ObjectiveThe controllability changes of structural brain network were explored based on the control and brain network theory in young smokers, this may reveal that the controllability indicators can serve as a powerful factor to predict the sleep status in young smokers. MethodsFifty young smokers and 51 healthy controls from Inner Mongolia University of Science and Technology were enrolled. Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) was used to construct structural brain network based on fractional anisotropy (FA) weight matrix. According to the control and brain network theory, the average controllability and the modal controllability were calculated. Two-sample t-test was used to compare the differences between the groups and Pearson correlation analysis to examine the correlation between significant average controllability and modal controllability with Fagerström Test of Nicotine Dependence (FTND) in young smokers. The nodes with the controllability score in the top 10% were selected as the super-controllers. Finally, we used BP neural network to predict the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) in young smokers. ResultsThe average controllability of dorsolateral superior frontal gyrus, supplementary motor area, lenticular nucleus putamen, and lenticular nucleus pallidum, and the modal controllability of orbital inferior frontal gyrus, supplementary motor area, gyrus rectus, and posterior cingulate gyrus in the young smokers’ group, were all significantly different from those of the healthy controls group (P<0.05). The average controllability of the right supplementary motor area (SMA.R) in the young smokers group was positively correlated with FTND (r=0.393 0, P=0.004 8), while modal controllability was negatively correlated with FTND (r=-0.330 1, P=0.019 2). ConclusionThe controllability of structural brain network in young smokers is abnormal. which may serve as an indicator to predict sleep condition. It may provide the imaging evidence for evaluating the cognitive function impairment in young smokers.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effects of posterior cruciate ligament(PCL) resection on soft tissue elasticity and knee stability in total knee arthroplasty(TKA). METHODS: Six adult cadaveric knee specimens (involving 10 knees) were included in the study. With the assistance of the robotic system(TiRobot Recon, TINAVI, Beijing), total knee arthroplasty (TKA) was performed sequentially using cruciate retaining (CR) prostheses and posterior stabilizing (PS) prostheses. Between the two surgical procedures, the femoral and tibial osteotomy surfaces were not altered;only the posterior cruciate ligament (PCL) was resected and the intercondylar fossa was treated. After installing the femoral trial component, a soft tissue balance solver was used to apply tension ranging from 30 N to 90 N in 5 N increments at 0°, 10°, and 90° of knee flexion. Meanwhile, the medial and lateral joint gaps were measured synchronously. Based on the tension-gap coupling data, the equivalent elastic coefficients of the medial and lateral soft tissue sleeves at different knee flexion angles, as well as the range of the joint line convergence angle (JLCA) under fixed varus-valgus stress, were calculated. Additionally, the gap balance status under 80 N of tension was analyzed. Self-control comparisons of each indicator were conducted before and after PCL resection to analyze the change patterns. RESULTS: After PCL resection, in the fully extended position (knee flexion 0°). The medial equivalent elastic coefficient was 32.2 (25.7, 63.3) N·mm^-1 for the CR prosthesis and 27.7 (22.0, 51.9) N·mm^-1 for the PS prosthesis, and the statistically significant difference (P=0.013). The range of JLCA was 0.41°(0.26, 0.55)° for the CR prosthesis, which was smaller than 0.75° (0.40, 0.98)° for the PS prosthesis, and the difference was statistically significant(P=0.041). At 90° of knee flexion, the medial joint gap was 10.7(10.1, 11.7) mm for the CR prosthesis, which was smaller than 12.1(10.9, 15.1) mm for the PS prosthesis, with a statistically significant difference(P=0.011). No statistically significant differences were observed in other joint gaps. CONCLUSION PCL resection reduces the rigidity of the medial soft tissues in the fully extended knee and increases the medial joint gap in the flexed position, thereby affecting knee stability and balance. This finding suggests that PS and CR prostheses may require different morphological designs, and there should be differences in indications and osteotomy strategies between CR-TKA and PS-TKA. CR-TKA is more suitable for patients with preoperative medial soft tissue laxity.
Humans ; Posterior Cruciate Ligament/physiopathology* ; Knee Joint/physiopathology* ; Arthroplasty, Replacement, Knee ; Elasticity ; Male ; Female ; Middle Aged ; Aged ; Biomechanical Phenomena ; Adult

BACKGROUND: Non-invasive computed tomography angiography (CTA)-based fractional flow reserve (CT-FFR) could become a gatekeeper to invasive coronary angiography. Deep learning (DL)-based CT-FFR has shown promise when compared to invasive FFR. To evaluate the performance of a DL-based CT-FFR technique, DeepVessel FFR (DVFFR). METHODS: This retrospective study was designed for iScheMia Assessment based on a Retrospective, single-center Trial of CT-FFR (SMART). Patients suspected of stable coronary artery disease (CAD) and undergoing both CTA and invasive FFR examinations were consecutively selected from the Beijing Anzhen Hospital between January 1, 2016 to December 30, 2018. FFR obtained during invasive coronary angiography was used as the reference standard. DVFFR was calculated blindly using a DL-based CT-FFR approach that utilized the complete tree structure of the coronary arteries. RESULTS: Three hundred and thirty nine patients (60.5 ±10.0 years and 209 men) and 414 vessels with direct invasive FFR were included in the analysis. At per-vessel level, sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, positive predictive value (PPV) and negative predictive value (NPV) of DVFFR were 94.7%, 88.6%, 90.8%, 82.7%, and 96.7%, respectively. The area under the receiver operating characteristics curve (AUC) was 0.95 for DVFFR and 0.56 for CTA-based assessment with a significant difference (P < 0.0001). At patient level, sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, PPV and NPV of DVFFR were 93.8%, 88.0%, 90.3%, 83.0%, and 95.8%, respectively. The computation for DVFFR was fast with the average time of 22.5 ± 1.9 s. CONCLUSIONS The results demonstrate that DVFFR was able to evaluate lesion hemodynamic significance accurately and effectively with improved diagnostic performance over CTA alone. Coronary artery disease (CAD) is a critical disease in which coronary artery luminal narrowing may result in myocardial ischemia. Early and effective assessment of myocardial ischemia is essential for optimal treatment planning so as to improve the quality of life and reduce medical costs.

Objective:To investigate the predictive efficacy of brain natriuretic peptide(BNP),angiotensin Ⅱ(An-gⅡ),erythrocyte distribution width(RDW)and neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio(NLR)for postoperative left ventric-ular systolic dysfunction(LVSD)in patients with acute anterior myocardial infarction(AAMI).Methods:A total of 160 AAMI patients treated in our hospital from January 2018 to January 2022 were selected.According to left ventricular ejection fraction(LVEF)after percutaneous coronary intervention,they were divided into no LVSD group(LVEF＞40％,n=110)and LVSD group(LVEF≤40％,n=50).Baseline data were compared between two groups.Multivariate Logistic regression analysis was used to analyze influencing factors of postoperative LVSD in AAMI patients.Receiver operating characteristic(ROC)curve was used to analyze the predictive value of single and combined detection of BNP,AngⅡ,RDW and NLR for postoperative LVSD in AAMI patients.Results:Compared with no LVSD group,there were significant rise in levels of BNP[(347.52±82.66)pg/ml vs.(405.55±105.47)pg/ml],AngⅡ[(238.11±20.43)ng/ml vs.(254.58±22.53)ng/ml],RDW[(22.88±5.25)％vs.(25.52±5.58)％]and NLR[(4.34±1.09)vs.(5.31±1.50)]in LVSD group(P＜0.01 all);BNP,AngⅡ,RDW and NLR were independent risk factors for postoperative LVSD in AAMI patients(OR=2.002～3.692,P＜0.05 or＜0.01);predictive value of combined detection of BNP,AngⅡ,RDW and NLR for postoperative LVSD in AAMI patients was significantly higher than those of single detection[area under the curve(AUC):0.809 vs.0.650,0.696,0.641,0.694,P＜0.01 all].Conclusion:Left ventricular systolic function is closely associated with levels of BNP,AngⅡ,RDW and NLR in AAMI patients.Combined detection of the above indexes can effectively predict postoperative left ventricular systolic dysfunction in these patients.

The main chemical components of Allii Macrostemonis Bulbus and components in serum were analyzed and identified rapidly and precisely by ultra-performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry(UPLC-Q-TOF-MS)technique in this study.The compounds were identified based on the relative molecular mass,fragmentation ions,and retention time of chromatographic peaks.A total of 36 kinds of chemical components were identified from Allii Macrostemonis Bulbus,including 28 kinds of saponins,3 kinds of amino acids,2 kinds of flavonoids,one kind of organosulfur compound,one kind of nucleoside,and one kind of hormone-lipid compound.In addition,8 kinds of compounds of Allii Macrostemonis Bulbus were identified from the serum.Based on the intersection compounds of which detected in serum and screened out by TCMSP platform database,by using targeted network pharmacology and molecular docking technology,a"drug-component-target-pathway"association network was constructed.Naringenin,quercetin,macrostemonoside E and 25(R)-26-O-β-D-glucopyranosyl-22-hydroxy-5β-furostan-3-O-β-D-glucopyranosyl(1→2)-β-D-glucopyranoside were screened as the main active constituents of Allii Macrostemonis Bulbus in the treatment of hyperlipidemia.In addition,adenosine 5′-monophosphate-activated protein kinase(AMPK),tumor necrosis factor(TNF),vascular endothelial growth factor A(VEGFA)and matrix metallopeptidase 9(MMP9)were the key action targets for Allii Macrostemonis Bulbus in the treatment of hyperlipidemia.Molecular docking was performed using the main pharmacodynamic components and key action targets.The results indicated that all the four active components showed strongly bound to AMPK.This suggested that the regulation of lipid metabolism might be the key mechanism of Allii Macrostemonis Bulbus in antihyperlipidemic effect.This study provided a data reference for the research on the pharmacodynamic components of Allii Macrostemonis Bulbus,and provided a basis for the improvement of quality standard of Allii Macrostemonis Bulbus.

Infrared spectroscopy technology has many advantages such as high efficiency and non-destructiveness,and has an important research and application value in the field of petroleum pollutant classification and detection.In this study,a petroleum pollutant classification method by combing the discrete wavelet transform(DWT)algorithm and a one-dimensional convolutional neural network based on the Inception module(Inception-1D-CNN)was proposed.Firstly,the DWT algorithm was used to denoise the original infrared spectral data to eliminate the interference information caused by experimental environment,instrument error and manual operation.Then,the inception-1D-CNN model was used to obtain multi-scale infrared spectroscopy feature information,and then classify the petroleum pollutants.Experimental results showed that compared with preprocessing methods such as standard normal variable(SNV),adaptive iteratively reweighted penalized least squares(AirPLS),and Savitzky-Golay smoothing(S-G),the prediction accuracy of the DWT algorithm combined with the 1D-CNN model with a convolutional kernel size of 3×1 was 86.6%,which was 6.6%,6.6%and 3.3%higher,respectively.The prediction accuracy of DWT algorithm combined with 1D-CNN model with a convolutional kernel size of 5×1 was 93.3%,which was 10.0%,7.0%and 3.3%higher,respectively.The prediction accuracy of the DWT algorithm combined with the 1D-CNN model with a convolutional kernel size of 7×1 was 90.0%,which was 6.7%,10.0%and 3.4%higher,respectively.The prediction accuracy of the DWT algorithm combined with the inception-1D-CNN model was 100.0%,which was 10.0%,10.0%and 3.4%higher,respectively.Therefore,the DWT algorithm combined with the inception-1D-CNN model could accurately classify and predict petroleum pollutants,and provided a certain basis for the subsequent treatment of oil spills on the sea surface.

The pandemic of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has caused a serious impact on global public health and the economy. SARS-CoV-2 infiltrates host cells via its surface spike protein, which binds to angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 on the host cell membrane. As a result, small molecules targeting spike protein have emerged as a hotspot in anti-SARS-CoV-2 drug research. Activity screening is an important step in seeking small molecule drugs. Therefore, this article aims to review the biological activity evaluation methods of small molecule inhibitors targeting SARS-CoV-2 spike protein, with the goal of laying the foundation for the discovery of new anti-SARS-CoV-2 drugs.

Sodium ; Wastewater ; Potassium ; Diet ; Blood Pressure ; China ; Sodium, Dietary ; Sodium Chloride, Dietary

Nitazoxanide is an FDA-approved antiprotozoal drug. Our previous study found that oral administration of nitazoxanide inhibited Western diet (WD)-induced hepatic steatosis in ApoE^-/- mice. However, the specific mechanism remains to be elucidated. In the present study, we performed an untargeted metabolomics approach to reveal the effect of nitazoxanide on the liver metabolic profiles in WD-fed ApoE^-/- mice, and carried out the cellular experiments to elucidate the underlying mechanisms. UPLC-MS-based untargeted metabolomics analysis was used to investigate the effect of nitazoxanide on global metabolite changes in liver tissues. The differential metabolites were screened for enrichment analysis and pathway analysis. Hepatocytes were treated with tizoxanide, the metabolite of nitazoxanide, to investigate the underlying mechanism based on the findings in metabolomics study. The improvement of liver lipid metabolism disorders by nitazoxanide treatment in WD-fed ApoE^-/- mice was mainly through regulating glycerophospholipid metabolism, D-glutamine and glutamate metabolism, glutathione metabolism, and arginine biosynthesis metabolism. Tizoxanide, the active metabolite of nitazoxanide, increased glutathione (GSH) contents and glutamate-cysteine ligase catalytic subunit (Gcl-c) and glutathione reductase (Gsr) mRNA expressions in HepG2 cells. Tizoxanide increased cystathionine β-synthase (CBS) and phosphatidylethanolamine N-methyltransferase (PEMT) protein levels, inhibited lipid accumulation in hepatocytes induced by free fatty acid (FFA). Tizoxanide increased S-adenosyl-L-homocysteine hydrolase (SAHH) protein levels in HepG2 cells and mouse primary liver cells stimulated with free fatty acid (FFA). Tizoxanide increased N-acetyl glutamate synthase (Nags) and carbamoylphosphate synthetase 1 (Cps1) mRNA expressions in HepG2 cells. In conclusion, nitazoxanide improves WD-induced hepatic steatosis in ApoE^-/- mice and the underlying mechanisms include increasing CBS expression, GSH content, PEMT protein expression, Nags and Cps1 mRNA expression in hepatocytes.

BACKGROUND: Patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) and prior stroke history have a high risk of cardiovascular events despite anticoagulation therapy. It is unclear whether catheter ablation (CA) has further benefits in these patients. METHODS: AF patients with a previous history of stroke or systemic embolism (SE) from the prospective Chinese Atrial Fibrillation Registry study between August 2011 and December 2020 were included in the analysis. Patients were matched in a 1:1 ratio to CA or medical treatment (MT) based on propensity score. The primary outcome was a composite of all-cause death or ischemic stroke (IS)/SE. RESULTS: During a total of 4.1 ± 2.3 years of follow-up, the primary outcome occurred in 111 patients in the CA group (3.3 per 100 person-years) and in 229 patients in the MT group (5.7 per 100 person-years). The CA group had a lower risk of the primary outcome compared to the MT group [hazard ratio (HR) = 0.59, 95% CI: 0.47-0.74, P < 0.001]. There was a significant decreasing risk of all-cause mortality (HR = 0.43, 95% CI: 0.31-0.61, P < 0.001), IS/SE (HR = 0.73, 95% CI: 0.54-0.97, P = 0.033), cardiovascular mortality (HR = 0.32, 95% CI: 0.19-0.54, P < 0.001) and AF recurrence (HR = 0.33, 95% CI: 0.30-0.37, P < 0.001) in the CA group compared to that in the MT group. Sensitivity analysis generated consistent results when adjusting for time-dependent usage of anticoagulants. CONCLUSIONS In AF patients with a prior stroke history, CA was associated with a lower combined risk of all-cause death or IS/SE. Further clinical trials are warranted to confirm the benefits of CA in these patients.