Objective To compare the mid- and long-term clinical results of mitral valve plasty (MVP) and mitral valve replacement (MVR) in the treatment of functional mitral regurgitation (FMR). Methods Patients with FMR who underwent surgical treatment in the Department of Cardiovascular Surgery of the General Hospital of Northern Theater Command from 2012 to 2021 were collected. The patients who underwent MVP were divided into a MVP group, and those who underwent MVR into a MVR group. The clinical data and mid-term follow-up efficacy of two groups were compared. Results Finally 236 patients were included. There were 100 patients in the MVP group, including 53 males and 47 females, with an average age of (61.80±8.03) years. There were 136 patients in the MVR group, including 72 males and 64 females, with an average age of (61.29±8.97) years. There was no statistical difference in baseline data between the two groups (P＞0.05). There was no statistical difference between the two groups in the extracorporeal circulation time, aortic occlusion time, postoperative hospital and ICU stay, intraoperative blood loss, or hospitalization death (P＞0.05), but the time of mechanical ventilation in the MVP group was significantly shorter than that in the MVR group (P=0.022). The total follow-up rate was 100.0%, the longest follow-up was 10 years, and the average follow-up time was (3.60±2.55) years. There were statistical differences in the left atrial diameter, left ventricular end-diastolic diameter, left ventricular end-systolic diameter and cardiac function between the two groups compared with those before surgery (P<0.05). The postoperative left ventricular ejection fraction in the MVP group was statistically higher than that before surgery (P=0.002), but there was no statistical difference in the MVR group before and after surgery (P=0.658). The left atrial diameter in the MVP group was reduced compared with the MVR group (P=0.026). The recurrence rate of mitral regurgitation in the MVP group was higher than that in the MVR group, and the difference was statistically significant (10.0% vs. 1.5%, P=0.003). There were 14 deaths in the MVP group and 19 in the MVR group. The cumulative survival rate (P=0.605) and cardiovascular events-free survival rate (P=0.875) were not statistically significant between the two groups by Kaplan-Meier survival analysis. Conclusion The safety, and mid- and long-term clinical efficacy of MVP in the treatment of FMR patients are better than MVR, and the left atrial and left ventricular diameters are statistically reduced, and cardiac function is statistically improved. However, the surgeon needs to be well aware of the indications for the MVP procedure to reduce the rate of mitral regurgitation recurrence.

Hepatic encephalopathy is a difficult and critical disease with rapid progression and limited treatment methods in the field of liver disease， and it is urgently needed to make breakthroughs in its pathogenesis. Selection of appropriate prevention and treatment strategies is of great importance in delaying disease progression and reducing the incidence and mortality rates. This article reviews the theory of “turbid toxin pathogenesis” and related prevention and treatment strategies for hepatic encephalopathy in traditional Chinese medicine/Zhuang medicine， proposes a new theory of “turbid toxin pathogenesis”， analyzes the scientific connotations of “turbid”， “toxin”， and the theory of “turbid toxin pathogenesis”， and constructs the “four-step” prevention and treatment strategies for hepatic encephalopathy， thereby establishing the new clinical prevention and treatment regimen for hepatic encephalopathy represented by “four prescriptions and two techniques” and clarifying the effect mechanism and biological basis of core prescriptions and techniques in the prevention and treatment of hepatic encephalopathy， in order to provide a reference for the prevention and treatment of hepatic encephalopathy.

ObjectiveTo analyze the distribution characteristics of traditional Chinese medicine （TCM） syndrome elements in different risk populations of heart failure complicated with type 2 diabetes. MethodsClinical data of 675 type 2 diabetes patients were retrospectively collected. Lasso-multivariate Logistic regression was used to construct a clinical prediction nomogram model. Based on this， 441 non-heart failure patients were divided into a low-risk group （325 cases） and a high-risk group （116 cases） according to the median risk score of heart failure complicated with type 2 diabetes. TCM diagnostic information （four diagnostic methods） was collected for both groups， and factor analysis was applied to summarize the distribution of TCM syndrome elements in different risk populations. ResultsLasso-multivariate Logistic regression analysis identified age， disease duration， coronary heart disease， old myocardial infarction， arrhythmia， absolute neutrophil count， activated partial thromboplastin time， and α-hydroxybutyrate dehydrogenase as independent risk factors for heart failure complicated with type 2 diabetes. These were used as final predictive factors to construct the nomogram model. Model validation results showed that the area under the curve （AUC） of the receiver operating characteristic （ROC） curve for the modeling group and validation group were 0.934 and 0.935， respectively. The Hosmer-Lemeshow test （modeling group P = 0.996， validation group P = 0.121） indicated good model discrimination. Decision curve analysis showed that the curves for All and None crossed in the upper right corner， indicating high clinical utility. The low-risk and high-risk groups each obtained 14 common factors. Preliminary analysis revealed that the main disease elements in the low-risk group were qi deficiency （175 cases， 53.85%）， dampness （118 cases， 36.31%）， and heat （118 cases， 36.31%）， with the primary locations in the spleen （125 cases， 38.46%） and lungs （99 cases， 30.46%）. In the high-risk group， the main disease elements were yang deficiency （73 cases， 62.93%）， blood stasis （68 cases， 58.62%）， and heat （49 cases， 42.24%）， with the primary locations in the kidney （84 cases， 72.41%） and heart （70 cases， 60.34%）. ConclusionThe overall disease characteristics in different risk populations of type 2 diabetes patients with heart failure are a combination of deficiency and excess， with deficiency being predominant. Deficiency and heat are present throughout. The low-risk population mainly shows qi deficiency with dampness and heat， related to the spleen and lungs. The high-risk population shows yang deficiency with blood stasis and heat， related to the kidneys and heart.

Objective To explore the mechanism of modified maimendong decoction (MMD) in inhibiting lung cancer metastasis from the perspective of immune regulation. Methods CTC-TJH-01 and LLC cells were intervened with different concentrations of modified maimendong decoction. The cell proliferation was detected with a CCK-8 kit, apoptosis was detected with an Annexin V-FITC/PI kit, and cell migration was detected through Transwell assays. A lung metastasis model was established through the tail vein injection of LLC cells into C57BL/6 mice, and body weight change and lung tumor metastasis in the mice were evaluated after continuous gavage intervention with MMD. HE staining, immunohistochemistry, and immunofluorescence were employed to observe the histomorphology, Ki-67 protein level, and NK and T cell levels of metastatic lesions. The levels of NK and T cells in the peripheral blood of mice were detected throughflow cytometry. Results MMD had no significant inhibitory effect on the proliferation, apoptosis, and migration of CTC-TJH-01 and LLC cells in vitro. In mice, MMD could significantly inhibit the lung metastasis of LLC cells, increase the proportion of NK and CD8⁺ T cells in peripheral blood and tumor microenvironment (P<0.05), and reduce the expression of Ki-67 protein in metastatic tumor tissues (P<0.05). Conclusion MMD may inhibit the growth of metastatic tumors by upregulating the expression levels of NK and CD8⁺ T cells in peripheral blood to promote the elimination of circulating tumor cells, and regulating the infiltration of NK and CD8⁺ T cells in the immune microenvironment of metastatic tumors, then play an antimetastatic role in lung cancer.

To promote convergence education among national and international students, Nanjing Medical University designed an optional curriculum Two Sides of the Same Coin in Parasitic Diseases among international students for the Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) program, and a research-based teaching method was employed to teach 31 international students. This curriculum contained three parts, including parasitology-related knowledge, basic knowledge and skills of scientific research, and frontier topics in scientific research advances, and the assessment contents included course sign-in, classroom activity participation and scientific research presentation. Curriculum evaluation showed 100.0% (8/8) of students in batch 2018—2021, 81.8% (9/11) in batch 2022, and 83.3% (10/12) in batch 2023 with a total score of 80 points and higher, with median scores (interquartile range) of 91.1 (7.0), 90.8 (5.7) points and 90.8 (5.7) points, respectively (H = 0.04, P > 0.05). In addition, a questionnaire survey was performed with a Likert scale to assess the interests in curriculum learning, and the curriculum practicality and importance among 31 international students, and a total of 27 valid questionnaires were recovered, with a recovery rate of 87.1%. Questionnaire survey showed that the median total scores (interquartile range) were 7.0 (0.8) points among batch 2018—2021 students, 6.4 (1.4) points among batch 2022 students and 6.0 (1.1) points among batch 2023 students (H = 2.64, P > 0.05). Collectively, these data demonstrate that this optional curriculum improves the interests in parasitology learning of the international students for MBBS program, as well as their capability of self-directed learning, teamwork and innovative.

In recent years,the morbidity and mortality of hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC)have been increasing worldwide,and the treatment strategies for HCC are still insufficient,which highlights the importance of exploring the pathogenesis and progression of HCC.Transient receptor potential(TRP)pathway is an important non-selective cation pathway,which is closely related to inflammatory response and sensory conduction.At present,a number of studies have shown that TRP pathway is also involved in the occurrence and development of HCC,inducing HCC invasion and migration.However,the overall potential mechanism and possible signal transduction pathways of TRP pathway in HCC remain unclear.Therefore,this article discusses the abnormal expression of TRP pathway in HCC,and reviews the key biological events of TRP pathway involved in the formation and progression of HCC,such as chronic liver inflammation-fibrosis progression,HCC cell proliferation,migration,apoptosis and HCC stem cell generation,and looks forward to its application prospect in HCC treatment.The aim is to better un-derstand the significance of TRP pathway in HCC,help to find new therapeutic targets and effective drugs,and open up a new situation for future clinical treatment.

Objective To identify the influencing factors of operation time of hand-assisted laparoscopic living donor nephrectomy, and to analyze the relationship between influencing factors and the severity of postoperative complications. Methods Clinical data of 91 donors who underwent hand-assisted laparoscopic nephrectomy were retrospectively analyzed. The correlation between preoperative baseline data of donors and operation time was analyzed. The relationship between operation time and postoperative complications was assessed and the threshold of operation time was determined. Results Multiple donor renal arteries, thick perirenal and posterior renal fat, metabolic syndrome, high Mayo adhesive probability (MAP) score and Clavien-Dindo score prolonged the operation time. By analyzing the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve, we found that when the operation time was ≥138 min, the incidence of postoperative complications of donors was significantly increased (P<0.05). Conclusions For donors with multiple renal arteries, thick perirenal and posterior renal fat, metabolic syndrome and high MAP score and Clavien-Dindo score, experienced surgeons should be selected to make adequate preoperative preparation and pay close attention after surgery, so as to timely detect postoperative complications and reduce the severity of complications, enhance clinical prognosis of the donors.

Objective:To compare demographic characteristics,clinical characteristics,therapeutic characteris-tics and physiological indicators of patients with bipolar Ⅰ disorder and bipolar Ⅱ disorder.Methods:A total of 381 patients with bipolar disorder(BD)diagnosed by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders 5 th Edi-tion(DSM-5)were selected,including 302 patients with BD-Ⅰ(79.27％),74 patients with BD-Ⅱ(19.42％)and 5 patients with other specific and related disorders(1.31％).Demographic and clinical characteristics were collected with self-designed clinical information questionnaire.Multivariate logistic regression and multivariate linear regres-sion analysis were used for analysis.Results:Compared with patients with BD-Ⅱ,patients with BD-Ⅰ had more risk to have psychotic features(OR=5.75,95％CI:2.82-11.76),longer disease duration,and more repeated transcra-nial magnetic therapy(OR=3.09,95％CI:1.02-9.35),higher uric acid,total cholesterol and high-density lipo-protein.BD-Ⅰ in Han nationality was more common(OR=11.50,95％CI:1.76-75.30),and had lower education level(OR=10.22,95％CI:1.16-89.77),and less family history of psychosis(OR=2.34,95％CI:1.01-5.42).Conclusion:There are significant differences between BD-Ⅰ and BD-Ⅱ in demographic and clinical charac-teristics,treatment status,and physiological indicators,which could provide clues for exploring the pathogenesis of bipolar disorder.

The sternum is the pivotal component of the thoracic cavity. It is connected with the clavicle and ribs on the upper part and both sides respectively, and plays an important role in protecting the stability of the chest wall. Sternal resection usually results in a large segmental chest wall defect that causes the chest wall to float and requires sternal reconstruction. This paper reports a 62 years male patient with thymic squamous cell carcinoma with sternal metastasis, who underwent thymotomy, sternal tumor resection and autologous lilum graft combined with sternal reconstruction by titanium plate after relevant examination was completed and surgical contraindications were eliminated. The patient was followed up for 6 months, the respiratory and motor functions were normal and the thoracic appearance was good.

Objective To compare the application of four domestic and foreign qualitative occupational health risk assessment methods for cement dust hazard assessment and explore their applicability, and to find out a method suitable for qualitative occupational health risk assessment of cement dust. Methods The Risk Assessment Method for Occupational Accidents and Diseases of Romania (Romania method)，the Australian Occupational Health and Safety Risk Assessment Method (Australia method)，MES method, and the qualitative method of International Council on Mining & Metals (ICMM) were used to assess the occupational health risk of cement dust exposure posts in seven enterprises of Chongqing. The assessment results were analyzed and compared with Spearman correlation analysis, Mann-Whitney U test and weighted Kappa consistency test after standardizing by risk ratio (RR). Results The RRs of the four methods were all positively correlated with cement dust exposure concentration (the correlation coefficients were all greater than 0.6). The Romania method, the Australia method and the qualitative method of ICMM could identify a risk difference between the key posts and non-key posts. The qualitative method of ICMM was difficult to identify high-risk posts that require priority intervention. The Romania method and Australia method had strong consistency (Kappa=0.608, P＜0.01), but only the Australia method could identify high-risk posts of cement dust. Conclusion In general, the Australia method is relatively better at identifying the risk differences of cement dust hazard in different posts and is more suitable for occupational health risk assessment of cement dust with more accurate assessment results.