Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) represents a predominant cause of blindness among older adults, with limited therapeutic options currently available. Oxidative stress, inflammation, and retinal pigment epithelium injury are recognized as key contributors to the pathogenesis of AMD. Regulated cell death plays a pivotal role in mediating cellular responses to stress, maintaining tissue homeostasis, and contributing to disease progression. Recent research has elucidated several regulated cell death pathways-such as apoptosis, ferroptosis, pyroptosis, necroptosis, and autophagy-that may contribute to the progression of AMD owing to cell death in the retinal pigment epithelium. These discoveries open new avenues for therapeutic interventions in patients with AMD. In this review, we provide a comprehensive summary and analysis of the latest advancements regarding the relationship between regulated cell death and AMD. Moreover, we examined the therapeutic potential of targeting regulated cell death pathways for the treatment and prevention of AMD, highlighting their roles as promising targets for future therapeutic strategies.

OBJECTIVE: Poxviruses are zoonotic pathogens that infect humans, mammals, vertebrates, and arthropods. However, the specific role of ticks in transmission and evolution of these viruses remains unclear. METHODS: Transcriptomic and metatranscriptomic raw data from 329 sampling pools of seven tick species across five continents were mined to assess the diversity and abundance of poxviruses. Chordopoxviral sequences were assembled and subjected to phylogenetic analysis to trace the origins of the unblasted fragments within these sequences. RESULTS: Fifty-eight poxvirus species, representing two subfamilies and 20 genera, were identified, with 212 poxviral sequences assembled. A substantial proportion of AT-rich fragments were detected in the assembled poxviral genomes. These genomic sequences contained fragments originating from rodents, archaea, and arthropods. CONCLUSION Our findings indicate that ticks play a significant role in the transmission and evolution of poxviruses. These viruses demonstrate the capacity to modulate virulence and adaptability through horizontal gene transfer, gene recombination, and gene mutations, thereby promoting co-existence and co-evolution with their hosts. This study advances understanding of the ecological dynamics of poxvirus transmission and evolution and highlights the potential role of ticks as vectors and vessels in these processes.
Animals ; Poxviridae/physiology* ; Ticks/virology* ; Phylogeny ; Transcriptome ; Evolution, Molecular ; Poxviridae Infections/virology* ; Genome, Viral

Cervical spine health issues not only seriously affect patients' quality of life but also impose a heavy burden on the social healthcare system. Existing guidelines lack sufficient clinical guidance on lifestyle and work habits, such as exercise, posture, daily routine, and diet, making it difficult to meet practical needs. To address this, relying on the China Association of Chinese Medicine, Wangjing Hospital of China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences took the lead and joined hands with more than ten institutions to form a multidisciplinary guideline development group. For the first time, the group developed the Guidelines for Cervical Spine Health Intervention based on evidence-based medicine methods, strictly following the standardized procedures outlined in the World Health Organization Handbook for Guideline Development and the Guiding Principles for the Formulation/Revision of Clinical Practice Guidelines in China (2022 Edition). This proposal systematically explains the methods and steps for developing the guideline, aiming to make the guideline development process scientific, standardized, and transparent.
Humans ; Practice Guidelines as Topic/standards* ; Cervical Vertebrae ; China

Objective:The actor-partner interdependence model was used to explore the subject-object effect of family care on disease acceptance in maintenance hemodialysis (MHD) patients and their primary caregivers, and to provide empirical research support for formulating intervention strategies to improve the quality of life of MHD patients and their primary caregivers at the dyadic coping perspective.Methods:This study was a cross-sectional study. A convenience sampling method was used to select 223 pairs of MHD patients and their primary caregivers who received treatment at three hospitals from December 2023 to May 2024, namely the Second Affiliated Hospital of Guizhou Medical University, Qiandongnan People′s Hospital and Qiandongnan Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital. The General Information Questionnaire, Family APGAR Index (APGAR) and the Acceptance of Illness Scale (AIS) were used to conduct the survey. An actor-partner interdependence model of the impact of family care levels on disease acceptance was constructed.Results:There were 223 patients with MHD, 134 males and 89 females, aged (48.41 ± 14.41) years. Among the 223 primary caregivers of MHD patients, 83 were males and 140 were females, aged (49.44 ± 12.40) years. The scores of APGAR and AIS for MHD patients were (7.92 ± 1.94), (20.45 ± 4.66) points, and (8.16 ± 1.67), (21.86 ± 3.54) points for their primary caregivers. There were statistically significant differences in scores ( t = - 2.28, - 7.69, both P<0.05). The results of correlation analysis showed that there was a significant positive correlation between the degree of family care of MHD patients and the disease acceptance of MHD patients, the family care of primary caregivers, and the disease acceptance of primary caregivers ( r = 0.454, 0.625, 0.515, all P<0.05). There was a significant positive correlation between the disease acceptance of MHD patients and the family care of their primary caregivers, the disease acceptance of primary caregivers, and the family care of primary caregivers and the disease acceptance of primary caregivers ( r = 0.442, 0.813, 0.495, all P<0.05). In terms of the actor effect, the level of family care positively influenced the disease acceptance for both MHD patients and their primary caregivers ( β = 0.715, 0.603, both P<0.001), the actor effect was significant. In terms of partner effect, there was a positive correlation between the family care levels of MHD patients and their primary caregivers and the disease acceptance of the other party ( β = 0.628, 0.725, both P<0.001), the partner effect was significant. Conclusions:There is an interactive effect between the disease acceptance of maintenance hemodialysis patients and their primary caregivers and their levels of family care.

Objective:To investigate the current status of pruritus care in dermatology departments of public hospitals in China.Methods:A multicenter, cross-sectional survey was conducted. By convenience sampling, dermatology nurses were selected from 85 public hospitals across 17 provinces in China from September 2 to September 14, 2024, and a self-designed pruritus care questionnaire survey was conducted. The survey content included two parts: general information (e.g., education levels, professional titles, regions, hospital grades) and current status of pruritus care (e.g., pruritus care systems or standards, establishment of pruritus clinics, pruritus assessment, pruritus intervention measures, pruritus nursing training, and challenges in pruritus care) .Results:A total of 607 nurses were investigated, including 322 (53.0%) from general hospitals and 285 (47.0%) from specialized hospitals; 359 (59.1%) were from tertiary grade-A hospitals. In total, 264 (43.5%) nurses reported that pruritus clinics had been established in their hospitals, 218 (35.9%) reported that pruritus nursing teams had been set up, and 283 (46.6%) noted a lack of pruritus care systems or standards in their hospitals. The most commonly used anti-pruritus measures were physical therapy (51.2%) , drug treatment (37.9%) , and environmental management (10.9%) . There were 418 (68.9%) nurses who had received pruritus nursing training. The most frequently used pruritus assessment tools were the numeric rating scale ( n = 341, 56.2%) and the visual analog scale ( n = 268, 44.2%) , while 165 (27.2%) nurses had not used any assessment tools. The most challenging issues in pruritus care were the selection of pruritus assessment tools ( n = 303, 49.9%) and poor efficacy of pruritus control ( n = 113, 18.6%) . Tertiary grade-A hospitals and hospitals with pruritus clinics exhibited higher rates of establishing pruritus care systems/standards and providing pruritus nursing training compared with non-tertiary grade-A hospitals and hospitals without pruritus clinics respectively (all P < 0.05) . Conclusions:Public hospitals in China currently face issues such as inadequate pruritus care management systems, non-standardized pruritus assessment, and insufficient pruritus nursing training. Pruritus nursing levels were variable among different hospitals, and the standardization and homogeneity of pruritus nursing urgently need to be improved.

Objective: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of plasma exchange (PE) in thymoma-associated myasthenia gravis (MG), thereby to provide theoretical support for its application in the treatment of thymoma-associated MG. Methods: A total of 133 patients with thymoma-associated MG admitted from January 2018 to September 2024 were retrospectively analyzed. Patients were matched using propensity score to reduce selection bias, yielding 22 matched pairs for both PE group (n=22) and non-PE group (n=22). Patient characteristics including gender, age of disease onset, course of disease, history of thymoma resection, clinical absolute scores [clinical absolute scores (CAS) and clinical relative scores (CRS)], and synchronized immunotherapy regimen of the two groups were analyzed. The CAS scores before and after treatment were compared between the two groups, and the CRS was used to assess the treatment efficiency. Safety of the two treatment regimens were also compared. Continuous variables were compared using the t-test or ANOVA, while categorical data were compared by the chi-square test. Results: A total of 133 patients were included and divided into two groups according to whether they underwent plasma exchange treatment: the PE group (n=22) and the non-PE group (n=111). To exclude bias caused by large difference in the number of cases between the two groups, we performed propensity score matching. After matching, the number of cases in both groups was 22. There was no significant difference in baseline clinical characteristics between the two groups (P>0.05), including gender, age of onset, duration of disease course, history of thymectomy and baseline CAS score before treatment. Compared to the non-PE group, patients in the PE group showed more significant improvement in CAS score (5.09±1.95 vs 3.59±1.50, P<0.05) and a higher CRS score (75.00% vs 50.00%, P<0.001). Compared to the non-PE group, PE group had significantly longer ICU stay, longer hospital stay and higher hospitalization cost (P<0.05). There was no statistically significant difference in adverse events between the two groups during treatment (P>0.05). During long-term follow-up, both the PE and non-PE groups showed relatively low 1-, 3-, and 5-year recurrence rate, with no significant difference between the two groups (P>0.05). Conclusion: This study indicates that plasma exchange has clear value in the treatment of patients with thymoma-associated myasthenia gravis. It can not only significantly improve patients' muscle strength to alleviate motor dysfunction and enhance quality of life, but also does not significantly increase the incidence of adverse reactions. Therefore, it can be regarded as one of the preferred treatment options that achieve a "balance between efficacy and safety" for such patients, and provides an important basis for optimizing treatment strategies, improving prognosis, and promoting the application of subsequent treatment regimens.

Objective To develop a predictive model for guiding blood transfusion decisions in pediatric patients with traumatic brain injury(TBI)by identifying and analyzing key factors that influence blood transfusion requirements.Methods A retrospective analysis was conducted on the clinical data of 1,535 pediatric patients with TBI admitted to four medical institutions from January 1,2015,to December 31,2022.Patients were divided into two groups:those who received red blood cell transfusions during hospitalization and those who did not.Comparative analyses were performed on demographic,clinical,and laboratory data between these two groups.Logistic regression analysis was used to identify risk factors associated with in-hospital blood transfusion,and a predictive model was developed using a nomogram.The performance of this model was evaluated using a receiver operating characteristic(ROC)curve.Results Significant differences were observed between the blood transfusion and non-blood transfusion groups in terms of baseline demographics,clinical indicators,and laboratory test results(all P<0.05).Patients in the blood transfusion group exhibited significantly higher in-hospital mortality,compli-cation rates,use of mechanical ventilation,ICU admission rates,and length of stay compared to those in the non-blood transfusion group(all P<0.05).Multivariate logistic regression analysis identified heart rate,presence of other fractures,treatment methods,hemoglobin(Hb),platelet count(Plt),activated partial thromboplastin time(APTT),and D-dimer levels as independent risk factors for blood transfusion in TBI patients.The area under the ROC curve for the blood transfusion prediction model,based on these independent risk factors,was 0.95(95%CI:0.94～0.97),indicating excellent predictive accuracy.Calibration and decision curves further validated the robust-ness and reliability of the model's predictive capacity.Conclusions Heart rate,presence of other fractures,treatment methods,Hb,Plt count,APTT,and D-dimer levels serve as independent risk factors for blood transfusion in TBI patients.The prediction model developed based on these factors demonstrates excellent predictive performance,thereby guiding clinicians in making informed blood transfusion decisions and enhancing the success rate of patient outcomes.

To provide in-service medical technicians and nurses with convenient access to continuing education resources in transfusion medicine, reduce transfusion-related adverse events, and ensure the safety, rationalization, and effectiveness of clinical transfusion, we designed and developed an online transfusion continuing education platform. The platform was based on the new managed code programming model.NET Core and the powerful functions of hypertext preprocessor PHP 7.4, addressing current issues in transfusion online continuing education. Through in-depth analysis of student attributes, learning behaviors, and teaching behaviors, a comprehensive online continuous teaching quality evaluation index system was established. This system not only facilitates the quantitative assessment of teaching quality but also successfully integrates the two core functions of teaching and management, thereby achieving unified online teaching.

Objective:The actor-partner interdependence model was used to explore the subject-object effect of family care on disease acceptance in maintenance hemodialysis (MHD) patients and their primary caregivers, and to provide empirical research support for formulating intervention strategies to improve the quality of life of MHD patients and their primary caregivers at the dyadic coping perspective.Methods:This study was a cross-sectional study. A convenience sampling method was used to select 223 pairs of MHD patients and their primary caregivers who received treatment at three hospitals from December 2023 to May 2024, namely the Second Affiliated Hospital of Guizhou Medical University, Qiandongnan People′s Hospital and Qiandongnan Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital. The General Information Questionnaire, Family APGAR Index (APGAR) and the Acceptance of Illness Scale (AIS) were used to conduct the survey. An actor-partner interdependence model of the impact of family care levels on disease acceptance was constructed.Results:There were 223 patients with MHD, 134 males and 89 females, aged (48.41 ± 14.41) years. Among the 223 primary caregivers of MHD patients, 83 were males and 140 were females, aged (49.44 ± 12.40) years. The scores of APGAR and AIS for MHD patients were (7.92 ± 1.94), (20.45 ± 4.66) points, and (8.16 ± 1.67), (21.86 ± 3.54) points for their primary caregivers. There were statistically significant differences in scores ( t = - 2.28, - 7.69, both P<0.05). The results of correlation analysis showed that there was a significant positive correlation between the degree of family care of MHD patients and the disease acceptance of MHD patients, the family care of primary caregivers, and the disease acceptance of primary caregivers ( r = 0.454, 0.625, 0.515, all P<0.05). There was a significant positive correlation between the disease acceptance of MHD patients and the family care of their primary caregivers, the disease acceptance of primary caregivers, and the family care of primary caregivers and the disease acceptance of primary caregivers ( r = 0.442, 0.813, 0.495, all P<0.05). In terms of the actor effect, the level of family care positively influenced the disease acceptance for both MHD patients and their primary caregivers ( β = 0.715, 0.603, both P<0.001), the actor effect was significant. In terms of partner effect, there was a positive correlation between the family care levels of MHD patients and their primary caregivers and the disease acceptance of the other party ( β = 0.628, 0.725, both P<0.001), the partner effect was significant. Conclusions:There is an interactive effect between the disease acceptance of maintenance hemodialysis patients and their primary caregivers and their levels of family care.

Objective To develop a predictive model for guiding blood transfusion decisions in pediatric patients with traumatic brain injury(TBI)by identifying and analyzing key factors that influence blood transfusion requirements.Methods A retrospective analysis was conducted on the clinical data of 1,535 pediatric patients with TBI admitted to four medical institutions from January 1,2015,to December 31,2022.Patients were divided into two groups:those who received red blood cell transfusions during hospitalization and those who did not.Comparative analyses were performed on demographic,clinical,and laboratory data between these two groups.Logistic regression analysis was used to identify risk factors associated with in-hospital blood transfusion,and a predictive model was developed using a nomogram.The performance of this model was evaluated using a receiver operating characteristic(ROC)curve.Results Significant differences were observed between the blood transfusion and non-blood transfusion groups in terms of baseline demographics,clinical indicators,and laboratory test results(all P<0.05).Patients in the blood transfusion group exhibited significantly higher in-hospital mortality,compli-cation rates,use of mechanical ventilation,ICU admission rates,and length of stay compared to those in the non-blood transfusion group(all P<0.05).Multivariate logistic regression analysis identified heart rate,presence of other fractures,treatment methods,hemoglobin(Hb),platelet count(Plt),activated partial thromboplastin time(APTT),and D-dimer levels as independent risk factors for blood transfusion in TBI patients.The area under the ROC curve for the blood transfusion prediction model,based on these independent risk factors,was 0.95(95%CI:0.94～0.97),indicating excellent predictive accuracy.Calibration and decision curves further validated the robust-ness and reliability of the model's predictive capacity.Conclusions Heart rate,presence of other fractures,treatment methods,Hb,Plt count,APTT,and D-dimer levels serve as independent risk factors for blood transfusion in TBI patients.The prediction model developed based on these factors demonstrates excellent predictive performance,thereby guiding clinicians in making informed blood transfusion decisions and enhancing the success rate of patient outcomes.