Objective:To compare the outcomes of multiple scales, primarily the speech, spatial, and other qualities of hearing scale for parents（SSQ-P）, in children with ipsilateral vs. Contralateral cochleareimplantat ion（CRI）. Methods: A total of 69 children who received cochlear implantation surgery from April 1999 to June 2024 were included. Patients were divided into two groups based on whether the implantation was on the same side. General information such as gender, age, age at initial implantation and reimplantation was collected. The primary caregivers of the children were followed up by telephone using the categories of auditory performance（CAP）, speech intelligibility rating（SIR）, and SSQ-P questionnaires. Statistical methods including stepwise regression, linear regression, and permutation tests were employed to investigate if there were any statistically significant differences in the scores of CAP, SIR, SSQ-P total, SSQ-P speech perception, SSQ-P spatial hearing, and SSQ-P auditory quality dimensions between the ipsilateral and contralateral reimplantation groups. Results:Of the 69 children included, 62 were in the ipsilateral reimplantation group with a mean age of 11.1 years, and 7 were in the contralateral reimplantation group with a mean age of 11.7 years. Statistical analysis showed that patients in the contralateral reimplantation group had significantly lower SSQ-P total scores （P<0.05） and spatial hearing dimension scores （P<0.05） than those in the ipsilateral reimplantation group after controlling for the corresponding confounders. Conclusion:The effect of ipsilateral reimplantation of cochlear implants is superior to that of contralateral reimplantation in terms of overall auditory function and spatial hearing in daily life for children, but the mechanisms require further investigation.
Humans ; Cochlear Implantation ; Child ; Parents ; Speech Perception ; Male ; Cochlear Implants ; Female ; Hearing ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Speech ; Child, Preschool

Myopia shows a trend of high incidence and low age,and the number of high myopia patients is increasing year by year.Safe and effective myopia intervention measures are the top priority of myopia prevention and control.It has been found that low-dose atropine,orthokeratology,repeated low-level red light and other treatment methods have reliable efficacy,which can provide a variety of options for myopia prevention and control in children.The choroid,as an impor-tant anatomical structure of the fundus,is closely related to the mechanism of myopia.Choroidal parameters may become markers for evaluating the effect of myopia prevention and control and monitoring the progression of myopia.With the con-tinuous development of medical imaging technology,choroidal thickness and microcirculatory parameters have been accu-rately quantified.Further exploration of the changes of choroid under various myopia intervention measures will help clini-cians design personalized treatment plans for different patients,which is of great clinical significance for the management of myopia prevention and control.In this article,the research progress on choroidal thickness and blood flow changes under different myopia prevention and control measures are reviewed.

Despite growing prevalence and incidence, the management of gout remains suboptimal. The intermittent nature of the gout makes the long-term urate-lowering therapy (ULT) particularly important for gout management. However, patients are reluctant to take medication day after day to manage incurable occasional gout flares, and suffer from possible long-term toxicity. Therefore, a safe and easy-to-operate drug delivery system with simple preparation for the long-term management of gout is very necessary. Here, a chitosan-containing sustained-release microneedle system co-loaded with colchicine and uricase liposomes were fabricated to achieve this goal. This microneedle system was confirmed to successfully deliver the drug to the skin and maintain a one-week drug retention. Furthermore, its powerful therapeutic potency to manage gout was investigated in both acute gouty and chronic gouty models. Besides, the drug co-delivery system could help avoid long-term daily oral colchicine, a drug with a narrow therapeutic index. This system also avoids mass injection of uricase by improving its stability, enhancing the clinical application value of uricase. In general, this two-drug system reduces the dosage of uricase and colchicine and improves the patient's compliance, which has a strong clinical translation.

Objective:To investigate the protective effect and mechanism of dexamethasone in lung ischemia/reperfusion injury (LIRI) rats.Methods:① Part one experiment: 24 Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were divided into four groups according to the random number method ( n = 6): standard ventilation group (N group), normal saline group (NS group), LIRI group, and dexamethasone+LIRI group (DEX group). The rat model of LIRI was established by clamping the left pulmonary hilum for 1 hour and reperfusing it for 2 hours. The DEX group was given dexamethasone 3 mg/kg 5 minutes before reperfusion, and NS group was injected with normal saline. Group N did not receive any treatment. The left lung tissue of the rats in each group were taken alive 2 hours after reperfusion. The lung tissue was harvested for lung wet/dry mass ratio (W/D) measurement. Hematoxylin-eosin (HE) staining and electron microscopy was used to observe the pathological changes of lung tissue and to assess the degree of injury. Ultrastructural changes of lung tissue were observed under electron microscope. The levels of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin (IL-1β, IL-6) in lung tissue were detected by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The expressions of phosphorylated protein kinase B (p-AKT) was detected by Western Blot. ② Part two experiment: intervention with phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase/protein kinase B (PI3K/AKT) pathway inhibitor LY294002 to further explore the mechanism of dexamethasone in reducing lung injury induced by LIRI. Twenty-four SD rats were divided into four groups according to the random number method ( n = 6): N group, LIRI group, DEX group, and dexamethasone+LY294002+LIRI group (LY group). All the groups except the LY group were treated with membrane and intervention according to part one experiment. The LY group was injected with LY294002 0.3 mg/kg after injection of dexamethasone. The expressions of M1 macrophage polarization markers CD11c, CD16, and M2 macrophage polarization markers CD206, Arg1 were detected by immunohistochemistry. Results:① Part one experiment: compared with N group, the morphological and ultrastructural changes of lung tissue in the LIRI group were significantly changed, lung injury score, lung W/D ratio and TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-6 levels were significantly increased, and p-AKT expression was significantly decreased. Compared with the LIRI group, the morphological and ultrastructural changes of the lung tissue in the DEX group were significantly improved, and the lung injury score was reduced (5.00±0.89 vs. 8.83±0.75), lung W/D ratio and TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-6 levels were significantly decreased [lung W/D ratio: 6.25±0.56 vs. 8.27±0.72, TNF-α(ng/L): 93.28±16.42 vs. 205.90±25.30, IL-1β(ng/L): 130.10±10.81 vs. 209.10±19.20, IL-6 (ng/L): 195.80±21.17 vs. 310.50±20.77], p-AKT expression was significantly increased [p-AKT/AKT: (57.58±8.80)% vs. (36.62±9.25)%], and the differences were statistically significant (all P < 0.05). There was no significant difference in each index between NS group and N group. ② Part two experiment: compared with the N group, the expression of macrophage polarization markers CD11c, CD16, CD206 and Arg1 in the LIRI group were significantly increased. Compared with the LIRI group, the expressions of CD11c and CD16 in the lung tissue of the DEX group were significantly decreased, and the expressions of CD206 and Arg1 were significantly increased. The intervention of PI3K/AKT signaling pathway inhibitor LY294002 significantly blocked the effect of dexamethasone on LIRI-mediated macrophage polarization (CD11c immunohistochemical score: 7.20±0.36 vs. 5.00±0.34, CD16 immunohistochemical score: 8.20±0.48 vs. 7.40±0.64, CD206 immunohistochemical score: 5.80±0.59 vs. 7.40±0.28, Arg1 immunohistochemical score: 7.20±0.72 vs. 8.80±0.48, all P < 0.05). Conclusions:Dexamethasone pretreatment can alleviate the intrapulmonary inflammatory response and lung injury caused by LIRI in rats. The mechanism of action is related to the polarization direction of pulmonary macrophagesvia activation of the PI3K/AKT pathway by dexamethasone.

Background and aims:To investigate the safety and efficacy of direct-acting antiviral(DAA)regimens in a cohort of Chinese patients with chronic hepatitis C virus(HCV)infection. Methods:A total of 222 adult Chinese patients were enrolled and treated via DAA regimens in accor-dance with HCV management guidelines.Treatment responses were evaluated 4 weeks after treatment,at the end of treatment(EOT)and 12 weeks post-treatment.Virological responses,biochemical re-sponses,model for end-stage liver disease(MELD)and Child-Pugh(CP)scores were recorded. Results:A total of 218 patients(98.2％)achieved sustained virological response 12 weeks post-treatment and 4 patients relapsed.The combined number of rapid virological responses for all six regimens was 170/222(76.6％),and 221/222(99.6％)had achieved virological responses by the end of treatment.In decompensated cirrhosis patients the baseline mean CP score was 6.8±1.3 and the mean MELD score was 10.1±3.3.Compared with the mean CP score at baseline,the mean score is significantly lower at the end of treatment(5.7±1.3)and 12 weeks post-treatment(5.6±1.0).Estimated glomerular filtration rates did not differ significantly from baseline during the treatment or 12 weeks post-treatment.The incidence of adverse events in patients with chronic hepatitis C and compensated cirrhosis was 42/172(24.4％),and in patients with decompensated cirrhosis it was 8/22(36.4％).The most frequently reported adverse events were elevated indirect bilirubin,fatigue and rash.There were no cases of serious adverse events,death or treatment discontinuation because of adverse events. Conclusion:DAA regimens were highly effective and well tolerated irrespective of HCV genotype,cirrhosis,liver or kidney transplantation,hepatocellular carcinoma,HCV/hepatitis B virus co-infection,or renal failure.

Objective To investigate the role and mechanism of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) in rats with ventilator-induced lung injury (VILI) via Toll-like receptor 9 (TLR9)-myeloid differentiation factor 88 (MyD88) signaling pathway. Methods Thirty adult male Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were randomly divided into three groups (each n = 10): spontaneous breathing group, normal tidal volume (VT) group (NVT group, VT = 8 mL/kg), and high VT group (HVT group, VT = 40 mL/kg). Rats in the NVT group and HVT group were ventilated mechanically with a positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP) of 0 and the fraction of inspired oxygen (FiO2) at 0.50. After 4 hours of ventilation, the blood from the rats' hearts was collected and the rats were sacrificed, the levels of interleukins (IL-6, IL-1β) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) in serum were determined with enzyme-linked immune sorbent assay (ELISA). The bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) was collected for a determination of total protein by using the bicinchoninic acid (BCA) assay. The lung tissues were harvested to determine the wet/dry (W/D) ratio. The changes in pathobiology of lung tissue were observed with hematoxylin and eosin (HE) staining. The protein expression levels of mtDNA-encoded cytochrome C oxidase subunit Ⅳ (COX-Ⅳ), TLR9, MyD88 and nuclear factor-κB p65 (NF-κB p65) in lung tissues were determined by immunohistochemistry. Results The histopathology of lung tissues indicated that lungs from animals ventilated with HVT developed marked lung inflammation changes, whereas no major histological change was observed in animals ventilated with NVT or spontaneously breathing. The pathological score in HVT group was significantly higher than that of spontaneous breathing group and NVT group (3.50±0.41 vs. 0.25±0.09, 0.33±0.10, both P < 0.05). Compared with spontaneous breathing group and NVT group, the ratio of W/D in the HVT group was significantly increased (6.42±0.41 vs. 4.14±0.04, 4.28±0.11, both P < 0.05), the contents of total proteins in BALF were significantly increased (g/L: 0.43±0.04 vs. 0.13±0.01, 0.14±0.01, both P < 0.05), and serum IL-6, IL-1β and TNF-α levels were also increased [IL-6 (μg/L): 1.15±0.17 vs. 0.42±0.10, 0.46±0.04; IL-1β (μg/L): 6.73±0.38 vs. 2.08±0.90, 2.19±0.18; TNF-α (μg/L): 4.10±0.11 vs. 1.12±0.10, 1.14±0.04; all P < 0.05]. Immunohistochemistry results demonstrated that the proteins of COX-Ⅳ, TLR9, MyD88 and NF-κB p65 in HVT group were shown in brown, which meant strongly expressed. However, these proteins in spontaneous breathing group and NVT group were uncolored or shown in buff, which meant unexpressed or weakly expressed. The results of quantitative analysis indicated that the immunoreactive scores (IRS) of COX-Ⅳ, TLR9, MyD88 and NF-κB p65 in HVT group were significantly higher than those in spontaneous breathing group and NVT group (COX-Ⅳ IRS: 8.80±2.17 vs. 0.80±0.45, 1.40±0.55;TLR9 IRS: 8.40±2.51 vs. 1.00±0.71, 1.20±0.84; MyD88 IRS: 9.40±1.52 vs. 1.40±0.55, 1.60±0.55; NF-κB p65 IRS: 9.80±2.05 vs. 1.00±0.71, 1.20±0.84; all P < 0.05). There was no significant difference in all of the parameters between spontaneous breathing group and NVT group (all P > 0.05). Conclusion mtDNA contributes significantly to VILI by activating the TLR9-MyD88 signaling pathway, resulting in subsequent secretion of NF-κB p65 and the proinflammatory cytokines, which induce acute inflammatory injury of lung tissue.

Objective: To explore the value of plasma cell-free DNA (cfDNA) in the assessment of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) activity. Methods: From July 2014 to June 2017, 145 IBD patients from the First Affiliated Hospital of Fujian Medical University were selected. The plasma content of cfDNA was detected by picogreen-based fluorescent quantitative method. At the same period, 37 healthy individuals were enrolled as control group. The correlation between cfDNA content and C-reactive protein (CRP), erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), and IBD activity was analyzed. The diagnostic capability of cfDNA in IBD activity was assessed by the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve. T-test was performed for comparison between two independent samples, and Pearson correlation coefficient test was used for correlation analysis between two variants. Results: The content of plasma cfDNA of patients with Crohn′s disease (CD) and patients with ulcerative colitis (UC) were (29.17±2.07) μg/L and (26.86±1.97) μg/L, respectively; which were both higher than those of healthy control group (21.10±1.02) μg/L, and the differences were statistically significant (t=2.609 and 2.082, both P<0.05). Moreover, the content of cfDNA of patients with active CD or UC were (35.72±3.26) μg/L and (32.37±3.42) μg/L, respectively, which were both higher than those of patients with CD or UC in remission ((21.12±1.43) μg/L and (20.82±1.02) μg/L), and the differences were statistically significant (t=3.806 and 3.116, both P<0.01). The cfDNA content of CD patients was positively correlated with CRP, ESR and disease activity (r=0.555, 0.393 and 0.400, all P<0.01). The cfDNA content of UC patients was also positively correlated with CRP, ESR and disease activity (r=0.640, 0.421 and 0.360, all P<0.01). The diagnostic capability of the combination of CRP and ESR was the highest in CD diagnosis, with the area under curve (AUC) value being 0.841, and the sensitivity and specificity being 81.4% and 74.3%, respectively. The diagnostic capability of the combination of cfDNA, CRP and ESR was the highest in UC diagnosis, with the AUC value being 0.851, and the sensitivity and specificity being 74.3% and 96.9%, respectively. Conclusions Increased cfDNA levels in IBD patients are correlated with IBD activity. Detection of cfDNA is helpful in the identification of active IBD, and the combination of ESR and CRP can improve the diagnostic efficiency of UC.

Objective: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of DCV-based DAAs therapy for chronic HCV infected Chinese patients. Methods: An open-label, non-randomized, prospective study was designed. Fifty-two patients with chronic HCV infection were enrolled. Among them, there was one patient after liver transplantation, 2 patients after kidney transplantation, 3 patients with hepatocellular carcinoma, and 4 patients with HBV infection. Thirteen cases with chronic hepatitis C (one compensated cirrhosis) who were negative for resistance-related variants [NS5A RAS (-)] of gene 1b and NS5A were treated with daclatasvir (DCV) + asunaprevir (ASV) for 24 weeks. Twenty-five cases of CHC (six compensated cirrhosis) with GT 1b, 2a, 3a, 3b, 6a were treated with DCV + SOF ± RBV for 24 weeks. 8 cases with decompensated cirrhosis of gene 1b and NS5A RAS(-) were given DCV + SOF + RBV regimen for 12 weeks. Six cases with decompensated cirrhosis, of gene 2a, 1b, 2a, 3a, 3b, were given DCV + SOF + RBV regimen for 24 weeks. HCV RNA, blood routine test, liver and kidney function, and upper abdominal ultrasound/MRI were measured at baseline, 4 weeks of treatment, end of treatment, and 12 weeks of follow-up. The incidence of adverse events and laboratory abnormalities during treatment were recorded. A t-test was used to compare the measurement data between two groups, and analysis of variance was used to compare the measurement data between multiple groups. Results: Sixteen patients (100%) achieved SVR12 after treatment, with 0% recurrence rate. Rapid virological response (RVR) of the four treatment regimens were 76.92%, 54.17%, 87.50%, and 83.33%, respectively, and 32 patients achieved 100% virological response after the completion of treatment. The incidence of adverse events of chronic hepatitis C with cirrhosis and decompensated cirrhosis was 62.5% and 64.29%, respectively. The most common adverse event was fatigue in CHC (25.00%), and elevated indirect bilirubin in decompensated cirrhosis (42.86%). No serious adverse drug events, deaths or adverse reactions occurred. Conclusion DCV-based DAAs regimen is promising option for the treatment of HCV genotypes, compensated cirrhosis, decompensated cirrhosis, hepatocellular carcinoma, and HCV infection after liver/kidney transplantation in china. Above all, it has high SVR12 with good tolerability and safety profile.

Passive leg raising is widely used in clinic, but it lacks of specialized mechanical raise equipment. It requires medical staff to raise leg by hand or requires a multi-functional bed to raise leg, which takes time and effort. Therefore we have developed a new medical electric leg-raising machine. The equipment has the following characteristics: simple structure, stable performance, easy operation, fast and effective, safe and comfortable. The height range of the lifter is 50-120 cm, the range of the angle of raising leg is 10°-80°, the maximum supporting weight is 40 kg. Because of raising the height of the lower limbs and making precise angle, this equipment can completely replace the traditional manner of lifting leg by hand with multi-functional bed to lift patients' leg and can reduce the physical exhaustion and time consumption of medical staff. It can change the settings at any time to meet the needs of the patient;can be applied to the testing of PLR and dynamically assessing the hemodynamics; can prevent deep vein thrombosis and some related complications of staying in bed; and the machine is easy to be cleaned and disinfected, which can effectively avoid hospital acquired infection and cross infection; and can also be applied to emergency rescue of various disasters and emergencies.