ObjectiveTo explore the potential mechanisms of kidney-tonifying and blood-activating acupuncture for Alzheimer's disease. MethodsMale SAMP8 mice were randomly divided into a model group， acupuncture group， non-acupoint group， and donepezi group， with 10 mice in each group， and 10 SAMR1 mice as normal group. The acupuncture group received acupuncture at Baihui （GV 20）， Xuehai （SP 10）， Shenshu （BL 23）， and Geshu （BL 17）. Xuehai （SP 10）， Shenshu （BL 23）， and Geshu （BL 17） were stimulated on the left side first and then on the right side alternately， once a day. The non-acupoint group received acupuncture at fixed bilateral non-meridian， non-acupoint points under the ribs， once a day. The model and normal groups underwent equivalent handling and restraint stress without acupuncture. The donepezi group received 1 mg/kg donepezil via gastric gavage daily. All groups were treated for 4 weeks. After treatment， Morris water maze tests （to record orientation sailing latency， number of traverses through the platform quadrant） and open field （to record distance travelled） were used to evaluate learning and memory abilities； hippocampal neuronal damage was analyzed via HE and Nissl staining； mitochondrial membrane potential and reactive oxygen species （ROS） were measured using assay kits； Western blot and qRT-PCR were performed to detect silencing information regulator 1 （SIRT1）， peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma coactivator 1-alpha （PGC-1α）， and mRNA expression levels. ResultsCompared with the normal group， mice in the model group and non-acupoint group showed elevated orientation sailing latency and relative multiplicity of ROS in hippocampal tissues， and reduced number of traverses through the platform quadrant， distance of movement in the open-field experiment， number of Nissl-staining-positive cells in the hippocampal tissues， mitochondrial membrane potential， and protein levels and mRNA expression of SIRT1， PGC-1α （P＜0.01）； HE staining showed that the hippocampal tissues of the mice was loosely arranged， with reduced number of neurons and vacuolar degeneration； Nissl staining showed that pyramidal neurons in the hippocampal region were not neatly arranged， and the number of Nissl bodies in the cytoplasm was less and the staining was lighter. Compared with the model group， mice in the acupuncture group and donepezil group had lower orientation sailing latency and relative multiplicity of ROS in the hippocampal tissue， higher number of traverses through the platform quadrant， distance of movement in the open-field experiment， number of Nissl-stained positive cells in the hippocampal tissue， mitochondrial membrane potential， and protein levels and mRNA expression of SIRT1 and PGC-1α （P＜0.01）， and HE staining and Nissl staining showed significant improvement in hippocampal histopathological damage. Compared with the donepezil group， the orientation sailing latency shortened in the acupuncture group of mice （P＜0.01）. ConclusionKidney-tonifying and blood-activating acupuncture method can alleviate the SIRT1/PGC-1α signalling pathway in the hippocampal tissue and improve the mitochondrial function， thus alleviating the neuronal damage， which is one of the possible mechanisms for its treatment of Alzheimer's disease.

Objective To develop and validate an early venous thromboembolism(VTE)risk assessment scale for emergency observation patients.Methods ① Based on the characteristics of emergency observation patients,the Delphi expert consultation method and literature review were used to determine scale items and construct a scoring system.②The newly developed VTE scale and its scoring system were analyzed for reliability and validity.③Primary application:collect non acute traumatic observation and rescue patients admitted to Zhejiang Hospital from June 2022 to June 2023 as the research subjects.Patients were divided into survival and non-survival groups based on 28-day outcomes.Differences in VTE scores between the two groups using the new scale,Caprini,and Padua models were compared.The optimal cut-off point was determined using the receiver operator characteristic curve(ROC curve),according to the optimal cut-off value of the new scale score,patients were divided into two groups,and Kaplan-Meier survival curves were used to analyze the 28-day cumulative survival of the two groups of patients.Results ①The preliminary version of the early VTE risk assessment scale for emergency observation patients was developed,comprising 8 items:age,pre examination triage level,underlying diseases,D-dimer levels,activities of daily living(ADL)assessment,coagulation-related indicators,anticoagulants and(or)antiplatelet drugs use,and unhealthy habits.② A total of 121 emergency observation patients were included in the analysis.The test-retest reliability correlation coefficient(R)of the new scale was 0.945(>0.850),split-half reliability was 0.741(>0.700),and Cronbach'sαcoefficient was>0.700.KMO value was 0.715(>0.700),and Bartlett's sphericity test yieldedχ2=167.079,P<0.001,confirming the suitability of the scale for factor analysis.Three factors were identified:basic information,initial assessment,and blood test indicators.Pearson correlation analysis showed the correlation coefficients between the new scale and the Caprini and Padua scores were 0.842 and 0.307,respectively,both P<0.01.③Area under the curve(AUC)of the new scale was 0.566,95%confidence interval(95%CI)was 0.444-0.688,with an optimal diagnostic cut-off value of 13.5 points based on the maximum Youden index.The results of the Kaplan-Meier regression indicated that survival analysis using the 13.5-point cut-off revealed that patients with scores≥13.5 had significantly lower 28-day survival rates than those with scores<13.5(Log-Rank test:χ2=5.609,P=0.018).④The survival group had significantly lower scores than the non-survival group across all scales(new score:10.06±2.84 vs.12.69±3.06,Caprini model:7.22±2.48 vs.9.41±2.64,Padua model:2.91±1.97 vs.4.59±1.07,all P<0.05).Conclusion The early VTE risk assessment scale for emergency observation patients was successfully developed,demonstrating good reliability and validity through statistical analysis.The new scale effectively predicts disease severity and prognosis in emergency observation patients.

Objective To develop and validate an early venous thromboembolism(VTE)risk assessment scale for emergency observation patients.Methods ① Based on the characteristics of emergency observation patients,the Delphi expert consultation method and literature review were used to determine scale items and construct a scoring system.②The newly developed VTE scale and its scoring system were analyzed for reliability and validity.③Primary application:collect non acute traumatic observation and rescue patients admitted to Zhejiang Hospital from June 2022 to June 2023 as the research subjects.Patients were divided into survival and non-survival groups based on 28-day outcomes.Differences in VTE scores between the two groups using the new scale,Caprini,and Padua models were compared.The optimal cut-off point was determined using the receiver operator characteristic curve(ROC curve),according to the optimal cut-off value of the new scale score,patients were divided into two groups,and Kaplan-Meier survival curves were used to analyze the 28-day cumulative survival of the two groups of patients.Results ①The preliminary version of the early VTE risk assessment scale for emergency observation patients was developed,comprising 8 items:age,pre examination triage level,underlying diseases,D-dimer levels,activities of daily living(ADL)assessment,coagulation-related indicators,anticoagulants and(or)antiplatelet drugs use,and unhealthy habits.② A total of 121 emergency observation patients were included in the analysis.The test-retest reliability correlation coefficient(R)of the new scale was 0.945(>0.850),split-half reliability was 0.741(>0.700),and Cronbach'sαcoefficient was>0.700.KMO value was 0.715(>0.700),and Bartlett's sphericity test yieldedχ2=167.079,P<0.001,confirming the suitability of the scale for factor analysis.Three factors were identified:basic information,initial assessment,and blood test indicators.Pearson correlation analysis showed the correlation coefficients between the new scale and the Caprini and Padua scores were 0.842 and 0.307,respectively,both P<0.01.③Area under the curve(AUC)of the new scale was 0.566,95%confidence interval(95%CI)was 0.444-0.688,with an optimal diagnostic cut-off value of 13.5 points based on the maximum Youden index.The results of the Kaplan-Meier regression indicated that survival analysis using the 13.5-point cut-off revealed that patients with scores≥13.5 had significantly lower 28-day survival rates than those with scores<13.5(Log-Rank test:χ2=5.609,P=0.018).④The survival group had significantly lower scores than the non-survival group across all scales(new score:10.06±2.84 vs.12.69±3.06,Caprini model:7.22±2.48 vs.9.41±2.64,Padua model:2.91±1.97 vs.4.59±1.07,all P<0.05).Conclusion The early VTE risk assessment scale for emergency observation patients was successfully developed,demonstrating good reliability and validity through statistical analysis.The new scale effectively predicts disease severity and prognosis in emergency observation patients.

Objective:To investigate the feasibility and clinical value of MRI quantitative evaluation technique in detecting sternocleidomastoid muscle fibrosis in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) after radiotherapy.Methods:From August 2019 to March 2021, 45 patients with clinically confirmed NPC after radiotherapy and 30 healthy controls who underwent physical examination in Lishui Hospital of Zhejiang University were enrolled in our study. According to the Radiation Therapy Oncology Group/European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (RTOG/EORTC) classification criteria of late radiation reactions respectively, the sternocleidomastoid muscle injury in the NPC group was divided into grade Ⅰ, Ⅱ and Ⅲ, which included 8, 32 and 5 patients respectively. All patients underwent T 1 mapping and T 2 mapping imaging of the neck. Firstly, the mapping images of sternocleidomastoid muscle between the two groups were analyzed and compared. Using NUMARIS/4 software of Siemens image post-processing workstation, the region of interest was manually drawn along the edge of sternocleidomastoid muscle at the level of laryngeal chamber in axial mapping diagram. Then, T 1 and T 2 values and the long and short diameters of sternocleidomastoid muscle were measured respectively. Finally, the differences of the parameters between the two groups were compared by independent sample t-test, Spearman rank correlation was used to analyze the relationship between the average T 1 and T 2 values of bilateral sternocleidomastoid muscles and the grade of late radiation injury. Results:Compared with the control group, the shape of sternocleidomastoid muscle in the NPC group was smaller in shape, with irregular edge and uneven increase of T 1 mapping color scale. There was no significant difference in muscle signal in T 2 mapping. The T 1 values of left and right sternocleidomastoid muscles in the NPC group were (1 524.7±97.6) and (1 496.5±93.2) ms respectively, which were significantly higher than those in the normal control group [(1 231.5±85.3) and (1 275.9±90.9) ms] ( P<0.05), and the T 2 values of left and right sternocleidomastoid muscles in the NPC group were (28.4±4.8) and (28.4±3.6) ms respectively, which were lower than those in the normal control group [(30.4±3.5) and (30.4±3.5) ms] ( P<0.05). The long and short diameters of bilateral sternocleidomastoid muscles in the NPC group were shorter than those in the control group ( P<0.05). The average T 1 and T 2 values of bilateral sternocleidomastoid muscles in NPC patients after radiotherapy were (1 510.6±95.4) and (28.4±4.2) ms respectively, The T 1 value was positively correlated with the classification of advanced radiation injury ( r=0.78, P<0.001), and T 2 value was negatively correlated with the level of advanced radiation injury ( r=-0.87, P<0.001). Conclusion:Mapping quantitative evaluation technique can noninvasively and objectively detect and evaluate sternocleidomastoid muscle fibrosis after NPC radiotherapy, which has potential clinical application value.

Objective To investigate the relationship between glycoprotein synthase kinase-3 (GSK-3β) and mitochondrial cleavage protein (Drp-1) during diabetes mellitus-caused antagonization of cardioprotection induced by sevoflurane postconditioning in rats.Methods Clean-grade healthy male Sprague-Dawley rats,weighing 250-300 g,were used in this study.Diabetes mellitus was induced by high-fat and high-sucrose diet and intraperitoneal streptozotocin 30 g/kg.Forty rats with diabetes mellitus were divided into 5 groups (n =8 each) using a random number table method:ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) group,sevoflurane postconditioning group (SP group),sevoflurane postconditioning plus Drp1 inhibitor Mivi-1 group (SM group),sevoflurane postconditioning plus GSK-3β inhibitor SB216763 group (SB group) and sevoflurane postconditioning plus Mivi-1 plus SB216763 group (SMB group).Myocardial I/R was induced by 30 min occlusion of the left anterior descending branch of the coronary artery followed by 120 min reperfusion.The rats inhaled 2.5％ sevoflurane for 10 min starting from 5 min before reperfusion in SP,SM,SB and SBM groups.Mivi-1 1.2 mg/kg was injected via the caudal vein at 15 min before reperfusion in group SM.SB216763 0.2 mg/kg was injected via the caudal vein at 5 min before reperfusion in group SB.Mivi-1 1.2 mg/kg and SB216763 0.2 mg/kg were injected via the caudal vein at 15 and 5 min before reperfusion,respectively,in group SMB.Blood samples were collected from the abdominal aorta at 120 min of reperfusion for determination of serum cardiac troponin Ⅰ (cTnⅠ) concentrations.The rats were sacrificed and myocardial specimens were obtained from the apex for determination of the cell apoptosis (by TUNEL) and expression of caspase-3 (by Western blot),and apoptotic index (AI) was calculated.Results Compared with group I/R,no significant change was found in caspase-3 expression,AI or serum cTnⅠ concentrations (P＞0.05),and the pathological changes of myocardium were comparable in group SP,and the expression of caspase-3 was significantly down-regulated,and AI and serum cTnⅠ concentration were decreased (P＜0.05),and the pathological changes of myocardium were significantly attenuated in SM,SB and SMB groups.Compared with group SP,the expression of caspase-3 was significantly down-regulated,AI and serum cTnⅠ concentrations were decreased (P＜0.05),and the pathological changes of myocardium were significantly attenuated in SM,SB and SMB groups.Compared with group SMB or group SB,the expression of caspase-3 was significantly down-regulated,AI and serum cTnI concentrations were decreased (P＜0.05),and the pathological changes of myocardium were significantly attenuated in group SMB.Conclusion It is not a single regulatory relationship between GSK-3β and Drp-1 in the pathophysiological process of diabetes mellitus-caused antagonization of cardioprotection induced by sevoflurane postconditioning in rats.