ObjectiveTo deeply understand the lived experience and needs of patients with end-stage heart failure， and to provide references for better implementing hospice care for patients with heart failure. MethodsA qualitative phenomenological research method was adopted to conduct in-depth interviews with 15 patients with end-stage heart failure. The Colaizzi 7-step analysis method was used to code， analyze， and extract themes from the interview data. ResultsFour themes and 10 sub-themes were identified： first， experiencing physical and psychological distress （a desire for relief from physical pain and a need for psychological counseling）； second， ambivalence towards family support （yearning for care but feeling guilty）； third， actively seeking social support （expecting to be understood and valued， facilitating access to support from the medical system， and differing perceptions of doctor-patient shared decision-making）； fourth， complex psychological experience regarding prognosis （experiencing fear and worry， feeling disappointed， living in the moment， and accepting death）. ConclusionMedical staff， family caregivers， and society should jointly pay attention to the physical and mental feelings and needs of patients with end-stage heart failure and provide targeted care. It is recommended to implement multidisciplinary team management， promote doctor-patient shared decision-making， meet individualized needs， and provide appropriate education on life and death concepts， thereby establishing a palliative and hospice care service model for end-stage heart failure with characteristics.

PURPOSE: To investigate the incidence and influencing factors of bone loss in patients with spinal cord injury (SCI). METHODS: A retrospective case-control study was conducted. Patients with SCI in our hospital from January 2019 to March 2023 were collected. According to the correlation between bone mineral density (BMD) at different sites, the patients were divided into the lumbar spine group and the hip joint group. According to the BMD value, the patients were divided into the normal bone mass group (t > -1.0 standard deviation) and the osteopenia group (t ≤ -1.0 standard deviation). The influencing factors accumulated as follows: gender, age, height, weight, cause of injury, injury segment, injury degree, time after injury, start time of rehabilitation, motor score, sensory score, spasticity, serum value of alkaline phosphatase, calcium, and phosphorus. The trend chart was drawn and the influencing factors were analyzed. SPSS 26.0 was used for statistical analysis. Correlation analysis was used to test the correlation between the BMD values of the lumbar spine and bilateral hips. Binary logistic regression analysis was used to explore the influencing factors of osteoporosis after SCI. p < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. RESULTS: The incidence of bone loss in patients with SCI was 66.3%. There was a low concordance between bone loss in the lumbar spine and the hip, and the hip was particularly susceptible to bone loss after SCI, with an upward trend in incidence (36% - 82%). In this study, patients with SCI were divided into the lumbar spine group (n = 100) and the hip group (n = 185) according to the BMD values of different sites. Then, the lumbar spine group was divided into the normal bone mass group (n = 53) and the osteopenia group (n = 47); the hip joint group was divided into the normal bone mass group (n = 83) and the osteopenia group (n = 102). Of these, lumbar bone loss after SCI is correlated with gender and weight (p = 0.032 and < 0.001, respectively), and hip bone loss is correlated with gender, height, weight, and time since injury (p < 0.001, p = 0.015, 0.009, and 0.012, respectively). CONCLUSIONS The incidence of bone loss after SCI was high, especially in the hip. The incidence and influencing factors of bone loss in the lumbar spine and hip were different. Patients with SCI who are male, low height, lightweight, and long time after injury were more likely to have bone loss.
Humans ; Spinal Cord Injuries/complications* ; Male ; Female ; Retrospective Studies ; Incidence ; Adult ; Bone Density ; Middle Aged ; Case-Control Studies ; Osteoporosis/etiology* ; Lumbar Vertebrae ; Bone Diseases, Metabolic/etiology* ; Aged ; Risk Factors

OBJECTIVES: Multiple myeloma (MM) is a hematologically malignant clonal plasma cell disease. This study aims to explore the association between immunophenotypes and prognosis in patients with MM, to determine whether the expression of CD45 and CD200 is related to the prognosis of newly diagnosed MM (NDMM) patients, and to evaluate the significance of the combined expression of CD45 and CD200 in NDMM. METHODS: A total of 123 NDMM patients admitted to Shengjing Hospital of China Medical University from July 2015 to August 2019 were enrolled. Five key immunophenotypic markers (including CD38, CD138, CD45, CD56, and CD200) were screened through flow cytometry and identified using random forest analysis and univariate Cox regression analysis. Patients were divided into 3 groups: Group A, CD45 and CD200 double-positive; Group B, CD45 or CD200 single-positive; Group C, CD45 and CD200 double-negative. Kaplan-Meier curves were used to analyze overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) across groups. Multivariate Cox regression was performed to evaluate prognostic factors, and a nomogram was constructed based on these results. RESULTS: The OS and PFS of single-positive groups for CD38, CD138, CD45, CD56, and CD200 were all shorter than those of their respective single-negative groups (all P<0.05). Significant differences were observed in OS (P<0.001) and PFS (P=0.001) among Groups A, B, and C. Group A had shorter OS and PFS (all P=0.001) compared to the Group B+C (cases from Group B and Group C were combined). CD45 and CD200 double-positive was an independent prognostic factor for NDMM [hazard ratio (HR)=2.178, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.048 to 4.529; P=0.037]. The nomogram and calibration curves constructed from multivariate Cox regression analysis demonstrated good concordance (concordance index=0.706; 95% CI 0.661 to 0.751). CONCLUSIONS NDMM patients with double-positive expression of CD45 and CD200 have significantly shorter OS and PFS. Compared with the use of either marker alone, the combined assessment of CD45 and CD200 may provide better prognostic stratification for MM patients.
Humans ; Multiple Myeloma/metabolism* ; Male ; Female ; Middle Aged ; Antigens, CD/metabolism* ; Prognosis ; Leukocyte Common Antigens/metabolism* ; Aged ; Adult ; Immunophenotyping ; Nomograms ; Biomarkers, Tumor ; Clinical Relevance

Objective To observe the clinical efficacy and safety of traditional Chinese medicine(TCM)constitution correction based on the theory of preventive treatment of disease on the patients with early asymptomatic diabetic peripheral neuropathy(DPN).Methods A total of 87 patients with early asymptomatic DPN were randomly divided into the control group with 43 cases and the trial group with 44 cases.The control group was required to have standard diet,do exercises and take medicines for diabetes.On the basis of treatment for the control group,the trial group was given the corresponding TCM constitution correction regimen according to the predominated constitution types of the patients.The course of treatment for the two groups lasted for 48 weeks.Before and after intervention,the two groups were observed in the alteration of TCM constitution types,and the changes of body mass index(BMI),systolic blood pressure(SBP),diastolic blood pressure(DBP),fasting plasma glucose(FPG),glycosylated hemoglobin(HbA1c),total cholesterol(TC),triglyceride(TG),high-density lipoprotein cholesterol(HDL-C),low-density lipoprotein cholesterol(LDL-C)and nerve conduction velocity(NCV).Moreover,the safety of the two groups was evaluated.Results(1)After the intervention,the constitution of 17 patients in the trial group was transformed into the balanced constitution,while only the constitution of 5 patients in the control group was transformed into balanced constitution.There was a statistically significant difference in the distribution of TCM constitution between the two groups(P＜0.05).(2)Before intervention,there were no significant differences in the levels of BMI,SBP,DBP,FPG,HbA1c,TC,TG,HDL-C and LDL-C between the two groups(P＞0.05).After intervention,the levels of BMI,SBP and DBP in the two groups and the levels of HbA1c,TC,TG and LDL-C in the trial group were lower than those before intervention(P＜0.05 or P＜0.01),while the levels of FPG and HDL-C in the control group were higher than those before intervention(P＜0.05 or P＜0.01).The intergroup comparison showed that the levels of FPG,HbA1c,TG and LDL-C in the trial group were significantly lower than those in the control group(P＜0.05 or P＜0.01).(3)After the intervention,10 cases in the control group had typical clinical symptoms of DPN,while only 6 cases in the trial group had the clinical symptoms of DPN.Before intervention,there was no significant difference in the motor nerve conduction velocity(MNCV)of bilateral tibial nerve and common peroneal nerve and in the sensory nerve conduction velocity(SNCV)of bilateral sural nerve and superficial peroneal nerve between the two groups(P＞0.05).After intervention,the MNCV of bilateral tibial nerve and common peroneal nerve and the SNCV of bilateral sural nerve and superficial peroneal nerve in the control group were slower than those before intervention(P＜0.05),while the above indicators of nerve conduction velocity in the trial group were mildly increased compared with those before intervention,but the differences were not significant(P＞0.05).The intergroup comparison showed that the MNCV of bilateral tibial nerve and SNCV of bilateral sural nerve and superficial peroneal nerve in the trial group were higher than those in the control group,and the differences were statistically significant(P＜0.05).(4)During the intervention,no obvious adverse reactions occurred in the two groups,with high safety.Conclusion The TCM constitution correction can adjust the biased constitution of patients with early asymptomatic DPN,and has certain protective effect on the glucose and lipid metabolism,MNCV of tibial nerve,and SNCV of bilateral sural nerve and superficial peroneal nerve.

The adulteration and counterfeiting of herbal ingredients in medicinal and food homology (MFH) have a serious impact on the quality of herbal materials, thereby endangering human health. Compared to pharmaceutical drugs, health products derived from traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) are more easily accessible and closely integrated into consumers' daily life. However, the authentication of the authenticity of TCM ingredients in MFH has not received sufficient attention. The lack of clear standards emphasizes the necessity of conducting systematic research in this area. This study utilized DNA barcoding technology, combining ITS2, psbA-trnH, matK as universal barcode sequences, and DX, HH, JYH as specific barcode sequences, to identify the authenticity of commercial medicinal and food homology scented herbal teas. The aim was to investigate the authenticity of scented herbal tea products circulating in the market. The research results revealed that among 180 scented herbal tea samples, DNA barcodes were successfully obtained from 164 samples, while the remaining samples either lacked the target components or suffered severe DNA degradation, resulting in failed amplification. Combined with morphological identification studies, it was found that out of the 180 samples, 141 were authentic, accounting for 78.33% of the total samples, while 31 samples showed adulteration and 8 samples lacked the target components, accounting for 21.67% of the total samples. Additionally, water testing revealed that 5 samples of Carthamus tinctorius herbal tea exhibited the phenomenon of weight adulteration. This study exposed the presence of adulteration and weight adulteration in scented herbal tea products, highlighting the need for regulatory authorities to expedite the establishment of quality standards in scented herbal tea industry. These findings provide valuable insights for the rapid development of the scented herbal tea industry.

The development of various models for automated images screening has significantly enhanced the efficiency and accuracy of cervical cytology image analysis.Single-stage target detection models are capable of fast detection of abnormalities in cervical cytology,but an accurate diagnosis of abnormal cells not only relies on identification of a single cell itself,but also involves the comparison with the surrounding cells.Herein we present the Trans-YOLOv5 model,an automated abnormal cell detection model based on the YOLOv5 model incorporating the global-local attention mechanism to allow efficient multiclassification detection of abnormal cells in cervical cytology images.The experimental results using a large cervical cytology image dataset demonstrated the efficiency and accuracy of this model in comparison with the state-of-the-art methods,with a mAP reaching 65.9%and an AR reaching 53.3%,showing a great potential of this model in automated cervical cancer screening based on cervical cytology images.

Objective:To investigate the expression of NOD-like receptor protein 3(NLRP3)inflammasome and its relation-ship with granulosa cell apoptosis in patients with polycystic ovary syndrome(PCOS).Methods:Follicular fluid and ovarian granulosa cells were collected from 17 PCOS patients(PCOS group)and 20 non-PCOS patients(control group),and the expression levels of pro-inflammatory factor,TNF-α,IL-1β and IL-18 in follicular fluid were detected by ELISA.RT-PCR and Western blot were used to de-tect NLRP3 mRNA and NLRP3 inflammasome associated protein NLRP3,ASC and cleaved caspase-1 and autophagy related protein LC3-Ⅱ/LC3-Ⅰ and p62 expression level in granulosa cells.TUNEL assay was used to detect the apoptotic level of granulosa cells in both groups.NLRP3 silenced siRNA(si-NLRP3)and negative control sequence(si-NC)were transfected into human ovarian cancer granulosa cell line KGN cells by siRNA interference technique in vitro.TNF-α was used to simulate PCOS-related cell damage.KGN cells were divided into 4 groups according to different treatment methods:Ctrl group,TNF-α group,TNF-α+si-NLRP3 group and TNF-α+si-NC group.The levels of DHEA,testosterone,IL-1β and IL-18 in supernatant were detected by ELISA.TUNEL assay was used to detect the apoptosis level of KGN cells.The LC3-Ⅱ/LC3-Ⅰ and p62,NLRP3,ASC and cleaved caspase-1 protein expression levels,and NF-κB p-p65 level(NF-κB p-p65/NF-κB p65)in KGN cells were detected by Western blot.Results:Compared with con-trol group,the concentration of TNF-α,IL-1β,and IL-18 in follicular fluid of PCOS patients,and LC3-Ⅱ/LC3-Ⅰ,NLRP3 mRNA and the protein expression of NLRP3,ASC,and cleaved caspase-1 in granulosa cells of and apoptosis were significantly increased(P<0.05 or P<0.01),while the protein expression of p62 was significantly decreased(P<0.01).Compared with Ctrl group,the levels of DHEA,testosterone,IL-1β and IL-18 in supernatant of TNF-α group,TNF-α+si-NC group,and TNF-α+si-NLRP3 group,and LC3-Ⅱ/LC3-Ⅰ,ASC and cleaved caspase-1 protein expression,and the level of NF-κB p-p65 and apoptosis were significantly increased(P<0.05 or P<0.01),while p62 protein was significantly decreased(P<0.01).NLRP3 was significantly decreased except in TNF-α+si-NLRP3 group(P<0.01),while in the TNF-α group and TNF-α+si-NC group was significantly increased(P<0.01).However,com-pared with TNF-α group,the above indexes in TNF-α+si-NLRP3 group were significantly decreased(P<0.05),and TNF-α+si-NC group had no significant change(P>0.05).Conclusion:The over-activated NLRP3 inflammasome in granulosa cells may promote cell inflammatory injury and autophagy apoptosis in PCOS patients through NF-κB pathway.

AIM:To investigate the effect of ankyrin repeat domain 49(ANKRD49)on epithelial-mesenchy-mal transition(EMT)in NCI-H1299 cells,and to explore its mechanism.METHODS:The ANKRD49 was over-ex-pressed in NCI-H1299 cells.The morphological changes of ANKRD49-overpressing NCI-H1299 cells were observed under microscope.The mRNA and protein expression levels of EMT-related markers[E-cadherin,transforming growth factor-β1(TGF-β1),vimentin and α-smooth muscle actin(α-SMA)]and EMT-related transcription factors(Snail1,Slug,Twist and ZEB1)were detected by RT-qPCR Western blot.Immunofluorescence staining was performed to observe the localiza-tion and expression of E-cadherin and vimentin in ANKRD49-overexpressing cells or control cells.Immunohistochemical method was performed to examine the levels of E-cadherin,α-SMA,Snail,Slug and ZEB1 in lung tissues of nude mice in-oculated with ANKRD49-overexpressing H1299 cells or control cells.RESULTS:Compared with the control group,the ANKRD49 overexpressing cells showed mesenchymal cell morphology(fusiform and less tight connections).RT-qPCR and Western blot results showed that the mRNA and protein levels of mesenchymal markers vimentin and α-SMA in ANKRD49 overexpressing cells were significantly higher than those in cells of control group,while the mRNA and protein levels of epithelial marker E-cadherin were lower than those in cells of control group.Compared with control group,the im-munofluorescence intensity of E-cadherin of H1299 cells decreased in after ANKRD49 overexpression,while that of vimen-tin increased significantly.Snail,Slug and ZEB1 expression were significantly elevated in ANKRD49 overexpressing cells compared with control group.The levels of E-cadherin in lung tissues of nude mice inoculated with ANKRD49-overexpressing H1299 cells declined,while the levels of α-SMA,Snail,Slug and ZEB1 increased compared with those in control mice.CONCLUSION:ANKRD49 promoted EMT of NCI-H1299 cells by increasing the expression of Snail1,Slug and ZEB1 and consequent downreguation of E-cadherin and upregulation of vimentin and α-SMA.

The development of various models for automated images screening has significantly enhanced the efficiency and accuracy of cervical cytology image analysis.Single-stage target detection models are capable of fast detection of abnormalities in cervical cytology,but an accurate diagnosis of abnormal cells not only relies on identification of a single cell itself,but also involves the comparison with the surrounding cells.Herein we present the Trans-YOLOv5 model,an automated abnormal cell detection model based on the YOLOv5 model incorporating the global-local attention mechanism to allow efficient multiclassification detection of abnormal cells in cervical cytology images.The experimental results using a large cervical cytology image dataset demonstrated the efficiency and accuracy of this model in comparison with the state-of-the-art methods,with a mAP reaching 65.9%and an AR reaching 53.3%,showing a great potential of this model in automated cervical cancer screening based on cervical cytology images.

Objective:To analyze the distribution and drug resistance of pathogens of bacterial bloodstream infection in patients with hematological diseases in the Department of Hematology of Tianjin Medical University General Hospital, and to provide etiological data for clinical empirical anti-infection treatment.Methods:A retrospective analysis was conducted on the general clinical information, pathogenic bacteria and drug susceptibility test results of patients with hematological diseases diagnosed with bacterial bloodstream infection by menstrual blood culture in our center from January 2016 to December 2022.Results:Patients included 498 inpatients, with a total of 639 bacterial strains. Among the patients, 86.9% patients had malignancies, and 76.7% had agranulocytosis. Symptoms of concurrent infections, including those of the respiratory tract, oral mucosa, skin and soft tissues, and abdominal sources were observed in 68.3% patients. Gram-negative bacteria (G -) accounted for 79.0% of the isolated bacteria, and gram-positive bacteria (G +) accounted for 21.0%. The top five isolated pathogens were Klebsiella pneumoniae (22.5%), Escherichia coli (20.8%), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (15.0%), Enterococcus faecium (5.5%), and Stenotrophomonas maltophilum (5.0%). Escherichia coli exhibited a decreasing trend of resistance to quinolones, cephalosporins, and carbapenems. Klebsiella pneumoniae exhibited increasing rates of resistance to quinolones and cephalosporins between 2016 and 2018, but the rated decreased after 2019. The resistance rate to carbapenems exhibited by Pseudomonas aeruginosa was approximately 20%. Carbapenem-resistant strains of Pseudomonas aeruginosa strains were first detected in 2017, with a peak resistance rate of 35.7%, detected in 2019. A 60.0% resistance rate to methicillin was observed in methicillin-resistant coagulase-negative staphylococci (MRCNS), and one case of linezolid-resistant MRCNS was detected. Conclusions:Pathogenic bacteria of bacterial bloodstream infections were widely distributed in our center, and precautions are warranted against carbapenem resistant P. aeruginosa and Klebsiella pneumoniae.