Purpose: The aim of this study was to investigate the feasibility of an intelligent handheld ultrasound (US) device for assisting non-expert general practitioners (GPs) in detecting carotid plaques (CPs) in community populations. Methods: This prospective parallel controlled trial recruited 111 consecutive community residents. All of them underwent examinations by non-expert GPs and specialist doctors using handheld US devices (setting A, setting B, and setting C). The results of setting C with specialist doctors were considered the gold standard. Carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT) and the features of CPs were measured and recorded. The diagnostic performance of GPs in distinguishing CPs was evaluated using a receiver operating characteristic curve. Inter-observer agreement was compared using the intragroup correlation coefficient (ICC). Questionnaires were completed to evaluate clinical benefits. Results: Among the 111 community residents, 80, 96, and 112 CPs were detected in settings A, B, and C, respectively. Setting B exhibited better diagnostic performance than setting A for detecting CPs (area under the curve, 0.856 vs. 0.749; P<0.01). Setting B had better consistency with setting C than setting A in CIMT measurement and the assessment of CPs (ICC, 0.731 to 0.923). Moreover, measurements in setting B required less time than the other two settings (44.59 seconds vs. 108.87 seconds vs. 126.13 seconds, both P<0.01). Conclusion Using an intelligent handheld US device, GPs can perform CP screening and achieve a diagnostic capability comparable to that of specialist doctors.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to investigate the feasibility of an intelligent handheld ultrasound (US) device for assisting non-expert general practitioners (GPs) in detecting carotid plaques (CPs) in community populations. Methods: This prospective parallel controlled trial recruited 111 consecutive community residents. All of them underwent examinations by non-expert GPs and specialist doctors using handheld US devices (setting A, setting B, and setting C). The results of setting C with specialist doctors were considered the gold standard. Carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT) and the features of CPs were measured and recorded. The diagnostic performance of GPs in distinguishing CPs was evaluated using a receiver operating characteristic curve. Inter-observer agreement was compared using the intragroup correlation coefficient (ICC). Questionnaires were completed to evaluate clinical benefits. Results: Among the 111 community residents, 80, 96, and 112 CPs were detected in settings A, B, and C, respectively. Setting B exhibited better diagnostic performance than setting A for detecting CPs (area under the curve, 0.856 vs. 0.749; P<0.01). Setting B had better consistency with setting C than setting A in CIMT measurement and the assessment of CPs (ICC, 0.731 to 0.923). Moreover, measurements in setting B required less time than the other two settings (44.59 seconds vs. 108.87 seconds vs. 126.13 seconds, both P<0.01). Conclusion Using an intelligent handheld US device, GPs can perform CP screening and achieve a diagnostic capability comparable to that of specialist doctors.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to investigate the feasibility of an intelligent handheld ultrasound (US) device for assisting non-expert general practitioners (GPs) in detecting carotid plaques (CPs) in community populations. Methods: This prospective parallel controlled trial recruited 111 consecutive community residents. All of them underwent examinations by non-expert GPs and specialist doctors using handheld US devices (setting A, setting B, and setting C). The results of setting C with specialist doctors were considered the gold standard. Carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT) and the features of CPs were measured and recorded. The diagnostic performance of GPs in distinguishing CPs was evaluated using a receiver operating characteristic curve. Inter-observer agreement was compared using the intragroup correlation coefficient (ICC). Questionnaires were completed to evaluate clinical benefits. Results: Among the 111 community residents, 80, 96, and 112 CPs were detected in settings A, B, and C, respectively. Setting B exhibited better diagnostic performance than setting A for detecting CPs (area under the curve, 0.856 vs. 0.749; P<0.01). Setting B had better consistency with setting C than setting A in CIMT measurement and the assessment of CPs (ICC, 0.731 to 0.923). Moreover, measurements in setting B required less time than the other two settings (44.59 seconds vs. 108.87 seconds vs. 126.13 seconds, both P<0.01). Conclusion Using an intelligent handheld US device, GPs can perform CP screening and achieve a diagnostic capability comparable to that of specialist doctors.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to investigate the feasibility of an intelligent handheld ultrasound (US) device for assisting non-expert general practitioners (GPs) in detecting carotid plaques (CPs) in community populations. Methods: This prospective parallel controlled trial recruited 111 consecutive community residents. All of them underwent examinations by non-expert GPs and specialist doctors using handheld US devices (setting A, setting B, and setting C). The results of setting C with specialist doctors were considered the gold standard. Carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT) and the features of CPs were measured and recorded. The diagnostic performance of GPs in distinguishing CPs was evaluated using a receiver operating characteristic curve. Inter-observer agreement was compared using the intragroup correlation coefficient (ICC). Questionnaires were completed to evaluate clinical benefits. Results: Among the 111 community residents, 80, 96, and 112 CPs were detected in settings A, B, and C, respectively. Setting B exhibited better diagnostic performance than setting A for detecting CPs (area under the curve, 0.856 vs. 0.749; P<0.01). Setting B had better consistency with setting C than setting A in CIMT measurement and the assessment of CPs (ICC, 0.731 to 0.923). Moreover, measurements in setting B required less time than the other two settings (44.59 seconds vs. 108.87 seconds vs. 126.13 seconds, both P<0.01). Conclusion Using an intelligent handheld US device, GPs can perform CP screening and achieve a diagnostic capability comparable to that of specialist doctors.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to investigate the feasibility of an intelligent handheld ultrasound (US) device for assisting non-expert general practitioners (GPs) in detecting carotid plaques (CPs) in community populations. Methods: This prospective parallel controlled trial recruited 111 consecutive community residents. All of them underwent examinations by non-expert GPs and specialist doctors using handheld US devices (setting A, setting B, and setting C). The results of setting C with specialist doctors were considered the gold standard. Carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT) and the features of CPs were measured and recorded. The diagnostic performance of GPs in distinguishing CPs was evaluated using a receiver operating characteristic curve. Inter-observer agreement was compared using the intragroup correlation coefficient (ICC). Questionnaires were completed to evaluate clinical benefits. Results: Among the 111 community residents, 80, 96, and 112 CPs were detected in settings A, B, and C, respectively. Setting B exhibited better diagnostic performance than setting A for detecting CPs (area under the curve, 0.856 vs. 0.749; P<0.01). Setting B had better consistency with setting C than setting A in CIMT measurement and the assessment of CPs (ICC, 0.731 to 0.923). Moreover, measurements in setting B required less time than the other two settings (44.59 seconds vs. 108.87 seconds vs. 126.13 seconds, both P<0.01). Conclusion Using an intelligent handheld US device, GPs can perform CP screening and achieve a diagnostic capability comparable to that of specialist doctors.

Objective To clarify the risk factors of diaphragmatic dysfunction (DD) after cardiac surgery with extracorporeal circulation. Methods A retrospective analysis was conducted on the data of patients who underwent cardiac surgery with extracorporeal circulation in the Department of Cardiovascular Surgery of Peking University People's Hospital from January 2023 to March 2024. Patients were divided into two groups according to the results of bedside diaphragm ultrasound: a DD group and a control group. The preoperative, intraoperative, and postoperative indicators of the patients were compared and analyzed, and independent risk factors for DD were screened using multivariate logistic regression analysis. Results A total of 281 patients were included, with 32 patients in the DD group, including 23 males and 9 females, with an average age of (64.0±13.5) years. There were 249 patients in the control group, including 189 males and 60 females, with an average age of (58.0±11.2) years. The body mass index of the DD group was lower than that of the control group [(18.4±1.5) kg/m2 vs. (21.9±1.8) kg/m2, P=0.004], and the prevalence of hypertension, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, heart failure, and renal insufficiency was higher in the DD group (P<0.05). There was no statistical difference in intraoperative indicators (operation method, extracorporeal circulation time, aortic clamping time, and intraoperative nasopharyngeal temperature) between the two groups (P>0.05). In terms of postoperative aspects, the peak postoperative blood glucose in the DD group was significantly higher than that in the control group (P=0.001), and the proportion of patients requiring continuous renal replacement therapy was significantly higher than that in the control group (P=0.001). The postoperative reintubation rate, tracheotomy rate, mechanical ventilation time, and intensive care unit stay time in the DD group were higher or longer than those in the control group (P<0.05). Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that low body mass index [OR=0.72, 95%CI (0.41, 0.88), P=0.011], preoperative dialysis [OR=2.51, 95%CI (1.89, 4.14), P=0.027], low left ventricular ejection fraction [OR=0.88, 95%CI (0.71, 0.93), P=0.046], and postoperative hyperglycemia [OR=3.27, 95%CI (2.58, 5.32), P=0.009] were independent risk factors for DD. Conclusion The incidence of DD is relatively high after cardiac surgery, and low body mass index, preoperative renal insufficiency requiring dialysis, low left ventricular ejection fraction, and postoperative hyperglycemia are risk factors for DD.

Perceptual decision making refers to the process by which individuals make choices and judgments based on sensory information, serving as a fundamental ability for human adaptation to complex environments. While traditional research has focused on perceptual decision making in isolated contexts, growing evidence highlights the profound influence of social contexts prevalent in real-world scenarios. As a crucial factor supporting individual survival and development, social context not only provides rich information sources but also shapes perceptual decision making through top-down processing mechanisms, prompting researchers to recognize the inherently social nature of human decisions. Empirical studies have demonstrated that social information, such as others’ choices or group norms, can systematically bias individuals’ perceptual decisions, often manifesting as conformity behaviors. Social influence can also facilitate performance under certain conditions, particularly when individuals can accurately identify and adopt high-quality social information. The impact of social context on perceptual decisions is modulated by a variety of external and internal factors, including group characteristics(e.g., group size, response consistency), attributes of peers (e.g., familiarity, social status, distinctions between human and artificial agents), as well as individual differences such as confidence, personality traits, and developmental stage. The motivations driving social influence encompass three primary mechanisms: improving decision accuracy through informational influence, gaining social acceptance through normative influence, and maintaining positive self-concept. Recent computational approaches have employed diverse theoretical frameworks to provide valuable insights into the cognitive mechanisms underlying social influence in perceptual decision making. Reinforcement learning models demonstrate how social feedback shapes future choices through reward-based updating. Bayesian inference frameworks describe how individuals integrate personal beliefs with social information based on their respective reliabilities, dynamically updating beliefs to optimize decisions under uncertainty. Drift diffusion models offer powerful tools to decompose social influence into distinct cognitive components, allowing researchers to differentiate between changes in perceptual processing and shifts in decision criteria. Collectively, these models establish a comprehensive methodological foundation for disentangling the multiple pathways by which social context shapes perceptual decisions. Neuroimaging and electrophysiological studies provide converging evidence that social context influences perceptual decision making through multi-level neural mechanisms. At early perceptual processing stages, social influence modulates sensory evidence accumulation in parietal cortex and directly alters primary visual cortex activity, while guiding selective attention to stimulus features consistent with social norms through attentional alignment mechanisms. At higher cognitive levels, the reward system (ventral striatum, ventromedial prefrontal cortex) is activated during group-consistent decisions; emotion-processing networks (anterior cingulate cortex, insula, amygdala) regulate experiences of social acceptance and rejection; and mentalizing-related brain regions (dorsomedial prefrontal cortex, temporoparietal junction) support inference of others’ mental states and social information integration. These neural circuits work synergistically to achieve top-down multi-level modulation of perceptual decision making. Understanding the mechanisms by which social context shapes perceptual decision making has broad theoretical and practical implications. These insights inform the optimization of collective decision-making, the design of socially adaptive human-computer interaction systems, and interventions for cognitive disorders such as autism spectrum disorder and anorexia nervosa. Future studies should combine computational modeling and neuroimaging approaches to systematically investigate the multi-level and dynamic nature of social influences on perceptual decision making.

BACKGROUND: The protective effect of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) on cardiac ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) injury has been widely reported. Dental pulp-derived mesenchymal stem cells (DP-MSCs) have therapeutic effects on various diseases, including diabetes and cirrhosis. This study aimed to determine the therapeutic effects of DP-MSCs on I/R injury and elucidate the underlying mechanism. METHODS: Myocardial I/R injury model mice were treated with DP-MSCs or a miR-19a-3p mimic. The infarct volume, fibrotic area, pyroptosis, inflammation level, and cardiac function were measured. Cardiomyocytes exposed to hypoxia-reoxygenation were transfected with the miR-19a-3p mimic, miR-19a-3p inhibitor, or negative control. Pyroptosis and protein expression in the interferon regulatory factor 8/mitogen-activated protein kinase (IRF-8/MAPK) pathway were measured. RESULTS: DP-MSCs protected cardiac function in cardiac I/R-injured mice and inhibited cardiomyocyte pyroptosis. The upregulation of miR-19a-3p protected cardiac function, inhibited cardiomyocyte pyroptosis, and inhibited IRF-8/MAPK signaling in cardiac I/R-injured mice. DP-MSCs inhibited cardiomyocyte pyroptosis and the IRF-8/MAPK signaling by upregulating the miR-19a-3p levels in cardiomyocytes injured by I/R. CONCLUSION DP-MSCs protected cardiac function by inhibiting cardiomyocyte pyroptosis through miR-19a-3p under I/R conditions.
Animals ; MicroRNAs/metabolism* ; Pyroptosis/genetics* ; Mesenchymal Stem Cells/metabolism* ; Myocytes, Cardiac/cytology* ; Mice ; Male ; Mice, Inbred C57BL ; Dental Pulp/cytology* ; Myocardial Reperfusion Injury/therapy* ; MAP Kinase Signaling System/physiology*