρ values were (36.1±5.1), (41.5±5.2), (42.3±5.3), (45.2±6.3), (43.0±5.2), (44.1±5.4) and (47.5±5.7) ms, respectively. The difference was statistically significant ( F=161.63, P<0.001). There was a statistically significant difference in UTE-Cones-AdiabT 1ρ among normal group, localized lesion group and diffuse lesion group ( F=450.92, P<0.001), and there was a significant difference in UTE-Cones-AdiabT 1ρ value among normal group, partial cartilage lesion group and full-thickness lesion group ( F=479.13, P<0.001). There was a statistically significant difference in UTE-Cones-AdiabT 1ρ among the normal group, the suspected or mild OA group, and the moderate or severe OA group ( F=36.91, P<0.001). The UTE-Cones-AdiabT 1ρ values in all subregions were positively correlated with WORMS and KL grades ( r=0.55, P<0.001; r=0.26, P<0.001). The AUC of UTE-Cones-AdiabT 1ρ in the diagnosis of early cartilage degeneration was 0.773 (95% CI 0.750-0.796), and the AUC in the diagnosis of suspicious or mild OA was 0.580 (95% CI 0.560-0.601). Conclusion:3D UTE-Cones-AdiabT 1ρ is positively correlated with the degree of cartilage degeneration, which can quantitatively evaluate cartilage degeneration and has the value of early diagnosis of articular cartilage degeneration.

OBJECTIVE To observe the short-term efficacy and safety of venetoclax combined with homoharringtonine and cytarabine in the treatment of acute myeloid leukemia （AML）. METHODS The data of 40 newly diagnosed AML patients admitted to our hospital from October 2022 to November 2023 were retrospectively collected and divided into observation group and control group according to treatment plan， with 20 cases in each group. The patients in the control group were given Daunorubicin hydrochloride for injection+Cytarabine for injection， and the patients in the observation group were given Venetoclax tablets+ Homoharringtonine injection+Cytarabine for injection. The patients in both groups were given relevant medicine， with 28 days as one cycle. The short-term efficacy， negative rate of minimal residual disease （MRD）， duration of granulocyte deficiency， duration of platelet （PLT） ＜20×109 L－1， transfusion volume of suspended red blood cells and platelet， and the occurrence of adverse drug reactions were evaluated in both groups after 1 cycle of induction chemotherapy. RESULTS The complete remission or complete remission with incomplete hematologic recovery （CR/CRi） rate in the observation group was significantly higher than control group （P＜0.05）， and the negative rate of MRD in the observation group was also significantly higher than control group （P＜0.05）. However， in low-， medium- and high-risk patients， there was no statistical significance in CR/CRi rates between the two groups （P＞0.05）. There were no significant differences in the duration of agranulocytosis， the duration of PLT ＜20×109 L－1， the amount of suspended red blood cell transfusion， the amount of platelet transfusion， the incidence of hematologic toxicity and the incidence of non-hematologic toxicity between 2 groups （P＞0.05）. CONCLUSIONS Venetoclax combined with homoharringtonine and cytarabine show good short-term efficacy and safety in the treatment of AML.