[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1016/j.apsb.2022.03.002.].

Instrument separation is a critical complication during root canal therapy, impacting treatment success and long-term tooth preservation. The etiology of instrument separation is multifactorial, involving the intricate anatomy of the root canal system, instrument-related factors, and instrumentation techniques. Instrument separation can hinder thorough cleaning, shaping, and obturation of the root canal, posing challenges to successful treatment outcomes. Although retrieval of separated instrument is often feasible, it carries risks including perforation, excessive removal of tooth structure and root fractures. Effective management of separated instruments requires a comprehensive understanding of the contributing factors, meticulous preoperative assessment, and precise evaluation of the retrieval difficulty. The application of appropriate retrieval techniques is essential to minimize complications and optimize clinical outcomes. The current manuscript provides a framework for understanding the causes, risk factors, and clinical management principles of instrument separation. By integrating effective strategies, endodontists can enhance decision-making, improve endodontic treatment success and ensure the preservation of natural dentition.
Humans ; Root Canal Therapy/adverse effects* ; Consensus ; Root Canal Preparation/adverse effects*

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 observe the clinical efficacy of joint needling method combined with ultrasound in the treatment of qi stagnation and blood stasis type of patellofemoral pain syndrome(PFPS).Methods Eighty-six patients with qi stagnation and blood stasis type of PFPS were randomly divided into observation group and control group,with 43 cases in each group.The control group was given western medicine conventional treatment combined with functional exercise,and the observation group was given joint needling method combined with ultrasound treatment on the basis of the control group.Both groups were treated for 2 consecutive weeks.After 2 weeks of treatment,the clinical efficacy of the two groups was evaluated,and the changes in the Visual Analogue Scale(VAS)scores of knee pain and the Kujala scale scores of the two groups were observed before and after treatment.The changes in active range of motion(AROM)of the affected knee joint were compared before and after treatment between the two groups.Results(1)After treatment,the VAS scores of the two groups of patients were significantly improved(P＜0.05),and the observation group was significantly superior to the control group in improving the level of VAS scores,and the difference was statistically significant(P＜0.05).(2)After treatment,the Kujala scores of patients in the two groups were significantly improved(P＜0.05),and the observation group was significantly superior to the control group in improving the level of Kujala scores,and the difference was statistically significant(P＜0.05).(3)After treatment,the AROM of patients in the two groups were significantly improved(P＜0.05),and the observation group was significantly superior to the control group in improving the level of AROM,and the difference was statistically significant(P＜0.05).(4)The total effective rate was 95.35%(41/43)in the observation group and 81.40%(35/43)in the control group.The efficacy of the observation group was superior to that of the control group,and the difference was statistically significant(P＜0.05).Conclusion The joint needling method combined with ultrasound can significantly relieve the pain symptoms of patients with PFPS and promote the recovery of knee joint function,and the clinical efficacy is remarkable.

The breakage pattern of unit particles during the production of oral solid dosage forms (OSD) is closely related to the quality of intermediate or final products. To accurately characterize the particles and study the evolution law of particle breakage, the Bonding model of the discrete element method (DEM) was used to investigate the breakage patterns of model parameters, particle shape and process conditions (loading mode and loading rate) on the dynamic breakage, force-time curve, breakage rate, maximum breakage size ratio and fracture strength of particles. The results showed that the particle breakage force was positively correlated with normal strength and bonded disk scale, negatively correlated with normal stiffness per unit area and tangential stiffness per unit area, and weakly correlated with tangential strength. The particle breakage rate was negatively correlated with the aspect ratio of the particles, and the maximum breakage size ratio was positively correlated with the aspect ratio of the particles; among the three loading modes, the breakage rate of compression breakage model was the largest, the breakage rate of shear breakage model was the second largest, and the breakage rate of wear breakage model was the smallest; the maximum breakage size ratio was positively correlated with the loading rate, the loading mode and the loading rate had no mutual influence on particle breakage rate, but had mutual influence on the maximum breakage size ratio. The research results will provide a theoretical basis for the shift of OSD from batch manufacturing to advanced manufacturing.

Objective To explore root cause of poor prognosis after successful endovascular treatment(EVT)in patients with acute ischemic stroke with large vascular occlusion(AIS-LVO)of anterior circulation.Methods Patients with AIS-LOV of anterior circulation who received successful EVT(postoperative modified thrombolysis incerebral infarction[mTICI]grade≥2b)were retrospectively and continuously collected in the Department of Neurology of Bozhou People's Hospital from January 2022 to March 2024.The baseline and clinical data of the patients were collected,including gender,age,vascular risk factors(hypertension,diabetes,coronary heart disease,hyperlipidemia,valvular heart disease,atrial fibrillation,smoking,and alcohol consumption),prior stroke or transient ischemic attack,baseline blood pressure,baseline National Institutes of Health Stroke scale(NIHSS)score,laboratory test indicators(pre-operative C-reactive protein and D-dimer,post-operative fasting blood glucose,lipid levels,homocysteine,etc).Meanwhile,the data of perioperative indicators was collected,including the time from onset to admission,the time from admission to puncture,the time from puncture to revascularization,the time from onset to puncture,the time from onset to revascularization,remedial measures(balloon dilation,stent placement,arterial thrombolysis)during the surgery or not,using tirofiban or not,postoperative complications(stroke-related pneumonia,stress ulcers,deep vein thrombosis,acute heart failure or renal failure,etc)or not.The patient's medical history and imaging data were collected,and these indicators were defined and collected,including Alberta stroke program early CT score(ASPECTS),location of occlusion(C1 segment of the internal carotid artery,C2 segment to C7 segment of the internal carotid artery,M1 segment of the middle cerebral artery),and the trial of org 10172 in acute stroke treatment(TOAST)classification and a postoperative transformation of cerebral infarction after ischemic stroke and symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage or not.According to the modified Rankin scale(mRS)score at 90 d after surgery,all patients were divided into poor prognosis group(mRS score≥ 3)and good prognosis group(mRS score≤2).The baseline and clinical data of two groups were compared using univariate analysis.Variables with P＜0.1 in the univariate analysis were selected as independent variables,and the poor prognosis was used as the dependent variable.Further,multivariate Logistic regression analysis was performed to identify the influencing factors of poor prognosis after EVT.Results Finally,a total of 192 patients with AIS-LVO of anterior circulation who received successful revascularization were included in this study.There were 101 male patients and 91 female patients.The poor prognosis group had 102 cases and the good prognosis group had 90 cases.Univariate analysis showed that the poor prognosis group had statistically significant differences with the good prognosis group in terms of age(Z=-3.088,P=0.002)and age distribution(x2=13.457,P=0.001),fasting blood glucose(Z=-3.347,P=0.001),baseline NIHSS score(Z=-4.469,P＜0.01),location of occlusion(x2=10.488,P=0.005),transformation of hemorrhage after ischemic stroke(x2=16.943,P＜0.01),and symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage(X2=25.449,P＜0.01),and the baseline ASPECTS of the poor prognosis group was significantly lower than that of the good prognosis group(Z=-4.547,P＜0.01).There were no significant differences in other baseline and clinical data(all P＞0.05).Further multivariate Logistic regression analysis showed that age＞80 years(OR,3.224,95％CI 1.033-10.058,P=0.044),baseline NIHSS score(OR,1.102,95％CI 1.013-1.199,P=0.023),baseline ASPECTS(OR,0.375,95％CI 0.212-0.665,P=0.001),and symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage(OR,7.127,95％CI 1.296-39.203,P=0.024)were independent influencing factors of poor prognosis.Conclusion The independent factors of 90 d poor prognosis after successful EVT in patients with AIS-LVO of anterior circulation are age＞80 years,baseline NIHSS score,baseline ASPECTS,and symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage.

Aim To investigate the possible mechanism of action of Qingjie Huagong decoction(QJHGD)on acute lung injury(ALI)associated with severe acute pancreatitis(SAP)using network pharmacology,and to verify it by animal experiments.Methods The TC-MSP,BATMAN-TCM,ETCM,and SwissTargetPredic-tion databases were searched to obtain the action tar-gets of the blood-entering active ingredients of each drug in the QJHGD.The GeneCard database was searched to obtain SAP-ALI disease targets.The drug targets and disease targets were intersected to obtain common targets.Subsequently,the common targets were analyzed by STRING database and Cytoscape 3.7.1 software for protein interaction network analysis.GO and KEGG enrichment analysis was performed with the help of DAVID database.Finally,the key signa-ling pathways were verified by animal experiments.Results A total of 28 active ingredients were screened out for the treatment of SAP-ALI with 42 common tar-gets.PPI network analysis showed that STAT3,IL-6,and TGFB1 might be core targets;GO and KEGG en-richment analysis mainly involved cell proliferation,PI3K/AKT signaling pathways,etc.Animal experi-ments confirmed that QJHGD could improve the pathol-ogy of pancreas and lung tissues in SAP-ALI rat mod-el,down-regulate the expression levels of α-amylase,lipase,IL-1 β,IL-6,and TNF-α in serum,and down-regulate the expression levels of proteins and mRNAs related to PI3K/AKT1 signaling pathway in lung tis-sues.Conclusion QJHGD synergistically treats SAP-ALI through multi-component,multi-target,and multi-pathway,with a mechanism that may be related to the inhibition of PI3K/AKT signaling pathway activation.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the value of lymphatic contrast-enhanced ultrasound (LCEUS) with intra-glandular injection of contrast agent for diagnosis of central compartment lymph node metastasis of thyroid cancer. METHODS: From November, 2020 to May, 2022, the patients suspected of having thyroid cancer and scheduled for biopsy at our center received both conventional ultrasound and LCEUS examinations of the central compartment lymph nodes before surgery. All the patients underwent surgical dissection of the lymph nodes. The perfusion features in LCEUS were classified as homogeneous enhancement, heterogeneous enhancement, regular/irregular ring, and non-enhancement. With pathological results as the gold standard, we compared the diagnostic ability of conventional ultrasound and LCEUS for identifying metastasis in the central compartment lymph nodes. RESULTS: Forty-nine patients with 60 lymph nodes were included in the final analysis. Pathological examination reported metastasis in 34 of the lymph nodes, and 26 were benign lymph nodes. With ultrasound findings of heterogeneous enhancement, irregular ring and non-enhancement as the criteria for malignant lesions, LCEUS had a diagnostic sensitivity, specificity and accuracy of 97.06%, 92.31% and 95% for diagnosing metastatic lymph nodes, respectively, demonstrating its better performance than conventional ultrasound (P < 0.001). Receiver-operating characteristic curve analysis showed that LCEUS had a significantly greater area under the curve than conventional ultrasound for diagnosing metastatic lymph nodes (94.7% [0.856-0.988] vs 78.2% [0.656-0.878], P=0.003). CONCLUSION LCEUS can enhance the display and improve the diagnostic accuracy of the central compartment lymph nodes to provide important clinical evidence for making clinical decisions on treatment of thyroid cancer.
Humans ; Lymphatic Metastasis/diagnostic imaging* ; Thyroid Neoplasms/pathology* ; Ultrasonography/methods* ; Lymph Nodes/pathology* ; ROC Curve

OBJECTIVE: To explore the relationship between serum lipoprotein-associated phospholipase A2 (Lp-PLA2) level and the risk of acute ischemic stroke (AIS) recurrence in hypertensive patients. METHODS: This retrospective case-control study was conducted among 211 hypertensive patients with AIS treated in Foshan First People's Hospital, including 35 patients with recurrence of AIS during the 1-year follow-up as confirmed by head CT/MR. In the overall patients, 60 had grade 1 hypertension (including 5 recurrent cases), 76 had grade 2 hypertension (with 11 recurrent cases), and 75 had grade 3 hypertension (with 19 recurrent cases). Univariate analysis, multivariate logistic regression analysis, trend analysis, and smooth curve fitting analysis were performed to explore the correlation between serum Lp-PLA2 level within 24 h after admission and the risk of AIS recurrence. The predictive efficacy of serum Lp-PLA2 level for AIS recurrence in different hypertension grades was evaluated using ROC curve analysis. RESULTS: Serum Lp-PLA2 level, age, NIHSS score at admission, mRS scores at 7 days, homocysteine level and smoking status differed significantly between patients with and without AIS recurrence (P < 0.05). After adjustment for confounding factors, multivariate regression analysis showed that the highest tertile of Lp-PLA2 level was associated with a 4.13-fold increase of AIS recurrence risk compared with the lowest tertile (OR=5.13, 95% CI: 1.35-19.40), and each 1 ng/mL increase of Lp-PLA2 level was associated with a 1% increase of AIS recurrence risk (OR= 1.01, 95% CI: 1.01-1.02). Serum Lp-PLA2 level was shown to positively correlate with AIS recurrence risk, and in patients with grade 3 hypertension, its areas under the ROC curve for predicting AIS recurrence was 0.869 with a specificity of 0.893 and a sensitivity of 0.737. CONCLUSION Serum Lp-PLA2 concentration is an independent risk factor and potentially an effective predictor for AIS recurrence in patients with grade 3 hypertension.
Humans ; Infant, Newborn ; 1-Alkyl-2-acetylglycerophosphocholine Esterase ; Acute Disease ; Biomarkers ; Brain Ischemia/etiology* ; Case-Control Studies ; Cerebral Infarction ; Hypertension/complications* ; Ischemic Stroke/complications* ; Retrospective Studies ; Risk Factors ; Stroke

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the clinical effectiveness and safety of domestic generic and imported original clopidogrel for antiplatelet therapy in patients with acute coronary syndrome （ACS）. METHODS The clinical data of ACS patients in Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital of China Pharmaceutical University from January 2020 to June 2021 were retrospectively collected by using electronic medical record system， and the patients were divided into original drug group （321 cases） and generic drug group （328 cases） according to the drug use. Both groups were given dual antiplatelet therapy with clopidogrel and aspirin. The effectiveness and safety outcomes of the two groups were followed up for 12 months and compared， the related influential factors were analyzed. RESULTS Major adverse cardiovascular events （MACE） occurred in 16 and 22 patients in original drug group and generic drug group respectively， including nonfatal myocardial infarction （4 and 5 cases）， stroke （2 and 4 cases）， revascularization （8 and 3 cases）， cardiovascular related death （2 and 4 cases）， and all-cause death （4 and 6 cases）. There were 12 and 7 patients with major bleeding events， 38 and 29 patients with minor bleeding events， and 33 and 21 patients with non-bleeding adverse events. There was no statistically significant difference in the cumulative incidence of related events （P values of Log-Rank tests were all greater than 0.05）. Cox regression analysis showed that the use of generic clopidogrel did not increase the risk of MACE and major bleeding events in ACS patients [hazard ratio of 1.305 and 0.416， 95% confidence interval of （0.678， 2.512） and （0.155， 1.117）， respectively， P＞0.05]， and the combination of proton pump inhibitors （PPI） could reduce the risk of major bleeding events [hazard ratio of 0.196， 95% confidence interval of （0.063， 0.611）， P＜0.05]. CONCLUSIONS Compared with imported original drug， domestic generic clopidogrel has similar clinical effectiveness and good safety. Combined use of PPI may be a beneficial factor to reduce the occurrence of major bleeding events in patients.