Objective To compare the dosimetric differences, plan complexity, verification pass rate, and execution efficiency of volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT) plans designed for post-mastectomy radiotherapy of breast cancer using Halcyon 2.0 and VitalBeam accelerators in flattening filter-free mode. Methods A retrospective analysis was conducted on imaging data from 87 female breast cancer patients aged 29 to 75 (49.9 ± 9.9) years who underwent modified radical mastectomy followed by radiotherapy. VMAT plans were designed using both VitalBeam and Halcyon accelerators in flattening filter-free mode. The dosimetric parameters, plan complexity, verification pass rate, and execution efficiency were compared between the plans designed for both accelerators, with a significance level of P<0.05. Results In terms of target volume parameters, Halcyon 2.0 plans demonstrated superior homogeneity index and conformity index. For organs at risk, the Halcyon 2.0 plans showed lower doses for the lungs (D_20% and D_mean) and heart (D_mean) compared to the VitalBeam plans (all P<0.05). Regarding plan complexity, Halcyon 2.0 plans exhibited better median average aperture area variation (0.35 ± 0.02), smaller aperture score, and larger median plan aperture area than VitalBeam plans (all P<0.05). However, VitalBeam plans had a superior median modulation complexity score (0.28 ± 0.01) compared to Halcyon 2.0 plans (P<0.05). Patient plans were assessed using the ArcCHECK phantom, revealing higher pass rates and significantly shorter execution time for Halcyon plans compared to VitalBeam plans (P<0.05). Conclusion Both Halcyon 2.0 and VitalBeam accelerators can provide high-quality VMAT plans for postoperative radiotherapy of breast cancer, with excellent verification pass rates ensuring treatment accuracy and efficacy. However, Halcyon 2.0 offers lower plan complexity, simplifies the treatment planning process, and reduces execution time, thereby achieving higher treatment efficiency and demonstrating greater advantages in clinical applications.

Objective: To define the mechanism by which swine TRIM25 restricts vesicular stomatitis virus replication. Methods: Porcine 3D4/21 cells with TRIM25 overexpression or knockdown were infected with vesicular stomatitis virus. Viral replication was quantified by immunoblotting, quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction, and 50% tissue culture infectious dose assays. Type I interferon signaling was assessed by transcript quantification, interferon-beta and interferon-stimulated response element reporter assays, and co-immunoprecipitation.Viral RNA binding was tested by RNA immunoprecipitation. Results: TRIM25 overexpression reduced viral RNA and infectious titers, whereas TRIM25 knockdown increased replication (p < 0.01). TRIM25 increased interferon-beta and interferon-stimulated gene expression and enhanced interferon-beta and interferonstimulated response element promoter activity (p < 0.01). Mechanistically, TRIM25 promoted Lys63-linked ubiquitination of RIG-I and increased phosphorylation of TANK-binding kinase 1 and interferon regulatory factor 3. TRIM25 also bound vesicular stomatitis virus genomic RNA, and binding required the C-terminal region. Conclusions and Relevance: Porcine TRIM25 restricts vesicular stomatitis virus replication by amplifying type I interferon signaling and directly binding viral RNA.

As the biggest tissue of human body, skin is the first barrier of resisting external aggression. Collagen is one of important parts of the skin, which could not only affect the aesthetics of skin, but also influence the health and normal function of skin. It is the great significance to find ways that could inhibit the loss of collagen. The mechanisms of the collagen degradation in skin are complex and multifaceted. Natural bioactive products have unique advantages in treating the loss of collagen, which have multi-targets and mechanisms. In this review, the mechanisms of skin collagen degradation are discussed, and the research progress of natural bioactive products in resisting skin aging through promoting collagen synthesis are reviewed, in order to provide references for futural research.

Metabolic-associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD) and osteoporosis (OP) are two very common metabolic diseases. A growing body of experimental evidence supports a pathophysiological link between MAFLD and OP. MAFLD is often associated with the development of OP. Rutaecarpine (RUT) is one of the main active components of Chinese medicine Euodiae Fructus. Our previous studies have demonstrated that RUT has lipid-lowering, anti-inflammatory and anti-atherosclerotic effects, and can improve the OP of rats. However, whether RUT can improve both fatty liver and OP symptoms of MAFLD mice at the same time remains to be investigated. In this study, we used C57BL/6 mice fed a high-fat diet (HFD) for 4 months to construct a MAFLD model, and gave the mice a low dose (5 mg·kg^-1) and a high dose (15 mg·kg^-1) of RUT by gavage for 4 weeks. The effects of RUT on liver steatosis and bone metabolism were then evaluated at the end of the experiment [this experiment was approved by the Experimental Animal Ethics Committee of Institute of Medicinal Biotechnology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences (approval number: IMB-20190124D₃03)]. The results showed that RUT treatment significantly reduced hepatic steatosis and lipid accumulation, and significantly reduced bone loss and promoted bone formation. In summary, this study shows that RUT has an effect of improving fatty liver and OP in MAFLD mice.

Objective:To observe the effects of moxibustion at Shenshu(BL23)and Zusanli(ST36)on Toll-like receptor 4(TLR4)-myeloid differentiation factor 88(Myd88)signaling pathway-mediated inflammatory factors in the synovial tissue of ankle joints of rats with rheumatoid arthritis(RA),and to explore the molecular and biological mechanisms underlying the anti-inflammatory and analgesic effects.Methods:A total of 24 male Sprague-Dawley(SD)rats were randomly divided into a normal group,a model group,and a moxibustion group,with 8 rats in each group.The RA model was established with exposure to wind,cold,and damp environmental factors,along with Freund's complete adjuvant.After three days of modeling,mild moxibustion was applied to bilateral Shenshu(BL23)and Zusanli(ST36)in the moxibustion group using moxa sticks of 0.9 cm in diameter for 30 min each time,once a day for 14 d.Structural changes in the synovial tissue and cells were then observed using hematoxylin-eosin staining and transmission electron microscopy,while immunohistochemistry analysis was used to detect tumor necrosis factor(TNF)-α,interleukin(IL)-17,IL-1β,and IL-6 levels.Moreover,the protein expression levels of Myd88,TLR4,and transient potential receptor vanilloid type 1(TRPV1)in the synovial tissue were detected using Western blotting,while their mRNA expression levels were detected using reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction.Finally,the levels of IL-1β,IL-2,IL-6,IL-17A,and TNF-α in rat serum were detected using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.Results:Compared to the normal group,the model group exhibited notable pathological synovial tissue damage,along with significantly higher IL-1β,IL-6,and TNF-α levels(P<0.01)and a slightly higher IL-17 content(P>0.05).Furthermore,the Myd88,TLR4,and TRPV1 protein and mRNA expression levels and serum IL-1β,IL-2,IL-6,IL-17A,and TNF-α levels were all significantly higher in the model group than in the normal group(P<0.01).Compared to the model group,the moxibustion group exhibited a lower degree of synovial tissue pathological damage,along with significantly lower IL-1β,IL-6,and TNF-α levels(P<0.05 or P<0.01)and a lower IL-17 content without statistical significance(P>0.05).Moreover,the Myd88,TLR4,and TRPV1 protein and mRNA expression levels,and serum IL-1β,IL-2,IL-6,IL-17A,and TNF-α levels were all significantly lower in the moxibustion group than in the model group(P<0.01 or P<0.05).Conclusion:Mild moxibustion at Shenshu(BL23)and Zusanli(ST36)can effectively inhibit TLR4-MyD88 signaling pathway-mediated inflammatory factor expression in the synovial tissue of ankle joints of RA rats.Furthermore,the effect of moxibustion on synovial tissue inflammation in RA rats may be attributed to TRPV1 channel activation.

Objective:To develop a treatment-related quality of life scale for Chinese patients with multiple myeloma (MM) and to test its reliability and validity.Methods:The initial scale was constructed through a literature search, Delphi expert correspondence, and cognitive testing. This study conducted a preliminary survey of 379 patients with MM and a formal survey of 865 patients from the hematology departments of 155 hospitals nationwide from February 2024 to March 2024. The final scale was obtained after conducting item analysis and reliability and validity tests on the initial scale.Results:The constructed scale contains 36 items covering six domains: physiological, psychological, social, treatment side effects, general health, and others. In the preliminary survey, the Cronbach’s alpha coefficient of each item ranged from 0.597 to 0.939, and the test-retest reliability was 0.747 ( P<0.001). Exploratory factor analysis extracted eight common factors with a cumulative variance contribution of 60.058%. In the formal survey, the Cronbach’s alpha coefficient of each item ranged from 0.484 to 0.930, and the test-retest reliability was 0.835 ( P<0.001). Confirmatory factor analysis revealed a comparative fit index of 0.750, a root-mean-square error of approximation of 0.090, and a root-mean-square residual of 0.067. Conclusion:The treatment-related quality of life scale for Chinese patients with MM designed in this study exhibited good reliability and validity, reflecting the impact of treatment on the quality of life of patients. This scale can provide a reference to clinicians for assessing the disease status of patients.

Objective:To analyze the mediating effect of the inflammation on the sex differences in cognitive function among middle-aged and elderly individuals receiving health checkups.Methods:This cross-sectional study consecutively collected data from 757 middle-aged and elderly individuals receiving health checkups at Beijing Tiantan Hospital, Capital Medical University between January 1, 2023 and December 31, 2023. The gender, age, body mass index (BMI), waist to hip ratio (WHR), educational years, medical history and personal history were collected. The Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) were performed to assess the cognitive function. Inflammation indicators included the single blood inflammatory markers [white blood cell (WBC), high sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), interleukin (IL)-6, and erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR)], inflammatory markers derived from blood cell counts, including neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), derived neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (dNLR), monocyte-to-lymphocyte ratio (MLR), neutrophil-monocyte to lymphocyte ratio (NMLR), systemic inflammatory response index (SIRI), systemic immune-inflammation index (SII), and aggregate index of systemic inflammation (AISI); and inflammatory markers derived from blood cell counts and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), including neutrophil to HDL-C ratio (NHR), monocyte to HDL-C ratio (MHR), lymphocyte to HDL-C ratio (LHR), and platelet to HDL-C ratio (PHR) were all recorded. The simple mediation effect model in the SPSS 29.0 PROCESS macro was used to analyze the mediation effects of the inflammation indicators on the gender differences in cognitive function among middle-aged and elderly individuals receiving health checkups.Results:Among the 757 health checkup population in the final analysis, 466 were male (61.56%), and 291 were female (38.44%), with a mean age of (54.24±8.42) years. The male had higher BMI, WHR, educational years, frequency of hypertension and diabetes mellitus, MoCA scores, and inflammation indicators, including hs-CRP, WBC, NLR, MLR, NMLR, SIRI, AISI, NHR, MHR, LHR and PHR than those in the female [(26.41±3.20) vs (24.32±3.06) kg/m 2, (0.93±0.05) vs (0.83±0.06), 12 (9, 16) vs 11 (8, 15) years, 37.77% vs 21.31%, 16.52% vs 8.93%, 26 (24, 28) vs 26 (22, 28) points, 0.81 (0.38, 1.61) vs 0.63 (0.27, 1.63) mg/L, 5.75 (4.96, 6.78) vs 5.08 (4.27, 6.05)×10 9/L, 2.06 (1.67, 2.64) vs 1.87 (1.50, 2.37), 0.21 (0.17, 0.25) vs 0.17 (0.13, 0.21), 2.26 (1.84, 2.88) vs 2.02 (1.68, 2.55), 0.71 (0.51, 1.01) vs 0.49 (0.35, 0.67), 153.43 (108.91, 220.63) vs 113.34 (78.06, 164.27), 0.16 (0.12, 0.20) vs 0.11 (0.08, 0.14), 0.02 (0.01, 0.02) vs 0.01 (0.01, 0.01), 0.08 (0.06, 0.01) vs 0.06 (0.04, 0.07), 9.33 (7.82, 11.33) vs 8.36 (6.37, 10.21)] (all P<0.05). ESR and dNLR levels in the male were both lower than those in the female [6 (2, 11) vs 11 (6, 18) mm/h, 0.87 (0.85, 0.89) vs 0.89 (0.87, 0.91)] (both P<0.05). The MoCA score was negatively correlated with age, WHR, hs-CRP, IL-6, NLR, dNLR, NMLR, SIRI, NHR ( r=-0.355, -0.103, -0.115, -0.085, -0.094, -0.078, -0.093, -0.074, -0.108), and positively correlated with educational years ( r=0.512) (all P<0.05). After adjustment for confounding factors, including age, BMI, WHR, educational years, hypertension, and diabetes mellitus, dNLR and NHR mediated 13.11% and 12.80% association between gender and MoCA scores, respectively; after adjustment for above-mentioned confounders adding hs-CRP and IL-6, dNLR mediated 13.07% association between gender and MoCA score (all P<0.05), whereas no significant mediating effect was found of NHR on this association. Conclusions:Inflammation performed potential mediating effect on the association between sex difference and cognitive function among middle-to-old aged health checkup population, and the sex difference in cognitive function was partly mediated by the dNLR and NHR.

Objective:To comprehensively evaluate the cost and cost-effectiveness of the colorectal cancer screening program for key populations in Zhejiang Province from 2020 to 2022, and provide reference for optimizing colorectal cancer screening strategies.Methods:Based on the colorectal cancer screening program for key populations in Zhejiang Province from 2020 to 2022, parameters such as initial screening positivity rates, colonoscopy compliance rates, and detection rates for colorectal-related lesions among residents aged 50-74 were obtained. Questionnaire surveys assessed program costs and direct medical costs associated with colorectal cancer-related lesions. From a health system perspective, the cost-effectiveness ratio was calculated using the Early Detection Cost Index (EDCI) and the cost per detected case, followed by sensitivity analysis.Results:A total of 5 881 364 screenings were completed from 2020 to 2022. The initial screening positive rate (positive for either questionnaire or fecal immunochemical testing ) was 16.83%, with a colonoscopy compliance rates of 33.96% ( n=336 150). Detection rates for non-advanced adenomas, advanced adenomas, and colorectal cancer were 24.83% ( n=83 453), 11.91% ( n=40 033), and 1.01% ( n=3 397), respectively. Initial screening positivity rates and detection rates increased with age, while colonoscopy compliance rates decreased with age. Cost analysis showed a total project investment of 378 730 457 yuan, with initial screening costing 146 633 103 yuan (38.72%) and diagnostic colonoscopy 232 097 354 yuan (61.28%). The average cost per initial screening and diagnostic colonoscopy was 24.93 and 690.46 yuan, respectively. Direct medical costs for non-advanced adenomas, advanced adenomas, and colorectal cancer at stages Ⅰ, Ⅱ, Ⅲ, and Ⅳ were 4 921, 8 380, 42 547, 62 156, 66 720, and 72 334 yuan, respectively. Cost-effectiveness analysis indicated that screening needed to detect one case of colorectal cancer required 1 731 people and cost 111 490 yuan; the cost per detected advanced adenoma was 9 460 yuan, and the EDCI was 0.09. Costs decreased with increasing age per detected colorectal lesion. Sensitivity analysis showed that increasing colonoscopy compliance could reduce the cost-effectiveness ratio. Conclusions:The colorectal cancer screening program for key populations in Zhejiang Province demonstrates cost-effectiveness. Improving colonoscopy compliance can enhance overall screening effectiveness and economic benefits.

Objective To summarize and analyze the main clinical characteristics,feature and composition changes of gut microbiota in elderly patients with severe pneumonia,and to further explore the potential correlation between the gut characteristics and the etiology of severe pneumonia in elderly patients.Methods Patients with severe pneu-monia admitted to the respiratory intensive care unit of a tertiary teaching hospital in Changsha were selected as the research subjects.Patients aged ≥65 years were assigned to the elderly severe pneumonia group,while those aged＜65 years were assigned to the non-elderly severe pneumonia group.Based on clinical characteristics and pathogen detection of lower respiratory secretion,the elderly severe pneumonia group was further divided into a pulmonary bacterial infection group and a pulmonary fungal infection group.The pulmonary bacterial infection group was sub-divided into Gram-positive bacteria group and Gram-negative bacteria group based on Gram-staining results.Clinical data of patients were collected,and fecal specimens within 24 hours after admission were obtained for 16S rRNA se-quencing.Differences in gut microbiota characteristics between two groups of patients were compared,and the cor-relation between clinical characteristics of patients in the elderly severe pneumonia group and the abundance of dif-ferential microbiota was analyzed.Subsequently,the gut microbiota characteristics of elderly patients in severe pneumonia group infected by different pathogens were analyzed.Results Gut microbiota analysis showed no signifi-cant statistical differences in α-and β-diversity indicices between patients in the elderly and non-elderly severe pneu-monia groups(both P＞0.05).Linear discriminant analysis effect size(LEFSe)analysis indicated that,compared with patients in the non-elderly severe pneumonia group,the relative abundance of opportunistic pathogens,inclu-ding Pseudomonadales,Moraxellaceae,and Acinetobacter,was significantly higher in patients in the elderly severe pneumonia group(all P＜0.05).Some differential gut microbiota in two groups of patients were correlated with clinical indicators in patients in the elderly severe pneumonia group(all P＜0.05).β-diversity analysis(principal co-ordinate analysis)combined with Anosim analysis revealed that in patients in elderly severe pneumonia group,there was significant differences in gut colony structures between patients in the bacterial and fungal infection groups(R=0.149,P=0.02).Compared with the fungal infection group,patients in bacterial infection group showed a signifi-cantly reduced abundance of probiotics,including Verrucomicrobiales and Collinsella,and opportunistic pathogens such as Akkermansia(all P＜0.05).Conclusion Elderly patients with severe pneumonia have a dysregulated gut microbiota with significantly increased abundance of pathogenic bacteria compared with non-elderly patients.Differ-ential gut microbiota of two groups of patients are correlated with some infection-related and organ function indica-tors in elderly patients with severe pneumonia.Compared with elderly patients with severe fungal pneumonia,those with severe bacterial pneumonia have significant differences in gut colony structures and a notably reduction in probi-otics abundance.

Objective:To build an evaluation index system for Huimin Insurance and provide reference for promoting the steady and sustainable development of Huimin Insurance.Methods:The evaluation indicators were initially constructed through literature analysis method and further revised and improved.The entropy weight TOPSIS method was used to evaluate and analyze 84 Huimin Insurance products with complete evaluation indicator data in 21 provinces across the country.Results:The constructed evaluation index system for Huimin Insurance includes 4 first-level indicators,10 second-level indicators and 28 third-level indicators.The weights of the first-level indicators,from high to low,are the sustainability indicator of Huimin Insurance(0.335 0),the guarantee ability indicator(0.235 1),the fairness indicator of participation in insurance(0.229 9)and the guarantee level indicator(0.200 0).The evaluation results show that the top ranked products are mainly concentrated in Zhejiang and Guangdong.Conclusion:The evaluation results of the entropy weight TOPSIS method are suitable for the comprehensive evaluation of Huimin Insurance and are comprehensive and scientific.They can be used to evaluate the operation and development of Huimin Insurance products,laying a good foundation for further evaluation of the sustainability of Huimin Insurance.