Objective To investigate the predictive value of B-type natriuretic peptide(BNP)for acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease(AECOPD)complicated by right heart failure(RHF).Methods This study selected AECOPD patients admitted to Jiangyin Hospital Affiliated to Nantong University and Nanjing Chest Hospital from January 2022 to January 2024 as ob-jects.According to the inclusion and exclusion criteria,122 patients were ultimately enrolled.The patients were divided into observation group(AECOPD with RHF,n=72)and control group(AECOPD without RHF,n=50)based on whether they had RHF.Differences in various indicators between the two groups were compared,and the predictive value of BNP for AECOPD patients with RHF was assessed through Logistic regression analysis and receiver operating characteristic(ROC)curves.The cut-off value of BNP was determined using the ROC curve.Results Statistically signifi-cant differences were observed between the two groups in terms of gender,body temperature,albumin,blood glucose,chloride ions,pulmonary artery pressure(PAP),and BNP levels(P＜0.05).Logistic regression analysis showed that BNP was an independent predictor for AECOPD patients with RHF(OR=1.03;95％CI,1.01 to 1.04;P＜0.05).The ROC curve results indicated that when the BNP cut-off value was 83.5 pg/mL,the sensitivity was 0.820,the specificity was 0.972,and the Youden index was 0.792.The area under the curve for BNP was 0.875(95％CI,0.800 to 0.949,P＜0.001).When the BNP level in AECOPD patients exceeded 83.5 pg/mL,the incidence of RHF significantly increased.Conclusion Patients with AECOPD complicated by RHF have higher plasma BNP levels than those without RHF,and BNP has significant predictive value for determining whether AECOPD patients have RHF.

Scientific and rigorous selection of theories,models or frameworks is the premise of high-quality nursing research.This work introduces the development process,basic information,application in nursing of T-CaST(Theory Comparison and Selection Tool,T-CaST),and shows the specific application process of this tool through examples,to provide evaluation methods for nursing scholars to choose appropriate guiding theories in the research process,and has guiding significance for developing high-quality nursing research under the guidance of theories,models or frameworks.

Objective: This study uses structural magnetic resonance imaging to explore changes in the cerebellar lobules in patients with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and further analyze the correlation between cerebellar structural changes and clinical symptoms of ASD. Methods: A total of 75 patients with ASD and 97 typically developing (TD) subjects from Autism Brain Imaging Data Exchange dataset were recruited. We adopted an advanced automatic cerebellar lobule segmentation technique called CEREbellum Segmentation to segment each cerebellar hemisphere into 12 lobules. Normalized cortical thickness of each lobule was recorded, and group differences in the cortical measures were evaluated. Correlation analysis was also performed between the normalized cortical thickness and the score of Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised. Results: Results from analysis of variance showed that the normalized cortical thickness of the ASD group differed significantly from that of the TD group; specifically, the ASD group had lower normalized cortical thickness than the TD group. Post-hoc analysis revealed that the differences were more predominant in the left lobule VI, left lobule Crus I and left lobule X, and in the right lobule VI and right lobule Crus I. Lowered normalized cortical thickness in the left lobule Crus I in the ASD patients correlated positively with the abnormality of development evident at or before 36 months subscore. Conclusion These results suggest abnormal development of cerebellar lobule structures in ASD patients, and such abnormality might significantly influence the pathogenesis of ASD. These findings provide new insights into the neural mechanisms of ASD, which may be clinically relevant to ASD diagnosis.

Objective To investigate whether endoscopic ultrasonography (EUS) can be an alternative method for diagnostic endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) by comparing the ability of EUS versus CT and transabdominal ultrasonography (TUS) in the diagnosis of muddy stones of the common bile duct. Methods A prospective study was conducted for 53 patients suspected of muddy stones of the common bile duct who attended Nanxishan Hospital of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region from July 2019 to December 2021, and all patients underwent EUS, TUS, and CT before ERCP. With ERCP and endoscopic sphincterotomy (EST) for removing muddy stones of the common bile duct as the gold standard for the diagnosis of muddy stones of the common bile duct, EUS, TUS, and CT were compared in terms of their ability to display the muddy stones of the common bile duct. The chi-square test or the Fisher's exact test was used for comparison of categorical data between groups. Results In the 53 patients, EUS, TUS, and CT had a positive rate of 88.68%, 50.94%, and 62.26%, respectively, in detecting muddy stones of the common bile duct. As for the positive results confirmed by EST under ERCP, EUS had a sensitivity of 93.75%, a specificity of 60.00%, and an accuracy of 90.57% in detecting muddy stones of the common bile duct, while TUS had a sensitivity of 56.25%, a specificity of 100.00%, and an accuracy of 60.38% and CT had a sensitivity of 66.67%, a specificity of 80.00%, and an accuracy of 67.92%. There was a significant difference between EUS and CT in the accuracy in detecting muddy stones of the common bile duct ( χ 2 =8.26, P =0.004), and there was also a significant difference in diagnostic accuracy between EUS and TUS ( χ 2 =13.05, P < 0.001). Conclusion EUS is more accurate than TUS and CT in the diagnosis of muddy stones of the common bile duct, and instead of ERCP, EUS is thus recommended for suspected muddy stones of the common bile duct when TUS and CT fail to identify the lesions in clinical practice, so as to make a confirmed diagnosis and reduce related costs and complications.

Cholelithiasis is a major health burden and is classified into two types of gallstones and bile duct stones. Biliary sludge is a special type of cholelithiasis and is often known as microlithiasis, microcrystal disease, and bile sand. It has complex clinical manifestations, with no symptoms or various clinical symptoms, and may also lead to serious complications. At present, major diagnostic methods for this disease include ultrasound, computed tomography, magnetic resonance, endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography, intraductal ultrasound, and endoscopic ultrasound, and major treatment methods include traditional Chinese and Western medicine therapy, medical treatment, surgery, and minimally invasive treatment. This article reviews the advances in clinical diagnosis and treatment.

Objective:To investigate the effects of naturally occurring mild hypothermia and artificial mild hypothermia on the expression of high mobility group box 1(HMGB1) in lung tissues of septic mice.Methods:One hundred and twenty BALB/C mice (SPF level) were randomly numbered.Twelve mice with integer multiples of 10 were used as the normal control (NC) group, and the remaining 108 mice were chosen as the septic group.The septic mouse model was established by intra abdominal injection of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) 10 mg/kg.The NC group was given the same dose of normal saline.Anal temperature of the septic mice were measured 1 hour after the model was established successfully, and then were divided into naturally occurring mild hypothermia group and non-mild hypothermia group according to T≤36℃ and T>36℃.In the naturally occurring mild hypothermia group, the mice with T<34℃ were eliminated, and the remaining septic mice were randomly divided into the naturally occurring mild hypothermia(NOMH) observation group and the keep normothermia (KN) group.NOMH group was not given preheating intervention, while KN group was placed in an incubator to maintain the anal temperature between 36.0℃ and 37.5℃.Septic mice in the non-mild hypothermia group were randomly divided into the nonhypothermia (NH) observation group and the artificial mild hypothermia (ATMH) group.The NH group was not treated with hypothermia, while the ATMH group was treated with physical hypothermia, so that the anal temperature of the mice were maintained at 34℃-36℃.Four mice in each group were randomly selected at 6 and 12 hours after modeling, and the concentrations of tumor necrosis factor-α(TNF-α), interleukin-6(IL-6) and HMGB1 in serum were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA). At 12 hours, the survival rate of each group of mice was observed.Then 4 mice of each group were sacrificed and lung tissues were taken.The pathological changes of lung tissues were observed by hematoxylin-eosin (HE) staining, and the expression of HMGB1 in lung tissues was observed by immunohistochemical staining.Real time fluorescence quantitative PCR and Western blot were used to detect the relative expression of HMGB1 at mRNA and protein levels.Results:(1)Twelve hours after modeling, the survival number of NOMH group, ATMH group, KN group and NH group were 36(40), 6(11), 27(40), 4(11), respectively, and there were differences between the four groups (χ 2=32.286, P=0.002). Compared with the other three groups of septic mice, the survival rate was highest in the NOMH group (compared with ATMH group: χ 2=5.222, P=0.022; compared with the KN group: χ 2=6.050, P=0.013; and the NH group: χ 2=11.672, P=0.001), but the differences between the other two groups were not statistically significant (all P>0.05). (2)Compared with the NC group, the concentrations of serum TNF-α, IL-6 and HMGB1 of septic mice in each group were significantly increased at 6 h and 12 h (all P<0.05). Compared with NOMH group, the concentrations of TNF-α, IL-6 and HMGB1 in ATMH group, KN group and NH group were significantly increased at 6 h and 12 h(all P<0.05), and the concentrations of TNF-α, IL-6 and HMGB1 in NH group were the highest at all time points (all P<0.05). The concentrations of TNF-α at 12 h decreased compared with 6 h (all P<0.05), while the concentrations of IL-6 and HMGB1 at 12 h increased compared with 6 h (all P<0.05). (3)HE staining showed that the lung tissue damage were minimal in NOMH group, followed by ATMH group.(4)Immunohistochemical staining showed that the expression of HMGB1 protein was in order of NOMH group, ATMH group, KN group and NH group; (5)The relative expressions of HMGB1 protein in lung tissues of septic mice in NOMH group, ATMH group, KN group, and NH group was 0.280±0.013, 0.320±0.016, 0.340±0.018, and 0.380±0.014, respectively, and the relative expression level of HMGB1 mRNA was 4.86±0.22, 6.02±0.18, 6.26±0.20, and 7.98±0.28, respectively, compared with NC group (HMGB1 protein content was 0.240±0.013, and the relative expression level of HMGB1 mRNA was 2.21±0.12) significantly increased (all P<0.05). Cmpared with NOMH group, the relative expression levels of HMGB1 protein and HMGB1 mRNA in the lung tissues of the ATMH group, KN group and NH group were significantly increased(all P<0.05), with the highest expression level in the NH group(all P<0.05). Conclusion:Mild hypothermia may reduce lung tissue damage by down-regulating the expression of HMGB1 in lung tissues of septic mice, and the improvement of spontaneous mild hypothermia was more significant.

Objective To evaluate the potential cerebral cortical volume alterations in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) compared with T2DM patients and healthy controls,and to observe the correlations with the scores of neuropsychological scales.Methods Cortical volume based on high-resolution MR T1WI data from 30 healthy controls (HC),30 T2DM patients and 30 T2DM with MCI patients were evaluated with FreeSurfer software and compared with variance analysis.The correlations between cerebral cortical volume which had statistical difference and the scores of neuropsychological scales were analyzed.Results There were significant differences in auditory verbal learning test (AVLT) scores,complex figure test-delayed recall (20 min) scores,digit symbol-coding subtest scores,MoCA scores and higher trail-making test-A scores,as well as trail-making test-B scores between T2DM and T2DM with MCI patients (all P＜0.05).Compared with T2DM patients,cortical volume of left entorhinal cortex,left lateral orbitofrontal gyrus,left posterior cingulate gyrus and the right lateral orbitofrontal gyrus,right pars orbitalis,right insula reduced in T2DM with MCI patients (all P＜0.05).In T2DM with MCI patients,AVLT scores were positively correlated with volume of the left entorhinal cortex (r=0.452,P=0.018).Conclusion Several cortical volume reductions are exhibited in T2DM patients with MCI.The volume of the left entorhinal cortex may be a potential biomarker to diagnose and evaluate MCI in T2DM.

Objective To explore the predictive effect of modified DECAF,DECAF,CAPS and APACHEⅡin the assessment of prognosis of AECOPD patients with respiratory failure. Methods Clinical data of 186 AECOPD cases complicated with respiratory failure were analyzed and four score modes were used within 24 hours of admission. Clinical endpoints were patients′ survival status 28 days after admission. The discriminative power of the four score modes was evaluated by the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC). Results AUC of the modified DECAF(0.777,95%CI:0.710-0.835) and DECAF (0.766,95%CI:0.699-0.825) for prognosis was significantly greater than that of CAPS(0.699 ,95%:0.628-0.764) and APACHEⅡ(0.715,95%:0.645-0.779). Conclusion The modified DECAF and DECAF have predictive values on assessing the prognosis of AECOPD patients with respiratory failure ,which are simple and efficient.

Objective To investigate the effects of parenteral nutrition with ω-3 fatty acids on nutrition,inflammatory response,immunity and prognosis in criticallyill cancer patients.Methods 60 critically ill cancer patients were randomly divided into study group and the control group,30 cases each.All Patients were given isonitrogen and isocalorie enteral and parenteral nutrition for 2 weeks,which added ω-3 fatty acids in the study group by parenteral nutrition.The indicators of nutrition,inflammation,immune function were detected weekly.prognostic indicators (mortality,intensive care unit [ICU] length of stay,infectious complications) were compared.Results The indicators of nutrition,inflammatory reaction and immune function of study group were significantly improved than control group,and length of stay in ICU of study group was shorter than control group.There were less mortality and morbidity of infection complications in the study group compared with control group,but difference were not significant (P =0.13 and P=0.165).Conclusion ω-3 fatty acids supplementation of parenteral nutrition in critically ill cancer patients can improve nutritional status and immune function,reduce inflammatory response,shorten ICU length of stay,but not significantly improve ICU mortality and reduce infectious complications.

Objective: To compare the value of two 3D imaging reconstruction methods for left atria and pulmonary vein on guiding the catheter ablation for atrial fibrillation (AF). Methods: From January 2014 to January 2017, a total of 100 drug refractory paroxysmal AF patients were divided into left atria direct angiography group (n=50), and indirect angiography group (n=50). 3D CARTO system was applied for mapping and guiding the ablation procedure. Patients assigned to direct angiography group were treated as follows: intraoperative puncture of atrial septum, inject contrast agent directly into the left atrium, conduct left atrial and pulmonary venous rotation angiography, reconstruct three-dimensional image, integrate the image into real-time X-ray system to facilitate circumferential pulmonary vein isolation. Patients assigned into the indirect angiography group were treated as follows: inject contrast agent through the right ventricle, conduct delayed rotation angiography of the left atria and pulmonary vein to guide circumferential pulmonary vein fixation and ablation. The left atrial and pulmonary venous image acquisition, the operation and X-ray exposure time, the success rate and the incidence of complication of the two groups were compared. The patients were followed up for 3-6 months. Results: General clinical characteristics of the two groups were similar(all P>0.05). Ablation was successful in all 100 patients. The operation time[(112.0±21.4)min vs. (134.0±24.3)min]and X-ray exposure time((10.7±4.7)min vs. (15.8±5.2)min)were significantly lower in direct angiography group than in indirect angiography group (both P<0.01). There was no significant difference between the two groups in the immediate (86%(43/50) vs. 82%(41/50), P=0.59) and short-term (76%(38/50) vs. 72%(36/50), P=0.65) success rate and complication rate (1 aneurysm in the direct angiography group, 1 pericardial tamponade in the indirect angiography group). In-hospital mortality was zero percent. Conclusion It is safe and effective method to guide the radiofrequency catheter ablation of paroxysmal atrial fibrillation by reconstruction 3D image of left atrium and pulmonary vein. Compared with indirect angiography group, direct angiography group can improve the imaging quality of left atrium and pulmonary vein, decrease the X-ray exposure time of the ablation procedure.