Sexual dimorphism in the brain underlies behavioral differences between sexes. The bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST) is a complex nucleus that differs between males and females, but the sexual dimorphism in cytoarchitecture and the connectome of its oval subdivision (ovBNST) remains largely unexplored. By combining snRNA-seq and transgenic labeling, we found a higher density of ovBNST proenkephalin (ovBNST^PENK) neurons in male than female mice. Anatomically, we virally mapped the efferents and afferents of ovBNST^PENK neurons, finding reciprocally dimorphic connections with the hypothalamus and striatum. Gene enrichment analysis suggests that ovBNST^PENK neurons are modulated by the upstream dopamine pathway. Functionally, by applying caspase-3-mediated depletion of ovBNST^PENK neurons, we found that loss of these neurons enhanced locomotor activity in male but not female mice, without altering the anxiety-like phenotypes in either sex. Our study may pave the way for a better understanding of the anatomical and functional profiles of ovBNST^PENK neurons from a sexually dimorphic perspective.
Animals ; Male ; Female ; Septal Nuclei/physiology* ; Sex Characteristics ; Neurons/physiology* ; Enkephalins/metabolism* ; Mice ; Mice, Transgenic ; Protein Precursors/metabolism* ; Mice, Inbred C57BL ; Neural Pathways/physiology*

Objectives:To explore the spatial distribution characteristics, trend changes, and spatial clustering of esophageal cancer among residents in China at the county (city, district) scale, a spatial epidemiological approach was used, with the aim of providing localized evidence for the prevention and treatment of esophageal cancer in China.Methods:The data source was the incidence (crude rate) and mortality (crude rate) of esophageal cancer from 2005 to 2016 in the 2008-2019 edition of China Cancer Registration Annual Report published by the National Cancer Center. The Joinpoint model was used for time trend analysis. The tumor registration area in 2016 was selected as the study area for spatial feature analysis, with a total of 487 counties (cities and districts), covering 27.6% of the national population. Spatial autocorrelation analysis was performed to reveal spatial distribution characteristics by using Arcgis 10.6 software, and spatial scanning statistics was used to analyze spatial clustering characteristics by using SaTScan 9.5 software. The log-likelihood ratio ( LLR) and relative risk ( RR) were calculated in different windows, and the region with the largest LLR value represented the most likely cluster. Results:From 2005 to 2016, the incidence and mortality rate of esophageal cancer in China showed a trend of increasing at first and then decreasing. The incidence and mortality rate of esophageal cancer in 2016 were characterized by spatial positive correlation. High incidence and high mortality were mainly concentrated in the areas through which the Huaihe River flowed. The primary clusters (taking high incidence rate as an example LLR=6 374.41, RR=2.37, P＜0.001) were mainly distributed in Jiangsu, Anhui and Shandong in eastern China and eastern Henan and southern Hebei in central China, and secondary clusters (taking high incidence rate as an example LLR=1 971.19, RR=1.91, P＜0.001) in Gansu, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, Shaanxi, Sichuan and other central and western regions. Conclusions:The incidence and mortality of esophageal cancer in China have decreased since 2010. The disease burden of esophageal cancer has obvious spatial differences, and measures should be taken according to local conditions in high-risk cluster areas such as the Huaihe River basin.

Objectives:To explore the spatial distribution characteristics, trend changes, and spatial clustering of esophageal cancer among residents in China at the county (city, district) scale, a spatial epidemiological approach was used, with the aim of providing localized evidence for the prevention and treatment of esophageal cancer in China.Methods:The data source was the incidence (crude rate) and mortality (crude rate) of esophageal cancer from 2005 to 2016 in the 2008-2019 edition of China Cancer Registration Annual Report published by the National Cancer Center. The Joinpoint model was used for time trend analysis. The tumor registration area in 2016 was selected as the study area for spatial feature analysis, with a total of 487 counties (cities and districts), covering 27.6% of the national population. Spatial autocorrelation analysis was performed to reveal spatial distribution characteristics by using Arcgis 10.6 software, and spatial scanning statistics was used to analyze spatial clustering characteristics by using SaTScan 9.5 software. The log-likelihood ratio ( LLR) and relative risk ( RR) were calculated in different windows, and the region with the largest LLR value represented the most likely cluster. Results:From 2005 to 2016, the incidence and mortality rate of esophageal cancer in China showed a trend of increasing at first and then decreasing. The incidence and mortality rate of esophageal cancer in 2016 were characterized by spatial positive correlation. High incidence and high mortality were mainly concentrated in the areas through which the Huaihe River flowed. The primary clusters (taking high incidence rate as an example LLR=6 374.41, RR=2.37, P＜0.001) were mainly distributed in Jiangsu, Anhui and Shandong in eastern China and eastern Henan and southern Hebei in central China, and secondary clusters (taking high incidence rate as an example LLR=1 971.19, RR=1.91, P＜0.001) in Gansu, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, Shaanxi, Sichuan and other central and western regions. Conclusions:The incidence and mortality of esophageal cancer in China have decreased since 2010. The disease burden of esophageal cancer has obvious spatial differences, and measures should be taken according to local conditions in high-risk cluster areas such as the Huaihe River basin.

Objective To examine the current state of care services for geriatric osteoporotic fractures in Chinese hospitals and to provide a basis for the improvement of these services and the formulation of related policies.Methods In September to November 2023,a stratified convenience sampling method was used to investigate the implementation of care services for elderly patients with osteoporotic fractures in 621 hospitals across 31 provinces(autonomous regions and municipalities)in China.A self-designed questionnaire was utilized for this purpose.Results A total of 621 hospitals participated in the survey,with 432(69.57%)tertiary hospitals and 189(30.43%)secondary hospitals.Over 95%of hospitals provided health education on diet,medication,fall prevention,and early functional exercise for elderly fracture patients.Less than 80%of hospitals provide specialized training on osteoporosis treatment and secondary fracture prevention for medical staff.Only 263 hospitals(42.35%)routinely conduct bone density tests for patients over 50 years old with fractures,while 221 hospitals(35.59%)routinely conduct bone metabolic biochemical tests for such patients.Less than 50%of hospitals provide specialized services,such as geriatric osteoporotic fracture clinics,for elderly patients with osteoporotic fractures.Additionally,39.77%of hospital departments have not developed postoperative care plans for elderly patients with osteoporotic fractures.The lack of specialized care teams(91.63%),insufficient investment in care resources(88.08%),and the absence of policy support(77.45%)are identified as the primary factors impeding the provision of care services for elderly patients with osteoporotic fractures in hospitals.Although some care services in tertiary hospitals are superior to those in secondary hospitals(P<0.05),they are still far from adequate.Conclusion The development of care services for elderly patients with osteoporotic fractures in Chinese hospitals needs improvement.It is recommended to further standardize and enhance the content and methods of health education,intensify clinical assessments related to osteoporosis in elderly fracture patients,improve the professional care capabilities of medical staff,and at the same time,the state should introduce relevant policies to support and promote the construction and development of hospital care services for elderly osteoporotic fracture patients.

Purpose: Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) may act as oncogenes in small-cell lung cancer (SCLC). Exosomes containing lncRNAs released from cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAF) accelerate tumorigenesis and confer chemoresistance. This study aimed to explore the action mechanism of the CAF-derived lncRNA maternally expressed gene 3 (MEG3) on cisplatin (DDP) chemoresistance and cell processes in SCLC. Materials and Methods: Quantitative real-time PCR was conducted to determine the expression levels of MEG3, miR-15a-5p, and CCNE1. Cell viability and metastasis were measured by 3-(4, 5-dimethyl-2-thiazolyl)-2, 5-diphenyl-2-h-tetrazolium bromide and invasion assays, respectively. A xenograft tumor model was developed to confirm the effect of MEG3 overexpression on SCLC progression in vivo. Relationships between miR-15a-5p and MEG3/CCNE1 were predicted using StarBase software and validated by dual luciferase reporter assay. Western blotting was used to determine protein levels. A co-culture model was established to explore the effects of exosomes on MEG3 expression in SCLC cell lines. Results: MEG3 was overexpressed in SCLC tissues and cells. MEG3 silencing significantly repressed cell viability and metastasis in SCLC. High expression of MEG3 was observed in CAF-derived conditioned medium (CM) and exosomes, and promoted chemoresistance and cancer progression. Additionally, MEG3 was found to serve as a sponge of miR-15a-5p to mediate CCNE1 expression. Overexpression of miR-15a-5p and knockout of CCNE1 reversed the effects of MEG3 overexpression on cell viability and metastasis. Conclusion MEG3 lncRNA released from CAF-derived exosomes promotes DDP chemoresistance via regulation of a miR-15a-5p/CCNE1 axis. These findings may provide insight into SCLC therapy.

Objective:To summarize the prognosis of medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC) patients with biochemical recurrence (the increase of postoperative calcitonin and no abnormal imaging) and to investigate the optimal cut-off value of calcitonin for postoperative structural recurrence (with imaging abnormality).Methods:Literature retrieval was conducted for PubMed, CNKI, EMbase, Web of Science, Cochrane and other databases, and literatures related to the increase of calcitonin after MTC surgery were included. Review Manager 5.4 software was used for Meta-analysis of the recurrence and death. SPSS 23.0 software was used and receiving operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to analyze the rising folds of postoperative calcitonin level in comparison with the maximum value of experiment detection, and to predict the outcome of biochemical recurrence transforming to structural recurrence, and then the optimal cut-off value could be worked out.Results:A total of 7 studies including 1 005 MTC patients (276 cases of biochemical recurrence and 542 cases of biochemical cure). Meta-analysis showed that structural recurrence rate in postoperative biochemical recurrence group [40.6% (112/276) vs. 2.2% (12/542); OR = 27.99, 95% CI 14.57-53.78, P < 0.001] and mortality [10.0% (19/190) vs. 0.96% (3/312); OR = 7.26, 95% CI 2.42-21.84, P < 0.001] were higher than those in the biochemical cure group (normal postoperative calcitonin level and no disease state). The data of 89 MTC patients with biochemical recurrence were collected in another 4 studies. ROC curve analysis showed that area under the curve of the rising folds of postoperative calcitonin level in predicting structural recurrence was 0.825; according to the cut-off value at all sections, the optimal cut-off value of the increased postoperative calcitonin was 50 times, the sensitivity was 66. 7%, the specificity was 88.6%. Conclusions:MTC patients with postoperative biochemical recurrence have higher structural recurrence rate and mortality compared with patients with normal postoperative calcitonin. The postoperative elevation of calcitonin more than 50 times the maximum value of the laboratory detection can be taken as the critical diagnostic value, when more than 50 times is prone to structural recurrence.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the role of NOV/CCN3 in regulating the proliferation of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) and its regulatory mechanism and assess the value of CCN3 as a proliferative factor in bone tissue engineering. METHODS: Mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs) were used as the MSC model, in which CCN3 expression was up-regulated and downregulated by transfection with the recombinant adenovirus vectors Ad-CCN3 and Ad-siCCN3, respectively. Flow cytometry was used to analyze the changes in cell cycle and apoptosis of the transfected cells. Western blotting was used to detect the expression levels of the proliferation indicators (PCNA, cyclin E, and cyclin B1) and the apoptosis indicators (Bax and Bcl-2) to assess the effect of modulation of CCN3 expression on MEF proliferation and apoptosis. CCN3 protein secretion by the cells was detected using ELISA. RT-qPCR and Western blotting were employed to analyze the changes in the expressions of Notch1, ligand DLL1, the downstream key proteins or genes (Hey1, P300, H3K9) and MAPK pathway-related proteins ERK1+2 and p-ERK1+2. RESULTS: Flow cytometry showed that compared with the control cells, MEFs transfected with Ad-CCN3 exhibited significantly increased cell proliferation index ( CONCLUSIONS CCN3 over-expression promotes the proliferation and inhibits apoptosis of MEFs possibly by inhibiting the classical Notch signaling pathway and activating the MAPK pathway
Animals ; Apoptosis ; Cell Cycle ; Cell Proliferation ; Fibroblasts ; Mice ; Nephroblastoma Overexpressed Protein

Objective To explore the feasibility of the application of music test materials in acceptable noise level (ANL) test.Methods We chose Mandarin proficiency test material,Mandarin music and accompaniment music to produce ANL test materials.The background noise was babble noise.A total of 40 normal hearing young people conduct ANL tests.Results The most comfortable loudness (MCL) obtained under the Mandarin short text test material,Mandarin music test material and accompaniment music test material were 39.10±7.43,43.85±9.53 and 44.10±10.83 dB,respectively.The maximum background noise level (BNL) were 37.91±8.65,44.52±11.23,43.65±12.89 dB HL,ANL values were 0.98±4.90,-0.90±3.78,0.45±4.65 dB S/N,respectively.The MCL and BNL values of Mandarin music test materials and accompaniment music test materials were higher than those of Mandarin short text test materials (P＜0.05),but there was no significant difference between MCL and BNL values in Mandarin music test materials and accompaniment music test materials (P ＞ 0.05).There was no significant difference in ANL among the three test materials (P＞0.05).Conclusion The music test material can be applied to the acceptable noise level test.The MCL value and the BNL value were higher under the music test material,which indicating that the acceptance of the music is higher in normal hearing people,whether or not the music test material containing lyrics has no effect on the ANL test results.

Objective To observe the preliminary application of intraoperative optical coherence tomography (iOCT) in vitreous retinal surgery and the influencing factors of the imaging quality.Methods A retrospective case study.A total of 132 subjects were chosen in June 2015 and April 2016 in our hospital.All the subjects were taken vitreous retinal surgery and iOCT scanning.The patients included 46 males and 86 females,with an average age of 61.7 years.111 cases had macular diseases and 21 cases had vitreous hemorrhage.Cases are divided into high myopia and non high myopia group according to ocular axial length (AL),28 eyes in high myopia group (AL≥26 mm),104 eyes in non-high myopia (AL＜26 mm).The scanning time,image quality and eye conditions were observed during the operation.The discordance between surgeon microscope visualization of the pathology and the findings of the iOCT and the postoperative adverse reactions were also observed.Results The iOCT images were identified in 124 of 132 subjects,while were not identified in 8 eyes.For the macular area morphology change,iOCT tips and surgeon judgment rate was inconsistent in 22 eyes (16.7％).For the operation guidance value,change the operation rate of 12/132,accounted for 9.1％.The iOCT imaging quality of high myopia groups was lower than the non-high myopia groups (x2-17.13,P=0.001).Corneal edema and operation time were considered as influencing factors on the quality of the imaging in the non-high myopia groups (r =3.75,6.18;P 0.049,0.013).There were no complications such as endophthalmitis.Conclusions The surgeon can observe morphological changes in the macular area through iOCT which is difficult to be observed by operating microscope and selected reasonable operation method during the surgery.High myopia,corneal edema and operation time affect the image quality.

Background and objective hTe management of pulmonary nodules relies on cancer risk assessment, in which the only widely accepted criterion is diameter. hTe development of volumetric computed tomography (CT) and three-dimensional (3D) sotfware enhances the clarity in displaying the nodules’ characteristics. hTis study evaluated the values of the nodules’ volume and 3D morphological characteristics (edge, shape and location) in cancer risk assessment.Methods hTe CT data of 200 pulmonary nodules were retrospectively evaluated using 3D volumetric sotfware. hTe malignancy or benignity of all the nodules was conifrmed by pathology, histology or follow up (>2 years).Logistic regression analysis was performed to calculate the odds ratios (ORs) of the 3D margin (smooth, lobulated or spiculated/irregular), shape (spherical or non-spherical), location (purely intraparenchymal, juxtavascular or pleural-attached), and nodule volume in cancer risk assessment for total and sub-centimeter nodules. hTe receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was employed to determine the opti-mal threshold for the nodule volume.Results Out of 200 pulmonary nodules, 78 were malignant, whereas 122 were benign. hTeLogistic regression analysis showed that the volume (OR=3.3;P<0.001) and the 3D margin (OR=13.4, 9.8; bothP=0.001) were independent predictive factors of malignancy, whereas the location and 3D shape exhibited no total predictive value (P>0.05). ROC analysis showed that the optimal threshold for malignancy was 666 mm3. For sub-centimeter nodules, the 3D margin was the only valuable predictive factor of malignancy (OR=60.5, 75.0;P=0.003, 0.007).Conclusion hTe volume and 3D margin are important factors considered to assess the cancer risk of pulmonary nodules. Volumes larger than 666 mm3 can be determined as high risk for pulmonary nodules; by contrast, nodules with lobulated, spiculated, or irregular margin present a high malignancy probability.