Objective Differentially expressed genes in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) were subjected to bioinformatic and Mendelian randomization analyses to elucidate their prognostic significance in OSCC. Methods The TCGA database and dataset GSE138206 were used to screen the common differential genes of OSCC, and their relationship was analyzed by using Mendelian randomization. The prognostic value of differential genes was further analyzed by Cox risk regression. The biological function of genes with high prognostic value was further evaluated by single gene differential analysis. Results A total of 147 common differential genes were screened from the two databases. Results of two-sample Mendelian randomization showed that GREM2 was associated with the increased risk of OSCC. In addition, SH3BGRL2 was associated with a decreased risk of OSCC, and DKK1, CCL11, and HOXC6 were considered as independent prognostic markers of OSCC. The predicted results of DKK1 were consistent with the actual results. KEGG enrichment analysis indicated the potential involvement of DKK1 in arachidonic acid and linoleic acid metabolism. Furthermore, DKK1 showed positive correlations with Tgd and Th2 cells, while displaying negative associations with PDC, Cytotoxic cells, Mast cells, CD8 T cells, TFH cells, B cells, T cells, and Th17 cells. Conclusion GREM2 is associated with an increased risk of OSCC. DKK1 is highly expressed in OSCC and associated with poor prognosis, which may be involved in regulating the metabolism of arachidonic acid and linoleic acid and immune cell invasion in OSCC.

Cross-linking mass spectrometry (XL-MS) technology has become a key tool for identifying protein-protein interactions (PPIs) and revealing the protein structures in living cells, tissues, or organelles. The XL-MS technology has demonstrated remarkable superiority compared with conventional methods for studying PPIs and protein structures. In the past few years, new cross-linker structures have been arising continuously. They have not only broadened the range of cross-linking reactions but also provided additional methods for the enrichment of cross-linking peptides. Moreover, owing to the advancement of computer software and artificial intelligence, cross - linking data search engines and visualization software have also been enhancing the speed and accuracy of cross-linking peptide identification. The evolution of cross-linkers and cross-linking peptide search engines has promoted the application of the XL-MS technology in the research on protein-protein interactions (PPIs) within organelles and even living cells and in the analysis of protein structures.

The rabies virus(RABV)that causes rabies mainly attacks the peripheral and central nervous systems.In the later stages of infection,it is scattered in the salivary glands and transmit-ted to other susceptible animals through infectious saliva.To study dispersion of the RABV in the three pairs of salivary gland tissues,the street strain PB4 of the RABV was inoculated into 21-day-old female mice through the hind limb muscles.During the moribund stage of the mice,the sublin-gual gland,submandibular gland and parotid gland were collected,respectively.The TCID50 titer of RABV in the three kinds of glands of the mice and the copy number of the RABV N gene were de-tected,and RABV in different salivary glands was observed by immunofluorescence.The results showed that PB4 was dispersed in all three kinds of salivary glands of the mice,with the largest a-mounts in the parotid gland,followed by the submandibular gland,and the lowest amount in the sublingual gland.Three-month-old dogs were inoculated with PB4 through the cranial cavity,and saliva were collected every 12 h after inoculation.The saliva samples were detected by TCID50 and RT-qPCR.And during the moribund stage of the dogs when the disease occurred,the three pairs of salivary glands were collected.Through the determination of the TCID50 titer,RT-qPCR and immu-nofluorescence detection,it was demonstrated that among the three different salivary glands of the dogs,the largest amount of PB4 was found in the parotid gland and the lowest in the sublingual gland.Our results in mice and dogs clearly proved that the parotid gland was consistently found to exhibit the highest content of street RABV among the three major salivary glands,which could en-rich experimental data for analyzing the dispersion of RABV in the salivary glands and interpreta-tion of the intermittent secretion of saliva in clinically rabid dogs.

Objective:To investigate the temporal expression of Growth Differentiation Factor-15 (GDF15) in the serum of patients with Acute Coronary Syndrome (ACS) and explore the clinical significance of GDF15 in protecting cardiomyocytes in ACS.Methods:A retrospective study was conducted on 289 ACS patients admitted to the emergency departments from February to October 2023. Data on gender, age, troponin T (TnT), creatine kinase isoenzyme (CK-MB), GDF15, and B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) within 30 minutes of admission were recorded. Differences in these indicators among different groups were compared. Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curves were plotted to evaluate the diagnostic value of GDF15, TnT, and BNP for ACS. Among the patients, 15 exhibited a temporal expression pattern of GDF15, and their blood samples were re-measured using a GDF15 fluorescent quantitative immunochromatographic assay kit. Fifteen patients without temporal expression were randomly selected as controls, and their samples were also re-measured to exclude detection errors. Fifteen patients with temporal expression were included in the temporal expression group, and 15 without temporal expression were included in the non-temporal expression group. Laboratory indicators such as fasting blood glucose, glycated hemoglobin, triglycerides, creatinine, and uric acid were compared between the groups. Additionally, patient age, gender, body mass index (BMI), coronary angiography results, echocardiography, Gensini score, left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), and GRACE risk score were recorded to assess their correlation with GDF15 temporal expression. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS 27 software, with continuous data expressed as mean ± standard deviation (Mean ± SD) and compared using t-tests and χ2 tests. Results:The overall trend in ACS patients showed a higher proportion of males than females (73.36% vs. 26.64%). The oldest group was the Unstable Angina (UA) group, with a mean age of (63.98 ± 15.19) years, while the youngest group was the non-ACS chest pain group, with a mean age of (54.29 ± 16.39) years. A higher proportion of patients in the UA, ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI), and non-ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI) groups had a history of smoking. The combination of GDF15 and TnT showed high diagnostic value for ACS, with an area under the ROC curve (AUC) of 0.843, consistent with previous studies. Among all ACS patients, 15 exhibited a temporal expression pattern of GDF15, where GDF15 levels peaked at 4 hours, gradually decreased, and peaked again at 24 hours. Patients in the temporal expression group had higher LVEF and left ventricular end-systolic diameter compared to the non-temporal expression group. The Gensini score was lower in the temporal expression group, and the GRACE risk score was significantly lower in the temporal expression group (00.7±14.72) compared to the non-temporal expression group (116.1±23.46), with a statistically significant difference ( P = 0.0115). There were no significant differences in general characteristics (age, gender, BMI) or clinical biochemical indicators (fasting blood glucose, glycated hemoglobin, triglycerides, total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein, low-density lipoprotein, creatinine, uric acid) between the temporal and non-temporal expression groups ( P > 0.05). Conclusions:GDF15 demonstrates significant diagnostic and prognostic predictive value in ACS. Patients with temporally dynamic expression of serum GDF15 exhibit milder myocardial injury and a lower probability of mortality. These findings provide novel therapeutic targets and research directions for further exploring the role of GDF15 in ACS management.

Background and aims:Advanced hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC)with pulmonary metastasis(PM)has a poor prognosis,and optimal treatment strategies remain controversial.This study aimed to compare the long-term outcomes of patients with advanced HCC with PM who were treated with resection of pul-monary metastases versus those treated with targeted therapies combined with immunotherapy.Methods:A retrospective analysis was conducted on the medical records of HCC patients with PM who underwent either pulmonary metastasectomy or immunotherapy combined with targeted therapies at the Eastern Hepatobiliary Surgery Hospital,Changhai Hospital of Shanghai,Fujian Provincial Hospital,and West China Hospital of Sichuan University from September 2013 to October 2022.One-to-one propensity score matching(PSM)was employed to control the influence of potential confounders,and the survival outcomes were compared.Results:A total of 119 HCC patients with PM were included in this study.The overall survival(OS)of patients who underwent pulmonary metastasectomy was significantly longer than that of patients who received immunotherapy targeted combinations(OS:1-year,80.0％vs.59.3％;2-year,31.7％vs.20.3％;3-year,20.0％vs.0;P＜0.001).After PSM,the long-term prognosis of the pulmonary metastasectomy group remained significantly better than that of the immunotherapy combination group(OS:1-year,87.0％vs.69.6％;2-year,34.8％vs.30.4％;3-year,21.7％vs.0;P=0.005).Multivariate analysis revealed that treat-ment allocation(hazard ratio(HR)=2.177,95％confidence interval(CI)=1.068-4.439)and hepatic tumor T stage(HR=2.342,95％CI=1.209-4.538)were independent risk factors for OS.Conclusions:Pulmonary metastasectomy was associated with improved survival compared to immu-notherapy combined with targeted therapies and may represent an optimal treatment option for highly selected HCC patients with resectable PM.

BACKGROUND:The plateau environment affects the immune function and metabolic status of patients with osteomyelitis,leading to acceleration or complication of the disease process.The construction of effective and stable animal models of chronic osteomyelitis is essential for experimental studies of chronic osteomyelitis.OBJECTIVE:To establish a sheep model of chronic osteomyelitis in plateau regions for toxicity assessment and therapeutic research.METHODS:Fifteen healthy sheep were selected in this study.Sodium morrhuate and Staphylococcus aureus suspension were injected into the medullary cavity of the middle segment of the tibia to establish the chronic osteomyelitis model.General observation,body mass and temperature monitoring,blood infection index detection,radiological scoring,and microbial culture were performed for evaluation and analysis.RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:(1)Local tissue swelling and lameness of the affected leg were observed in all sheep in the early stage after modeling,accompanied by varying degrees of anorexia.A slight decrease in body mass was observed in sheep 1 week after modeling,while no significant changes in body temperature were observed.(2)The erythrocyte sedimentation rate significantly accelerated 4 days after modeling(P<0.05)and gradually returned to normal levels after 1 month.The white blood cell count showed a significant increase within 4 days after modeling and returned to normal after 1 week.The level of C-reactive protein increased significantly after modeling(P<0.05)and remained significantly higher than normal until the end of the experiment(P<0.05).(3)Fifteen sheep exhibited typical radiological manifestations of osteomyelitis,including unclear boundaries,irregular osteolytic lesions,and low-density bright absorption areas with interspersed necrotic bone fragments of increased and uneven density.Different degrees of periosteal reaction were observed in the cortex near the lesion.(4)Thirteen sheep were cultured for a single strain of Staphylococcus aureus,while two sheep were cultured for Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli.These findings indicate that a reliable chronic osteomyelitis animal model of sheep tibia can be successfully established in plateau regions by injecting an appropriate amount of Staphylococcus aureus suspension into the medullary cavity of sheep,combined with local implantation of foreign cotton thread and sodium morrhuate.

The rabies virus(RABV)that causes rabies mainly attacks the peripheral and central nervous systems.In the later stages of infection,it is scattered in the salivary glands and transmit-ted to other susceptible animals through infectious saliva.To study dispersion of the RABV in the three pairs of salivary gland tissues,the street strain PB4 of the RABV was inoculated into 21-day-old female mice through the hind limb muscles.During the moribund stage of the mice,the sublin-gual gland,submandibular gland and parotid gland were collected,respectively.The TCID50 titer of RABV in the three kinds of glands of the mice and the copy number of the RABV N gene were de-tected,and RABV in different salivary glands was observed by immunofluorescence.The results showed that PB4 was dispersed in all three kinds of salivary glands of the mice,with the largest a-mounts in the parotid gland,followed by the submandibular gland,and the lowest amount in the sublingual gland.Three-month-old dogs were inoculated with PB4 through the cranial cavity,and saliva were collected every 12 h after inoculation.The saliva samples were detected by TCID50 and RT-qPCR.And during the moribund stage of the dogs when the disease occurred,the three pairs of salivary glands were collected.Through the determination of the TCID50 titer,RT-qPCR and immu-nofluorescence detection,it was demonstrated that among the three different salivary glands of the dogs,the largest amount of PB4 was found in the parotid gland and the lowest in the sublingual gland.Our results in mice and dogs clearly proved that the parotid gland was consistently found to exhibit the highest content of street RABV among the three major salivary glands,which could en-rich experimental data for analyzing the dispersion of RABV in the salivary glands and interpreta-tion of the intermittent secretion of saliva in clinically rabid dogs.

BACKGROUND:The plateau environment affects the immune function and metabolic status of patients with osteomyelitis,leading to acceleration or complication of the disease process.The construction of effective and stable animal models of chronic osteomyelitis is essential for experimental studies of chronic osteomyelitis.OBJECTIVE:To establish a sheep model of chronic osteomyelitis in plateau regions for toxicity assessment and therapeutic research.METHODS:Fifteen healthy sheep were selected in this study.Sodium morrhuate and Staphylococcus aureus suspension were injected into the medullary cavity of the middle segment of the tibia to establish the chronic osteomyelitis model.General observation,body mass and temperature monitoring,blood infection index detection,radiological scoring,and microbial culture were performed for evaluation and analysis.RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:(1)Local tissue swelling and lameness of the affected leg were observed in all sheep in the early stage after modeling,accompanied by varying degrees of anorexia.A slight decrease in body mass was observed in sheep 1 week after modeling,while no significant changes in body temperature were observed.(2)The erythrocyte sedimentation rate significantly accelerated 4 days after modeling(P<0.05)and gradually returned to normal levels after 1 month.The white blood cell count showed a significant increase within 4 days after modeling and returned to normal after 1 week.The level of C-reactive protein increased significantly after modeling(P<0.05)and remained significantly higher than normal until the end of the experiment(P<0.05).(3)Fifteen sheep exhibited typical radiological manifestations of osteomyelitis,including unclear boundaries,irregular osteolytic lesions,and low-density bright absorption areas with interspersed necrotic bone fragments of increased and uneven density.Different degrees of periosteal reaction were observed in the cortex near the lesion.(4)Thirteen sheep were cultured for a single strain of Staphylococcus aureus,while two sheep were cultured for Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli.These findings indicate that a reliable chronic osteomyelitis animal model of sheep tibia can be successfully established in plateau regions by injecting an appropriate amount of Staphylococcus aureus suspension into the medullary cavity of sheep,combined with local implantation of foreign cotton thread and sodium morrhuate.

Objective To investigate the effect of high definition transcranial direct current stimulation(HD-tDCS)at different stim-ulation timings(online and offline)on finger motor skill learning in healthy adults. Methods From March to November,2022,31 right-handed male participants were recruited from Shenyang Sport Uni-versity and randomly assigned to three groups,who received online,offline or sham HD-tDCS respectively dur-ing the three-day sequential visual isometric pinch task learning process.The daily motor skill learning gains,to-tal motor skill learning gains and speed-accuracy function(SAF)were observed. Results The daily motor skill learning gains increased in all the groups,and it was the best in the online group(F=24.692,P<0.001);the learning gains were better in the online group than in the offline group(t=4.732,P<0.001)and the sham group(t=3.839,P=0.004)on the third day.The total motor skill learning gains were ranked as the online group=the offline group>the sham group.SAF data indicated that the online group outper-formed both the offline and sham groups. Conclusion HD-tDCS can promote the finger motor skill learning in healthy adults,and online HD-tDCS is more effec-tive.

The polyfoliate perforator flap is a new type of flap that was developed on the basis of the traditional polyfoliate myocutaneous flap, polyfoliate fascial flap and perforator flap. It overturns the traditional idea that the deep fascial vascular network is the fundamental for a survival of the flap, and enables the flaps to achieve the best profile and function of the recipient areas with minimal damage to the donor area. In order to improve the understanding of the polyfoliate perforator flap and further standardise its clinical application, this paper forms a consensus on the definition, classification, indications, operative points and precautions of the polyfoliate perforator flap, so as to provide references in diagnosis and treatment process and practical application for the surgeons.