Objective:To investigate the feasibility and safety of intracardiac echocardiography(ICE)combined with total three-dimensional(T3D)technique in zero-fluoroscopy individualized transseptal puncture.Methods:A total of 112 patients with atrial fibrillation who underwent radiofrequency ablation in Yongchuan Hospital Affiliated to Chongqing Medical University from April 2021 to March 2024 were enrolled,and according to the method for transseptal puncture,they were randomly divided into ICE+T3D group with 56 patients and ICE group with 56 patients.The two groups were analyzed in terms of baseline data,time to atrial reconstruc-tion,time to coronary sinus electrode placement,frequency of ICE probe adjustment during transseptal puncture,duration of transsep-tal puncture,pretreatment time before ablation,incidence rate of complications,and the duration and dosage of X-ray exposure.Results:There were no significant differences in baseline data between the two groups.Compared with the ICE group,the ICE+T3D group had a significantly lower frequency of ICE probe adjustment during transseptal puncture(1.70±0.63 vs.5.34±1.71,P<0.001)and the duration of transseptal puncture(3.66±1.09 min vs.4.90±1.92 min,P<0.001).Compared with the ICE group,the ICE+T3D group had significantly longer time to atrial reconstruction(22.44±3.13 min vs.12.34±2.12 min,P<0.001)and pretreatment time be-fore ablation(49.41±3.52 min vs.37.65±4.04 min,P<0.001).In the ICE+T3D group,43(76.8%)patients achieved zero radiation during pretreatment before ablation,and 13 patients received X-ray due to the difficulty in catheter placement;compared with the ICE group,the ICE+T3D group had a significantly shorter duration of X-ray exposure(1.68±0.72 min vs.3.14±1.95 min,P=0.010)and a significantly lower dosage of X-ray exposure(6.28±2.78 mGy vs.23.85±21.32 mGy,P=0.004).During the stage of transseptal punc-ture,all patients in the ICE+T3D group achieved zero radiation,while 45 patients(80.4%)in the ICE patients received X-ray.In terms of complications,there were no life-threatening complications such as cardiac tamponade,perforation of the aorta by mistake,and embolization in either group,while there was one case(1.8%)of vascular complications in each group.Conclusions:ICE combined with T3D after integration and improvement is a safe and reliable procedure for zero-fluoroscopy individualized transseptal puncture.

As a type of non-Hodgkin lymphoma,Burkitt lymphoma is characterized by unfixed location of disease,rapid progression,diverse symptoms,and clinical complexity in diagnosis and treatment.Professor Wang Xixing posits that Burkitt lymphoma manifests as a tangible mass,and its formation is associated with the invasion of exogenous pathogens,internal injury induced by seven emotions,and deficiency of healthy qi.The fundamental pathogenesis involves dysfunction of the liver,spleen and kidney,leading to liver qi stagnation,spleen-stomach deficiency in the middle energizer,and liver-kidney disharmony.The secondary manifestations were caused by the binding of phlegm-damp,toxin,and stasis.In general,the pathogenesis of Burkitt lymphoma presented deficiency in the origin and excess in the superficiality,and deficiency interweaved with excess.In clinical practice,Professor Wang emphasizes the regulation of the functions of liver,spleen and kidney,and maintains the body's yin-yang balance on the basis of the combination of disease differentiation and syndrome differentiation.Therapeutic strategies focus on soothing liver qi,replenishing qi to strengthen the spleen,and tonifying the kidney to regulate the liver,separately through the utilization of Chaihu Sanjie Decoction,Buzhong Yiqi Decoction,and Bushen Tiaogan Decoction.In this way,significant clinical efficacy is usually achieved.

Objective To investigate the mechanism by which angiopoietin-like protein 8(ANGPTL8)regulates vascular smooth muscle cell(VSMCs)apoptosis.Methods An in vitro abdominal aortic aneurysm cell model was established by stimulating human VSMCs(HUSMCs)with angiotensin Ⅱ(AngⅡ).Stable ANGPTL8 knockdown and over-expression VSMC cell strains were generated using lentiviral transfection.TUNEL staining was used to de-tect apoptosis.Western blot analysis was performed to measure the protein expression of ANGPTL8,caspase9,caspase3,Bcl-2,Bax,p53,and PUMA,while RT-qPCR was used to assess mRNA expression of ANGPTL8,Bcl-2 and Bax.Results AngⅡ significantly induced ANGPTL8 expression in HVSMCs in a time-and dose-de-pendent manner(P＜0.05).ANGPTL8 knockdown significantly reduced the expression of apoptosis-related proteins caspase9,caspase3,and Bax,while increased the expression of the anti-apoptotic protein Bcl-2(P＜0.05).Con-versely,ANGPTL8 over-expression markedly induced HVSMCs apoptosis,which was significantly suppressed by treatment with the p53 pathway inhibitor pifithrin-α(PFT-α).Conclusions ANGPTL8 may promote VSMC apop-tosis by activation of p53 signaling pathway.

Objective To investigate the applicability of D-dimer levels combined with the Tei index in assessing the volume load in patients with acute decompensated heart failure(ADHF).Methods Two hundred patients admitted to the Emergency Department of Taizhou TCM Hospital between 2022 and 2023 were selected as the subjects,who were divided into a low volume load group(n=121)and a high volume load group(n=79)based on plasma volume indices.The clinical indicators and parameters of cardiac function of these subjects were compared.Multivariate Logistic regression analysis was used for identification of potential risk factors for elevated volume loads.A model for prediction of elevated volume loads was developed via Chi-square automatic interaction detection,followed by internal validation via Bootstrapping.Logistic regression analysis was used to study the interactions between D-dimer levels and Tei indices in assessing the volume loads of patients with ADHF.Results Multivariate regression analysis showed that age,Tei index,D-dimer levels and B type natriuretic peptide(BNP)were risk factors for high volume loads in ADHF patients.The decision tree model established had 14 nodes and 8 terminal nodes.Four explanatory variables including age,Tei index,D-dimer levels and BNP were screened out.The area under curve(AUC),sensitivity,specificity and prediction accuracy of the classification tree model were higher than those of the regression model.When D-dimer levels ≥1.16 and Tei index ≥0.65 interacted and co-existed,ADHF patients were at higher risk of developing high volume loads(OR=6.526,95％CI:2.439-7.183).The results of restricted cubic spline analysis pointed to nonlinear dose response relationships in the correlation strength of D-dimer levels,Tei index and volume loads.Conclusion There are interactions between D-dimer levels and Tei index,and the risk of high volume loads in ADHF patients is significantly increased when D-dimer levels are 1.16 or above and Tei index is 0.65 or above.

BACKGROUND: Parental myopia is an important risk factor for myopia in Chinese children and adolescents. This study aimed to assess the influence of parental myopia and the severity of myopia on offspring and to evaluate whether adopting healthy lifestyles can mitigate the effects of parental myopia on offspring. METHODS: This cross-sectional study analyzed data from children and adolescents aged 6-17 years with complete vision assessments and parental history of myopia from six provinces in China during 2013-2014. Parental demographic information, children's outdoor activity time, sleep time, and sedentary time were collected via questionnaire. Parental myopia was classified as no myopia, paternal myopia, maternal myopia, and both. The offspring were categorized into 10 groups based on parental myopia prescription. Associations of the above factors with myopia in children and adolescents were evaluated by logistic regression analysis. RESULTS: Among 40,864 children and adolescents (50.3% boys and 49.7% girls), 22,537 (55.2%) were diagnosed with myopia. In comparison to offspring devoid of parental myopia, children with one parent affected by myopia exhibited odds ratio (OR) of 1.75 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.62-1.88) for myopia, while those with both parents affected showed OR of 2.27 (95% CI: 2.02-2.55) after adjusted for lifestyle factors. The likelihood of myopia in offspring increased with increasing severity of parental myopia, with a 3.08-fold increase in risk observed when both parents presented high myopia. Nonetheless, children adhering to two or more healthy lifestyle factors demonstrated a diminished risk of myopia compared with those with fewer than two lifestyle factors, especially among offspring of non-myopic or mildly myopic parents. CONCLUSIONS Parental myopia has a dose-dependent association with their offspring. Healthy lifestyles may reduce the impact of parental factors on myopia in offspring. The observed associations suggest that although the genetic burden of parental myopia cannot be ignored, healthy lifestyles and nurturing are also very important.
Humans ; Myopia/epidemiology* ; Child ; Male ; Female ; Adolescent ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; China/epidemiology* ; Parents ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Risk Factors

Chimeric antigen receptor T (CAR-T) cells have reshaped the treatment landscape of hematological malignancies, offering a potentially curative option for patients. Despite these major milestones in the field of immuno-oncology, growing experience with CAR-T cells has also highlighted several limitations of this strategy. The production process of CAR-T cells is complex, time-consuming, and costly, thus leading to poor drug accessibility. The potential carcinogenic risk of viral transfection systems remains a matter of controversy. Treatment-related side effects, such as cytokine release syndrome, can be life-threatening. And the biggest challenge is the inadequate efficacy related to poor infiltration and retention of CAR-T cells in tumor tissues and impaired T cell activation caused by the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment (TME). Innovative strategies are urgently needed to address these problems, and nanomedicine offers good solutions to these challenges. In this review, we provide a comprehensive summary of recent advancements in the application of nanomaterials to enhance CAR-T cell therapy. We examine the role of innovative nanoparticle-based delivery systems in the production of CAR-T cells, with a particular focus on polymeric delivery systems and lipid nanoparticles (LNPs). Furthermore, we explore various strategies for delivering immune stimulators, which significantly enhance the efficacy of CAR-T cells by modulating T cell viability and functionality or by reprogramming the immunosuppressive TME. In addition, we discuss several novel therapeutic approaches aimed at mitigating the adverse effects associated with CAR-T therapies. Finally, we offer an integrated perspective on the future challenges and opportunities facing CAR-T therapies.
Humans ; Nanomedicine/methods* ; Receptors, Chimeric Antigen/metabolism* ; Immunotherapy, Adoptive/methods* ; T-Lymphocytes/immunology* ; Nanoparticles/chemistry* ; Animals

ObjectiveTo investigate a suspected outbreak of healthcare-associated infection with carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae (CRKP) in a geriatric emergency ward, and to provide references for the prevention and control of multidrug-resistant bacteria in a hospital in Shanghai. MethodsOn-site epidemiological investigation, combined with environmental hygiene monitoring and pulsed field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) molecular typing method, were adopted to investigate a suspected outbreak of CRKP infection in the geriatric emergency ward of a hospital from October to November 2022, aiming at finding out factors caused the outbreak before taking corresponding control measures. ResultsA total of 3 cases of healthcare-associated CRKP infection were identified, of which 2 cases were homologous to a previous case of community-associated CRKP infection. What’s more, the 2 cases lived in the same ward with the latter and with adjacent beds, but the third case was non-homologous to the community-associated infection case. A total of 46 samples were collected from the environmental surfaces and the hands of healthcare workers, of which 7 samples tested positive for CRKP and were identical to the strains from the 2 healthcare-associated infection cases and the 1 community-associated infection case, originating from the bedrails, bedside tables, surface of non-invasive ventilator, bed curtains and panels of monitoring equipment, with a detection rate of 15.22%. But none of the 11 samples from the hands of healthcare workers tested positive for CRKP. The outbreak was effectively controlled after taking specific prevention and control measures such as strengthening personnel management, intensifying environmental cleaning and disinfection and strictly enforcing hand hygiene among healthcare workers. Subsequently, no similar new cases were reported during the 14-day follow-up period. ConclusionIncomplete environmental cleaning and disinfection, as well as inadequate enforcement of hand hygiene among heatheare workers may have contributed to the suspected outbreak of CRKP in the geriatric emergency ward. Early warning and timely investigation of suspected outbreaks of multidrug-resistant bacteria are crucial for preventing and controlling such outbreaks in hospitals.

Formative assessment emphasizes timely feedback to guide and improve the learning process, benefiting both students and teachers through the evaluation–feedback–improvement–reevaluation mechanism. The Pediatric College of Chongqing Medical University has widely applied formative assessment to standardized residency training, and at the same time, has actively researched this method in undergraduate education to employ various formative assessment tools to establish a formative assessment-based pediatric education model that has specialized characteristics and can be popularized. We have demonstrated that the formative assessment-based education model can improve the teaching quality of pediatric medical education, and better meet the requirements of higher education and the new situation of medical education in the age of new medicine.

Objective To investigate the equivalent conversion of head injury criterion(HIC)under anterior-posterior(AP)and lateral-medial(LM)craniocerebral impact for mild craniocerebral injury in rats using motor evoked potential(MEP)and β-amyloid precursor protein(β-APP)immunohistochemistry(IHC).Methods Sixty healthy adult male SD rats were randomly divided into 0 m control group,0.5 m-AP and 0.5 m-LM injury groups,and 1 m-AP and 1 m-LM injury groups(12 rats in each group).The control group did not undergo any impact injury experiment.After the impact injury experiment,the injury and control groups were subjected to excessive anesthesia to produce β-APP immunohistochemical stained slices,and the percentage of positive area and integral optical density(IOD)in the brainstem pyramidal tract area of the slices were determined.The MEP groups were divided in the same manner as the IHC groups and the MEP amplitudes of the MEP and control groups were measured after the impact injury experiment.Results With an increase in the degree of injury,the decrease in MEP amplitude,percentage of positive areas,and IOD in the injury groups significantly increased.When the degree of injury was low,the sensitivity of IHC was higher than that of MEP.When the degree of injury was the same,the HIC in the LM direction was lower than that in the AP direction.When the HIC was the same,the degree of injury in the LM direction was greater than that in the AP direction.Conclusions The joint evaluation of MEP and β-APP can provide experimental references for the study of HIC equivalent conversion in AP-LM craniocerebral impact injury.

Objective To monitor the susceptibility of clinical isolates to antimicrobial agents in tertiary hospitals in major regions of China in 2022.Methods Clinical isolates from 58 hospitals in China were tested for antimicrobial susceptibility using a unified protocol based on disc diffusion method or automated testing systems.Results were interpreted using the 2022 Clinical &Laboratory Standards Institute(CLSI)breakpoints.Results A total of 318 013 clinical isolates were collected from January 1,2022 to December 31,2022,of which 29.5％were gram-positive and 70.5％were gram-negative.The prevalence of methicillin-resistant strains in Staphylococcus aureus,Staphylococcus epidermidis and other coagulase-negative Staphylococcus species(excluding Staphylococcus pseudintermedius and Staphylococcus schleiferi)was 28.3％,76.7％and 77.9％,respectively.Overall,94.0％of MRSA strains were susceptible to trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole and 90.8％of MRSE strains were susceptible to rifampicin.No vancomycin-resistant strains were found.Enterococcus faecalis showed significantly lower resistance rates to most antimicrobial agents tested than Enterococcus faecium.A few vancomycin-resistant strains were identified in both E.faecalis and E.faecium.The prevalence of penicillin-susceptible Streptococcus pneumoniae was 94.2％in the isolates from children and 95.7％in the isolates from adults.The resistance rate to carbapenems was lower than 13.1％in most Enterobacterales species except for Klebsiella,21.7％-23.1％of which were resistant to carbapenems.Most Enterobacterales isolates were highly susceptible to tigecycline,colistin and polymyxin B,with resistance rates ranging from 0.1％to 13.3％.The prevalence of meropenem-resistant strains decreased from 23.5％in 2019 to 18.0％in 2022 in Pseudomonas aeruginosa,and decreased from 79.0％in 2019 to 72.5％in 2022 in Acinetobacter baumannii.Conclusions The resistance of clinical isolates to the commonly used antimicrobial agents is still increasing in tertiary hospitals.However,the prevalence of important carbapenem-resistant organisms such as carbapenem-resistant K.pneumoniae,P.aeruginosa,and A.baumannii showed a downward trend in recent years.This finding suggests that the strategy of combining antimicrobial resistance surveillance with multidisciplinary concerted action works well in curbing the spread of resistant bacteria.