OBJECTIVE To provide valuable insights for the adjustment of anti-infectious regimens， identification of adverse reactions， and individualized pharmaceutical care in patients with critically severe scrub typhus. METHODS Clinical pharmacists actively participated in the pharmaceutical care process for a patient with severe scrub typhus leading to mixed shock undergoing continuous renal replacement therapy and extracorporeal membrane oxygenation. Initially， the patient received meropenem （1 g， q12 h， ivdrip）， in combination with doxycycline （0.1 g， q12 h， po）， which was later switched to meropenem （1 g， q8 h， ivdrip） along with omacycline （100 mg， qd， ivdrip） due to impaired gastrointestinal function. However， as the patient’s condition progressively deteriorated and the infection became uncontrolled， the clinical pharmacists recommended that the clinicians adjust the anti-infective regimen to meropenem （2 g， q8 h， ivdrip） combined with tigecycline （100 mg for first dose； 50 mg， q12 h for maintenance； ivdrip）. The clinicians followed the advice of the clinical pharmacists. After treatment， the patient’s symptoms exhibited significant improvement， accompanied by a notable decrease in inflammatory markers， indicating that the infection had been successfully controlled. However， due to continuously increasing bilirubin levels， in order to reduce the risk of drug-induced liver injury， the clinicians changed tigecycline to azithromycin （0.5 g， qd， ivdrip） following the recommendation of the clinical pharmacists. RESULTS Ultimately， metagenomic next-generation sequencing of the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid and blood specimens indicated that Orientia tsutsugamushi had been completely eradicated in the patient. CONCLUSIONS Tigecycline may be a viable therapeutic choice for patients with severe scrub typhus. In the context of critically ill patients with scrub typhus， combining tigecycline with azithromycin might potentially enhance the efficacy in eliminating Orientia tsutsugamushi.

Objective To report the diagnosis of a canine distemper virus outbreak among a colony of cynomolgus monkeys at an experimental monkey farm in 2019. MethodsA total of 46 samples were collected from 21 diseased cynomolgus monkeys (exhibiting symptoms such as facial rash, skin scurf, runny nose, and diarrhea) and from one deceased monkey at an experimental monkey breeding farm in South China in late 2019, including serum, skin rash swabs, and anticoagulated whole blood, liver, lung, and skin tissues were submitted for testing. All submitted samples were tested for canine distemper virus gene fragments using real-time quantitative PCR, while immunohistochemical staining was performed to detect canine distemper virus nucleoprotein in lung tissues. The skin tissue of the deceased monkey was ground and sieved. The filtrate was inoculated into a monolayer MDCK cell line for virus isolation. Then, whole-genome sequencing was performed to identify the isolated virus. The Clustal Omega tool was used to align and analyze the homology of different Asian canine distemper virus isolates. A phylogenetic tree was constructed, followed by genetic evolutionary analysis. ResultsClinical retrospective analysis revealed that the diseased cynomolgus monkeys exhibited symptoms similar to those observed in cynomolgus monkeys infected with measles virus. Necropsy findings showed red lesions in the lungs and significant hemorrhage in the colonic mucosa. Real-time quantitative PCR detected canine distemper virus nucleic acid in the serum, skin rash swabs of the infected monkeys, and various tissue samples of the deceased monkey, all of which tested positive. Calculation based on the standard curve formula indicated the viral load was highest in the skin tissue. Immunohistochemical staining of the deceased monkey's lung tissue demonstrated aggregation of CDV nucleoprotein in alveolar epithelial cells, bronchi, and bronchioles. A CDV strain was isolated from the skin tissue of the deceased monkey. Phylogenetic analysis indicated that this strain shares the closest relationship (98.86%) with the Asian-1 type canine distemper virus strain CDV/dog/HCM/33/140816, previously identified in dogs in Vietnam. ConclusionBased on comprehensive analysis of clinical symptoms, nucleic acid detection, viral protein immunohistochemistry, and whole-genome sequencing results, the diagnosis confirms that the cynomolgus monkeys in this facility are infected with canine distemper virus. It is recommended to include canine distemper virus as a routine surveillance target in captive monkey populations. Additionally, this study provides a foundation for further research on the molecular biological characteristics of canine distemper virus.

Objective To report the diagnosis of a canine distemper virus outbreak among a colony of cynomolgus monkeys at an experimental monkey farm in 2019. MethodsA total of 46 samples were collected from 21 diseased cynomolgus monkeys (exhibiting symptoms such as facial rash, skin scurf, runny nose, and diarrhea) and from one deceased monkey at an experimental monkey breeding farm in South China in late 2019, including serum, skin rash swabs, and anticoagulated whole blood, liver, lung, and skin tissues were submitted for testing. All submitted samples were tested for canine distemper virus gene fragments using real-time quantitative PCR, while immunohistochemical staining was performed to detect canine distemper virus nucleoprotein in lung tissues. The skin tissue of the deceased monkey was ground and sieved. The filtrate was inoculated into a monolayer MDCK cell line for virus isolation. Then, whole-genome sequencing was performed to identify the isolated virus. The Clustal Omega tool was used to align and analyze the homology of different Asian canine distemper virus isolates. A phylogenetic tree was constructed, followed by genetic evolutionary analysis. ResultsClinical retrospective analysis revealed that the diseased cynomolgus monkeys exhibited symptoms similar to those observed in cynomolgus monkeys infected with measles virus. Necropsy findings showed red lesions in the lungs and significant hemorrhage in the colonic mucosa. Real-time quantitative PCR detected canine distemper virus nucleic acid in the serum, skin rash swabs of the infected monkeys, and various tissue samples of the deceased monkey, all of which tested positive. Calculation based on the standard curve formula indicated the viral load was highest in the skin tissue. Immunohistochemical staining of the deceased monkey's lung tissue demonstrated aggregation of CDV nucleoprotein in alveolar epithelial cells, bronchi, and bronchioles. A CDV strain was isolated from the skin tissue of the deceased monkey. Phylogenetic analysis indicated that this strain shares the closest relationship (98.86%) with the Asian-1 type canine distemper virus strain CDV/dog/HCM/33/140816, previously identified in dogs in Vietnam. ConclusionBased on comprehensive analysis of clinical symptoms, nucleic acid detection, viral protein immunohistochemistry, and whole-genome sequencing results, the diagnosis confirms that the cynomolgus monkeys in this facility are infected with canine distemper virus. It is recommended to include canine distemper virus as a routine surveillance target in captive monkey populations. Additionally, this study provides a foundation for further research on the molecular biological characteristics of canine distemper virus.

OBJECTIVE To analyze the influencing factors of voriconazole trough concentration and adverse drug reactions （ADR） in renal transplant recipients. METHODS Data from inpatients who received voriconazole and therapeutic drug monitoring in our hospital between January 2022 and August 2023 were retrospectively analyzed. Patients were divided into renal transplant group and non-renal transplant group based on transplantation status. A 1∶1 propensity score matching （PSM） method was used to balance differences in baselines between the two groups. Voriconazole trough concentrations， target attainment rate， clinical efficacy， and ADR were compared between the two groups. Multiple linear regression （backward） was used to analyze the factors influencing voriconazole trough concentrations in the renal transplant group. Univariate analysis and binary Logistic regression were used to identify independent risk factors for ADR in the renal transplant group. RESULTS After PSM， 48 patients were included in each group. There were no statistically significant differences in the mean voriconazole trough concentration， target attainment rate or efficacy rate between the two groups （P＞0.05）. The total incidence of ADR was significantly higher in the renal transplant group than in the non-renal transplant group （P＜0.05）. Multiple linear regression analysis showed that age， average daily dose， pulmonary infection， total bilirubin during medication， day-1 loading dose， use of the original drug， concomitant immunosuppressant use， and the occurrence of ADR were factors influencing voriconazole trough concentration in renal transplant patients （P＜0.05）. Binary Logistic regression analysis showed that abnormal direct bilirubin during medication [OR＝7.747， 95%CI （1.334， 45.005）， P＝0.023] was an independent risk factor for ADR in renal transplant patients receiving voriconazole. CONCLUSIONS Age， average daily dose， pulmonary infection， use of the original drug， day-1 loading dose， total bilirubin during medication， concomitant immunosuppressant use， and the occurrence of ADR are the factors influencing voriconazole trough concentration in renal transplant patients. Furthermore， patients with abnormal direct bilirubin during medication are more susceptible to ADR.

OBJECTIVE To construct ensemble learning models for predicting high-use days of budesonide based on meteorological factors， thereby providing reference for hospital pharmacy management. METHODS Meteorological data for 2024 and outpatient budesonide usage data from the jurisdiction of Sanming Hospital of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine were collected. High-use days were defined as the 75th percentile of outpatient budesonide usage， and a corresponding dataset was established. The prediction task was formulated as a classification problem， and three ensemble learning models were developed： Random Forest， Extreme Gradient Boosting （XGBoost）， and Histogram-based Gradient Boosting Classifier. Model performance was evaluated using accuracy， precision， recall， F1-score， and log-loss. Model interpretability was analyzed using Shapley Additive Explanations （SHAP）. RESULTS The Histogram-based Gradient Boosting Classifier achieved the best performance （accuracy＝0.75， F1-score＝0.48）， followed by XGBoost （accuracy＝0.74， F1-score＝0.43） and Random Forest （accuracy＝0.72， F1-score＝0.22）. SHAP results suggested that the prediction results of the last two models have the highest correction. CONCLUSIONS Ensemble learning models can effectively predict high-use days of budesonide， with the Histogram- based Gradient Boosting Classifier demonstrating the best predictive performance. Low temperature， high humidity， and low atmospheric pressure show significant positive impacts on the prediction of daily budesonide usage.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of manual acupuncture manipulations (MAMs) on subcutaneous muscle tissue, by developing quantitative models of "lifting and thrusting" and "twisting and rotating", based on machine learning techniques. METHODS: A depth camera was used to capture the acupuncture operator's hand movements during "lifting and thrusting" and "twisting and rotating" of needle. Simultaneously, the ultrasound imaging was employed to record the muscle tissue responses of the participants. Amplitude and angular features were extracted from the movement data of operators, and muscle fascicle slope features were derived from the data of ultrasound images. The dynamic time warping barycenter averaging algorithm was adopted to align the dual-source data. Various machine learning techniques were applied to build quantitative models, and the performance of each model was compared. The most optimal model was further analyzed for its interpretability. RESULTS: Among the quantitative models built for the two types of MAMs, the random forest model demonstrated the best performance. For the quantitative model of the "lifting and thrusting" technique, the coefficient of determination (R²) was 0.825. For the "twisting and rotating" technique, R² reached 0.872. CONCLUSION Machine learning can be used to effectively develop the models and quantify the effects of MAMs on subcutaneous muscle tissue. It provides a new perspective to understand the mechanism of acupuncture therapy and lays a foundation for optimizing acupuncture technology and designing personalized treatment regimen in the future.
Humans ; Acupuncture Therapy/methods* ; Machine Learning ; Male ; Adult ; Female ; Subcutaneous Tissue/diagnostic imaging* ; Young Adult

Retrieving keyframes most relevant to text from small intestine videos with given labels can efficiently and accurately locate pathological regions. However, training directly on raw video data is extremely slow, while learning visual representations from image-text datasets leads to computational inconsistency. To tackle this challenge, a small bowel video keyframe retrieval based on multi-modal contrastive learning (KRCL) is proposed. This framework fully utilizes textual information from video category labels to learn video features closely related to text, while modeling temporal information within a pretrained image-text model. It transfers knowledge learned from image-text multimodal models to the video domain, enabling interaction among medical videos, images, and text data. Experimental results on the hyper-spectral and Kvasir dataset for gastrointestinal disease detection (Hyper-Kvasir) and the Microsoft Research video-to-text (MSR-VTT) retrieval dataset demonstrate the effectiveness and robustness of KRCL, with the proposed method achieving state-of-the-art performance across nearly all evaluation metrics.
Humans ; Video Recording ; Intestine, Small/diagnostic imaging* ; Machine Learning ; Image Processing, Computer-Assisted/methods* ; Algorithms

Objective:To report the long-term outcomes of Chinese rectal cancer patients after adopting a Watch and Wait (W&W) strategy following neoadjuvant therapy (NAT).Methods:This multicenter, cross-sectional study was based on real-world data. The study cohort comprised rectal cancer patients who had achieved complete or near complete clinical responses (cCRs, near-cCRs) after NAT and were thereafter managed by a W&W approach, as well as a few patients who had achieved good responses after NAT and had then undergone local excision for confirmation of pathological complete response. All participants had been followed up for ≥2 years. Patients with distant metastases at baseline or who opted for observation while living with the tumor were excluded. Data of eligible patients were retrospectively collected from the Chinese Wait-and-Watch Data Collaboration Group database. These included baseline characteristics, type of NAT, pre-treatment imaging results, evaluation of post-NAT efficacy, salvage measures, and treatment outcomes. We herein report the long-term outcomes of Chinese rectal cancer patients after NAT and W&W and the differences between the cCR and near-cCR groups.Results:Clinical data of 318 rectal cancer patients who had undergone W&W for over 2 years and been followed up were collected from eight medical centers (Peking University Cancer Hospital, Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center, Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center, Shanghai Changhai Hospital, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Liaoning Cancer Hospital, the First Hospital of Jilin University, and Yunnan Cancer Hospital.) The participants comprised 221 men (69.4%) and 107 women (30.6%) of median age 60 (26-86) years. The median distance between tumor and anal verge was 3.4 (0-10.4) cm. Of these patients, 291 and 27 had achieved cCR or near-cCR, respectively, after NAT. The median duration of follow-up was 48.4 (10.2-110.3) months. The 5-year cumulative overall survival rate was 92.4% (95%CI: 86.8%-95.7%), 5-year cumulative disease-specific survival (CSS) rate 96.6% (95%CI: 92.2%-98.5%), 5-year cumulative organ-preserving disease-free survival rate 86.6% (95%CI: 81.0%-90.7%), and 5-year organ preservation rate 85.3% (95%CI: 80.3%-89.1%). The overall 5-year local recurrence and distant metastasis rates were 18.5% (95%CI: 14.9%-20.8%) and 8.2% (95%CI: 5.4%-12.5%), respectively. Most local recurrences (82.1%, 46/56) occurred within 2 years, and 91.0% (51/56) occurred within 3 years, the median time to recurrence being 11.7 (2.5-66.6) months. Most (91.1%, 51/56) local recurrences occurred within the intestinal lumen. Distant metastases developed in 23 patients; 60.9% (14/23) occurred within 2 years and 73.9% (17/23) within 3 years, the median time to distant metastasis being 21.9 (2.6-90.3) months. Common sites included lung (15/23, 65.2%), liver (6/23, 26.1%), and bone (7/23, 30.4%) The metastases involved single organs in 17 patients and multiple organs in six. There were no significant differences in overall, cumulative disease-specific, or organ-preserving disease-free survival or rate of metastases between the two groups (all P>0.05). The 5-year local recurrence rate was higher in the near-cCR than in the cCR group (41.6% vs. 16.4%, P<0.01), with a lower organ preservation rate (69.2% vs. 88.0%, P<0.001). The success rates of salvage after local recurrence and distant metastasis were 82.1% (46/56) and 13.0% (3/23), respectively. Conclusion:Rectal cancer patients who achieve cCR or near-cCR after NAT and undergo W&W have favorable oncological outcomes and a high rate of organ preservation. Local recurrence and distant metastasis during W&W follow certain patterns, with a relatively high salvage rate for local recurrence. Our findings highlight the importance of close follow-up and timely intervention during the W&W process.

Objective To investigate the protective effect of Toll-like receptor (TLR)2/TLR9 agonists,Pam2 CSK4(Pam)and CpG ODN (CpG)on mice infected with Acinetobacter baumannii (Ab)in the lungs.Methods Female C57 mice (6～8 weeks old)were randomly divided into PBS,Pam,CpG and Pam+CpG groups.In 24 h after intranasal immunization with different doses of the corresponding agonists,the mice were given a lethal dose of Ab infection in the lungs,and the survival rates of the mice were observed.A sublethal dose lung infection model of Ab was then established,and the bacterial colonization in the blood,lungs,liver,kidneys and spleen was measured respectively in the mice after infection.HE staining was used to observe the pathological damages in the lungs and kidneys.The protective effect of the agonists in the immunized mice against Ab was examined at 1,3 and 7 d after immunization to explore the protective time window.Pam+CpG was used to stimulate A549 cells and RAW264.7 cells to investigate the killing or phagocytic effects on Ab.Results Compared to PBS,Pam+CpG treatment significantly improved the survival rate of the mice after a lethal dose of Ab lung infection (P<0.05,P<0.01 ),reduced bacterial colonization in the blood (P<0.01 ),lungs (P<0.01 ),liver (P<0.01 ),kidneys (P<0.01 )and spleen (P<0.01 )in the mice after sublethal challenge,and alleviated pathological damage caused by infection. Immunization at 1 or 3 d before infection significantly improved the survival rate (P<0.05 ),and the protective effect was the best in 3 d after immunization.Furthermore,compared to single PBS,Pam and CpG immunization,Pam+CpG significantly promoted the killing and phagocytic effects of A549 epithelial cells and RAW264.7 cells,respectively,against Ab (P<0.01 ).Conclusion Combined application of TLR2/TLR9 agonists exerts a significant protective effect on both lethal and sublethal infections of Ab,which might be by its promoting the killing or phagocytic effect of lung epithelial cells and macrophages against Ab.

Objective To investigate the factors that lead to diffuse chorioretinal atrophy(DCA)in patients with high myopia(HM)and to establish a prediction model.Methods In this retrospective case-control study,a total of 169 HM patients(338 eyes)admitted to the Department of Ophthalmology,Harbin 242 Hospital from October 2018 to October 2022 were selected.All patients underwent comprehensive ophthalmic examination at the time of inclusion.The incidence of DCA was evaluated according to the International Photographic Classification and Grading System for myopic maculopa-thy,and the risk factors of DCA in HM patients were analyzed by multivariate Logistic regression.The predictive model of DCA in HM patients was established by the receiver operating characteristic curve(ROC)based on risk factors,and the calibration degree of the predictive model was tested by Hosmer-Lemeshow(H-L).Results Among the 169 patients,34 patients were divided into the DCA group,and 135 patients were divided into the non-DCA group;there were statistically significant differences in age and gender distribution between the two groups(both P＜0.05).The axial length(AL),pat-tern standard deviation(PSD),positive rate of carbonic anhydrase 2(CAII)antibody in the DCA group were higher than those in the non-DCA group,while the best corrected visual acuity(BCVA),mean defect(MD)of the visual field,spheri-cal equivalent(SE),deep retinal microvessel density(MVD)and serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D[25(OH)D]were lower than those in the non-DCA group(all P＜0.05).Older age,longer AL and positive CAII antibody were the risk factors for DCA in HM patients(all P＜0.05),while greater deep retinal MVD and higher 25(OH)D were the protective factors(both P＜0.05).ROC analysis showed that the area under the curve of the prediction model for DCA in HM patients was 0.864(95％CI:0.802-0.911,P＜0.001),and the sensitivity and specificity were 85.29％and 88.15％,respectively.According to the H-L test,the prediction model for DCA in HM patients was relatively consistent with the actual results(P＞0.05).Con-clusion The occurrence of DCA in HM patients is affected by age,AL,CAII antibody,deep retinal MVD and 25(OH)D level,and a prediction model established based on the above factors can predict the risk of DCA well.