ObjectiveTo observe the clinical efficacy and safety of Yanghe Xiaonang Decoction （阳和消囊汤， YXD） in the treatment of polycystic ovarian syndrome （PCOS）-related infertility with healthy qi deficiency and phlegm stasis syndrome. MethodsA total of 120 PCOS-related infertility participants with healthy qi deficiency and phlegm stasis syndrome were randomly divided into a treatment group and a control group in a 1∶1 ratio， with 60 cases in each group. The treatment group started taking YXD on the first day of the menstrual cycle， one dose daily， until the day of sexual intercourse when follicles matured and were released. Those without mature follicles or ovulation could take it until the 14th to 28th day. The control group was given oral letrozole at 2.5 mg daily starting on the 5th day of the menstrual cycle for 5 consecutive days. If the basal body temperature curve remained monophasic on the 28th day of the menstrual cycle， and no dominant follicle was detected by color Doppler ultrasound， estrogen plus progesterone or progesterone alone was administered for withdrawal bleeding， followed by a new treatment cycle. The treatment lasted for three consecutive menstrual cycles. Patients were followed up for 3 months upon confirmed pregnancy or after the completion of the 3rd treatment cycle. The clinical pregnancy rate， total effective rate， pregnancy rate， biochemical pregnancy rate， embryonic arrest rate， and ectopic pregnancy rate between the two groups were compared. Transvaginal color Doppler ultrasound was used for monitoring endometrial thickness， cyclic ovulation status， number of follicles between 2-9 mm， and the difference in transverse and longitudinal diameters of dominant follicles. The levels of endocrine hormone indicators including serum testosterone （T）， prolactin （PRL）， luteinizing hormone （LH）， follicle-stimulating hormone （FSH）， progesterone （P）， estradiol （E₂）， free testosterone （F-T）， androstenedione （ASD）， inhibin B （INH-B）， and anti-Müllerian hormone （AMH）， as well as the total traditional Chinese medicine （TCM） symptom scores before and after treatment were compared between the two groups. ResultsA total of 58 patients in each group were included in the statistical analysis. The clinical pregnancy rate in the treatment group was 39.66% （23/58）， higher than 22.41% （13/58） in the control group （P＜0.05）. The total effective rate in the treatment group was 96.55% （56/58）， higher than 79.31% （46/58） in the control group （P＜0.05）. The biochemical pregnancy rate and embryonic arrest rate in the treatment group were lower than those in the control group （P＜0.05）. The treatment group was superior to the control group in increasing endometrial thickness and reducing the number of 2-9 mm follicles at the 2nd and 3rd cycles， as well as in improving the cyclic ovulation status and the difference in transverse and longitudinal diameters of dominant follicles at the 3rd cycle （P＜0.05）. After treatment， the treatment group exhibited significant reductions in serum T， LH， F-T， ASD， INH-B， and AMH levels （P＜0.05）. The control group also showed significant decreases in LH， F-T， INH-B， and AMH levels （P＜0.05）. The levels of F-T， INH-B， and AMH in the treatment group after treatment were lower than those in the control group （P＜0.05）. The improvement of the total TCM symptom score in the treatment group was superior to that in the control group （P＜0.05）. ConclusionYXD can significantly improve the clinical pregnancy rate， reduce the rates of biochemical pregnancy and embryonic arrest， alleviate clinical symptoms， increase endometrial thickness， enhance dominant follicles， and improve endocrine hormone levels in PCOS-related infertility with healthy qi deficiency and phlegm stasis syndrome， showing good safety.

Objective:To investigate the relationship between the morphology of bone marrow plasma cells, the identification of M protein, and the detection of minimal residual disease(MRD)by flow cytometry in elderly patients with multiple myeloma(MM).Additionally, the impact on progression-free survival(PFS)is analyzed.Methods:A total of 60 elderly MM patients with bone marrow morphology reports and corresponding flow MRD detection, collected from February 1, 2017, to January 31, 2022, at Beijing Chaoyang Hospital Affiliated to Capital Medical University, were included in this study.We collected data on plasma cells from morphological examination and flow cytometry-based MRD detection. By combining these findings with M-protein identification results from 35 cases, we analyzed the correlations among these three parameters. Patients were stratified into two groups based on median values of: flow cytometry MRD(0.246% of nucleated cells), morphological plasma cell percentage(3.5%), and M-protein quantification(2.5 g/dl).This stratification enabled evaluation of their prognostic value for PFS.Results:A total of 60 elderly MM patients were enrolled, including 41 males with age of 65.0(63.0, 68.5)years and 19 females with age of 67.0(64.0, 72.0)years The morphology of bone marrow in 60 elderly patients with MM revealed 10 cases of primitive plasma cells(16.67%), 48 cases of immature plasma cells(80.00%), and 2 cases with no plasma cells(3.33%).A positive correlation was observed between the proportion of bone marrow plasma cells and the corresponding flow MRD in terms of both the proportion of nuclear cells and the proportion of plasma cells.Specifically, the proportion of the morphological protoplasma group showed a strong correlation with flow MRD(proportion of plasma cells)( r=0.82, P<0.01), while the proportion of the morphological immature plasma group exhibited moderate correlations with flow MRD(proportion of nuclear cells)( r=0.74, P<0.05)and flow MRD(proportion of plasma cells)( r=0.70, P<0.01).No significant correlation was found between the type and quantity of M protein and flow MRD( P>0.05).The PFS time for the flow MRD ≥0.246%(nucleated cells)group was shorter than that of the<0.246% group( P<0.05).There was no significant difference in PFS between the groups with plasma cell ratios ≥3.5% and<3.5%( P=0.15).Additionally, no significant difference in PFS was observed between patients with M protein quantitation ≥2.5 g/dl and those with M protein quantitation<2.5 g/dl( P=0.94). Conclusions:The proportion of bone marrow plasma cells correlates with flow MRD in elderly patients with MM, and a high MRD load indicates a poor prognosis.However, no significant correlation was found between M protein levels and flow MRD or PFS.Clinical attention should focus on the dynamic monitoring of plasma cell morphology and flow MRD.Nevertheless, the morphological detection of plasma cells remains crucial for auxiliary diagnosis due to its intuitiveness, cost-effectiveness, and broad applicability.

Polycystic ovary syndrome（PCOS） and its resulting infertility is one of the common diseases of gynecology and reproductive endocrinology. The phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase/protein kinase B（PI3K/Akt） signaling pathway is relatively well-studied in the development of intervention in PCOS， and the experiments on PCOS in rats conducted by traditional Chinese medicine through this signaling pathway is also the main direction of mechanistic research. In this paper， 20 articles published in academic journals in the past 5 years were selected through the corresponding criteria， and the objective situation and existing problems of the selected research projects were analyzed from five aspects， namely， baseline data， modeling and treatment， grouping， evaluative indexes， and pharmacodynamic indexes. It is found that there were different degrees of problems in each research project， such as the observation indicators of modeling， criteria for judging the success of the model， the treatment period， the calculation of dosage of prescription/active ingredients and specific dosage were not clearly defined， which could easily lead the bias of the results or reduce the validity of experimental data. Based on this， the list of PCOS rat experimental research operations was formed， involving five categories of experimental rats， model construction， study implementation， outcome measures and analysis and report with a total of 21 operation lists， with a view to provide a reference for the subsequent PCOS experiments related to scientific research and helping to form high-quality results.

It is believed that there is a pathogenesis of yang deficiency in polycystic ovary syndrome （PCOS） infertility， and it is concluded that warm-yang method has a better effect in improving endometrial abnormality， enhancing the quality of follicles， correcting endocrine disorders， and resolving or alleviating clinical symptoms in PCOS infertility. Based on Yanghe Decoction （阳和汤）， a representative traditional Chinese medicine decoction for warming yang， Yanghe Xiaonang Decoction （阳和消囊汤） was formulated， combining with warm medicinals according to symptoms， and aerobic exercise was also advocated to help generate and develop yang qi， in order to provide ideas for clinical treatments.

Objective:To investigate the relationship between the morphology of bone marrow plasma cells, the identification of M protein, and the detection of minimal residual disease(MRD)by flow cytometry in elderly patients with multiple myeloma(MM).Additionally, the impact on progression-free survival(PFS)is analyzed.Methods:A total of 60 elderly MM patients with bone marrow morphology reports and corresponding flow MRD detection, collected from February 1, 2017, to January 31, 2022, at Beijing Chaoyang Hospital Affiliated to Capital Medical University, were included in this study.We collected data on plasma cells from morphological examination and flow cytometry-based MRD detection. By combining these findings with M-protein identification results from 35 cases, we analyzed the correlations among these three parameters. Patients were stratified into two groups based on median values of: flow cytometry MRD(0.246% of nucleated cells), morphological plasma cell percentage(3.5%), and M-protein quantification(2.5 g/dl).This stratification enabled evaluation of their prognostic value for PFS.Results:A total of 60 elderly MM patients were enrolled, including 41 males with age of 65.0(63.0, 68.5)years and 19 females with age of 67.0(64.0, 72.0)years The morphology of bone marrow in 60 elderly patients with MM revealed 10 cases of primitive plasma cells(16.67%), 48 cases of immature plasma cells(80.00%), and 2 cases with no plasma cells(3.33%).A positive correlation was observed between the proportion of bone marrow plasma cells and the corresponding flow MRD in terms of both the proportion of nuclear cells and the proportion of plasma cells.Specifically, the proportion of the morphological protoplasma group showed a strong correlation with flow MRD(proportion of plasma cells)( r=0.82, P<0.01), while the proportion of the morphological immature plasma group exhibited moderate correlations with flow MRD(proportion of nuclear cells)( r=0.74, P<0.05)and flow MRD(proportion of plasma cells)( r=0.70, P<0.01).No significant correlation was found between the type and quantity of M protein and flow MRD( P>0.05).The PFS time for the flow MRD ≥0.246%(nucleated cells)group was shorter than that of the<0.246% group( P<0.05).There was no significant difference in PFS between the groups with plasma cell ratios ≥3.5% and<3.5%( P=0.15).Additionally, no significant difference in PFS was observed between patients with M protein quantitation ≥2.5 g/dl and those with M protein quantitation<2.5 g/dl( P=0.94). Conclusions:The proportion of bone marrow plasma cells correlates with flow MRD in elderly patients with MM, and a high MRD load indicates a poor prognosis.However, no significant correlation was found between M protein levels and flow MRD or PFS.Clinical attention should focus on the dynamic monitoring of plasma cell morphology and flow MRD.Nevertheless, the morphological detection of plasma cells remains crucial for auxiliary diagnosis due to its intuitiveness, cost-effectiveness, and broad applicability.

ObjectiveTo understand the current situation and hot spots of research on the treatment of constipation by traditional Chinese medicine （TCM） in China and foreign countries， and provide references and directions for future research. MethodIn this study， the data analysis software CiteSpace 5.8.R3C was used to conduct bibliometrics analysis of the relevant papers on the treatment of constipation by TCM from January 1， 2000 to December 31， 2021 in China National Knowledge Infrastructure （CNKI） and Web of Science core database. The visual display was carried out. ResultAfter retrieval， 2 133 papers were included in CNKI database and 224 papers were included in Web of Science core database. The statistical analysis showed that the overall annual publication volume in China and foreign countries was on the rise， but the publication volume in China had been declining for the past two consecutive years. The author co-occurrence analysis showed that the authors with the largest number of publications in China and foreign countries were LIU Chunqiang and CHUNGWAH CHENG， respectively. The institution co-occurrence analysis showed that the institutions with the largest number of publications in China and foreign countries were the Anorectal Department of Longhua Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai University of TCM and Beijing University of Chinese Medicine， respectively. The keyword analysis showed that research in this field in China and foreign countries mainly focused on TCM therapy， clinical research， etiology and pathogenesis， etc. ConclusionThe research on the treatment of constipation by TCM is mainly concentrated in China， but there is no closely-related scientific research team. The research in this field in China and foreign countries is still developing. With the continuous deepening of research， all research institutions should pay attention to interdisciplinary intersection， highlight technological innovation， and strive to achieve greater breakthroughs in this field.

Objectives:To investigate the predictive effect of regional homogeneity (ReHo) from resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) in acute phase on memory function of chronic phage in ischemic stroke patients and the effects of residual learning (REL) on the predictive performance of machine learning models.Methods:From June 2019 to June 2021, rs-fMRI data of one-week after stroke (acute phase) were collected from 35 first-time ischemic stroke patients, and their memory scores were assessed by the Rey auditory verbal learning test (RAVLT) at 6 months after stroke (chronic phase). Using ReHo from rs-fMRI data in acute phase of ischemic stroke patients, the support vector regression (SVR) and the REL-based SVR (REL-SVR) were constructed to predict the patients’ memory scores at 6 months after stroke, and the performance of the two models was compared using Pearson correlation coefficient.Results:Based on the ReHo from acute phase, the correlation coefficient between the predicted values and the true scores from the SVR model was r=0.524, P=0.001, while the correlation coefficient obtained by the REL-SVR model was r=0.671, P<0.001. Brain regions with relatively higher weights such as Temporal_Pole_Mid_R (weight value: 1.03), Temporal_Mid_R(weight value: 1.03), Temporal_Inf_R (weight value: 1.03), Occipital_Mid_R (weight value: 0.57), Frontal_Mid_L (weight value: 0.32), Frontal_Sup_Medial_L (weight value: 0.53), SupraMarginal_L (weight value: 1.54), Calcarine_L (weight value: 0.65), Lingual_L (weight value: 0.58), Cuneus_L (weight value: 0.65), Precuneus_L (weight value: 0.83), cerebellum(weight value>1.0) made larger contributions to the prediction model. Conclusions:ReHo in the acute-phase can effectively predict memory in the chronic phase of ischemic stroke patients. Furthermore, REL can improve the performance of the traditional SVR model and achieve higher predictive accuracy.

Objective:To examine the expression of programmed cell death 1 (PD-1) and its ligand (PD-L1) in epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) tissues, and investigate the correlation among their expression, clinicopathological features and prognosis.Methods:The specimens of 180 patients with EOC treated in the First Affiliated Hospital of Dalian Medical University from October 2002 to December 2013 were confirmed by pathological examination. The pathological tissue specimens of subtypes ，included 120 cases of serous carcinoma, 30 cases of mucinous carcinoma, 20 cases of endometrioid carcinoma, and 20 cases of clear cell carcinoma. The normal paracancerous tissues of 50 cases randomly selected from the 180 patients as control group. Immunohistochemical SP method was used to detect the expressions of both PD-1 and PD-L1 in epithelial ovarian cancer tissues, and the relationships among their expressions,the clinicopathological parameters and prognosis were respectively analyzed.Results:（1） PD-1 was expressed in lymphocytes infiltrated in EOC tissues, and PD-L1 was expressed in the cell membranes of cancer tissues. In all EOC cases, 33 cases (18.3%, 33/180) of both PD-1 and PD-L1 were highly expressed, and only 1 (2.0%, 1/50) of control group showed high expression. There was statistically significant difference between two groups ( P<0.01). (2) Among the four subtypes tissue specimens of EOC, the high expression rate of PD-1 was 25.0% (30/120) for serous carcinoma, 3/15 for endometrioid carcinoma, 0 (0/30) for mucinous carcinoma, and 0 (0/15) for clear cell carcinoma. The high expression rate of PD-L1 was 23.3% (28/120) for serous carcinoma, 3.3% (1/30) for mucinous carcinoma, 2/15 for endometrioid carcinoma, and 2/15 for clear cell carcinoma. Both PD-1 and PD-L1 expressions in the four sub-types of tissue specimens were significantly different ( P<0.05). The high expression rate of both PD-1 and PD-L1 was 9.2% (8/87) in the early stage and 26.9% (25/93) in the late stage. There was a statistically significant difference between the two groups ( P<0.01). Similarly, the expression of both PD-1 and PD-L1 were significantly higher in the cases of high-grade EOC （type Ⅱ） than those of low-grade （type Ⅰ） and in the cases of EOC distributed bilaterally than that distributed unilaterally, and there were statistically significant differences ( P<0.05). (3) The Kaplan-Meier survival analysis showed that the survival time were respectively 35 and 36 months in the cases with high expressions of both PD-1 and PD-L1, and the survival time were the same as 61 months in the cases with low expression of both PD-1 and PD-L1, and the comparison was statistically significant ( P<0.05). Conclusions:The expression levels of PD-1 and PD-L1 in EOC tissues are higher than those in adjacent tissues, especially in serous carcinomas. The expression of both PD-1 and PD-L1 is higher in specimens of the patients with advanced stages. The results showed that the high expression of both PD-1 and PD-L1 is an indicator of poor prognosis of patients suffering from EOC.

Objective To provide references for improving the quality of TCM decoction pieces through the analysis on sample inspection of TCM decoction pieces of Huguosi TCM Hospital of Beijing University of Chinese Medicine (hereinafter referred to as our hospital). Methods In our hospital from January 2014 to December 2015, TCM decoction pieces with problems in this sample inspection were categorized according to reasons. Results Quality problems found in the sample inspection were categorized into 3 types, i.e. collection and preparation (69.79%), storage (20.93%) and other problems (9.31%). Cutting in collection and preparation (13.95%), worming in storage (9.30%) and breaking/crumbing (6.98%) were the most obvious problems. Conclusion Strengthening the management of procurement acceptance, strict control of storage and storage conditions, and paying attention to the use of other aspects of management can improve the quality of TCM decoction pieces.

The vast majority of the published papers dealing with the treatment of wounds in the past few decades reported that extracorporeal shock wave therapy (ESWT) used in wound repair is easy in manipulation, noninvasive, safe, effective, and well tolerated by patients. However, little is known about the mechanism of ESWT in wound healing to date. In this article, we reviewed the literature to identify the potential cellular and molecular mechanisms of ESWT in the process of wound healing, and the results of the literature showed that the mechanism of ESWT in promoting wound healing is the result of heterogeneous biological effects.
High-Energy Shock Waves ; therapeutic use ; Humans ; Skin ; Soft Tissue Injuries ; therapy ; Ultrasonic Therapy ; methods ; trends ; Wound Healing ; physiology