Bone repair remains an important target in tissue engineering, making the development of bioactive scaffolds for effective bone defect repair a critical objective. In this study, β-tricalcium phosphate (β-TCP) scaffolds incorporated with processed pyritum decoction (PPD) were fabricated using three-dimensional (3D) printing-assisted freeze-casting. The produced composite scaffolds were evaluated for their mechanical strength, physicochemical properties, biocompatibility, in vitro pro-angiogenic activity, and in vivo efficacy in repairing rabbit femoral defects. They not only demonstrated excellent physicochemical properties, enhanced mechanical strength, and good biosafety but also significantly promoted the proliferation, migration, and aggregation of pro-angiogenic human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs). In vivo studies revealed that all scaffold groups facilitated osteogenesis at the bone defect site, with the β-TCP scaffolds loaded with PPD markedly enhancing the expression of neurogenic locus Notch homolog protein 1 (Notch1), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), bone morphogenetic protein-2 (BMP-2), and osteopontin (OPN). Overall, the scaffolds developed in this study exhibited strong angiogenic and osteogenic capabilities both in vitro and in vivo. The incorporation of PPD notably promoted the angiogenic-osteogenic coupling, thereby accelerating bone repair, which suggests that PPD is a promising material for bone repair and that the PPD/β-TCP scaffolds hold great potential as a bone graft alternative.
Calcium Phosphates/chemistry* ; Animals ; Bone Regeneration ; Rabbits ; Tissue Scaffolds ; Printing, Three-Dimensional ; Humans ; Human Umbilical Vein Endothelial Cells ; Neovascularization, Physiologic ; Osteogenesis ; Tissue Engineering/methods* ; Biomimetic Materials ; Cell Proliferation ; Angiogenesis

Objective:To explore the clinical, imaging, and pathological features of glottic squamous cell carcinoma of the larynx and their relationship with prognosis. Methods:A retrospective analysis was conducted on the clinical, imaging, and pathological data of 130 patients with glottic squamous cell carcinoma of the larynx who were treated at the First People's Hospital of Yinchuan and the General Hospital of Ningxia Medical University from January 2018 to March 2023. Imaging examinations （CT and MRI） were used to evaluate the lesion boundary clarity, density, enhancement nature, and enhancement degree. Postoperative pathological examination was used to determine the pathological nature, immunohistochemistry, etc. Statistical methods such as χ² test, Spearman correlation analysis, multivariate logistic regression analysis, and Kaplan-Meier method were used to analyze the data. Results:Among the 130 patients, 127 were male and 3 were female, with an average age of （61.92±9.595） years. There was a correlation between clinical, imaging, and pathological features. Multivariate analysis showed that heterogeneous MRI density （OR=12.414;P=0.019） and squamous cell carcinoma as a subtype were correlated. The initial symptom of non-hoarseness （HR=6.045;P=0.010） and unclear MRI boundary （HR=12.559; P=0.029） were independent risk factors for poor prognosis in patients with glottic squamous cell carcinoma of the larynx. Conclusion:There is a correlation between the clinical, imaging, and pathological features of patients with glottic squamous cell carcinoma of the larynx, and they can affect prognosis. The initial symptom of non-hoarseness and unclear MRI boundary of the tumor are independent risk factors for poor prognosis.
Humans ; Laryngeal Neoplasms/diagnosis* ; Prognosis ; Male ; Female ; Retrospective Studies ; Middle Aged ; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell/diagnosis* ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Glottis/pathology* ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed ; Aged

Prostate cancer is the most prevalent malignant tumor among men, ranking first in incidence and second in mortality globally. Novel hormone therapies (NHT) targeting the androgen receptor (AR) pathway have become the standard of care for metastatic prostate cancer. This review offers a comprehensive overview of NHT, including abiraterone, enzalutamide, apalutamide, darolutamide, and rezvilutamide, which have demonstrated efficacy in delaying disease progression and improving patient survival and quality of life. Nevertheless, resistance to NHT remains a critical challenge. The mechanisms underlying resistance are complex, involving AR gene amplification, mutations, splice variants, increased intratumoral androgens, and AR-independent pathways such as the glucocorticoid receptor, neuroendocrine differentiation, DNA repair defects, autophagy, immune evasion, and activation of alternative signaling pathways. This review discusses these resistance mechanisms and examines strategies to counteract them, including sequential treatment with novel AR-targeted drugs, chemotherapy, poly ADP-ribose polymerase inhibitors, radionuclide therapy, bipolar androgen therapy, and approaches targeting specific resistance pathways. Future research should prioritize elucidating the molecular basis of NHT resistance, optimizing existing therapeutic strategies, and developing more effective combination regimens. Additionally, advanced sequencing technologies and resistance research models should be leveraged to identify novel therapeutic targets and improve drug delivery efficiencies. These advancements hold the potential to overcome NHT resistance and significantly enhance the management and prognosis of patients with advanced prostate cancer.

Objective To investigate the effect of ubiquitin-specific peptidase(USP)44 and nuclear receptor co-inhibitor 1(NCOR1)expression on prognosis in non-small cell lung cancer.Methods A total of 98 pa-tients with non-small cell lung cancer admitted to a hospital from May 2019 to May 2021 were selected as the study objects,and non-small cell lung cancer tissues and adjacent tissues were collected to detect the expres-sion levels of USP44 and NCOR1 in these tissues by immunohistochemical staining.The relationship between USP44 and NCOR1 expression and pathological features of non-small cell lung cancer patients was analyzed,and the prognostic factors of non-small cell lung cancer patients were analyzed by multivariate Cox regression.Results The positive expression rates of USP44 and NCOR1 in non-small cell lung cancer tissues were higher than those in adjacent tissues,the difference was statistically significant(P<0.05).The positive expression rates of USP44 and NCOR1 in patients with medium-low differentiation,lymph node metastasis,clinical stageⅢ to Ⅳ,and pleural metastasis were higher than those in patients with highly differentiated,no lymph node metastasis,clinical stage Ⅰ to Ⅱ,and no pleural metastasis,and the difference was statistically significant(P<0.05).The 3-year overall survival rate of USP44 and NCOR1 negative non-small cell lung cancer patients was higher than that of USP44 and NCOR1 positive non-small cell lung cancer patients,and the difference was statistically significant(all P<0.05).Multivariate Cox regression analysis showed that pleural metastasis,USP44 positive and NCOR1 positive were prognostic factors in non-small cell lung cancer patients(P<0.05).Conclusion The expression of USP44 and NCOR1 in patients with non-small cell lung cancer can be used as biomarkers for prognosis assessment,and provide evidence for progression assessment and clinical de-cision making of non-small cell lung cancer.

BACKGROUND: Lung cancer is the cancer with the highest mortality at home and abroad at present. The detection of lung nodules is a key step to reducing the mortality of lung cancer. Artificial intelligence-assisted diagnosis system presents as the state of the art in the area of nodule detection, differentiation between benign and malignant and diagnosis of invasive subtypes, however, a validation with clinical data is necessary for further application. Therefore, the aim of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of artificial intelligence-assisted diagnosis system in predicting the invasive subtypes of early‑stage lung adenocarcinoma appearing as pulmonary nodules. METHODS: Clinical data of 223 patients with early-stage lung adenocarcinoma appearing as pulmonary nodules admitted to the Lanzhou University Second Hospital from January 1st, 2016 to December 31th, 2021 were retrospectively analyzed, which were divided into invasive adenocarcinoma group (n=170) and non-invasive adenocarcinoma group (n=53), and the non-invasive adenocarcinoma group was subdivided into minimally invasive adenocarcinoma group (n=31) and preinvasive lesions group (n=22). The malignant probability and imaging characteristics of each group were compared to analyze their predictive ability for the invasive subtypes of early-stage lung adenocarcinoma. The concordance between qualitative diagnostic results of artificial intelligence-assisted diagnosis of the invasive subtypes of early-stage lung adenocarcinoma and postoperative pathology was then analyzed. RESULTS: In different invasive subtypes of early-stage lung adenocarcinoma, the mean CT value of pulmonary nodules (P<0.001), diameter (P<0.001), volume (P<0.001), malignant probability (P<0.001), pleural retraction sign (P<0.001), lobulation (P<0.001), spiculation (P<0.001) were significantly different. At the same time, it was also found that with the increased invasiveness of different invasive subtypes of early-stage lung adenocarcinoma, the proportion of dominant signs of each group gradually increased. On the issue of binary classification, the sensitivity, specificity, and area under the curve (AUC) values of the artificial intelligence-assisted diagnosis system for the qualitative diagnosis of invasive subtypes of early-stage lung adenocarcinoma were 81.76%, 92.45% and 0.871 respectively. On the issue of three classification, the accuracy, recall rate, F1 score, and AUC values of the artificial intelligence-assisted diagnosis system for the qualitative diagnosis of invasive subtypes of early-stage lung adenocarcinoma were 83.86%, 85.03%, 76.46% and 0.879 respectively. CONCLUSIONS Artificial intelligence-assisted diagnosis system could predict the invasive subtypes of early‑stage lung adenocarcinoma appearing as pulmonary nodules, and has a certain predictive value. With the optimization of algorithms and the improvement of data, it may provide guidance for individualized treatment of patients.
Adenocarcinoma/pathology* ; Adenocarcinoma of Lung/pathology* ; Artificial Intelligence ; Humans ; Lung Neoplasms/pathology* ; Multiple Pulmonary Nodules ; Neoplasm Invasiveness ; Retrospective Studies

Objective:To evaluate the feasibility and accuracy of a multi-dimensional peripheral quick contrast sensitivity function (pqCSF) measurement established based on Bayesian probability estimation algorithm.Methods:A cross-sectional study was conducted.Nineteen eyes of 12 healthy emmetropic subjects in Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center of Sun Yat-sen University from September 2017 to March 2018 were included, with an average age of (22.92±2.91) years.The average spherical power and cylindrical power were (-0.34±0.52)D and (-0.30±0.42)D, respectively, and the average uncorrected vision acuity was≥1.0.Based on the Bayesian probability algorithm, the peak contrast sensitivity γ max, the peak spatial frequency ? max, the bandwidth β and the low contrast intercept δ were used to quickly describe the contrast sensitivity function (CSF) curve of the full spatial frequency through multi-dimensional pqCSF method.The 16 peripheral visual field positions of all subjects were tested at 6°, 12°, 18° and 24° eccentricity of the superior, inferior, the temporal and nasal visual field by the pqCSF method, but the 18° eccentricity of temporal field, which was near the physiological blind spot, was excluded.The area under Log CSF (AULCSF) of different peripheral visual fields and the Log CSF of 19 spatial frequencies (distributed at equal intervals in logarithmic units) were compared.This study followed the Declaration of Helsinki, and the study protocol was approved by an Ethics Committee of Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center of Sun Yat-sen University (No.2018KYPJ017). Written informed consent was obtained from each subject prior to any examination. Results:With the increase of eccentricity in different visual fields, the AULCSF decreased gradually, and there were significant differences in AULCSF between different eccentricities (all at P<0.05). The AULCSF of the nasal and temporal visual field at 6°, 12° and 24° eccentricity was significantly larger than that of the superior and inferior visual field (all at P<0.05). As the distance from the fovea was increased, the pqCSF, the AULCSF, and the high-frequency cutoff were all decreased, and the standard deviation of AULCSF was increased gradually. Conclusions:The pqCSF method can depict a relatively complete peripheral CSF curve of a wide peripheral visual field, and reflect the function quality of the peripheral vision comprehensively and accurately.

To investigate the renal venous and spermatic venous sampling in assisting the diagnosis of reninoma. The case of reninoma was retrospectively reviewed together with the literature review of reninoma diagnosed with renal venous and spermatic venous sampling. A young patient with hypertension and headache was admitted to our hospital. Laboratory test showed high plasma renin concentration (>500 mIU/L), and enhanced computed tomography(CT) in the upper abdomen showed a mass in left inferior renal pole. The concentration of renin in the left spermatic vein was significantly higher than that in renal veins and branches, and peripheral vein, which was considered the left reninoma possibility. The left renal mass was resected surgically and pathologic exam revealed reninoma. The renin level and the blood pressure recoveried normal after operation.The literature reported that the positive rate of renal vein segmental blood collection for locating renin tumor was only 8.3%-64%. The possible reason was that reninoma usually located in the renal cortex, and the tumor blood might be collected by renal capsule vein instead of renal vein. In fact, the renal capsule vein intersects with the lateral division of the spermatic vein, but there have been no reports about the localization of reninoma by spermatic vein sampling. Since renin secreted by reninoma may go into the spermatic vein through renal capsule vein, it should be noted that spermatic venous blood should be collected simultaneously in renal vein sampling when locating reninoma.

Objective:To analyze the characteristics and prognosis of hearing loss in children with bacterial meningitis.Methods:This was a single-center retrospective cohort study. Patients diagnosed with bacterial meningitis who were hospitalized in Beijing Children′s Hospital between 2010 and 2016 and older than 28 days and younger than 18 years at symptom onset were included in this study ( n=573). All clinical information including hearing assessment results during hospitalization were reviewed. All patients with hearing loss were followed up to repeat their hearing test and assess their hearing condition with parents′ evaluation of aural and (or) oral performance of children (PEACH). Patients were grouped according to their hearing assessment results, and Logistic regression analysis was used to analyze the risk factors for hearing loss in patients with bacterial meningitis. Results:Five hundred and seventy-three patients were enrolled in this study, including 347 males and 226 females. The onset age ranged from 29 days to 15.8 years. Two hundred and forty-six patients had identified causative pathogens, among whom 92 cases (37.4%) were pneumococcal meningitis cases. Hearing loss was found in 160 cases (27.9%) during hospitalization, involving 240 ears. Permanent hearing loss was found in 20 cases (16.9%), involving 32 ears. In the patients with permanent hearing loss, 87.5% (28/32) of ears were identified as severe or profound hearing loss during hospitalization. Logistic regression analysis showed that dystonia, the protein concentration level in cerebrospinal fluid>1 g/L, glucose concentration level lower than 1 mmol/L and subdural effusion were independent risk factors for hearing loss ( OR=2.426 (1.450-4.059), 1.865 (1.186-2.932), 1.544 (1.002-2.381) and 1.904 (1.291-2.809)). Conclusions:Hearing loss is a common sequela of bacterial meningitis in children. Most patients have transient hearing loss, but patients with severe or profound hearing impairment have a higher risk of developing permanent hearing loss.

Objective:To explore the proportion of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) in primary aldosteronism (PA) in Chinese population and compare the clinical characteristics between PA patients with OSA and those without.Methods:A total of 96 patients diagnosed with PA from September 2015 to November 2018 were recruited in this study. OSA was screened by cardio-respiratory polygraphy. According to the apnea hypopnea index (AHI), the patients were divided into PA with OSA group (AHI ≥5 times) and PA without OSA group (AHI<5 times).Results:Among all patients (96), 69 (71.9%) were with OSA, among them 22 patients (22.9%) were with mild OSA, 17 patients (17.7%) were with moderate OSA and 30 patients (31.3%) were with severe OSA. Compared with the patients without OSA, the patients with OSA were elder, and had higher levels of body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), hip circumference (HC), creatinine (CR) and glycosylated haemoglobin (HbA1c) ( P<0.05), but lower concentrations of plasma aldosterone (PAC), supine aldosterone renin concentration ratio(ARR) and the PAC after the diagnosis test ( P<0.05). Spearman correlation analyses showed that BMI, WC, HC, CR and HbA1c were positively correlated with AHI ( P<0.05), while high-density lipoproteincholesterol (HDL-C), supine-PAC and saline infusion test(SIT)-post PAC were negatively correlated with AHI ( P<0.05). Conclusions:The proportion of OSA in PA patients is relatively high (71.9%). Metabolic abnormalities are more common in PA patients with OSA, indicating that screening for OSA should be carried out routinely in PA patients.

Objective:To assess the association between visual-related quality of life (QOL) and the severity of quick contrast sensitivity function (qCSF) defects in patients with early cataract.Methods:A cross section design was performed.Ninety-two eyes of 46 patients with early cataract were enrolled in Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center from March to June in 2017.All subjects completed the Chinese version of the National Eye Institute Visual Function Questionnaire (NEI VFQ-25). The qCSF measurements were performed monocularly and binocularly while the patients wearing full spectacle correction spectacles.Rasch analysis was performed to obtain final NEI VFQ-25 scores.Best corrected visual acuity (BCVA)(LogMAR) was measured and the eye with the better or the worse visual acuity was defined accordingly.The correlation between the Rasch calibrated QOL composite scores and the qCSF measurements of the better eye, the worse eye and binoculus, including the area under Log contrast sensitivity function (AULCSF), qCSF under cut-off frequency and 1.0, 1.5, 3.0, 6.0, 12.0, 18.0 c/d were analyzed.This study protocol was approved by the Ethic Committee of Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center.This study complied with Declaration of Helsinki.Results:The Rasch calibrated QOL composite score was 64.13±4.76.Significant negative correlations were found between composite scores of QOL and the BCVA of both the better or worse eye(the better eye: r=-0.386, P=0.008; the worse eye: r=-0.413, P=0.004). Significant positive correlations were found between the composite scores of QOL and the AULCSF of binoculus, the better and worse eye (binoculus: r=0.531, P<0.001; the better eye: r=0.524, P<0.001; the worse eye: r=0.711, P<0.001); Significant positive correlations were found between the composite scores of QOL and the qCSF under cut-off of binoculus, the better and worse eye (binoculus: r=0.504; the better eye: r=0.419; the worse eye: r=0.694, P<0.01). The composite scores of QOL was positively correlated with the qCSF under 1.5, 3.0, 6.0, 12.0 c/d of binoculus, the better and worse eye (binoculus: r=0.444, 0.544, 0.545, 0.493; all at P<0.05; the better eye: r=0.374, 0.506, 0.530, 0.431; all at P<0.05; the worse eye: r=0.513, 0.679, 0.710, 0.558; all at P<0.05). The composite scores of QOL was positively correlated with the qCSF under 1.0, 18.0 c/d of binoculus and the worse eye (1.0 c/d: r=0.296, 0.292; both at P<0.05; 18.0 c/d: r=0.386, 0.321; both at P<0.05). Conclusions:The qCSF measurements can reflect visual function of patients with early cataract at different spatial frequencies.The qCSF measurements of binoculus, the better eye and the worse eye show significant correlations with the composite scores of QOL.The QOL of early cataract patients shows a strong dependency on the worse eye.