Objective To analyze the epidemiological characteristics of statutory infectious diseases in Yichang City from 2015 to 2023 and evaluate the effectiveness of non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) in infectious disease prevention and control, and to provide a basis for formulating prevention and control strategies. Methods Descriptive epidemiological methods were used to analyze annual incidence rates. SARIMA and SARIMA intervention models were constructed to predict the incidence rates of infectious diseases. Interrupted time series analysis (ITS) was applied to assess the control effectiveness. Results The average annual incidence rate from 2015 to 2023 was 787.47/100 000, with the top five diseases being influenza, hand-foot-and-mouth disease, hepatitis B, tuberculosis, and diarrheal diseases. The average incidence rate from 2015 to 2019 (654.31/100 000) was significantly higher than that from 2020 to 2022 (489.01/100 000) (χ²= 3 499.6, P < 0.05). The total incidence rate in 2023 (2 396.51/100 000) was significantly higher than the average annual incidence rates from 2015-2019 (χ²= 108 186.1, P < 0.05) and 2020-2022 (χ²= 112 869.4, P < 0.05). SARIMA model results indicated that the actual incidence rate from 2020 to 2022 decreased by 73.49% compared to the predicted rate without intervention, with the highest decline observed in respiratory infectious diseases (79.57%). The SARIMA-intervention model showed a 55.48% relative decrease in the total incidence rate for 2023, with the largest reduction in respiratory infectious diseases (63.28%) and a slight increase in intestinal infectious diseases (5.48%). Conclusion NPIs effectively reduce the incidence of statutory infectious diseases in the short term, especially for acute respiratory and intestinal infectious diseases. However, long-term effectiveness faces challenges, necessitating the development of differentiated prevention and control strategies.

Objective: To develop a clinical decision and prescription generation system (CDPGS) specifically for diarrhea in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), utilizing a specialized large language model (LLM), Qwen-TCM-Dia, to standardize diagnostic processes and prescription generation. Methods: Two primary datasets were constructed: an evaluation benchmark and a fine-tuning dataset consisting of fundamental diarrhea knowledge, medical records, and chain-of-thought (CoT) reasoning datasets. After an initial evaluation of 16 open-source LLMs across inference time, accuracy, and output quality, Qwen2.5 was selected as the base model due to its superior overall performance. We then employed a two-stage low-rank adaptation (LoRA) fine-tuning strategy, integrating continued pre-training on domain-specific knowledge with instruction fine-tuning using CoT-enriched medical records. This approach was designed to embed the clinical logic (symptoms → pathogenesis → therapeutic principles → prescriptions) into the model’s reasoning capabilities. The resulting fine-tuned model, specialized for TCM diarrhea, was designated as Qwen-TCM-Dia. Model performance was evaluated for disease diagnosis and syndrome type differentiation using accuracy, precision, recall, and F1-score. Furthermore, the quality of the generated prescriptions was compared with that of established open-source TCM LLMs. Results: Qwen-TCM-Dia achieved peak performance compared to both the base Qwen2.5 model and five other open-source TCM LLMs. It achieved 97.05% accuracy and 91.48% F1-score in disease diagnosis, and 74.54% accuracy and 74.21% F1-score in syndrome type differentiation. Compared with existing open-source TCM LLMs (BianCang, HuangDi, LingDan, TCMLLM-PR, and ZhongJing), Qwen-TCM-Dia exhibited higher fidelity in reconstructing the “symptoms → pathogenesis → therapeutic principles → prescriptions” logic chain. It provided complete prescriptions, whereas other models often omitted dosages or generated mismatched prescriptions. Conclusion By integrating continued pre-training, CoT reasoning, and a two-stage fine-tuning strategy, this study establishes a CDPGS for diarrhea in TCM. The results demonstrate the synergistic effect of strengthening domain representation through pre-training and activating logical reasoning via CoT. This research not only provides critical technical support for the standardized diagnosis and treatment of diarrhea but also offers a scalable paradigm for the digital inheritance of expert TCM experience and the intelligent transformation of TCM.

Objective:To investigate the value of dual-energy CT parameters in the evaluation of pathological grade of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma.Methods:80 cases of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma confirmed by pathology were retrospectively analyzed and divided into high grade group (36 cases) and low grade group (44 cases) according to their differentiation degree. All 80 patients underwent SOMATOM Force DECT for arterial phase (AP) and pancreatic phase (PP) scanning, and measured dual-energy parameters including dual-phase iodine concentration (IC AP, IC PP) in tumors and normal pancreatic parenchyma, pancreatic phase and arterial phase iodine concentration difference (ICD PP-AP) in tumors, dual-phase iodine uptake ratio (IUR AP, IUR PP) , dual-phase tumor/normal pancreatic parenchyma fat fraction ratio, and dual-phase slope of energy spectrum curve. Differences between two groups were compared by two independent sample t-test or Mann-Whitney U test or chi-square test. The multivariate logistic regression model was used to analyze the influencing factors of pathological grading of PDAC. Results:There were statistically significant differences in gender, age, aspect ratio, positive lymph node, fat fraction ratio in pancreatic phase between the two groups ( P< 0.05) . The multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that fat fraction ratio in pancreatic phase ( OR=1.781, 95% CI 1.127-2.814, P=0.013) , positive lymph node ( OR=4.870, 95% CI 1.488-15.938, P=0.009) , aspect ratio ( OR=0.019, 95% CI 0.001-0.437, P=0.013) were independent factors influencing the pathologic grade of PDAC. Conclusion:Parameters of dual-energy CT are valuable in the evaluation of pathological grading of PDAC.

Conducting drug clinical trials can enhance hospitals' clinical research capabilities and influence,making it particularly important to improve the management efficiency of trial projects through multiple approaches.Remote monitoring sys-tems enable clinical researchers to remotely access hospital diagnosis and treatment-related systems online,allowing timely,se-cure,and standardized review of subjects' source data and key data traceability.These systems monitor the progress of drug clini-cal trial projects,control project risks to ensure compliance with laws,regulations,trial protocols,and standard operating proce-dures,and safeguard the rights of subjects.In the internet era,remote monitoring systems complement on-site monitoring,enhan-cing hospitals' risk resilience in drug clinical trials while improving efficiency and reducing costs.This paper analyzes recent do-mestic and international laws,regulations,policy directions,and research progress in remote monitoring for clinical trials,dis-cusses current challenges and shortcomings,and provides recommendations and insights for the future informatization development of remote monitoring systems in hospital drug clinical trials.

Colorectal cancer stands as a leading cause of cancer-related morbidity and mortality globally,with liver metastases being a significant determinant of patient prognosis.Conventional diagnostic methods,includ-ing imaging studies and biomarker testing,frequently exhibit inadequate sensitivity and specificity,underscoring the necessity for more advanced technologies.Recent advancements in genomics,transcriptomics,proteomics,me-tabolomics,and epigenomics have revolutionized our understanding of the biological mechanisms driving colorectal cancer.These methodologies enable comprehensive analyses of genetic mutations,gene expression profiles,protein modifications,and metabolic reprogramming,all of which are pivotal to the metastatic process.This article high-lights the advanced capabilities of artificial intelligence(AI)technologies in processing complex multi-omics data,thereby enhancing diagnostic accuracy and supporting personalized treatment strategies.It also addresses the challenges AI encounters in multi-omics analyses,such as ensuring data quality,improving model interpretability,and facilitating clinical translation.Additionally,it explores the potential integration of emerging technologies like single-cell sequencing and spatial omics into large-scale,multicenter studies to further enhance the clinical utility of these tools.

Objective To evaluate the patterns of sleep duration by integrating nocturnal and daytime sleep,and to explore their asso-ciations with activities of daily living(ADL)in middle-aged and older adults.Methods The data of sleep and ADL were obtained from 11 085 subjects aged 45 and older,which were collected from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study(CHARLS).At enrollment in 2011,data on nocturnal and daytime sleep duration were collected through questionnaires.Firstly,subjects were divided into three groups based on the 33rd and 66th percentiles of nocturnal sleep duration,assigned scores of 1,2 and 3,respectively.Subsequently,subjects were divided into three groups based on the 33rd and 66th percentiles of daytime sleep du-ration,assigned scores of 3,2 and 1,respectively.Finally,the scores for nocturnal and daytime sleep were summed to create a total sleep score ranging from 2 to 6.A total sleep score of 6 was defined as sleep duration pattern 1,indicating a longer nocturnal sleep duration with no or shorter daytime sleep duration.Similarly,total sleep scores of 5,4,3 and 2 were defined as sleep duration patterns 2,3,4 and 5,respectively,with sleep duration pattern 5 indicating a shorter nocturnal sleep duration and a longer daytime sleep duration.The status of ADL was assessed using the Activities of Daily Living Scale(Katz edition)at baseline and during follow-up in 2013,2015 and 2018.The association between sleep duration patterns and the risk of ADL disability was evaluated us-ing a Cox proportional hazards model.Results A total of 63 015 person-years were followed,with 11 085 subjects,during which 3 239 individuals experienced ADL disability.The 33rd and 66th percentiles of the nocturnal sleep duration in the study population were 6.00 hours and 7.00 hours,respectively;while the 33rd and 66th percentiles of the daytime sleep duration were 0.00 hours and 1.00 hours,respectively.Of those,1 522 were classified into sleep duration pattern 1,2 196 into sleep duration pattern 2,4 299 into sleep duration pattern 3,2 304 into sleep duration pattern 4,and 764 into sleep dura-tion pattern 5.Compared to sleep duration pattern 1,the risk of ADL disability of patterns 3,4 and 5 were higher(P<0.05),with P-value for the trend less than 0.001,after adjusting for age,sex,body mass index,marital sta-tus,educational level,residence,smoking,drinking,history of chronic diseases,depression status and season.No interaction effect between gender,age and season,and sleep duration patterns was observed(P>0.05).Com-pared to subjects with nocturnal sleep duration≥9 hours and daytime sleep duration<2 hours,those with noctur-nal sleep duration<7 hours and daytime sleep duration≥2 hours had a higher risk of ADL disability(P<0.05).Conclusion Older adults who sleep less at night but take longer naps during the day are at a higher risk of experiencing limitations in their ADL.Sleep patterns may influence ADL among middle-aged and older populations,and man-aging their sleep duration patterns could help prevent the onset of ADL limitations.

Objective To investigate the association between triglyceride-glucose(TyG)index and the prevalence of gallstones in women,and to assess whether it can be used as a convenient indicator for the epidemiological survey of gallstones in women.Methods A total of 22 979 adult women who underwent physical examination in Subei People's Hospital of Jiangsu from January 2021 to June 2023 were enrolled,and according to the results of abdominal color Doppler ultrasound,they were divided into gallstone group with 1 763 women and non-gallstone group with 21 216 women.The independent samples t-test was used for comparison of normally distributed continuous data between groups,and the Mann-Whitney U test was used for comparison of non-normally distributed continuous data between groups;the chi-square test was used for comparison of categorical data between groups.The multivariate logistic regression analysis,the restricted cubic spline analysis,the subgroup analysis,and mediating effect were used to investigate the association between TyG index and the risk of gallstones in women.Results The overall prevalence rate of gallstones was 7.7％in women.Compared with the non-gallstone group,the gallstone group had significantly higher age,BMI,FPG,TG,TyG index,TC,Hb,BUN,UA,SCr,TC,and LDL-C(all P<0.05),and the women with diabetes,fatty liver,hypertension,and hyperuricemia were more likely to have gallstones(all P<0.05).The multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that based on the quartiles of TyG index,the risk of gallstones in the Q3(8.97-9.38)group was 1.38(95％confidence interval[CI]:1.15-1.62,P<0.001)times that in the Q1(<8.63)group,and the risk of gallstones in the Q4(≥9.38)group was 1.39(95％CI:1.16-1.68,P<0.001)times that in the Q1 group.After adjustment for all covariates,TyG index,as a continuous variable,showed an independent positive correlation with the risk of gallstones(odds ratio[OR]=1.24,95％CI:1.11-1.39,P=0.004).The restricted cubic spline curve revealed a significant nonlinear association between TyG index and the risk of gallstones(P for non linear=0.008),and the threshold analysis showed statistical significance in the effect of TyG index below the inflection point of 8.95(OR=1.34,95％CI:1.15-1.97,P=0.042).The subgroup analysis showed that TyG index was significantly positively correlated with gallstones in women with a BMI of<25 kg/m2,an age of<50 years,an age of≥50 years,the absence of diabetes or fatty liver,total cholesterol<5.72 mmol/L,total bilirubin<21 μmol/L,a hemoglobin level of 110-150 g/L,and blood urea nitrogen<7.5 μmol/L(all P<0.05).A mediating analysis was performed for the subgroups with a statistically significant P value for interaction,and the results showed that BMI accounted for 23.0％of the mediating effect in the influence of TyG index on gallstones,and fatty liver and diabetes accounted for 15.7％and 21.0％,respectively.Conclusion In women,a higher TyG index indicates a higher risk of gallstones.Lowering TyG index may reduce the risk of gallstones by improving insulin sensitivity.

Long-term hypertension causes excessive vascular remodeling and leads to adverse cardiovascular events. Balance of ubiquitination and deubiquitination has been linked to several chronic conditions, including pathological vascular remodeling. In this study, we discovered that the expression of ubiquitin-specific protease 25 (USP25) is significantly up-regulated in angiotensin II (Ang II)-challenged mouse aorta. Knockout of Usp25 augments Ang II-induced vascular injury such as fibrosis and endothelial to mesenchymal transition (EndMT). Mechanistically, we found that USP25 interacts directly with Forkhead box O3 (FOXO3) and removes the K63-linked ubiquitin chain on the K258 site of FOXO3. We also showed that this USP25-mediated deubiquitination of FOXO3 increases its binding to light chain 3 beta isoform and autophagosomic-lysosomal degradation of FOXO3. In addition, we further validated the biological function of USP25 by overexpressing USP25 in the mouse aorta with AAV9 vectors. Our studies identified FOXO3 as a new substrate of USP25 and showed that USP25 may be a potential therapeutic target for excessive vascular remodeling-associated diseases.

In protein engineering, while computational models are increasingly used to predict mutation effects, their evaluations primarily rely on high-throughput deep mutational scanning (DMS) experiments that use surrogate readouts, which may not adequately capture the complex biochemical properties of interest. Many proteins and their functions cannot be assessed through high-throughput methods due to technical limitations or the nature of the desired properties, and this is particularly true for the real industrial application scenario. Therefore, the desired testing datasets, will be small-size (∼10-100) experimental data for each protein, and involve as many proteins as possible and as many properties as possible, which is, however, lacking. Here, we present VenusMutHub, a comprehensive benchmark study using 905 small-scale experimental datasets curated from published literature and public databases, spanning 527 proteins across diverse functional properties including stability, activity, binding affinity, and selectivity. These datasets feature direct biochemical measurements rather than surrogate readouts, providing a more rigorous assessment of model performance in predicting mutations that affect specific molecular functions. We evaluate 23 computational models across various methodological paradigms, such as sequence-based, structure-informed and evolutionary approaches. This benchmark provides practical guidance for selecting appropriate prediction methods in protein engineering applications where accurate prediction of specific functional properties is crucial.

Temporal interference (TI) is a form of stimulation that epitomizes an innovative and non-invasive approach for profound neuromodulation of the brain, a technique that has been validated in mice. Yet, the thin cranial bone structure of mice has a marginal influence on the effect of the TI technique and may not effectively showcase its effectiveness in larger animals. Based on this, we carried out TI stimulation experiments on rats. Following the TI intervention, analysis of electrophysiological data and immunofluorescence staining indicated the generation of a stimulation focus within the nucleus accumbens (depth, 8.5 mm) in rats. Our findings affirm the viability of the TI methodology in the presence of thick cranial bones, furnishing efficacious parameters for profound stimulation with TI administered under such conditions. This experiment not only sheds light on the intervention effects of TI deep in the brain but also furnishes robust evidence in support of its prospective clinical utility.
Animals ; Deep Brain Stimulation/methods* ; Nucleus Accumbens/physiology* ; Male ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Time Factors