Objective Based on the radiomics features extracted from the unenhanced CT images of the lower abdomen, a variety of machine learning models were constructed to explore their application value in the assessment of split renal function. Methods A retrospective analysis was conducted on the unenhanced CT images from 240 single kidneys in patients with clinically suspected renal dysfunction. Based on the results of single-photon emission computed tomography renal dynamic imaging, the cases were classified into the normal glomerular filtration rate group (n=118) and the decreased glomerular filtration rate group (n=122). The region of interest was outlined on the unenhanced CT images and the radiomics features were extracted. The features were selected by correlation analysis and least absolute shrinkage and selection operator, and the machine learning models were constructed based on the algorithms of decision tree, support vector machine, random forest, logistic regression, and extreme gradient boosting. Area under the receiver operating characteristic curve, accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity were calculated to compare the performance of different models. Results Sixteen radiomics features were selected for constructing the machine learning models. The support vector machine model showed relatively high performance for the assessment of split renal function on the test set, with an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve value of 0.883 (95% confidence interval: 0.804-0.961), an accuracy of 0.778, a sensitivity of 0.811, and a specificity of 0.743. Conclusion The machine learning models constructed based on unenhanced CT radiomics can be used to preliminarily assess split renal function, which provides an innovative, convenient, and safe method for clinical diagnosis and has positive significance for treatment.

Objective:To investigate the clinical effect of anterolateral thigh perforator flap (ALTPF) combined with transfer of fascia lata in reconstruction of complex tissue defects of hand and foot.Methods:From July 2021 to October 2023, 9 patients with complex tissue defects of hand and foot were treated with ALTPF combined with fascia lata in the Department of Orthopaedic Microsurgical Repair and Reconstruction of Fuyang People's Hospital Affiliated to Anhui Medical University. There were 2 males and 7 females with an average age of 28.1 (range, 4-65) years old. Three patients had extensor tendon defects in 6 digits of dorsal hands, 5 had extensor tendon defect in 10 toes of dorsal foot, 1 had a defect of anterior tibial tendon and 1 had Achilles tendon defect in posterior ankles. The sizes of soft tissue defect ranged from 8.0 cm×6.0 cm to 15.0 cm×10.0 cm, and the lengths of tendon defect ranged from 6.0 to 13.0 cm. Preoperative Doppler ultrasound was used to locate the distribution of perforating branches in the anterolateral thigh region. According to the characteristics of wound, ALTPFs and fascia lata were designed and harvested. Fascia lata with an appropriate size of 1.5 cm×8.0 cm-4.5 cm×15.0 cm were taken to bridge the defects of the tendon and the Achilles tendon. The wounds were reconstructed with flaps sized 9.0 cm×6.5 cm-18.0 cm×7.5 cm. Nine fascia lata donor sites and 8 flap donor sites were sutured directly. One donor site was treated with a skin graft of ipsilateral ilioinguinal region. The survival and complications of the flaps and donor sites were observed through outpatient follow-up visits, WeChat reviews and home visits, etc. The hand function was assessed according to the Evaluation Standard of Upper Limb Functional of Hand Surgery of Chinese Medical Association, and the foot and ankle function was assessed according to the Mazur score standard of joint range of motion and motor function.Results:All patients were included in follow-up for 4-24 (mean, 13.4) months with complete clinical data being collected. All 9 ALTPFs survived and healed primarily. A linear scar left in donor sites in 8 patients, and mild lamellar scar at skin graft in 1 patient. Texture and colour of the flaps were similar to the surrounding tissue without secondary flap thinning surgery. Combined with postoperative rehabilitation training, satisfactory function recoveries were achieved. Hand function of 3 patients were evaluated according to Evaluation Standard of Upper Limb Functional of Hand Surgery of Chinese Medical Association, 2 patients were excellent and 1 was good. Ankle and foot functions in 6 patients were evaluated according to the range of motion of ankle and foot and Mazur score standard for motor function, 4 patients were excellent and 2 were good.Conclusion:ALTPF combined with fascia lata transfer can reconstruct the complex tissue defects of hand and foot. Of which, 1 donor site can meet the requirements of 2 types of tissues reconstruction at the same time, and with minimal damage to the donor site as well as an precise reconstruction of the recipient site. It avoids staged surgery, shortens the treatment time and reduces the cost of treatment.

Benign prostatic hyperplasia(BPH)is one of the major chronic complications of type 2 diabetes mellitus(T2DM),and sex steroid hormones are common risk factors for the occurrence of T2DM and BPH.The profiles of sex steroid hormones are simultaneously quantified by LC-MS/MS in the clinical serum of patients,including simple BPH patients,newly diagnosed T2DM patients,T2DM complicated with BPH patients and matched healthy individuals.The G protein-coupled estrogen receptor(GPER)inhibitor G15,GPER knockdown lentivirus,the YAP1 inhibitor verteporfin,YAP1 knockdown/overexpression lentivirus,targeted metabolomics analysis,and Co-IP assays are used to investigate the molecular mechanisms of the disrupted sex steroid hormones homeostasis in the pathological process of T2DM complicated with BPH.The homeostasis of sex steroid hormone is disrupted in the serum of patients,accompanying with the proliferated prostatic epithelial cells(PECs).The sex steroid hormone metabolic profiles of T2DM patients complicated with BPH have the greatest degrees of separation from those of healthy individuals.Elevated 17β-estradiol(E2)is the key contributor to the disrupted sex steroid hormone homeostasis,and is significantly positively related to the clinical characteristics of T2DM patients complicated with BPH.Activating GPER by E2 via Hippo-YAP1 signaling exacerbates high glucose(HG)-induced PECs prolifer-ation through the formation of the YAP1-TEAD4 heterodimer.Knockdown or inhibition of GPER-mediated Hippo-YAP1 signaling suppresses PECs proliferation in HG and E2 co-treated BPH-1 cells.The anti-proliferative effects of verteporfin,an inhibitor of YAP1,are blocked by YAP1 overexpression in HG and E2 co-treated BPH-1 cells.Inactivating E2/GPER/Hippo/YAP1 signaling may be effective at delaying the progression of T2DM complicated with BPH by inhibiting PECs proliferation.

Objective:To analyze the clinical symptoms and epidemiological characteristics of patients with tsutsugamushi disease (TD) in Utica County, Shiyan City, providing reference for scientific prevention and control of TD.Methods:The information of 57 TD patients admitted to the Department of Infectious Diseases of the People's Hospital of Utica County in Shiyan City from January to December 2022 was collected, including age, gender, occupation, clinical manifestations (tarsus or chigger, high fever, rash and accompanying syndromes), laboratory and imaging test results, and field work and travel history. Blood samples and body crusts were collected, and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) were used to detect antibodies against Orientia tsugamushi (Ot-Ab-IgM) and Orientia tsutsugamushi (Ot). The scores of each patient were calculated using the TD Diagnostic Scale. A score of ≥8.5 was considered a clinical diagnosis of TD. According to the number of system functional damages (0, 1, 2, ≥3), 57 patients were divided into 4 groups, A, B, C, and D, TD was analyzed for system functional damages of each system.Results:Among the 57 TD patients, 26 (45.61%) were male and 31 (54.39%) were female, and the proportion of patients aged 40 - 79 years was 92.98% (53/57); farmers accounted for 89.47% (51/57). May was the peak of TD incidence, with 19 cases, which accounted for 33.33% (19/57) of the total number of patients affected that year. Fifty-four patients had a history of fieldwork or field trips before the onset of the disease. The incidence of high fever in 57 TD patients was 100.00%(57/57), the detection rate of body scorch or chiggers was 80.70% (46/57), and the incidence rate of rash was 98.25% (56/57); the incidence rate of tsutsugamushi disease triad (accompanied by scabs, high fever, and rash) was 80.70% (46/57); the incidence of eosinophil decline was 100.00%(57/57), and 77.19% (44/57) of TD patients experienced multiple-system functional damage (MSFD). The TD score diagnostic scale for 57 patients ranged from 8.5 to 10.5 points. After being hospitalized for 1 - 5 days, all TD patients experienced a decrease in body temperature to the normal range, and the damage to various systems functional gradually recovered.Conclusions:TD has become one of the most common natural infectious diseases in Utopia County, Shiyan City, Hubei Province. The patients are mainly middle-aged and elderly people, and the triple syndrome is a typical clinical manifestation. Asymptomatic injuries to the blood system, liver and kidneys are the most common.

Objective:To investigate the risk factors for refracture after percutaneous kyphoplasty (PKP) in patients with osteoporotic vertebral compression fracture (OVCF).Methods:A retrospective cohort study was conducted on the clinical data of 149 OVCF patients who were admitted to the First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University from June 2019 to June 2022, including 21 males and 128 females, aged 56-97 years [(73.2±8.7)years]. Initial surgical segments included T 7 in 1 patient, T 8 in 10, T 9 in 6, T 10 in 6, T 11 in 19, T 12 in 28, L 1 in 38, L 2 in 18, L 3 in 11, L 4 in 7 and L 5 in 5. Patients were divided into refracture group ( n=32) and non-refracture group ( n=117) according to whether they had postoperative refracture after PKP. Refractured surgical segments included T 8 in 2 patients, T 9 in 2, T 11 in 4, T 12 in 5, L 1 in 7, L 2 in 4, L 3 in 6, and L 5 in 2. The age, gender, underlying diseases (hypertension, diabetes), body mass index (BMI), preoperative bone mineral density (BMD), smoking history, drinking history, follow-up time, preoperative visual analogue scale (VAS), and preoperative Oswestry dysfunction index (ODI) of the two groups were recorded. Preoperative paravertebral muscle-related parameters of the two groups were calculated including cross-sectional area of bilateral psoas, bilateral erector spinae, bilateral multifidus, and vertebral bodies, paravertebral muscle mass, and vertebral bone quality (VBQ) score. Univariate analysis was performed to evaluate the correlation between the fore-mentioned indicators and postoperative refracture after PKP in OVCF patients. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was employed to identify the independent risk factors for postoperative refracture after PKP in OVCF patients. Results:Univariate analysis revealed that there was certain correlation of BMI, preoperative BMD, cross-sectional area of bilateral psoas, bilateral erector spinae, bilateral multifidus, paravertebral muscle mass and VBQ score with postoperative refracture after PKP in OVCF patients ( P<0.01), while no correlation was found between age, gender, hypertension, diabetes, smoking history, drinking history, follow-up time, preoperative VAS, preoperative ODI, or cross-sectional area of vertebral bodies and postoperative refracture after PKP in OVCF patients ( P>0.05). Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that preoperative BMD ≤-3.4 SD ( OR=0.27, 95% CI 0.09, 0.80, P<0.05), paravertebral muscle mass ≤281.2% ( OR=0.98, 95% CI 0.97, 0.99, P<0.01) and VBQ score ≥4.8 points ( OR=4.41, 95% CI 1.18, 16.44, P<0.05) were significantly correlated with postoperative refracture after PKP in OVCF patients. Conclusion:Preoperative BMD ≤-3.4 SD, paravertebral muscle mass ≤281.2%, and VBQ score ≥4.8 points are the independent risk factors for refracture after PKP in OVCF patients.

Concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CCRT) refers to the simultaneous treatment of chemotherapy and radiotherapy, and the effect of radiotherapy is enhanced with low-dose chemotherapy, which can reduce tumor recurrence and metastasis and improve clinical prognosis of patients. At present, the main factors for the increase of radiosensitivity of concurrent chemotherapy is that concurrent chemotherapy prevents the repair of tumor cells, and chemotherapy and radiotherapy act on different cell cycles and have synergistic effects. However, even for patients with locally advanced cervical cancer (LACC) who have undergone CCRT, the 5-year survival rate is only 60%, which is still not ideal. In order to improve the efficacy, researchers have conducted a series of exploratory studies, which consist of the combination of targeted drugs and immunodrugs, and neoadjuvant regimens before CCRT, etc. Although targeted or immunologic drugs are effective treatment of LACC, in view of the lack of large-scale evidence-based medical evidence, multi-center prospective and randomized phase III clinical trials and high-level articles are needed to improve the level of evidence-based medicine. This consensus summarizes several key evidence-based medical studies published recently, especially the clinical research progress in targeted and immunological therapies, providing reference for domestic peers.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a leading cause of dementia in the elderly. Mitogen-activated protein kinase phosphatase 1 (MKP-1) plays a neuroprotective role in AD. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying the effects of MKP-1 on AD have not been extensively studied. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) regulate gene expression at the post-transcriptional level, thereby repressing mRNA translation. Here, we reported that the microRNA-429-3p (miR-429-3p) was significantly increased in the brain of APP23/PS45 AD model mice and N2A^APP AD model cells. We further found that miR-429-3p could downregulate MKP-1 expression by directly binding to its 3'-untranslated region (3' UTR). Inhibition of miR-429-3p by its antagomir (A-miR-429) restored the expression of MKP-1 to a control level and consequently reduced the amyloidogenic processing of APP and Aβ accumulation. More importantly, intranasal administration of A-miR-429 successfully ameliorated the deficits of hippocampal CA1 long-term potentiation and spatial learning and memory in AD model mice by suppressing extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK1/2)-mediated GluA1 hyperphosphorylation at Ser831 site, thereby increasing the surface expression of GluA1-containing α-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid receptors (AMPARs). Together, these results demonstrate that inhibiting miR-429-3p to upregulate MKP-1 effectively improves cognitive and synaptic functions in AD model mice, suggesting that miR-429/MKP-1 pathway may be a novel therapeutic target for AD treatment.

The occurrence of benign prostate hyperplasia(BPH)was related to disrupted sex steroid hormones,and metformin(Met)had a clinical response to sex steroid hormone-related gynaecological disease.How-ever,whether Met exerts an antiproliferative effect on BPH via sex steroid hormones remains unclear.Here,our clinical study showed that along with prostatic epithelial cell(PEC)proliferation,sex steroid hormones were dysregulated in the serum and prostate of BPH patients.As the major contributor to dysregulated sex steroid hormones,elevated dihydrotestosterone(DHT)had a significant positive rela-tionship with the clinical characteristics of BPH patients.Activation of adenosine 5'-monophosphate(AMP)-activated protein kinase(AMPK)by Met restored dysregulated sex steroid hormone homeostasis and exerted antiproliferative effects against DHT-induced proliferation by inhibiting the formation of androgen receptor(AR)-mediated Yes-associated protein(YAP1)-TEA domain transcription factor(TEAD4)heterodimers.Met's anti-proliferative effects were blocked by AMPK inhibitor or YAP1 over-expression in DHT-cultured BPH-1 cells.Our findings indicated that Met would be a promising clinical therapeutic approach for BPH by inhibiting dysregulated steroid hormone-induced PEC proliferation.

Objective To explore the feasibility and accuracy of neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio(NLR)in the prediction of testicular torsion(TT)in children with acute scrotal pain.Methods A retrospective case-control study was performed on 158 pediatric patients with ultrasound suspicion of TT who underwent surgical testicular examination during Jan.2017 and Jan.2024.The patients were divided into TT group and non-TT group.Clinical data and laboratory data at admission were analyzed.Sensitivity and specificity of NLR to TT were determined with the area under the curve(AUC)represented on the receiver operating characteristic(ROC)curves.Results There were with no statistically significant differences in clinical data between the two groups(P＞0.05).The NLR was significantly higher in the TT group than in the non-TT group[(4.82±2.37)vs.(2.85±0.75),P＜0.05].The optimal cut-off value of TT predicted by NLR was 2.07,the AUC was 0.809(95％CI:0.709-0.909),and the sensitivity and specificity were 97.9％and 93.3％,respectively,which were significantly higher than other factors.Conclusion For suspicious ultrasound diagnosis of pediatric acute scrotal pain cases,NLR can be used to predict the possibility of TT and may help to evaluate the urgent surgical treatment in these patients.

N1-methyladenosine(m1A)RNA methylation is critical for regulating mRNA translation;however,its role in the development,progression,and immunotherapy response of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma(HNSCC)remains largely unknown.Using Tgfbr1 and Pten conditional knockout(2cKO)mice,we found the neoplastic transformation of oral mucosa was accompanied by increased m1A modification levels.Analysis of m1A-associated genes identified TRMT61A as a key m1A writer linked to cancer progression and poor prognosis.Mechanistically,TRMT61A-mediated tRNA-m1A modification promotes MYC protein synthesis,upregulating programmed death-ligand 1(PD-L1)expression.Moreover,m1A modification levels were also elevated in tumors treated with oncolytic herpes simplex virus(oHSV),contributing to reactive PD-L1 upregulation.Therapeutic m1A inhibition sustained oHSV-induced antitumor immunity and reduced tumor growth,representing a promising strategy to alleviate resistance.These findings indicate that m1A inhibition can prevent immune escape after oHSV therapy by reducing PD-L1 expression,providing a mutually reinforcing combination immunotherapy approach.