Background Work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs) are a major occupational health concern, particularly among workers exposed to adverse ergonomic conditions. Manganese production involves heavy physical demands, yet research on WMSDs among manganese workers remains limited. Objective To investigate the prevalence and influencing factors of WMSDs among manganese workers in a manganese enterprise in Guangxi. Methods A cross-sectional survey was conducted from May to June 2024 on workers at a manganese factory in Guangxi. The Chinese Musculoskeletal Disorders Questionnaire was used to collect information on demographic characteristics, distribution of musculoskeletal symptoms, and work-related exposures. χ² test was applied to compare differences in positive WMSDs rates across groups, and logistic regression analysis was performed to identify associated factors. Results A total of 1476 workers were enrolled in the study after pre-determined inclusion and exclusion criteria. The overall prevalence of WMSDs was 34.15%. The most commonly affected body regions were the lower back (17.28%), neck (16.67%), and shoulders (13.82%). The results of logistic regression analysis indicated that female, older age, and education level of college or above were associated with a higher risk of WMSDs (P<0.05). Awkward working postures were significantly associated with WMSDs in corresponding body regions; in particular, awkward postures of the neck, upper limbs, trunk, and lower limbs were related to an increased risk of WMSDs in multiple body sites (P<0.05). In addition, poor lighting conditions, high workplace temperature, frequent or sustained arm support during work, and high job demands were associated with an increased risk of overall or site-specific WMSDs (P<0.05). Conclusion The high prevalence of WMSDs among manganese workers is closely associated with demographic characteristics, working postures, and work environment and organizational factors. Targeted ergonomic interventions focusing on high-risk body regions and key ergonomic exposures are warranted to reduce the risk of WMSDs among manganese workers.

Objective:To explore the distribution and clearance of 99mTc labeled diethylenetriamine pentaacetic acid(99mTc-DTPA)in different brain regions of adult rats after administration through brain extracellular space(ECS)pathway.Methods:After the injection of a volume of 2 μL and radioactive activity of about 3.7 MBq(100 μCi)of 99mTc-DTPA into the caudate nucleus and thalamus of SD rats through stereotactic positioning of rat brain,the single photon emission computed tomography/computed tomography(SPECT/CT)for small animals was used for imaging at different time points,and the dyna-mic distribution and clearance of the tracer in the whole body were observed continuously.The SD rats were injected with 99mTc-DTPA into thalamus and caudate nucleus respectively for biological distribution in vivo.They were put to death 4 h later.Their blood and urine were collected.The brain,cerebellum,heart,liver,spleen,lung,and kidney were taken and weighed by γ counter to measure its radioactivity.Results:SPECT/CT imaging results showed that after 99mTc-DTPA was administered through brain ECS,the radioactivity was concentrated in the brain,kidney and bladder.The tracer administered to the left caudate nucleus was preferentially drained to the right cerebellum,while the tracer administered to the right caudate nucleus was preferentially drained to the left cerebellum.There was a phenomenon of"con-tralateral cerebellar dominant drainage"in the caudate nucleus.The thalamic area preferentially drained to the ipsilateral cerebellum after administration.Four hours after administration via ECS,high radioac-tive uptake appeared in urine,cerebellum and brain,followed by blood and kidney.The radioactive up-take values of heart,liver,spleen and lung were low,which were mainly excreted through urinary sys-tem.Conclusion:Intracerebral ECS administration is a promising method of administration,but there are significant differences in distribution and clearance in different brain regions.This study further ex-pands the content and significance of"ECS regions",and also provides an important theoretical founda-tion for the treatment of encephalopathy and the research of new drugs through brain ECS in the future.

Closed-loop neuromodulation, especially using the phase of the electroencephalography (EEG) rhythm to assess the real-time brain state and optimize the brain stimulation process, is becoming a hot research topic. Because the EEG signal is non-stationary, the commonly used EEG phase-based prediction methods have large variances, which may reduce the accuracy of the phase prediction. In this study, we proposed a machine learning-based EEG phase prediction network, which we call EEG phase prediction network (EPN), to capture the overall rhythm distribution pattern of subjects and map the instantaneous phase directly from the narrow-band EEG data. We verified the performance of EPN on pre-recorded data, simulated EEG data, and a real-time experiment. Compared with widely used state-of-the-art models (optimized multi-layer filter architecture, auto-regress, and educated temporal prediction), EPN achieved the lowest variance and the greatest accuracy. Thus, the EPN model will provide broader applications for EEG phase-based closed-loop neuromodulation.
Humans ; Electroencephalography/methods* ; Brain/physiology* ; Machine Learning ; Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted ; Male ; Adult ; Neural Networks, Computer ; Brain Waves/physiology*

Schizophrenia (SZ) stands as a severe psychiatric disorder. This study applied diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) data in conjunction with graph neural networks to distinguish SZ patients from normal controls (NCs) and showcases the superior performance of a graph neural network integrating combined fractional anisotropy and fiber number brain network features, achieving an accuracy of 73.79% in distinguishing SZ patients from NCs. Beyond mere discrimination, our study delved deeper into the advantages of utilizing white matter brain network features for identifying SZ patients through interpretable model analysis and gene expression analysis. These analyses uncovered intricate interrelationships between brain imaging markers and genetic biomarkers, providing novel insights into the neuropathological basis of SZ. In summary, our findings underscore the potential of graph neural networks applied to multimodal DTI data for enhancing SZ detection through an integrated analysis of neuroimaging and genetic features.
Humans ; Schizophrenia/pathology* ; Diffusion Tensor Imaging/methods* ; Male ; Female ; Adult ; Brain/metabolism* ; Young Adult ; Middle Aged ; White Matter/pathology* ; Gene Expression ; Nerve Net/diagnostic imaging* ; Graph Neural Networks

The rich club, as a community of highly interconnected nodes, serves as the topological center of the network. However, the similarities and differences in how the rich club supports functional integration and segregation in the brain across different species remain unknown. In this study, we first detected and validated the rich club in the structural networks of mouse, monkey, and human brains using neuronal tracing or diffusion magnetic resonance imaging data. Further, we assessed the role of rich clubs in functional integration, segregation, and balance using quantitative metrics. Our results indicate that the presence of a rich club facilitates whole-brain functional integration in all three species, with the functional networks of higher species exhibiting greater integration. These findings are expected to help to understand the relationship between brain structure and function from the perspective of brain evolution.
Animals ; Humans ; Brain/diagnostic imaging* ; Mice ; Male ; Nerve Net/diagnostic imaging* ; Macaca ; Female ; Neural Pathways/diagnostic imaging* ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Biological Evolution ; Adult ; Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Brain Mapping ; Species Specificity ; Mice, Inbred C57BL

Objective:To establish a method for the rapid detection of varicella-zoster virus (VZV) by recombinase-aid amplification (RAA) combined with Clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)/Cas12a system.Methods:Clinical samples of suspected herpes zoster in Shandong province and Shanghai from 2023 to 2024 were collected, nucleic acids of positive samples were extracted, RAA-specific primers and crRNA (CRISPR RNA, crRNA) were designed for the conserved region of VZV, and the fluorescence intensity generated by Cas12a non-specific cleavage of single-stranded fluorescent probes was used to screen highly sensitive crRNAs and optimize the concentrations of crRNA, Cas12a and ssDNA probes. The sensitivity and reproducibility of the RAA-CRISPR/Cas12a detection method were evaluated by using synthesized plasmids and clinical samples, and the specificity of the method was evaluated by using other viral nucleic acids. The method was used to detect clinical samples by using the method and quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR) method, and the detection rate and consistency of the two method were compared.Results:The highly sensitive crRNA-4 was screened from the four crRNAs designed, and a VZV detection method for RAA-CRISPR/CAS12a based on fluorescence intensity measurement was established, which could be detected at 37℃ in 45 min, and the sensitivity of the detection could reach 10 copies/μL, a minimum clinical sample with a Ct value of 38.980 can be detected. It has high specificity and no cross-reactivity with Adenovirus 7, Herpes simplex virus type I, Herpes simplex virus type II, Coxsackieviruses A16, Cytomegalovirus, Epstein-Barr virus, Measles virus, Mumps virus, Enterovirus 71, Japanese encephalitis virus genotype 5. It has good stability, and can be successfully detected in low, medium and high concentrations of viral positive plasmids with good consistency. The detection rate of the clinically positive samples was 100%, which was completely consistent with the qPCR test result.Conclusions:RAA isothermal amplification technology combined with CRISPR-CAS12a technology was used to establish an accurate method for the detection of VZV virus, which was highly sensitive, specific, and had low requirements for experimental conditions, and could be completed within 45 min, which could provide strong technical support for the early detection of VZV.

Objective:To explore the distribution and clearance of 99mTc labeled diethylenetriamine pentaacetic acid(99mTc-DTPA)in different brain regions of adult rats after administration through brain extracellular space(ECS)pathway.Methods:After the injection of a volume of 2 μL and radioactive activity of about 3.7 MBq(100 μCi)of 99mTc-DTPA into the caudate nucleus and thalamus of SD rats through stereotactic positioning of rat brain,the single photon emission computed tomography/computed tomography(SPECT/CT)for small animals was used for imaging at different time points,and the dyna-mic distribution and clearance of the tracer in the whole body were observed continuously.The SD rats were injected with 99mTc-DTPA into thalamus and caudate nucleus respectively for biological distribution in vivo.They were put to death 4 h later.Their blood and urine were collected.The brain,cerebellum,heart,liver,spleen,lung,and kidney were taken and weighed by γ counter to measure its radioactivity.Results:SPECT/CT imaging results showed that after 99mTc-DTPA was administered through brain ECS,the radioactivity was concentrated in the brain,kidney and bladder.The tracer administered to the left caudate nucleus was preferentially drained to the right cerebellum,while the tracer administered to the right caudate nucleus was preferentially drained to the left cerebellum.There was a phenomenon of"con-tralateral cerebellar dominant drainage"in the caudate nucleus.The thalamic area preferentially drained to the ipsilateral cerebellum after administration.Four hours after administration via ECS,high radioac-tive uptake appeared in urine,cerebellum and brain,followed by blood and kidney.The radioactive up-take values of heart,liver,spleen and lung were low,which were mainly excreted through urinary sys-tem.Conclusion:Intracerebral ECS administration is a promising method of administration,but there are significant differences in distribution and clearance in different brain regions.This study further ex-pands the content and significance of"ECS regions",and also provides an important theoretical founda-tion for the treatment of encephalopathy and the research of new drugs through brain ECS in the future.

Objective:To establish a method for the rapid detection of varicella-zoster virus (VZV) by recombinase-aid amplification (RAA) combined with Clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)/Cas12a system.Methods:Clinical samples of suspected herpes zoster in Shandong province and Shanghai from 2023 to 2024 were collected, nucleic acids of positive samples were extracted, RAA-specific primers and crRNA (CRISPR RNA, crRNA) were designed for the conserved region of VZV, and the fluorescence intensity generated by Cas12a non-specific cleavage of single-stranded fluorescent probes was used to screen highly sensitive crRNAs and optimize the concentrations of crRNA, Cas12a and ssDNA probes. The sensitivity and reproducibility of the RAA-CRISPR/Cas12a detection method were evaluated by using synthesized plasmids and clinical samples, and the specificity of the method was evaluated by using other viral nucleic acids. The method was used to detect clinical samples by using the method and quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR) method, and the detection rate and consistency of the two method were compared.Results:The highly sensitive crRNA-4 was screened from the four crRNAs designed, and a VZV detection method for RAA-CRISPR/CAS12a based on fluorescence intensity measurement was established, which could be detected at 37℃ in 45 min, and the sensitivity of the detection could reach 10 copies/μL, a minimum clinical sample with a Ct value of 38.980 can be detected. It has high specificity and no cross-reactivity with Adenovirus 7, Herpes simplex virus type I, Herpes simplex virus type II, Coxsackieviruses A16, Cytomegalovirus, Epstein-Barr virus, Measles virus, Mumps virus, Enterovirus 71, Japanese encephalitis virus genotype 5. It has good stability, and can be successfully detected in low, medium and high concentrations of viral positive plasmids with good consistency. The detection rate of the clinically positive samples was 100%, which was completely consistent with the qPCR test result.Conclusions:RAA isothermal amplification technology combined with CRISPR-CAS12a technology was used to establish an accurate method for the detection of VZV virus, which was highly sensitive, specific, and had low requirements for experimental conditions, and could be completed within 45 min, which could provide strong technical support for the early detection of VZV.

Objective　To establish a dual droplet digital PCR (ddPCR) assay for herpes simplex virus type I (HSV-1) and varicella-zoster virus (VZV). Methods The specific primers and probes were derived based on the conserved regions of HSV-1 and VZV genome. The primer-probe combinations were screened, and the annealing temperatures and primer-probe concentration ratios of the dual-droplet digital PCR reaction were optimized to establish a dual-droplet digital PCR reaction system for HSV-1 and VZV, which was tested for other viruses and validated for clinical samples. The sensitivity, specificity, and reproducibility of the established dual microtiter digital PCR method were analyzed. Results The optimal concentrations of primers and probes for the dual ddPCR detection method of HSV-I and VZV were determined to be 800 nmol/L and 250 nmol/L, respectively, with an optimal annealing temperature of 56 ℃. The correlation coefficient (R2) of the standard curve of the dual ddPCR assay was 0.99, showing a clear linear relationship. The method showed high sensitivity, with the lowest detection limit of herpes simplex virus type I being 2.97 copies/μL, and for VZV being 2.73 copies/μL. The repeatability was high with a small coefficient of variation and stable detection results; the specificity was excellent, and no cross-reaction was found with herpes simplex virus type Ⅱ, Epstein-Barr virus, Adenovirus, Coxsackievirus (CA6/CA10/CA16), Cytomegalovirus, Human Cytomegalovirus, Human enterovirus 71, Japanese Encephalitis virus, West Nile virus, Measles virus, Mumps virus, and human nucleic acids. Conclusions The dual droplet digital PCR assay for herpes simplex virus type I and varicella-zoster virus established in this experiment has strong sensitivity, specificity, and high repeatability, and can provide a solution for rapid quantitative detection of the two viruses in different scenarios.

Objective To observe the drainage pathways of interstitial fluid(ISF)and substance clearance pattern in rat brain with fluorescence tracing imaging and treacer-based MRI.Methods Thirty-three male SD rats were randomly divided into fluorescence tracing group(F group,n=18)and treacer-based MRI group(MRI group,n=15),then further divided into thalamic,hippocampal and caudate nucleus subgroups,respectively.Evans blue was injected to rats in F group,and cardiac perfusion was performed after injection,then brain tissue was harvested,and frozen sections were made to observe the drainage pathways of IFS in different subgroups.MRI was performed on rats in MRI group before and after injection of gadolinium-diethylenetriamine pentaacetic acid(Gd-DTPA)to observe signal intensity in ROI of brain regions in different subgroups,the signal unit ratio was calculated,and the changing trend was explored.Results ISF in thalamus,hippocampus and caudate nucleus had different dominant drainage pathways,and the time of tracer reached to adjacent brain regions and whole brain in F group were different.In MRI group,within 4 h after injection of Gd-DTPA,there were differences in direction and clearance rate among tracer in thalamus,hippocampus and caudate nucleus,mainly manifesting as the tracer in thalamus and hippocampus drained to the ipsilateral cortex and lateral ventricle,while the tracer in the caudate nucleus diffused to the cortex and midbrain,and there were differences of the peak time of tracer signal among adjacent drainage brain regions.Conclusion Fluorescence and MR dual-mode imaging showed that there were differences in the dominant drainage pathways of IFS and clearance rates of small molecule substances among hypothalamus,hippocampus and caudate nucleus of rats.