Objective:To describe the hotspots and application trends of artificial intelligence (AI) in epidemiology in the past decade and analyze its advantages and challenges.Methods:The literatures with AI and epidemiology related keywords were systematically retrieved from Web of Science and China National Knowledge Infrastructure from 2014 to 2024. CiteSpace was used for bibliometric analysis of publication volume, keyword co-occurrence, clustering, emergence and cited literature co-occurrence analysis.Results:A total of 5 389 English papers and 1 659 Chinese papers were included, showing an increasing publication trend. High-frequency Chinese keywords included prediction, influencing factor, and machine learning, while English keywords frequently used were machine learning, prediction, and artificial intelligence. The Chinese keywords formed 14 clusters such as epidemiological characteristic, dietary pattern, and elderly individual, and the English keywords formed 21 clusters including prediction model, risk factor, and adult. In international studies, health policy, COVID-19, and digital health were the emerging frontier keywords. Eleven core papers were selected, covering key areas like traffic accident risk assessment, public health big data application, and deep learning in medical diagnosis.Conclusions:This study systematically summarized the research hotspots and development trends of AI applications in epidemiology over the past decade by using bibliometric methods, which indicated that current AI-based epidemiological studies are still in the exploratory phase, with the coexisting of both advantages and challenges. Continued attention should be paid to the future development of this field.

Objective:To evaluate the efficacy of lamb′s tripe extract and vitamin B 12 capsule (LTEVB 12C) on chronic atrophic gastritis (CAG) at different locations (antrum lesser curvature, antrum greater curvature, gastric angle, corpus lesser curvature, and corpus greater curvature). Methods:From August 2011 to January 2013, 715 patients with CAG in a multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial were enrolled from 16 tertiary first-class hospitals across the country, including the First Affiliated Hospital of Air Force Medical University, Nanfang Hospital of Southern Medical University, the First Hospital of Jilin University, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, etc., there were 476 cases in the LTEVB 12C group and 239 cases in the placebo group. The patients of the LTEVB 12C group received LTEVB 12C, and the patients of placebo group received LTEVB 12C mimetic, all the medications were taken 3 capsules each time and 3 times a day after meals, and the treatment course of 2 groups were both 6 months. The efficacy evaluation criteria included the effective rate (a decrease of ≥1 in histopathological score compared with baseline after 6 months of treatment) and the reversal rate (a decrease of ≥ 2 in histopathological score compared with baseline after 6 months of treatment in the patients with moderate to severe CAG). The impact of lesion sites on the therapeutic effects of LTEVB 12C was analyzed by logistic regression analysis. The two-way unordered Cochran-Mantel-Haenszel chi-square test considering the center effect and Pearson chi-square test were used for statistical analysis. Results:The effective rates of chronic inflammation at the antrum greater curvature and corpus greater curvature (23.3%, 110/473 vs. 13.0%, 31/239; 20.3%, 96/472 vs. 12.6%, 30/239), the effective rates of atrophy at the antrum lesser curvature, antrum greater curvature, gastric angle, corpus lesser curvature, and the corpus greater curvature (27.0%, 118/437 vs. 15.7%, 34/216; 29.2%, 126/432 vs. 18.5%, 38/205; 27.8%, 121/435 vs. 16.7%, 36/216; 32.5%, 127/391 vs. 19.8%, 37/187; 33.0%, 119/361 vs. 21.8%, 39/179), and the effective rates of intestinal metaplasia at the antrum lesser curvature, antrum greater curvature, gastric angle, and the corpus lesser curvature (45.0%, 112/249 vs. 29.8%, 31/104; 53.8%, 86/160 vs. 33.9%, 21/62; 45.8%, 103/225 vs. 24.0%, 25/104; 51.9%, 83/160 vs. 28.3%, 17/60) of the LTEVB 12C group were all higher than those of the placebo group, and the differences were statistically significant ( χ2=10.76, 6.39, 9.69, 7.91, 11.05, 9.62, 8.57, 5.20, 7.11, 12.45, and 6.73; all P<0.05). The reversal rates of chronic inflammation at the corpus lesser curvature and corpus greater curvature (5.2%, 12/231 vs. 0, 0/123; 4.7%, 8/170 vs. 0, 0/88), the reversal rates of atrophy at the antrum lesser curvature, antrum greater curvature, corpus lesser curvature, and the corpus greater curvature (6.8%, 22/323 vs. 1.3%, 2/151; 9.2%, 29/315 vs. 1.4%, 2/144; 14.2%, 38/267 vs. 2.5%, 3/121; 20.8%, 35/168 vs. 5.8%, 4/69), and the reversal rates of intestinal metaplasia at the antrum lesser curvature, antrum greater curvature, gastric angle, and the corpus lesser curvature (29.8%, 39/131 vs. 9.1%, 4/44; 41.0%, 32/78 vs. 12.5%, 3/24; 33.3%, 44/132 vs. 4.8%, 3/63; 50.0%, 37/74 vs. 8.7%, 2/23) of the LTEVB 12C group were all higher than those of the placebo group, and the differences were statistically significant ( χ2=6.58, 5.12, 5.60, 8.61, 11.43, 6.59, 7.30, 4.95, 15.92, 7.62; all P<0.05). There were no statistically significant differences in the effective rates and reversal rates of active inflammation at different locations between the LTEVB 12C group and the placebo group (all P>0.05). The results of logistic regression analysis (taking the antrum lesser curvature as the reference) further confirmed that the reversal rates of chronic inflammation ( OR=0.22, 95% confidence interval (95% CI): 0.07 to 0.67; OR=0.24, 95% CI: 0.07 to 0.80), atrophy ( OR=0.28, 95% CI: 0.16 to 0.49; OR=0.28, 95% CI: 0.16 to 0.49), and intestinal metaplasia ( OR=0.42, 95% CI: 0.24 to 0.77; OR=0.20, 95% CI: 0.08 to 0.52) at the corpus lesser curvature and corpus greater curvature were all higher than those at the antrum lesser curvature, and the differences were statistically significant (all P<0.05). There were no statistically siginificant differences in the reversal rates of the aforementioned pathological features between the antrum greater curvature, gastric angle, and the antrum lesser curvature (all P>0.05). Conclusion:LTEVB 12C can achieve good efficacy in the treatment of CAG, and the chronic inflammation, atrophy, and intestinal metaplasia at multiple locations are improved, especially at the corpus lesser curvature and the corpus greater curvature.

Objective:To describe the hotspots and application trends of artificial intelligence (AI) in epidemiology in the past decade and analyze its advantages and challenges.Methods:The literatures with AI and epidemiology related keywords were systematically retrieved from Web of Science and China National Knowledge Infrastructure from 2014 to 2024. CiteSpace was used for bibliometric analysis of publication volume, keyword co-occurrence, clustering, emergence and cited literature co-occurrence analysis.Results:A total of 5 389 English papers and 1 659 Chinese papers were included, showing an increasing publication trend. High-frequency Chinese keywords included prediction, influencing factor, and machine learning, while English keywords frequently used were machine learning, prediction, and artificial intelligence. The Chinese keywords formed 14 clusters such as epidemiological characteristic, dietary pattern, and elderly individual, and the English keywords formed 21 clusters including prediction model, risk factor, and adult. In international studies, health policy, COVID-19, and digital health were the emerging frontier keywords. Eleven core papers were selected, covering key areas like traffic accident risk assessment, public health big data application, and deep learning in medical diagnosis.Conclusions:This study systematically summarized the research hotspots and development trends of AI applications in epidemiology over the past decade by using bibliometric methods, which indicated that current AI-based epidemiological studies are still in the exploratory phase, with the coexisting of both advantages and challenges. Continued attention should be paid to the future development of this field.

Objective: To investigate the association between edentulism and the risk of social isolation in middle-aged and elderly populations, provide empirical evidence for formulating social isolation prevention and intervention policies targeting edentulous middle-aged and elderly populations. Methods: Data were derived from the baseline survey (2011) and three follow-ups (2013, 2015, 2018) of the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS). Participants were enrolled in the follow-up from the baseline. Those identified as socially isolated in any of the follow-up surveys conducted in 2013, 2015, or 2018 were considered to have reached the endpoint; otherwise, the follow-up was continued until the end of the 2018 survey; 9 870 individuals were ultimately included. Subjects were grouped by edentulism status. Chi-square test and multivariate Cox regression analysis were performed using Stata 17.0. Results: During a median follow-up of 6.54 years, 1 800 cases of social isolation occurred, with an incidence rate of 18.23%（17.47%~18.99%）. Multivariate Cox regression showed that edentulism was associated with an increased risk of social isolation (HR=1.21, 95% CI: 1.03-1.42) after adjusting for confounders. Subgroup analysis revealed population heterogeneity. Sensitivity analyses confirmed the stability of the results. Conclusion Edentulism is associated with an increased risk of social isolation in middle-aged and elderly adults.

Objective To identify risk factors for pathological upgrading after radical prostatectomy in patients with biopsy-confirmed International Society of Urological Pathology(ISUP)grade 1 prostate cancer and to develop a predictive nomogram.Methods A total of 256 patients with ISUP grade 1 prostate cancer diagnosed by biopsy and undergoing radical prostatectomy in The First Affiliated Hospital of Naval Medical University between Jan.2017 and May 2024 were retrospectively enrolled.Clinical,imaging,and biopsy data were collected.Independent predictors were identified using univariate and multivariate binary logistic regression,and a nomogram model was constructed.Model performance was evaluated using receiver operating characteristic curve,clinical impact curve,and decision curve analysis.The stability of the model was evaluated by Hosmer-Lemeshow test.Results Multivariate binary logistic regression analysis revealed that the number of positive puncture cores(odds ratio[OR]=1.80),prostate imaging and reporting data system(PI-RADS)score(OR=1.88),and prostate specific antigen density(PSAD)stage(OR=1.43)were independent predictors of pathological upgrading(all P＜0.01).The area under curve(AUC)value of the nomogram model based on the above 3 predictors was 0.82(95％confidence interval 0.77-0.87).Decision curve analysis demonstrated favourable clinical utility within a threshold probability range of 0.01-0.99.Clinical impact curve analysis showed that at a threshold probability of 0.40,the model could avoid 45 unnecessary interventions(12％reduction in false-positive rate)with a net clinical benefit of 0.46.The Hosmer-Lemeshow test indicated good model fit(P=0.45).Conclusion The constructed nomogram model can accurately predict the risk of pathological upgrading after radical prostatectomy in patients with ISUP grade 1 prostate cancer,providing a quantitative tool to support individualized decision-making for active surveillance.

Objective:To evaluate the clinical value of peripheral blood monocyte subset analysis in the diagnosis and treatment of chronic myelomonocytic leukemia (CMML) .Method:We retrospectively enrolled 51 patients newly diagnosed with CMML at Guangdong Provincial People's Hospital between June 1, 2020, and December 31, 2024, according to the WHO 2022 diagnostic criteria. Twenty-three patients with other myeloid neoplasms (excluding CMML) and peripheral monocytosis (absolute count ≥0.5×10 9/L and percentage ≥10%) were included as the control group. All patients underwent bone marrow aspiration for examinations including bone marrow smears, biopsies, cytogenetics, and gene mutation analysis to establish a definitive diagnosis. Concurrently, flow cytometry was used to determine the proportions of peripheral blood monocyte subsets: classical (MO1, CD14 +CD16 -) , intermediate (MO2, CD14 +CD16 +) , and non-classical (MO3, CD14 lowCD16 +) . Differences between the groups were compared, and diagnostic efficacy was evaluated using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves. Result:Among the 51 CMML patients, the proportion of the peripheral blood MO1 subset was significantly higher than that in patients with other myeloid neoplasms ( P=0.027) , whereas there were no significant differences in the MO2 and MO3 subsets (all P>0.05) . Further analysis revealed that 43 (84.31%) of the CMML patients met the WHO diagnostic threshold for the MO1 subset (≥94%) , while the remaining 8 patients did not; 46 patients (90.20%) had MO3 subset proportions below the threshold proposed by Hudson (≤1.13%) , while the remaining 5 patients were above this threshold. In-depth analysis showed that among the 8 patients who did not meet the WHO criteria, 7 were experiencing inflammation. Similarly, all 5 patients who did not meet the Hudson criteria were in an inflammatory state. Subsequent ROC curve analysis of this cohort identified a cut-off value for the MO1 subset of 97.55% [Area Under the Curve (AUC) =0.661, P=0.027], which aligns with the WHO criteria. Conclusion:Peripheral blood monocyte subset analysis, particularly MO1 subset analysis, can effectively assist in CMML diagnosis, but exclusion of inflammatory conditions is required.

Objective:To evaluate the efficacy of lamb′s tripe extract and vitamin B 12 capsule (LTEVB 12C) on chronic atrophic gastritis (CAG) at different locations (antrum lesser curvature, antrum greater curvature, gastric angle, corpus lesser curvature, and corpus greater curvature). Methods:From August 2011 to January 2013, 715 patients with CAG in a multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial were enrolled from 16 tertiary first-class hospitals across the country, including the First Affiliated Hospital of Air Force Medical University, Nanfang Hospital of Southern Medical University, the First Hospital of Jilin University, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, etc., there were 476 cases in the LTEVB 12C group and 239 cases in the placebo group. The patients of the LTEVB 12C group received LTEVB 12C, and the patients of placebo group received LTEVB 12C mimetic, all the medications were taken 3 capsules each time and 3 times a day after meals, and the treatment course of 2 groups were both 6 months. The efficacy evaluation criteria included the effective rate (a decrease of ≥1 in histopathological score compared with baseline after 6 months of treatment) and the reversal rate (a decrease of ≥ 2 in histopathological score compared with baseline after 6 months of treatment in the patients with moderate to severe CAG). The impact of lesion sites on the therapeutic effects of LTEVB 12C was analyzed by logistic regression analysis. The two-way unordered Cochran-Mantel-Haenszel chi-square test considering the center effect and Pearson chi-square test were used for statistical analysis. Results:The effective rates of chronic inflammation at the antrum greater curvature and corpus greater curvature (23.3%, 110/473 vs. 13.0%, 31/239; 20.3%, 96/472 vs. 12.6%, 30/239), the effective rates of atrophy at the antrum lesser curvature, antrum greater curvature, gastric angle, corpus lesser curvature, and the corpus greater curvature (27.0%, 118/437 vs. 15.7%, 34/216; 29.2%, 126/432 vs. 18.5%, 38/205; 27.8%, 121/435 vs. 16.7%, 36/216; 32.5%, 127/391 vs. 19.8%, 37/187; 33.0%, 119/361 vs. 21.8%, 39/179), and the effective rates of intestinal metaplasia at the antrum lesser curvature, antrum greater curvature, gastric angle, and the corpus lesser curvature (45.0%, 112/249 vs. 29.8%, 31/104; 53.8%, 86/160 vs. 33.9%, 21/62; 45.8%, 103/225 vs. 24.0%, 25/104; 51.9%, 83/160 vs. 28.3%, 17/60) of the LTEVB 12C group were all higher than those of the placebo group, and the differences were statistically significant ( χ2=10.76, 6.39, 9.69, 7.91, 11.05, 9.62, 8.57, 5.20, 7.11, 12.45, and 6.73; all P<0.05). The reversal rates of chronic inflammation at the corpus lesser curvature and corpus greater curvature (5.2%, 12/231 vs. 0, 0/123; 4.7%, 8/170 vs. 0, 0/88), the reversal rates of atrophy at the antrum lesser curvature, antrum greater curvature, corpus lesser curvature, and the corpus greater curvature (6.8%, 22/323 vs. 1.3%, 2/151; 9.2%, 29/315 vs. 1.4%, 2/144; 14.2%, 38/267 vs. 2.5%, 3/121; 20.8%, 35/168 vs. 5.8%, 4/69), and the reversal rates of intestinal metaplasia at the antrum lesser curvature, antrum greater curvature, gastric angle, and the corpus lesser curvature (29.8%, 39/131 vs. 9.1%, 4/44; 41.0%, 32/78 vs. 12.5%, 3/24; 33.3%, 44/132 vs. 4.8%, 3/63; 50.0%, 37/74 vs. 8.7%, 2/23) of the LTEVB 12C group were all higher than those of the placebo group, and the differences were statistically significant ( χ2=6.58, 5.12, 5.60, 8.61, 11.43, 6.59, 7.30, 4.95, 15.92, 7.62; all P<0.05). There were no statistically significant differences in the effective rates and reversal rates of active inflammation at different locations between the LTEVB 12C group and the placebo group (all P>0.05). The results of logistic regression analysis (taking the antrum lesser curvature as the reference) further confirmed that the reversal rates of chronic inflammation ( OR=0.22, 95% confidence interval (95% CI): 0.07 to 0.67; OR=0.24, 95% CI: 0.07 to 0.80), atrophy ( OR=0.28, 95% CI: 0.16 to 0.49; OR=0.28, 95% CI: 0.16 to 0.49), and intestinal metaplasia ( OR=0.42, 95% CI: 0.24 to 0.77; OR=0.20, 95% CI: 0.08 to 0.52) at the corpus lesser curvature and corpus greater curvature were all higher than those at the antrum lesser curvature, and the differences were statistically significant (all P<0.05). There were no statistically siginificant differences in the reversal rates of the aforementioned pathological features between the antrum greater curvature, gastric angle, and the antrum lesser curvature (all P>0.05). Conclusion:LTEVB 12C can achieve good efficacy in the treatment of CAG, and the chronic inflammation, atrophy, and intestinal metaplasia at multiple locations are improved, especially at the corpus lesser curvature and the corpus greater curvature.

Objective:To evaluate the clinical value of peripheral blood monocyte subset analysis in the diagnosis and treatment of chronic myelomonocytic leukemia (CMML) .Method:We retrospectively enrolled 51 patients newly diagnosed with CMML at Guangdong Provincial People's Hospital between June 1, 2020, and December 31, 2024, according to the WHO 2022 diagnostic criteria. Twenty-three patients with other myeloid neoplasms (excluding CMML) and peripheral monocytosis (absolute count ≥0.5×10 9/L and percentage ≥10%) were included as the control group. All patients underwent bone marrow aspiration for examinations including bone marrow smears, biopsies, cytogenetics, and gene mutation analysis to establish a definitive diagnosis. Concurrently, flow cytometry was used to determine the proportions of peripheral blood monocyte subsets: classical (MO1, CD14 +CD16 -) , intermediate (MO2, CD14 +CD16 +) , and non-classical (MO3, CD14 lowCD16 +) . Differences between the groups were compared, and diagnostic efficacy was evaluated using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves. Result:Among the 51 CMML patients, the proportion of the peripheral blood MO1 subset was significantly higher than that in patients with other myeloid neoplasms ( P=0.027) , whereas there were no significant differences in the MO2 and MO3 subsets (all P>0.05) . Further analysis revealed that 43 (84.31%) of the CMML patients met the WHO diagnostic threshold for the MO1 subset (≥94%) , while the remaining 8 patients did not; 46 patients (90.20%) had MO3 subset proportions below the threshold proposed by Hudson (≤1.13%) , while the remaining 5 patients were above this threshold. In-depth analysis showed that among the 8 patients who did not meet the WHO criteria, 7 were experiencing inflammation. Similarly, all 5 patients who did not meet the Hudson criteria were in an inflammatory state. Subsequent ROC curve analysis of this cohort identified a cut-off value for the MO1 subset of 97.55% [Area Under the Curve (AUC) =0.661, P=0.027], which aligns with the WHO criteria. Conclusion:Peripheral blood monocyte subset analysis, particularly MO1 subset analysis, can effectively assist in CMML diagnosis, but exclusion of inflammatory conditions is required.

Objective: To analyze the characteristics of influenza virus detection in an influenza outbreak in schools, so as to provide a strategic basis for the treatment of influenza outbreaks in schools. Methods: A total of 1 702 samples were collected from 52 school influenza outbreaks reported in Linyi City in 2021-2022. The samples were divided into 3 types according to different symptoms during the management of the epidemic [group A:influenzalike illness (ILI) group; group B:mild illness group; group C:close contacts group]. Rt-PCR was used to detect influenza virus nucleic acid in the collected samples. The detection rate of influenza virus in the outbreaks was analyzed by χ2 test. Results: In total, 1 071 samples (62.93%) tested positive for influenza virus nucleic acid. Among them, 610 out of 726 samples (84.02%) were detected in group A, while 331 out of 634 samples (52.21%) were detected in group B. In group C, 130 out of 342 samples (38.01%) tested positive. The differences were statistically significant (χ2=260.71, P<0.01). In group A, males had a detection rate of 80.83% for influenza virus nucleic acid, compared to 91.36% for females. For group B, the rates were 53.31% for males and 50.87% for females. In group C, males had a rate of 30.72%, while females had a rate of 43.92%. Statistical significance for gender differences was observed only in groups A and C (χ2=12.67, 6.25, P<0.05). According to the days of onset, the detection rates of influenza virus nucleic acid among patients with onset 0-6 days were 56.30%, 74.49%, 89.35%, 86.23%, 69.67%, 62.75%, 34.33%, respectively, and the difference was statistically significant (χ2=128.27, P<0.01). Conclusions Mild cases and close contacts are likely key factors contributing to the prolonged emergence of new cases within classrooms during school influenza outbreaks. The progression of influenza symptoms is related to the risk of transmission.

BACKGROUND:Establishing a nomogram prediction model for postoperative pulmonary infection in hip fractures and taking early intervention measures is crucial for improving patients'quality of life and reducing medical costs. OBJECTIVE:To construct a nomogram risk prediction model of postoperative pulmonary infection in elderly patients with hip fracture,and provide theoretical basis for feasible prevention and early intervention. METHODS:Case data of 305 elderly patients with hip fractures who underwent surgical treatment at Wuxi Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital Affiliated to Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine between January and October 2020(training set)were retrospectively analyzed.Using univariate and multivariate logistic regression analysis and Hosmer-Lemeshow goodness of fit test,receiver operating characteristic curve was utilized to analyze the diagnostic predictive efficacy of independent risk factors and joint models for postoperative pulmonary infections.Tools glmnet,pROC,and rms in R Studio software were applied to construct a nomogram model for predicting the risk of postoperative pulmonary infection in elderly patients with hip fractures,and calibration curves were further drawn to verify the predictive ability of the nomogram model.Receiver operating characteristic curves,calibration curves,and decision curves were analyzed for 133 elderly patients with hip fractures(validation set)receiving surgery at the same hospital from November 2022 to March 2023 to further predict the predictive ability of the nomogram model. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:(1)The postoperative pulmonary infection rate in elderly patients with hip fractures in this group was 9.18%(28/305).(2)Single factor and multivariate analysis,as well as forest plots,showed that preoperative hospitalization days,leukocyte count,hypersensitive C-reactive protein,and serum sodium levels were independent risk factors(P<0.05).The Hosmer-Lemeshow goodness of fit test showed good fit(χ2=4.57,P=0.803).Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis was conducted on the independent risk factors and their joint models mentioned above,and the differentiation of each independent risk factor and joint model was good,with statistical significance(P<0.05).(3)The graphical calibration method,C-index,and decision curve were used to validate the nomogram prediction model.The predicted calibration curve was located between the standard curve and the acceptable line,and the predicted risk of the nomogram model was consistent with the actual risk.(4)The validation set used receiver operating characteristic curve,graphic calibration method,and decision curve to validate the prediction model.The results showed good consistency with clinical practice,indicating that the model had a good fit.The nomogram risk prediction model constructed for postoperative pulmonary infection in elderly patients with hip fractures has good predictive performance.The use of the nomogram risk prediction model can screen high-risk populations and provide a theoretical basis for early intervention.