Astrocytes are a crucial type of glial cells in the central nervous system, not only maintaining brain homeostasis, but also actively participating in the transmission of information within the brain. Astrocytes have a complex structure that includes the soma, various levels of processes, and end-feet. With the advancement of genetically encoded calcium indicators and imaging technologies, researchers have discovered numerous localized and small calcium activities in the fine processes and end-feet. These calcium activities were termed as microdomain calcium activities, which significantly differ from the calcium activities in the soma and can influence the activity of local neurons, synapses, and blood vessels. This article elaborates the detection and analysis, characteristics, sources, and functions of microdomain calcium activities, and discusses the impact of aging and neurodegenerative diseases on these activities, aiming to enhance the understanding of the role of astrocytes in the brain and to provide new insights for the treatment of brain disorders.
Astrocytes/cytology* ; Humans ; Animals ; Calcium/metabolism* ; Calcium Signaling/physiology* ; Brain/physiology* ; Aging/physiology* ; Membrane Microdomains/physiology* ; Neurodegenerative Diseases/physiopathology*

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of the sequence of intermediate instrumentation and distraction-reduction of the injured vertebra on the surgical efficacy of short-segment percutaneous pedicle screw fixation for thoracolumbar burst fractures with high rate of spinal canal encroachment. METHODS: From January 2016 to January 2022, 38 patients with thoracolumbar burst fractures with high rate of spinal canal encroachment (spinal canal encroachment rate >40%, complete posterior longitudinal ligament, no flipping bone block in the posterior marginal of the vertebra) without spinal cord injury who were were treated with short-segment percutaneous pedicle screw fixation were retrospectively analyzed. During the operation, 18 cases were used distraction-reduction first and then intermediate instrumentation on injured vertebral and sequential distraction-reduction again(the distraction-reduction first group) including 8 females and 10 males with a mean age of 46.5 (38.5, 50.0) years old, and the other 20 cases were used intermediate instrumentation on injured vertebral first and then direct distraction-reduction(the intermediate instrumentation first group) including 10 males and 10 females with a mean age of 46.0 (35.8, 50.8) years. The anterior height ratio of the injured vertebra, local Cobb's angle of the injured vertebrae, the spinal canal encroachment rate, and the improvement rate of spinal canal encroachment were compared and evaluated. RESULTS: All patients were followed up for more than 1 year, and no complications such as spinal cord and root injury, screw loosening and screw rod fracture were found. The anterior height ratio of the injured vertebra, local Cobb' angle of the injured vertebra in the two groups were significantly improved compared with preoperative data(P<0.05), and those at 3 months and 1 year after operation was lost compared with that at the previous time point(P<0.05). Although the spinal canal encroachment rate of the two groups 1 day and 1 year after operation was improved compared with that before operation(P<0.05), the improvement of spinal canal volume in the distraction-reduction first group was significantly better than that in the intermediate instrumentation first group (P<0.01). CONCLUSION In the treatment of patients with thoracolumbar fractures with high rate of spinal canal encroachment, short-segment percutaneous pedicle screw internal fixation with distraction-reduction first and then intermediate instrumentation and sequential distraction-reduction again can more effectively reduce the bony encroachment in the spinal canal and achieve indirect decompression effect better.
Humans ; Female ; Male ; Adult ; Middle Aged ; Spinal Fractures/surgery* ; Thoracic Vertebrae/surgery* ; Lumbar Vertebrae/surgery* ; Fracture Fixation, Internal/instrumentation* ; Pedicle Screws ; Retrospective Studies ; Spinal Canal/surgery*

Sigma-1 receptor (σ ₁R) has become a focus point of drug discovery for central nervous system (CNS) diseases. A series of novel 1-phenylethan-1-one O-(2-aminoethyl) oxime derivatives were synthesized. In vitro biological evaluation led to the identification of 1a, 14a, 15d and 16d as the most high-affinity (K _i < 4 nmol/L) and selective σ ₁R agonists. Among these, 15d, the most metabolically stable derivative exhibited high selectivity for σ ₁R in relation to σ ₂R and 52 other human targets. In addition to low CYP450 inhibition and induction, 15d also exhibited high brain permeability and excellent oral bioavailability. Importantly, 15d demonstrated effective antipsychotic potency, particularly for alleviating negative symptoms and improving cognitive impairment in experimental animal models, both of which are major challenges for schizophrenia treatment. Moreover, 15d produced no significant extrapyramidal symptoms, exhibiting superior pharmacological profiles in relation to current antipsychotic drugs. Mechanistically, 15d inhibited GSK3β and enhanced prefrontal BDNF expression and excitatory synaptic transmission in pyramidal neurons. Collectively, these in vivo proof-of-concept findings provide substantial experimental evidence to demonstrate that modulating σ ₁R represents a potential new therapeutic approach for schizophrenia. The novel chemical entity along with its favorable drug-like and pharmacological profile of 15d renders it a promising candidate for treating schizophrenia.

Functional dyspepsia (FD), characterized by persistent or recurrent dyspeptic symptoms without identifiable organic, systemic or metabolic causes, is an increasingly recognized global health issue. The objective of this guideline is to equip clinicians and nursing professionals with evidence-based strategies for the management and treatment of adult patients with FD using traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). The Guideline Development Group consulted existing TCM consensus documents on FD and convened a panel of 35 clinicians to generate initial clinical queries. To address these queries, a systematic literature search was conducted across PubMed, EMBASE, the Cochrane Library, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), VIP Database, China Biology Medicine (SinoMed) Database, Wanfang Database, Traditional Medicine Research Data Expanded (TMRDE), and the Traditional Chinese Medical Literature Analysis and Retrieval System (TCMLARS). The evidence from the literature was critically appraised using the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE) approach. The strength of the recommendations was ascertained through a consensus-building process involving TCM and allopathic medicine experts, methodologists, pharmacologists, nursing specialists, and health economists, leveraging their collective expertise and empirical knowledge. The guideline comprises a total of 43 evidence-informed recommendations that span a range of clinical aspects, including the pathogenesis according to TCM, diagnostic approaches, therapeutic interventions, efficacy assessments, and prognostic considerations. Please cite this article as: Zhang SS, Zhao LQ, Hou XH, Bian ZX, Zheng JH, Tian HH, Yang GH, Hong WS, He YY, Liu L, Shen H, Li YP, Xie S, Shu J, Zeng BF, Li JX, Liu Z, Xiao ZH, Xiao JD, Zheng PY, Huang SG, Chen SL, Fei GJ. International clinical practice guideline on the use of traditional Chinese medicine for functional dyspepsia (2025). J Integr Med. 2025; 23(5):502-518.
Dyspepsia/drug therapy* ; Humans ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional/methods* ; Practice Guidelines as Topic ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal/therapeutic use*

Objective To investigate an automated pretreatment technology for detecting levels of free silica in workplace dust. Methods An fully automated pretreatment workstation for detecting free silica levels in workplace dust was developed by integrating graphite-controlled digestion temperature, online-controlled dilution of digestion solutions, and filtration endpoint recognition based on monitoring technology, combined with multi-channel synchronous measurements. Results The fully automatic pretreatment workstation was used to digest and filter 14 standard samples of free silica produced by three institutions, and then detected by pyrophosphate method. The result range of high-, medium-, and low-level free silica standard samples detection was 66.5%-84.8%, 40.0%-44.5%, and 2.1%-24.8%, respectively. The mean relative standard deviations were 3.9%, 1.4% and 1.5%. Conclusion The fully automated pretreatment workstation produced results that met relevant requirements. It can effectively replace the manual digestion and filtration steps of the pyrophosphate method to measure free silica levels in workplace dust and enable rapid detection of free silica in dust samples.

Objective To systematically evaluate the efficacy and safety of laparoscopic surgery and interventional embolization for varicocele.Methods A computerized retrieval of academic papers concerning the laparoscopic surgery and interventional embolization for varicocele from the databases of Weipu Science and technology periodical database,CNKI science and technology core periodical database by using"interventional""laparoscopy"and"varicocele"as keywords,as well as from PubMed database by using"interventional embolization""varicocele""laparoscope"as keywords was conducted.The retrieval time period was from the establishment of the database to June 2023.The semen concentration,sperm survival rate,pregnancy rate,complications and length of hospital stay were compared between laparoscopic surgery and interventional embolization.RevMan 5.4 software was used to make meta-analysis of the results.Results A total of 8 articles were included in this analysis.There were statistically significant differences in the length of hospital stay(P＜0.000 1)and medical cost(P=0.005)between interventional embolization group and laparoscopic surgery group,while no statistically significant differences in the semen quality(P=0.85),pregnancy rate(P=0.20),sperm survival rate(P=0.28),complications(P=0.55)existed between the two groups.The difference in surgical effect of different degrees of varicocele between the two groups was not statistically significant(P=0.59).Conclusion For the treatment of varicocele,laparoscopic surgery and interventional embolization have the similar effectiveness and safety,while the length of hospital stay and the medical cost in the interventional embolization group are significantly lower than those in the laparoscopic surgery group.

Purpose::The toughest challenge in pedestrian traffic accident identification lies in ascertaining injury manners. This study aimed to systematically simulate and parameterize 3 types of craniocerebral injury including impact injury, fall injury, and run-over injury, to compare the injury response outcomes of different injury manners.Methods::Based on the total human model for safety (THUMS) and its enhanced human model THUMS-hollow structures, a total of 84 simulations with 3 injury manners, different loading directions, and loading velocities were conducted. Von Mises stress, intracranial pressure, maximum principal strain, cumulative strain damage measure, shear stress, and cranial strain were employed to analyze the injury response of all areas of the brain. To examine the association between injury conditions and injury consequences, correlation analysis, principal component analysis, linear regression, and stepwise linear regression were utilized.Results::There is a significant correlation observed between each criterion of skull and brain injury ( p < 0.01 in all Pearson correlation analysis results). A 2-phase increase of cranio-cerebral stress and strain as impact speed increases. In high-speed impact (> 40 km/h), the Von Mises stress on the skull was with a high possibility exceed the threshold for skull fracture (100 MPa). When falling and making temporal and occipital contact with the ground, the opposite side of the impacted area experiences higher frequency stress concentration than contact at other conditions. Run-over injuries tend to have a more comprehensive craniocerebral injury, with greater overall deformation due to more adequate kinetic energy conduction. The mean value of maximum principal strain of brain and Von Mises stress of cranium at run-over condition are 1.39 and 403.8 MPa, while they were 1.31, 94.11 MPa and 0.64, 120.5 MPa for the impact and fall conditions, respectively. The impact velocity also plays a significant role in craniocerebral injury in impact and fall loading conditions (the p of all F-test < 0.05). A regression equation of the craniocerebral injury manners in pedestrian accidents was established. Conclusion::The study distinguished the craniocerebral injuries caused in different manners, elucidated the biomechanical mechanisms of craniocerebral injury, and provided a biomechanical foundation for the identification of craniocerebral injury in legal contexts.

ObjectiveTo present the exploration and application of a prospective follow-up research method for acute infectious disease surveillance based on natural community populations， using COVID-19 infection as an example， and to provide a reference for improving the infectious disease surveillance and early warning system. MethodsA multi-stage probability proportional sampling method was employed to sample residents from all communities of 16 administrative districts in Shanghai， with households as the units. A cohort for acute infectious diseases based on natural community populations was established. The baseline survey was conducted for all cohort subjects， and COVID-19 antigen test kits were distributed. From December 21， 2022 to September 30， 2023， prospective follow-up monitoring of COVID-19 antigen and nucleic acid was carried out on the study subjects on a weekly basis. The baseline characteristics and follow-up information of the cohort subjects were described. ResultsThe cohort for acute infectious diseases included a total of 12 881 subjects， comprising 6 098 males （47.3%） and 6 783 females （52.7%）. The baseline survey revealed that 35.2% （4 540/12 881） of the subjects had a history of COVID-19 infection. During the follow-up period from December 21， 2022 to September 30， 2023， the average incidence density in the cohort was 0.61/person-year， with a higher incidence density in females （0.63/person-year） compared to males （0.59/person-year）. Individuals aged 60 and above （0.64/person-year） and those with underlying health conditions （0.67/person-year） had a higher incidence density. Healthcare workers showed a notably higher incidence density （0.84/person-year） than that in other occupational groups. As of September 30， 2023， a total of 340 subjects in the cohort experienced secondary infections， with a median interval of 170 days between the first and second infections. ConclusionThis study applies cohort study method to acute infectious disease surveillance， providing crucial data support for estimating infection rates and forecasting alerts for acute infectious diseases in the community. This method can be promoted and applied as a new approach for acute infectious disease surveillance.

To characterize human antibodies against low-calcium response V(LcrV)antigen of Yersinia pestis,the mono-clonal antibodies were screened and assayed.Antibody gene was derived from peripheral blood mononuclear cells of the vaccin-ees immunized by plague subunit vaccine in phase Ⅱb clinical trial.Human ScFv antibody library was constructed by phage dis-play.After panning library by using recombinant LcrV antigen,antibody variable genes were sequenced and converted into IgG1 format to evaluate its binding specificity and relevant parameters.An anti-plague human ScFv antibody library was estab-lished contained 7.54× 108 independent clones.After panning by LcrV antigen,3 human antibodies named as RV-B4,RV-D1 and RV-E8,respectively,were identified.Using indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA)and Western blot(WB),the specific bindings of the mAbs to LcrV antigen were confirmed.The dissociation constant(KD)of them to LcrV is 2.1 nmol/L,1.24 nmol/L and 42 nmol/L,respectively.Minor protective efficacy was found among 3 human antibodies in Y.pestis 141-infected mice.Three anti-LcrV monoclonal antibodies generated from immunized vaccinees were binding specific antibod-ies and could not block plague infection in mice.These antibodies are the potential candidate reagents for basic research of plague immunity and the application of plague diagnosis.

Objective: To retrospectively analyze the epidemic characteristics and spatial distribution of vomiting and diarrhea outbreaks in schools and kindergartens in Shanghai from 2015 to 2019, so as to provide the scientific evidence for optimizing prevention and control of vomiting and diarrhea outbreaks in schools and kindergartens. Methods: Data collection and analysis were carried out on the vomiting and diarrhea outbreaks reported to Shanghai Municipal Center for Disease Control and Prevention from 2015 to 2019. Epidemiological characteristics were analyzed and compared. The proportion and incidence of outbreaks in schools and kindergartens were calculated, and the influencing factors of outbreaks were analyzed by multivariate Logistic regression. The index of Moran s I was used for the global and local spatial auto correlation analysis. Results: Among the 344 vomiting and diarrhea outbreaks, 98.26% occurred in kindergartens, primary schools, middle schools and other educational institutions. The median number of cases per outbreak was 15. The number of suspected outbreaks and the percentage of cases involved peaked in 2015 ( 60.00% , 84.35%) and then decreased year by year to 16.00% and 38.80% in 2019. About 86.98% of the outbreaks were transmitted by human to human contact. Among the 329 outbreaks with samples collected from cases and/or environments, the main pathogen detected was norovirus ( n =280), and sapovirus was detected in outbreak for the first time in 2016. The outbreaks showed obvious seasonality, with two peaks (November, March) and one trough (July), and the majority of outbreaks occurred in primary schools (44.38%) and kindergartens (32.84%). Compared with kindergartens, the probabilities of suspected epidemic outbreaks in primary schools, combined schools, middle schools and other educational institutions were higher (adjusted OR =6.40, 9.16, 12.64 , 5.58, P <0.01). The proportion and incidence of outbreaks in educational institutions in different districts showed no high-high aggregation areas. Conclusions Primary schools and kindergartens are key places for the prevention and control of vomiting and diarrhea outbreaks. Targeted prevention and control measures should be strengthened at the beginning of each semester and before the peak of the epidemic each year. Timely reporting of symptoms, suspension of school admissions after symptoms appear and standardized disposal of vomit are effective measures to reduce interpersonal transmission and control the scale of an outbreak.