Based on advancements in modern medical research regarding the intricate connection between the endocrine and exocrine functions of the pancreas， as well as the relationship between pancreatic functions and traditional Chinese medicine （TCM） spleen system， this paper discussed the categorization of the pancreas. It is proposed that the pancreas is neither a true zang organ nor a fu organ， but possessed the attributes of an extraordinary fu-organ and can be classified under the spleen. The spleen governs transportation and transformation， ascent of the clear and dispersion of essence， which encompasses the endocrine and exocrine functions， and pancreatic enzymes and glucose-regulating hormones form the material basis for the spleen's function of dispersing essence. Diseases of the pancreas exhibit characteristics of both zang-organ deficiency and fu-organ excess， so treatment should simultaneously supplement zang-organ disease and regulate fu-organ disease when pancreas showing endocrine and exocrine co-morbidities， with focus on restoring the pancreas （spleen）'s dispersing essence function. Therapeutic strategies include supplementing spleen qi， nourishing spleen yin to strengthen spleen earth， unblocking spleen collaterals， raising spleen yang， and removing spleen turbidity to support the spleen's dispersing essence function， so as to replenish the essential qi of zang-fu organs， ensure their distribution throughout the body， and improve the endocrine and exocrine functions of the pancreas.

Objective:To investigate the changes in sympathetic nerve activity after lower limb immobilization and the role of sympathetic nerve in regulating disuse atrophy of skeletal muscles.Methods:The experiment was divided into the following 3 parts: ① Twelve 8-week-old male C57 mice were randomly divided into a blank control group and a hind limb fixation group ( n=6). The blank control group received no intervention while the hind limb fixation group received splint fixation of the hind limbs for 2 weeks before the musculoskeletal multi-dimensional characterization was completed at the behavioral, pathological and molecular levels. ② Thirty-six 8-week-old male C57 mice were selected and randomly divided into a control group and 5 hind limb fixation groups (for 1, 3, 5, 7 and 14 days) ( n=6). The control group was fed normally until 14 days without any intervention while the 5 hind limb fixation groups were sampled after fixation for 1, 3, 5, 7 and 14 days, respectively. The level of norepinephrine in the serum and the expression level of tyrosine hydroxylase (TH), a marker of sympathetic nerve activity in the paraventricular nucleus of hypothalamus (PVN), were detected to observe the plasticity of sympathetic nerve activity. ③ Eighteen 8-week-old male C57 mice were selected and randomly divided into a blank control group, a hind limb fixation group and a hind limb fixation plus medication group ( n=6). The blank control group received no intervention while the 2 fixation groups were injected with phosphate buffer (PBS) and propranolol hydrochloride solution for 2 consecutive weeks, respectively. The parameters related to the skeletal muscles were compared between the 3 groups. Results:① Compared with the control group, the mass and function of skeletal muscles in the hind limb fixation group were statistically significantly decreased ( P<0.05). ② The levels of serum norepinephrine [(3.27±1.03) ng/mL, (9.21±1.05) ng/mL, (6.36±0.88) ng/mL, (3.84±1.00) ng/mL, and (3.91±0.75) ng/mL] and the PVN TH levels (42.00%±5.38%, 61.67%±5.57%, 55.82%±3.11%, 50.90%±2.53%, and 39.17%±9.07%) in the 5 hind limb fixation groups (for 1, 3, 5, 7 and 14 days) were significantly higher than those in the control group [(1.81±0.72)] ng/mL and 23.33%±5.50%] ( P<0.05). ③ The wet weight of the gastrocnemius muscle [(93.50±4.32) mg] and the cross-section area of the tibial anterior muscle [(1,180.00±95.09) μm 2] in the hind limb fixation plus medication group were increased significantly compared with those in the hind limb fixation group [(80.83±9.99) mg and (907.80±121.00) μm 2] ( P<0.05). Conclusions:Overactivation of the sympathetic nervous system occurs in the mice model of skeletal muscle disuse atrophy after hind limb fixation. Inhibition of sympathetic nerve activity may reduce the severity of skeletal muscle atrophy at the lower limbs.

Objective:To investigate the clinical application effects of the pedicled anterior intercostal artery perforator flap in breast reconstruction after breast-conserving surgery for breast cancer.Methods:This study was a retrospective observational study. From January to December 2023, 16 female breast cancer patients who met the inclusion criteria were hospitalized in the Department of Breast Surgery of the Affiliated Hospital of Southwest Medical University, with the age of (48±8) years. The pedicled anterior intercostal artery perforator flap was used for breast reconstruction of patients after breast-conserving surgery. After complete resection of tumor tissue, a "crescent-shaped" incision was designed at the inframammary fold. The pedicled anterior intercostal artery perforator flap was harvested based on the tumor location and the defect area after tumor removal. The flap was de-epithelialized, coapted, and rotated anterogradely or retrogradely to fill the defect. The donor site wound was closed with layered sutures. The following parameters were recorded: breast tissue loss volume during surgery, surgical duration, retention duration of the drainage tube, positive proportion of tumors in the breast incision margin tissue, breast loss ratio, flap survival, and incidence ratio of complications after operation. Patients were followed up for local recurrence or distant metastasis of tumor. At the last follow-up, the Ueda score was used to evaluate cosmetic outcomes of reconstructed breasts after breast-conserving surgery, and the Breast-Q scale version 2.0 was applied to assess patients' satisfaction and quality of life with breast reconstruction after breast-conserving surgery.Results:The breast tissue loss volume during surgery in this group of patients was 20-128 (59±34) cm3, the surgical duration was 105-200 (143±27) min, the retention duration of the drainage tube was 3-7 (4.6±1.0) d, and the positive proportion of tumors in the breast incision margin tissue was 1/16, with breast loss ratio of 0. After the surgery, the patient's transplanted flaps all survived. One patient had postoperative fat liquefaction in the surgical area, and the incidence ratio of postoperative complications was 1/16. The patients were followed up for 3-12 (11±4) months, and no local breast cancer recurrence or distant metastasis occurred. At the last follow-up, the cosmetic score of breast reconstruction after breast-conserving surgery were excellent in 6 cases, good in 8 cases, and fair in 2 cases, with an excellent and good ratio of 14/16. At the last follow-up, the highest score in the evaluation of patients' satisfaction with breast reconstruction and quality of life after breast-conserving surgery was the satisfaction with the surgeons, with a score of 59-100 (91±13), followed respectively by physiological health of the chest with a score of 60-100 (77±14), psychological health with a score of 35-100 (74±20), breast satisfaction with a score of 55-100 (73±13), satisfaction with information acquisition with a score of 53-100 (70±14), and sexual health with a score of 34-100 (70±23).Conclusions:The pedicled anterior intercostal artery perforator flap is safe and reliable for breast reconstruction after breast-conserving surgery for breast cancer, and can achieve high cosmetic effects and patient satisfaction. This flap is simple in design, easy to operate and highly reproducible, and is worthy of clinical promotion and application.

OBJECTIVE: To prepare clinical-grade human umbilical cord-derived mesenchymal stem cells (hUC-MSC) with high expression of hematopoietic supporting factors and evaluate their stem cell characteristics. METHODS: Fetal umbilical cord tissues were collected from healthy postpartum women during full-term cesarean section. Wharton's jelly was mechanically separated and hUC-MSCs were obtained by explant culture method and enzyme digestion method in an animal serum-free culture system with addition of human platelet lysate. The phenotypic characteristics of hUC-MSCs obtained by two methods were detected by flow cytometry. The differences in proliferation ability between the two groups of hUC-MSCs were identified through CCK-8 assay and colony forming unit-fibroblast (CFU-F) assay. The differences in multilineage differentiation potential between the two groups of hUC-MSCs were identified through induction of adipogenic, osteogenic, and chondrogenic differentiation. The mRNA expression levels of hematopoietic supporting factors such as SCF, IL-3, CXCL12, VCAM1 and ANGPT1 in the two groups of hUC-MSCs were identified by real-time fluorescence quantiative PCR(RT-qPCR). RESULTS: The results of flow cytometry showed that hUC-MSCs obtained by the two methods both expressed high levels of CD73, CD90 and CD105, while lowly expressed CD31, CD45 and HLA-DR. The results of CCK-8 and CFU-F assay showed that the proliferation ability of hUC-MSCs obtained by explant culture method was better than those obtained by enzyme digestion method. The results of the triple lineage differentiation experiment showed that there was no significant difference in multilineage differentiation potential between the two grous of hUC-MSCs. The results of RT-qPCR showed that the mRNA expression levels of hematopoietic supporting factors SCF, IL-3, CXCL12, VCAM1 and ANGPT1 in hUC-MSCs obtained by explant cultrue method were higher than those obtained by enzyme digestion method. CONCLUSION Clinical-grade hUC-MSCs with high expression levels of hematopoietic supporting factors were successfully cultured in an animal serum-free culture system.
Humans ; Mesenchymal Stem Cells/metabolism* ; Umbilical Cord/cytology* ; Cell Differentiation ; Female ; Cell Proliferation ; Cells, Cultured ; Chemokine CXCL12/metabolism* ; Angiopoietin-1/metabolism* ; Vascular Cell Adhesion Molecule-1/metabolism* ; Stem Cell Factor/metabolism* ; Flow Cytometry ; Pregnancy

Objective:To analyse the impact of diagnosis-related groups (DRG) payment reform on the length of stay and hospitalisation expenses of patients in pilot medical institutions of Beijing, for references for the formulation and optimisation of DRG payment related policies.Methods:The home page data of inpatient medical records from 56 medical institutions that implemented DRG payment in Beijing from April to October 2021 (before DRG payment reform) and April to October 2022 (after DRG payment reform). Patients participating in the basic medical insurance for urban employees in Beijing were selected as the reform group, and others served as the control group. The difference-in-differences model (DID) were used to analyse the related indicators, to evaluate the effectiveness of the reform.Results:This study comprised a total of 3 294 003 inpatients. Of them, 1 714 134 cases were in the control group (911 100 cases before the reform and 803 034 cases after) and 1 579 869 cases were in the study group (802 899 cases before the reform and 776 970 cases after). The gender, age composition and treatment methods of patients changed little before and after the reform. But the proportion of patients with severe comorbidities or complications rose from 11.11% before the reform to 13.19% after the reform. Through the analysis of the DID model, the DRG payment reform could reduce the length of stay ( P=0.001) and hospitalization expenses of patients ( P<0.001), and played a certain optimising role in the cost structure. Among them, the proportion of medical service expenses did not change significantly ( P=0.977), the proportion of inspection and testing expenses, as well as drug expenses decreased slightly ( P=0.001, P=0.004), and the proportion in consumable expenditures increased slightly ( P=0.001). Conclusions:DRG payment reform played a positive role in shortening the length of stay and hospitalization expenses. It was suggested that medical institutions in Beijing should further optimize the structure of patient hospitalization expenses, with a focus on exploring effective ways to increase the medical service revenue and reasonably control the consumables costs.

Objective To identify novel biomarkers for predicting the risk of latent tuberculosis infection(LTBI)activation using bio-informatics and machine-learning algorithms and to establish a risk model.Methods The GSE112104 and GSE193777 datasets were obtained from the Gene Expression Omnibus.Differential gene expression and weighted gene co-expression network analyses were per-formed to identify ferroptosis-related differentially expressed genes(FRG-DEGs)associated with LTBI activation.Three machine-learning algorithms,least absolute shrinkage and selection operator,support vector machine-recursive feature elimination,and random forest,were used to identify ferroptosis-related hub genes(FRG-hubs).The reliability of these genes was validated using independent validation datasets and reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction(PCR).A risk model was established using R software.Results In the GSE 112104 dataset,296 genes were upregulated and 1 569 genes were downregulated in active tuberculosis compared to those in LTBI.Among the LTBI progressors,506 genes were upregulated and 1 132 genes were downregulated.Weighted correlation network analysis identified five gene modules,with the blue module showing the strongest correlation with LTBI activation(cor=0.62,P=0.000 04),con-taining 1 340 genes.Intersections with 728 ferroptosis-related genes resulted in eight FRG-DEGs.The machine-learning algorithms iden-tified four FRG-hubs:PLA2G6,GLS2,JUN,and AMN,whose expression decreased with LTBI activation.Reverse transcription PCR con-firmed this trend.A risk model based on these genes yielded an area under the curve of 0.98 to 1.00.Conclusion This study successfully identified novel biomarkers for predicting the risk of LTBI activation and developed an accurate predictive risk model.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of our study was to evaluate the vaccine effectiveness (VE) of the pentavalent rotavirus vaccine (RV5) among < 5-year-old children in three provinces of China during 2020-2024 via a propensity score-matched test-negative case-control study. METHODS: Electronic health records and immunization information systems were used to obtain data on acute gastroenteritis (AGE) cases tested for rotavirus (RV) infection. RV-positive cases were propensity score matched with RV-negative controls for age, visit month, and province. RESULTS: The study included 27,472 children with AGE aged 8 weeks to 4 years at the time of AGE diagnosis; 7.98% (2,192) were RV-positive. The VE (95% confidence interval, CI) of 1-2 and 3 doses of RV5 against any medically attended RV infection (inpatient or outpatient) was 57.6% (39.8%, 70.2%) and 67.2% (60.3%, 72.9%), respectively. Among children who received the 3rd dose before turning 5 months of age, 3-dose VE decreased from 70.4% (53.9%, 81.1%) (< 5 months since the 3rd dose) to 63.0% (49.1%, 73.0%) (≥ 1 year since the 3rd dose). The three-dose VE rate was 69.4% (41.3%, 84.0%) for RVGE hospitalization and 57.5% (38.9%, 70.5%) for outpatient-only medically attended RVGE. CONCLUSION Three-dose RV5 VE against rotavirus gastroenteritis (RVGE) in children aged < 5 years was higher than 1-2-dose VE. Three-dose VE decreased with time since the 3rd dose in children who received the 3rd dose before turning five months of age, but remained above 60% for at least one year. VE was higher for RVGE hospitalizations than for medically attended outpatient visits.
Humans ; Rotavirus Vaccines/immunology* ; China/epidemiology* ; Case-Control Studies ; Child, Preschool ; Infant ; Rotavirus Infections/epidemiology* ; Male ; Propensity Score ; Female ; Vaccine Efficacy ; Gastroenteritis/virology* ; Vaccines, Attenuated ; Rotavirus

Objective:To investigate the hepatoprotective effect of N-acetylcysteine(NAC)on rats with liver injury induced by cisplatin and its effect on intestinal flora and the expression of interleukin-6(IL-6),tumor necrosis factor-α(TNF-α),and nuclear factor-kappa B(NF-κB).Methods:Male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into control group(CG),cisplatin group(CP),and NAC group.The rats in the NAC group were given NAC 15 mg/kg by gavage for 8 consecutive days.At half an hour after intragastric administration on the fifth day,all rats except those in the NC group were given intraperitoneal injection of 8 mg/kg cisplatin to induce acute liver injury.An automatic biochemical analyzer was used to measure the content of aspartate aminotransferase(AST),alanine aminotransferase(ALT),alkaline phosphatase(ALP),and total bilirubin(TBIL);liver index was calculated for the rats;Western blot was used to measure the relative expression levels of NF-κB,IL-6,and TNF-α in liver tissue;the 16S rDNA technique was used to measure and analyze the amplification information of the V3-V4 regions of each sample.Results:Compared with the NC group,the CP group had significant increases in the content of AST,ALT,ALP,and TBIL,while NAC reversed the abnormal liver function caused by cisplatin.Compared with the NC group,the CP group had a sig-nificant increase in liver index(P=0.000),while the NAC group had a significant reduction in liver index compared with the CP group(P=0.007).Compared with the NC group,the CP group had signifi-cant increases in the expression levels of IL-6,TNF-α,and NF-κB,while the NAC group showed reductions in the expression of these genes,with significant differences in the expression of IL-6 and TNF-α(P=0.006 and 0.000).Compared with the NC group,the CP group had a significant increase in the α-diversity index of intesti-nal flora,while compared with the CP group,the NAC group tended to have a reduction in the α-diversity index of intestinal flora.Com-pared with the CP group at the phylum level,the NAC group had an increase in the abundance of Actinobacteria and a reduction in the abundance of Firmicutes.Compared with the CP group at the genus level,the NAC group had a reduction in the abundance of Rumino-coccaceae and increases in the abundance of Bifidobacterium and Allobaculum.Conclusion:NAC can alleviate acute liver injury caused by cisplatin,possibly by downregulating the expression of IL-6,TNF-α,and NF-κB and regulating the abundance and diver-sity of intestinal flora.

With the rapid development of generative artificial intelligence(GAI)technologies,their widespread application in academic research and writing is continuously expanding the boundaries of sci-entific inquiry.However,this trend has also raised a series of ethical and regulatory challenges,inclu-ding issues related to authorship,content authenticity,citation accuracy,and accountability.In light of the growing involvement of AI in generating academic content,establishing an open,controllable,and trustworthy ethical governance framework has become a key task for safeguarding research integrity and maintaining trust within the academic community.This expert consensus outlines ethical requirements across key stages of AI-assisted academic writing-including topic selection,data management,citation practices,and authorship attribution.It aims to clarify the boundaries and ethical obligations surrounding AI use in academic writing,ensuring that technological tools enhance efficiency without compromising in-tegrity.The goal is to provide guidance and institutional support for building a responsible and sustainable research ecosystem.

Recent studies have shown that the physiological homeostasis of oral mucosal cells is regulated by the circadian clock.Dis-ruption or dysfunction of the circadian clock is closely associated with the development of oral squamous cell carcinoma(OSCC).Research based on the circadian clock offers a novel perspective on the pathogenesis and therapeutic strategies for OSCC.However,there is current-ly limited research on this topic,and people generally have insufficient understanding and recognition of the circadian clock.Given the complexity and challenges of circadian clock which is the fourth dimension of medical research,we organize relevant experts based on summarizing the current research results of circadian clock in the pathogenesis and precision diagnosis and treatment of OSCC,combining the scientific principles of the circadian clock's role and their long-term research experience,then summarizes and recommends the con-sensus opinions for the research of circadian clock in the pathogenesis mechanism and precision diagnosis and treatment of human OSCC,with the hope of providing guidance for the basic research and clinical application of circadian clock or circadian rhythm in the pathogene-sis mechanism and precision diagnosis and treatment of oral and maxillofacial squamous cell carcinoma.