Over the past two decades, genome-wide association study(GWAS) has identified numerous genetic variants and loci associated with heritable diseases. With the gradual maturation and saturation of GWAS methodologies, transcriptome-wide association study(TWAS) offers a novel perspective by linkinggenetic phenotypes to gene expression levels. By integrating TWAS with other multi-omics analyses, researchers can gain a deeper understanding of heritable diseases. This article provides an overview of recent groundbreaking and representative TWAS methods and tools, analyzes their strengths and limitations, and discusses future trends in TWAS development.

Objective: To investigate the barrier membrane fixation performance and enhanced guided bone regeneration (GBR) capability of a thermosensitive adhesive containing bioactive glass nanoparticles in order to provide a novel solution for membrane fixation during GBR procedures. Methods: M2NP@BGN (methoxyethyl acrylate-co-N-isopropylacrylamide-co-protocatechuic acid@Bioactive glass nanoparticle), a thermosensitive adhesive, was synthesized via free radical polymerization by compositing methoxyethyl acrylate, N-isopropylacrylamide, and protocatechuic acid into a basic adhesive that was modified with bioactive glass nanoparticle (BGN). The successful fabrication of basic adhesive M2NP was characterized by attenuated total reflection-Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. The thermosensitive adhesive M2NP@BGN (BGN concentration of 1 mg/mL) was characterized by scanning electron microscopy and a rheometer. By adjusting the BGN concentration (0.1 mg/mL, 0.5 mg/mL, 1 mg/mL, and 2 mg/mL), the adhesive and mechanical strengths were investigated with a universal testing machine. Biocompatibility was evaluated with a cell counting kit-8 assay and hemolysis test to identify the optimal formulation. The optimal material’s extract was co-cultured with mouse bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells, and its osteogenic activity was examined in vitro by quantitative real-time PCR, alkaline phosphatase, and alizarin red S staining. The rat mandibular defect model was established, filled with bone graft, and divided into 3 groups based on membrane fixation method: M2NP@BGN (BGN concentration of 1 mg/mL) fixation group (M2NP@BGN), titanium nail fixation group (Nail), and unfixed control group (Negative). Bone regeneration was analyzed after 8 weeks by micro computed tomography and histological staining. Results: M2NP@BGN (BGN concentration of 1 mg/mL) was successfully synthesized and demonstrated rapid gelation under warm, humid conditions. The adhesive with a BGN concentration of 1 mg/mL exhibited the highest adhesive strength (P < 0.001) and significantly enhanced mechanical strength (P < 0.001) under 37℃ wet conditions. All formulations showed excellent biocompatibility, with cell viability > 80% and hemolysis ratio < 5%. M2NP@BGN (BGN concentration of 1 mg/mL) significantly upregulated the expression of Runx2 and Col I (P < 0.001) and enhanced the activity of osteogenic differentiation markers (P < 0.05). In the animal model, the M2NP@BGN group (BGN concentration of 1 mg/mL) achieved significantly higher bone volume fraction and better bone maturity compared to the negative and nail groups (P < 0.05). Conclusion M2NP@BGN (BGN concentration of 1 mg/mL) combines excellent wet adhesion with potent osteogenic activity, enhances the bone augmentation efficacy of membranes, and presents a novel fixation strategy with significant clinical translation potential for GBR therapy.

Background: Intraoperative hypercapnia reduces the time to emergence from volatile anesthetics, but few clinical studies have explored the effect of hypercapnia on the emergence time from intravenous (IV) anesthesia. We investigated the effect of inducing mild hypercapnia during the recovery period on the emergence time after total IV anesthesia (TIVA). Methods: Adult patients undergoing transurethral lithotripsy under TIVA were randomly allocated to normocapnia group (end-tidal carbon dioxide [ETCO2] 35–40 mmHg) or mild hypercapnia group (ETCO2 50-55 mmHg) during the recovery period. The primary outcome was the extubation time. The spontaneous breathing-onset time, voluntary eye-opening time, and hemodynamic data were collected. Changes in the cerebral blood flow velocity in the middle cerebral artery were assessed using transcranial Doppler ultrasound. Results: In total, 164 patients completed the study. The extubation time was significantly shorter in the mild hypercapnia (13.9 ± 5.9 min, P = 0.024) than in the normocapnia group (16.3 ± 7.6 min). A similar reduction was observed in spontaneous breathing-onset time (P = 0.021) and voluntary eye-opening time (P = 0.008). Multiple linear regression analysis revealed that the adjusted ETCO2 level was a negative predictor of extubation time. Middle cerebral artery blood flow velocity was significantly increased after ETCO2 adjustment for mild hypercapnia, which rapidly returned to baseline, without any adverse reactions, within 20 min after extubation. Conclusions Mild hypercapnia during the recovery period significantly reduces the extubation time after TIVA. Increased ETCO2 levels can potentially enhance rapid recovery from IV anesthesia.

Objective:To explore the dynamic change trajectory and influencing factors of postoperative fatigue (POF) in patients with early digestive tract cancer undergoing endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD), so as to provide theoretical basis for individualized management of such patients.Methods:Using cross-sectional survey and convenient sampling method, the patients who underwent ESD for early cancer of digestive tract in the endoscopic center of the Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University School of Medicine from January to June 2024 were selected as the research objects. The questionnaires were conducted at 30 min, 24 h, 3 days, 5 days, 7 days after ESD with Christensen's postoperative fatigue score. Spearman test was used to analyze the correlation between pain, insomnia and POF. The latent variable growth model was used to identify the potential categories of POF trajectory, and the influencing factors were analyzed by Logistic regression.Results:A total of 232 patients were finally induded, with ages of 19-94(59.53 ± 13.29) years, including 120 males and 112 femalss. The POF level of patients with early cancer of digestive tract showed a downward trend one week after operation. Three postoperative fatigue trajectories were fitted, 9.05% in moderate or severe fatigue low-speed smooth descent group (C1 group); 32.76% in moderate fatigue first decreased quickly and then slowly group (C2 group) and 58.19% in mild fatigue continuous decline group (C3 group). The result of Logistic regression analysis showed that, compared with C1 group, people without religious beliefs were morelikely to enter C2 group [ β = 1.572, OR = 4.818(1.033 - 22.465), P<0.05]; compared with C3 group, patients with high pain level and severe insomnia degree were likely to enter C1 [ β = 2.621, 0.663, OR were 13.754(2.692 - 70.283) and 1.942(1.429 - 2.638), both P<0.05] and C2 [ β = 2.010, 0.491, OR were 7.464(1.890 - 29.482) and 1.634(1.348 - 1.982), both P<0.05] group. Conclusions:There were three potential types of POF in patients with early digestive tract cancer ESD. Medical staff should pay attention to patients with severe insomnia, intense pain and religious beliefs, and give staged fatigue assessment and individualized intervention, so as to reduce the level of POF and promote rapid recovery.

OBJECTIVE To observe the therapeutic effect of Xuanfei Zhisou Mixture combined with ceftriaxone so-dium in treating post-infectious cough with wind-evil invading lung syndrome and its effect on Toll-like receptor 4(TLR4)/nuclear factor-KB(NF-κB)signaling pathway.METHODS The clinical data of 100 patients with post-in-fectious cough admitted to Wuhan Hospital of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine from Dec.2021 to Dec.2022 were retrospectively analyzed.According to different therapeutic schemes,the patients were di-vided into two groups:48 cases in the single-drug group and 52 cases in the combined group.The single-drug group was treated with ceftriaxone sodium,while the combined group was treated with Xuanfei Zhisou Mixture com-bined with ceftriaxone sodium.The total effective rate,traditional chinese medicine(TCM)symptom score,leicester cough quality of life questionnaire(LCQ),serum levels of inflammatory factors[tumor necrosis factor-α(TNF-α),interleukin-6(IL-6),and inducible nitric oxide synthase(iNOS)]and TLR4/NF-κB signaling pathway expression were analysed to evaluate the therapeutic effect.RESULTS After treatment,the total effective rate of the combined group was higher than that of the single-drug group(94.23％vs.77.08％,x2=6.096,P=0.014);meanwhile,compared to the single-drug group,the TCM symptom score,TNF-α,IL-6,iNOS,TLR4,NF-κB levels,TLR4 protein and NF-κB protein expression in the combined group were significantly decreased(P＜0.05),and the LCQ score was significantly increased(P＜0.05).CONCLUSIONS Xuanfei Zhisou Mixture com-bined with ceftriaxone sodium has an obvious effect in treating post-infectious cough with wind-evil invading lung syndrome.They can effectively improve the cough symptoms and quality of life of patients and reduce the produc-tion of inflammatory factors by inhibiting TLR4/NF-κB signaling pathway.

Objective To investigate the proportions of myeloid-derived suppressor cells(MDSCs)and their subsets,including poly-morphonuclear MDSCs(PMN-MDSCs),early-stage MDSCs(e-MDSCs),monocytic MDSCs(M-MDSCs),and lectin-like oxidized low-density lipoprotein receptor-1(LOX-1)positive PMN-MDSCs,in the peripheral blood of ovarian cancer(OC)patients and ana-lyze their correlations with clinicopathological parameters of the patients.Methods The proportions of MDSCs and their subsets in the peripheral blood of 38 OC patients(OC group)and 46 healthy individuals(healthy control group)were detected by flow cytometry.The levels of serum IL-10 and TGF-β were detected using ELISA.The OC group was further divided into LOX-1 high and low expres-sion subgroups based on the median proportion of LOX-1+PMN-MDSCs in MDSCs.Results The proportions of MDSCs,PMN-MDSCs,and LOX-1+PMN-MDSCs in the peripheral blood mononuclear cells(PBMCs)of the OC group were significantly higher than those in the healthy control group(U=492,P＜0.001;t=8.741,P＜0.000 1;U=223,P＜0.000 1).The proportions of M-MDSCs and e-MDSCs in the OC group were significantly lower than those in the healthy control group(t=4.366,P＜0.000 1;t=6.927,P＜0.000 1).The proportion of LOX-1+PMN-MDSCs in the lymph node metastasis group of OC patients was significantly higher than that in the non-metastasis group(t=2.249,P＜0.05).The levels of serum IL-10 and TGF-β in the OC group were significantly higher than those in the healthy control group(P＜0.05).In addition,the level of serum TGF-β in the LOX-1 high expression group was significantly higher than that in the LOX-1 low expression group(t=2.302,P＜0.05).Conclusion The proportion of LOX-1+PMN-MDSCs in the peripheral blood of OC patients is significantly increased and closely related to lymph node metastasis.

Objective To analyse the causal relationship between obstructive sleep apnea(OSA)and atrial fibrillation(AF)by Mendelian randomization(MR)method,and to explore the role of inflammatory factors,immune cells,blood metabolites and circulating proteins in it.Methods In this study,MR analysis was used to investigate the causal link between OSA and AF.Inverse variance weighting(IVW),MR-Egger and other methods were used for sensitivity analysis.Additionally,the study also explored the effects of 91 inflammatory factors,731 immune cells,1 400 blood metabolites and 4 907 circulating proteins on AF.Results MR analysis revealed a significant causal relationship between OSA and AF(OR=1.078,P＜0.05).Conversely,reverse MR analysis did not find causal relationship between AF and OSA(P＞0.05).Further analysis revealed that 5 inflammatory factors,19 immune cells,15 blood metabolites and 67 circulating proteins were risk factors for AF.Among them,OSA was the risk factor for one inflammatory factor,one blood metabolite and 12 circulating proteins.There was no significant causal association between OSA and 19 immune cells.Conclusion This study demonstrates that OSA increases the risk of AF.Meanwhile,it is found that inflammatory factors,immune cells,blood metabolites and circulating proteins have potential impacts on the pathogenesis of AF.

Objective:To explore the relationship between the dark triad, fear of missing out and smartphone addiction, as well as the mediating role of fear of missing out between the dark triad and smartphone addiction.Methods:A total of 408 college students were assessed using dirty dozen, fear of missing out scale, and mobile phone addiction index. SPSS 24.0 software was used for common method bias tests, descriptive statistical analysis, and correlation analysis. Mplus 8.3 software was employed to construct a structural equation model, and the Bootstrap method was used for mediation effect analysis.Results:The dark triad (36.14±9.06) was positively correlated with fear of missing out (22.55±6.60) and smartphone addiction (46.77±13.62) ( r=0.48, 0.45, both P<0.01). Fear of missing out was also positively correlated with smartphone addiction ( r=0.54, P<0.01). Fear of missing out played a partial mediating role in the relationship between the dark triad and smartphone addiction, with a total effect value of 0.495 and a mediating effect value of 0.217. Conclusion:Fear of missing out partially mediates the relationship between the dark triad and smartphone addiction. The dark triad not only directly predicts smartphone addiction but also indirectly influences smartphone addiction through fear of missing out.

Objective To analyse the causal relationship between obstructive sleep apnea(OSA)and atrial fibrillation(AF)by Mendelian randomization(MR)method,and to explore the role of inflammatory factors,immune cells,blood metabolites and circulating proteins in it.Methods In this study,MR analysis was used to investigate the causal link between OSA and AF.Inverse variance weighting(IVW),MR-Egger and other methods were used for sensitivity analysis.Additionally,the study also explored the effects of 91 inflammatory factors,731 immune cells,1 400 blood metabolites and 4 907 circulating proteins on AF.Results MR analysis revealed a significant causal relationship between OSA and AF(OR=1.078,P＜0.05).Conversely,reverse MR analysis did not find causal relationship between AF and OSA(P＞0.05).Further analysis revealed that 5 inflammatory factors,19 immune cells,15 blood metabolites and 67 circulating proteins were risk factors for AF.Among them,OSA was the risk factor for one inflammatory factor,one blood metabolite and 12 circulating proteins.There was no significant causal association between OSA and 19 immune cells.Conclusion This study demonstrates that OSA increases the risk of AF.Meanwhile,it is found that inflammatory factors,immune cells,blood metabolites and circulating proteins have potential impacts on the pathogenesis of AF.

Background: Intraoperative hypercapnia reduces the time to emergence from volatile anesthetics, but few clinical studies have explored the effect of hypercapnia on the emergence time from intravenous (IV) anesthesia. We investigated the effect of inducing mild hypercapnia during the recovery period on the emergence time after total IV anesthesia (TIVA). Methods: Adult patients undergoing transurethral lithotripsy under TIVA were randomly allocated to normocapnia group (end-tidal carbon dioxide [ETCO2] 35–40 mmHg) or mild hypercapnia group (ETCO2 50-55 mmHg) during the recovery period. The primary outcome was the extubation time. The spontaneous breathing-onset time, voluntary eye-opening time, and hemodynamic data were collected. Changes in the cerebral blood flow velocity in the middle cerebral artery were assessed using transcranial Doppler ultrasound. Results: In total, 164 patients completed the study. The extubation time was significantly shorter in the mild hypercapnia (13.9 ± 5.9 min, P = 0.024) than in the normocapnia group (16.3 ± 7.6 min). A similar reduction was observed in spontaneous breathing-onset time (P = 0.021) and voluntary eye-opening time (P = 0.008). Multiple linear regression analysis revealed that the adjusted ETCO2 level was a negative predictor of extubation time. Middle cerebral artery blood flow velocity was significantly increased after ETCO2 adjustment for mild hypercapnia, which rapidly returned to baseline, without any adverse reactions, within 20 min after extubation. Conclusions Mild hypercapnia during the recovery period significantly reduces the extubation time after TIVA. Increased ETCO2 levels can potentially enhance rapid recovery from IV anesthesia.