Background The high work intensity and possible subsequently increased susceptibility to occupational hazards of calcium carbide plants may lead to hypertension in workers, but there are few studies on the relationship between occupational hazard exposure and hypertension in workers involving the production process of calcium carbide. Objective To explore the influence of occupational hazards on the incidence of hypertension in calcium carbide plants. Methods Using historical cohort design, the employees of a calcium carbide factory in the western part of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region were selected as research subjects. According to the pre-determined inclusion and exclusion criteria, the study population comprised an exposure group of 377 employees (including furnace workers, inspection workers, and maintenance workers) exposed to dust, noise & carbon monoxide, and a control group of 388 employees (including central control workers, electricians, and administrative personnel) without above-mentioned exposure. The total sample size was 765 participants. The follow-up period was from April 2011 to October 2022, and the study endpoint was defined as the conclusion of the follow-up period or diagnosed hypertension in annual occupational health examination. Information on general demographic characteristics, living habits, and work status was collected from all study subjects. Cox proportional hazards regression model was used to analyze the association between occupational hazard exposure and the risk of hypertension among the calcium carbide plant employees. Results The average age, mean systolic and diastolic blood pressure, proportion of males, smoking rate, and alcohol consumption rate in the exposure group were higher than those in the control group (P<0.05). Compared to baseline, both systolic and diastolic blood pressure levels increased in the exposure group and the control group at the end of the follow-up (P<0.05). At the end of the follow-up, the average differences between systolic/ diastolic blood pressure and baseline values in the exposure group were higher than those in the control group (P<0.05). During the follow-up period, a total of 223 cases of hypertension occurred, with a total follow-up of 2785 person-years, resulting in an incidence density of 8007.18 per 100000 person-years, an average age of onset of (35.90±8.22) years, and an average working age of onset of (2.69±1.97) years. The incidence density in the exposure group was 128.71% higher than that in the control group, and the risk of hypertension in the exposure group was 2.115 times that of the control group. The risk of hypertension was 2.199 times higher for men than for women, 1.344 times higher for those aged 30 and above than for those under 30, 1.546 times higher for smokers than for non-smokers, and 1.750 times higher for drinking workers than for non-drinking ones. The results of Cox proportional hazards regression modeling indicated that the hazard ratio (95%CI) of hypertension among the employees exposed to dust, noise, and carbon monoxide was 2.254 (1.703, 2.982), 1.594 (1.107, 2.295), and 1.567 (1.079, 2.274), respectively, when different covariates (gender, age, smoking, and alcohol consumption) were included. The results of Log-rank test showed that there were statistically significant differences in the distribution of disease-free survival between the exposure group and the control group (P<0.05). Conclusion Occupational exposures to dust, noise, and carbon monoxide may increase the risk of hypertension among calcium carbide plant workers.

The chemical constituents in dried roots of Atractylodes macrocephala were investigated in this study. Through utilizing normal-phase silica gel and ODS column chromatography, TLC, and semi-preparative HPLC, 4 new sesquiterpenoids were purified from the ethyl acetate extract of A. macrocephala. By various spectroscopic techniques, such as 1D and 2D NMR, HR-ESI-MS, IR, UV, and CD, their structures were identified as atractylmacron A (1), 9β-hydroxyasterolide (2), atractylenolide H (3), atractylenolide J (4). Compound 1 possesses a rare 6/7 bicyclic skeleton.

Background: and Purpose CGG repeat expansion in the 5' untranslated region (5'UTR) of the Notch 2 N-terminal-like C gene (NOTCH2NLC) has been associated with neuronal intranuclear inclusion disease (NIID) and oculopharyngodistal myopathy type 3 (OPDM3). Few OPDM3 patients have been reported. This report describes two OPDM3 patients with novel imaging findings who presented the typical features of NIID, and reviews all OPDM3 cases available in the literature. Methods: The available clinical, imaging, and pathological information was reviewed and investigated. CGG repeat expansion in the 5'UTR of NOTCH2NLC was tested using the repeatprimed polymerase chain reaction (PCR), followed by the fluorescence amplicon-length PCR to determine the number of CGG repeats. Results: Our two OPDM3 patients and most patients reported in the literature developed the typical clinical characteristics of NIID, including leukoencephalopathy, peripheral neuropathy, cognitive deterioration, pigmentary retinopathy, ataxia, tremor, acute encephalitis-like episodes, pigmentary retinopathy, miosis, and sensorineural hearing loss. In addition to typical imaging findings of NIID, our two patients exhibited diffusion weighted imaging (DWI) hyperintensities in the middle cerebellar peduncles, which have not been described previously. Muscle biopsies revealed rimmed vacuoles and p62-positive intranuclear inclusions in the myofibers in both patients. The skin biopsy performed in one patient detected typical eosinophilic intranuclear inclusions. Genetic analysis identified CGG repeat expansion in NOTCH2NLC as the causative mutation in the two patients. Conclusions Our two patients with OPDM3 had clinical characteristics of NIID and exhibited DWI abnormality in the cerebellum. Our results indicate that OPDM3 is within the spectrum of NIID and that DWI hyperintensities in the cerebellum are helpful for diagnosing NIID or OPDM3.

Background: and Purpose CGG repeat expansion in the 5' untranslated region (5'UTR) of the Notch 2 N-terminal-like C gene (NOTCH2NLC) has been associated with neuronal intranuclear inclusion disease (NIID) and oculopharyngodistal myopathy type 3 (OPDM3). Few OPDM3 patients have been reported. This report describes two OPDM3 patients with novel imaging findings who presented the typical features of NIID, and reviews all OPDM3 cases available in the literature. Methods: The available clinical, imaging, and pathological information was reviewed and investigated. CGG repeat expansion in the 5'UTR of NOTCH2NLC was tested using the repeatprimed polymerase chain reaction (PCR), followed by the fluorescence amplicon-length PCR to determine the number of CGG repeats. Results: Our two OPDM3 patients and most patients reported in the literature developed the typical clinical characteristics of NIID, including leukoencephalopathy, peripheral neuropathy, cognitive deterioration, pigmentary retinopathy, ataxia, tremor, acute encephalitis-like episodes, pigmentary retinopathy, miosis, and sensorineural hearing loss. In addition to typical imaging findings of NIID, our two patients exhibited diffusion weighted imaging (DWI) hyperintensities in the middle cerebellar peduncles, which have not been described previously. Muscle biopsies revealed rimmed vacuoles and p62-positive intranuclear inclusions in the myofibers in both patients. The skin biopsy performed in one patient detected typical eosinophilic intranuclear inclusions. Genetic analysis identified CGG repeat expansion in NOTCH2NLC as the causative mutation in the two patients. Conclusions Our two patients with OPDM3 had clinical characteristics of NIID and exhibited DWI abnormality in the cerebellum. Our results indicate that OPDM3 is within the spectrum of NIID and that DWI hyperintensities in the cerebellum are helpful for diagnosing NIID or OPDM3.

Objective:To investigate the changes and associated factors of cerebral blood flow in middle-aged and elderly patients undergoing maintenance hemodialysis (MHD).Methods:This was a prospective observational study. End-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients undergoing MHD aged over 50 years at Beijing Shijitan Hospital, Capital Medical University from January 2023 to June 2023 were included. General clinical data of the selected individuals were collected, and dialysis related indicators were recorded and calculated. Mean flow velocity (MFV) of the middle cerebral arterial was measured by transcranial Doppler sonography (TCD) to represent cerebral blood flow throughout dialysis. Hemodialysis-related variables were collected. The MFV values of bilateral middle cerebral artery were measured through temporal windows at 7 time points: 15 minutes before dialysis (T1), 15 minutes (T2), 30 minutes (T3), 60 minutes (T4), 120 minutes (T5), 180 minutes (T6) during dialysis, and the endpoint of dialysis (T7), and the average values were recorded. The ΔMFV was calculated as pre-minus endpoint values of MFV. The Spearman rank correlation method was used to analyze the correlations between ΔMFV and dialysis-related variables, and multiple linear regression method was used to analyze the related factors of the changes in MFV.Results:This study included a total of 123 patients undergoing MHD, aged (63.63±8.44) years (range 50-85 years), including 99 males (80.5%). TCD examination demonstrated a decline trend in MFV throughout dialysis. The MFV at T7 was significantly lower than that at T1 ( Z=-7.650, P<0.001). The Spearman correlation analysis showed that the decline in MFV was correlated with ultrafiltration volume ( r=0.356), ultrafiltration rate ( r=0.371), the difference in systolic pressure (pre-analysis minus post-dialysis, r=0.251), the difference in mean arterial pressure (pre-dialysis minus post-dialysis, r=0.194), combined diabetes ( r=0.293), dialysis vintage ( r=0.220), Kt/V ( r=0.287), and serum albumin ( r=-0.295). Multiple linear regression analysis showed that combined with diabetes ( B=3.889, 95% CI 1.373-6.405, P=0.003), decreased serum albumin ( B=-0.456, 95% CI -0.877--0.036, P=0.034), increased ultrafiltration rate ( B=11.099, 95% CI 6.402-15.797, P<0.001) and the decline in systolic pressure ( B=0.062, 95% CI 0.008-0.116, P=0.026) were significantly associated with the decline in MFV throughout dialysis. Conclusions:In middle and elderly patients with ESRD undergoing hemodialysis, there is a decline trend in cerebral blood flow during hemodialysis. The combination of diabetes, lower serum albumin, higher ultrafiltration rate, and intradialytic systolic pressure decline are the risk factors influencing the intradialytic decline of cerebral blood flow.

Objective To evaluate the value of high-throughput sequencing(HTS)data reanalysis that does not include ERBB2 copy number variation(CNV)analysis,in identifying ERBB2 amplification in patients with colorectal cancer.Methods The HTS data of 252 cases of colorectal cancer diagnosed by pathological biopsy who received peripheral blood cfDNA HTS detection samples were retrospectively analyzed.According to the HTS data of ERBB2 non-amplified samples judged by immunohistochemistry(IHC)and/or fluorescence in situ hybridization(FISH),the number of chromosome 17(Chr17)reads in the total number of reads was calculated the range of the ratio was initially determined as the threshold for prompting ERBB2 amplification.Suspected positive samples were screened according to thresholds and verified by digital PCR,IHC and FISH.Results The proportion of the number of Chr17 reads accounts for the number of total reads in the 89 cases of ERBB2 non-amplified samples determined by IHC and/or FISH ranged from 0.188 to 0.299(0.239±0.192).Using 0.298(1.25 times the mean)as the threshold indicating ERBB2 amplification,the data of 163 samples were analyzed,of which 7 cases were suspected to be positive,and the ratio ranged from 0.302 to 0.853.Among them,5 cases were determined to be positive by IHC and/or FISH,and 6 cases were confirmed to be positive by digital PCR.The ratio of the number of Chr17 reads to the number of total reads was positively correlated with the ratio of ERBB2/EIF2C1,and the correlation was good(r2=0.909).Conclusion The high-throughput sequencing data that does not cover the ERBB2 CNV analysis has a certain hint value for ERBB2 amplification in patients with colorectal cancer.

Objective:To analyze the clinical characteristics of different types of anomalous origin of the coronary artery.Methods:A case-series study was conducted.Based on the clinical data of children diagnosed with anomalous origin of the coronary artery at Shanghai Children′s Medical Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine from January 2013 to January 2023, the diseases of different types of anomalous origin of the coronary artery were summarized.Results:A total of 177 children with anomalous origin of the coronary artery were treated.Among them, 122 children developed the anomalous origin of the left coronary artery from the pulmonary artery (ALCAPA), including 54 males and 68 females, with a median age of 1.2 years; 6 children developed the anomalous origin of the right coronary artery from the pulmonary artery (ARCAPA), including 3 males and 3 females, with a median age of 4.3 years; 9 children developed the anomalous left coronary artery from the right coronary sinus (ALCA), including 6 males and 3 females, with a median age of 9.5 years; 40 children developed the anomalous right coronary artery from the left coronary sinus (ARCA), including 24 males and 16 females, with a median age of 7.7 years.Most children diagnosed with ALCAPA had onset within 1 year of age, with chronic heart failure as the main manifestation, and young children were often accompanied by severe mitral regurgitation.A total of 111 children underwent surgery, and 11 children died.Six children with ARCAPA had no obvious clinical symptoms and were treated by operation according to the principle of double coronary circulation after diagnosis.Nine children with ALCA started with syncope, chest pain or abdominal pain after exercise.Eight of the children underwent surgical treatment, including 1 who received a heart transplant.Of the 40 children with ARCA, 23 children had clinical manifestations, with chest tightness, syncope, and chest pain after exercise as chief complaints; 16 children were tested positive for treadmill exercise before surgery; and a total of 13 children received surgical treatment.Conclusions:Different types of anomalous origin of the coronary artery vary in severity.The clinical manifestations of the anomalous origin of the left coronary artery are generally serious, and most of such patients have the risk of cardiac insufficiency or sudden death.Once diagnosed, surgical treatment should be performed timely.The clinical manifestations of the anomalous origin of the right coronary artery are relatively mild, and only a few may have serious consequences, which are usually treated according to the principle of individualization or double coronary circulation.