The liver regenerative capacity is crucial for patients with end-stage liver disease following partial hepatectomy (PHx). The specific bacteria and mechanisms regulating liver regeneration post-PHx remain unclear. This study demonstrated dynamic changes in the abundance of Parabacteroides distasonis (P. distasonis) post-PHx, correlating with hepatocyte proliferation. Treatment with live P. distasonis significantly promoted hepatocyte proliferation and liver regeneration after PHx. Targeted metabolomics revealed a significant positive correlation between P. distasonis and β-hydroxybutyric acid (BHB), as well as hyodeoxycholic acid and 3-hydroxyphenylacetic acid in the gut after PHx. Notably, treatment with BHB, but not hyodeoxycholic acid or 3-hydroxyphenylacetic acid, significantly promoted hepatocyte proliferation and liver regeneration in mice after PHx. Moreover, STAT3 inhibitor Stattic attenuated the promotive effects of BHB on cell proliferation and liver regeneration both in vitro and in vivo. Mechanistically, P. distasonis upregulated the expression of fatty acid oxidation-related proteins, and increased BHB levels in the liver, and then BHB activated the STAT3 signaling pathway to promote liver regeneration. This study, for the first time, identifies the involvement of P. distasonis and its associated metabolite BHB in promoting liver regeneration after PHx, providing new insights for considering P. distasonis and BHB as potential strategies for promoting hepatic regeneration.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1016/j.apsb.2024.03.030.].

Objective:To explore the status of psychological resilience in female infertility patients and analyze its influencing factors, providing a basis for developing effective intervention measures in clinical practice.Methods:A convenient sampling method was used to select female infertility patients who visited the Reproductive Medicine Center of the First Affiliated Hospital of the University of South China from March to October 2024 as the research objects. A cross-sectional survey was conducted using the General Data Questionnaire, Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale, Herth Hope Index, the Infertility Stigma Scale, Family Resilience Scale and Perceived Social Support Scale. The random forest algorithm was used to rank the importance of variables, Lasso regression was used to further screen variables, and the selected variables were included in multiple stepwise regression analysis to analyze the influencing factors.Results:Ultimately, 322 female infertility patients aged (30.40 ± 4.50) were included. The psychological resilience score was (64.29 ± 10.05) points, which was above the medium level. The top 6 influential factors in the importance of variables were stigma, family resilience, age, social support, infertility cause and hope level. Multiple stepwise regression analysis showed that age, infertility cause, hope level, stigma, family resilience and social support were the main influencing factors of mental resilience of female infertility patients ( t values were -8.32 to 6.85, all P<0.05). Conclusions:The psychological resilience of female infertility patients is above the medium level, and the psychological resilience of infertile women is affected by many factors such as individual characteristics, family environment and social support. Medical staff should take targeted intervention measures to improve the psychological resilience of female infertility patients.

Objective:To explore the status of psychological resilience in female infertility patients and analyze its influencing factors, providing a basis for developing effective intervention measures in clinical practice.Methods:A convenient sampling method was used to select female infertility patients who visited the Reproductive Medicine Center of the First Affiliated Hospital of the University of South China from March to October 2024 as the research objects. A cross-sectional survey was conducted using the General Data Questionnaire, Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale, Herth Hope Index, the Infertility Stigma Scale, Family Resilience Scale and Perceived Social Support Scale. The random forest algorithm was used to rank the importance of variables, Lasso regression was used to further screen variables, and the selected variables were included in multiple stepwise regression analysis to analyze the influencing factors.Results:Ultimately, 322 female infertility patients aged (30.40 ± 4.50) were included. The psychological resilience score was (64.29 ± 10.05) points, which was above the medium level. The top 6 influential factors in the importance of variables were stigma, family resilience, age, social support, infertility cause and hope level. Multiple stepwise regression analysis showed that age, infertility cause, hope level, stigma, family resilience and social support were the main influencing factors of mental resilience of female infertility patients ( t values were -8.32 to 6.85, all P<0.05). Conclusions:The psychological resilience of female infertility patients is above the medium level, and the psychological resilience of infertile women is affected by many factors such as individual characteristics, family environment and social support. Medical staff should take targeted intervention measures to improve the psychological resilience of female infertility patients.

Acetaminophen (APAP) overdose is the leading cause of drug-induced liver injury, and its prognosis depends on the balance between hepatocyte death and regeneration. Sirtuin 6 (SIRT6) has been reported to protect against oxidative stress-associated DNA damage. But whether SIRT6 regulates APAP-induced hepatotoxicity remains unclear. In this study, the protein expression of nuclear and total SIRT6 was up-regulated in mice liver at 6 and 48 h following APAP treatment, respectively.

Objective:To investigate the effectiveness of basic swallowing training for tracheotomy patients using a speech valve after severe cranial injury.Methods:Thirty brain injury patients were randomly divided into a control group and an observation group, each of 15. In addition to conventional drug therapy, those in the control group were given basic swallowing training, while those in the observation group received the same swallowing training wearing a speech valve. The basic swallowing training included ice stimulation, tongue movement training and cough training twice a day, five days a week, for four weeks. The patients in the observation group were also trained to wear a speech valve on the same schedule. The subjects′ swallowing function was evaluated laryngoscopically using Saito′s dysphagia rating scale and the Rosenbek leakage aspiration rating scale before and after the 4 weeks of treatment.Results:Significant improvement was observed in both groups, with significantly greater improvement in the observation group, on average.Conclusions:Basic swallowing training when wearing a speech valve can improve the swallowing function of patients with severe brain injury after a tracheotomy and reduce aspiration during swallowing.

Objective: To evaluate the relationship between bolus volume and hyoid displacement in dysphagia patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma after radiation therapy. Methods: Twenty-three nasopharyngeal carcinoma patients with dysphagia were recruited and their swallowing of 3, 5, 10 and 20ml of liquid food was studied fluoroscopically. The vertical and horizontal displacement of the hyoid as well as its time in motion were measured, and the relationship between the bolus volume, hyoid displacement and time in motion time was evaluated. Results: The largest vertical displacement of the hyoid (1.01±0.65cm) was observed when swallowing a 10ml bolus. The hyoid showed the smallest average horizontal displacement (0.39±0.34cm), when swallowing a 3ml bolus. The average motion time of the hyoid was (2.11±0.65) seconds. It was shorter when swallowing a 10 or 20ml bolus than when dealing with a smaller one. Hyoid motion time was negatively correlated with the horizontal displacement of the hyoid bone, and the volume of a swallow was negatively correlated with the hyoid motion time but positively correlated with the penetration-aspiration scale score. Conclusion Bolus volume affects hyoid displacement and hyoid motion time in nasopharyngeal carcinoma patients with dysphagia after radiation therapy. For patients with a penetration-aspiration scale score of 5 or less, the optimum bolus volume is 5 to 10ml.

Objective To study the effect of low frequency electric stimulation on tongue muscles in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) patients after radiation therapy.Methods Forty-three nasopharyngeal carcinoma patients with dysphagia after radiation therapy were randomly divided into a control group of 21 and a test group of 22.The control group received low frequency electric stimulation on external tongue muscles for 15 minutes a day while the test group received low frequency electric stimulation on external tongue muscles for 20 minutes a day,5 days a week for 4 weeks.Before and after the treatment,the range of motion of tongues was evaluated.Results Before the treatment,there was no significant difference between the two groups in all the measurements (P＞0.05).After the treatment,the protraction of the tongue improved significantly in both groups,with a significantly more improvement in the test group than in the control group.Significant improvement was observed in the side-to-side movement of the tongue in the test group,but not in the control group after the treatment.However,no significant improvement was observed in the up-and-down motion of the tongue in both groups after the treatment (P＞0.05).Conclusion Low frequency electric stimulation on internal and external tongue muscles can improve the protractive and side-to-side motion of the tongue in NPC patients after radiotherapy.

Objective To explore the effect of vaginal pressure feedback combined with pelvic floor muscle resistant training on stress urinary incontinence (SUI). Methods 125 women with SUI in our hospital from February, 2014 to May, 2015 were randomized into control group (n=65) and experimental group (n=60). The control group took Kegel exercise, which asked for patients to contract their pelvic floor muscles, while the experimental group first received biofeedback electrical stimulation for 20 minutes with XFT-2002 pelvic floor stimula-tor, then instructed the patients to contract their pelvic floor muscles and pressed the pneumatic probe which placed in vagina according to the voice navigation of XFT-0010 pelvic floor muscle stimulator after they learnt the contraction skill. Both groups received training with 10 seconds' contraction and 10 seconds' rest 30 minutes per day for 30 days in total. They were assessed by GRRUG and International Consulta-tion Incontinence Questionnaire-UI Short Form (ICIQ-SF). Results After treatment, the muscle strength of the pelvic floor (t=-3.570) and the scores of ICIQ (t=4.198) improved significantly in both groups (P<0.01), and was higher in the experimental group than in the control group (t=6.833, t=-2.445, P<0.01), as well as the therapeutic efficiency (Z=63.954, P<0.001). Conclusion Vaginal pressure feedback com-bined with pelvic floor muscle resistant training can further improve stress urinary incontinence in women.

This study aims to investigate the function of two SNPs (rs8904C > T and rs696G >A) in 3' untranslated region (3'UTR) of NFKBIA gene by constructing luciferase reporter gene. A patient's genomic DNA with rs8904 CC and rs696 GA genotype was used as the PCR template. Full-length 3'UTR of NFKBIA gene was amplified by different primers. After sequencing validation, these fragments were inserted to the luciferase reporter vector, pGL3-promoter to construct recombinant plasmids containing four kinds of haplotypes, pGL3-rs8904C/rs696G, pGL3-rs8904C/rs696A, pGL3-rs8904T/rs696G and pGL3-rs8904T/rs696A. Then these plasmids were transfected into LS174T cells and the luciferase activity was detected. Compared with pGL3-vector transfected cells (negative control), the luciferase activity of the four kinds of recombinant plasmids was significantly decreased (P < 0.001). For rs696G > A, the luciferase activity of the recombinant plasmids containing A allele (pGL3-rs8904C/rs696A and pGL3-rs8904T/rs696A) was about 45.1% (P < 0.05) and 56.1% (P < 0.001) lower than those containing G allele (pGL3-rs8904C/rs696G and pGL3-rs8904T/rs696G), respectively. For rs8904C > T, there were no significant differences in the luciferase activity between the recombinant plasmids containing T allele and those with C allele. Together, the luciferase reporter gene vectors containing SNPs in NFKBIA gene 3'UTR were constructed successfully and rs696G > A could decrease the luciferase activity while rs8904C >T didn't have much effect on the luciferase activity.