BACKGROUND:The highest incidence of spinal fracture is in the thoracolumbar segment,and its symptoms are back pain,posterior convexity deformity,activity limitation,or with spinal cord nerve injury causing lower limb pain,numbness,and even paraplegia and other complications.The finite element method is a digital computer modeling technique,which can simulate the physical model and carry out force analysis realistically.OBJECTIVE:To review the application of finite element method in thoracolumbar spine fractures.METHODS:We searched the Chinese and English literature databases PubMed,Web of Science,and CNKI for relevant literature on the application of the finite element analysis method in spinal thoracolumbar fracture published before March 2024.The search terms in Chinese and English were:finite element analysis methods,biomechanical phenomena,stress analysis,thoracolumbar fractures,spinal fractures.Finally,55 papers were included.RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:(1)The exploration of thoracolumbar fractures caused by different etiologies(osteoporotic,traumatic,and pathological)through the finite element method is conducive to a deeper understanding of the biomechanics of various types of thoracolumbar fractures,and to improve the individualized and fine-tuned treatment of thoracolumbar fractures.(2)The finite element analysis of a single sample or a small number of samples has the chance,and a larger number of samples are required for the future finite element analysis to reduce the chance caused by the sample.(3)The rigid structure of bones alone cannot meet the biomechanical working conditions of the integrity of the physical object,and future finite element models need to incorporate all the structures of the physical object(e.g.,soft tissues,such as muscles and ligaments)as far as possible.(4)The finite element method has been used in more studies on osteoporotic and traumatic thoracolumbar spine fractures,which will need to be more in-depth in the future,and less in the field of pathologic thoracolumbar fractures,which has a wider scope for future research.

Objective To explore the risk factors for UGIB after dual antiplatelet therapy(aspirin+P2Y12 receptor antagonist)in elderly patients with acute coronary syndrome(ACS)undergoing PCI,and then construct a nomogram model.Methods A total of 1590 elderly patients diagnosed with ACS and then undergoing PCI in Jinzhou Central Hospital from January 2019 to June 2022 were retrospectively recruited,and randomly divided into a testing group(n=1114)and a valida-tion group(n=476)in a ratio of 7∶3.Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were applied to identify the independent risk factors for UGIB events,and then a prediction model was constructed and verified for its diagnostic performance.The predictive value of our prediction model for UGIB events was compared with that of PRECISE-DAPT scoring system.Results There were no statistical differences in baseline data between the testing group and the validation group(P＞0.05).The incidence of UGIB was 3.9％(62/1590)in the patients.Multivariate logistic regression analysis indicated that age(OR=1.064,95％CI:1.032-1.097,P=0.000),alcohol(OR=2.433,95％CI:1.220-4.823,P=0.011),heart failure(OR=3.734,95％CI:1.882-7.404,P=0.000),gastrointestinal ulcer/bleeding(OR=3.030,95％CI:1.391-6.618,P=0.005),and Cr(OR=1.017,95％CI:1.014-1.040,P=0.000)were independent risk factors for UGIB in these patients after dual antiplatelet therapy.The constructed nomogram model based on the risk factors obtained an AUC value of 0.806(95％CI:0.739-0.872)in the testing set and 0.838(95％CI:0.737-0.945)in the validation set.The AUC value of the PRECISE-DAPT scoring system in predicting UGIB was 0.674(95％CI:0.583-0.766),which was significantly lower than our mod-el(P＜0.05),indicating the nonogram showing good discriminability.Calibration curve analysis and H-L goodness of fit test revealed that our model had good consistency and was well fit(vali-dation set:P=0.846,testing set:P=0.326).Decision curve analysis displayed that our model showed good potential clinical benefits.Conclusion Age,history of gastrointestinal ulcer/bleed-ing,alcohol,heart failure and Cr are independent risk factors for UGIB in these post-PCI patients after dual antiplatelet therapy.The prediction model constructed with these factors has good dis-criminability,calibration and fitting,shows sound clinical application,and can be served as an ef-fective prediction tool for UGIB events in the patients.

BACKGROUND:The highest incidence of spinal fracture is in the thoracolumbar segment,and its symptoms are back pain,posterior convexity deformity,activity limitation,or with spinal cord nerve injury causing lower limb pain,numbness,and even paraplegia and other complications.The finite element method is a digital computer modeling technique,which can simulate the physical model and carry out force analysis realistically.OBJECTIVE:To review the application of finite element method in thoracolumbar spine fractures.METHODS:We searched the Chinese and English literature databases PubMed,Web of Science,and CNKI for relevant literature on the application of the finite element analysis method in spinal thoracolumbar fracture published before March 2024.The search terms in Chinese and English were:finite element analysis methods,biomechanical phenomena,stress analysis,thoracolumbar fractures,spinal fractures.Finally,55 papers were included.RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:(1)The exploration of thoracolumbar fractures caused by different etiologies(osteoporotic,traumatic,and pathological)through the finite element method is conducive to a deeper understanding of the biomechanics of various types of thoracolumbar fractures,and to improve the individualized and fine-tuned treatment of thoracolumbar fractures.(2)The finite element analysis of a single sample or a small number of samples has the chance,and a larger number of samples are required for the future finite element analysis to reduce the chance caused by the sample.(3)The rigid structure of bones alone cannot meet the biomechanical working conditions of the integrity of the physical object,and future finite element models need to incorporate all the structures of the physical object(e.g.,soft tissues,such as muscles and ligaments)as far as possible.(4)The finite element method has been used in more studies on osteoporotic and traumatic thoracolumbar spine fractures,which will need to be more in-depth in the future,and less in the field of pathologic thoracolumbar fractures,which has a wider scope for future research.

Objective To explore the risk factors for UGIB after dual antiplatelet therapy(aspirin+P2Y12 receptor antagonist)in elderly patients with acute coronary syndrome(ACS)undergoing PCI,and then construct a nomogram model.Methods A total of 1590 elderly patients diagnosed with ACS and then undergoing PCI in Jinzhou Central Hospital from January 2019 to June 2022 were retrospectively recruited,and randomly divided into a testing group(n=1114)and a valida-tion group(n=476)in a ratio of 7∶3.Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were applied to identify the independent risk factors for UGIB events,and then a prediction model was constructed and verified for its diagnostic performance.The predictive value of our prediction model for UGIB events was compared with that of PRECISE-DAPT scoring system.Results There were no statistical differences in baseline data between the testing group and the validation group(P＞0.05).The incidence of UGIB was 3.9％(62/1590)in the patients.Multivariate logistic regression analysis indicated that age(OR=1.064,95％CI:1.032-1.097,P=0.000),alcohol(OR=2.433,95％CI:1.220-4.823,P=0.011),heart failure(OR=3.734,95％CI:1.882-7.404,P=0.000),gastrointestinal ulcer/bleeding(OR=3.030,95％CI:1.391-6.618,P=0.005),and Cr(OR=1.017,95％CI:1.014-1.040,P=0.000)were independent risk factors for UGIB in these patients after dual antiplatelet therapy.The constructed nomogram model based on the risk factors obtained an AUC value of 0.806(95％CI:0.739-0.872)in the testing set and 0.838(95％CI:0.737-0.945)in the validation set.The AUC value of the PRECISE-DAPT scoring system in predicting UGIB was 0.674(95％CI:0.583-0.766),which was significantly lower than our mod-el(P＜0.05),indicating the nonogram showing good discriminability.Calibration curve analysis and H-L goodness of fit test revealed that our model had good consistency and was well fit(vali-dation set:P=0.846,testing set:P=0.326).Decision curve analysis displayed that our model showed good potential clinical benefits.Conclusion Age,history of gastrointestinal ulcer/bleed-ing,alcohol,heart failure and Cr are independent risk factors for UGIB in these post-PCI patients after dual antiplatelet therapy.The prediction model constructed with these factors has good dis-criminability,calibration and fitting,shows sound clinical application,and can be served as an ef-fective prediction tool for UGIB events in the patients.

Spinal cord injury, a severe injury of the central nervous system, shows high disability and mortality rate and seriously affects the patients′ quality of life. It is difficult to restore the spinal cord and achieve satisfactory neurological function improvement with various current treatments for spinal cord injury. Electric stimulation can accelerate axonal growth and myelination and promote nervous tissue repair and regeneration. Conductive hydrogels that can load electric stimulation have great potential in the treatment of spinal cord injuries. Under electric stimulation, different types of conductive hydrogels have different characteristics and can perform a variety of functions. However, clinicians still lack a comprehensive understanding of their application effects in repair of spinal cord injury. To this end, the authors reviewed the research progress on the role of electric stimulation as well as the characteristics and applications of different types of conductive hydrogels in repair of spinal cord injury to provide references for the synthesis and clinical transformation of conductive hydrogels for repair of spinal cord injury.

Objective:To evaluate the correlation between the degree of posterior longitudinal ligament (PLL) injury and various parameters of vertebral body injury in patients with thoracolumbar burst fractures.Methods:A total of 48 patients with thoracolumbar burst fractures were admitted to the Spine Surgery Center of the Second Affiliated Hospital of Inner Mongolia Medical University between December 2022 and January 2024. The cohort consisted of 31 males and 17 females, with a mean age of 44.1±11.8 years (range, 18-65 years). Based on the PLL injury grading method proposed by Sun Zhaoyun, patients were classified into three groups: mild, moderate, and severe. However, due to an insufficient number of patients in the severe group ( n=3), the moderate and severe groups were combined for statistical analysis, resulting in two groups: mild, and moderate-to-severe. Patient demographic and clinical data were collected. Local kyphosis (LK), inversion angle (IA), horizontal rotation angle (HRA), increased interspinous distance (IISD), anterior vertebral body compression ratio (AVBCR), posterior vertebral body compression ratio (PVBCR), middle vertebral body compression ratio (MVBCR), the ratio of height of bone fragment (RHBF), the ratio of width of bone fragment (RWBF), and mid-sagittal canal diameter compression ratio (MSDCR) were measured. Statistical analyses were performed using SPSS 25.0. Categorical variables were expressed as frequency (percentage) and analyzed using chi-square and Fisher exact tests. Continuous variables were tested for normality, with non-normally distributed data analyzed using the rank-sum test and expressed as median (interquartile range). Multivariate logistic regression analysis was performed to identify independent risk factors, and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were plotted to calculate the area under the curve (AUC) to evaluate predictive performance. Results:Among the 48 patients, only 3 were found to have severe PLL injury, necessitating the combination of the moderate and severe groups for statistical purposes. Patients in the moderate-to-severe group demonstrated significantly higher AVBCR, PVBCR, RHBF, MVBCR, MSDCR, and IA compared to the mild group ( P<0.05). Multivariate logistic regression identified AVBCR, PVBCR, MSDCR, and IA as independent risk factors for moderate-to-severe PLL injury ( OR>1, P<0.05). ROC curve analysis revealed that AVBCR, PVBCR, MSDCR, IA, and their combined index could effectively predict moderate-to-severe PLL injury ( P<0.05). Notably, the combined index showed superior predictive performance (AUC=0.970) compared to individual parameters. Threshold values were determined as follows: AVBCR>45.30%, PVBCR>12.17%, MSDCR>27.13%, IA>5.90°, and the combined index >0.61, indicating PLL damage. Conclusion:AVBCR, PVBCR, MSDCR, IA, and their combined index are significantly associated with moderate-to-severe PLL injury in thoracolumbar burst fractures. The combined index demonstrates superior predictive ability compared to single parameters, providing a reliable tool for assessing PLL integrity.

Objective The aim of current study is to determine the effect and mechanism of thymic stromal lymphopoietin on apoptosis of mouse nucleus pulposus cells by investigating the apoptotic activity and variation of intracellular phosphorylated protein kinase B (p-Akt),X-linkedinhibitor of apoptosis protein (XIAP),cysteinyl aspartate specific proteinase-3 (caspase-3),with the treatment of thymic stromal lymphopoietin.Methods Mouse lumbar nucleus pulposus cells were cultured and identified under a fluorescence microscope.Second or third passage cells maintained in monolayers were used for the following experiments.The groups were divided randomly into normal group,TNF-α treated group,TSLP treated group,TSLP+LY94002 treated group and TSLP+Embelin treated group.As a control,normal group was treated with PBS.TNF-α treated group was treated with 500 ng/ml TNF-αt as a positive control.TSLP treated group was treated with 10 ng/ml rhTSLP.TSLP+LY94002 treated group and TSLP+ Embelin treated group were treated with 10 ng/ml TSLP with the pretreatment of different pathway inhibitors for 30 ain in different corresponding experiments,for which 10 μ mol LY294002 or 50 LY294002 responding experimentsreatment of different pathway inhibitors formouse nucleus pulposus cells was detected by FACS.The expression levels of the intracellular p-Akt,XIAP,caspase-3 were investigated by Western blot analysis.Results As the culture cell type Ⅱ collagen staining was positive observed by fluorescence microscopy,we confirmed that the cuhured cells were nucleus pulposus cells.In comparison with negative control,the levels of p-Akt,XIAP in TSLP treated group were elevated (t=9.510,P=0.001;t=8.851,P=0.001).Thecaspase-3 activity were slightly enhanced and the rate of cells apoptosis was no significance.Compared with TSLP treated group,downregulated level of pAkt and XIAPand upregulatedcaspase-3 activity in TSLP+LY294002 treated group were observed (t=8.798,P=0.001;t=7.032,P=0.002;t=5.908,P=0.004).Upregulated caspase-3 activity were also observed in TSLP+ Embelin treated group (t=7.990,P=0.001).Furthermore,significant increased apoptotic cell rate was observed in TSLP+LY294002 or TSLP+Embelin treated groups (t=21.268,P=0.001;t=21.279,P=0.001).Conclusion TSLP may have a potential anti-apoptotic effect on mouse NP cells via upregulating XIAP in PI3K/Akt signaling pathway to restrain the activation of caspase-3.

Objective To assess the feasibility of computed tomography angiography (CTA) in renal artery using the iterative reconstruction technique (iDose4) in Brilliance iCT (Philips Ltd.).Methods 90 patients (body weight 60-70 kg) supposed to undergo renal artery CTA were selected and randomly divided into three groups:A(120 kV,120 mAs),B(120 kV,60 mAs) and C(100 kV,100 mAs).CTA images from Group A were obtained using filtered back projection and those from the rest groups were generated by iDose4.Then CT number of renal artery,noise (denoted as standard deviation SD),signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) of images for each group were measured and recorded.Images were post-processed using volume reformation (VR) 3D imaging and image quality were assessed in five-level grade (1-5).Results The five parameters (CT number of renal artery,SD value,SNR,CNR and VR grade) of group A and group B were statistically insignificant (P ＞ 0.05).While SD values of group C were comparable to those of group A and B,the rest four parameters of group C were apparently larger,which was statistically significant (tCT value =-12.326,tSNR =-7.136,tCNR =-7.649,ZVR =-2.690,PVR ＜ 0.05).Conclusions Image quality could still fit the diagnosis requirements using iDose4 when mAs decreased lower than 50％.The image quality increases when radiation dose is halved at 100 kVp kV.

ObjectiveTo study the chemical constituents from the roots of Flemingia philippinensis.MethodsThe chemical constituents were isolated and purified by combination of silica gel column,Sephadex LH-20,polyamide,and ODS column chromatography.The structures of the isolated compounds were identified by means of spectral data.ResultsTen compounds were isolated from F.philippinensis and identified as isoderrone (1),dalparvin A (2),prunetin (3),7,3'-dihydroxy-5,4',5'-trimethoxyisoflavone (4),pratensein-7-O-β-D-glucoside (5),sissotrin (6),sophororicoside (7),formononetin (8),orobol (9),and biochanin A (10).ConclusionCompounds 1-6 are obtained from this plant for the first time.

Objective To characterize the inheritance of erythropoietic protoporphyria (EPP) by detecting the mutations of ferroehelatase (FECH) gene in a Chinese family with EPP. Methods Peripheral blood samples were obtained from 4 patients and 3 unaffected individuals in a family with EPP, as well as from 50 unrelated healthy human controls. PCR was performed to amplify all the 11 exons and flanking sequence of FECH gene followed by direct sequencing. Results A splicing mutation,I.e., IVS3+1G→A, was identified in the proband as well as his symptomatic sister, cousin, grandfather and asymptomatic mother, but not in his asymptomatic father, grandmother, or unrelated healthy controls. The genotypes IVS1-23 T/C and IVS3-48 C/T were noted in the proband, his father, sister, cousin and grandfather, but absent in his mother or grandmother who carried IVS1-23 C/C and IVS3-48 T/T genotypes. Conclusions A novel splicing mutation is found in the FECH gene in a Chinese EPP family, which, together with two lowly expressed alleles IVS1-23T and IVS3-48C, is likely to be responsible for the clinical phenotype of EPP in this family.