Objective : To analyze the epidemiological characteristics of tuberculosis in Urumqi and assess the im⁃pact of the national health examination policy , as well as COVID⁃19 prevention and control measures , on tuberculo⁃sis incidence in Xinjiang. Methods: The seasonal patterns of pulmonary tuberculosis were examined using the seasonal index method and circular distribution analysis. An Interrupted Time Series (ITS , Interrupted Time Series) model was employed to investigate how the national health examination policy and COVID_19 interventions influenced trends in tuberculosis incidence in Urumqi. Results: From 2013 to 2021 , a total of 19 ,049 cases of tuberculosis were reported in Urumqi. The peak incidence day occurred on May 25th , indicating a consistently high rate throughout the year, particularly during spring and summer months. The results of the interrupted time series model indicated that the initial monthly incidence rate of pulmonary tuberculosis in Urumqi was 5. 05 per 100 ,000. From January 2013 to September 2016 , the incidence rate of pulmonary tuberculosis showed a slow upward trend , and the upward trend was significant (β1 = 0. 039 ,P < 0. 05) . After the implementation of the universal health checkup policy , the incidence rate of pulmonary tuberculosis showed a slow downward trend , and the downward trend was significant(β3 = - 0. 109 ,P < 0. 05) . After the outbreak of the COVID_19 epidemic in January 2020 , the incidence rate of pulmonary tuberculosis in Urumqi first dropped rapidly and then entered a slow upward stage , and the upward trend was significant(β5 = 0. 082 , P < 0. 05) . Conclusion It is recommended that public health authorities prioritize timely identification of potential TB patients during periods with elevated incidence rates observed in spring and summer months. While significant progress has been made through implementing national health examinations policies , attention must be directed towards understanding how ongoing epidemics affect TB patient detection. Thus , enhancing surveillance efforts and intervention strategies are essential in adapting to this new normal. Key words tuberculosis ; seasonal index method ; circular distribution method ; national health examination ; COVID_19 ; interruption time series

Objective To observe the clinical efficacy of scalp acupuncture combined with repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation in the treatment of patients with mild to moderate vascular dementia and to explore its potential mechanism of action.Methods A total of 102 patients diagnosed with mild to moderate vascular dementia who were treated in the outpatient and inpatient departments of Cangzhou Hospital of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine from July 2021 to May 2023 were selected as the study subjects.The patients were randomly divided into an observation group and a control group using a random number table,with 51 patients in each group.The control group received repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation treatment,while the observation group received scalp acupuncture therapy in addition to the treatment given to the control group.The treatment lasted for 16 weeks.After treatment,the clinical efficacy of the two groups was evaluated.Changes in the Mini-Mental State Examination(MMSE)scores,Montreal Cognitive Assessment(MoCA)scores,and traditional Chinese medicine(TCM)syndrome scores were observed before and after treatment.Additionally,serum levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor(BDNF),vascular endothelial growth factor(VEGF),and homocysteine(Hcy)were measured.The cerebral blood flow velocities in the anterior,middle,and posterior arteries,as well as the levels of lipid peroxide(LPO),malondialdehyde(MDA),and superoxide dismutase(SOD),were compared between the two groups before and after treatment.The safety and incidence of adverse reactions in both groups were also evaluated.Results(1)After treatment,the MMSE and MoCA scores of both groups were significantly improved(P＜0.05),and the observation group showed significantly better improvement in MMSE and MoCA scores compared to the control group,with a statistically significant difference(P＜0.05).(2)After treatment,the serum levels of BDNF,VEGF,and Hcy in both groups were significantly improved(P＜0.05),and the observation group showed significantly better improvement in these levels compared to the control group,with a statistically significant difference(P＜0.05).(3)After treatment,the cerebral blood flow velocities in the posterior,middle,and anterior arteries were significantly improved in both groups(P＜0.05),and the observation group showed significantly better improvement in these velocities compared to the control group,with a statistically significant difference(P＜0.05).(4)After treatment,the levels of LPO,MDA,and SOD were significantly improved in both groups(P＜0.05),and the observation group showed significantly better improvement in these levels compared to the control group,with a statistically significant difference(P＜0.05).(5)After treatment,the TCM syndrome scores improved significantly in both groups(P＜0.05),and the observation group showed significantly better improvement in these scores compared to the control group,with a statistically significant difference(P＜0.05).(6)The total effective rate in the observation group was 88.24%(45/51),while it was 70.59%(36/51)in the control group.The efficacy of the observation group was superior to that of the control group,with a statistically significant difference(P＜0.05).(7)The incidence of adverse reactions in the observation group was 3.92%(2/51),while it was 1.96%(1/51)in the control group.There was no statistically significant difference in the incidence of adverse reactions between the two groups(P＞0.05).Conclusion Scalp acupuncture combined with repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation in the treatment of mild to moderate vascular dementia helps regulate cerebral hemodynamics and neurotrophic factor expression,improves cognitive function,and demonstrates significant efficacy with good safety.

Schizophrenia (SZ) stands as a severe psychiatric disorder. This study applied diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) data in conjunction with graph neural networks to distinguish SZ patients from normal controls (NCs) and showcases the superior performance of a graph neural network integrating combined fractional anisotropy and fiber number brain network features, achieving an accuracy of 73.79% in distinguishing SZ patients from NCs. Beyond mere discrimination, our study delved deeper into the advantages of utilizing white matter brain network features for identifying SZ patients through interpretable model analysis and gene expression analysis. These analyses uncovered intricate interrelationships between brain imaging markers and genetic biomarkers, providing novel insights into the neuropathological basis of SZ. In summary, our findings underscore the potential of graph neural networks applied to multimodal DTI data for enhancing SZ detection through an integrated analysis of neuroimaging and genetic features.
Humans ; Schizophrenia/pathology* ; Diffusion Tensor Imaging/methods* ; Male ; Female ; Adult ; Brain/metabolism* ; Young Adult ; Middle Aged ; White Matter/pathology* ; Gene Expression ; Nerve Net/diagnostic imaging* ; Graph Neural Networks

T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL) is a highly aggressive hematologic malignancy with a poor prognosis, despite advancements in treatment. Many patients struggle with relapse or refractory disease. Investigating the role of the super-enhancer (SE) regulated gene ubiquitin-specific protease 20 (USP20) in T-ALL could enhance targeted therapies and improve clinical outcomes. Analysis of histone H3 lysine 27 acetylation (H3K27ac) chromatin immunoprecipitation sequencing (ChIP-seq) data from six T-ALL cell lines and seven pediatric samples identified USP20 as an SE-regulated driver gene. Utilizing the Cancer Cell Line Encyclopedia (CCLE) and BloodSpot databases, it was found that USP20 is specifically highly expressed in T-ALL. Knocking down USP20 with short hairpin RNA (shRNA) increased apoptosis and inhibited proliferation in T-ALL cells. In vivo studies showed that USP20 knockdown reduced tumor growth and improved survival. The USP20 inhibitor GSK2643943A demonstrated similar anti-tumor effects. Mass spectrometry, RNA-Seq, and immunoprecipitation revealed that USP20 interacted with hypoxia-inducible factor 1 subunit alpha (HIF1A) and stabilized it by deubiquitination. Cleavage under targets and tagmentation (CUT&Tag) results indicated that USP20 co-localized with HIF1A, jointly modulating target genes in T-ALL. This study identifies USP20 as a therapeutic target in T-ALL and suggests GSK2643943A as a potential treatment strategy.

Lysosomes represent a promising target for cancer therapy and reducing drug resistance. However, the short treatment time and low efficiency of lysosomal targeting have limited the application in lysosome-targeting anticancer drugs. In this study, we proposed an adhesive-bandage approach and synthesized a new lysosomal targeting drug, namely long-term lysosome-targeting anticancer drug (LLAD). It contains a SLC38A9-targeting covalently bound moiety and an alkaline component both to prolong the inhibition of SLC38A9 in lysosomes and alkalinize lysosomes. Upon short term and low-dose treatment of HeLa cells, at passage 0, with LLAD, it rapidly alkalinized lysosomes and also can be detected in lysosomes even at passage 15. LLAD induced apoptosis in HeLa cells through long-term lysosomal damage, and showed better long-term anticancer effect than cisplatin in vivo. Overall, our study paves the way for developing long-term lysosomal targeting drugs to treat cancer and overcome the drug resistance of cancer cells, and also provides a candidate drug, LLAD, for treating cancer.

Objective:To explore the changes in carcinoembryonic antigen(CEA)during the immune process of programmed death-1(PD-1)inhibitor Sintilimab in human epithelial growth factor receptor 2(HER2)negative advanced gastric cancer patients and its relationship with prognosis.Methods:HER2 negative late stage gastric cancer patients(88 cases)who were treated in North Anhui Coal Power Group General Hospital from May 2020 to April 2022 were selected as study subjects,all of whom received PD-1 inhibitor Sintilimab treatment;according to the prognosis,they were divided into death group(36 cases)and survival group(52 cases).Followed up was conducted every 6 months to collect tumor marker levels before and after treatment.Analyzed relationship between tumor markers(CEA,CA199,CA125)levels and clinical staging,lymph node metastasis and prognosis.Kaplan-Meier sur-vival curve was used to analyze survival time of patients with negative and positive tumor markers.Multivariate Cox regression model and stepwise regression analysis were used to identify risk factors affecting prognosis.Spearman was used for correlation analysis.Results:After two cycles of treatment,72 cases(81.82%)had disease control and 16 cases(18.18%)had progression.Compared with patients before treatment,positive rate of serum tumor markers in patients after treatment was significantly reduced(P<0.05).Positive rates of CEA and CA199 were significantly correlated with clinical staging(P<0.05).When predicting patient death,sensitivity of CEA level was the highest(48.57%),while CA125 had the highest specificity(95.62%)and the lowest sensitivity(25.71%).Kaplan-Meier sur-vival curve analysis showed that the survival time of patients with positive tumor markers were significantly shorter than that of negative patients(P<0.05).Clinical staging,serum CEA and CA199 levels were independent factors for predicting prognosis(P<0.05).Spear-man correlation analysis results showed that the multiple increases in CEA(r=-0.512,P=0.005)and CA199(r=-0.467,P=0.011)were negatively correlated with patient survival time.Conclusion:After treatment with PD-1 inhibitor Sintilimab,serum tumor markers levels in HER2 negative advanced gastric cancer patients have been significantly reduced on average.High serum levels of CEA,CA199 and CA125 can all predict poor prognosis,and clinical staging,serum CEA and CA199 levels are independent factors in pre-dicting prognosis.The higher the increase in CEA and CA199,the shorter the patient's survival time.

Objective:To investigate the long-term efficacy, safety and prognostic factors of intraoperative radiotherapy (IORT) for narrow-margin (resection margin < 1 cm) hepatectomy in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) during radical surgery.Methods:A retrospective cohort study was conducted. The data of primary HCC patients undergoing radical surgery and narrow-margin hepatectomy IORT in the Cancer Hospital of the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences from November 2009 to February 2019 were collected. IORT applied 6 MeV or 9 MeV electron beams and a single irradiation was given to the margin. Kaplan-Meier method was used for the overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) analysis; log-rank test was used for survival comparison among subgroups. The recurrence patterns and adverse reactions were recorded. Univariate and multivariate Cox proportional hazards models were used to analyze the factors influencing the OS and DFS.Results:A total of 64 patients were enrolled, with the median age [ M ( Q1, Q3)] of 57 years (49, 63) years. All patients included 55 males (85.9%) and 9 females (14.1%). The median dose of IORT was 15 Gy (range: 12-17 Gy). The median follow-up time was 83.3 (64.4, 91.9) months. The 1-year, 3-year, 5-year, 7-year, 10-year OS rates were 90.4%, 80.6%, 75.5%, 71.4% and 47.6%, respectively; the 1-year, 3-year, 5-year, 7-year,10-year DFS rates were 77.8%, 68.1%, 59.6%, 57.6% and 38.4%, respectively. Univariate Cox regression analysis indicated that preoperative serum alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) > 400 ng/ml was an independent risk factor for poor OS (> 400 ng/ml vs. ≤ 400 ng/ml: HR = 6.57, 95% CI: 2.16-19.96, P < 0.001), while not the independent influencing factor of poor DFS ( HR = 1.71, 95% CI: 0.65-4.52, P = 0.277). The age ≤ 60 years or not, gender, viral hepatitis or not, American Joint Committee on Cancer stage, tumor diameter (> 5 cm or not), tumor number, degree of tumor differentiation, microvascular invasion or not, microsatellite nodules or not, anatomical liver resection or not, and the dose of IORT ≤15 Gy or not were not the independent influencing factors of poor OS and DFS (all P > 0.05). Kaplan-Meier method analysis showed that patients with preoperative serum AFP ≤ 400 ng/ml (48 cases) had better OS compared with those with preoperative serum AFP>400 ng/ml (16 cases) (5-year OS rate: 84.8% vs. 44.9%; 7-year OS rate: 79.9% vs.37.4%), and the difference was statistically significant ( P = 0.002). There was no statistically significant difference in the DFS between the 2 groups ( P = 0.134). During the follow-up, 28 patients (43.8%) relapsed, including 17 cases (26.6%) of early recurrence and 11 cases (17.2%) of late recurrence. No marginal recurrence was observed. There were 22 cases (34.4%) of intrahepatic recurrence alone, 2 cases (3.1%) of extrahepatic recurrence and 4 cases (6.3%) of stimutaneous recurrence inside and outside the liver. The 1-, 3-, 5- and 7-year cumulative recurrence rates inside the liver were 19.0%, 27.2%, 37.4% and 39.3% respectively, and the cumulative recurrence rates outside the liver were 6.4%, 8.0%, 9.6% and 9.6% respectively. There were no adverse reactions above grade 3 in the entire group. There were no surgery-related deaths within 30 d after the operation, and no radiation-induced liver disease occurred. Conclusions:Narrow-margin IORT helps HCC patients receiving hepatectomy to achieve favorable long-term survival and adverse reactions are tolerable. It can be used as a safe and effective adjuvant therapy alternative.

Objective:To explore the application effect of a hierarchical training model based on the "geese formation effect" in the professional training of gastrointestinal center nurses.Methods:A total of 122 nurses at the Gastrointestinal Center of West China Hospital, Sichuan University, were randomly divided into an experimental group ( n=61) and a control group ( n=61). The experimental group received a hierarchical training model based on the "geese formation effect". Nurses in this group were divided into four levels of N1 to N4 according to seniority, corresponding to the roles of "young geese", "growing geese", "flying geese", and "leading geese/flying geese", and differentiated training content and formats were implemented. The control group received routine training. At the end of the training and at 3 and 6 months after the training, theoretical knowledge and operational skills were assessed, along with evaluations of job competency, professional characteristic indicators, and teaching satisfaction. The chi-square test and independent samples t-test were performed using SPSS 25.0. Results:At the end of the training and at 3 and 6 months after the training, compared with the control group, the experimental group achieved significantly higher scores in theoretical knowledge [(91.69±3.04) vs. (83.66±6.35), (89.42±3.29) vs. (81.33±5.79), (85.63±3.67) vs. (76.59±6.48)] and operational skills [(92.20±2.54) vs. (82.95±6.09), (90.15±2.83) vs. (81.61±5.47), (89.24±3.18) vs. (78.91±5.89)] (all P<0.001). The total score of job competency in the experimental group was higher than that in the control group. For the professional characteristic indicators, the experimental group also outperformed the control group in the implementation rate of postoperative pressure ulcer prevention (90.16% vs. 72.13%) and the ERAS compliance rate (93.44% vs. 80.33%) (both P<0.05). The total score of training satisfaction was higher in the experimental group than in the control group. Conclusions:The hierarchical training model based on the "geese formation effect" can effectively improve the theoretical knowledge, operational skills, job competency, and clinical nursing quality of nurses, with high teaching satisfaction and promotion value.

Objective To investigate the clinical characteristics and related risk factors of severe Mycoplasmal pneumoniae pneumonia(SMPP)in children.Methods Analysis of clinical data of 240 children with Mycoplasmal pneumoniae pneumonia admitted to Guangxi Hospital Division of the First Affiliated Hospital,Sun Yat-sen University from October 2023 to March 2024.According to the severity of the disease,they were divided into SMPP group and general Mycoplasmal pneumoniae pneumonia(GMPP)group,multivariate Logistic regression analysis was used to analyze the risk factors related to the occurrence of SMPP.The receiver operating characteristic(ROC)curve was plotted to analyze the predictive value of each independent risk factor of SMPP.Results Compared the data during hospitalisation between GMPP group and SMPP group,the SMPP group had longer fever course,hospitalization time,azithromycin treatment time,and glucocorticoid use time(P＜0.05).The proportion of patients with unilateral lung lesions and large patchy shadows in SMPP group were significantly higher than those in GMPP group(P＜0.05).The levels of C-reactive protein,interleukin(IL)-6,and D-dimer in SMPP group were significantly higher than those in GMPP group,while the peripheral blood lymphocyte count was significantly lower than that in GMPP group(P＜0.05).The results of multiple Logistic regression analysis showed that the duration of fever,D-dimer,IL-6,and large patchy shadows in the lungs were independent risk factors for SMPP.The ROC curve results showed that fever duration ≥ 6.5 days,D-dimer≥0.495mg/L,IL-6≥11.05pg/ml,and large patchy shadows in the lungs had good application value in distinguishing SMPP and GMPP children.Conclusion Prolonged fever duration(≥6.5 days),significantly elevated levels of D-dimer and IL-6,and large patchy shadows in the lungs are the main clinical features of children with SMPP,which may be independent risk factors for predicting SMPP.

Paraplegia caused by spinal cord injury is a serious neurological complication, for which surgery is currently the main treatment method. Due to different surgical approaches, patients are usually expected to maintain a passive prone position for a long time or switch between the supine and prone positions. Affected by multiple factors such as neurogenic sensory disorders, pathological changes in muscle tone and operative duration, the risk of intraoperative acquired pressure injury (IAPI) is significantly increased. Current clinical prevention strategies for IAPI in these patients predominantly focus on localized pressure relief during positioning, lacking systematic, standardized comprehensive prevention protocols or evidence-based guidelines. To address it, Department of Nursing, Orthopedics Branch, China International Exchange and Promotive Association for Medical and Health Care, Spinal Trauma Professional Committee, Orthopedics Branch, Chinese Medical Doctor Association, Nursing Group of Spine and Spinal Cord Professional Committee of Chinese Association of Rehabilitation Medicine organized experts in relevant fields to formulate Guideline for the prevention of intraoperative acquired pressure injury in paraplegic patients with spinal cord injury ( version 2025), based on evidence-based medical evidence and latest research results and clinical practice at home and abroad. Eleven recommendations were put forward from the aspects of preoperative risk assessment, intraoperative prevention strategies, postoperative handover and monitoring, and supportive mechanisms for IAPI prevention, aiming to standardize the prevention measures and management strategies of IAPI in paraplegic patients with spinal cord injury and accelerate the recovery of patients and improve the therapeutic effect.