Objective To analyze the monitoring results of occupational hazard factors (OHF) in the workplace of key industries in Shaoguan City from 2021 to 2024. Methods A total of 486 enterprises of key industries in Shaoguan City, selected from the "Occupational Diseases Hazardous Items Reporting System" and the "Guangdong Provincial Occupational Health Quality Control Platform" from 2021 to 2024, were used as the research subjects. Data on the declaration of occupational hazard projects, the exposure to OHF and the occupational medical examinations for workers, the usage of protective equipment and the setup of protection facilities in enterprises, and the monitoring results of OHF were analyzed. Results From 2021 to 2024, a total of 486 enterprises of key industries in Shaoguan City were monitored, and the detection rate of OHF exceeding national standard was 57.0%. The exceedance rates in medium/large enterprises and small/micro enterprises were 67.1% and 55.0%, respectively. A total of 51 771 worker-exposures to OHF were recorded, with an exposure rate of 55.8%. Training coverage for enterprise managers, occupational health personnel, and workers were 96.7%, 97.1%, and 98.7%, respectively. Abnormal rates in occupational medical examinations were 3.3%, 0.2%, and 0.8% among workers exposed to noise, dust, and chemical factors, respectively. Provision rates of dust respirators, chemical respirators, hearing protection devices (earplugs and earmuffs) were 93.2%, 85.4% and 86.8%, respectively, with wearing compliance rates of 98.7%, 98.8% and 97.1%. Installation rates of dust control, chemical hazard control, and noise control facilities were 97.2%, 90.3%, and 69.9%, respectively, and all facilities were 100.0% effective. Exceedance rates for OHF and noise increased annually (all P<0.05), whereas those for dust and chemical factors decreased (all P<0.05). The exceedance rates of work position from high to low were dust (18.1%), noise (17.1%) and chemical factors (6.4%). Lead-related position had the highest exceedance rate (31.9%). Industries with higher exceedance rates included metal products manufacturing (27.3%), ferrous metal smelting and rolling (24.1%), and non-metallic mineral products manufacturing (23.7%). Conclusion Workplaces in key industries of Shaoguan City face relatively high risks of occupational hazards. It is essential to focus on noise management, with efforts to strengthen occupational health supervision and guidance for small/micro enterprises as well as industries with severe occupational hazards, promoting the standardization of occupational health management.

Cardiac fibrosis is characterized by an elevated amount of extracellular matrix (ECM) within the heart. However, the persistence of cardiac fibrosis ultimately diminishes contractility and precipitates cardiac dysfunction. Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are emerging as important regulators of cardiac fibrosis. Here, we elucidate the functional role of a specific circular RNA CELF1 in cardiac fibrosis and delineate a novel feedback loop mechanism. Functionally, circ-CELF1 was involved in enhancing fibrosis-related markers' expression and promoting the proliferation of cardiac fibroblasts (CFs), thereby exacerbating cardiac fibrosis. Mechanistically, circ-CELF1 reduced the ubiquitination-degradation rate of BRPF3, leading to an elevation of BRPF3 protein levels. Additionally, BRPF3 acted as a modular scaffold for the recruitment of histone acetyltransferase KAT7 to facilitate the induction of H3K14 acetylation within the promoters of the Celf1 gene. Thus, the transcription of Celf1 was dramatically activated, thereby inhibiting the subsequent response of their downstream target gene Smad7 expression to promote cardiac fibrosis. Moreover, Celf1 further promoted Celf1 pre-mRNA transcription and back-splicing, thereby establishing a feedback loop for circ-CELF1 production. Consequently, a novel feedback loop involving CELF1/circ-CELF1/BRPF3/KAT7 was established, suggesting that circ-CELF1 may serve as a potential novel therapeutic target for cardiac fibrosis.

Extensive epigenetic reprogramming involves in memory CD8+ T-cell differentiation. The elaborate epigenetic rewiring underlying the heterogeneous functional states of CD8+ T cells remains hidden. Here, we profile single-cell chromatin accessibility and map enhancer-promoter interactomes to characterize the differentiation trajectory of memory CD8+ T cells. We reveal that under distinct epigenetic regulations, the early activated CD8+ T cells divergently originated for short-lived effector and memory precursor effector cells. We also uncover a defined epigenetic rewiring leading to the conversion from effector memory to central memory cells during memory formation. Additionally, we illustrate chromatin regulatory mechanisms underlying long-lasting versus transient transcription regulation during memory differentiation. Finally, we confirm the essential roles of Sox4 and Nrf2 in developing memory precursor effector and effector memory cells, respectively, and validate cell state-specific enhancers in regulating Il7r using CRISPR-Cas9. Our data pave the way for understanding the mechanism underlying epigenetic memory formation in CD8+ T-cell differentiation.
CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes/metabolism* ; Cell Differentiation ; Chromatin/immunology* ; Animals ; Mice ; Immunologic Memory ; Epigenesis, Genetic ; SOXC Transcription Factors/immunology* ; NF-E2-Related Factor 2/immunology* ; Mice, Inbred C57BL ; Gene Regulatory Networks ; Enhancer Elements, Genetic

BACKGROUND: The use of inserted sham acupuncture as a placebo in randomized controlled trials (RCTs) is controversial, because it may produce specific effects that cause an underestimation of the effect of acupuncture treatment. OBJECTIVE: This systematic survey investigates the magnitude of insert-specific effects of sham acupuncture and whether they affect the estimation of acupuncture treatment effects. SEARCH STRATEGY: PubMed, Embase and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials were searched to identify acupuncture RCTs from their inception until December 2022. INCLUSION CRITERIA: RCTs that evaluated the effects of acupuncture compared to sham acupuncture and no treatment. DATA EXTRACTION AND ANALYSIS: The total effect measured for an acupuncture treatment group in RCTs were divided into three components, including the natural history and/or regression to the mean effect (controlled for no-treatment group), the placebo effect, and the specific effect of acupuncture. The first two constituted the contextual effect of acupuncture, which is mimicked by a sham acupuncture treatment group. The proportion of acupuncture total effect size was considered to be 1. The proportion of natural history and/or regression to the mean effect (PNE) and proportional contextual effect (PCE) of included RCTs were pooled using meta-analyses with a random-effect model. The proportion of acupuncture placebo effect was the difference between PCE and PNE in RCTs with non-inserted sham acupuncture. The proportion of insert-specific effect of sham acupuncture (PIES) was obtained by subtracting the proportion of acupuncture placebo effect and PNE from PCE in RCTs with inserted sham acupuncture. The impact of PIES on the estimation of acupuncture's treatment effect was evaluated by quantifying the percentage of RCTs that the effect of outcome changed from no statistical difference to statistical difference after removing PIES in the included studies, and the impact of PIES was externally validated in other acupuncture RCTs with an inserted sham acupuncture group that were not used to calculate PIES. RESULTS: This analysis included 32 studies with 5492 patients. The overall PNE was 0.335 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.255-0.415) and the PCE of acupuncture was 0.639 (95% CI, 0.567-0.710) of acupuncture's total effect. The proportional contribution of the placebo effect to acupuncture's total effect was 0.191, and the PIES was 0.189. When we modeled the exclusion of the insert-specific effect of sham acupuncture, the acupuncture treatment effect changed from no difference to a significant difference in 45.45% of the included RCTs, and in 40.91% of the external validated RCTs. CONCLUSION The insert-specific effect of sham acupuncture in RCTs represents 18.90% of acupuncture's total effect and significantly affects the evaluation of the acupuncture treatment effect. More than 40% of RCTs that used inserted sham acupuncture would draw different conclusions if the PIES had been controlled for. Considering the impact of the insert-specific effect of sham acupuncture, caution should be taken when using inserted sham acupuncture placebos in RCTs. Please cite this article as: Luo XC, Liu JL, Yao MH, Chen YM, Fan AY, Liang FR, Zhao JP, Zhao L, Zhou X, Zhong XY, Yang JH, Li B, Zhang Y, Sun X, Li L. Specific effect of inserted sham acupuncture and its impact on the estimation of acupuncture treatment effect in randomized controlled trials: A systematic survey. J Integr Med. 2025; 23(6):630-640.
Acupuncture Therapy/methods* ; Humans ; Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic ; Placebo Effect ; Placebos ; Treatment Outcome

Objective To establish a stable,reliable,and clinically relevant porcine model of endotoxin-induced acute respiratory distress syndrome(ARDS).Methods Ten 8-month-old male Bama minipigs were deeply sedated,followed by invasive mechanical ventilation and electrocardiographic monitoring.Lipopolysaccharide(LPS)was intravenously pumped at 600 μg/(kg·h)for 3 hours,then maintained at 15 μg/(kg·h)thereafter.Dynamic monitoring was performed at five time points after LPS injection(LPS 0,1,3,5,and 8 h),including arterial blood gas analysis and chest computed tomography(CT)scans.Pathological examination of lung tissues obtained via bronchoscopic biopsy(HE staining and transmission electron microscopy)was conducted.These indicators were comprehensively used to evaluate the success of the animal model.Results At 5 hours after LPS administration,8 minipigs developed symptoms such as skin cyanosis,elevated body temperature,and respiratory distress.The oxygenation index decreased to<300 mmHg.Chest CT scans showed diffuse pulmonary infiltrates.Histopathology revealed alveolar edema and hyaline membrane formation.Transmission electron microscopy demonstrated disruption of pulmonary blood-air barrier,depletion of lamellar bodies in type Ⅱ pneumocytes,inflammatory cell infiltration,and exudation of plasma proteins and fibrin.Compared with LPS 0 h,at LPS 8 h,the oxygenation index and arterial blood pH were significantly decreased(P<0.001),while blood lactic acid and serum potassium were significantly increased(P<0.05);serum calcium and base excess were significantly decreased(P<0.05),and the lung injury score based on HE-stained lung sections was significantly increased(P<0.01).Conclusion The porcine ARDS model established by continuous LPS injection can dynamically simulate the pathophysiological characteristics and typical pathological manifestations of clinical septic ARDS,making it an effective tool to study the pathogenesis,prevention,and treatment strategies of septic ARDS.

Objective To investigate the correlation between the anterior ethmoidal artery(AEA)and anatomical variations of the anterior cranial base,and to analyze the predictive factors for AEA suspension.Methods Sinus CT imaging data of 159 patients undergoing endoscopic sinus sur-gery(ESS)were retrospectively analyzed.Mimics 21.0 software was utilized for three-dimensional reconstruction,measuring parameters of AEA and anterior cranial base anatomy and performing classi-fication.Pearson and Spearman correlation analyses were used to evaluate the correlations among vari-ous anatomical parameters and their classifications.Multivariate binary logistic regression analysis was performed to screen for independentpredictive factors of AEA suspension.Results The rates of AEA suspension differed significantly across different Keros classifications(P＜0.001),with an increase rate as the Keros classification level increased(P＜0.001).The transverse diameter,height and vol-ume of supraorbital ethmoid cells(SOEC),olfactory fossa depth,lateral lamella of the cribriform plate(LLCP)length and frontal sinus pneumatization classification grade were positively correlated with the distance from AEA to the cranial base(P＜0.05).Multivariate binary Logistic regression analysis showed that the presence of SOEC(OR=4.178,95％CI,2.517 to 6.935,P＜0.001),in-creased olfactory fossa depth(OR=1.433,95％CI,1.197 to 1.715,P＜0.001),and higher frontal sinus pneumatization classification grade(OR=1.621,95％CI,1.121 to 2.345,P=0.01)were independent predictive factors for AEA suspension.Conclusion Detailed preoperative CT imaging assessment,especially the analysis of SOEC,olfactory fossa depth and frontal sinus pneumatization classification,aids in accurately assessing the anatomical position of AEA,thereby effectively reduc-ing the risk of AEA injury,and improving the safety and success rate of surgery.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to explore the association between body mass index (BMI) and mortality based on the 10-year population-based multicenter prospective study. METHODS: A general population-based multicenter prospective study was conducted at four sites in rural China between 2013 and 2023. Multivariate Cox proportional hazards models and restricted cubic spline analyses were used to assess the association between BMI and mortality. Stratified analyses were performed based on the individual characteristics of the participants. RESULTS: Overall, 19,107 participants with a sum of 163,095 person-years were included and 1,910 participants died. The underweight (< 18.5 kg/m ²) presented an increase in all-cause mortality (adjusted hazards ratio [ aHR] = 2.00, 95% confidence interval [ CI]: 1.66-2.41), while overweight (≥ 24.0 to < 28.0 kg/m ²) and obesity (≥ 28.0 kg/m ²) presented a decrease with an aHR of 0.61 (95% CI: 0.52-0.73) and 0.51 (95% CI: 0.37-0.70), respectively. Overweight ( aHR = 0.76, 95% CI: 0.67-0.86) and mild obesity ( aHR = 0.72, 95% CI: 0.59-0.87) had a positive impact on mortality in people older than 60 years. All-cause mortality decreased rapidly until reaching a BMI of 25.7 kg/m ² ( aHR = 0.95, 95% CI: 0.92-0.98) and increased slightly above that value, indicating a U-shaped association. The beneficial impact of being overweight on mortality was robust in most subgroups and sensitivity analyses. CONCLUSION This study provides additional evidence that overweight and mild obesity may be inversely related to the risk of death in individuals older than 60 years. Therefore, it is essential to consider age differences when formulating health and weight management strategies.
Humans ; Body Mass Index ; China/epidemiology* ; Male ; Female ; Middle Aged ; Prospective Studies ; Rural Population/statistics & numerical data* ; Aged ; Follow-Up Studies ; Adult ; Mortality ; Cause of Death ; Obesity/mortality* ; Overweight/mortality*

Thoracolumbar spine fracture often leads to severe pain, functional impairments, and neurological deficits, for which open reduction and internal fixation can effectively restore the spinal structural stability. Open decompression and reduction with internal fixation can help relieve spinal cord compression and improve spinal function in cases of concomitant cord injury. Although spinal stability can be restored through surgery, patients often face chronic pain and functional impairments postoperatively. A postoperative rehabilitation program is critical in optimizing therapeutic outcomes, reducing complications, and minimizing the risk of secondary injuries. However, current rehabilitation methods, such as physical therapy, functional training, and pain management, are confronted with problems in clinical practice, including significant variation in efficacy, poor patient adherence, and prolonged rehabilitation period. There is an urgent need for a unified rehabilitation strategy to address these problems. To this end, the Spinal Trauma Group of the Orthopedic Physicians Branch of the Chinese Medical Association and the Spine Health Professional Committee of the Chinese Human Health Technology Promotion Association organized experts from relevant fields to formulate Evidence-based guidelines for rehabilitation treatment after internal fixation of thoracolumbar spine fracture in adults ( version 2025) by integrating evidences from clinical researches and advanced rehabilitation concepts at home and abroad. A total number of 14 recommendations concerning the rehabilitation treatment with multimodal analgesia, psychological intervention, deep vein thrombosis prevention, core muscle and extremity exercise, appropriate use of braces, early weight-bearing, device-aided rehabilitation exercise, neuroregulatory therapy, rehabilitation team were put forward, aiming to standardize the post-operative rehabilitation process following internal fixation, promote the functional recovery, and enhance patients′ quality of life.

Objective:To analyze the epidemiological characteristics of influenza-like illness（ILI）and the genetic evolutionary trends of the hemagglutinin（HA）and neuraminidase（NA）genes of influenza A（H3N2）viruses isolated in Baotou during the 2022-2023 influenza season.Methods:Etiological surveillance data for ILI cases in Baotou during the 2022-2023 influenza season were collected from the China Influenza Surveillance Information System. Descriptive statistical analysis was performed on the data. HA and NA genes of 30 influenza A（H3N2）viruses were sequenced. Amino acid variation sites，glycosylation sites，drug resistance genes，and phylogenetic trees were analyzed using MEGA 11 software and the NextClade online analysis tool.Results:A total of 1 443 ILI specimens were tested，of which 241（16.70%）were positive for influenza viruses. Among the positive cases，influenza A（H3N2）virus-positive cases accounted for 75.93%（183/241）. The nucleotide sequence similarity of the HA gene between the 30 influenza A（H3N2）isolates and the vaccine strains A/Hong Kong/2671/2019（H3N2），A/Cambodia/e0826260/2020（H3N2），and A/Darwin/9/2021（H3N2）ranged from 96.83% to 98.77%，while the amino acid sequence similarity ranged from 94.63% to 99.62%. A total of 14 amino acid variation sites and 11 conserved glycosylation sites were identified in the HA gene. For the NA gene，the nucleotide sequence similarity ranged from 98.37% to 99.65%，and the amino acid sequence similarity ranged from 94.64% to 98.28%. A total of three amino acid variation sites and nine conserved glycosylation sites were found in the NA gene. None of the 30 influenza A（H3N2）isolates had mutations associated with drug resistance，and all belonged to the clade 3C.2a1b.2a.2a.3a.1.Conclusions:During the 2022-2023 influenza season in Baotou，the circulating influenza A（H3N2）viruses belong to the same evolutionary clade as the 2021-2022 vaccine strain A/Cambodia/e0826360/2020（H3N2）. The isolates from different sources share a common evolutionary origin；however，variations are observed across the genome in terms of homology，molecular mutations，and glycosylation patterns.

Background and Aims:Gastroesophageal reflux disease(GERD)is a common complication following sleeve gastrectomy(SG),particularly in patients with concomitant hiatal hernia,where symptoms tend to be more persistent and refractory,significantly impairing postoperative quality of life.This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of laparoscopic hiatal hernia repair combined with gastroesophageal fixation in SG patients with severe GERD and hiatal hernia,providing clinical reference for revisional surgical strategies.Methods:The clinical data of 9 patients with severe GERD after SG who underwent laparoscopic hiatal hernia repair and gastroesophageal fixation at Huashan Hospital,Fudan University,between January 2023 and June 2024 were retrospectively analyzed.GerdQ scores,proportion of endoscopically confirmed reflux esophagitis,and proton pump inhibitor(PPI)usage were compared before and after surgery.Surgical parameters and follow-up outcomes were also recorded.Results:All patients successfully completed the surgery without major intraoperative complications,and the mean postoperative hospital stay was 5.22 d.After a mean follow-up period of 15.27 months,the GerdQ score significantly decreased from 11.67±2.00 to 7.22±1.48.The proportion of patients with GerdQ score≥8 decreased from 100.00％to 44.44％,and the rate of endoscopically confirmed GERD dropped from 88.89％to 11.11％;PPI use also significantly declined,with all differences reaching statistical significance(all P＜0.05).Conclusion:Laparoscopic hiatal hernia repair combined with gastroesophageal fixation can effectively alleviate reflux symptoms in SG patients with coexisting hiatal hernia,demonstrating favorable short-term efficacy and high safety.This approach may be a preferable surgical option for selected patients.