BACKGROUND:Intervertebral disk degeneration is a pathological change caused by a series of complex molecular mechanisms that result in the aging and damage of intervertebral discs,ultimately leading to severe clinical symptoms.Traditional Chinese medicine has unique advantages in the treatment of intervertebral disk degeneration due to its low cost,non-addictive nature,multi-target effects,minimally toxic and side effects,and high patient acceptance. OBJECTIVE:To review the latest research results of traditional Chinese medicine monomer intervention-related signaling pathways in the treatment of intervertebral disk degeneration,describe and analyze the action mechanism of traditional Chinese medicine monomer on intervertebral disk degeneration,and provide a new approach and theoretical basis for future basic research and clinical treatment. METHODS:The first author searched for relevant literature from January 2018 to February 2023 in CNKI,PubMed,VIP,and WanFang using the search terms"intervertebral disc,signal pathway".The articles that did not meet the criteria were excluded after preliminary screening of the titles and abstracts.Finally,72 articles were selected for review and analysis. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:Traditional Chinese medicine monomers can regulate multiple classical signaling pathways such as Wnt/β-catenin,PI3K/Akt,mTOR,NF-κB,and MAPK.They achieve this by regulating oxidative stress,adjusting the expression of pro/anti-apoptotic proteins in cells,stimulating cellular autophagy function,reducing stimulation of cell inflammatory factors,increasing the expression of extracellular matrix markers,reducing the production of matrix-degrading enzymes,maintaining the synthesis and stability of extracellular matrix,inducing differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells in the nucleus pulposus into nucleus pulposus cells,promoting endogenous repair and reconstruction,controlling apoptosis and aging of nucleus pulposus cells,and increasing the activity of nucleus pulposus cells.These actions improve the microenvironment within the intervertebral disc,maintain the normal physiological function of the intervertebral disc,and delay intervertebral disc degeneration.

BACKGROUND:At present,bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells are the main seed cells used in cell therapy for the treatment of intervertebral disc degeneration.However,the use of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells as seed cells for the regeneration of fibrous rings is at risk of heterotopic ossification and teratoma at the repair site.Therefore,it is of great economic and social significance to find a new kind of seed cells for tissue engineering of annulus fibrosus for the treatment of intervertebral disc degeneration. OBJECTIVE:To isolate and purify rat annulus fibrosus-derived stem cells by adherent method combined with fibronectin differential adhesion screening method,and to observe its purification effect and biological characteristics. METHODS:Annulus fibrosus tissue was obtained from a SD rat intervertebral disc.Primary annulus fibrosus-derived stem cells were obtained by the mechanical-enzymatic digestion method.Annulus fibronectin differential adhesion method was used to purify annulus fibrosus-derived stem cells.Morphological changes and proliferation of cells were observed through a microscope.The expression levels of stem cell markers were detected by immunofluorescence technique and qPCR.The screened cells were subjected to multi-lineage cell differentiation and characteristic gene detection. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:(1)The purified cells grew well,and most of them were angular and star-shaped multi-process cells,which had good proliferation ability.(2)Cells were positive for cell membrane surface antigens CD73,CD90 and CD105,while negative for CD45 and CD34.(3)After specific induction,cells could successfully differentiate into osteoblasts,chondroblasts and lipoblasts.(4)Collagen-I,Runx-2 after osteogenic induction,Collagen Ⅱ,Sox-9 after chondrogenic induction,and PPAR-γ and LPL after lipogenic induction were highly expressed in cells,and the difference was significant compared with that before induction(P<0.05).(5)These findings confirm that the adherent method combined with fibronectin differential adhesion method is effective enough to screen,isolate and purify rat annulus fibrosus-derived stem cells,and has good cell biological properties,good proliferation ability and multiple differentiation potential.

【Objective】 To explore the effectiveness and safety of polyglycolic acid (PGA) and hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (HPMC) composite materials in distal pancreatectomy postoperative suturing. 【Methods】 We selected 36 healthy adult beagles and divided them randomly into observation group and control group, with 18 distal pancreatectomy surgeries in each group. The observation group used PGA+HPMC composite materials for incision reinforcement while the control group used NEOVEIL for incision reinforcement. 3 days before surgery, 3 days after surgery, and before dissection, blood routine tests were performed on each group of experimental dogs. Observation periods of 2-week, 4-week and 8-week were set, and six animals at each observation point were evaluated for histological examination of heart, liver, spleen, lung, and kidney tissues, hard tissue slice pathological diagnosis, and safety evaluation. 【Results】 There was no significant difference between the observation group and the control group in the preoperative blood routine test. Repeated measures ANOVA results showed differences in the mean values of white blood cell count (WBC) ( F=14.875, P=0.001), mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration (MCHC) (F=5.049,P=0.009), neutrophil percentage (Neu%) (F=4.794, P=0.011), red blood cell count (RBC) (F=6.591, P=0.002), hemoglobin (HGB) (F=8.154, P=0.001), hematocrit (HCT) (F=5.281, P=0.007), platelet count (PLT) (F=6.560, P=0.014), red blood cell distribution width coefficient of variation (RDW-CV) (F=33.950, P=0.039), or lymphocyte percentage (Lym%) (F=3.299, P=0.043) at different time points. However, the observation group and the control group did not differ, and the interaction between time and group had no significant effect on the above indicators, suggesting that both groups of dogs had inflammatory response or surgical stress. For the 8-week postoperative hard tissue pathological section score, there was no significant difference between the observation group and the control group in the inflammation and necrosis related score, fibrosis, repair or other related scores and total score (P>0.05). In the dissection at 8 weeks after surgery, no obvious damage to the heart, liver, spleen, lung, kidney, or other organs was found in both groups, nor was there any residual suture material, pancreatic fistula, or pancreatitis, indicating that the suture materials in both groups had been completely absorbed and metabolized, and the incision healed well without causing adverse effects on the visceral organs. 【Conclusion】 PGA and HPMC are effective and safe postoperative suture materials, with good biodegradability, biocompatibility, suture strength, and wound healing quality. They can be comparable to traditional absorbable reinforcement materials in distal pancreatectomy postoperative suturing, thus providing scientific basis for their clinical application.

Metaverse technology, which fully combines virtual reality, augmented reality, digital twins, blockchain, Internet of Things and other technologies, enjoys promising prospects and advantages in medical care. This article reviews the types of Metaverse key technologies and their application status in medical care, proposes to develop "Metaverse + nursing" in the future, and looks forward to it, in order to promote the integration of Metaverse and nursing theory and practice and lay the foundation for subsequent research.

For the detection and identification of abnormal nodular tissues on the body surface, a microwave sensor structure loaded with a spiral resonator is proposed in this paper, a sensor simulation model is established using HFSS software, the structural parameters are optimized, and the actual sensor is fabricated. The S21 parameters of the tissue were obtained when nodules appeared by simulation, and the characteristic relationship between the difference of S21 parameters with position was analyzed and tested experimentally. The results showed that when nodules were present in normal tissues, the curve of S21 parameter difference with position change had obvious inverted bimodal characteristics, and the extreme value of S21 parameter difference appeared when the sensor was directly above the nodules, which was easy to identify the position of nodules. It provides an objective detection tool for the identification of abnormal nodular tissues on the body surface.
Microwaves ; Recognition, Psychology ; Computer Simulation ; Software

Objective:To establish a standard method to evaluate the scanning accuracy of intraoral scanner (IOS) and to investigate six IOS′s scanning accuracy and the relationship between different scan span.Methods:Five simplified six abutments full arch model were fabricated by high accuracy (5 μm) milling machine with 7075 aluminum alloy. The machining accuracy, which was verified by a coordinate measuring machine with higher accuracy (0.7 μm), was considered as the reference accuracy. The model with the highest machining accuracy was considered as the test model in IOS′s scanning accuracy test, and computer-aided design (CAD) data of the model was used as the reference data. Six IOS scanned the test model 10 times with the same scanning path, obtained 60 test data. CAD data and test data were input into Geomagic Studio 2014. The preparation part above the margin of the abutments of the data was isolated and divided into 4 segments of interest: single crown, three-unit bridge, five-unit bridge, and full arch. The test data were then best-fit aligned to CAD data or each other followed by deviation analysis. Scanning trueness and precision were then calculated.Results:The mid-value of scanning trueness and precision of six IOS in single crown, three-unit bridge, five-unit bridge and full arch were 13.3-29.6 μm and 7.6-20.7 μm, 15.4-30.9 μm and 8.7-26.5 μm, 17.0-66.1 μm and 11.3-44.2 μm, 24.0-107.9 μm and 24.6-150.1 μm respectively.Conclusions:Long-span scanning can affect the accuracy of IOS to a varying extent.

Intraoral three-dimensional scanning technology has been adopted in stomatology field and developed rapidly with improved accuracy. At present, the scanning accuracy of the intraoral three-dimensional scanners used in restoration of single crown, three unit fixed partial bridge and single implant crown satisfies the clinical requirements. While for restoration of multi-unit fixed, the scanning accuracy is not enough. There are still technical bottlenecks for scanning functional motion boundary of soft tissue, especially for direct acquisition of edentulous functional impressions. Through literature review and analysis, we summarize the intraoral scanning accuracy of oral hard and soft tissues, and analyze the clinical applicability and limitations of intraoral scanning technology, providing reference for clinical application.

OBJECTIVETo detect potential mutation of TCOF1 gene in a Chinese family affected with Treacher-Collins syndrome.

METHODSClinical data of the patient was collected. The analysis included history taking, clinical examination and genetic testing. All coding regions of the TCOF1 gene were subjected to PCR amplification and Sanger sequencing.

RESULTSA novel mutation c.2261ins G (p.E95X) of the TCOF1 gene was discovered in the patient. The same mutation was not found in his parents and 100 healthy controls.

CONCLUSIONThe c.2261insG (p.E95X) mutation of the TCOF1 gene probably underlies the disease in the patient. Genetic testing can facilitate diagnosis and genetic counseling for families affected with TCS.

Iatrogenic gastrointestinal perforation is one of the severe adverse events of endoscopic therapeutic procedure. For acute iatrogenic perforation,management by endoscopic techniques is a simple and rapid modality to close the perforation with minimal invasiveness and avoiding the traditional surgical trauma. Endoclips,suture with special instruments,covered stents,degradable sheets combined with tissue adhesive,and combined endoscopic techniques such as snares combined with endoclips,are the major endoscopic therapeutic modalities for closure of iatrogenic gastrointestinal perforation. In this article,the current status and progress of endoscopic management for acute iatrogenic gastrointestinal perforation were reviewed.

Objective To study the different expressions of neurotensin (NT) at gene and protein level in orthotopic model of prostate cancer . Methods The animal models of androgen dependent prostate cancer(ADPC,castrated for 3 days) and androgen independent prostate cancer(AIPC) were established by planting tumor tissue or undergoing surgical castra-tion. Affymetrix microarray technology was carried out to compare the gene expressions of NT. The result was verified by qRT-PCR. HE staining was used to observe the change of pathology. ELSIA and immunohistochemistry technology were fi-nally performed to detect protein expression of prostate-specific antigen(PSA) and NT in three different groups of prostate cancer tumor tissues. Results The expression of NT was 5.10 times higher in AIPC group than that in ADPC group. The ex-pression of NT was 0.33 times lower in castrated 3-day group than that in ADPC group. Results of RT-PCR and qRT-PCR showed that the expression levels of NT gene were 1.41 and 7.27 times respectively higher in AIPC group than that in ADPC group,but the expression levels of NT gene were 0.78 and 0.46 times respectively lower in castrated 3-day group than that in ADPC group (P<0.05). HE results showed that nuclear atypia and tumor structure in three groups. Immunohistochemistry and ELISA results showed that the values of PSA and NT were (0.48±0.03) and (0.031±0.008)μg/L in ADPC group;(0.17± 0.03) and (0.021±0.004)μg/L in castrated 3-day group,and (0.87±0.02) and (0.042±0.010)μg/L in AIPC group. There were significantly lower expressions of NT and PSA in castrated 3-day group that those of ADPC group (P<0.01). Conclusion In the transition from ADPC to AIPC, the over-expression of NT suggested that NT may be associated with prostate cancer progression. NT may be used as a new therapeutic target and specific diagnostic method of AIPC.