ObjectiveAge-related macular degeneration （AMD） is one of the leading causes of low vision and blindness in people over 50 years old， and dry AMD （dAMD） is one type for which there is currently no clear treatment. On the basis of the diagnosis and clinical characteristics of dAMD in traditional Chinese and Western medicine， this paper evaluated the fitting degrees of existing animal models of dAMD with clinical characteristics according to the evaluation methods of animal models， and put forward suggestions and prospects. MethodsLiterature on animal models of dAMD was searched against database， and the characteristics of the models were assigned according to the diagnosis criteria of diseases and syndromes of traditional Chinese and Western medicine， and the fitting degrees of the models with clinical characteristics were analyzed and evaluated. ResultsAt present， the animal models of dAMD are mainly established targeting complement factors， chemokines， oxidative damage， lipid/glucose metabolism， and natural strains. Most of the models can simulate the major pathological changes of dAMD， showing the fitting degree of 25%-50% with clinical characteristics in Western medicine. However， the evaluation of traditional Chinese medicine （TCM） syndromes， especially the evaluation of secondary syndromes， is missing， and the models present low fitting degrees with the clinical characteristics in TCM. ConclusionExisting animal models of dAMD are mostly established under the guidance of Western diagnostic standards， which reproduce the main disease characteristics of Western medicine and lack observation of TCM syndromes. Future studies can pay attention to the intervention factors and evaluation systems of spleen deficiency Qi deficiency and liver-kidney Yin deficiency syndrome and build the animal model of dAMD with integration of disease and syndrome based on clinical characteristics of traditional Chinese and Western medicine.

ObjectiveAge-related macular degeneration （AMD） is one of the leading causes of low vision and blindness in people over 50 years old， and dry AMD （dAMD） is one type for which there is currently no clear treatment. On the basis of the diagnosis and clinical characteristics of dAMD in traditional Chinese and Western medicine， this paper evaluated the fitting degrees of existing animal models of dAMD with clinical characteristics according to the evaluation methods of animal models， and put forward suggestions and prospects. MethodsLiterature on animal models of dAMD was searched against database， and the characteristics of the models were assigned according to the diagnosis criteria of diseases and syndromes of traditional Chinese and Western medicine， and the fitting degrees of the models with clinical characteristics were analyzed and evaluated. ResultsAt present， the animal models of dAMD are mainly established targeting complement factors， chemokines， oxidative damage， lipid/glucose metabolism， and natural strains. Most of the models can simulate the major pathological changes of dAMD， showing the fitting degree of 25%-50% with clinical characteristics in Western medicine. However， the evaluation of traditional Chinese medicine （TCM） syndromes， especially the evaluation of secondary syndromes， is missing， and the models present low fitting degrees with the clinical characteristics in TCM. ConclusionExisting animal models of dAMD are mostly established under the guidance of Western diagnostic standards， which reproduce the main disease characteristics of Western medicine and lack observation of TCM syndromes. Future studies can pay attention to the intervention factors and evaluation systems of spleen deficiency Qi deficiency and liver-kidney Yin deficiency syndrome and build the animal model of dAMD with integration of disease and syndrome based on clinical characteristics of traditional Chinese and Western medicine.

Da Qinjiaotang is the 54^th formula of the 100 formulas in the Catalogue of Ancient Classical Formulas （the first batch） ，and it originated from the Collection of Writings on the Mechanism of Disease， Suitability of Qi， and Safeguarding of Life Discussed in Plain Questions. Da Qinjiaotang is composed of Gentiana macrophylla， Glycyrrhizae Radix et Rhizoma， Ligusticum chuanxiong， Angelica sinensis， Paeonia lactiflora， Asari Radix et Rhizoma， Notopterygium incisum， Saposhnikoviae Radix， Scutellariae Radix， Gypsum， Angelica dahurica， Atractylodis Macrocephalae Rhizoma， Rehmanniae Radix， Rehmanniae Radix Praeparata， Poria， and Angelicae Pubescentis Radix. It is a classical formula for treating strokes. Da Qinjiaotang is widely used in modern clinical practices for treating ischemic stroke， peripheral facial paralysis， cervical spondylosis， rheumatic arthritis， neurodermatitis， and other multisystem diseases. Therefore， following the Principles of Textual Research on the Key Information of Ancient Classical Famous Formulas， the authors collected the ancient Chinese medical literature of Da Qinjiaotang by the method of bibliometrics and screened out 177 valid data， involving 100 ancient books of traditional Chinese medicine. Based on the historical evolution， composition， dosage， method of preparation， and preparation of the original medicinal materials of Da Qinjiaotang， a systematic study was carried out. It was found that among the 175 records of the main diseases and syndromes， stroke （144） was the most， accounting for 82.29% of the total diseases and syndromes. Later generations mostly followed the practice of LIU Wansu in using Da Qinjiaotang to treat stroke caused by "weak blood and inability to nourish tendon"， featuring "hands and feet cannot move， stiff tongue hinders speaking"， as well as other symptoms， such as slant of the mouth， hemiplegia， numbness of the limbs， paroxysmal pain， and acerbic syncope. The treatment scope was expanded， covering tendon dryness， clonic convulsion， spasm syndrome， and arthralgia syndrome. At the same time， it was found that there was a controversy between "internal wind" and "external wind" in the treatment of stroke by Da Qinjiaotang. LIU Wansu thought that stroke was caused by internal factors， created the theory of "hot stroke"， and used Da Qinjiaotang to treat "internal wind". Many doctors in later generations focused on treating the "external wind" of "internal deficiency and evil". There were 76 valid data on the composition of drugs， 59 of which had doses for each drug. It was suggested to use the modern conversion dosage of the original formula， with 41.30 g per dose. The drug should be boiled in 600 mL water until 300 mL， decocted once， and taken in a warm state after removing the dregs anytime. Through the analysis and study of the ancient books about Da Qinjiaotang， the paper clarified its historical evolution and confirmed its key information， so as to provide the ancient literature evidence for the research and development of the classical famous formula Daqinjiaotan and its better clinical application.

Da Qinjiaotang is the 54^th formula of the 100 formulas in the Catalogue of Ancient Classical Formulas （the first batch） ，and it originated from the Collection of Writings on the Mechanism of Disease， Suitability of Qi， and Safeguarding of Life Discussed in Plain Questions. Da Qinjiaotang is composed of Gentiana macrophylla， Glycyrrhizae Radix et Rhizoma， Ligusticum chuanxiong， Angelica sinensis， Paeonia lactiflora， Asari Radix et Rhizoma， Notopterygium incisum， Saposhnikoviae Radix， Scutellariae Radix， Gypsum， Angelica dahurica， Atractylodis Macrocephalae Rhizoma， Rehmanniae Radix， Rehmanniae Radix Praeparata， Poria， and Angelicae Pubescentis Radix. It is a classical formula for treating strokes. Da Qinjiaotang is widely used in modern clinical practices for treating ischemic stroke， peripheral facial paralysis， cervical spondylosis， rheumatic arthritis， neurodermatitis， and other multisystem diseases. Therefore， following the Principles of Textual Research on the Key Information of Ancient Classical Famous Formulas， the authors collected the ancient Chinese medical literature of Da Qinjiaotang by the method of bibliometrics and screened out 177 valid data， involving 100 ancient books of traditional Chinese medicine. Based on the historical evolution， composition， dosage， method of preparation， and preparation of the original medicinal materials of Da Qinjiaotang， a systematic study was carried out. It was found that among the 175 records of the main diseases and syndromes， stroke （144） was the most， accounting for 82.29% of the total diseases and syndromes. Later generations mostly followed the practice of LIU Wansu in using Da Qinjiaotang to treat stroke caused by "weak blood and inability to nourish tendon"， featuring "hands and feet cannot move， stiff tongue hinders speaking"， as well as other symptoms， such as slant of the mouth， hemiplegia， numbness of the limbs， paroxysmal pain， and acerbic syncope. The treatment scope was expanded， covering tendon dryness， clonic convulsion， spasm syndrome， and arthralgia syndrome. At the same time， it was found that there was a controversy between "internal wind" and "external wind" in the treatment of stroke by Da Qinjiaotang. LIU Wansu thought that stroke was caused by internal factors， created the theory of "hot stroke"， and used Da Qinjiaotang to treat "internal wind". Many doctors in later generations focused on treating the "external wind" of "internal deficiency and evil". There were 76 valid data on the composition of drugs， 59 of which had doses for each drug. It was suggested to use the modern conversion dosage of the original formula， with 41.30 g per dose. The drug should be boiled in 600 mL water until 300 mL， decocted once， and taken in a warm state after removing the dregs anytime. Through the analysis and study of the ancient books about Da Qinjiaotang， the paper clarified its historical evolution and confirmed its key information， so as to provide the ancient literature evidence for the research and development of the classical famous formula Daqinjiaotan and its better clinical application.

BACKGROUND:Extracellular vesicles are secreted into the extracellular milieu by a wide range of cell types,including tumor cells,under different physiological and pathophysiological conditions,where a wide range of biological signals and cell-to-cell signaling exists.Tumor-derived extracellular vesicles may exacerbate cancer progression,survival,invasion,and promote angiogenesis. OBJECTIVE:To review the research progress of extracellular vesicles in the diagnosis and treatment of oral squamous cell carcinoma. METHODS:Literature search was performed by the first author in PubMed,WanFang,CNKI and other databases with the keywords"EVs,oral squamous cell carcinoma,diagnosis and treatment,biopsy,tissue engineering"in Chinese and English.Finally,63 articles were included for analysis. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:(1)In oral squamous carcinoma saliva biopsies,extracellular vesicles play a crucial role in the progression of oral squamous cell carcinoma by acting as an information transfer tool between tumor cells and the surrounding microenvironment,carrying a wide range of biomolecules including soluble proteins,lipids,DNA,and RNA.These tiny vesicles not only play a key role in tumor growth and spread,but also provide important information about the biological properties of the tumor.(2)Saliva biopsy,as a non-invasive diagnostic method,can open up new possibilities for early diagnosis and targeted treatment of oral squamous cell carcinoma by analyzing the extracellular vesicles therein.(3)It has been found that bioactive molecules,such as microRNAs(miRNAs)and specific proteins,contained within extracellular vesicles can serve as biomarkers for oral squamous carcinoma and improve the accuracy of early diagnosis.Specific proteins in extracellular vesicles such as EHD2,CAVIN1,PF4V1,and CXCL7 show potential as novel predictive biomarkers.(4)In addition,this paper highlights the potential application of extracellular vesicles in the treatment of oral squamous carcinoma.Through engineering modifications,extracellular vesicles can serve as a new generation of nanoscale drug delivery systems to enhance the efficiency and specificity of targeted tumor therapy.(5)Future studies will further explore the effect and mechanism of extracellular vesicles in oral squamous cell carcinoma,which is expected to improve patients'survival and quality of life.

Objective: To investigate the factors affecting carotid plaques among perimenopausal women, so as to provide the basis for the prevention and early intervention of cardiovascular diseases in perimenopausal women. Methods: Perimenopausal women aged 40-60 who underwent health check-ups at Xingtai People's Hospital from January 2022 to January 2023 were selected as subjects by convenient sampling method. Demographic information, lifestyle, waist-to-hip ratio, and blood biochemical indicators were collected through questionnaire surveys, physical examinations, and laboratory tests. Carotid plaques were detected using a Doppler ultrasound diagnostic instrument. Factors affecting carotid plaques among perimenopausal women were identified using a multivariable logistic regression model. Results: Totally 2 146 perimenopausal women were surveyed, with an age of (50.04±5.82) years. Carotid plaques were detected in 525 cases, with a detection rate of 24.46%. Multivariable logistic regression analysis showed that older age (45-<50 years old, OR=1.474, 95%CI: 1.062-2.047; 55-60 years old, OR=1.779, 95%CI: 1.276-2.481), residing in urban areas (OR=1.601, 95%CI: 1.079-2.376), drinking (OR=1.805, 95%CI: 1.108-2.941), hypertension (OR=1.815, 95%CI: 1.290-2.553), abnormal waist-to-hip ratio (OR=2.479, 95%CI: 1.982-3.101), and abnormal atherogenic index of plasma (OR=1.325, 95%CI: 1.064-1.650) were associated with a higher risk of carotid plaques. College degree or above (college, OR=0.659, 95%CI: 0.502-0.865; bachelor's degree or above, OR=0.517, 95%CI: 0.397-0.673), physical exercise (OR=0.621, 95%CI: 0.494-0.781) were associated with a lower risk of carotid plaques. Conclusion The carotid plaques among perimenopausal women mainly affected by age, place of residence, educational level, alcohol consumption, physical exercise, hypertension, waist-to-hip ratio and atherogenic index of plasma.

BACKGROUND: While emotional distress, encompassing anxiety and depression, has been associated with negative clinical outcomes, its impact across various clinical departments and general hospitals has been less explored. Previous studies with limited sample sizes have examined the effectiveness of specific treatments (e.g., antidepressants) rather than a systemic management strategy for outcome improvement in non-psychiatric inpatients. To enhance the understanding of the importance of addressing mental health care needs among non-psychiatric patients in general hospitals, this study retrospectively investigated the impacts of emotional distress and the effects of early detection and management of depression and anxiety on hospital length of stay (LOS) and rate of long LOS (LLOS, i.e., LOS >30 days) in a large sample of non-psychiatric inpatients. METHODS: This retrospective cohort study included 487,871 inpatients from 20 non-psychiatric departments of a general hospital. They were divided, according to whether they underwent a novel strategy to manage emotional distress which deployed the Huaxi Emotional Distress Index (HEI) for brief screening with grading psychological services (BS-GPS), into BS-GPS ( n = 178,883) and non-BS-GPS ( n = 308,988) cohorts. The LOS and rate of LLOS between the BS-GPS and non-BS-GPS cohorts and between subcohorts with and without clinically significant anxiety and/or depression (CSAD, i.e., HEI score ≥11 on admission to the hospital) in the BS-GPS cohort were compared using univariable analyses, multilevel analyses, and/or propensity score-matched analyses, respectively. RESULTS: The detection rate of CSAD in the BS-GPS cohort varied from 2.64% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 2.49%-2.81%) to 20.50% (95% CI: 19.43%-21.62%) across the 20 departments, with a average rate of 5.36%. Significant differences were observed in both the LOS and LLOS rates between the subcohorts with CSAD (12.7 days, 535/9590) and without CSAD (9.5 days, 3800/169,293) and between the BS-GPS (9.6 days, 4335/178,883) and non-BS-GPS (10.8 days, 11,483/308,988) cohorts. These differences remained significant after controlling for confounders using propensity score-matched comparisons. A multilevel analysis indicated that BS-GPS was negatively associated with both LOS and LLOS after controlling for sociodemographics and the departments of patient discharge and remained negatively associated with LLOS after controlling additionally for the year of patient discharge. CONCLUSION Emotional distress significantly prolonged the LOS and increased the LLOS of non-psychiatric inpatients across most departments and general hospitals. These impacts were moderated by the implementation of BS-GPS. Thus, BS-GPS has the potential as an effective, resource-saving strategy for enhancing mental health care and optimizing medical resources in general hospitals.
Humans ; Retrospective Studies ; Male ; Length of Stay/statistics & numerical data* ; Female ; Middle Aged ; Adult ; Psychological Distress ; Inpatients/psychology* ; Aged ; Anxiety/diagnosis* ; Depression/diagnosis*

Fused teeth are usually formed by the partial or complete fusion of two normal tooth germs during the development process and belong to dental developmental abnormalities. Fused teeth are relatively rare clinically, and those occurring in the posterior tooth area are even rarer. This article reports a case of fused teeth between the first permanent molar and the second permanent molar in the right mandible. This fused tooth had a complex root canal anatomical structure (seven root canals). The number and location of the root canals were analyzed by cone beam computed tomography, and root canal treatment was successfully completed with the assistance of microscope.
Humans ; Molar/diagnostic imaging* ; Mandible ; Dental Pulp Cavity/abnormalities* ; Cone-Beam Computed Tomography ; Root Canal Therapy/methods* ; Fused Teeth/surgery*

Objective:To investigate genetic variation profiles of δ-globin (HBD gene) and hematological phenotypes in Guangdong population.Methods:Retrospective case analysis was performed in this study. Blood samples of 11 616 couples who participated in free thalassemia screening in Guangzhou from July 2020 to December 2022 were collected which underwent blood routine tests and hemoglobin (Hb) capillary electrophoresis. According to the results, 154 samples were enrolled in this study: (1)group of 35 cases with HbA 2 <2.0% but no HbF band; (2)group of 64 cases with HbA 2 < 2.0% and HbF band; (3)group of 25 cases with HbA 2 <2.0% and suspected HbA 2 variants; (4) group of 25 cases with HbA 2 ≥2.0% and <3.5% and HbF band, as well as abnormal blood routine report [mean corpuscular volume (MCV) <82 fl and/or mean corpuscular hemoglobin (MCH) <27 pg]; (5)group of 5 cases with HbA 2 ≥2.0% and <3.0% accompanied with β thalassemia gene carriers Sanger sequencing was used to detect single nucleotide variants of δ-globin. Results:(1) A total of 22 genetic variations were detected, including 6 de novo variations, and the top 3 genetic variations were respectively c.-127T>C (57.02%, 65/114), c.-80T>C (9.65%, 11/114), c.349C>T (7.89%, 9/114). (2) In group of patients with HbA 2 <2.0% but no HbF band, 22 cases (62.85%, 22/35) had HBD gene variation, including 7 cases with MCV and MCH lower than reference values, 4 cases with α thalassemia; 13 cases had no HBD gene variation, including 12 cases with lower MCV and MCH. Among 19 cases with abnormal blood routine test results, levels of HbA 2 in patients (7 cases) with HBD gene variation were lower compared with those without HBD gene variation (12 cases) ( P<0.01%). (3)In group of patients with HbA 2<2.0% with HbF band, 59 cases (92.18%, 59/64) had HBD gene variations whose mutations all occurred in promoter region, and the HbF were all lower than 5.0%; 5 cases with HbF >5.0% had no HBD gene variation. (4) In group of patients with HbA 2 <2.0% and suspected HbA 2 variants, the detection rate was 100% (25/25) and δ-globin variants <1.0%. (5) In group of patients with HbA 2 ≥2.0% and <3.5% and HbF band accompanied with abnormal blood routine results, no HBD gene variation was found. (6) In group of 5 patients with HbA 2 ≥2.0% and <3.0% with β thalassemia gene carriers, HBD gene variation were found in all cases, and the level of HbA 2 was (2.62±0.17)% and HbF was (3.62±2.22)%. Conclusions:There are various genotypes of HBD gene variation, among which HBD: c.-127T>C is the most common in Guangdong population in China. Mutations in the promoter region may cause decrease in HbA 2 and increase in HbF which is mostly less than 5% but exceeds 5.0% when combined with β thalassemia. Our study enriched the gene mutation profiles of HBD gene in Guangdong population.