Objective:X-linked non-syndromic hearing loss is an extremely rare type of hearing impairment. This study conducted a phenotypic and genetic analysis of a family with X-linked dominant inheritance to explore the causes of hearing loss. Methods:Clinical data were collected from a patient with non-syndromic hearing loss who visited the Otorhinolaryngology Department of the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University in June 2023. Phenotypic and genetic analyses were performed on family members, including audiometric tests, whole-exome sequencing, and PCR-Sanger sequencing verification. Audiological assessments comprised pure-tone audiometry, impedance audiometry, auditory brainstem response, and otoacoustic emission tests. Results:The affected individuals in this pedigree have X-linked dominant non-syndromic deafness caused by mutations in the SMPX gene. The proband, along with their mother and maternal grandmother, exhibit varying degrees of sensorineural hearing loss. Whole-exome sequencing revealed a novel pathogenic variant, NM_014332.3: c. 133-2A>C, in the SMPX gene in the proband. Sanger sequencing confirmed that the proband, proband's mother, and grandmother all carried this pathogenic variant. Conclusion:This study reports a novel pathogenic variant in the SMPX gene, providing additional medical evidence for the diagnosis and treatment of X-linked dominant inherited non-syndromic hearing loss. It enriches the mutation spectrum of the SMPX gene.
Humans ; Pedigree ; Mutation ; Phenotype ; Male ; Hearing Loss, Sensorineural/genetics* ; Exome Sequencing ; Female ; Adult ; Hearing Loss/genetics* ; Evoked Potentials, Auditory, Brain Stem ; Muscle Proteins

Background::Growth retardation is a common complication of chronic kidney disease in children, which can be partially relieved after renal transplantation. This study aimed to develop and validate a predictive model for growth patterns of children with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) after kidney transplantation using machine learning algorithms based on genomic and clinical variables.Methods::A retrospective cohort of 110 children who received kidney transplants between May 2013 and September 2021 at the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University were recruited for whole-exome sequencing (WES), and another 39 children who underwent transplant from October 2021 to March 2022 were enrolled for external validation. Based on previous studies, we comprehensively collected 729 height-related single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in exon regions. Seven machine learning algorithms and 10-fold cross-validation analysis were employed for model construction.Results::The 110 children were divided into two groups according to change in height-for-age Z-score. After univariate analysis, age and 19 SNPs were incorporated into the model and validated. The random forest model showed the best prediction efficacy with an accuracy of 0.8125 and an area under curve (AUC) of 0.924, and also performed well in the external validation cohort (accuracy, 0.7949; AUC, 0.796). Conclusions::A model with good performance for predicting post-transplant growth patterns in children based on SNPs and clinical variables was constructed and validated using machine learning algorithms. The model is expected to guide clinicians in the management of children after renal transplantation, including the use of growth hormone, glucocorticoid withdrawal, and nutritional supplementation, to alleviate growth retardation in children with ESRD.

Objective:To investigate the clinical features, molecular etiology, and treatment of a family with Treacher Collins Syndrome 2 (TCS2).Methods:Information of the proband (female, 8 years old) including medical history and family history was collected. Physical examination and examinations concerning laboratory, audiology, and radiology were performed on the proband. Physical examination was also performed on the family members. Genomic DNA of proband was extracted for whole exome sequencing, and then the genomic DNA of family members was extracted for Sanger sequencing. POLR1D and TCS2 related literatures published before August 31,2023 were searched and sifted in PubMed and CKNI databases. The clinical characteristics of TCS2 were summarized. Results:The proband had poor hearing since childhood, with pure tone audiometry indicating conductive hearing loss. She had a smaller jaw, bilateral preauricular fistulas and cup-shaped ear deformities. Temporal bone CT scan revealed deformities in the left external ear canal, bilateral middle ear and inner ear. A bone-conduction hearing aid device was surgically implanted, resulting in restoration of almost normal hearing levels. The proband′s mother also had a slightly smaller jaw. Genetic analysis revealed a novel heterozygous variant NM_015972.4:c.38_47del in the POLR1D gene in the proband, which was inherited from her mother. A review of the literature revealed no clear evidence of genotype-phenotype correlation in TCS2. Conclusions:Molecular diagnosis plays a vital role in the diagnosis of TCS2. Patients with normal facial phenotype may be carriers of pathogenic variants in the POLR1D gene and have the risk of passing it to the offsprings with complete penetrance. Proper bone conductive hearing devices can improve the quality of life of TCS2 patients.

Objective:To investigate the computed tomography (CT)-based integrated deep learning model for qualitative and quantitative classification of hepatic portal vein.Methods:The retrospective study was conducted. The CT imaging data of 291 patients undergoing upper-abdomen enhanced CT examination in the Beijing Tsinghua Changgung Hospital of Tsinghua University from October 2017 to January 2019 were collected. There were 195 males and 96 females, aged (51±12)years. The hepatic portal vein was reconstructed using the three-dimensional reconstruction system. Three-dimensional point cloud was input to the encoder model to obtain the three-dimen-sional reconstructed vectorized representation, which was used for qualitative classification and quantitative representation classification. Measurement data with normal distribution were repre-sented as Mean± SD, and comparison between groups was conducted using the paired t test. Count data were repre-sented as percentages or absolute numbers, and comparison between groups was analyzed using the paired chi-square test. Results:(1) Three-dimensional reconstruction of portal vein and anatomical classification. Three-dimensional structure was reconstructed in the 291 patients. Classification of main hepatic portal vein showed 211 cases of Akgul type A, 29 cases of Akgul type B, 16 cases of Akgul type C, 10 cases of Akgul type D, and 25 cases of unclassifiable. (2) Prediction of qualitative classification of main hepatic portal vein. Of the 291 patient samples, 25 unclassifiable or poor quality samples were excluded, 266 samples were used for automated qualitative classification of the main portal vein by machine model. There were 211 cases of Akgul type A, 29 cases of Akgul type B, 26 cases of Akgul type C&D. The Macro-F1 of 266 patients was 61.93%±40.50% and the accuracy was 84.99%, versus 32.38%±19.81% and 61.65% of Random classifier, showing significant differ-ences between them ( t=7.85, χ2=62.89, P<0.05). (3) Quantitative representation of portal vein classification. The probabilities of quantitative classification for Akgul qualitative classification of similar samples included P@1 as 73%±45%, P@3 as 70%±37%, P@5 as 69%±35%, P@10 as 67%± 32%, mean reciprocal rank(MRR) as 80%±34%, versus 57%±50%, 58%±35%, 58%±32%, 58%± 30%, 70%±37% of the baseline model, showing significant differences between the two analytical methods ( t=5.22, 5.11, 5.00, 4.99, 3.47, P<0.05). Conclusion:The automated classification model for the hepatic portal vein structure was constructed using CT-based three-dimensional reconstruc-tion and deep learning technology, which can achieve automatic qualitative classification and quanti-tatively describe the hepatic portal vein structure.

To accurately capture and effectively integrate the spatiotemporal features of electroencephalogram (EEG) signals for the purpose of improving the accuracy of EEG-based emotion recognition, this paper proposes a new method combining independent component analysis-recurrence plot with an improved EfficientNet version 2 (EfficientNetV2). First, independent component analysis is used to extract independent components containing spatial information from key channels of the EEG signals. These components are then converted into two-dimensional images using recurrence plot to better extract emotional features from the temporal information. Finally, the two-dimensional images are input into an improved EfficientNetV2, which incorporates a global attention mechanism and a triplet attention mechanism, and the emotion classification is output by the fully connected layer. To validate the effectiveness of the proposed method, this study conducts comparative experiments, channel selection experiments and ablation experiments based on the Shanghai Jiao Tong University Emotion Electroencephalogram Dataset (SEED). The results demonstrate that the average recognition accuracy of our method is 96.77%, which is significantly superior to existing methods, offering a novel perspective for research on EEG-based emotion recognition.
Electroencephalography/methods* ; Emotions ; Humans ; Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted ; Principal Component Analysis ; Algorithms ; Convolutional Neural Networks

Restricted and repetitive behaviors is the characteristic clinical manifestation of many neuropsychiatric diseases, which seriously affects the work, study and daily communication of patients, and brings huge mental and economic burden to the family and society.Its causes are complex and its manifestations are diverse.Current studies have shown that microglia is closely related to the occurrence of restricted and repetitive behaviors, and the in-depth study of microglia has become a research hotspot to explore the mechanism of restricted and repetitive behaviors.In recent years, studies have found that restricted and repetitive behaviors of various neuropsychiatric diseases (such as frontotemporal dementia, obsessive-compulsive disorder, autism spectrum disorder) are related to microglia.However, reliable evidence for the exact mechanism of microglia involved in restricted and repetitive behaviors remains lacking.This article reviews the recent research progress of microglia involved in restricted and repetitive behaviors.It is expected to provide a new theoretical basis and therapeutic targeting cell for the development and treatment of neuropsychiatric diseases related to restricted and repetitive behaviors in the future.

OBJECTIVE: To explore the genetic basis for four Chinese pedigrees affected with Waardenburg syndrome (WS). METHODS: Four WS probands and their pedigree members who had presented at the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University between July 2021 and March 2022 were selected as the study subjects. Proband 1, a 2-year-and-11-month female, had blurred speech for over 2 years. Proband 2, a 10-year-old female, had bilateral hearing loss for 8 years. Proband 3, a 28-year-old male, had right side hearing loss for over 10 years. Proband 4, a 2-year-old male, had left side hearing loss for one year. Clinical data of the four probands and their pedigree members were collected, and auxiliary examinations were carried out. Genomic DNA was extracted from peripheral blood samples and subjected to whole exome sequencing. Candidate variants were verified by Sanger sequencing. RESULTS: Proband 1, with profound bilateral sensorineural hearing loss, blue iris and dystopia canthorum, was found to have harbored a heterozygous c.667C>T (p.Arg223Ter) nonsense variant of the PAX3 gene, which was inherited from her father. Based on the guidelines from the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics (ACMG), the variant was classified as pathogenic (PVS1+PM2_Supporting+PP4), and the proband was diagnosed with WS type I. Proband 2, with moderate sensorineural hearing loss on the right side and severe sensorineural hearing loss on the left side, has harbored a heterozygous frameshifting c.1018_1022del (p.Val340SerfsTer60) variant of the SOX10 gene. Neither of her parents has harbored the same variant. Based on the ACMG guidelines, it was classified as pathogenic (PVS1+PM2_Supporting+PP4+PM6), and the proband was diagnosed with WS type II. Proband 3, with profound sensorineural hearing loss on the right side, has harbored a heterozygous c.23delC (p.Ser8TrpfsTer5) frameshifting variant of the SOX10 gene. Based on the ACMG guidelines, it was classified as pathogenic (PVS1+PM2_Supporting+PP4), and the proband was diagnosed with WS type II. Proband 4, with profound sensorineural hearing loss on the left side, has harbored a heterozygous c.7G>T (p.Glu3Ter) nonsense variant of the MITF gene which was inherited from his mother. Based on the ACMG guidelines, the variant was classified as pathogenic (PVS1+PM2_Supporting+PP4), and the proband was diagnosed with WS type II. CONCLUSION By genetic testing, the four probands were all diagnosed with WS. Above finding has facilitated molecular diagnosis and genetic counseling for their pedigrees.
Female ; Humans ; Male ; Deafness ; East Asian People ; Hearing Loss, Sensorineural/genetics* ; Mutation ; Pedigree ; Phenotype ; Waardenburg Syndrome/diagnosis*

Objective:To observe the clinical and imaging characteristics of radiation optic neuropathy (RION).Methods:A retrospective clinical study. A total of 43 patients (69 eyes) who were diagnosed with RION at the Chinese PLA General Hospital from 2010 to 2021 were included in this study. There were 23 males (36 eyes) and 20 females (33 eyes). The age of patients at the time of radiation therapy was 49.54±13.14 years. The main dose of radiotherapy for lesions was 59.83±14.12 Gy. Sixteen patients were treated with combined chemotherapeutic agents. The clinical details of best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) and color photography of the fundus were collected. Forty-six eyes underwent optical coherence tomography (OCT), visual field were examined in 30 eyes, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) were performed in 40 eyes. The BCVA examination was performed using Snellen visual acuity chart, which was converted to minimum resolution angle logarithm (logMAR) visual acuity during recording. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) was performed in 10 patients (13 eyes), 9 patients (12 eyes) were treated with intravenous methylprednisolone (IVMP), 12 patients (23 eyes) were treated with HBOT combined with IVMP and control group of 12 patients (21 eyes) were only treated with basal treatment. And grouped accordingly. To observe the changes in onset, recovery, and final BCVA of the affected eye as well as thickness changes of the retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) of the optic disc and inner limiting membrane-retinal pigment epithelium (ILM-RPE) layer of the macular area, and final outcome of BCVA with different treatment modalities in affected eyes. The RNFL and ILM-RPE layer thicknesses were compared between patients with different disease duration as well as between treatment regimens using independent samples t-test. Results:Of the 43 cases, vision loss was monocular in 17 patients (39.53%, 17/43) and binocular in 26 patients (60.47%, 26/43). The latency from radiotherapy to onset of visual loss was 36.33±30.48 months. The duration of RION ranged from 1 week to 10 years, in which the disease duration of 37 eyes ≤2 months. Subacute visual acuity loss was present in 41 eyes. logMAR BCVA<1.0, 1.0-0.3, >0.3 were 45, 15, and 9 eyes, respectively. Optic disc pallor and optic disc edema were found in 10 (27.03%, 10/37), 3 (8.11%, 3/37) eyes, respectively, within 2 months. The superior RNFL [95% confidence interval ( CI) 2.08-66.56, P=0.038] and the outer circle of the inner limiting membrane to retinal pigment epithelium (ILM-RPE) (95% CI 4.37-45.39, P=0.021) layer thinned significantly during the first month. The center of the ILM-RPE layer thickened (95% CI-32.95--4.20, P=0.015) significantly during the first two months. The inner circle temporal quadrant of the ILM-RPE layer thickened (95% CI -42.22--3.83, P=0.022) significantly from the third to sixth month, and the RNFL except for the temporal quadrants and the average RNFL, inner circle superior quadrant and outer circle of the ILM-RPE layer thinned significantly after 6 months ( P<0.05). Among the 40 eyes that underwent MRI examination, 33 eyes (82.50%, 33/40) were affected by T1 enhancement of optic nerve, including 23 eyes (69.70%, 23/33) in intracranial segment; 12 eyes with thickening and long T2 signal (36.36%, 12/33). After treatment, BCVA was restored in 17 eyes (24.6%, 17/69) and final BCVA improved in 9 eyes (13.0%, 9/69). There was no significant difference between HBOT, IVMP and HBOT combined with IVMP therapy in improving BCVA recovery or final BCVA compared with the control group, respectively ( t=-1.04, 0.61, 1.31,-1.47, -0.42, 0.46; P>0.05). Conclusions:The structural damage of the RNFL and ILM-RPE layer occurred during the first month, the RNFL showed progressive thinning during the follow-up period, while the ILM-RPE layer showed thinning-thickening-thinning. MRI shows T1 enhancement of the optic chiasma and segments of the optic nerve, and the enhanced segments are usually accompanied by thickening and long T2. HBOT and IVMP have no obvious effect on RION.

Objective:To explore the association between blood pressure control and risk of ischemic stroke (IS) in patients with hypertension.Methods:A total of 5 488 patients with hypertension from 60 communities were randomly selected from 101 communities in 8 streets of Nanshan District in Shenzhen City by using two-stage sampling method. The social demographic characteristics, behavior and life style, coronary heart disease and diabetes were collected and the physical condition, blood pressure and blood biochemical indexes were measured. From April 1, 2010 to August 31, 2017 as the follow-up period, the incidence of IS was annually collected by using telephone survey. Cox proportional hazard regression model was used to analyze the relationship between blood pressure control, systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP) and the risk of IS.Results:The age of all patients was (58.50±12.14) years old, including 2 712 males (49.42%) and 3 112 patients with well-controlled blood pressure (56.71%). During the follow-up period, 358 new cases of IS were confirmed, and the incidence density was 1 346.27/100 000 person-years. Cox proportional hazard regression model analysis showed after adjusting for confounding factors, unstable blood pressure control, SBP≥150 mmHg (1 mmHg=0.133 kPa; compared with SBP<120 mmHg), and DBP≥95 mmHg (compared with DBP<80 mmHg) were associated with risk of IS. The HR (95% CI) was 1.29 (1.04, 1.59), 2.00 (1.26, 3.17) and 1.52 (1.01, 2.64), respectively. Subgroup analyses showed these associations only existed in female patients with hypertension. The HR (95% CI) was 1.39 (1.05, 1.85), 2.53 (1.41, 4.56) and 1.73 (1.00, 3.36), respectively. Conclusion:Unstable blood pressure control increases the risk of IS in female patients with hypertension.