Within the prefrontal-cingulate cortex, abnormalities in coupling between neuronal networks can disturb the emotion-cognition interactions, contributing to the development of mental disorders such as depression. Despite this understanding, the neural circuit mechanisms underlying this phenomenon remain elusive. In this study, we present a biophysical computational model encompassing three crucial regions, including the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, subgenual anterior cingulate cortex, and ventromedial prefrontal cortex. The objective is to investigate the role of coupling relationships within the prefrontal-cingulate cortex networks in balancing emotions and cognitive processes. The numerical results confirm that coupled weights play a crucial role in the balance of emotional cognitive networks. Furthermore, our model predicts the pathogenic mechanism of depression resulting from abnormalities in the subgenual cortex, and network functionality was restored through intervention in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. This study utilizes computational modeling techniques to provide an insight explanation for the diagnosis and treatment of depression.
Prefrontal Cortex/physiology* ; Humans ; Emotions/physiology* ; Cognition/physiology* ; Gyrus Cinguli/physiology* ; Computer Simulation ; Models, Neurological ; Neural Pathways/physiology* ; Nerve Net/physiology*

Objective To explore the association between mammalian sterile 20-like kinase 1(MST1)gene poly-morphism and haplotype and the risk of colorectal cancer,rectal cancer,and colon cancer in the Han population in Baotou area by case-control association study.Methods A total of 390 patients with colorectal cancer diagnosed by pathology and 413 normal physical examination population were collected,and 2 ml of peripheral blood was taken for subsequent gene genotyping.Single nucleotide polymorphisms(SNPs)of MST1 gene were screened according to the genetic polymorphism data of Chinese Han population provided by the National Center for Biotechnology In-formation-Haplotype Mapping database.Gene genotyping was performed by Taqman method.Logistic regression was used to calculate the association between each SNP and the risk of colorectal cancer,colon cancer,and rectal cancer under codominant,dominant,overdominant,and recessive genetic models.Results Four SNPs of MST1 gene were screened,namely rs8000,rs2234197,rs2267853,and rs6073629.Among them,SNP rs2234197 was associated with the risk of rectal cancer.Compared with the GG+AA genotype,the AG genotype could reduce the risk of rectal cancer,OR[95%confidence interval(CI)]=0.657(0.442-0.976).SNP rs8000 was associated with the risk of colon cancer.Compared with the TT+GT genotype,the GG genotype could reduce the risk of colon cancer[OR(95%CI)=0.425(0.182-0.992)].Conclusion MST1 gene SNP rs2234197 AG genotype and SNP rs8000 GG genotype may be protective factors for rectal cancer and colon cancer,respectively.

BACKGROUND: Colorectal carcinogenesis and progression are related to the gut microbiota and the tumor immune microenvironment. Our previous clinical trial demonstrated that berberine (BBR) hydrochloride might reduce the recurrence and canceration of colorectal adenoma (CRA). The present study aimed to further explore the mechanism of BBR in preventing colorectal cancer (CRC). METHODS: We performed metagenomics sequencing on fecal specimens obtained from the BBR intervention trial, and the differential bacteria before and after medication were validated using quantitative polymerase chain reaction. We further performed ApcMin/+ animal intervention tests, RNA sequencing, flow cytometry, immunohistochemistry, and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays. RESULTS: The abundance of fecal Veillonella parvula ( V . parvula ) decreased significantly after BBR administration ( P = 0.0016) and increased through the development from CRA to CRC. Patients with CRC with a higher V. parvula abundance had worse tumor staging and a higher lymph node metastasis rate. The intestinal immune pathway of Immunoglobulin A production was activated, and the expression of TNFSF13B (Tumor necrosis factor superfamily 13b, encoding B lymphocyte stimulator [BLyS]), the representative gene of this pathway, and the genes encoding its receptors (interleukin-10 and transforming growth factor beta) were significantly upregulated. Animal experiments revealed that V. parvula promoted colorectal carcinogenesis and increased BLyS levels, while BBR reversed this effect. CONCLUSION: BBR might inhibit V. parvula and further weaken the immunomodulatory effect of B cells induced by V. parvula , thereby blocking the development of colorectal tumors. TRIAL REGISTRAION ClinicalTrials.gov, No. NCT02226185.
Animals ; Humans ; Berberine/therapeutic use* ; Carcinogenesis ; Veillonella ; Colorectal Neoplasms/genetics* ; Tumor Microenvironment

Objective: To elucidate clinical characteristics and build a prognostic nomogram for patients with vulvar cancer. Methods: The study population was drawn from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database. Patients were randomly assigned to training and validation sets. Cox proportional hazards model and competing risk model were used to identify the prognostic parameters of overall survival (OS) and cancer-specific survival (CSS) to construct a nomogram. The nomogram was assessed by concordance index (C-index), area under the curve (AUC), calibration plot, and decision curve analysis (DCA). Results: A total of 20,716 patients were included in epidemiological analysis, of whom 7,025 patients were selected in survival analysis, including 4,215 and 2,810 in training and validation sets, respectively. The multivariate Cox model showed that the predictors for OS were age, marital status, histopathology, differentiation and tumor node metastasis (TNM) stages, whether to undergo surgery and chemotherapy. However, the predictors for CSS were age, race, differentiation and TNM stages, whether to undergo surgery and radiation. The C-index for OS and CSS in the training set were 0.76 and 0.80. The AUC in the training set for 1-, 3- and 5-year OS and CSS were 0.84, 0.81, 0.80 and 0.88, 0.85, 0.83, respectively, which was similar in the validation set. The calibration curves showed good agreement between prediction and actual observations. DCA revealed that the nomogram had a better discrimination than TNM stages. Conclusions The nomogram showed accurate prognostic prediction in OS and CSS for vulvar cancer, which could provide guidance to clinical practice.

Objective : To investigate the association between single nucleotide polymorphism ( SNP) rs558614， rs9552315，rs7317471 and rs9509492 in large tumor suppressor kinase 2 (LATS2) gene and the risk of colorectal cancer． Methods : A total of 390 colorectal cancer patients and 413 healthy subjects were genotyped by Taqman method．The odds ratio ( OR) and its 95% CI were calculated by unconditional logistic regression，to estimate the associations between SNP rs558614，rs9552315，rs7317471，rs9509492 in LATS2 gene and the risk of colorectal cancer，rectal cancer，as well as colon cancer under codominant，dominant，recessive，overdominant，and log-ad- ditive genetic models． Haplotypes were constructed by haploview software 4. 2 . Results : SNP rs558614， rs7317471，rs9552315 and rs9509492 in LATS2 gene were not associated with the risk of colorectal cancer，rectal cancer and colon cancer under codominant，dominant，recessive，overdominant，and log-additive genetic models. No haploid blocks were formed between the 4 SNPs． Conclusion SNP rs558614 ，rs7317471 ，rs9552315， rs9509492 in LATS2 gene may not play a major role in the development of colorectal cancer，rectal cancer and co- lon cancer.

Objective:To summarize clinical characteristics of and treatment experience with patients with critical illnesses in a dermatological ward.Methods:All patients with serious or life-threatening conditions, who were hospitalized at the dermatological ward of the Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University from July 9, 2011 to December 31, 2020, were collected, and their clinical data were retrospectively analyzed. Demographic characteristics, disease types and proportions, main complications, causes of serious or life-threatening conditions, important treatment measures and outcomes were summarized, and causes of death were also analyzed and discussed.Results:A total of 1 057 patients with critical illnesses were collected, with a male-to-female ratio of 1∶1.11, and 64.81% of them aged 18 to 65 years. The types of diseases mainly included drug eruptions (332 cases) , connective tissue diseases (226 cases) , bullous skin diseases (104 cases) , psoriasis (57 cases) , erythroderma (45 cases) , infectious skin diseases (67 cases) , etc. Among them, psoriasis (39 cases) and erythroderma (32 cases) mostly occurred in males, and connective tissue diseases (168 cases) mostly occurred in females. Common complications mainly involved infections, important organ damage or dysfunction, hypoalbuminemia, and fluid, electrolyte and acid-base imbalances. A total of 94 patients were diagnosed with life-threatening conditions, which were found to be mainly caused by primary skin diseases, hematologic abnormalities, respiratory failure, nervous system abnormalities, renal failure, sepsis, fluid, electrolyte and acid-base imbalances, etc. During the management of critical illnesses, 43 patients were treated with high-dose glucocorticoid pulse therapy, 264 were treated with gamma-globulin pulse therapy, 355 were transfused with other blood products, and 34 received special therapies such as hemoperfusion/immunoadsorption therapy, plasma exchange, dialysis, artificial liver support therapy; 42 patients were transferred to the intensive care unit (ICU) , 12 were transferred to the department of surgery for operations, and 12 were transferred to the department of obstetrics and gynecology for delivery or induction of labor. After treatment, 989 patients (93.57%) achieved improvement and were discharged. A total of 14 patients (1.32%) died, of whom 7 died of secondary sepsis, 2 died of severe pulmonary infections, 2 died of asphyxia caused by respiratory mucosa shedding-induced airway obstruction, the other 3 died of gastrointestinal hemorrhage, cerebral hemorrhage and neuropsychiatric systemic lupus erythematosus, respectively.Conclusions:Critical cases in the dermatological ward mainly suffered from serious skin diseases such as severe drug eruptions, connective tissue diseases and bullous skin diseases, as well as complications such as severe underlying diseases, severe organ dysfunction, sepsis or severe fluid, electrolyte and acid-base imbalances. In terms of treatment, it is of critical significance to make a clear diagnosis and assess the severity of disease as early as possible, monitor and prevent possible complications, and to consult with specialists in relevant disciplines in time.

Objective: To explore the dynamic variation trend of bronchial wall thickness (BWT) in severely burned patients combined with inhalation injury, and to determine the value of BWT to prognosis of patients. Methods: Forty-three severely burned patients with inhalation injury hospitalized in Intensive Burn Department of the Affiliated Hospital of Nankai University (Tianjin No.4 Hospital) from July to November 2016, conforming to the study criteria, were divided into survival group (n=27) and death group (n=16) according to the prognosis of patients within 14 days after admission. All patients underwent fiberoptic bronchoscopy and inhalation injury rating based on abbreviated injury scale at admission. High resolution CT examination was performed in patients of two groups at admission and 24 h post admission, 3, 7, and 14 d post admission to measure the BWT of right superior lobar bronchus trunk opening. Receiver operating characteristic curves of rating of inhalation damage at admission and BWT at admission were drawn to evaluate the predictive value for death of 43 patients. Data were processed with chi-square test, independent sample t test, Wilcoxon rank sum test, analysis of variance for repeated measurement and least-significant difference-t test. Results: (1) The numbers of patients rated as 0, 1, 2, 3, and 4 grade for inhalation injury in survival group and death group were 0, 19, 6, 2, and 0, and 0, 2, 7, 7, and 0, respectively. There were statistically significant differences between the two groups (Z=-3.79, P<0.01). (2) BWT of patients in death group at admission and 24 h post admission, 3, 7, and 14 d post admission was respectively (2.72±0.26), (3.18±0.22), (2.98±0.18), (2.29±0.17), and (1.45±0.21) mm, which was significantly larger than (2.24±0.15), (2.49±0.15), (1.51±0.17), (1.04±0.16), and (1.01±0.13) mm in survival group (t=7.55, 12.14, 27.11, 19.99, 7.11, P<0.01). BWT of patients in survival group and death group at 24 h post admission, 3, 7, and 14 d post admission showed statistically significant difference when compared with that at admission within the corresponding group (t=5.97, 16.63, 28.21, 38.57, 5.34, 3.31, 4.39, 6.48, P<0.01). BWT of patients in survival group and death group on 3, 7, and 14 d post admission was significantly smaller than that at 24 h post admission within the corresponding group (t=22.27, 34.02, 45.03, 2.77, 10.53, 10.59, P<0.01). BWT of patients in survival group and death group on 7 and 14 d post admission was significantly smaller than that on 3 d post admission within the corresponding group (t=10.49, 18.26, 9.57, 11.44, P<0.01). BWT of patients in survival group and death group on 14 d post admission was significantly smaller than that on 7 d post admission within the corresponding group (t=6.97, 6.15, P<0.01). (3) The total areas under ROC curves of inhalation injury rating at admission and BWT at admission for predicting death of 43 patients were 0.880 and 0.956, respectively (with 95% confidence intervals 0.768-0.991, 0.882-1.000, P<0.05). Grade 1.5 and 2.75 mm were respectively chosen as the optimal threshold values of inhalation injury rating at admission and BWT at admission, with sensitivity of 87.50%, 83.33% and specificity of 77.78%, 96.00%, respectively. Conclusions The BWT of survived and dead patients with severe burn and inhalation injury increases significantly post burn, while the BWT of survived patients restores to normal level faster. BWT can be used to assess the severity of inhalation injury and to predict death in severely burned patients combined with inhalation injury.

Objective The number of children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD)has increased dramatically in the past years.Parents of children with ASD usually experience a variety of chronic and acute stressors that may decrease marital satisfaction and family functioning.The aim was to explore the characteristics of parental per-sonality,mood disorders and family functions of the Children with ASD and to explore the relevance factors in order to draw out methods to improve parental family functions.Methods A cross -sectional survey was conducted and 593 outpatients with ASD diagnosed in Shanghai Mental Health Center,Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine form January 201 0 to January 201 4 were straight into the group,their parents were tested by Family Assessment Device (FAD),Zung Self -Rating Depression Scale(SDS),Zung Self -Rating Anxiety Scale(SAS)and Eysenck Personality Questionnaire(EPQ).SPSS 1 7.0 software was adopted to establish the database and statistical analysis.Results Ac-cording to FAD,parents of children with ASD had lower scores in problem solving[(2.1 0 ±0.37)scores]and roles [(2.09 ±0.27)scores](t =-6.669,P =0.000;t =-1 8.707,P =0.000)than the standard scores,while other di-mensions score were significantly higher than the standard scores in communicdtion[(2.25 ±0.35)scores],emotional reaction[(2.38 ±0.40)scores],emotional involvement[(2.36 ±0.37)scores],behavioral control[(2.31 ±0.27) scores]and general function[(2.1 2 ±0.38)scores],there were significant differences(t =3.1 35,1 1 .1 1 5,1 6.997, 37.1 1 6,8.064;P =0.002,0.000,0.000,0.000,0.000).For EPQ of parents,mother had obviously higher scores than father in psychoticism scale[(53.68 ±1 .36)scores vs (52.65 ±1 .1 7)scores,t =-1 3.841 ,P =0.000],and signifi-cantly lower scores in Lie scale[(52.27 ±0.79)scores vs (52.1 7 ±0.75)scores,t =2.449,P =0.01 4].Compared to fathers,mothers were coded as higher depression and anxiety scores(t =-6.276,-6.440,all P =0.000)and higher prevalence rate(χ2 =1 5.893,27.592,all P =0.000),which were statistically significant.According to the asso-ciation study of FAD and the others(especially in mood of parents),it was found that several dimensions showed obvious correlation.Conclusions Parents of children with ASD have family function damaged badly,except for prob-lem solving and roles.The parents showed different personality traits and mood disorders,particularly mothers′mood disorder problem was prominent.Parental family functioning were closely related to their personality traits and emotional disorders in various dimensionalities,which was worthy of attention.

Objective To investigate the applicability of the K~+ concentration in aqueous humor to estimate postmortem interval(PMI).Methods 30 White New-Zealand rabbit were sacrificed by air embolism and divided into 10 groups.Aqueous humor and vitreous humor were sampled at 0.5h,1h,3h,6h,8h,12h,16h,20h,and 24h after death.The concentration of potassium,sodium and calcium were analyzed by an autoanalyzer and the data were statistically processed by SPSS software for Windows.Results Increase in potassiam concentration in aqueous humor was correlated with the postmortem interval(R~2=0.956).Conclusion Measurement of potassium concentration in aqueous humor may be used for PMI estimation.