PURPOSE: Septic shock is associated with high mortality and poor outcomes among sepsis patients with coagulopathy. Although traditional statistical methods or machine learning (ML) algorithms have been proposed to predict septic shock, these potential approaches have never been systematically compared. The present work aimed to develop and compare models to predict septic shock among patients with sepsis. METHODS: It is a retrospective cohort study based on 484 patients with sepsis who were admitted to our intensive care units between May 2018 and November 2022. Patients from the 908th Hospital of Chinese PLA Logistical Support Force and Nanchang Hongdu Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine were respectively allocated to training (n=311) and validation (n=173) sets. All clinical and laboratory data of sepsis patients characterized by comprehensive coagulation indexes were collected. We developed 5 models based on ML algorithms and 1 model based on a traditional statistical method to predict septic shock in the training cohort. The performance of all models was assessed using the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve and calibration plots. Decision curve analysis was used to evaluate the net benefit of the models. The validation set was applied to verify the predictive accuracy of the models. This study also used Shapley additive explanations method to assess variable importance and explain the prediction made by a ML algorithm. RESULTS: Among all patients, 37.2% experienced septic shock. The characteristic curves of the 6 models ranged from 0.833 to 0.962 and 0.630 to 0.744 in the training and validation sets, respectively. The model with the best prediction performance was based on the support vector machine (SVM) algorithm, which was constructed by age, tissue plasminogen activator-inhibitor complex, prothrombin time, international normalized ratio, white blood cells, and platelet counts. The SVM model showed good calibration and discrimination and a greater net benefit in decision curve analysis. CONCLUSION The SVM algorithm may be superior to other ML and traditional statistical algorithms for predicting septic shock. Physicians can better understand the reliability of the predictive model by Shapley additive explanations value analysis.
Humans ; Shock, Septic/blood* ; Machine Learning ; Male ; Female ; Retrospective Studies ; Middle Aged ; Aged ; Sepsis/complications* ; ROC Curve ; Cohort Studies ; Adult ; Intensive Care Units ; Algorithms ; Blood Coagulation ; Critical Illness

OBJECTIVES: To explore the mediating role of sleep duration in the relationship between depression symptoms and myopia among middle school students. METHODS: This study was a cross-sectional research conducted using a stratified cluster random sampling method. A total of 1 728 middle school students were selected from two junior high schools and two senior high schools in certain urban areas and farms of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps. Questionnaire surveys and vision tests were conducted among the students. Spearman analysis was used to analyze the correlation between depression symptoms, sleep duration, and myopia. The Bootstrap method was employed to investigate the mediating effect of sleep duration between depression symptoms and myopia. RESULTS: The prevalence of myopia in the overall population was 74.02% (1 279/1 728), with an average sleep duration of (7.6±1.0) hours. The rate of insufficient sleep was 83.62% (1 445/1 728), and the proportion of students exhibiting depression symptoms was 25.29% (437/1 728). Correlation analysis showed significant negative correlations between visual acuity in both eyes and sleep duration with depressive emotions as measured by the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (with correlation coefficients of -0.064, -0.084, and -0.199 respectively; P<0.01), as well as with somatic symptoms and activities (with correlation coefficients of -0.104, -0.124, and -0.233 respectively; P<0.01) and interpersonal relationships (with correlation coefficients of -0.052, -0.059, and -0.071 respectively; P<0.05). The correlation coefficients for left and right eye visual acuity and sleep duration were 0.206 and 0.211 respectively (P<0.001). Sleep duration exhibited a mediating effect between depression symptoms and myopia (indirect effect=0.056, 95%CI: 0.029-0.088), with the mediating effect value for females (indirect effect=0.066, 95%CI: 0.024-0.119) being higher than that for males (indirect effect=0.042, 95%CI: 0.011-0.081). CONCLUSIONS Sleep duration serves as a partial mediator between depression symptoms and myopia in middle school students.
Humans ; Myopia/etiology* ; Male ; Female ; Depression/physiopathology* ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Sleep ; Adolescent ; Students ; Child ; Time Factors ; Sleep Duration

Early correction of childhood malocclusion is timely managing morphological, structural, and functional abnormalities at different dentomaxillofacial developmental stages. The selection of appropriate imaging examination and comprehensive radiological diagnosis and analysis play an important role in early correction of childhood malocclusion. This expert consensus is a collaborative effort by multidisciplinary experts in dentistry across the nation based on the current clinical evidence, aiming to provide general guidance on appropriate imaging examination selection, comprehensive and accurate imaging assessment for early orthodontic treatment patients.
Humans ; Malocclusion/diagnostic imaging* ; Child ; Consensus

Porcine parvovirus(PPV)is a causative agent of porcine parvovirus infection(PPI),which significantly impacts the pig industry due to its association with reproductive dysfunction.The condition is characterized by stillbirth,mummified fetuses,fetal weakness,and abortion in pregnant sows.The pathogenic mechanism remains incompletely understood,with no effective therapeutic drugs available currently.Despite extensive research on the host's response to PPV in-fection and identification of various signaling pathway transduction mechanisms,a comprehensive understanding is still lacking.This review aims to summarize the current knowledge regarding al-terations in related signaling pathways following PPV infection,provide novel insights into the pathogenesis of PPV and facilitate the drug development.

This study aims to investigate the effects of Japanese encephalitis virus(JEV)on TLRs signaling pathway and its regulation of the secretion of inflammatory factors during the infection of testicular interstitial cells,In this study,the mRNA levels of TLR3,TLR7,TLR8,TRIF and MyD88 genes were detected by qPCR after 1 MOI dose of JEV was inoculated into testicular stro-mal cells at different time periods.Western blot assay was used to detect the expression levels of TLR3,TLR7,TRIF and MyD88 protein at 6 h after JEV infection,and ELISA was used to detect the expression levels of IL-1β,IL-6 and TNF-α at different time periods(6,12 and 24 h).The re-sults showed as follows:After 6 h of JEV infection,the mRNA levels of TLR3,TLR7,TRIF and MyD88 genes were significantly up-regulated(P＜0.05),and the mRNA levels of TLR8 genes were down-regulated(P＜0.05).Western blot results showed that the protein expressions of TLR3,TLR7,TRIF and MyD88 were significantly up-regulated when JEV infected testicular stromal cells for 6 h(P＜0.05),which was consistent with the corresponding mRNA transcription levels.There was no significant change in TLR8 protein expression.ELISA results showed that 6 h after JEV infection of testicular stromal cells,IL-6 was significantly increased(P＜0.01),and the expressions of IL-1β and TNF-α were not changed.TLR3,TLR7,TLR8,TRIF and MyD88 were si-lenced by siRNA,and the silenced cells were inoculated with JEV for 6 h,and IL-6 expression lev-els were detected by ELISA.The results showed that silenced TLR3,TLR7,TLR8,TRIF and MyD88 could significantly reduce the increase of IL-6 secretion induced by JEV infection(P＜0.05).These results indicated that JEV could induce the expression of inflammatory factor IL-6 by activating TLR3,TLR7 and TLR8 signaling pathway after infection of testicular stromal cells.This study provides a reference for further elucidating the mechanism of reproductive disorders caused by JEV infection.

Porcine circovirus type 2(PCV2)is the main pathogen causing porcine circovirus related diseases.PCV2 infection in pigs may lead to porcine dermatitis and nephrotic syndrome(PDNS)and weaned piglets multiple system failure syndrome(PMWS),etc.At present,the pathogenic mechanism is not fully understood.PCV2 is a single strand of negative link DNA,which can cause immune suppression in the body and lead to increased secondary susceptibility,which has a syner-gistic effect with various pig diseases and brings major economic losses to the pig industry.Al-though there are commercial vaccines,the prevention of vaccines has certain limitations and there is no effective drug treatment so far,an outbreak will threaten people's life and health and public safety,resulting in significant economic losses.In order to understand the latest progress of PCV2 escape mechanism and prevention and control,this paper summarizes the inhibition of interferon production,regulation of apoptosis,regulation of autophagy,regulation of pyroptosis and inflam-matory response,evasion of adaptive immune response,and prevention and control of PCV2,in or-der to provide new theoretical ideas for the research and prevention and control of PCV2.

Recent innovations in nanomaterials inspire abundant novel tumor-targeting CRISPR-based gene therapies. However, the therapeutic efficiency of traditional targeted nanotherapeutic strategies is limited by that the biomarkers vary in a spatiotemporal-dependent manner with tumor progression. Here, we propose a self-amplifying logic-gated gene editing strategy for gene/H₂O₂-mediated/starvation multimodal cancer therapy. In this approach, a hypoxia-degradable covalent-organic framework (COF) is synthesized to coat a-ZIF-8 in which glucose oxidase (GOx) and CRISPR system are packaged. To intensify intracellular redox dyshomeostasis, DNAzymes which can cleave catalase mRNA are loaded as well. When the nanosystem gets into the tumor, the weakly acidic and hypoxic microenvironment degrades the ZIF-8@COF to activate GOx, which amplifies intracellular H⁺ and hypoxia, accelerating the nanocarrier degradation to guarantee available CRISPR plasmid and GOx release in target cells. These tandem reactions deplete glucose and oxygen, leading to logic-gated-triggered gene editing as well as synergistic gene/H₂O₂-mediated/starvation therapy. Overall, this approach highlights the biocomputing-based CRISPR delivery and underscores the great potential of precise cancer therapy.

Objective To investigate the prognostic value of plasma thrombomodulin(TM)in patients with septic shock.Methods A retrospective analysis was conducted on the clinical data of 180 patients with septic shock admitted to the intensive care unit of the 908th Hospital from May 2018 to November 2022.The patients were divided into survival group(106 cases)and death group(74 ca-ses)based on the 30-day follow-up outcomes.Propensity score matching(PSM)was used to match 57 surviving patients with 57 de-ceased patients in a 1∶1 ratio,based on confounding factors such as age,gender,underlying diseases,primary infection site,laborato-ry results and disease severity scores.TM and other coagulation molecular markers were compared between the two groups,and logistic regression,receiver operating characteristic(ROC)curve,survival and correlation analyses were performed.Results After PSM,the TM levels in the death group(18.3[13.2,22.3]TU/mL)were significantly higher than those in the survival group(13.7[9.0,18.3]TU/mL)(P＜0.05).Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that TM was an independent risk factor for 30-day mortality in the patients with septic shock(OR=1.137,95％CI:1.023-1.262,P＜0.005).ROC curve analysis revealed that the areas under the curve(AUCs)for predicting 30-day mortality were 0.665,0.627 and 0.600 for TM,Acute Physiology and Chronic Health EvaluationⅡ(APACHE Ⅱ)and Sequential Organ Failure Assessment(SOFA)scores,respectively.Kaplan-Meier survival analysis stratified by the optimal TM cut-off value(17.9 TU/mL)showed that the 30-day survival rate of the TM＜17.9 TU/mL group was 1.56 times that of the TM≥17.9 TU/mL group(Log-Rank test,P＜0.000 1).Spearman correlation analysis demonstrated that TM levels were positively correlated with APACHE Ⅱ(r=0.10,P＜0.005)and SOFA scores(r=0.35,P＜0.005).Conclusion Plasma TM has showed a good predictive value for assessing the prognosis of patients with septic shock and may serve as a potential biomarker for determining the prognosis of septic shock.

Purpose::In patients with heatstroke, disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC) is associated with greater risk of in-hospital mortality. However, time-consuming assays or a complex diagnostic system may delay immediate treatment. Therefore, the present study proposes a new heatstroke-induced coagulopathy (HIC) score in patients with heat illness as an early warning indicator for DIC.Methods::This retrospective study enrolled patients with heat illness in 24 Chinese hospitals from March 2021 to May 2022. Patients under 18 years old, with a congenital clotting disorder or liver disease, or using anticoagulants were excluded. Data were collected on demographic characteristics, routine blood tests, conventional coagulation assays and biochemical indexes. The risk factors related to coagulation function in heatstroke were identified by regression analysis, and used to construct a scoring system for HIC. The data of patients who met the diagnostic criteria for HIC and International Society on Thrombosis and Haemostasis defined-DIC were analyzed. All statistical analyses were performed using SPSS 26.0.Results::The final analysis included 302 patients with heat illness, of whom 131 (43.4%) suffered from heatstroke, including 7 death (5.3%). Core temperature ( OR = 1.681, 95% CI 1.291 - 2.189, p < 0.001), prothrombin time ( OR = 1.427, 95% CI 1.175 - 1.733, p < 0.001) and D-dimer ( OR = 1.242, 95% CI 1.049 - 1.471, p = 0.012) were independent risk factors for heatstroke, and therefore used to construct an HIC scoring system because of their close relation with abnormal coagulation. A total score ≥ 3 indicated HIC, and HIC scores correlated with the score for International Society of Thrombosis and Hemostasis-DIC ( r = 0.8848, p < 0.001). The incidence of HIC (27.5%) was higher than that of DIC (11.2%) in all of 131 heatstroke patients. Meanwhile, the mortality rate of HIC (19.4%) was lower than that of DIC (46.7%). When HIC developed into DIC, parameters of coagulation dysfunction changed significantly: platelet count decreased, D-dimer level rose, and prothrombin time and activated partial thromboplastin time prolonged ( p < 0.05). Conclusions::The newly proposed HIC score may provide a valuable tool for early detection of HIC and prompt initiation of treatment.

Objective To explore the impact of prolonged sitting on lumbar disc degeneration using MRI T1ρ and T2 mapping.Methods A total of 25 taxi drivers(prolonged sitting group)and 24 age-matched non-prolonged sitting volunteers(control group)underwent routine lumbar MRI,T1ρ,and T2 mapping.The differences of T1ρ and T2 values for different Pfirrmann grades of anterior annulus fibrosus(AAF),nucleus pulposus(NP),and posterior annulus fibrosus(PAF)were analyzed using Variance analysis,Spearman correlation test,and receiver operating characteristic(ROC)curve was drawn,with independent t-tests was used for between-group com-parisons.Results Statistically significant differences were observed in T1ρ and T2 values for all Pfirrmann Ⅰ-Ⅱ grades NP and Pfirrmann Ⅱ-Ⅳgrades AAF,NP,and PAF in both groups(P＜0.05).Both T1ρ and T2 values were negatively correlated with Pfirrmann grades.The area under the curve(AUC)of T1ρ values for NP at each Pfirrmann grade were 0.928,0.987,and 0.968,respectively,while the AUC of T2 values for NP were 0.777,0.966,and 0.975,respectively.The T1ρ and T2 values of L4/L5 NP and L5/S1 AAF,NP,and PAF were lower in the prolonged sitting group compared to the control group(P＜0.05).Conclusion T1ρ is superior to T2 mapping in detecting lumbar disc degeneration.Prolonged sitting is more likely to cause degeneration of L4/L5 and L5/S1 inter-vertebral discs.