The prevalence of chronic constipation among the elderly is significant, exerting adverse effects on both their physical and mental health.Presently, pharmacological therapy remains the predominant treatment modality for elderly patients with chronic constipation; however, prolonged use can lead to drug dependence, tolerance, and adverse effects.This article systematically reviews non-pharmacological interventions for chronic constipation in elderly patients, both domestically and internationally, aiming to provide a comprehensive reference for clinical practice.

ObjectiveTo analyze the epidemiological characteristics of clustered vomiting and diarrhea outbreaks in Minhang District of Shanghai, to identify the influencing factors of outbreak scale and duration of epidemic, and to provide scientific evidence for further strengthening surveillance early-warning efforts in key settings and for optimizing prevention and control measures. MethodsThe data for describing epidemiological characteristics of clustered vomitting and diarrhea outbreaks in Minhang District from 2018 to 2023 were collected, multivariable logistic regression models were applied to analyze the influencing factors for epidemic scale,and Spearman rank correlation analyses were applied to analyze the factors duration. ResultsA total of 136 clustered vomiting and diarrhea outbreaks were reported in Minhang District from 2018 to 2023, all occurring in school settings, with an overall attack rate of 0.90%. The outbreaks exhibited distinct seasonality, predominantly occurring from October to December (43.38%) and March to May (32.35%). The primary settings were preschools (45.59%) and elementary schools (44.12%), with students accounted for the majority of cases (99.48%). The predominant clinical manifestation was vomiting (90.44%), with person-to-person contact being the primary transmission route (98.53%). Norovirus genogroup Ⅱ was identified as the main pathogen (71.32%). Standardized terminal disinfection of outbreak sites (OR=0.39, 95%CI=0.20‒0.74) and effective isolation of affected classes (OR=0.23, 95%CI=0.09‒0.57) were significant protective factors for reducing outbreak scale. Both response time (r=0.64, P<0.001) and the number of case generations (r=0.71, P<0.001) showed positive correlations with outbreak duration. ConclusionSchools are the key settings for the prevention and control of clustered vomiting and diarrhea outbreaks in Minhang District, with peak occurring in autumn and spring. Early detection, timely reporting, and prompt response to outbreaks are crucial. Strengthening school-based surveillance systems and standardizing outbreak management protocols are of particular importance.

The prevalence of chronic constipation among the elderly is significant, exerting adverse effects on both their physical and mental health.Presently, pharmacological therapy remains the predominant treatment modality for elderly patients with chronic constipation; however, prolonged use can lead to drug dependence, tolerance, and adverse effects.This article systematically reviews non-pharmacological interventions for chronic constipation in elderly patients, both domestically and internationally, aiming to provide a comprehensive reference for clinical practice.

Objective:To discuss the improvement effect of uric acid(UA)on the postoperative cognitive dysfunction(POCD)in the mice anesthetized with isoflurane for a long duration,and to clarify its possible mechanism.Methods:Twenty-four healthy male C57BL/6 mice were randomly divided into blank control group,anesthesia group,and UA group,and there were eight mice in each group.The mice in UA group were injected intraperitoneally with 200 μL UA solution daily for 2 d before anesthesia.The mice in blank control group and anesthesia group were given the same volume of saline;the mice in anesthesia group and UA group were used to prepare the models of long-duration isoflurane anesthesia,while the mice in blank control group were untreated.Y-maze tests was used to detect the alternation success rate,movement distances,and movement speeds of the mice in various groups;situational fear experiment was used to detect the percentages of freezing time;Western blotting method was used to detect the expression levels of interleukin(IL)-1β,IL-10,and mature brain-derived neurotrophic factor(mBDNF)proteins in hippocampus tissue of the mice in various groups.Results:The Y-maze test results showed that compared with blank control group,the alternation success rate of the mice in anesthesia group was significantly decreased(P<0.01);compared with anesthesia group,the alternation success rate of the mice in UA group was significantly increased(P<0.01).The situational fear experiment results showed that compared with blank control group,the percentage of freezing time of the mice in anesthesia group was significantly decreased(P<0.01);compared with anesthesia group,the percentage of freezing time of the mice in UA group was significantly increased(P<0.05).The cued memory experiment resutls showed that there were no significant differences of the percentage of freezing time of the mice between various groups(P>0.05).The Western blotting results showed that compared with blank control group,the expression level of IL-1β protein in hippocampus tissue of the mice in anesthesia group was increased(P<0.01),while the expression levels of IL-10 and mBDNF proteins were decreased(P<0.01);compared with anesthesia group,the expression level of IL-1β protein in hippocampus tissue of the mice in UA group was decreased(P<0.05),and the expression levels of IL-10 and mBDNF proteins were increased(P<0.05 or P<0.01).Conclusion:UA can improve the POCD in the mice,and its mechnasim may be related with its anti-inflammatory activity inhibiting the central inflammation and upregulating the mBDNF protein expression.

Here, we report a previously unrecognized syndromic neurodevelopmental disorder associated with biallelic loss-of-function variants in the RBM42 gene. The patient is a 2-year-old female with severe central nervous system (CNS) abnormalities, hypotonia, hearing loss, congenital heart defects, and dysmorphic facial features. Familial whole-exome sequencing (WES) reveals that the patient has two compound heterozygous variants, c.304C>T (p.R102*) and c.1312G>A (p.A438T), in the RBM42 gene which encodes an integral component of splicing complex in the RNA-binding motif protein family. The p.A438T variant is in the RRM domain which impairs RBM42 protein stability in vivo. Additionally, p.A438T disrupts the interaction of RBM42 with hnRNP K, which is the causative gene for Au-Kline syndrome with overlapping disease characteristics seen in the index patient. The human R102* or A438T mutant protein failed to fully rescue the growth defects of RBM42 ortholog knockout ΔFgRbp1 in Fusarium while it was rescued by the wild-type (WT) human RBM42. A mouse model carrying Rbm42 compound heterozygous variants, c.280C>T (p.Q94*) and c.1306_1308delinsACA (p.A436T), demonstrated gross fetal developmental defects and most of the double mutant animals died by E13.5. RNA-seq data confirmed that Rbm42 was involved in neurological and myocardial functions with an essential role in alternative splicing (AS). Overall, we present clinical, genetic, and functional data to demonstrate that defects in RBM42 constitute the underlying etiology of a new neurodevelopmental disease which links the dysregulation of global AS to abnormal embryonic development.
Female ; Animals ; Mice ; Humans ; Child, Preschool ; Intellectual Disability/genetics* ; Heart Defects, Congenital/genetics* ; Facies ; Cleft Palate ; Muscle Hypotonia

Background/Aims: The accuracy of endosonographers in diagnosing gastric subepithelial lesions (SELs) using endoscopic ultrasonography (EUS) is influenced by experience and subjectivity. Artificial intelligence (AI) has achieved remarkable development in this field. This study aimed to develop an AI-based EUS diagnostic model for the diagnosis of SELs, and evaluated its efficacy with external validation. Methods: We developed the EUS-AI model with ResNeSt50 using EUS images from two hospitals to predict the histopathology of the gastric SELs originating from muscularis propria. The diagnostic performance of the model was also validated using EUS images obtained from four other hospitals. Results: A total of 2,057 images from 367 patients (375 SELs) were chosen to build the models, and 914 images from 106 patients (108 SELs) were chosen for external validation. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value, and accuracy of the model for differentiating gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs) and non-GISTs in the external validation sets by images were 82.01%, 68.22%, 86.77%, 59.86%, and 78.12%, respectively. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value, and accuracy in the external validation set by tumors were 83.75%, 71.43%, 89.33%, 60.61%, and 80.56%, respectively. The EUS-AI model showed better performance (especially specificity) than some endosonographers.The model helped improve the sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of certain endosonographers. Conclusions We developed an EUS-AI model to classify gastric SELs originating from muscularis propria into GISTs and non-GISTs with good accuracy. The model may help improve the diagnostic performance of endosonographers. Further work is required to develop a multi-modal EUS-AI system.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a central neurodegenerative disease with still unclear pathogenesis. Recent studies have shown that axonal transport dysfuction of mitochondria may contribute to AD progression. Normal mitochondrial axonal transport mainly involves microtubules, molecular motors and connexins, while AD early pathological changes can damage mitochondrial axonal transport by interfering with these proteins: accumulated β-amyloid (Aβ) impairs the function of molecular motors; abnormally modified Tau protein reduces microtubule stability; mutant presenilin-1 (PS1) can induce phosphorylation of some related proteins by activating glycogen synthase kinase-3β (GSK-3β); all these processes can damage mitochondrial axonal transport, leading to synaptic dysfunction. This review aims to clarify the possible mechanisms of axonal transport dysfuction of mitochondria in AD and provides new ideas for AD treatment.

Objective:To evaluate the effect of clinical pathway implementation on medical efficiency and medical expenses of patients with two common rheumatic immune diseases " rheumatoid arthritis" and " ankylosing spondylitis" diseases by using diagnosis related group (DRG) related indicators.Methods:The data of patients with two common rheumatic immune diseases " rheumatoid arthritis" and " ankylosing spondylitis" included in the clinical pathway management from January 2017 to December 2019 in the Department of Rheumatology and Immunology of Jinhua Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine were carried out. The impact of clinical pathway implementation on the average hospital stay, average cost and average drug cost of patients with the two diseases were analyzed and compared , so as to evaluate the effect of the implementation of the clinical pathway.Results:From the implementation of clinical pathway in 2017 to 2019, the number of patients admitted and total medical specialty services in the two groups of " rheumatoid arthritis" and " ankylosing spondylitis" increased year by year ( P<0.01). The average length of stay, average cost and average drug cost of patients in the " rheumatoid arthritis" disease group decreased year by year, with statistically significant differences between groups (all P<0.01). The average length of stay in the ankylosing spondylitis group was shortened year by year, and the difference was statistically significant ( P<0.01). Compared with 2017, the average cost in 2018 decreased significantly, and the difference was statistically significant ( P<0.01). There was no significant difference in average cost between 2018 and 2019 ( P>0.05). The average cost in 2018 was significantly higher than that in 2017 ( P<0.05). After analyzing the causes and optimizing the clinical pathway, the average cost in 2019 was significantly lower than that in 2018 ( P<0.01). Conclusions:Through the implementation of clinical pathways and continuous optimization of pathway connotation during use, the diagnosis and treatment efficiency of patients with " rheumatoid arthritis" and " ankylosing spondylitis" can be significantly improved, and medical costs can be reduced, which is in line with the current medical reform needs.

In order to compare the setting of difference coefficients in DRG point payment in different cities in Zhejiang province, the implementation rules of DRG point payment issued by 11 cities in Zhejiang province were comprehensively analyzed. It was found that the difference coefficients in different cities could be divided into three categories, including hospital coefficients alone, hospital coefficients and grade coefficients weighted, and weighted by hospital coefficients, grade coefficients, personal burden levels, case mix indexes, and head-to-time ratio. Its setting differences included four aspects: connotation composition, weight distribution, threshold value, and classification of medical institutions. The authors suggested that the adjustment cycle should be set scientifically to dynamically adjust the difference coefficient, and the scientific setting of the difference coefficient should be promoted through provincial coordination.

Microglia (MG) are resident immune cells in the central nervous system (CNS) and the first defense line of CNS damage. The maintenance of MG function requires abundant energy, and lipid can serve as an energy source for the brain when glucose utilization is limited, and lipid can also function as signaling molecule. Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common neurodegenerative disease, and MG lipid metabolism plays an important role in the development of this disease. Drugs targeting lipid metabolism provide a new direction for AD treatment. This review starts with the specific mechanism of lipid metabolism in MG, and briefly introduces the effect of lipid metabolism on MG function and its role in AD.