Objective By observing and measuring the relevant data of the buccal branch of the facial nerve,the parotid duct and the facial artery,the positional relationship among the three was analyzed to avoid accidental injury to the buccal branch of the facial nerve and the parotid duct when ligaturing the facial artery during the operation.Methods Forty adult head and neck specimens were dissected to observe the relationship between the buccal branch of the facial nerve and the parotid duct,the course and positional relationship of the facial artery,and the relationship between the buccal branch of the facial nerve and the peripheral vascular network.The relevant diameters were measured with a vernier caliper.Results The buccal branch of the facial nerve was divided into the superior buccal branch and the inferior buccal branch,and there was no direct anastomosis or connecting fiber between the buccal branch of the facial nerve and the parotid duct.The superior buccal branch was relatively thick,and it has a relatively constant position,which was parallel to the parotid duct.The position of the inferior buccal branch was not constant and it ran on or slightly above the plane of angulus oris.The superior buccal branch was located(10.76±5.54)mm from the parotid duct,while the inferior buccal branch was positioned(6.84±4.06)mm away from the parotid duct.The course of the main trunk of the facial artery was relatively fixed.Moreover,if the branch of the facial artery was missing,other branches of the facial artery would extend to replace the missing branch artery.The main trunk of the facial artery had a diameter of(2.34±0.83)mm,and its branches formed anastomoses with the buccal branch of the maxillary artery,creating a vascular network in the parotid and buccal regions.There was a vascular network around the buccal branch of the facial nerve,which was mostly small branches of the facial artery and the superficial temporal artery.Conclusion The buccal branch of the facial nerve exhibits a consistent anatomic relationship with the parotid duct and the facial artery.During the ligation of the facial artery,the parotid duct can serve as a landmark to accurately locate the buccal branch of the facial nerve,thereby significantly reducing the risk of inadvertent injury to the buccal branch of the facial nerve and the parotid duct.

Objective To design a positive and negative pressure sequential irrigation suction device and explore its efficacy when applied to unblocking nasoenteric tubes.Methods The device consisted of a positive-pressure irrigation component,a negative-pressure suction component,a three-way adapter and a precise unblocker.The positive-pressure irrigation compo-nent was composed of a positive-pressure irrigation unit,a positive pressure regulator,a pressure sensor,a pressure bag and etc;the negative-pressure suction component was made up of a negative-pressure suction unit,a negative pressure regulator,a negative-pressure gauge,a negative-pressure bottle and etc.The pressure bag was hollow cylinder-shaped,and made of ordinary polyvinyl chloride for its inner layer and acrylonitrile-styrene-butadiene copolymer for its outer layer.Sixty patients with nasoenteric tube blockage were selected and randomly divided into a control group and an observation group,with 30 cases in each group.Irrigation suction was carried out with a 10 mL syringe for the control group and with the device for the observation group,and then unblocking was performed with lukewarm water between 38 and 40 degrees.The two groups were compared in terms of the unblocking efficacy,time required for unblocking and the days and cost of nutritional support.SPSS 22.0 software was used for statistical analysis.Results The observation group gained advantages over the control group in terms of the total effective rate(93.3％vs 73.4％),unblocking efficacy,time required for unblocking((7.63±4.97)min vs(10.73±4.57)min),days of nutritional support((10.07±3.07)d vs(13.03±4.05)d)and cost of nutritional support((3 180±260)yuan vs(4 550±660)yuan).Conclusion The device developed effectively enhances the efficacy for unblocking nasoenteric tubes,shortens the time required and decreases the days and cost of nutritional support,and thus is worthy promoting practi-cally.[Chinese Medical Equipment Journal,2025,46(1):114-117]

A growing body of research points out that gut microbiota plays a key role in tumor immunotherapy. By optimizing the composition of intestinal microbiota, it is possible to effectively improve immunotherapy resistance and enhance its therapeutic effect. This article comprehensively analyzes the mechanism of intestinal microbiota influencing tumor immunotherapy resistance, expounds the current strategies for targeted regulation of intestinal microbiota, such as traditional Chinese medicine and plant components, fecal microbiota transplantation, probiotics, prebiotics and dietary therapy, and explores the potential mechanisms of these strategies to improve patients' resistance to tumor immunotherapy. At the same time, the article also briefly discusses the prospects and challenges of targeting intestinal microbiota to improve tumor immunotherapy resistance, which provides a reference for related research to help the strategy research of reversing tumor immunotherapy resistance.

Cervi Cornu Pantotrichum is a precious animal-derived Chinese medicinal material, while there are often adulterants derived from animals not specified in the Chinese Pharmacopeia in the market, which disturbs the safety of medication. This study was conducted with the aim of strengthening the quality control of Cervi Cornu Pantotrichum and standardizing the medication. To achieve digital identification of Cervi Cornu Pantotrichum from different sources, a digital identification model was constructed based on ultra-high performance liquid chromatography tandem quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry(UHPLC-QTOF-MS~E) combined with an adaptive boosting algorithm(Adaboost). The young furred antlers of sika deer, red deer, elk, and reindeer were processed and then subjected to polypeptide analysis by UHPLC-QTOF-MS~E. Then, the mass spectral data reflecting the polypeptide information were obtained by digital quantification. Next, the key data were obtained by feature screening based on Gini index, and the digital identification model was constructed by Adaboost. The model was evaluated based on the recall rate, F_1 composite score, and accuracy. Finally, the results of identification based on the constructed digital identification model were validated. The results showed that when the Gini index was used to screen the data of top 100 characteristic polypeptides, the digital identification model based on Adaboost had the best performance, with the recall rate, F_1 composite score, and accuracy not less than 0.953. The validation analysis showed that the accuracy of the identification of the 10 batches of samples was as high as 100.0%. Therefore, based on UHPLC-QTOF-MS~E and Adaboost algorithm, the digital identification of Cervi Cornu Pantotrichum can be realized efficiently and accurately, which can provide reference for the quality control and original animal identification of Cervi Cornu Pantotrichum.
Animals ; Algorithms ; Antlers/chemistry* ; Boosting Machine Learning Algorithms ; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid/methods* ; Deer ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal/chemistry* ; Mass Spectrometry/methods* ; Quality Control ; Reindeer ; Tandem Mass Spectrometry/methods* ; Tissue Extracts/analysis*

In the field of substance detection,ion dissociation techniques have become crucial for enhancing qualitative accuracy.By applying external energy to induce dissociation of ions in the substance being analyzed,the internal structural information can be obtained,thereby improving qualitative capabilities.Current research on ion dissociation techniques primarily focuses on tandem mass spectrometry,which typically requires a vacuum environment.However,research on ambient ion dissociation techniques is less developed,with some progress made in the field of tandem ion mobility spectrometry.Recently,the development of field-induced dissociation(FID)in this area has enabled ambient dissociation of various explosive and volatile alcohol ions.Nevertheless,the limitation imposed by the maximum breakdown field of air restricts the energy of the electric field,making it challenging to dissociate ions with high energy requirements,such as those of drugs.To address this issue,in this work,an ambient heat-induced dissociation(HID)technique based on high temperatures was proposed,in which an ambient ion heat-induced dissociation unit was developed and integrated into a home-made ion trap mass spectrometer.Experiments were conducted on four representative drug samples,e.g.methamphetamine,heroin,cocaine,and ketamine.The parent ions mass spectra,low vacuum collision-induced dissociation(CID)mass spectra and ambient HID mass spectra for each sample were obtained.By analyzing and comparing the fragmentation products from ambient and low vacuum dissociation,the feasibility of the ambient HID technique was verified.This technique provided a method for ion dissociation in single mass analyzers without tandem mass spectrometry capability and offered a new research direction for the future development of tandem ion mobility spectrometry.

Aerosol-assisted plasma amplification laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy(LIBS)was employed for phosphorus detection in water.To address the multivariate coupling effects in LIBS and nebulization sampling system,an orthogonal experiment was employed to systematically optimize the key experimental parameters.Using the orthogonal experimental design,the parametric effects of laser energy(output voltage),signal acquisition delay,liquid velocity,and gas velocity on the signal to background ratio(SBR)of P I 213.618 nm were evaluated,and the optimal conditions were achieved,including laser energy of 86 mJ,delay time of 3 μs,gas velocity of 1.05 mL/min,and liquid velocity of 60 μL/min,which were in agreement with the control-variable optimization results.Moreover,the SBR response trends at P I 213.618 nm with all experimental parameters was strong in consistency with control-variable optimization results,which demonstrated the validity of the orthogonal array experimental design.This study established an efficient and accurate parameter optimization methodology for complex LIBS systems,significantly advancing the application of LIBS in environmental monitoring.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the effectiveness of Chinese medicine (CM) Lianhua Qingwen Granule (LHQW) and Jingyin Gubiao Prescription (JYGB) in asymptomatic or mild patients with Omicron infection in the shelter hospital. METHODS: This single-center retrospective cohort study was conducted in the largest shelter hospital in Shanghai, China, from April 10, 2022 to May 30, 2022. A total of 56,244 asymptomatic and mild Omicron cases were included and divided into 4 groups, i.e., non-administration group (23,702 cases), LHQW group (11,576 cases), JYGB group (12,112 cases), and dual combination of LHQW and JYGB group (8,854 cases). The length of stay (LOS) in the hospital was used to assess the effectiveness of LHQW and JYGB treatment on Omicron infection. RESULTS: Patients aged 41-60 years, with nadir threshold cycle (C_T) value of N gene <25, or those fully vaccinated preferred to receive CM therapy. Before or after propensity score matching (PSM), the multiple linear regression showed that LHQW and JYGB treatment were independent influence factors of LOS (both P<0.001). After PSM, there were significant differences in LOS between the LHQW/JYGB combination and the other groups (P<0.01). The results of factorial design ANOVA proved that the LHQW/JYGB combination therapy synergistically shortened LOS (P=0.032). CONCLUSIONS Patients with a nadir C_T value <25 were more likely to accept CM. The LHQW/JYGB combination therapy could shorten the LOS of Omicron-infected individuals in an isolated environment.
Humans ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal/therapeutic use* ; Male ; Female ; Middle Aged ; Adult ; China/epidemiology* ; Hospitalization ; COVID-19 Drug Treatment ; COVID-19/epidemiology* ; SARS-CoV-2 ; Retrospective Studies ; Treatment Outcome ; Length of Stay ; Young Adult ; Aged

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate whether adding Fuzheng Jiedu Xiaoji (FZJDXJ) therapy improves survival in advanced hepatitis B virus-related HCC (HBV-HCC) patients. METHODS: This prospective, randomized controlled study was performed at a major academic medical center in Beijing, China from October 2020 to October 2022. Eligible patients with advanced HBV-HCC were randomly divided equally (1:1) to receive either the combination of FZJDXJ and conventional Western medical therapy (63 cases, FZJDXJ group) or solely Western medicine (66 cases, control group). The study endpoints consisted of overall survival (OS) as the primary outcome, with progression-free survival (PFS), disease control rate (DCR), and adverse events (AEs) as secondary measures. RESULTS: The median OS was significantly prolonged in the FZJDXJ group at 8.9 months (95% CI: 6.0-11.9) vs. 4.4 months (95% CI: 3.2-7.3) in the control group (P<0.05). The hazard ratio for mortality in the FZJDXJ group was 0.59 (95% CI: 0.40-0.89), suggesting a 41% lower risk of death compared to the control group. The results revealed that patients receiving FZJDXJ therapy achieved a PFS of 5.1 months (95% CI: 4.1 to 7.2 months), compared to only 2.9 months (95% CI: 2.0 to 4.6 months) in the control group (P<0.05). Additionally, DCR was significantly elevated in the FZJDXJ group (20.6%) compared to the control group (10.6%, P<0.05). Subgroup analysis demonstrated that FZJDXJ significantly improved OS in patients with alpha-fetoprotein levels <400 ng/mL, age <60 years, Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) stage C, and compensated liver function (Child-Pugh A and B, P<0.05). Multivariate analysis revealed that FZJDXJ therapy acted as an independent factor protecting against mortality within 1 year. Gastrointestinal symptoms are rare side effects, and no fatalities associated with the treatment were reported. CONCLUSION This randomized controlled trial demonstrated that FZJDXJ combined Western conventional therapy significantly improves OS and PFS in patients with advanced HBV-HCC. (registration No. ChiCTR2000033941).
Humans ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal/adverse effects* ; Male ; Female ; Middle Aged ; Liver Neoplasms/virology* ; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular/virology* ; Treatment Outcome ; Hepatitis B virus ; Adult ; Aged ; Hepatitis B/drug therapy*

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the inhibitory effect of multimerin-2 (MMRN2) overexpression on growth and metastasis of cutaneous melanoma cells. METHODS: Clinical data of patients with cutaneous melanoma were obtained from the GEO database to compare MMRN2 expressions between normal and tumor tissues. A protein-protein interaction network was constructed using the STRING database, and the intersecting genes from GEPIA2.0 were subjected to GO and KEGG enrichment analysis. The prognostic relevance of MMRN2 expression level was assessed using Cox regression and "timeROC". The correlations of MMRN2 expression level with immune infiltration and angiogenesis-related genes were analyzed using GSCA database and the ssGSEA algorithm. Colony-forming assay, Transwell assay, and wound healing assay were used to examine the changes in proliferation and migration of cultured cutaneous melanoma cells following MMRN2 knockdown. In a mouse model bearing cutaneous melanoma xenograft, the effect of MMRN2 knockdown on vital organ pathologies, survival of the mice and GM-CSF, CXCL9, and TGF‑β1 protein expressions were analyzed. RESULTS: MMRN2 was significantly upregulated in metastatic cutaneous melanoma (P<0.001). Protein interaction network analysis identified 15 intersecting genes, which were enriched in endothelium development and cell-cell junctions. In patients with cutaneous melanoma, a high MMRN2 expression was correlated with a poor prognosis, an advanced T stage, a greater Breslow depth, and ulceration (P<0.05). MMRN2 expression level was strongly correlated with 24 immune cell types (P<0.001), fibroblasts, endothelial cells, and expressions of the pro-angiogenic genes (KCNJ8, SLCO2A1, NRP1, and COL3A1; P<0.001). In cultured B16F10 cells, MMRN2 knockdown significantly suppressed cell proliferation, migration and invasion and caused remo-deling of the immunosuppressive microenvironment. CONCLUSIONS MMRN2 overexpression drives progression of cutaneous melanoma by enhancing tumor metastasis, angiogenesis and immune evasion, highlighting its potential as a therapeutic target for melanomas.
Humans ; Melanoma/metabolism* ; Animals ; Cell Movement ; Prognosis ; Skin Neoplasms/metabolism* ; Mice ; Cell Proliferation ; Neoplasm Invasiveness ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Protein Interaction Maps