This study aims to explore the specific mechanism by which puerarin inhibits ferroptosis and improves the myocardial contractile function in myocardial hypertrophy through the nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2(Nrf2)/antioxidant response element(ARE)/heme oxygenase-1(HO-1) signaling pathway. The hypertrophic cardiomyocyte model was established using phenylephrine, and H9c2 cells were divided into control group, model group, puerarin group, and puerarin+ML385 group. Cell viability and surface area were detected by cell counting kit-8(CCK-8) and immunofluorescence experiments. The mitochondrial membrane potential and Ca~(2+) concentration were measured. The ferroptosis-related indicators were detected by biochemical and fluorescence staining methods. The expression of proteins related to ferroptosis and the Nrf2/ARE/HO-1 signaling pathway was detected by Western blot. A myocardial hypertrophy model was established, and 40 rats were randomly divided into sham group, model group, puerarin group, and puerarin+Nrf2 inhibitor(ML385) group, with 10 rats in each group. Echocardiogram, hemodynamic parameters, and myocardial hypertrophy parameters were measured. Histopathological changes of myocardial tissues were observed by hematoxylin and eosin(HE) staining and Masson staining. Biochemical methods, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA), and fluorescence staining were used to detect inflammatory factors and ferroptosis-related indicators. Immunohistochemistry was used to detect the expression of proteins related to ferroptosis and the Nrf2/ARE/HO-1 signaling pathway. Cell experiments showed that puerarin intervention significantly enhanced the viability of hypertrophic cardiomyocytes, reduced their surface area, and restored mitochondrial membrane potential and Ca~(2+) homeostasis. Mechanism studies revealed that puerarin promoted Nrf2 nuclear translocation, upregulated the expression of HO-1, solute carrier family 7 member 11(SLC7A11), and glutathione peroxidase 4(GPX4), and decreased malondialdehyde(MDA), reactive oxygen species(ROS), and iron levels. These protective effects were reversed by ML385. In animal experiments, puerarin improved cardiac function in rats with myocardial hypertrophy, alleviated myocardial hypertrophy and fibrosis, inhibited inflammatory responses and ferroptosis, and promoted nuclear Nrf2 translocation and HO-1 expression. However, combined intervention with ML385 led to deterioration of hemodynamics and a rebound in ferroptosis marker levels. In conclusion, puerarin may inhibit cardiomyocyte ferroptosis through the Nrf2/ARE/HO-1 signaling pathway, thereby improving myocardial contractile function in myocardial hypertrophy.
Animals ; NF-E2-Related Factor 2/genetics* ; Rats ; Ferroptosis/drug effects* ; Signal Transduction/drug effects* ; Isoflavones/pharmacology* ; Male ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Cardiomegaly/genetics* ; Myocytes, Cardiac/metabolism* ; Antioxidant Response Elements/drug effects* ; Myocardial Contraction/drug effects* ; Heme Oxygenase-1/genetics* ; Cell Line

Peyronie's disease (PD) is a disorder characterized by fibrous plaque formation in the penile tissue that leads to curvature and complications in advanced stages. In this study, we aimed to compare four injectable induction agents for the establishment of a robust rat model of PD: transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1), fibrin, sodium tetradecyl sulfate (STS) combined with TGF-β1, and polidocanol (POL) combined with TGF-β1. The results showed that injection of TGF-β1 or fibrin into the tunica albuginea induced pathological endpoints without causing penile curvature. The STS + TGF-β1 combination resulted in both histological and morphological alterations, but with a high incidence of localized necrosis that led to animal death. The POL + TGF-β1 combination produced pathological changes and curvature comparable to STS + TGF-β1 and led to fewer complications. In conclusion, fibrin, STS + TGF-β1, and POL + TGF-β1 all induced PD with a certain degree of penile curvature and histological fibrosis in rats. The POL + TGF-β1 combination offered comparatively greater safety and clinical relevance and may have the greatest potential for PD research using model rats.
Animals ; Male ; Penile Induration/drug therapy* ; Rats ; Transforming Growth Factor beta1/metabolism* ; Disease Models, Animal ; Fibrin ; Penis/drug effects* ; Polidocanol/administration & dosage* ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Polyethylene Glycols/administration & dosage* ; Injections

OBJECTIVE: Humans are exposed to complex mixtures of environmental chemicals and other factors that can affect their health. Analysis of these mixture exposures presents several key challenges for environmental epidemiology and risk assessment, including high dimensionality, correlated exposure, and subtle individual effects. METHODS: We proposed a novel statistical approach, the generalized functional linear model (GFLM), to analyze the health effects of exposure mixtures. GFLM treats the effect of mixture exposures as a smooth function by reordering exposures based on specific mechanisms and capturing internal correlations to provide a meaningful estimation and interpretation. The robustness and efficiency was evaluated under various scenarios through extensive simulation studies. RESULTS: We applied the GFLM to two datasets from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). In the first application, we examined the effects of 37 nutrients on BMI (2011-2016 cycles). The GFLM identified a significant mixture effect, with fiber and fat emerging as the nutrients with the greatest negative and positive effects on BMI, respectively. For the second application, we investigated the association between four pre- and perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and gout risk (2007-2018 cycles). Unlike traditional methods, the GFLM indicated no significant association, demonstrating its robustness to multicollinearity. CONCLUSION GFLM framework is a powerful tool for mixture exposure analysis, offering improved handling of correlated exposures and interpretable results. It demonstrates robust performance across various scenarios and real-world applications, advancing our understanding of complex environmental exposures and their health impacts on environmental epidemiology and toxicology.
Humans ; Environmental Exposure/analysis* ; Linear Models ; Nutrition Surveys ; Environmental Pollutants ; Body Mass Index

Objective:To analyze the epidemic characteristics of reported tuberculosis incidence in Kashgar from 2015 to 2022, and use the seasonal autoregressive integrated moving average (SARIMA) model to predict the incidence, providing references for the local control of pulmonary tuberculosis.Methods:The reported incidence data of tuberculosis in the Kashgar area of Xinjiang from January 2015 to August 2023 were collected through the"Infectious Disease Monitoring System", a subsystem of the "Chinese Disease Prevention and Control Information System". The epidemic characteristics of reported incidence in this area from 2015 to 2022 were analyzed. Two SARIMA models of monthly reported incidence number and rate were established. The prediction performance of the two models was evaluated using the reported incidence data of tuberculosis from January 2023 to August 2023. The χ2 test was used to analyze population characteristics, and the Cochran-Armitage trend test was used to analyze annual incidence. Results:From 2015 to 2022, 133 972 cases of pulmonary tuberculosis were reported in Kashgar, with a yearly reported incidence rate of 383.64/100 000, showing a rising trend ( TCA=77.03, P<0.001) and then a declining trend ( TCA=176.16, P<0.001). The proportion of pathogenic positive pulmonary tuberculosis had increased yearly ( TCA=132.66, P<0.001). The reported onset time was concentrated from January to June each year, with a peak in April. Yengisar County, Zepu County and Yopurga County had the highest reported incidence rate in Kashgar. The sex ratio of men to women was 1.03∶1, and the reported incidence rate of men was higher than that of women ( χ2=27.04, P<0.001). The reported incidence rate of the group aged 60 years and older was the highest. The patient′s occupation was mainly farmers (84.99%). The average relative errors of the SARIMA ( 1, 1, 2) ( 0, 1, 1) 12 model and SARIMA ( 0, 1, 1)( 0, 1, 1) 12 model in predicting the reported monthly incidence number and rate were 11.67% and -9.81%, respectively. Both models had good prediction accuracy (MAPE=33.55%, MAPE=38.22%). Conclusion:The average reported incidence rate of pulmonary tuberculosis in the Kashgar area shows a rising trend first and then a declining trend. The patients are mainly men and farmers, and attention should be paid to the prevention and control of tuberculosis among the elderly in winter and spring. The SARIMA ( 1, 1, 2) ( 0, 1, 1) 12 model and SARIMA ( 0, 1, 1)( 0, 1, 1) 12 model can fit the trend of reported tuberculosis incidence in the Kashgar area well and have good predictive performance.

Objective:To search, evaluate and summarize the best evidence summary of perioperative accelerated rehabilitation nursing for patients undergoing hip and knee arthroplasty, so as to provide reference for clinical perioperative nursing.Methods:Evidence-based nursing methods were used to search for relevant databases such as BMJ Best Practice, UpToDate, PubMed, CINAHL, and CNKI, etc.. The search period was from December 2010 to December 2022. Four researchers independently evaluated the quality of the guidelines, and two researchers independently evaluated the quality of expert consensus and system evaluation. Finally, the included literature was summarized.Results:A total of 12 pieces of literature, 3 guidelines, 5 expert consensus and 4 systematic reviews were included. From 13 aspects of preoperative education, preoperative optimization, anesthesia management, perioperative blood management, perioperative pain management, perioperative fluid management, perioperative temperature protection, infection prevention, thrombus prevention, postoperative nausea and vomiting, postoperative drainage, functional exercise, and perioperative rehabilitation promotion, 35 pieces of the best evidence for hip and knee replacement patients to accelerate rehabilitation nursing in the perioperative period was summarized.Conclusions:This study summarizes the best evidence of accelerated rehabilitation nursing in the perioperative period of hip and knee arthroplasty, aiming to build and standardize the accelerated rehabilitation nursing scheme in the perioperative period of hip and knee arthroplasty, so as to provide reference for clinical perioperative nursing.

Objective: To determine the inhibitory effects of pachymic acid on lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) cells and elucidate its underlying mechanism. Methods: CCK-8, wound healing, Transwell, Western blot, tube formation, and immunofluorescence assays were carried out to measure the effects of various concentrations of pachymic acid on LUAD cell proliferation, metastasis, angiogenesis as well as autophagy. Subsequently, molecular docking technology was used to detect the potential targeted binding association between pachymic acid and protein tyrosine phosphatase 1B (PTP1B). Moreover, PTP1B was overexpressed in A549 cells to detect the specific mechanisms of pachymic acid. Results: Pachymic acid suppressed LUAD cell viability, metastasis as well as angiogenesis while inducing cell autophagy. It also targeted PTP1B and lowered PTP1B expression. However, PTP1B overexpression reversed the effects of pachymic acid on metastasis, angiogenesis, and autophagy as well as the expression of Wnt3a and β-catenin in LUAD cells. Conclusions: Pachymic acid inhibits metastasis and angiogenesis, and promotes autophagy in LUAD cells by modulating the Wnt/ β-catenin signaling pathway via targeting PTP1B.

Objective To understand the respiratory protection competency of staff in hospitals.Methods Staff from six hospitals of different levels and characteristics in Beijing were selected,including doctors,nurses,medical technicians,and servicers,to conduct knowledge assessment on respiratory protection competency.According to exposure risks of respiratory infectious diseases,based on actual cases and daily work scenarios,content of respira-tory protection competency assessment was designed from three aspects:identification of respiratory infectious di-seases,transmission routes and corresponding protection requirements,as well as correct selection and use of masks.The assessment included 6,6,and 8 knowledge points respectively,with 20 knowledge points in total,all of which were choice questions.For multiple-choice questions,full marks,partial marks,and no mark were given respective-ly if all options were correct,partial options were correct and without incorrect options,and partial options were correct but with incorrect options.Difficulty and discrimination analyses on question of each knowledge point was conducted based on classical test theory.Results The respiratory protection competency knowledge assessment for 326 staff members at different risk levels in 6 hospitals showed that concerning the 20 knowledge points,more than 60％participants got full marks for 6 points,while the proportion of full marks for other questions was relatively low.Less than 10％participants got full marks for the following 5 knowledge points:types of airborne diseases,types of droplet-borne diseases,conventional measures for the prevention and control of healthcare-associated infec-tion with respiratory infectious diseases,indications for wearing respirators,and indications for wearing medical protective masks.Among the 20 knowledge questions,5,1,and 14 questions were relatively easy,medium,and difficult,respectively;6,1,4,and 9 questions were with discrimination levels of ≥0.4,0.30-0.39,0.20-0.29,and ≤0.19,respectively.Conclusion There is still much room for hospital staff to improve their respiratory protection competency,especially in the recognition of diseases with different transmission routes and the indications for wearing different types of masks.

Objective:To analyze the epidemic characteristics of reported tuberculosis incidence in Kashgar from 2015 to 2022, and use the seasonal autoregressive integrated moving average (SARIMA) model to predict the incidence, providing references for the local control of pulmonary tuberculosis.Methods:The reported incidence data of tuberculosis in the Kashgar area of Xinjiang from January 2015 to August 2023 were collected through the"Infectious Disease Monitoring System", a subsystem of the "Chinese Disease Prevention and Control Information System". The epidemic characteristics of reported incidence in this area from 2015 to 2022 were analyzed. Two SARIMA models of monthly reported incidence number and rate were established. The prediction performance of the two models was evaluated using the reported incidence data of tuberculosis from January 2023 to August 2023. The χ2 test was used to analyze population characteristics, and the Cochran-Armitage trend test was used to analyze annual incidence. Results:From 2015 to 2022, 133 972 cases of pulmonary tuberculosis were reported in Kashgar, with a yearly reported incidence rate of 383.64/100 000, showing a rising trend ( TCA=77.03, P<0.001) and then a declining trend ( TCA=176.16, P<0.001). The proportion of pathogenic positive pulmonary tuberculosis had increased yearly ( TCA=132.66, P<0.001). The reported onset time was concentrated from January to June each year, with a peak in April. Yengisar County, Zepu County and Yopurga County had the highest reported incidence rate in Kashgar. The sex ratio of men to women was 1.03∶1, and the reported incidence rate of men was higher than that of women ( χ2=27.04, P<0.001). The reported incidence rate of the group aged 60 years and older was the highest. The patient′s occupation was mainly farmers (84.99%). The average relative errors of the SARIMA ( 1, 1, 2) ( 0, 1, 1) 12 model and SARIMA ( 0, 1, 1)( 0, 1, 1) 12 model in predicting the reported monthly incidence number and rate were 11.67% and -9.81%, respectively. Both models had good prediction accuracy (MAPE=33.55%, MAPE=38.22%). Conclusion:The average reported incidence rate of pulmonary tuberculosis in the Kashgar area shows a rising trend first and then a declining trend. The patients are mainly men and farmers, and attention should be paid to the prevention and control of tuberculosis among the elderly in winter and spring. The SARIMA ( 1, 1, 2) ( 0, 1, 1) 12 model and SARIMA ( 0, 1, 1)( 0, 1, 1) 12 model can fit the trend of reported tuberculosis incidence in the Kashgar area well and have good predictive performance.

The appropriate needle device is crucial for obtaining the curative effect of fire needling therapy. The article introduces the material specification, clinical operation, indications, characteristics and advantages of the contemporary traditional fire needling devices (e.g. He's fire needle and Shi 's fire needle) and the contemporary new-type ones (e.g. fire needling with filiform needle and micro-needle); and determines the innovations of modern fire needling. It is anticipated that the needle specifications, production process and operation standard of fire needling devices should be further unified so as to provide the references for the selection of fire needling devices in treatment based on clinical syndrome differentiation and expand the clinical application of fire needling therapy.
Humans ; Male ; Acupuncture Points ; Acupuncture Therapy ; Needles

Due to various constraints, such as clinical implementation conditions and unique characteristics of acupuncture-moxibustion, some randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of acupuncture-moxibustion still suffer from relatively low quality and limited applicability. The single-arm objective performance criteria/performance goal can be considered as an ideal supplementary and alternative research approach to RCTs. In this paper, the feasibility of applying the single-arm objective performance criteria/performance goal in acupuncture-moxibustion clinical research is explored from the limitations of conducting acupuncture-moxibustion RCTs, the principles, the essential design considerations and key statistical steps. In addition, illustrative examples are provided. The objective is to offer insights into resolving practical difficulties in acupuncture-moxibustion clinical research.
Moxibustion ; Goals ; Acupuncture Therapy ; Acupuncture