Objective To investigate the relationship between the levels of serum circular RNA protein tyrosine phosphatase 4A2(circ_PTP4A2),circular RNA precocious dissociation of sisters 5 homolog B(circ_PDS5B)and the volume of cerebral infarction and the degree of neurological deficits in patients with acute is-chemic stroke(AIS).Methods Ninety patients with AIS who visited the hospital from January 2021 to De-cember 2023 were selected as the AIS group,and 90 healthy individuals who underwent physical examinations during the same period were selected as the control group.The levels of serum circ_PTP4A2 and circ_PDS5B were detected by real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR,the volume of cerebral infarction was measured by magnetic resonance diffusion tensor imaging,and the degree of neurological deficit was evaluated by the Na-tional Institutes of Health Stroke Scale(NIHSS)score.According to the volume of cerebral infarction,they were divided into large-volume group(volume of cerebral infarction≥ 20 cm3,29 cases),medium-volume group(1 cm3＜volume of cerebral infarction＜20 cm3,34 cases),and small-volume group(volume of cerebral infarction≤ 1 cm3,27 cases),and according to the NIHSS scores,patients with AIS were classified into the se-vere group(NIHSS scores≥21 points,27 cases),the moderate group(NIHSS scores 5-20 points,32 cases)and the mild group(NIHSS score≤ 4 points,31 cases).Factors contributing to the increased volume of cere-bral infarction and the increased degree of neurological deficit in patients with AIS were analyzed by ordered multi-categorical Logistic regression.Results Compared with the control group,serum circ_PTP4A2 and circ_PDS5B levels were elevated in the AIS group(P＜0.05).Serum circ_PTP4A2 and circ_PDS5B levels were sequentially increased in the small-volume group,medium-volume group,and large-volume group(P＜0.05).Serum circ_PTP4A2 and circ_PDS5B levels were sequentially increased in the mild group,moderate group,and severe group(P＜0.05).Ordered multi-categorical Logistic regression showed that high NIHSS score,high circ_PTP4A2,and high circ_PDS5B were independent risk factors for increased cerebral infarction volume in AIS patients(P＜0.05),and high cerebral infarction volume,high circ_PTP4A2,and high circ_PDS5B were independent risk factors(P＜0.05).Conclusion The elevated levels of serum circ_PTP4A2 and circ_PDS5B in AIS patients are related to the increase in cerebral infarction volume and the aggravation of neurological deficits.Early detection of serum circ_PTP4A2 and circ_PDS5B levels is helpful for risk stratification in AIS patients.

Objective This study aims to explore the impact of different prior distributions on the estimation of key parameters in Bayesian hierarchical models and to analyze how changes in the number of group levels affect estimation accuracy.Method Through case analysis and simulation studies,we assigned inverse gamma,half-Cauchy,and exponential distributions to the group variance parameters in the model,comparing their performance and the influence of the number of group levels.Results The exponential distribution,due to its shorter tail,may underestimate variance,while the inverse gamma and half-Cauchy distributions,with their thicker tails,provide more robust estimates.In scenarios with a higher number of group levels,the model estimates variance more accurately,but as the number of groups decreases,estimation errors increase.Conclusion In small sample conditions,the half-Cauchy and exponential distributions are more suitable choices because they easily incorporate external information and reasonably reflect the variation characteristics of parameters.These findings provide important guidance for selecting priors for group variance parameters in practical applications of Bayesian hierarchical models.

Migraine is one of the most prevalent and disabling neurological disease, but the current pharmacotherapies show limited efficacy and often accompanied by adverse effects. Acupuncture is a promising complementary therapy, but further clinical evidence is needed. The influence of acupuncture on migraine is not an immediate effect, and its mechanism remains unclear. This study aims to provide further clinical evidence for the anti-migraine effects of acupuncture and explore the mechanism involved. A randomized controlled trial was performed among 10 normal controls and 38 migraineurs. The migraineurs were divided into blank control, sham acupuncture, and acupuncture groups. Patients were subjected to two courses of treatment, and each treatment lasted for 5 days, with an interval of 1 day between the two courses. The effectiveness of treatment was evaluated using pain questionnaire. The functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data were analyzed for investigating brain changes induced by treatments. Blood plasma was collected for metabolomics and proteomics studies. Correlation and mediation analyses were performed to investigate the interaction between clinical, fMRI and omics changes. Results showed that acupuncture effectively relieved migraine symptoms in a way different from sham acupuncture in terms of curative effect, affected brain regions, and signaling pathways. The anti-migraine mechanism involves a complex network related to the regulation of the response to hypoxic stress, reversal of brain energy imbalance, and regulation of inflammation. The brain regions of migraineurs affected by acupuncture include the lingual gyrus, default mode network, and cerebellum. The effect of acupuncture on patients' metabolites/proteins may precede that of the brain.
Humans ; Migraine Disorders/etiology* ; Brain/diagnostic imaging* ; Acupuncture Therapy/methods* ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging

Objective:To develop rapid screening tools for assessing the risk of mild cognitive impairment(MCI)based on neuropsychological scales and cognitive paradigms.Methods:Two baseline datasets from the Beijing Ageing Brain Rejuvenation Initiative(BABRI)cohort were studied: dataset 1 contained 5 593 subjects, with 1 500 cases with MCI and 4 093 cases with normal cognitive function(the control group); dataset 2 consisted of 588 subjects, with 92 cases with MCI and 496 cases with normal cognitive function(the control group). Dataset 1 was used to simplify the Mini-Mental State Examination(MMSE), and the sub-item combination with the strongest MCI discriminative ability was selected to integrate into the cognitive rapid assessment(BABRI-mini MMSE). Dataset 2 with scores of encoding-recognition episodic memory task was used for further MCI discriminant analysis and was adapted into an episodic memory test(BABRI-EMT). We applied the receiver operating characteristic curve(ROC)for those analyses.Results:The control group and the MCI group showed significant differences in multi-domain cognitive ability and episodic memory task performance( P<0.01). Among sub-items of MMSE measured using dataset 1, MMSE12 and MMSE19 had the highest discriminative accuracy for MCI, and the area under the ROC(AUC)was 0.699 and 0.631, respectively.Dataset 2 was used to investigate the discriminative ability of the episodic memory score in combination with the above two MMSE sub-items for MCI, and the AUC value was 0.732, the sensitivity was 0.731, and the specificity was 0.656. Conclusions:The BABRI-mini MMSE and BABRI-EMT are suitable for the large-scale universal screening of MCI risk.