OBJECTIVE To analyze the characteristics and influencing factors of disposal behavior of expired medicines among Chinese residents across regional divisions， and to provide references for regional classification management and precise policy implementation regarding expired medicines. METHODS A stratified random sampling method was employed to conduct a questionnaire survey among residents across sample provinces and cities， utilizing a combination of online and offline approaches. Binary Logistic regression analysis was used to systematically explore the regional （eastern， central and western regions） and urban-rural disparities in the recycling of expired medicines among Chinese residents， identify the core driving factors influencing standardized disposal behaviors， and propose corresponding recommendations. RESULTS A total of 2 200 ques tionnaires were collected， with 2 159 deemed valid， yielding an effective response rate of 98.1%. The surveyed residents commonly stored medicines at home （67.7%）， yet the rate of regular medicine clearance was low （only 57.7%）. Nearly half of the residents （49.7%） had expired medicines in their households， with improper disposal of expired medicines remaining the predominant behavior. Insufficient convenience in recycling was identified as the primary reason for improper disposal of expired medicines （50.1%）. Statistically significant differences were observed between residents in the eastern， central and western regions， as well as between urban and rural residents， in terms of household medicine storage rates and the prevalence of expired medicine possession （ P ＜0.05）. However， no statistically significant difference was found in the standardized disposal rates across regional divisions （ P ＞0.05）. Furthermore， the residents demonstrated a higher level of awareness regarding the health hazards of expired medicines compared to their awareness of environmental hazards， with 46.0% and 32.1% indicating they were “relatively familiar” and “very familiar”， respectively. The participation rate in standardized recycling was only 37.6%. Among non-participating residents， the three primary barriers were “recycling points being too far away” （46.6%）， “unawareness of recycling channels” （46.1%） and “lack of incentives” （48.1%）. The surveyed residents showed relatively high trust in pharmaceutical regulatory authorities and on-site recycling personnel， with “high trust” accounting for 31.2% and 34.7%， respectively. Binary Logistic regression analysis results indicated that the awareness of environmental hazards and the accessibility of recycling points were the core driving factors for proper disposal. CONCLUSIONS Significant issues exist in the recycling of expired medicines among Chinese residents， characterized by “improper behavior， cognitive bias， and unbalanced system”. It is recommended to construct a tiered recycling network focusing on “quality improvement in the eastern region， expansion in the central region， and basic coverage in the western region”， implement targeted educational campaigns and differentiated incentive policies. Moreover， the specific needs of groups such as the elderly should be addressed to achieve spatial equalization and service optimization of the recycling system.

The comorbidity rate of gastroesophageal reflux disease （GERD） and sleep disorders is high， and the two form a vicious circle through the “brain-gut axis”， which seriously impacts the patients’ quality of life. Traditional Chinese medicine （TCM）， guided by the core principles of “holistic concept” and “syndrome differentiation and treatment”， features multi-targeted therapeutic effects with minimal side effects， offering diverse intervention options for clinical practice. From the perspective of the “brain-gut axis”， this article reviews the relationship between the comorbidity of GERD and sleep disorders and systematically examines relevant research findings on how TCM regulates the “brain-gut axis” to intervene in this comorbid condition. The study reveals that the “brain-gut axis” may participate in the pathological progress of GERD accompanied by sleep disorders through pathways such as abnormalities in the secretion of brain-gut peptides （including gastrointestinal secretin）， as well as intestinal dysbiosis. By closely focusing on core pathogenic mechanisms such as “disharmony between the liver and stomach” and “insomnia due to stomach disharmony”， various approaches can be employed， including TCM formulas （e.g.， modified Sini powder combined with Zuojin pills）， external TCM therapies （e.g.， back-shu point digital acupressure）， and integrated traditional Chinese and Western medicine treatments （e.g.， modified Chaihu guizhi ganjiang decoction combined with proton pump inhibitors）. These methods can regulate the levels of neurotransmitters， gastrointestinal hormones， inflammatory factors， and the composition of intestinal microbiota associated with the “brain-gut axis”， thereby achieving simultaneous improvement in both GERD and sleep disorders.

In order to further promote the standardization of the integrated traditional Chinese and western medicine treatment of atopic dermatitis(AD),the team of Professor Chen Dacan,who is honored as the Qihuang Scholar,developed the Clinical Practice Guidelines for Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine in Atopic Dermatitis(hereinafter referred to as Guidelines for AD).This paper detailed the process of development of Guidelines for AD,and analyzed the characteristics of Guidelines for AD,as well as the difficulties and countermeasures encountered during such a time.The development of Guidelines for AD follows the methodology of international guidelines for clinical trial.Experts specializing in various disciplines,such as traditional Chinese medicine,western medicine,integrated traditional Chinese and western medicine,and methodology,composed an expert group and a working group.On the basis of systematic literature research,the clinic experiences of frontline experts were well-summarized,and the draft of Guidelines for AD was formed after several meetings and discussions.In the process of developing Guidelines for AD,quite a number of problems were encountered,and the project team found the corresponding countermeasures after analyzing these problems.The countermeasures became the characteristics of Guidelines for AD:the integration of traditional Chinese medicine therapies and western medicine therapies,and the evaluation of the evidence of integrated traditional Chinese and western medicine solved the problem of traditional Chinese and western medicine diagnosis and treatment of AD lacking standardization;the adequately combination of the evidence with the experience of clinical practice solved the problems of the low overall level and the insufficiency of traditional Chinese medicine evidence for AD;the establishment of management goals and strategies for AD after taking the advantages of both traditional Chinese medicine and western medicine into account was in line with the international treatment and management concepts;the formulation of individualized traditional Chinese and western medicine therapy based on the integration of traditional Chinese medicine therapy and western medicine therapy met the clinical needs of patients with different characteristics of AD.The development process of Guidelines for AD and the analysis of problems and countermeasures during such a time will provide reference and reflection for the subsequent establishment of clinical guidelines for the integrated traditional Chinese and western medicine in other diseases.

To identify factors associated with the recurrence of polymyalgia rheumatica(PMR) within one year.

Toxoplasma gondii is an obligatory intracellular parasite which infects a variety of warm-blooded animals and causes toxoplasmosis. Toxoplasmosis seriously endangers human health and animal husbandry production. As one of the effective gene editing tools, the clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)/CRISPR-associated proteins (Cas) system has been widely used for knockout of genes in T. gondii. This review summarizes the applications of the CRISPR/Cas9 technology in vaccines against single- and double-gene deletion strains of T. gondii, so as to provide insights into development of toxoplasmosis vaccines.

Objective:To investigate the alterations of multilayer network and dynamic causal connectivity in patients with bilateral sudden sensorineural hearing loss.Methods:The hearing ability, neural-scale data and resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging(fMRI)data of 60 patients with bilateral sudden sensorineural hearing loss from the Department of Otolaryngology and 60 healthy controls from Physical Examination Center, Nanjing First Hospital were collected from January 2022 to January 2024. Multilayer brain network analysis was computed to identify the nodes with abnormal switching rate. Then these abnormal nodes were used as regions of interest (ROIs) in the subsequent dynamic causal model analysis. The SPSS 26.0 software was used to analyze causal connectivity between two groups based on independent-sample Mann-Whitney U test. And Pearson correlation coefficients between fMRI results and clinical parameters were calculated. Results:Pure tone audiometry test showed that the left and right hearing thresholds of bilateral sudden sensorineural hearing loss were significantly higher than those of healthy controls( Z=-9.460, -9.462, both P<0.01). The score of depressive emotion in patients with bilateral sudden hearing loss was 6.00(2.00, 9.00).Multilayer brain network analysis showed that the switching rates in the left superior frontal gyrus (0.073(0.049, 0.102), Z=3.603, P<0.001), left anterior cingulate gyrus (0.077(0.044, 0.105), Z=3.189, P=0.001), right hippocampus (0.080(0.045, 0.116), Z=3.616, P<0.001), left para-hippocampal gyrus (0.080(0.043, 0.108), Z=3.577, P<0.001), left superior parietal gyrus (0.079(0.047, 0.103), Z=3.160, P=0.002), and right inferior parietal gyrus (0.078(0.043, 0.105), Z=3.396, P<0.001) in patients with bilateral sudden sensorineural hearing loss were lower that those in healthy controls. These six brain areas were used as ROIs to compute dynamic causal model analysis, and the results showed that the connection strength from left superior frontal gyrus to the left para-hippocampal gyrus in patients with bilateral sudden sensorineural hearing loss was significantly higher than that in healthy controls ( Z=-2.593, P<0.05). Additionally, enhanced connectivity from left superior frontal gyrus to the left para-hippocampal gyrus was positively correlated with duration of hearing loss ( r=0.376, P=0.003). Conclusions:Bilateral sudden sensorineural hearing loss patients have decreased switching rates in many brain areas, and the causal connectivity from left superior frontal gyrus to the left para-hippocampal gyrus is enhanced.

Objective:To further investigate the safety and efficacy of Belimumab in the treatment of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE).Methods:All SLE patients treated with Belimumab from May 1, 2020 to February 1, 2022 in Peking Union Medical College Hospital were retrospectively collected and analyzed. The clinical manifestations, the Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Disease Activity Index 2000 (SLEDAI-2000) score, and laboratory test such as levels of anti-dsDNA antibody, the medication before and after Belimumab treatment, adverse events were collected. Normally distributed data were tested using the t-test, otherwise the Wilcoxon paired signed rank test was used. Results:A total of 81 patients were enrolled in this study. The use of belimumab could significantly decrease the SLEDAI-2000 score [10.00(7.75, 12.00) vs. 4.00(3.75, 6.00), Z=-5.38, P<0.001], ESR of SLE patients [19.50(12.75, 32.25) mm/1 h vs. 14.00(7.75, 20.25) mm/1 h, Z=-3.71, P=0.003], anti-dsDNA titer detected by CLIFT [300.00 (117.00, 864.00) vs. 183.00(100.00, 471.00), Z=-4.15, P=0.001], meanwhile, increase the complement C3 [0.78 (0.62, 0.97)g/L vs. 0.69 (0.55, 0.84)g/L, Z=-4.68, P<0.001], and the complement C4 [0.12 (0.08, 0.19)g/L vs. 0.10 (0.05, 0.14)g/L, Z=-4.78, P<0.001]. We also observed that with the use of Belimumab, the dosage of Glucocorticoids decreased significantly, which were [10.00(7.50, 22.50) mg vs. 7.50(5.00, 10.00) mg, Z=-4.90, P<0.001]. In addition, the antibody of IgG, IgA and IgM decreased significantly. Only one patient stopped the administration of Belimumab due to the low level of immunoglobulin. Conclusion:Belimumab can alleviate disease activity of patients with SLE and help in safely tapering the daily dose of glucocorticoid with good safety.

Uveal melanoma (UM) poses a significant lethality, with approximately 50% of those developing metastases surviving less than one year. In the progression of UM, vasculogenic mimicry (VM) induced by hypoxia plays a pivotal role, which also partially explains the resistance of UM to anti-angiogenic therapies. Nevertheless, the crucial molecular mechanisms underlying VM in the progression of UM remain unclear. We identified ubiquitin conjugating enzyme E2 G2 (UBE2G2) as a critical suppressor through transcriptomic sequencing and metastasis correlation screening. In UM, hypoxia-induced VM and metastasis are markedly exacerbated by UBE2G2 knockdown and significantly alleviated by its overexpression. Mechanistically, UBE2G2 directly binds to galectin 3 binding protein (LGALS3BP) and forms a complex with the E3 ubiquitin ligase tripartite motif containing 38 (TRIM38), facilitating ubiquitination-mediated degradation of LGALS3BP at the K104 residue. Furthermore, UBE2G2 inhibits oncogenic phenotypes by inactivating intracellular PI3K/AKT signaling and reprogramming the tumor microenvironment. Therefore, targeting intercellular and intracellular molecular mechanisms of the hypoxia-UBE2G2-LGALS3BP axis may contribute to developing various therapeutic strategies for UM.

Subjective tinnitus refers to the subjective sound perception of patients in the absence of an external sound stimulus.Tinnitus patients are often accompanied by emotional disorders, such as depression and anxiety, which seriously affect the quality of life of patients.Therefore, understanding the mechanism underlying the occurrence of tinnitus emotional disorders can help relieve the pain of tinnitus.Tinnitus was considered a simple ear disease in the early stages, but with the progress of neuroimaging technology and the development of animal models, increasing attention has been given to the changes in the neural structure and function of tinnitus patients.As a powerful technique for in vivo investigation of neural activity in the brain, multimodal magnetic resonance has been widely used in the study of subjective tinnitus.By observing the changes of brain structure in subjective tinnitus patients, the neural mechanism of the occurrence and development of tinnitus has been explored.This article reviewed recent multimodal magnetic resonance imaging studies on the neuroimaging mechanisms of tinnitus with mood disorders, compared the differences in neural activity between subjective tinnitus patients and healthy people, and found that the limbic system, default mode network and other neural network abnormalities were closely related to the mood disorders of tinnitus.The application and development of multimodal magnetic resonance techniques in subjective tinnitus were also discussed to elucidate the neural mechanism of subjective tinnitus accompanied by mood disorders with the help of multimodal magnetic resonance techniques.

Objective:To detect the levels of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and nitric oxide (NO) in the serum of patients with early diabetic retinopathy (DR) and to explore their value in the treatment of DR.Methods:Fifty-nine patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus from March 2019 to June 2020 in the Yulin Second Hospital were collected and divided into the non-diabetic retinopathy (NDR) group (32 cases) and background stage diabetic retinopathy (BDR) group (27 cases) according to the DR grading criteria, and 29 healthy subjects were enrolled in the healthy control (HC) group. Serum VEGF levels were measured by a double antibody sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), and serum NO levels were measured by the nitrate reductase method (one-step method). Pearson analysis was used to correlate serum VEGF with NO levels in each group, and a logistic regression model was used to analyze the risk factors for DR.Results:Compared with the HC group, the differences in serum VEGF and NO levels of patients in the BDR group were statistically significant (all P < 0.05). The serum VEGF and NO levels were positively correlated in all groups (all P < 0.01). Duration of diabetes, smoking, glycated hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c), serum VEGF, and NO levels were high risk factors for DR. Conclusions:Serum VEGF and NO levels may be potential pathological mechanisms for the development of microvascular complications in patients with type 2 diabetes, and the interaction may induce or accelerate the progression of DR. This study is expected to provide a new idea of complementary or combined treatment in the treatment of DR.