Objective:To observe the effectiveness of extracorporeal counterpulsation therapy in patients with heart failure in ischaemic cardiomyopathy.Methods:A total of 112 patients with ischemic cardiomyopathy and heart failure admitted to the Second Affiliated Hospital of Xingtai Medical College from August 2020 to June 2023 were prospectively selected and divided into two groups by random number table method. The control group was treated with conventional drugs and conventional cardiac rehabilitation program, and the observation group was combined with external counterbeating therapy on the basis of the control group. The levels of N-terminal B-type brain natriuretic peptide (NTproBNP), soluble growth stimulation-expression gene-2 protein (sST2), neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipid carrier protein (NGAL), galactin-3 (Gal-3), cardiopulmonary exercise test (CPET) parameters and cardiac ultrasound indexes were compared between the two groups before and after treatment. The curative effect and the rate of re-hospitalization within 6 months were compared between the two groups.Results:After treatment, the levels of NTproBNP, sST2, NGAL and Gal-3 in the observation group were lower than those in the control group: (1941.36 ± 312.59) ng/L vs. (2674.22 ± 404.64) ng/L, (44.78 ± 3.97) ng/L vs. (52.45 ± 4.13) ng/L, (22.63 ± 3.65) μg/L vs. (26.41 ± 3.77) μg/L, (4.63 ± 1.29) ng/L vs. (6.11 ± 1.78) ng/L, there were statistical differences ( P<0.05); the maximum kilogram oxygen uptake (VO 2max/kg), maximum kilogram oxygen uptake as a percentage of predicted value (VO 2max/kg%pred), maximum minute ventilation as a percentage of predicted value (VEmax%pred) in the observation group were higher than those in the control group: (22.41 ± 2.23) ml/(min·kg) vs. (21.35 ± 2.09) ml/(min·kg), (83.79 ± 11.04)% vs. (78.74 ± 10.14)%, (88.95 ± 12.74)% vs. (75.45 ± 11.14)%, there were statistical differences ( P<0.05 or <0.01); the left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) in the observation group was higher than that in the control group and the left ventricular posterior wall thickness (LVPWT) and left ventricular posterior wall end-systolic thickness (PWS) were lower than those in the control group: (50.12 ± 3.87)% vs. (48.63 ± 3.74)%, (8.77 ± 1.58) mm vs. (9.63 ± 1.97) mm, (9.34 ± 1.54) mm vs. (10.14 ± 1.79) mm, there were statistical differences ( P<0.05). There was no statistical difference in the total effective rate between the two groups ( P>0.05). The patient readmission rate within 6 months of follow-up in the observation group was lower than that in the control group: 5.45%(3/55) vs. 20.00%(11/55), there was statistical difference( χ2 = 5.24, P<0.05). Conclusions:Extracorporeal counterpulsation therapy for the treatment of heart failure in ischaemic cardiomyopathy can improve the cardiorespiratory function, reduce the expression of NTproBNP, sST2, NGAL and Gal-3, and decrease the patient readmission rate.

OBJECTIVE To explore the ameliorative effect of Tiaozhi Xiaoban Mixture on atherosclerosis and the potential role of long non-coding RNA(Linc RNA)in anti-atherosclerosis.METHODS A model of atherosclerosis was established in SD rats subjec-ted to a high-fat diet.At 4 weeks post-modeling,thoracic aortic tissues from atherosclerotic rats were collected for hematoxylin-eosin(HE)staining to systematically evaluate the anti-atherosclerotic effects of Tiaozhi Xiaoban Mixture at different doses.Biochemical kits were utilized to assess relevant indices related to blood lipid levels as well as liver and kidney function,thereby evaluating the impact of Tiaozhi Xiaoban Mixture on these parameters.Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA)was employed to measure serum inflam-mation markers influenced by Tiaozhi Xiaoban Mixture.Additionally,TUNEL staining and Western blot analysis were conducted to ex-amine the apoptotic effects of Tiaozhi Xiaoban Mixture on thoracic aorta tissue.Finally,qPCR was used to detect the expression levels of Line-HC,MALAT1,etc.,in order to evaluate how Tiaozhi Xiaoban Mixture affecting these specific RNA molecules.RESULTS Following treatment with Tiaozhi Xiaoban Mixture,the blood lipid profiles indicated that total cholesterol(TC),triglycerides(TG),and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol(LDL-C)were significantly down-regulated(P＜0.05,P＜0.01),while high-density lipopro-tein cholesterol(HDL-C)levels were up-regulated in the atherosclerotic rats.Moreover,serum levels of liver and kidney function markers such as aspartate aminotransferase(AST),alanine aminotransferase(ALT),blood urea nitrogen(BUN),and creatinine(Cr)exhibited down-regulation(P＜0.05,P＜0.01).Additionally,pro-inflammatory factors including interleukin-6(IL-6),interleukin-1 beta(IL-1β),tumor necrosis factor-alpha(TNF-α),high-sensitivity C-reactive protein(hs-CRP),and matrix metallopeptidase 9(MMP-9)were also reduced(P＜0.01),whereas the anti-inflammatory factor interleukin-10(IL-10)was found to be elevated(P＜0.01).Furthermore,after oral administration of Tiaozhi Xiaoban Mixture,expression levels of apoptosis-related factors NLRP3,ASC,Cleaved Caspase-1,Cleaved IL-1 β,Puma,Bax,Noxa,and MDM2 in thoracic aorta tissues from the atherosclerotic rats showed sig-nificant down-regulation(P＜0.05,P＜0.01).Notably,following treatment with Tiaozhi Xiaoban Mixture,mRNA levels of Linc-HC decreased while mRNA expression of MALAT1 increased(P＜0.05,P＜0.01).CONCLUSION Tiaozhi Xiaoban Mixture may inhibit the expression of Linc-HC and up-regulate the expression of MALAT1 to reduce the formation of atherosclerotic plaque,improve ab-normal blood lipids and liver and kidney function,alleviate inflammation and inhibit apoptosis.

OBJECTIVE To explore the ameliorative effect of Tiaozhi Xiaoban Mixture on atherosclerosis and the potential role of long non-coding RNA(Linc RNA)in anti-atherosclerosis.METHODS A model of atherosclerosis was established in SD rats subjec-ted to a high-fat diet.At 4 weeks post-modeling,thoracic aortic tissues from atherosclerotic rats were collected for hematoxylin-eosin(HE)staining to systematically evaluate the anti-atherosclerotic effects of Tiaozhi Xiaoban Mixture at different doses.Biochemical kits were utilized to assess relevant indices related to blood lipid levels as well as liver and kidney function,thereby evaluating the impact of Tiaozhi Xiaoban Mixture on these parameters.Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA)was employed to measure serum inflam-mation markers influenced by Tiaozhi Xiaoban Mixture.Additionally,TUNEL staining and Western blot analysis were conducted to ex-amine the apoptotic effects of Tiaozhi Xiaoban Mixture on thoracic aorta tissue.Finally,qPCR was used to detect the expression levels of Line-HC,MALAT1,etc.,in order to evaluate how Tiaozhi Xiaoban Mixture affecting these specific RNA molecules.RESULTS Following treatment with Tiaozhi Xiaoban Mixture,the blood lipid profiles indicated that total cholesterol(TC),triglycerides(TG),and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol(LDL-C)were significantly down-regulated(P＜0.05,P＜0.01),while high-density lipopro-tein cholesterol(HDL-C)levels were up-regulated in the atherosclerotic rats.Moreover,serum levels of liver and kidney function markers such as aspartate aminotransferase(AST),alanine aminotransferase(ALT),blood urea nitrogen(BUN),and creatinine(Cr)exhibited down-regulation(P＜0.05,P＜0.01).Additionally,pro-inflammatory factors including interleukin-6(IL-6),interleukin-1 beta(IL-1β),tumor necrosis factor-alpha(TNF-α),high-sensitivity C-reactive protein(hs-CRP),and matrix metallopeptidase 9(MMP-9)were also reduced(P＜0.01),whereas the anti-inflammatory factor interleukin-10(IL-10)was found to be elevated(P＜0.01).Furthermore,after oral administration of Tiaozhi Xiaoban Mixture,expression levels of apoptosis-related factors NLRP3,ASC,Cleaved Caspase-1,Cleaved IL-1 β,Puma,Bax,Noxa,and MDM2 in thoracic aorta tissues from the atherosclerotic rats showed sig-nificant down-regulation(P＜0.05,P＜0.01).Notably,following treatment with Tiaozhi Xiaoban Mixture,mRNA levels of Linc-HC decreased while mRNA expression of MALAT1 increased(P＜0.05,P＜0.01).CONCLUSION Tiaozhi Xiaoban Mixture may inhibit the expression of Linc-HC and up-regulate the expression of MALAT1 to reduce the formation of atherosclerotic plaque,improve ab-normal blood lipids and liver and kidney function,alleviate inflammation and inhibit apoptosis.

Objective:To observe the effectiveness of extracorporeal counterpulsation therapy in patients with heart failure in ischaemic cardiomyopathy.Methods:A total of 112 patients with ischemic cardiomyopathy and heart failure admitted to the Second Affiliated Hospital of Xingtai Medical College from August 2020 to June 2023 were prospectively selected and divided into two groups by random number table method. The control group was treated with conventional drugs and conventional cardiac rehabilitation program, and the observation group was combined with external counterbeating therapy on the basis of the control group. The levels of N-terminal B-type brain natriuretic peptide (NTproBNP), soluble growth stimulation-expression gene-2 protein (sST2), neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipid carrier protein (NGAL), galactin-3 (Gal-3), cardiopulmonary exercise test (CPET) parameters and cardiac ultrasound indexes were compared between the two groups before and after treatment. The curative effect and the rate of re-hospitalization within 6 months were compared between the two groups.Results:After treatment, the levels of NTproBNP, sST2, NGAL and Gal-3 in the observation group were lower than those in the control group: (1941.36 ± 312.59) ng/L vs. (2674.22 ± 404.64) ng/L, (44.78 ± 3.97) ng/L vs. (52.45 ± 4.13) ng/L, (22.63 ± 3.65) μg/L vs. (26.41 ± 3.77) μg/L, (4.63 ± 1.29) ng/L vs. (6.11 ± 1.78) ng/L, there were statistical differences ( P<0.05); the maximum kilogram oxygen uptake (VO 2max/kg), maximum kilogram oxygen uptake as a percentage of predicted value (VO 2max/kg%pred), maximum minute ventilation as a percentage of predicted value (VEmax%pred) in the observation group were higher than those in the control group: (22.41 ± 2.23) ml/(min·kg) vs. (21.35 ± 2.09) ml/(min·kg), (83.79 ± 11.04)% vs. (78.74 ± 10.14)%, (88.95 ± 12.74)% vs. (75.45 ± 11.14)%, there were statistical differences ( P<0.05 or <0.01); the left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) in the observation group was higher than that in the control group and the left ventricular posterior wall thickness (LVPWT) and left ventricular posterior wall end-systolic thickness (PWS) were lower than those in the control group: (50.12 ± 3.87)% vs. (48.63 ± 3.74)%, (8.77 ± 1.58) mm vs. (9.63 ± 1.97) mm, (9.34 ± 1.54) mm vs. (10.14 ± 1.79) mm, there were statistical differences ( P<0.05). There was no statistical difference in the total effective rate between the two groups ( P>0.05). The patient readmission rate within 6 months of follow-up in the observation group was lower than that in the control group: 5.45%(3/55) vs. 20.00%(11/55), there was statistical difference( χ2 = 5.24, P<0.05). Conclusions:Extracorporeal counterpulsation therapy for the treatment of heart failure in ischaemic cardiomyopathy can improve the cardiorespiratory function, reduce the expression of NTproBNP, sST2, NGAL and Gal-3, and decrease the patient readmission rate.

Recently, deep learning has achieved impressive results in medical image tasks. However, this method usually requires large-scale annotated data, and medical images are expensive to annotate, so it is a challenge to learn efficiently from the limited annotated data. Currently, the two commonly used methods are transfer learning and self-supervised learning. However, these two methods have been little studied in multimodal medical images, so this study proposes a contrastive learning method for multimodal medical images. The method takes images of different modalities of the same patient as positive samples, which effectively increases the number of positive samples in the training process and helps the model to fully learn the similarities and differences of lesions on images of different modalities, thus improving the model's understanding of medical images and diagnostic accuracy. The commonly used data augmentation methods are not suitable for multimodal images, so this paper proposes a domain adaptive denormalization method to transform the source domain images with the help of statistical information of the target domain. In this study, the method is validated with two different multimodal medical image classification tasks: in the microvascular infiltration recognition task, the method achieves an accuracy of (74.79 ± 0.74)% and an F1 score of (78.37 ± 1.94)%, which are improved as compared with other conventional learning methods; for the brain tumor pathology grading task, the method also achieves significant improvements. The results show that the method achieves good results on multimodal medical images and can provide a reference solution for pre-training multimodal medical images.
Humans ; Algorithms ; Brain/diagnostic imaging* ; Brain Neoplasms/diagnostic imaging* ; Recognition, Psychology

Objectives:This study aimed to assess the efficacy and safety of bendamustine in combination with rituximab (BR regimen) for the treatment of newly diagnosed indolent B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (B-iNHL) and elderly mantle cell lymphoma (eMCL) .Methods:From December 1, 2020 to September 10, 2022, a multi-center prospective study was conducted across ten Grade A tertiary hospitals in Shandong Province, China. The BR regimen was administered to evaluate its efficacy and safety in newly diagnosed B-iNHL and eMCL patients, and all completed at least four cycles of induction therapy.Results:The 72 enrolled patients with B-iNHL or MCL were aged 24-74 years, with a median age of 55 years. Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status scores of 0-1 were observed in 76.4% of patients, while 23.6% had scores of 2. Disease distribution included follicular lymphoma (FL) (51.4% ), marginal zone lymphoma (MZL) (33.3% ), eMCL (11.1% ), and the unknown subtype (4.2% ). According to the Ann Arbor staging system, 16.7% and 65.3% of patients were diagnosed with stage Ⅲ and stage Ⅳ lymphomas, respectively. Following four cycles of BR induction therapy, the overall response rate was 98.6%, with a complete response (CR) rate of 83.3% and a partial response (PR) rate of 15.3%. Only one eMCL patient experienced disease progression during treatment, and only one FL patient experienced a relapse. Even when evaluated using CT alone, the CR rate was 63.9%, considering the differences between PET/CT and CT assessments. The median follow-up duration was 11 months (range: 4-22), with a PFS rate of 96.8% and an OS rate of 100.0%. The main hematologic adverse reactions included grade 3-4 leukopenia (27.8%, with febrile neutropenia observed in 8.3% of patients), grade 3-4 lymphopenia (23.6% ), grade 3-4 anemia (5.6% ), and grade 3-4 thrombocytopenia (4.2% ). The main non-hematologic adverse reactions such as fatigue, nausea/vomiting, rash, and infections occurred in less than 20.0% of patients.Conclusion:Within the scope of this clinical trial conducted in China, the BR regimen demonstrated efficacy and safety in treating newly diagnosed B-iNHL and eMCL patients.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most common liver malignancy, where HCC segmentation and prediction of the degree of pathological differentiation are two important tasks in surgical treatment and prognosis evaluation. Existing methods usually solve these two problems independently without considering the correlation of the two tasks. In this paper, we propose a multi-task learning model that aims to accomplish the segmentation task and classification task simultaneously. The model consists of a segmentation subnet and a classification subnet. A multi-scale feature fusion method is proposed in the classification subnet to improve the classification accuracy, and a boundary-aware attention is designed in the segmentation subnet to solve the problem of tumor over-segmentation. A dynamic weighted average multi-task loss is used to make the model achieve optimal performance in both tasks simultaneously. The experimental results of this method on 295 HCC patients are superior to other multi-task learning methods, with a Dice similarity coefficient (Dice) of (83.9 ± 0.88)% on the segmentation task, while the average recall is (86.08 ± 0.83)% and an F1 score is (80.05 ± 1.7)% on the classification task. The results show that the multi-task learning method proposed in this paper can perform the classification task and segmentation task well at the same time, which can provide theoretical reference for clinical diagnosis and treatment of HCC patients.
Humans ; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular ; Liver Neoplasms ; Learning

Objective:To evaluate the clinical efficacy and safety of fecal microbiota transplantation(FMT)for the treatment of chronic functional constipation in the elderly.Methods:A total of 33 elderly patients with chronic functional constipation were included and given three sessions of FMT.Changes in fecal characteristics, constipation, mood and quality of life in these patients were evaluated using the Bristol stool form scale(BSFS), the constipation assessment scale(CAS), patient assessment of constipation symptoms(PAC-SYM), the Zung self-rating anxiety scale(SAS), the Zung self-rating depression scale(SDS), and the patient assessment of constipation quality of life(PAC-QOL)before and 12 weeks after treatment.The clinical efficacy was based on comparison between pre-and post-treatment results for each patient.Results:Clear improvement was achieved in 33 patients 12 weeks after treatment, compared with before transplantation.Post-treatment scores of the constipation assessment scale and symptom self-assessment questionnaire for patients with constipation were(8.9±1.2)scores and(26.5±2.4)scores, respectively, significantly lower than pre-transplantation scores of(12.2±1.1)scores and(32.4±2.4)scores( t=15.034, 13.904, both P<0.001). Similarly, post-treatment scores were also lower than pre-transplantation levels for the self-rating anxiety scale[(50.4±8.4)scores vs.(57.5±9.0)scores, t=10.333, P<0.001], the self-rating depression scale[(50.6±8.4)% vs.(55.0±10.5)%, t=5.301, P<0.001], and self-assessment questionnaire for quality of life[(88.2±7.3)scores vs.(103.7±7.3)scores, t=23.300, P<0.001]. Conclusions:FMT can improve fecal characteristics and constipation symptoms, relieve anxiety and depression, improve the quality of life, and provide a new option for the treatment for elderly patients with chronic functional constipation.

According to the pathological characteristics of symptomatic chronic thoracic and lumbar osteoporotic vertebral fracture (SCOVF), the different clinical treatment methods are selected, including vertebral augmentation, anterior-posterior fixation and fusion, posterior decompression fixation and fusion, and posterior correction osteotomy. However, there is still a lack of a unified understanding on how to choose appropriate treatment method for SCOVF. In order to reflect the new treatment concept and the evidence-based medicine progress of SCOVF in a timely manner and standardize its treatment, the clinical guideline for surgical treatment of SCOVF is formulated in compliance with the principle of scientificity, practicability and advancement and based on the level of evidence-based medicine.

Objective To investigate the clinical effects of levosimmentan combined with freeze-dried recombinant human brain natriuretic peptide in elderly patients with heart failure. Methods Eighty patients with heart failure diagnosed in our hospital from January 2015 to January 2018 were selected as subjects. According to the random number table prepared in Excel 2007,40 patients in the experimental group and the control group were given. For basic treatments such as diuresis,the experimental group was treated with levosimtan combined with lyophilized recombinant human brain natriuretic peptide,and the control group was treated with levosimtan and dobutamine. The left ventricle of the two groups before and after treatment was compared. End-diastolic period (LVEDD),left ventricular ejection fraction(LVEF),cardiac index(CI),stroke volume(SV),serum cystatin C (Cys-C),amino terminal brain natriuretic peptide precursor(NT-proBNP),mean arterial pressure(MAP), pulmonary capillary pressure(PCWP). Results Before treatment,the differences of LVEDD,LVEF,CI and SV levels between the experimental group and the control group were not statistically significant(P > 0.05). After treatment,the LVEDD of the experimental group was significantly lower than that of the control group(P < 0.05).The LVEF,CI and SV values in the experimental group were significantly higher than those in the control group (P < 0.05). There was no significant difference in serum Cys-C and NT-proBNP levels between the experimental group and the control group before treatment(P > 0.05). After treatment,the serum levels of Cys-C and NT-proB-NP in the experimental group were significantly lower than those in the control group(P < 0.05). Before treatment,the difference of MAP and PCWP levels between the experimental group and the control group was not statistically significant(P > 0.05). After treatment,the MAP and PCWP levels in the experimental group were significantly lower than those in the control group(P < 0.05). The incidence of adverse reactions in the experimental group was 10.00％ and the difference between the control group and the control group was not statistically significant(P > 0.05). Conclusions Levosimmentan combined with freeze-dried recombinant human brain natriuretic peptide in patients with senile heart failure can significantly improve cardiac function,reduce Cys-C,NT-proBNP levels,and improve hemodynamic parameters.