It is proposed that the pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis （RA） is centered on deficiency， dampness， and blood stasis， which interact with and evolve into one another during the onset and progression of the disease. The development of RA is closely associated with insufficiency of healthy qi and the interbinding of dampness and blood stasis. Accordingly， treatment emphasizes an integrated approach that combines tonifying deficiency， eliminating dampness， and resolving blood stasis， and is implemented in three main stages. In the initial stage， therapy focuses on supporting healthy qi， dispelling dampness， and relieving impediment， with modified Huangqi Guizhi Wuwu Decoction （黄芪桂枝五物汤） combined with Yiyiren Decoction （薏苡仁汤）. In the active stage， treatment aims to eliminate dampness， resolve blood stasis， and unblock the collaterals， using modified Wutou Decoction （乌头汤） or Guizhi Shaoyao Zhimu Decoction （桂枝芍药知母汤）. In the remission stage， therapy emphasizes strengthening the spleen and reple-nishing qi to prevent recurrence， with modified Shenling Baizhu Powder （参苓白术散） combined with Guipi Decoction （归脾汤）.

ObjectiveTo evaluate the efficacy and safety of Janus kinase （JAK） inhibitors combined with Chinese herbal medicine （CHM） in treating rheumatoid arthritis （RA）. MethodsClinical data from 169 RA patients were retrospectively collected. Among them， 71 cases received JAK inhibitors as the control group， while 98 cases received JAK inhibitors plus CHM as the observation group， both treated for 24 weeks. The rheumatoid factor （RF）， cyclic citic peptide antibody （anti-CCP）， erythrocyte sedimentation rate （ESR）， C-reactive protein （CRP）， and white blood cell count （WBC） were recorded before and after treatment. Databases including CNKI， Wanfang， VIP， PubMed and Web of Science were searched from inception till August 31st， 2025 for randomized controlled trials （RCTs） on the combined use of JAK inhibitors and CHM for RA. The methodological quality of the included studies was evaluated using the risk of bias assessment tool. Meta-analyses were performed for RF， anti-CCP， ESR， CRP， 28-joint disease activity score （DAS28）， overall clinical effective rate， and incidence of adverse events. Sensitivity analysis were also performed. ResultsThe retrospective study demonstrated that after treatment， ESR， CRP， and anti-CCP levels decreased in the observation group， while ESR and CRP levels decreased in the control group （P＜0.05）. Moreover， ESR and RF levels in the observation group were lower than those in the control group （P＜0.05）. A total of 9 RCTs involving 770 patients were included in the meta-analysis. The results indicated that the JAK inhibitors plus CHM group was superior to the JAK inhibitors group in reducing RF （MD=-8.97， 95%CI -15.01 to -2.94， P=0.004）， CRP （MD=-3.34， 95%CI -3.82 to -2.86， P＜0.001）， ESR （MD=-5.33， 95%CI -7.98 to -2.69， P＜0.001）， and DAS28 score （MD=-0.54， 95%CI -0.74 to -0.34， P＜0.001）， as well as in improving the overall clinical effective rate （OR=4.53， 95%CI 2.55 to 8.03， P＜0.001）. No statistically significant differences were observed between groups in anti-CCP levels （SMD=-2.08， 95%CI -4.41 to 0.24， P=0.080） or incidence of adverse events （OR=0.93， 95%CI 0.55 to 1.57， P=0.790）. ConclusionThe combination of JAK inhibitors and CHM demonstrates remarkable efficacy in treating RA， contributing to improved disease activity and reduced inflammatory markers with a favorable safety profile.

Objective:To compare the safety, number of lymph nodes removed, rate of lymph node metastasis, and prognosis between proximal gastrectomy (PG) and total gastrectomy (TG) in patients with Siewert types II and III adenocarcinoma of the esophagogastric junction.Methods:In this retrospective cohort study, clinical data of patients diagnosed with adenocarcinoma of the esophagogastric junction at Changzhi People's Hospital, affiliated with Changzhi Medical College, between December 2019 and November 2022, were collected. Patients who had received neoadjuvant therapy, had multiple malignant lesions in the stomach, had concomitant malignancies in other organs, had incomplete clinical data, or had been lost to follow-up were excluded. The study cohort comprised 308 patients, 99 in the PG group and 209 in the TG group. To reduce confounding bias, propensity score matching was performed, matching patients for age, sex, body mass index, tumor diameter, and pathological stage in a 1:1 ratio, resulting in 73 patients in each group. The primary outcomes assessed were operative details, number of lymph nodes dissected, rate of lymph node metastasis, postoperative complications, duration of hospital stay, and follow-up and survival outcomes.Results:The PG group had a significantly shorter median operative time than did the TG group (250 vs. 280 minutes, Z = -4.970, P<0.001), with fewer cases of intraoperative blood loss >100 mL (30.1%[22/73] vs. 46.6%[34/73], χ2=4.171, P=0.041), and a smaller number of lymph nodes removed (median 33 vs. 46, Z =-4.774, P<0.001); all of these differences are statistically significant (all P<0.05). Differences between the two groups in postoperative hospital stay and postoperative complications were not statistically significant (both P>0.05). Furthermore, no statistically significant differences were found between the PG and TG groups in the number of lymph nodes dissected or the lymph node metastasis rates at stations No. 1, No. 2, No. 3, No. 4sa, No. 4sb, and No. 7 (all P> 0.05). Among the 209 patients in the TG group, analysis of risk factors for metastasis to distal perigastric lymph nodes (No.4d, No.5, and No.6) showed that patients with tumor diameters ≤4 cm and T1–T3 stage disease had significantly lower rates of metastasis to these lymph nodes than did patients with tumor diameters >4 cm and/or T4 stage disease (0/78 vs. 12/131 [9.2%]); these differences are statistically significant ( P=0.014). The median duration of follow-up for the entire cohort was 26 months. The 3-year overall survival rates for the PG and TG groups were 62.5% and 63.3%, respectively; this difference is not statistically significant (χ 2=0.330, P = 0.565). Multivariate analysis showed that older age ( P = 0.035) and advanced pathological stage ( P = 0.018) were significant independent risk factors that affected overall survival in patients with Siewert type II and III adenocarcinoma of the esophagogastric junction. Conclusions:PG is safe and feasible for patients with Siewert types II and III adenocarcinoma of the esophagogastric junction. The number of lymph nodes dissected and metastasis status were similar in the TG and PG groups.

Objective:To compare the safety, number of lymph nodes removed, rate of lymph node metastasis, and prognosis between proximal gastrectomy (PG) and total gastrectomy (TG) in patients with Siewert types II and III adenocarcinoma of the esophagogastric junction.Methods:In this retrospective cohort study, clinical data of patients diagnosed with adenocarcinoma of the esophagogastric junction at Changzhi People's Hospital, affiliated with Changzhi Medical College, between December 2019 and November 2022, were collected. Patients who had received neoadjuvant therapy, had multiple malignant lesions in the stomach, had concomitant malignancies in other organs, had incomplete clinical data, or had been lost to follow-up were excluded. The study cohort comprised 308 patients, 99 in the PG group and 209 in the TG group. To reduce confounding bias, propensity score matching was performed, matching patients for age, sex, body mass index, tumor diameter, and pathological stage in a 1:1 ratio, resulting in 73 patients in each group. The primary outcomes assessed were operative details, number of lymph nodes dissected, rate of lymph node metastasis, postoperative complications, duration of hospital stay, and follow-up and survival outcomes.Results:The PG group had a significantly shorter median operative time than did the TG group (250 vs. 280 minutes, Z = -4.970, P<0.001), with fewer cases of intraoperative blood loss >100 mL (30.1%[22/73] vs. 46.6%[34/73], χ2=4.171, P=0.041), and a smaller number of lymph nodes removed (median 33 vs. 46, Z =-4.774, P<0.001); all of these differences are statistically significant (all P<0.05). Differences between the two groups in postoperative hospital stay and postoperative complications were not statistically significant (both P>0.05). Furthermore, no statistically significant differences were found between the PG and TG groups in the number of lymph nodes dissected or the lymph node metastasis rates at stations No. 1, No. 2, No. 3, No. 4sa, No. 4sb, and No. 7 (all P> 0.05). Among the 209 patients in the TG group, analysis of risk factors for metastasis to distal perigastric lymph nodes (No.4d, No.5, and No.6) showed that patients with tumor diameters ≤4 cm and T1–T3 stage disease had significantly lower rates of metastasis to these lymph nodes than did patients with tumor diameters >4 cm and/or T4 stage disease (0/78 vs. 12/131 [9.2%]); these differences are statistically significant ( P=0.014). The median duration of follow-up for the entire cohort was 26 months. The 3-year overall survival rates for the PG and TG groups were 62.5% and 63.3%, respectively; this difference is not statistically significant (χ 2=0.330, P = 0.565). Multivariate analysis showed that older age ( P = 0.035) and advanced pathological stage ( P = 0.018) were significant independent risk factors that affected overall survival in patients with Siewert type II and III adenocarcinoma of the esophagogastric junction. Conclusions:PG is safe and feasible for patients with Siewert types II and III adenocarcinoma of the esophagogastric junction. The number of lymph nodes dissected and metastasis status were similar in the TG and PG groups.

Based on the Delphi method, combined with the results of the previous literature study and expert interviews, 3 rounds of expert consultation were conducted to evaluate the degree of concentration of expert opinions and their importance from 3 aspects: arithmetic mean, full score ratio ( Ki), and rank sum ( Si), to construct a diagnostic scale for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) cold-dampness syndrome. In this study, 30 expert questionnaires were distributed in the 1st round, 30 questionnaires were recovered, and the expert coordination coefficient was 0.309; 30 expert questionnaires were distributed in the 2nd round, 30 questionnaires were recovered, and the expert coordination coefficient was 0.320; and 30 expert questionnaires were distributed in the 3rd round, 29 questionnaires were recovered, and the expert coordination coefficient was 0.387. The maximum value of the coefficient of variation of the experts of the 3 rounds was 0.27, and the minimum value was 0.09, suggesting that the consistency and credibility of the experts' evaluation of the importance of the entries of cold-dampness syndrome were high. In this study, the mean values and weights of 17 entries were finally obtained, of which the top 5 entries were cold pain in joints (4.793, 0.066 6); aggravated by cold (4.586, 0.063 7); white tongue coating (4.552, 0.063 2); aggravated in cloudy and rainy days (4.448, 0.061 8); and painful joints that are not warm to the touch (4.379, 0.060 8). This study completed the screening of relevant entries and conducted preliminary discussions, laying the foundation for constructing a diagnostic scale for RA cold-dampness syndrome and forming the final diagnostic criteria. The research method is scientific and reliable, which can provide reference for the diagnostic standard of RA cold-dampness syndrome, but further clinical practice research is still needed.

Background: Excessive growth of keratinocytes is the critical event in the etiology of psoriasis.However, the underlying molecular mechanism of psoriatic keratinocyte hyperproliferation is still unclear. Objective: This study aimed to figure out the potential contributory role of S-phase kinase-associated protein 2 (SKP2) in promoting the hyperproliferation of keratinocytes in psoriasis. Methods: We analyzed microarray data (GSE41662) to investigate the gene expression of SKP2in psoriatic lesion skins compared with their adjacent non-lesional skin. Then, we further confirmed the mRNA and protein expression of SKP2 in human psoriatic skin tissues, imiquimod (IMQ)-induced psoriatic mice back skins and tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α), interleukin (IL)-17A and IL-6-stimulated keratinocytes by using real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction and western blot (WB). Furthermore, we explored the potential pathogenic role and its underlying cellular mechanism of SKP2 in promoting keratinocytes hyperproliferation through 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide assay, cell cycle detection, 5-ethynyl-2′-deoxyuridine staining and WB. Finally, we determined whether inhibition of SKP2 can effectively alleviate the keratinocytes hyperproliferation in vivo. Results: We identified that SKP2 is aberrantly upregulated in the psoriatic lesion skin and cytokines-stimulated keratinocytes. Moreover, upregulated SKP2 augments cytokines-induced keratinocytes hyperproliferation. Mechanistically, enhanced SKP2 increased the S phase ratio through inhibiting Cyclin-Dependent Kinase Inhibitor p27 (P27 Kip1) expression. Correspondingly, suppression of SKP2 with SMIP004 can significantly ease the epidermis hyperplasia in vivo. Conclusion Our results suggest that elevated SKP2 can empower keratinocytes proliferation and psoriasis-like epidermis hyperplasia via downregulation of P27 Kip1. Therefore, targeting SKP2-P27 Kip1 axis might be a promising therapeutic strategy for the treatment of psoriasis in future.

Objective:To construct medical students' employment quality evaluation index system based on analytic hierarchy process (AHP), for providing basis to scientific and objective evaluation of medical students' employment quality.Methods:Two rounds of consultation with 21 experts were conducted to construct medical students' employment quality index and evaluation standard by Delphi method, and the weight of each index and evaluation standard determined by AHP. Excel 2007 and SPSS 21.0 were used to analyze the results of expert consultation. The enumeration data were expressed as frequency and percentage. The mean and coefficient of variation were used to describe the importance scores of experts on indicators at all levels. The positive coefficient, authority coefficient and coordination degree of experts were calculated, and the Kendall coordination coefficient ( W) test was carried out. Yaahp 6.0 is used to analyze the pairwise comparison matrix in the analytic hierarchy process to calculate the weight of the indicator. Results:The authority of expert consultation was ranged from 0.77 to 0.94, and the positive coefficient of experts was 100.00%. The evaluation system of medical students' employment quality was determined, which involved 3 first-class indexes, 9 second-class indexes and 35 third-class indexes, and the weight coefficients of each index were calculated by AHP.Conclusion:The evaluation index system of medical students' employment quality is reasonable, which can be used to provide reference standard for medical students' employment quality evaluation, and has certain application value.

Objective:To investigate the epidemiology of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection in patients with maintenance hemodialysis (MHD) in Jiangsu province during SARS-CoV-2 pandemic in China from December 7, 2022 to January 27, 2023, and to analyze the influencing factors of all-cause death.Methods:It was a multi-center cross-sectional investigation. Structured questionnaire was used to collect patient information by medical staff of each hemodialysis center (room) as investigators. Part of the demography data and laboratory examination data came from the Jiangsu Province Hemodialysis Data Information System. MHD patients from hemodialysis centers (rooms) at all levels of medical institutions and independent hemodialysis institutions in Jiangsu province during the outbreak of SARS-CoV-2 infection were included, and the clinical characteristics and all-cause mortality of confirmed and suspected cases of SARS-CoV-2 infection were analyzed.Results:Questionnaire surveys and data analysis on 57 278 patients in 407 hemodialysis centers (rooms) were completed, accounting for 90.41% of the total number of MHD patients (63 357 cases) in Jiangsu province during the same period. There were 24 038 cases (41.97%) of SARS-CoV-2 infection and 14 805 cases (25.85%) of suspected infection, which were widely distributed in all dialysis centers in Jiangsu province. After clinical classification of 38 843 confirmed and suspected SARS-CoV-2 infection cases, 3 662 cases were severe and critical cases, accounting for 9.43% of the infected and suspected cases. Among the patients who had completed the questionnaires, there were 1 812 all-cause deaths, with an all-cause mortality rate of 3.16%. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that elderly (taking ≤50 years as a reference, 51-59 years: OR=1.583, 95% CI 1.279-1.933, P=0.001; 60-69 years: OR=3.972, 95% CI 3.271-4.858, P<0.001; 70-79 years: OR=7.236, 95% CI 5.917-8.698, P<0.001; ≥80 years: OR=11.738, 95% CI 9.459-14.663, P<0.001), male ( OR=1.371, 95% CI 1.229-1.529, P<0.001), and co-infection with hepatitis B virus (HBV) (positive serum HBV surface antigen, OR=0.629, 95% CI 0.484-0.817, P<0.001) were independent influencing factors for all cause mortality. Receiver-operating characteristic curve analysis showed that the area under the curve for male, age and current HBV infection prediction of all-cause death was 0.529 ( P<0.001), 0.724 ( P<0.001) and 0.514 ( P=0.042), respectively, and the cut-off value for age prediction of all-cause death was 65.5 years old. Compared with patients without HBV infection, MHD patients with HBV infection significantly reduced the proportion of severe and critically ill patients, all-cause hospitalizations and all cause deaths when infected with SARS-CoV-2 (4.99% vs. 6.41%, χ2=6.136, P=0.013; 8.90% vs. 11.44%, χ2=11.662, P<0.001; 2.01% vs. 3.37%, χ2=10.713, P=0.001, respectively). Conclusion:The MHD patients in Jiangsu province are susceptible to SARS-CoV-2. Elderly age and male gender are independent risk factors for death in MHD patients during the epidemic, while the HBV infection may be a protective factor for death of MHD patients infected with SARS-CoV-2.

Objective:To investigate the influencing factors and regularity of inferior mediastinal lymph node metastasis in Siewert type Ⅱ and Ⅲ adenocarcinoma of esophagogastric junction (AEG).Methods:The retrospective case-control study was conducted. The clinicopatho-logical data of 185 Siewert type Ⅱ and Ⅲ AEG patients in two medical centers (113 cases in Changzhi People's Hospital Affiliated to Changzhi Medical College and 72 cases in Heji Hospital Affiliated to Changzhi Medical College) from January 2017 to January 2022 were collected. There were 143 males and 42 females, aged (64±8)years. Patients underwent radical resection of AEG combined with inferior mediastinal lymph node dissection. Observation indicators: (1) clinicopathological charac-teristics of Siewert type Ⅱ and Ⅲ AEG patients; (2) analysis of influencing factors for inferior mediastinal lymph node metastasis in Siewert type Ⅱ and Ⅲ AEG; (3) regularity of inferior mediastinal lymph node metastasis in Siewert type Ⅱ and Ⅲ AEG. Measurement data with normal distribution were represented as Mean± SD, and comparison between groups was analyzed using the t test. Measurement data with skewed distribution were represented as M(range), and comparison between groups was analyzed using the Mann-Whitney U test. Count data were represented as absolute numbers or percentages, and comparsion between groups was analyzed using the chi-square test or Fisher exact probability. Comparison of ordinal data was analyzed using the rank sum test. Univariate and multivariate analyses were conducted using the Logistic regression model. Results:(1) Clinicopathological characteristics of Siewert type Ⅱ and Ⅲ AEG patients. Pathologic staging as stage Ⅰ, Ⅱ, Ⅲ and Ⅳ, degree of tumor invasion as stage T1, T2, T3 and T4, length of esophageal invasion ≤1 cm, >1 cm and ≤2 cm, >2 cm and ≤3 cm, >3 cm and ≤4 cm were found in 30, 61, 75, 7, 3, 41, 79, 50, 101, 46, 18, 8 cases of the Siewert type Ⅱ and Ⅲ AEG patients without inferior mediastinal lymph node metastasis, respectively, versus 0, 2, 10, 0, 0, 0, 5, 7, 4, 3, 2, 3 cases of the Siewert type Ⅱ and Ⅲ AEG patients with inferior mediastinal lymph node metastasis, showing a significant differences between them ( Z=?2.21, ?2.49, ?2.22, P<0.05). (2) Analysis of influencing factors for inferior mediastinal lymph node metastasis in Siewert type Ⅱ and Ⅲ AEG. Results of univariate analysis showed that pathological staging, depth of tumor invasion and length of esophageal invasion were related factors affecting inferior mediastinal lymph node metastasis in Siewert type Ⅱ and Ⅲ AEG ( odds ratio=2.48, 3.26, 2.03, 95% confidence intervals as 1.02?6.01, 1.21?8.80, 1.18?3.51, P<0.05). Results of multivariate analysis showed that depth of tumor invasion and length of esophageal invasion were independent influening factors affecting inferior mediastinal lymph node metastasis in Siewert type Ⅱ and Ⅲ AEG ( odds ratio=4.01, 2.26, 95% confidence interval as 1.35?11.96, 1.26?4.06, P<0.05). The inferior mediastinal lymph node metastasis probability of AEG patients with the length of esophageal invasion >3 cm and ≤4 cm was 9.47 times that of AEG patients with the length of esophageal invasion ≤1 cm. (3) Regularity of inferior mediastinal lymph node metastasis in Siewert type Ⅱ and Ⅲ AEG. The number of inferior mediastinal lymph nodes including No.110, No.111 and No.112 dissected in 185 patients of Siewert type Ⅱ and Ⅲ AEG were 127, 50 and 27. The number of lymph nodes dissected and the number of metastatic lymph nodes in No.110 and No.111 of patients with length of esophageal invasion ≤1 cm, >1 cm and ≤2 cm, >2 cm and ≤3 cm, >3 cm and ≤4 cm were 69, 4, 42, 4, 4, 1, 12, 4 and 23, 0, 17, 0, 7, 2, 3, 0, respectively. There were significant differences in metastatic lymph nodes in No.110 and No.111 of patients with length of esophageal invasion ≤1 cm, >1 cm and ≤2 cm, >2 cm and ≤3 cm, >3 cm and ≤4 cm ( χ2=8.45, 7.30, P<0.05). Of the 185 patients of Siewert type Ⅱ and Ⅲ AEG, the ratio of cases with inferior mediastinal lymph nodes metastasis was 6.49%(12/185). The ratio of inferior mediastinal lymph nodes metastasis in cases with length of esophageal invasion ≤1 cm, >1 cm and ≤2 cm, >2 cm and ≤3 cm, >3 cm and ≤4 cm were 3.81%(4/105), 6.12%(3/49), 10.00%(2/20), 27.27%(3/11), respectively. The ratio of No.110 lymph nodes metastasis in cases with length of esophageal invasion ≤1 cm, >1 cm and ≤2 cm, >2 cm and ≤3 cm, >3 cm and ≤4 cm were 2.86%(3/105), 6.12%(3/49), 5.00%(1/20), 27.27%(3/11), respectively, showing a significant difference among them ( χ2=8.26, P<0.05). Conclusions:Depth of tumor invasion and length of esophageal invasion are independent influening factors affecting inferior mediastinal lymph node metastasis in Siewert type Ⅱ and Ⅲ AEG. The rate of inferior mediastinal lymph node metastasis increases with the increase of the length of esophageal invasion.

Objective: To understand the relationship between eye strain and eye health behavior in college students learning at home during the period of COVID-19 epidemic, and to provide a scientific reference for improving the hygiene of using eyes among the college students. Methods: A cross sectional study and stratified cluster sampling was used to select 2 671 college students from 8 colleges in Anhui Province during the March 1st to July 1st in 2020, and an online questionnaire was survey included general information,eye strain,and daily eye health behavior. Results: The prevalence of eye strain in college students was 69.64%. Multivariable Logistic regression analysis showed that eye strain was correlated with gender, myopia, siesta habit, staying up until 2:00 am, and the use of eye liquid, with OR values(95% CI ) were 0.64(0.53-0.76), 1.77(1.42- 2.20 ),0.71(0.59-0.86), 1.39(1.17-1.65), and 2.18(1.71-2.79), respectively. There was no correlation among daily outdoor activity time, daytime reading time and the occurrence of eye strain( P >0.05). Conclusion During the period of COVID-19 epidemic, eye strain among college students is common. The daily eye health behavior is related to the occurrence of eye strain. Under the special learning context, eye care measures should be encouraged specifically.