Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is a common head and neck malignancy. Approximately 50% to 60% of patients with OSCC are diagnosed at a locally advanced stage (clinical staging III-IVa). Even with comprehensive and sequential treatment primarily based on surgery, the 5-year overall survival rate remains below 50%, and patients often suffer from postoperative functional impairments such as difficulties with speaking and swallowing. Programmed death receptor-1 (PD-1) inhibitors are increasingly used in the neoadjuvant treatment of locally advanced OSCC and have shown encouraging efficacy. However, clinical practice still faces key challenges, including the definition of indications, optimization of combination regimens, and standards for efficacy evaluation. Based on the latest research advances worldwide and the clinical experience of the expert group, this expert consensus systematically evaluates the application of PD-1 inhibitors in the neoadjuvant treatment of locally advanced OSCC, covering combination strategies, treatment cycles and surgical timing, efficacy assessment, use of biomarkers, management of special populations and immune related adverse events, principles for immunotherapy rechallenge, and function preservation strategies. After multiple rounds of panel discussion and through anonymous voting using the Delphi method, the following consensus statements have been formulated: 1) Neoadjuvant therapy with PD-1 inhibitors can be used preoperatively in patients with locally advanced OSCC. The preferred regimen is a PD-1 inhibitor combined with platinum based chemotherapy, administered for 2-3 cycles. 2) During the efficacy evaluation of neoadjuvant therapy, radiographic assessment should follow the dual criteria of Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors (RECIST) version 1.1 and immune RECIST (iRECIST). After surgery, systematic pathological evaluation of both the primary lesion and regional lymph nodes is required. For combination chemotherapy regimens, PD-L1 expression and combined positive score need not be used as mandatory inclusion or exclusion criteria. 3) For special populations such as the elderly (≥ 70 years), individuals with stable HIV viral load, and carriers of chronic HBV/HCV, PD-1 inhibitors may be used cautiously under the guidance of a multidisciplinary team (MDT), with close monitoring for adverse events. 4) For patients with a poor response to neoadjuvant therapy, continuation of the original treatment regimen is not recommended; the subsequent treatment plan should be adjusted promptly after MDT assessment. Organ transplant recipients and patients with active autoimmune diseases are not recommended to receive neoadjuvant PD-1 inhibitor therapy due to the high risk of immune related activation. Rechallenge is generally not advised for patients who have experienced high risk immune related adverse events such as immune mediated myocarditis, neurotoxicity, or pneumonitis. 5) For patients with a good pathological response, individualized de escalation surgery and function preservation strategies can be explored. This consensus aims to promote the standardized, safe, and precise application of neoadjuvant PD-1 inhibitor strategies in the management of locally advanced OSCC patients.

BACKGROUND: Based on the China-VHD database, this study sought to develop and validate a Valvular Heart Disease- specific Age-adjusted Comorbidity Index (VHD-ACI) for predicting mortality risk in patients with VHD. METHODS & RESULTS: The China-VHD study was a nationwide, multi-centre multi-centre cohort study enrolling 13,917 patients with moderate or severe VHD across 46 medical centres in China between April-June 2018. After excluding cases with missing key variables, 11,459 patients were retained for final analysis. The primary endpoint was 2-year all-cause mortality, with 941 deaths (10.0%) observed during follow-up. The VHD-ACI was derived after identifying 13 independent mortality predictors: cardiomyopathy, myocardial infarction, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, pulmonary artery hypertension, low body weight, anaemia, hypoalbuminaemia, renal insufficiency, moderate/severe hepatic dysfunction, heart failure, cancer, NYHA functional class and age. The index exhibited good discrimination (AUC, 0.79) and calibration (Brier score, 0.062) in the total cohort, outperforming both EuroSCORE II and ACCI (P < 0.001 for comparison). Internal validation through 100 bootstrap iterations yielded a C statistic of 0.694 (95% CI: 0.665-0.723) for 2-year mortality prediction. VHD-ACI scores, as a continuous variable (VHD-ACI score: adjusted HR (95% CI): 1.263 (1.245-1.282), P < 0.001) or categorized using thresholds determined by the Yoden index (VHD-ACI ≥ 9 vs. < 9, adjusted HR (95% CI): 6.216 (5.378-7.184), P < 0.001), were independently associated with mortality. The prognostic performance remained consistent across all VHD subtypes (aortic stenosis, aortic regurgitation, mitral stenosis, mitral regurgitation, tricuspid valve disease, mixed aortic/mitral valve disease and multiple VHD), and clinical subgroups stratified by therapeutic strategy, LVEF status (preserved vs. reduced), disease severity and etiology. CONCLUSION The VHD-ACI is a simple 13-comorbidity algorithm for the prediction of mortality in VHD patients and providing a simple and rapid tool for risk stratification.

Abuse of amphetamine-based stimulants is a primary public health concern. Recent studies have underscored a troubling escalation in the inappropriate use of prescription amphetamine-based stimulants. However, the neurophysiological mechanisms underlying the impact of acute methamphetamine exposure (AME) on sleep homeostasis remain to be explored. This study employed non-human primates and electroencephalogram (EEG) sleep staging to evaluate the influence of AME on neural oscillations. The primary focus was on alterations in spindles, delta oscillations, and slow oscillations (SOs) and their interactions as conduits through which AME influences sleep stability. AME predominantly diminishes sleep-spindle waves in the non-rapid eye movement 2 (NREM2) stage, and impacts SOs and delta waves differentially. Furthermore, the competitive relationships between SO/delta waves nesting with sleep spindles were selectively strengthened by methamphetamine. Complexity analysis also revealed that the SO-nested spindles had lost their ability to maintain sleep depth and stability. In summary, this finding could be one of the intrinsic electrophysiological mechanisms by which AME disrupted sleep homeostasis.
Animals ; Methamphetamine ; Electroencephalography ; Male ; Sleep/drug effects* ; Central Nervous System Stimulants ; Delta Rhythm/drug effects* ; Sleep Stages/drug effects*

General anesthesia, pivotal for surgical procedures, requires precise depth monitoring to mitigate risks ranging from intraoperative awareness to postoperative cognitive impairments. Traditional assessment methods, relying on physiological indicators or behavioral responses, fall short of accurately capturing the nuanced states of unconsciousness. This study introduces a machine learning-based approach to decode anesthesia depth, leveraging EEG data across different anesthesia states induced by propofol and esketamine in rats. Our findings demonstrate the model's robust predictive accuracy, underscored by a novel intra-subject dataset partitioning and a 5-fold cross-validation method. The research diverges from conventional monitoring by utilizing anesthetic infusion rates as objective indicators of anesthesia states, highlighting distinct EEG patterns and enhancing prediction accuracy. Moreover, the model's ability to generalize across individuals suggests its potential for broad clinical application, distinguishing between anesthetic agents and their depths. Despite relying on rat EEG data, which poses questions about real-world applicability, our approach marks a significant advance in anesthesia monitoring.
Animals ; Machine Learning ; Electroencephalography/methods* ; Ketamine/administration & dosage* ; Rats ; Male ; Propofol/administration & dosage* ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Anesthesia, General/methods* ; Brain/physiology* ; Intraoperative Neurophysiological Monitoring/methods*

Cemental tear is a rare and indetectable condition unless obvious clinical signs present with the involvement of surrounding periodontal and periapical tissues. Due to its clinical manifestations similar to common dental issues, such as vertical root fracture, primary endodontic diseases, and periodontal diseases, as well as the low awareness of cemental tear for clinicians, misdiagnosis often occurs. The critical principle for cemental tear treatment is to remove torn fragments, and overlooking fragments leads to futile therapy, which could deteriorate the conditions of the affected teeth. Therefore, accurate diagnosis and subsequent appropriate interventions are vital for managing cemental tear. Novel diagnostic tools, including cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT), microscopes, and enamel matrix derivatives, have improved early detection and management, enhancing tooth retention. The implementation of standardized diagnostic criteria and treatment protocols, combined with improved clinical awareness among dental professionals, serves to mitigate risks of diagnostic errors and suboptimal therapeutic interventions. This expert consensus reviewed the epidemiology, pathogenesis, potential predisposing factors, clinical manifestations, diagnosis, differential diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis of cemental tear, aiming to provide a clinical guideline and facilitate clinicians to have a better understanding of cemental tear.
Humans ; Dental Cementum/injuries* ; Consensus ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Cone-Beam Computed Tomography ; Tooth Fractures/therapy*

Objective To survey the awareness and intended adoption of patient-based real-time quality control(PBRTQC)among medical laboratories,thereby providing a basis for subsequent research and promotion efforts.Methods An electronic questionnaire was distributed via the Questionnaire Star system to collect participants' general information,their knowledge,attitudes,and practices regarding PBRTQC,as well as their implementation willingness.Results A total of 161 valid questionnaires were collected.The sur-vey revealed that fewer than 50％of laboratory staff had basic knowledge of PBRTQC,and their confidence in establishing and applying PBRTQC in their own laboratories was low.However,they acknowledged its potential to enhance quality management.Key concerns and support needs for PBRTQC promotion include professional implementation guidelines and policy support,reliable third-party evalu-ations,software and hardware support,and user training.Conclusion The laboratory staff accepted the value of PBRTQC and gener-ally held a positive attitude toward its application.Future efforts should focus on developing standardized guidelines,refining evaluation methods,advancing software and hardware,and enhancing knowledge dissemination,technical training and other actions related to guiding the practical implementation thereby facilitating the wider adoption of PBRTQC.

Objective:To explore the optimal age cutoff for diagnosis and the prognosis of early-onset gastric cancer in young patients.Methods:Clinicopathological data of patients with gastric adenocarcinoma aged ≤45 years who had undergone radical gastrectomy in the Department of Gastric Surgery, Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center from January 2013 to December 2018 were retrospectively collected. Patients with distant metastases, other malignant tumors, combined organ resection, gastric stump cancer, positive margin, and incomplete clinical or follow-up data were excluded. X-tile software analysis of the actual overall survival of the collected cases yielded an optimal cut-off of 32 years. Accordingly, the enrolled cases were divided into an early-onset young group (age ≤32 years) and young adult group (age >32 years). Clinicopathological characteristics, long-term survival, and postoperative recurrence were compared between the two groups. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed using the Cox proportional hazards model to identify the factors affecting the prognosis of young patients with gastric cancer.Results:The study cohort comprised 462 patients, including 256 (55.4%) women, 419 (90.7%) with middle and lower gastric cancers, and 343 (74.2%) with poorly differentiated tumors. There were 101 patients in the early-onset young group and 361 in the young adult group. These groups did not differ significantly in terms of sex, body mass index, tumor location, tumor size, surgical procedure, neurovascular invasion, or tumor stage (all P>0.05). The proportion of patients with poorly differentiated tumors in the early-onset young group was significantly higher than that in the young adult group (89.1%[90/101] vs. 70.1%[253/361], χ 2=15.26, P<0.001). All study patients completed 5 years of follow-up, the median duration of which was 101 months (61-133 months). Death or tumor recurrence occurred in 151 patients (32.7%), in 118 of whom the sites of recurrence and metastasis could be identified, 38 in the early-onset young group and 80 in the young adult group. Fifty-five (46.6%) patients developed peritoneal metastases and 40 (33.9%) hematogenous metastases. In the early-onset young group, 20 patients developed peritoneal metastases, 11 hematogenous metastases, five distant lymph node metastases, and two local recurrence. In the young adult group, 35 patients developed peritoneal metastases, 29 hematogenous metastases, six local recurrences, and 10 distant lymph node metastases. The 5-year overall survival and disease-free survival rates were significantly higher in the young adult group than in the early-onset young group (73.7% vs. 57.4%, P=0.002 and 70.6% vs. 55.4%, P=0.004, respectively). Cox multivariate analysis showed that age >32 years (HR=0.63, 95%CI: 0.43-0.90, P=0.012) was an independent protective factor for overall survival, whereas later N stage (HR=1.67, 95%CI:1.09-2.57, P=0.018) was an independent risk factor for overall survival after surgery ( P<0.05). Age >32 years (HR=0.60, 95%CI: 0.41-0.86, P=0.006) was also an independent protective factor for disease-free survival, whereas later N stage was an independent risk factor (HR=1.69, 95%CI: 1.08-2.64, P=0.021). Conclusion:Young patients with early-onset gastric cancer aged ≤32 years have worse tumor differentiation and prognosis.

Objective:To explore the association between A Body Shape Index (ABSI) and sarcopenia in Chinese older adults.Methods:Totally 1 728 participants in waves 1 and 3 of the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Survey (CHARLS) were enrolled in this cohort-based cross-sectional analysis. ABSI was calculated by using anthropometric measurements from CHARLS. According to the Asian Working Group for Sarcopenia (AWGS) 2019 consensus update on sarcopenia, low muscle strength and low muscle mass were used as the diagnostic criteria for sarcopenia. Logistic regression and restricted cubic spline (RCS) were used to assess the relationship between ABSI and sarcopenia, and subgroup and interaction analyses were conducted to evaluate the influence of other factors on this association.Results:High ABSI showed a significant association with the risk of sarcopenia among older adults in China, and RCS analysis demonstrated a positive linear correlation between ABSI and sarcopenia. Additionally, the relationship of ABSI with sarcopenia was significantly modified by educational level and depressive status.Conclusion:ABSI, a novel anthropometric measure, serves as an effective threshold for assessing sarcopenia risk in the Chinese older population, providing a basis for developing clinical interventions and public health strategies for the prevention and early identification of sarcopenia.