Objective To investigate the association between low-level ionizing radiation exposure and peripheral blood parameters in medical radiation workers, and to provide evidence for radiation protection strategies and occupational health surveillance. Methods A total of 1261 medical radiation workers from medical institutions in Heze City, Shandong Province, China, were enrolled. Individual monitoring of occupational external exposure was performed. Demographic characteristics and physical examination data were collected. According to the median annual effective dose, the subjects were stratified into a low-dose group (0.10-0.43 mSv) and a high-dose group (>0.43-5.24 mSv). Logistic regression was used to assess the association between ionizing radiation and peripheral blood parameters. Subgroup analyses were conducted by gender, age, and exposure duration. Results A total of 1261 subjects were enrolled, of whom 893 (70.82%) were male and 368 (29.18%) were female. The median age was 39.00 (32.00, 47.00) years and the median exposure duration was 11.00 (5.00, 22.00) years. No statistically significant differences in baseline characteristics were observed between the two groups. The radiation dose ranged from 0.104 to 5.239 mSv, all below the occupational exposure limit (20 mSv). Basophil count, hematocrit, and mean corpuscular volume in the high-dose group were significantly higher than those in the low-dose group, while mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration was lower (P<0.05). Logistic regression analysis showed that ionizing radiation primarily affected erythrocyte parameters, with abnormal hematocrit (OR=1.449, 95%CI: 1.148-1.831), abnormal mean corpuscular volume (OR=1.407, 95%CI: 1.119-1.771), and abnormal mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration (OR=1.608, 95%CI: 1.278-2.025) positively associated with ionizing radiation exposure. Subgroup analyses further revealed differences that were not observed in the total population These findings suggest that gender, age, and exposure duration may modify the effect of ionizing radiation on peripheral blood parameters. Conclusion Long-term low-level ionizing radiation exposure can affect peripheral blood parameters in medical radiation workers, particularly erythrocyte parameters. Enhanced occupational health monitoring and protection measures are warranted.

Objective To investigate the value of artificial intelligence-assisted compressed sensing (ACS) technology for intravenous gadolinium contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging of the inner ear using three-dimensional fluid-attenuated inversion recovery (3D-FLAIR) sequence. Methods The patients received gadolinium contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging using ACS and united compressed sensing (uCS) 3D-FLAIR at Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University from January to November 2024 were prospectively enrolled. The repetition time was 16 000 ms, and acquisition time was 6 min 40 s and 10 min 24 s in ACS 3D-FLAIR and uCS 3D-FLAIR, respectively. The images on the two sequences were evaluated independently by two radiologists. The image quality of the two sequences was subjectively evaluated and compared. The signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) were compared between the two sequences. The grading consistencies using two sequences and between the two doctors were analyzed. Results There was no statistically difference in subjective score of image quality between the two sequences. SNR and CNR of the ACS 3D-FLAIR sequence were significantly higher than those of the uCS 3D-FLAIR sequence (P＜0.001). The kappa values of grades of cochlear and vestibular endolymphatic hydrops were 0.942 and 0.888 using two sequences (P＜0.001). The kappa values of grades of cochlear and vestibular endolymphatic hydrops using the ACS 3D-FLAIR sequence between the two doctors were 0.784 and 0.831, respectively (P＜0.001); the kappa values of grades of cochlear and vestibular endolymphatic hydrops using uCS 3D-FLAIR sequence between the two doctors were 0.725 and 0.756, respectively (P＜0.001). Conclusions ACS 3D-FLAIR could provide higher SNR and CNR than uCS 3D-FLAIR, and is more suitable for intravenous gadolinium contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging of the inner ear; the endolymphatic hydrops grades using ACS 3D-FLAIR is similar to use uCS 3D-FLAIR.

Background and aims:Advanced hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC)with pulmonary metastasis(PM)has a poor prognosis,and optimal treatment strategies remain controversial.This study aimed to compare the long-term outcomes of patients with advanced HCC with PM who were treated with resection of pul-monary metastases versus those treated with targeted therapies combined with immunotherapy.Methods:A retrospective analysis was conducted on the medical records of HCC patients with PM who underwent either pulmonary metastasectomy or immunotherapy combined with targeted therapies at the Eastern Hepatobiliary Surgery Hospital,Changhai Hospital of Shanghai,Fujian Provincial Hospital,and West China Hospital of Sichuan University from September 2013 to October 2022.One-to-one propensity score matching(PSM)was employed to control the influence of potential confounders,and the survival outcomes were compared.Results:A total of 119 HCC patients with PM were included in this study.The overall survival(OS)of patients who underwent pulmonary metastasectomy was significantly longer than that of patients who received immunotherapy targeted combinations(OS:1-year,80.0％vs.59.3％;2-year,31.7％vs.20.3％;3-year,20.0％vs.0;P＜0.001).After PSM,the long-term prognosis of the pulmonary metastasectomy group remained significantly better than that of the immunotherapy combination group(OS:1-year,87.0％vs.69.6％;2-year,34.8％vs.30.4％;3-year,21.7％vs.0;P=0.005).Multivariate analysis revealed that treat-ment allocation(hazard ratio(HR)=2.177,95％confidence interval(CI)=1.068-4.439)and hepatic tumor T stage(HR=2.342,95％CI=1.209-4.538)were independent risk factors for OS.Conclusions:Pulmonary metastasectomy was associated with improved survival compared to immu-notherapy combined with targeted therapies and may represent an optimal treatment option for highly selected HCC patients with resectable PM.

ObjectiveTo study the association of serum adiponectin and high sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) levels to short-term outcome in patients with acute ischemic stroke (AIS). MethodsClinical data of 216 patients with AIS in Beijing Bo'ai Hospital from January, 2019 to September, 2020 were collected. The serum biochemical indicator was measured in all the patients within 24 hours after enrollment, and adiponectin was detected with enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Meanwhile, all patients were evaluated with National Institute of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS). Modified Rankin Scale (mRS) was used to assess the functional outcome 90 days after onset during follow-up. ResultsThe incidence of poor outcome in patients with AIS within 90 days was 48.1%. Compared with the good outcome group, the serum adiponectin was lower (t = 5.861, P < 0.001) and the serum hs-CRP level was higher (Z = 5.525, P < 0.001) poor outcome group. Reduced serum adiponectin (OR = 0.862, 95%CI 0.751 to 0.975, P < 0.001) and increased serum hs-CRP (OR = 1.215, 95%CI 1.015 to 1.455, P < 0.001) were independent risk factors for poor outcome in patients with AIS. The areas under curve (95% CI) of serum adiponectin and hs-CRP for predicting the outcome of patients with AIS were 0.819 (0.761 to 0.877) and 0.722 (0.654 to 0.791), respectively (P < 0.001). The predictive power of serum adiponectin was higher than that of hs-CRP (Z = 2.151, P = 0.032). The optimum cut-off point of adiponectin was < 3.5 mg/L, and the Yoden index was 0.609, yielding a sensitivity of 0.704 and a specificity of 0.905. ConclusionSerum adiponectin and hs-CRP can serve as independent predictors for short functional outcome in patients with AIS.

Osteosarcoma， a common primary bone malignancy， features high heterogeneity， poor prognosis， high propensity for local invasion and distant metastasis， and high mortality. At the moment， the major therapy is the combination of neoadjuvant chemotherapy and limb salvage surgery， which remarkably reduces the disability rate and fatality rate. However， long-term use of chemotherapeutic drugs leads to the acquisition of drug resistance by osteosarcoma cells and reduces the sensitivity of the tumor cells to the drugs. Thus， this therapy is not satisfactory. In recent years， amid the advancement in the treatment of tumor， Chinese medicine has attracted extensive attention for the obvious therapeutic effect and few adverse reactions. Phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase （PI3K）/protein kinase B （Akt） /mammalian target of rapamycin （mTOR） signaling pathway， as a classic cancer signaling pathway， is abnormally activated in osteosarcoma cells， which affects the proliferation， invasion， and metastasis of osteosarcoma cells by influencing the cycle of tumor cells， inhibiting apoptosis and autophagy of tumor cells， and promoting tumor angiogenesis. According to clinical research， Chinese medicine monomers influence proliferation， apoptosis， and autophagy of osteosarcoma cells and angiogenesis by regulating the activity of proteins in PI3K/Akt/mTOR signaling pathway， thereby suppressing osteosarcoma tissues and cells. Moreover， they can reverse the resistance of tumor cells to multiple anticancer drugs. Based on the knowledge and experience of Chinese medicine in the treatment of osteosarcoma， this paper reviews the role of PI3K/Akt/mTOR signaling pathway in the treatment of osteosarcoma by Chinese medicine monomers， which is expected to serve as a reference for the application of Chinese medicine in the treatment of osteosarcoma.

Parkinson's disease (PD) is the most common neurodegenerative movement disease. It is featured by abnormal alpha-synuclein (α-syn) aggregation in dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra. Macroautophagy (autophagy) is an evolutionarily conserved cellular process for degradation of cellular contents, including protein aggregates, to maintain cellular homeostasis. Corynoxine B (Cory B), a natural alkaloid isolated from Uncaria rhynchophylla (Miq.) Jacks., has been reported to promote the clearance of α-syn in cell models by inducing autophagy. However, the molecular mechanism by which Cory B induces autophagy is not known, and the α-syn-lowering activity of Cory B has not been verified in animal models. Here, we report that Cory B enhanced the activity of Beclin 1/VPS34 complex and increased autophagy by promoting the interaction between Beclin 1 and HMGB1/2. Depletion of HMGB1/2 impaired Cory B-induced autophagy. We showed for the first time that, similar to HMGB1, HMGB2 is also required for autophagy and depletion of HMGB2 decreased autophagy levels and phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase III activity both under basal and stimulated conditions. By applying cellular thermal shift assay, surface plasmon resonance, and molecular docking, we confirmed that Cory B directly binds to HMGB1/2 near the C106 site. Furthermore, in vivo studies with a wild-type α-syn transgenic drosophila model of PD and an A53T α-syn transgenic mouse model of PD, Cory B enhanced autophagy, promoted α-syn clearance and improved behavioral abnormalities. Taken together, the results of this study reveal that Cory B enhances phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase III activity/autophagy by binding to HMGB1/2 and that this enhancement is neuroprotective against PD.

BACKGROUND: Chemotherapy is a common treatment for advanced hepatocellular carcinoma, but the effect is not satisfactory. The study aimed to retrospectively evaluate the effects of adding all-trans-retinoic acid (ATRA) to infusional fluorouracil, leucovorin, and oxaliplatin (FOLFOX4) for advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). METHODS: We extracted the data of patients with advanced HCC who underwent systemic chemotherapy using FOLFOX4 or ATRA plus FOLFOX4 at the Eastern Hepatobiliary Surgery Hospital, First Hospital of Jilin University, and Zhejiang Sian International Hospital and retrospectively compared for overall survival. The Cox proportional hazards model was used to calculate the hazard ratios for overall survival and disease progression after controlling for age, sex, and disease stage. RESULTS: From July 2013 to July 2018, 111 patients with HCC were included in this study. The median survival duration was 14.8 months in the ATRA plus FOLFOX4 group and 8.2 months in the FOLFOX4 only group ( P  < 0.001). The ATRA plus FOLFOX4 group had a significantly longer median time to progression compared with the FOLFOX4 group (3.6 months vs. 1.8 months, P  < 0.001). Hazard ratios for overall survival and disease progression were 0.465 (95% confidence interval: 0.298-0.726; P  = 0.001) and 0.474 (0.314-0.717; P  < 0.001) after adjusting for potential confounders, respectively. CONCLUSION ATRA plus FOLFOX4 significantly improves the overall survival and time to disease progression in patients with advanced HCC.
Humans ; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular/drug therapy* ; Retrospective Studies ; Liver Neoplasms/pathology* ; Oxaliplatin/therapeutic use* ; Fluorouracil/adverse effects* ; Disease Progression ; Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols/therapeutic use* ; Leucovorin/adverse effects* ; Colorectal Neoplasms/drug therapy*

Osteosarcoma (OS) is the most common primary malignant bone tumor in clinic. It has high mortality and disability rate. Effective neoadjuvant chemotherapy combined with limb salvage surgery can improve the 5-year survival rate of OS patients. Drug resistance or low sensitivity of tumor cells is the most common cause of postoperative local recurrence and metastasis. Therefore, the sensitivity of OS cells to chemotherapy drugs is of great value to the prognosis of the patients. In recent years, traditional Chinese medicine has been widely used because of high efficiency and low toxicity. A large number of studies have confirmed that part of traditional Chinese medicine can reverse the chemotherapy resistance of OS cells by regulating the ABC transmembrane transport protein system. This article gives an overview of its related mechanisms and latest developments.

The apical sodium--dependent bile acid transporter (ASBT) is the main transporter to promote re-absorption of bile acids from the intestinal tract into the enterohepatic circulation. Inhibition of ASBT could increase the excretion of bile acids, thus increasing bile acid synthesis and consequently cholesterol consumption. Therefore, ASBT is an attractive target for developing new cholesterol-lowering drugs. In this report, a series of 1-(2,4-bifluorophenyl)-7-dialkylamino-1,8-naphthyridine-3-carboxamides were designed as inhibitors of ASBT. Most of them demonstrated potency against ASBT transport of bile acids. In particular, compoundwas found to have the best activity, resulting in 80.1% inhibition of ASBT at 10 μmol/L.

Objective To explore the risk factors for prolonged mechanical ventilation in children with trans-position of great arteries and intact ventricular septum who underwent arterial switch operation. Methods This study was a retrospective,single center study. One hundred and twenty patients with transposition of great arteries and intact ventricular septum who underwent primary arterial switch operation between January 2014 and December 2016 at Fuwai Hospital were eligible for this study. The data of patients from pediatric intensive care unit database and electronic medical records were collected. The data related to postoperative respiratory assist time were collected,including demo-graphic data,preoperative diagnosis,intraoperative data,and postoperative recovery data. The patients were divided into 2 groups according to ventilation time which were prolonged mechanical ventilation group(ventilation time > 72 hours) and non - prolonged mechanical ventilation group(ventilation time ≤72 hours). The data of 2 groups were analyzed by using single factor analysis,and the P≤0. 2 factors were processed into Logistic regression analysis. Results Ninety -six patients were enrolled including 22 patients in prolonged ventilation group and 74 patients in non - prolonged me-chanical ventilation group. No statistical significance was found in 2 groups in gender,age,weight,preoperative lactate, hemoglobin,use of prostaglandin E1,mechanical ventilation,cardiopulmonary time,aortic clamping time,the ratio of left ventricular pressure to right ventricular pressure,immediate postoperative plasma lactate,and vasoactive inotropic score. The weight and postoperative left atrial pressure were significantly different between 2 groups with P < 0. 2. Weight were (3. 5 ± 0. 9)kg in prolonged mechanical ventilation group and (3. 9 ± 1. 0)kg in non - prolonged mechanical ventila-tion group (P = 0. 117). Left atrial pressures were (7. 9 ± 1. 9)mmHg(1 mmHg = 0. 133 kPa)in prolonged mechani-cal ventilation group and (6. 7 ± 2. 0)mmHg in non - prolonged mechanical ventilation group(P = 0. 015). The weight and left atrial pressure were processed into Logistic regression analysis and the results revealed that high left atrial pres-sure was the risk factor for ventilation prolongation(OR = 1. 048,P = 0. 020). Respiratory assist time in prolonged and non - prolonged ventilation group was 112(80,194)h and 26(17,46)h,respectively;ICU time in prolonged and non - prolonged ventilation group was 10(1,14)d and 4(3,6)d,respectively;and all the differences were significant (all P = 0. 000). The number of death in each group was 1 with no significant difference(P = 0. 420). Conclusions High left atrial pressure is the risk factor for prolonged mechanical ventilation in children with transposition of great ar-teries and intact ventricular septum following primary arterial switch operation.