Neurological disorders such as post-stroke hemiplegia, spinal cord injury, and Parkinson disease represent a major global health burden. Brain-computer interface (BCI), which creates direct communication pathways between the nervous system and external devices, offers a promising strategy for functional restoration. The long-term efficacy of such BCI fundamentally depends on the performance of biomaterials at the neural interface. Ideal materials must concurrently satisfy biocompatibility, electrical conductivity, enduring chemical stability, and mechanical compatibility with brain tissue. This review systematically outlines the application of conductive polymers, inorganic nanomaterials, natural biomaterials, and composites in BCI, with a focus on how advanced designs, such as bionic and encapsulated electrodes, improve signal fidelity and surgical feasibility through structural innovation. It further summarizes key material-modification techniques and analyzes the complex foreign-body response orchestrated by microglia, astrocytes, and peripheral immune cells. Finally, it provides insights into future research directions and clinical translation of BCI-based neurorehabilitation, while highlighting critical challenges including long-term biosafety and the establishment of standardized evaluation frameworks, aiming to bridge the gap between laboratory innovation and effective clinical deployment.

Background: and Purpose Vertebrobasilar fusiform aneurysms (VBFAs) carry substantial morbidity and mortality, but optimal management for unruptured VBFAs remains unclear. We compared the safety and efficacy of conservative management (CM), stent-assisted coiling (SAC), and flow diverters (FDs) in patients with unruptured VBFAs, focusing on long-term prognosis. Methods: This study included data from a nationwide Chinese cohort of patients with vertebrobasilar dissecting aneurysms. Inverse probability of treatment weighting (IPTW) balanced confounders across groups. The primary outcome was poor prognosis (modified Rankin Scale score >2). Secondary outcomes included aneurysm rupture, ischemic stroke, compression symptoms, and VBFA-related deaths. Logistic regression estimated odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Subgroup and sensitivity analyses were performed. Results: Among 1,115 patients with unruptured VBFAs, 838 (median age, 54 years; 655 men) were included. After IPTW, baseline characteristics were balanced. Median follow-up was 54 months. FD was associated with a lower risk of poor prognosis than CM (OR, 0.48 [95% CI, 0.30 to 0.77]; p=0.002), with no difference between CM and SAC. FD also reduced aneurysm rupture (OR, 0.20 [95% CI, 0.07 to 0.60]; p=0.004) and compression symptoms (OR, 0.30 [95% CI, 0.13 to 0.68]; p=0.004) versus CM. Time-to-event analyses further revealed significant differences in vertebral artery lesions and Type I–II VBFAs, whereas no significant differences were observed in basilar or vertebrobasilar junction lesions or in Type III–IV VBFAs. Conclusions Compared with CM, FD was associated with improved long-term outcomes in unruptured VBFAs, particularly in vertebral artery lesions and Type I–II VBFAs, although residual confounding cannot be excluded.

AIM:To explore the toxicological mechanisms of benzalkonium chloride(BAC)as a preservative in ophthalmic preparations leading to corneal injury in dry eye.METHODS:Network toxicology was employed to obtain the chemical structure of BAC, its toxic targets, and targets associated with dry eye-related corneal injury from databases including PubChem, CTD, ChEMBL, and STITCH. The protein-protein interaction(PPI)networks were constructed using the STRING database to screen key toxicity targets. Gene ontology(GO)functional annotation and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes(KEGG)pathway enrichment analyses were performed to elucidate the potential biological processes and signaling pathways affected by BAC. Furthermore, molecular docking techniques were employed to validate the binding affinity of BAC to its key targets(IL-6, IL-1β, TNF, and EGF).RESULTS:BAC had a toxicity grade of 4 and exhibited significant eye irritation. A total of 85 common targets of BAC and dry eye corneal damage were screened out, of which 49 were key toxic targets, including TNF, IL-6, TP53, IL-1β, BCL2, etc. KEGG enrichment analysis showed that BAC mainly acted on 7 corneal injury pathways closely associated with corneal injury, such as IL-17, TNF, NF-κB, JAK-STAT, PI3K-Akt, Rap1, and MAPK. The results of molecular docking showed that BAC had stable binding ability to IL-6, IL-1β, TNF, EGF, and other targets(binding energy <0).CONCLUSION:BAC may induce corneal damage in dry eye through multi-target and multi-pathway mechanisms, involving processes such as inflammatory response, apoptosis, disruption of tear film stability, and delayed corneal repair, which suggests that long-term use of ophthalmic preparations containing BAC may aggravate ocular surface damage.

ObjectiveTo construct a large language model （LLM）-based intelligent pre-consultation system for traditional Chinese medicine （TCM） to improve efficacy of clinical practice. MethodsA TCM large language model was fine-tuned using DeepSpeed ZeRO-3 distributed training strategy based on YAYI 2-30B. A weighted undirected graph network was designed and an agent-based syndrome differentiation model was established based on relationship data extracted from TCM literature and clinical records. An agent collaboration framework was developed to integrate the TCM LLM with the syndrome differentiation model. Model performance was comprehensively evaluated by Loss function， BLEU-4， and ROUGE-L metrics， through which training convergence， text generation quality， and language understanding capability were assessed. Professional knowledge test sets were developed to evaluate system proficiency in TCM physician licensure content， TCM pharmacist licensure content， TCM symptom terminology recognition， and meridian identification. Clinical tests were conducted to compare the system with attending physicians in terms of diagnostic accuracy， consultation rounds， and consultation duration. ResultsAfter 100 000 iterations， the training loss value was gradually stabilized at about 0.7±0.08， indicating that the TCM-LLM has been trained and has good generalization ability. The TCM-LLM scored 0.38 in BLEU-4 and 0.62 in ROUGE-L， suggesting that its natural language processing ability meets the standard. We obtained 2715 symptom terms， 505 relationships between diseases and syndromes， 1011 relationships between diseases and main symptoms， and 1 303 600 relationships among different symptoms， and constructed the Agent of syndrome differentiation model. The accuracy rates in the simulated tests for TCM practitioners， licensed pharmacists of Chinese materia medica， recognition of TCM symptom terminology， and meridian recognition were 94.09%， 78.00%， 87.50%， and 68.80%， respectively. In clinical tests， the syndrome differentiation accuracy of the system reached 88.33%， with fewer consultation rounds and shorter consultation time compared to the attending physicians （P＜0.01）， suggesting that the system has a certain pre- consultation ability. ConclusionThe LLM-based intelligent TCM pre-diagnosis system could simulate diagnostic thinking of TCM physicians to a certain extent. After understanding the patients' natural language， it collects all the patient's symptom through guided questioning， thereby enhancing the diagnostic and treatment efficiency of physicians as well as the consultation experience of the patients.

ObjectiveTo reveal the active substances and mechanisms of modified Qing'e formula （MQEF） in delaying skin photoaging by ultra-performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole-time of flight mass spectrometry （UPLC-Q-TOF-MS），network pharmacology， and cell experiments. MethodsUPLC-Q-TOF-MS and a literature review were employed to analyze the transdermally absorbed components in mice after the topical application of MQEF. The potential targets of MQEF in treating skin photoaging were retrieved from databases.The compound-potential target network and protein-protein interaction network were constructed to screen the key components and core targets. A photoaging cell model was established by irradiating HaCaT cells with medium-wave ultraviolet B （UVB）. The safe doses of bakuchiol （BAK） and salvianolic acid B （SAB） for treating HaCaT cells and the effects of BAK and SAB on the viability of cells exposed to UVB irradiation were determined by the cell counting kit-8 （CCK-8） method.The reactive oxygen species （ROS） fluorescent probe was used to measure the ROS production in the cells treated with BAK and SAB.The expression levels of genes related to oxidative stress，inflammation，collagen metabolism，and circadian rhythm clock were measured by Real-time PCR. ResultsA total of 24 transdermally absorbed components of MQEF were identified，which acted on 367 potential targets，and 417 targets related to skin photoaging were screened out，among which 47 common targets were predicted as the targets of MQEF in treating skin photoaging. MQEF exerted the anti-photoaging effect via key components such as BAK and SAB，which acted on core proteins such as serine/threonine kinase 1 （Akt1） and mitogen-activated protein kinase 3 （MAPK3） and intervened in core pathways such as the tumor necrosis factor （TNF） and phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase （PI3K）/protein kinase B （Akt） signaling pathways.Compared with the model group，the administration of BAK and SAB increased the survival rate of HaCaT cells （P<0.01），down-regulated the mRNA levels of cyclooxygenase-2 （COX-2），interleukin-6 （IL-6），tumor necrosis factor-α （TNF-α），matrix metalloproteinase-1 （MMP-1），and matrix metalloproteinase-9 （MMP-9） （P<0.01），and up-regulated the mRNA levels of heme oxygenase-1 （HO-1） and NAD（P）H quinone dehydrogenase 1 （NQO-1） （P<0.05，P<0.01） in photoaged HaCaT cells.In addition，it eliminated excess ROS production induced by UVB and up-regulated the mRNA levels of brain and muscle ARNT-like 1 （BMAL1） and circadian locomotor output cycles kaput （CLOCK） associated with circadian clock （P<0.05，P<0.01）. ConclusionMQEF delays skin photoaging through the coordinated effects of various components，multiple targets，and diverse pathways.The key components BAK and SAB in MQEF exhibit anti-photoaging properties，which involve inhibiting oxidative stress，preventing collagen degradation，mitigating inflammation，and maintaining normal skin circadian rhythms by regulating clock gene expression.

Objective:To evaluate the feasibility, safety and effects of tumor resection in the anterior space of the styloid process via transoral endoscopic medial parapterygomandibular ligament approach. Methods:This retrospective study included 24 patients who were diagnosed with tumors in the anterior space of the styloid process and treated with the transoral endoscopic medial parapterygomandibular ligament approach. Twenty-four patients who underwent surgery by traditional approach were selected on a 1∶1 ratio as control group. We compared the en bloc resection rate, the operation time, amount of blood loss, the postoperative pain VAS score, recurrence rate, length of hospital stay, complication rate between the two groups. Results:Among the 24 patients, pleomorphic adenoma was confirmed in 18 cases （75.0%）, basal cell adenoma in 2 cases （8.3%）, and neurilemmoma in 4 cases （16.7%）. In the transoral endoscopic group, the en bloc resection rate was 91.7%, the maximum tumor diameter was （42.2±12.2） mm, the operative time was （117.9±29.8）min, the blood loss was （36.7±18.7） mL, the postoperative pain VAS score （1.5±0.7）, no recurrence was observed, length of hospital stay was （10.8±2.9） d. Wound dehiscence occurred in one case in the transoral endoscopic group, and no other postoperative complication was observed. There were significant differences in the operation time, blood loss, the postoperative pain VAS score between the two groups, while no difference was found in gender, age, en bloc resection rate and length of hospital stay. Conclusion:The tumor resection in the anterior space of the styloid process via transoral endoscopic medial parapterygomandibular ligament approach was safe, minimally invasive and feasible.
Humans ; Male ; Female ; Retrospective Studies ; Middle Aged ; Adult ; Endoscopy/methods* ; Temporal Bone/surgery* ; Aged ; Young Adult ; Ligaments/surgery*

Objective: To explore the effects of Cldn14 gene knockout on renal metabolism and stone formation in rats，so as to provide reference for research in the field of urinary calium metabolism and stone formation. Methods: Cldn14 gene knockout homozygous rats and wild-type rats of the same age were randomly divided into 4 groups：wild-type control (WC) group，wild-type ethylene glycol (WE) group，gene knockout control (KC) group and gene knockout ethylene glycol (KE) group，with 10 rats in each group.The WE and KE groups were induced with ethylene glycol + ammonium chloride to form kidney stones，while the WC and KC groups received normal saline gavage.After 4 weeks of standard maintenance feeding，the urine samples were collected to detect the venous blood.The kidneys were collected for HE，Pizzolatto's staining and transmission electron microscopy.The protein in renal tissues was extracted to detect the expressions of Claudin16 and Claudin19. Results: Crystal deposition was observed in the renal tubular lumen of the WE and the KE groups，and more crystals were detected in the KE group.The WE group had a large number of intracytoplasmic black crystalline inclusions observed in renal tubular epithelial cells under transmission electron microscope，followed by the KE and KC groups.Compared with WC and WE groups，KC and KE groups had significantly decreased serum calcium and magnesium levels but significantly increased urinary calcium level.In addition，the urinary calcium level was higher in the WE group than in the WC group and higher in the KE group than in the KC group.The KE group had lower level of Claudin16，but there was no significant difference in the level of Claudin19 among the 4 groups(P>0.05). Conclusion: Knockout of Cldn14 gene alone cannot effectively reduce urinary calcium excretion or reduce the risk of stone formation in rats，which may be related to the decrease of Claudin16 level.

Objective To investigate the impact of ultrasound intervention combined with tripterygium for ovarian endometriosis cyst(OEC)on the ovarian function of patients.Methods The clinical data of 107 patients with clinically-conformed OEC,who received treatment at the Yuyao Municipal People's Hospital of China from December 2022 to June 2024,were retrospectively analyzed.According to different treatment methods,the patients were divided into control group(n=53)and observation group(n=54).The patients of control group were treated with laparoscopic cystectomy,while the patients of observation group were treated with ultrasound intervention combined with tripterygium therapy.The uterine artery blood flow parameters,sex hormone levels,tumor marker levels,ovarian reserve function were compared between the two groups.Results After treatment,uterine artery blood flow parameters were decreased in both groups,the levels of uterine artery blood flow parameters in the observation group were significantly lower than those in the control group(P＜0.05);the levels of sex hormones were elevated in both groups,the levels of sex hormones in the observation group were obviously higher than those in the control group(P＜0.05).After treatment,the tumor-related indicators generally decreased,especially in the observation group receiving combination therapy,the levels of tumor-related indicators were significantly lower than those in the control group receiving simple surgical treatment(P＜0.05),indicating that the therapeutic effect of the observation group was better than that of the control group.After treatment,the ovarian reserve function of both groups were increased when compared with their preoperative values,and the ovarian reserve function of the observation group was higher than that of the control group(P＜0.05).Conclusion In treating OEC patients,ultrasound intervention combined with tripterygium can regulate the levels of sex hormones,reduce tumor marker levels,improve local uterine blood flow status,and protect ovarian reserve function.This therapy is worth promoting and applying in clinical practice.

Objective To analyze the interaction effect between the new talent policy and the retention of healthcare personnel,and propose suggestions for improving talent administration.Methods Grassroot health personnel in 12 prefecture level cities in Zhejiang,Sichuan,and Henan Provinces were selected as the research subjects.Policy text analysis and multilevel linear models were used to analyze the interaction effect between talent policies and healthcare workforce retention.Results A total of 2 156 grassroots health personnel completed the survey.The completeness of policy tools had a significant positive impact on retention(coefficient=0.23,P＜0.001),and the stability of institutional environment also showed a positive impact(coefficient=0.18,P=0.002);Meanwhile,the stability of the institutional environment positively moderated the relationship between occupational commitment and retention(interaction coefficient=0.12,P=0.003).lndividuals with high human capital were more susceptible to the influence of career development tools(coefficient=0.27,P＜0.001),while those with low human capital relied more on basic security tools(coefficient=0.21,P＜0.001).Conclusion The interactive effect between the new talent policy and the retention of grassroots health personnel was confirmed.The new talent policy should focus on improving the completeness of policy tools and the stability of the institutional environment.

Objective:To investigate the effect of oral capsaicin stimulation on the cerebral cortex hemodynamics of patients with post-stroke dysphagia (PSD).Methods:Thirty-four PSD patients were subjected to oral stimulation with either a saline or a capsaicin solution. Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) was used to document any changes in cortical oxyhemoglobin (HbO) concentrations and cortical activation. Functional connectivity (FC) and hemispheric lateralization were analyzed.Results:(1) Capsaicin stimulation significantly increased HbO concentration in the prefrontal and motor areas, producing significantly greater activation than saline stimulation and the resting state. (2) Both saline and capsaicin oral stimulation enhanced whole brain FC, with capsaicin producing a more pronounced increase between the bilateral prefrontal cortex and the right motor cortex. (3) Both saline and capsaicin stimulation induced a right-hemispheric lateralization trend in the whole brain and the prefrontal cortex, while the motor cortex maintained a left-lateralization pattern. Notably, the lateralization index under capsaicin oral stimulation was significantly higher than that under saline oral stimulation.Conclusions:Compared with the resting state and saline stimulation, capsaicin oral stimulation significantly enhances cortical activation above the resting state, and significantly more than saline stimulation. It increases FC between the prefrontal and motor cortices, and promotes adjustments in brain lateralization patterns in persons with PSD.