Objective: To evaluate the clinical efficacy and safety of micro-percutaneous nephrolithotomy (microPCNL) using Needle-perc in the oblique supine-lithotomy position for treating 1—2 cm lower-pole stones (LPSs)，by comparing it with flexible ureteroscopic lithotripsy (FURL)，so as to identify an effective surgical method for LPSs. Methods: We retrospectively analyzed the clinical data of 56 patients with isolated LPSs of 1—2 cm treated in our hospital during Jan.and Dec.2023.Patients were divided into two groups based on the treatment method：FURL (n=31) and microPCNL (n=25).General information and perioperative data were compared between the two groups. Results: All operations were successfully completed.The operation time was shorter in the microPCNL group than in the FURL group \[(46.5±10.1) min vs.(73.5±18.9) min，P<0.001\].Stone-free rate (SFR) was 92.0% in the microPCNL group and 71.0% in the FURL group (P=0.026).There were no significant differences in the average fall of hemoglobin level，serumc creatinine change level，hospitalization time and postoperative fever between the two groups. Conclusion: MicroPCNL in oblique supine-lithotomy position is a safe and effective treatment for 1-2 cm LPSs，with a higher SFR compared to FURL.

This study explores the diagnosis and treatment of needle knife therapy for ankylosing spondylitis (AS) at middle and advanced stage based on the theory of meridian tendons, from a holistic perspective and syndrome differentiation. The treatment strategy includes "harmonizing yin and yang" to address root causes and "tendons-based release" to harmonize qi and blood, with the "tendons nodule points" as the core acupoint selection criterion. Based on this approach, the study systematically elaborates on two needle knife methods for AS: "governor vessel bone-piercing technique" and "below-the-umbilicus release technique", covering indications, acupoint location, and procedures. Clinical case examples are provided to enrich needle knife therapy guided by the theory of meridian tendons, offering insights for clinical and research work on AS.
Humans ; Acupuncture Points ; Acupuncture Therapy/methods* ; Meridians ; Spondylitis, Ankylosing/physiopathology* ; Tendons/physiopathology*

Objective:To evaluate the efficacy of almonertinib,a third-generation epidermal growth factor receptor-tyrosine kinase inhibitor(EGFR-TKI),as a first-line treatment for patients with EGFR-mutated advanced non-small cell lung cancer(NSCLC)in the real-world clinical practise,and to systematically analyze the independent risk factors influencing their prognosis.Methods:This retrospective cohort study enrolled 73 patients with EGFR-mutated advanced NSCLC who received first-line treatment with aumolertinib from April 1,2020 to December 31,2021.Survival curves were generated by using the Kaplan-Meier method,and intergroup comparisons were performed via log-rank test.Univariate and multivariate analyses of prognostic factors were conducted by using the COX proportional hazards regression model,with a focus on identifying prognostic factors in the subgroup of baseline brain metastases.Results:Among 73 patients,the median progression-free survival(mPFS)was 19.4 months,and the disease control rate(DCR)was 93.2%.Multivariate COX regression analysis revealed that central nervous system(CNS)metastasis status,EGFR mutation subtype,ECOG performance status(PS)score,and gender might be independent risk factors for PFS.Among 33 patients with baseline brain metastases,combined almonertinib with radiotherapy or bevacizumab,maximum diameter of brain metastases(≥3 cm),and ECOG PS score might be independent risk factors of PFS.Conclusion:This first real-world study confirms that aumolertinib demonstrates favorable efficacy as first-line treatment for EGFR-mutated locally advanced or metastatic NSCLC patients,aligning with findings from phase Ⅲ clinical trials.For patients in subgroup of baseline brain metastases,combining almonertinib with radiotherapy or bevacizumab is recommended to optimize outcomes.

Objective:To identify the relevant factors for the first-course remission of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and to develop a predictive model as well as assess its predictive capability.Methods:Clinical data of 749 patients newly diagnosed with AML admitted to the Department of Hematology, the First Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University, School of Medicine from January 1, 2019, to April 30, 2023, were collected and randomly divided into training and validation sets. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was conducted to determine variables associated with complete remission in the first course of induction therapy, and a predictive model was established based on these variables. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve of the predictive model was plotted, and the area under the curve (AUC) was calculated.Results:The indicators predicting the first remission course included peripheral blood white blood cell count during onset, CBF::MYH11 fusion gene, CEBPA bZIP region mutation, myelodysplastic syndrome-related gene mutation, and induction chemotherapy regimen selection as independent factors for the first remission course. The model’s area under the training and validation curves was 0.738 (95% CI: 0.696-0.780) and 0.726 (95% CI: 0.650-0.801), respectively. The Hosmer-Lemeshow test results yielded P-values of 0.993 and 0.335, respectively. Conclusion:In this study, the developed model demonstrates a strong predictive capability for the efficacy of the first course of patients with AML, providing valuable guidance to clinicians in assessing patient prognosis and selecting appropriate treatment strategies.

Objective:To investigate investigate repairing effect of adipose tissue-derived mesenchymal stem cell(ADSC)on fistula wounds in a rat model of fistula Crohn's disease(CD)and its regulation mechanism on miR-146a/interleukin-1 receptor-associ-ated kinase(IRAK)signaling axis.Methods:RT-PCR was used to detect the expression of miR-146a and mRNA expression of IRAK in the serum of 80 fistula-type CD patients treated with fistula after operation.Dual-luciferase gene reporter was used to analysis the re-lationship between miR-146a and IRAK.The rat CD successfully prepared fistula lesions and divided into control group(Con),ADSC intervention group(ADSC),ADSC+miR-146a-antagomir intervention group(ADSC+antagomir),ADSC+miR-146a-antagomir+siR-NA-IRAK intervention group(ADSC+antagomir+si),with 10 rats in each group.One hour after successful modeling,rats in ADSC group were injected with 2×106 cells/ml ADSC suspension into the area around the fistula,and subcutaneously injected 2 μg/kg of miR-146a-antagomir-NC.Rats in the ADSC+antagomir group were injected with 2×106 cells/ml ADSC suspension into the area around the fistula,and subcutaneously injected with 2 μg/kg of miR-146a-antagomir.Rats in the ADSC+antagomir+si group were injected with 2×106 cells/ml ADSC suspension into the area around the fistula,and subcutaneously injected with 2 μg/kg of miR-146a-an-tagomir+siRNA-IRAK.Rats in the Con group,were injected a dose of normal saline into the area around the fistula,and subcutaneous-ly injected 2 μg/kg of miR-146a-antagomir-NC.Each group was treated twice a day for 14 consecutive days.Flow cytometry was used to detect the apoptosis of fistula wound tissue in rats;kits were used to detect the contents of TNF-α and IL-6 in rats serum.Immuno-histochemistry was used to detect angiogenesis in the fistula wound tissue of the rats in each group.Western blot was used to detect the expressions of IRAK,apoptosis protein B-lymphoma-2(Bcl-2),Bcl-2-related x protein(Bax),vascular endothelial growth factor(VEGF)in fistula wound tissue.Results:The expression of miR-146a in the postoperative serum of patients with CD fistulae was sig-nificantly decreased,the mRNA expression of IRAK was significantly increased,and the differences were statistically significant(both P<0.05).miR-146a regulated the expression of IRAK.Compared with the Con group,the apoptosis rate,the contents of TNF-α and IL-6,the expressions of IRAK and Bax in the rat fistula wound of ADSC group,ADSC+antagomir group,ADSC+antagomir+si group were significantly decreased,the number of new blood vessels and the expression of Bcl-2 and VEGF in the fistula tissue were significantly increased.Compared with ADSC group,the apoptosis rate,the contents of TNF-α and IL-6,the expressions of IRAK and Bax in the rat fistula wound of ADSC+antagomir group,ADSC+antagomir+si group were significantly increased,the number of new blood vessels and the expressions of Bcl-2 and VEGF in the fistula tissue were significantly decreased.Compared with ADSC+an-tagomir group,the contents of TNF-α and IL-6,the expressions of IRAK and Bax in the rat fistula wound of ADSC+antagomir+si group were significantly decreased,the number of new blood vessels and the expressions of Bcl-2 and VEGF in the fistula tissue were significantly increased,and the differences were statistically significant(all P<0.05).Conclusion:ADSCs can significantly heal fistu-las after fistula lesions in CD model rats,which may be related to regulating the expression of miR-146a/IRAK,inhibiting cell apopto-sis,and promoting wound angiogenesis.

Objective:To develop an artificial intelligence (AI)-based automatic scoring model for magnetic resonance imaging-detected extramural vascular invasion (AI-mrEMVI) and evaluate its performance and prognostic value in patients with rectal cancer.Methods:In this multicenter retrospective cohort study, a total of 2 501 rectal cancer patients from seven centers between November 2012 and December 2020 were included and divided into completely independent training ( n=1 830) and validation ( n=671) cohorts. A nnUNet-based AI-mrEMVI scoring model was constructed. Manual mrEMVI scores assigned by two radiologists served as the reference standard for accessing the accuracy of the AI-mrEMVI scoring. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis and Cox regression were used to evaluate the prognostic stratification ability of the AI-mrEMVI scores. The concordance index (C-index) was calculated to evaluate prognostic performance. Results:In the validation cohort, the manual mrEMVI scores were 0-2 in 425 patients (63.3%), 3 in 89 (13.4%), and 4 in 157 (23.4%). The AI-mrEMVI model identified 0-2 in 375 patients (55.9%), 3 in 95 (14.2%), and 4 in 201 (30.0%), with an overall accuracy of 81.1% (544/671, 95% CI 77.9%-84.0%). The 3-year disease-free survival (DFS) rates for patients with AI-mrEMVI scores of 0-2, 3, and 4 were 85.2%, 70.0%, and 58.2%, respectively, and the 5-year overall survival (OS) rates were 87.2%, 81.6%, and 62.6%, respectively (DFS: χ2=48.74, P<0.001; OS: χ2=30.04, P<0.001). Multivariable Cox regression showed that for DFS, AI-mrEMVI scores of 3 and 4 were associated with hazard ratios ( HR) of 1.75 (95% CI 1.11-2.77, P=0.016) and 2.65 (95% CI 1.86-3.78, P<0.001), respectively. For OS, an AI-mrEMVI score of 4 was associated with an HR of 2.56 (95% CI 1.62-4.03, P<0.001). The C-index values of the AI-mrEMVI scoring model for predicting DFS and OS were 0.647 (95% CI 0.608-0.686) and 0.650 (95% CI 0.598-0.702), respectively. Conclusion:The proposed AI-mrEMVI automatic scoring model demonstrated high diagnostic accuracy and performed favorably in predicting DFS and OS prognostic risk in patients with rectal cancer.

Disruption of the intestinal mucosal barrier caused by gut dysbiosis and metabolic imbalance is the underlying pathology of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Traditional Chinese medicine Wuji Wan (WJW) is commonly used to treat digestive system disorders and showed therapeutic potential for IBD. In this interdisciplinary study, we aim to investigate the pharmacological effects of WJW against experimental colitis by combining functional metabolomics and gut-microbiota sequencing techniques. Treatment with WJW altered the profile of the intestinal microbiota and notably increased the abundance of Lactobacillus, thereby facilitating the conversion of tryptophan into indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) and indoleacrylic acid (IA). These indole derivatives activated the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) pathway, which reduced colonic inflammation and restored the expression of intestinal barrier proteins. Interestingly, the beneficial effects of WJW on gut barrier function improvement and tryptophan metabolism were disappeared in the absence of gut microbiota. Finally, pre-treatment with the AhR antagonist CH-223191 confirmed the essential role of IAA-mediated AhR activation in the therapeutic effects of WJW. Overall, WJW enhanced intestinal barrier function and reduced colonic inflammation in a murine colitis model by modulating Lactobacillus-IAA-AhR signaling pathway. This study provides novel insights into colitis pathogenesis and presents an effective therapeutic and preventive approach against IBD.

Objective To investigate the effect of β-arrestin1(ARRB1)on cell proliferation,migration and invasion in oral squamous cell carcinoma(OSCC).Methods Based on The Cancer Genome Atlas(TCGA)database,the expression profiles of ARRB1 in OSCC were analyzed,and then Gene Set Enrichment Analysis(GSEA)was used to suggest the possible signaling pathways involved,and to explore its potential impact on the prognosis of OSCC patients.Immuinohistochemistry(IHC)was performed to detect the expression of ARRB1 in OSCC tumor tissues and adjacent tissues,and the correlation between ARRB1 expression and clinicopathological features was statistically analyzed.The expression profiles of ARRB1 in SCC-15,CAL-27 and HOK cell lines were verified by qPCR and Western blotting.The ARRB1 overexpression plasmid model was constructed,and its effects on the proliferation,migration and invasion of OSCC cells were analyzed by clone formation,EdU,scratch and Transwell assays.Results TCGA showed that the expression level of ARRB1 was significantly lower in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma(HNSC)and OSCC tissues than the corresponding normal tissues(P<0.01).The expression of ARRB1 in OSCC tissues was correlated with tumor differentiation,lymph node metastasis and TNM stage(P<0.05).The OSCC patients with high expression of ARRB1 had a lower survival rate than those with low expression(P<0.01),which was consistent with the results of bioinformatics analysis.The expression level of ARRB1 in SCC-15 and CAL-27 cells was lower than that of HOK cells(P<0.01),and its overexpression significantly inhibited cell proliferation(P<0.05),migration(P<0.01)and invasion(P<0.01).Conclusion ARRB1 is lowly expressed in OSCC,its overexpression inhibits the proliferation,migration and invasion of OSCC cells,and it is related to prognosis improvement.

Objective:To investigate the correlation between peri-coronary fat attenuation index (FAI) and plaque formation in patients with myocardial bridge (MB) of the left anterior descending artery (LAD) using coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA) and to develop an optimal predictive model to explore the potential application of FAI in the primary prevention of MB related atherosclerosis.Methods:In this retrospective study, prediction models associated with perivascular fat inflammation were developed and validated using both logistic regression and machine learning (ML) algorithm. A training dataset was collected from 253 patients who underwent ≥2 coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA) with ≥3 months intervals from one tertiary hospital from January 2007 to April 2021 and had baseline CCTA showing no plaques in LAD MB. The median follow-up time was 3.2 years. According to the same criteria, a total of 75 LAD MB patients from four other hospitals were included to form an independent external validation dataset, with a median follow-up time of 1.8 years. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis with integrated discrimination improvement (IDI) and category net reclassification index (NRI) were used to compare the performance of the predictive models.Results:62 patients (24.5%) in the training dataset had proximal plaque formation in LAD MB, while 22 patients (29.3%) in the external validation dataset had plaque formation during the follow-up period. Baseline FAI within the longitudinal distance equal to 30 mm proximal to the MB entrance was an independent predictor ( OR=1.068, P=0.046). According to the model results, ROC curves were plotted. The AUC of Model 1 was 0.822, and the AUCs of Model 2 and 1 were 0.821 and 0.591 in the training dataset. After the DeLong test, the AUC of Model 1 was superior to that of Model 2 ( Z=2.839, P=0.005) and Model 1 ( Z=6.124, P<0.001). These findings were further validated in the external validation dataset, where ML-model 3 yielded the best predictive performance, outperforming the logistic regression-based Model 2 (categorical NRI=0.359, P=0.048; IDI=0.108, P=0.046). Conclusion:FAI measured within the 30 mm proximal to the entrance of MBs due to its prone to plaque development is an independent predictor for atherosclerotic plaque formation. The ML-prediction model based on a decision tree algorithm combines FAI, MB anatomical features, and patient risk factors, which is beneficial for patients undergoing routine CCTA examination to identify inflamed coronary arteries in advance and guide the clinical adoption of more targeted preventive treatment, including anti-inflammatory treatment.

Turning to critical illness is a common stage of various diseases and injuries before death. Patients usually have complex health conditions, while the treatment process involves a wide range of content, along with high requirements for doctor′s professionalism and multi-specialty teamwork, as well as a great demand for time-sensitive treatments. However, this is not matched with critical care professionals and the current state of medical care in China. Telemedicine, which shortens the distance of medical professionals and the gap of disease diagnosis and treatments in various regions through electronic information, can effectively solve the current problem. Therefore, there is an urgent need to develop a standardized, high-quality visualization telemedicine round system .Therefore, experts have been organized to search domestic and foreign literature on telemedicine round for critically ill patients and to form this consensus based on clinical experiences so as to further improve the level of critical care treatments in regions.