ObjectiveTo evaluate the diagnostic value of droplet digital PCR （ddPCR） for detecting Candida infections in critically ill patients.MethodsA ddPCR assay for Candida detection was established and optimized， including design of primers and probes， optimization of PCR reaction， and validation of analytical specificity and cutoff threshold. Clinical specimens were analyzed by ddPCR and fungal culture in parallel to assess clinical performance and reliability.ResultsThe ddPCR assay demonstrated high analytical specificity for Candida detection. The sensitivity and specificity of ddPCR for detecting Candida in clinical samples were 0.583 （95%CI： 0.433， 0.721） and 0.962 （95%CI： 0.924， 0. 982）. The ddPCR detection results were consistent with the fungal culture results （Kappa=0.604， P<0.05）. The total assay time for ddPCR was approximately 7 hours， substantially shorter than conventional fungal culture.ConclusionThe ddPCR assay provides reliable and rapid detection of Candida in critically ill patients with markedly reduced turnaround time compared with conventional culture. Given its high specificity and operational efficiency， the ddPCR-based method holds significant potential for clinical implementation as a complementary diagnostic tool.

This paper presents an automatic acquisition and analytic procedure of acupuncture manipulation based on optical navigation, aiming at solving the shortcomings of existing acquisition methods of acupuncture manipulation. An acquisition holder installed at the handle tail of filiform needle was designed to display the movement trajectory of the needle during acupuncture delivery by collecting the movement trajectory of holder. The 3-month old male Bama miniature pig was selected as the experimental subject, and 6 points, "Bojian" "Qiangfeng" "Housanli" "Xiaokua" "Huiyang" (BL35) and "Baihui" (GV20), were selected during acupuncture manipulation. The optical navigation system was used to collect the real-time data, and these data were per-processed and analyzed using mean filtering and Fourier transform. The acupuncture procedure was divided into 3 stages, inserting, lifting-thrusting, and twisting. The results showed that the accuracy was 96.3% at lifting-thrusting stage, and that was 100.0% at twisting stage. The decomposition effect of the entire procedure was satisfactory. This study provides a new approach to the quantitative analysis of acupuncture manipulation. In the future, it needs to further optimize the algorithm and expand the sample size so as to improve the accuracy of this analytic technique.
Acupuncture Therapy/methods* ; Male ; Animals ; Swine ; Acupuncture Points ; Humans ; Swine, Miniature ; Needles

Objective:To explore the long-term survival outcomes of patients with anaplastic thyroid cancer (ATC) and analyze key factors influencing the prognosis.Methods:A retrospective analysis was conducted on the clinical and follow-up data of 77 ATC patients treated at the Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center from March 2000 to July 2022, with tumor-specific survival as the primary endpoint. The Kaplan-Meier method was used to plot the survival curves, and univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses were performed to identify the prognostic factors.Results:Among the 77 patients, 64 underwent surgical treatment, with 33 receiving surgery alone, 8 undergoing surgery combined with chemotherapy, 13 undergoing surgery with radiotherapy, 1 undergoing surgery with chemotherapy and radiotherapy, 2 receiving surgery combined with chemotherapy and targeted therapy, 3 receiving surgery with targeted therapy, and 4 receiving surgery with immunotherapy and targeted therapy. Among the 13 patients who did not undergo surgery, 2 received chemotherapy alone, 3 received targeted therapy alone, 1 received immunotherapy alone, 1 received chemoradiotherapy, 5 received chemotherapy combined with immunotherapy, and 1 received immunotherapy combined with targeted therapy. The median follow-up time was 8.4 months, with 58 patients (75.3%) died, and the median survival time was 6.63 months. Univariate Cox regression analysis showed that C-reactive protein, monocyte count, lymphocyte count, abnormal albumin levels, the maximum diameter of the primary tumor, BMI, and whether immunotherapy was administered were significantly associated with survival in ATC patients (all P＜0.05). Multivariate Cox regression analysis indicated that immunotherapy was an independent factor for survival in ATC patients ( HR=0.18, 95% CI: 0.05-0.62, P=0.007). Among the 40 patients admitted after 2015, the 11 patients who received immunotherapy had a median survival time of 17.2 months, which was superior to the 29 patients who did not receive this treatment (median survival time 6.2 months, P=0.03). Conclusions:ATC patients receiving immunotherapy had a better prognosis and longer survival. Additionally, elevated C-reactive protein, abnormal albumin, monocyte count, lymphocyte count, and BMI might be associated with poorer prognosis in ATC. Tailoring treatment based on the individual characteristics of ATC patients may be beneficial for their long-term survival.

Objective To study the efficacy of hemoperfusion(HP)in series with continuous renal replace-ment therapy(CRRT)integrated combined blood purification under extracorporeal citrate anticoagulation in the treatment of severe hypertriglyceridemic acute pancreatitis(HTG-AP).Methods A total of 62 patients with severe HTG-AP admitted to the Affiliated Hospital of Xuzhou Medical University from June 2022 to May 2024 were selected and randomly divided into control group and observation group,with 31 cases in each group.The control group was treated with conventional medical treatment+HP combined with CRRT staged combined blood purifica-tion treatment,and the observation group was treated with conventional medical treatment+HP in series with CRRT integrated combined blood purification treatment under extracorporeal citrate anticoagulation.The indexes and clinical efficacy before and 7 days after treatment were compared between the two groups.Results The single CRRT time of the observation group was longer than that of the control group,and the frequency of CRRT was less than that of the control group(P<0.05).There were no significant differences in the total CRRT time,single HP time,HP frequency and total HP time between the two groups(P>0.05).The blood routine,inflammatory factors,blood biochemistry and clinical scores of the two groups after treatment were improved compared with those before treatment(P<0.05).After treatment,the hemoglobin(Hb)and platelet count(Plt)of the observation group were higher than those of the control group(P<0.05),and there were no significant differences in other indexes of blood routine,inflammatory factors,blood biochemistry and clinical scores between the two groups(P>0.05).There were no significant differences in clinical indexes,prognosis and complications between the two groups(P>0.05).Conclusions Without affecting the efficacy,HP in series with CRRT integrated combined blood purification under extracorporeal citrate anticoagulation in the treatment of severe HTG-AP can prolong the use time of CRRT blood filter and pipeline,reduce the use of consumables,reduce the risk of bleeding,and avoid multiple catheter removal of HP and CRRT operation separately,and reduce the risk of related infection.It is worthy of clinical application.

Objective:To investigate the clinical characteristics of Mycoplasma pneumonia infection in children of different ages, and to provide a basis for precise treatment. Methods:A total of 216 children with Mycoplasma pneumonia infection who were admitted to the Xi 'an Children's Hospital from January 2019 to December 2021 were included in this study. These children consisted of 117 males and 99 females. These children were divided into school-age group (> 6 years old, n = 75), preschool group (3-6 years old, n = 72) and infant and toddler group (< 3 years old, n = 69) according to age. Data on general demographics, clinical manifestations, complications, laboratory indicators, imaging findings, and bronchoscopic results, as well as treatment efficacy and outcomes, were collected and compared among the three groups. Results:There were statistically significant differences among the school-age, preschool, and infant and toddler groups in terms of dry cough [45 (60.00%), 34 (47.22%), 18 (26.08%)], wheezing [13 (17.33%), 19 (26.39%), 41 (59.42%)], concurrent pleural effusion [26 (34.67%), 20 (27.78%), 11 (15.94%)], pulmonary necrosis [12 (16.00%), 3 (4.17%), 0 (0)], pulmonary imaging findings (patchy shadows [12 (16.00%), 22 (30.56%), 46 (66.67%)], ground-glass opacities [11 (14.67%), 18 (25.00%), 40 (57.97%)], consolidation shadows [58 (77.33%), 42 (58.33%), 8 (11.59%)]), fever duration [(9.58 ± 4.85) days, (9.48 ± 4.89) days, (6.58 ± 3.64) days], and cough relief time [9 (8,12) days, 9 (8,11) days, 8 (7,11) days] ( χ2 = 16.94, 31.10, 6.59, 15.53, 41.51, 33.40, 65.12, F = 11.97, H = 6.05, all P < 0.05). However, there were no statistically significant differences in fever, dyspnea, concurrent atelectasis, or prognosis ( χ2 = 0.21, 0.27, 0.61, 1.74, all P > 0.05). The percentage of neutrophils [(63.91 ± 10.96)%, (58.26 ± 13.79)%, (50.98 ± 13.79)%], platelet count [(305.01 ± 96.13) × 10 9/L, (324.91 ± 108.05) × 10 9/L, (342.41 ± 120.50) × 10 9/L], erythrocyte sedimentation rate [(47.07 ± 26.46) mm/h, (48.29 ± 26.33) mm/h, (38.16 ± 18.23) mm/h], creatinine [(39.10 ± 7.02) μmol/L, (31.50 ± 5.43) μmol/L, (25.85 ± 4.57) μmol/L], alanine aminotransferase [14 (11, 21) U/L, 12 (9, 20) U/L, 15 (11, 19) U/L], creatine kinase isoenzyme [17 (14, 21) U/L, 20 (16, 24) U/L, 23 (19, 27) U/L], and lactate dehydrogenase [260.0 (224.5, 343.5) U/L, 294.5 (252.0, 379.3) U/L, 317.0 (266.5, 384.5) U/L] levels in the peripheral blood differed significantly among the school-age, preschool, and infant and toddler groups ( F = 37.07, 4.91, 3.55, 167.22, H = 7.54, 57.34, 33.58, all P < 0.05). However, there were no statistically significant differences in peripheral blood white blood cell count, C-reactive protein, or procalcitonin levels ( H = 1.09, 2.49, 2.21, all P > 0.05). The bronchoscopic examinations revealed mucosal congestion and edema in all three groups ( χ2 = 0.51, P > 0.05). However, the detection of lymphoid follicles [43 (57.33%), 28 (38.89%), 18 (26.09%)], longitudinal folds [58 (77.33%), 34 (47.22%), 10 (14.49%)], mucus plugs [46 (61.33%), 32 (44.44%), 6 (8.70%)], and airway shaping [16 (21.33%), 5 (6.94%), 0 (0.00%)] increased with age, showing statistically significant differences among the three groups ( χ2 = 14.72, 56.94, 43.30, 19.58, all P < 0.05). Conclusions:The clinical characteristics of children with Mycoplasma pneumonia infection vary among children of different ages. In infants and young children, wheezing symptoms are more common, and they are prone to multiple organ dysfunction. Lung imaging primarily shows scattered patchy shadows and ground-glass opacities. In contrast, older children mainly present with dry cough, and lung imaging typically reveals large areas of consolidation. Bronchoscopic examinations reveal characteristic findings such as lymphoid follicles, longitudinal folds, mucus plugs, and airway shaping, with longer durations of fever and cough relief.

Objective:To explore the long-term survival outcomes of patients with anaplastic thyroid cancer (ATC) and analyze key factors influencing the prognosis.Methods:A retrospective analysis was conducted on the clinical and follow-up data of 77 ATC patients treated at the Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center from March 2000 to July 2022, with tumor-specific survival as the primary endpoint. The Kaplan-Meier method was used to plot the survival curves, and univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses were performed to identify the prognostic factors.Results:Among the 77 patients, 64 underwent surgical treatment, with 33 receiving surgery alone, 8 undergoing surgery combined with chemotherapy, 13 undergoing surgery with radiotherapy, 1 undergoing surgery with chemotherapy and radiotherapy, 2 receiving surgery combined with chemotherapy and targeted therapy, 3 receiving surgery with targeted therapy, and 4 receiving surgery with immunotherapy and targeted therapy. Among the 13 patients who did not undergo surgery, 2 received chemotherapy alone, 3 received targeted therapy alone, 1 received immunotherapy alone, 1 received chemoradiotherapy, 5 received chemotherapy combined with immunotherapy, and 1 received immunotherapy combined with targeted therapy. The median follow-up time was 8.4 months, with 58 patients (75.3%) died, and the median survival time was 6.63 months. Univariate Cox regression analysis showed that C-reactive protein, monocyte count, lymphocyte count, abnormal albumin levels, the maximum diameter of the primary tumor, BMI, and whether immunotherapy was administered were significantly associated with survival in ATC patients (all P＜0.05). Multivariate Cox regression analysis indicated that immunotherapy was an independent factor for survival in ATC patients ( HR=0.18, 95% CI: 0.05-0.62, P=0.007). Among the 40 patients admitted after 2015, the 11 patients who received immunotherapy had a median survival time of 17.2 months, which was superior to the 29 patients who did not receive this treatment (median survival time 6.2 months, P=0.03). Conclusions:ATC patients receiving immunotherapy had a better prognosis and longer survival. Additionally, elevated C-reactive protein, abnormal albumin, monocyte count, lymphocyte count, and BMI might be associated with poorer prognosis in ATC. Tailoring treatment based on the individual characteristics of ATC patients may be beneficial for their long-term survival.

Objective:To investigate the clinical characteristics of Mycoplasma pneumonia infection in children of different ages, and to provide a basis for precise treatment. Methods:A total of 216 children with Mycoplasma pneumonia infection who were admitted to the Xi 'an Children's Hospital from January 2019 to December 2021 were included in this study. These children consisted of 117 males and 99 females. These children were divided into school-age group (> 6 years old, n = 75), preschool group (3-6 years old, n = 72) and infant and toddler group (< 3 years old, n = 69) according to age. Data on general demographics, clinical manifestations, complications, laboratory indicators, imaging findings, and bronchoscopic results, as well as treatment efficacy and outcomes, were collected and compared among the three groups. Results:There were statistically significant differences among the school-age, preschool, and infant and toddler groups in terms of dry cough [45 (60.00%), 34 (47.22%), 18 (26.08%)], wheezing [13 (17.33%), 19 (26.39%), 41 (59.42%)], concurrent pleural effusion [26 (34.67%), 20 (27.78%), 11 (15.94%)], pulmonary necrosis [12 (16.00%), 3 (4.17%), 0 (0)], pulmonary imaging findings (patchy shadows [12 (16.00%), 22 (30.56%), 46 (66.67%)], ground-glass opacities [11 (14.67%), 18 (25.00%), 40 (57.97%)], consolidation shadows [58 (77.33%), 42 (58.33%), 8 (11.59%)]), fever duration [(9.58 ± 4.85) days, (9.48 ± 4.89) days, (6.58 ± 3.64) days], and cough relief time [9 (8,12) days, 9 (8,11) days, 8 (7,11) days] ( χ2 = 16.94, 31.10, 6.59, 15.53, 41.51, 33.40, 65.12, F = 11.97, H = 6.05, all P < 0.05). However, there were no statistically significant differences in fever, dyspnea, concurrent atelectasis, or prognosis ( χ2 = 0.21, 0.27, 0.61, 1.74, all P > 0.05). The percentage of neutrophils [(63.91 ± 10.96)%, (58.26 ± 13.79)%, (50.98 ± 13.79)%], platelet count [(305.01 ± 96.13) × 10 9/L, (324.91 ± 108.05) × 10 9/L, (342.41 ± 120.50) × 10 9/L], erythrocyte sedimentation rate [(47.07 ± 26.46) mm/h, (48.29 ± 26.33) mm/h, (38.16 ± 18.23) mm/h], creatinine [(39.10 ± 7.02) μmol/L, (31.50 ± 5.43) μmol/L, (25.85 ± 4.57) μmol/L], alanine aminotransferase [14 (11, 21) U/L, 12 (9, 20) U/L, 15 (11, 19) U/L], creatine kinase isoenzyme [17 (14, 21) U/L, 20 (16, 24) U/L, 23 (19, 27) U/L], and lactate dehydrogenase [260.0 (224.5, 343.5) U/L, 294.5 (252.0, 379.3) U/L, 317.0 (266.5, 384.5) U/L] levels in the peripheral blood differed significantly among the school-age, preschool, and infant and toddler groups ( F = 37.07, 4.91, 3.55, 167.22, H = 7.54, 57.34, 33.58, all P < 0.05). However, there were no statistically significant differences in peripheral blood white blood cell count, C-reactive protein, or procalcitonin levels ( H = 1.09, 2.49, 2.21, all P > 0.05). The bronchoscopic examinations revealed mucosal congestion and edema in all three groups ( χ2 = 0.51, P > 0.05). However, the detection of lymphoid follicles [43 (57.33%), 28 (38.89%), 18 (26.09%)], longitudinal folds [58 (77.33%), 34 (47.22%), 10 (14.49%)], mucus plugs [46 (61.33%), 32 (44.44%), 6 (8.70%)], and airway shaping [16 (21.33%), 5 (6.94%), 0 (0.00%)] increased with age, showing statistically significant differences among the three groups ( χ2 = 14.72, 56.94, 43.30, 19.58, all P < 0.05). Conclusions:The clinical characteristics of children with Mycoplasma pneumonia infection vary among children of different ages. In infants and young children, wheezing symptoms are more common, and they are prone to multiple organ dysfunction. Lung imaging primarily shows scattered patchy shadows and ground-glass opacities. In contrast, older children mainly present with dry cough, and lung imaging typically reveals large areas of consolidation. Bronchoscopic examinations reveal characteristic findings such as lymphoid follicles, longitudinal folds, mucus plugs, and airway shaping, with longer durations of fever and cough relief.

Objective To study the efficacy of hemoperfusion(HP)in series with continuous renal replace-ment therapy(CRRT)integrated combined blood purification under extracorporeal citrate anticoagulation in the treatment of severe hypertriglyceridemic acute pancreatitis(HTG-AP).Methods A total of 62 patients with severe HTG-AP admitted to the Affiliated Hospital of Xuzhou Medical University from June 2022 to May 2024 were selected and randomly divided into control group and observation group,with 31 cases in each group.The control group was treated with conventional medical treatment+HP combined with CRRT staged combined blood purifica-tion treatment,and the observation group was treated with conventional medical treatment+HP in series with CRRT integrated combined blood purification treatment under extracorporeal citrate anticoagulation.The indexes and clinical efficacy before and 7 days after treatment were compared between the two groups.Results The single CRRT time of the observation group was longer than that of the control group,and the frequency of CRRT was less than that of the control group(P<0.05).There were no significant differences in the total CRRT time,single HP time,HP frequency and total HP time between the two groups(P>0.05).The blood routine,inflammatory factors,blood biochemistry and clinical scores of the two groups after treatment were improved compared with those before treatment(P<0.05).After treatment,the hemoglobin(Hb)and platelet count(Plt)of the observation group were higher than those of the control group(P<0.05),and there were no significant differences in other indexes of blood routine,inflammatory factors,blood biochemistry and clinical scores between the two groups(P>0.05).There were no significant differences in clinical indexes,prognosis and complications between the two groups(P>0.05).Conclusions Without affecting the efficacy,HP in series with CRRT integrated combined blood purification under extracorporeal citrate anticoagulation in the treatment of severe HTG-AP can prolong the use time of CRRT blood filter and pipeline,reduce the use of consumables,reduce the risk of bleeding,and avoid multiple catheter removal of HP and CRRT operation separately,and reduce the risk of related infection.It is worthy of clinical application.

Objective To investigate the mechanism by which fragile X mental retardation protein(FMRP)regulates ferroptosis evasion in colorectal cancer(CRC)cells.Methods We examined FMRP expression levels in CRC cell lines using RT-qPCR and Western blotting and analyzed the biological functions and signaling pathways involved in FMRP-mediated regulation of CRC progression using the TCGA database.A lentiviral FMRP overexpression vector(Lv-FMRP)and 3 knockdown vectors(siFMRP-1,siFMRP-2,and siFMRP-3)were constructed,and their effects on proliferation of HCT116 cells were examined using CCK8 assay and plate clone formation assay;the changes in cell ferroptosis level was determined using MDA/ROS/GSH/Fe2+kits,mitochondrial membrane potential changes were detected using JC-1 fluorescence staining,and the expressions of proteins associated with ferroptosis and the RAS/MAPK signaling pathway were detected using Western blotting.The subcutaneous tumorigenic potential of the transfected cells was evaluated in nude mice.Results Compared with normal colonic mucosal epithelial NCM460 cells,the CRC cell lines had significantly higher FMRP expression level.Bioinformatics analysis suggested the involvement of FMRP in regulation of reactive oxygen,oxidative stress-induced cell death,mitochondrial respiration,and glutathione metabolism pathways.In the cell experiments,FMRP knockdown significantly inhibited proliferation of HCT116 cells,lowered cellular GSH content,increased MDA and ROS levels,Fe2+fluorescence intensity,and mitochondrial membrane potential,and decreased SLC7A11/GPX4 protein expressions and the phosphorylation levels of ERK,MEK,MAPK,and RAS proteins;FMRP overexpression resulted in the opposite changes in the cells.In the tumor-bearing nude mice,HCT116 cells with FMRP knockdown showed attenuated tumorigenic potential with lowered xenograft growth rate and reduced SLC7A11 expression in the xenograft.Conclusion The high expression of FMRP inhibits ferroptosis in CRC cells and promotes progression of CRC by activating the RAS/MAPK signaling pathway.

Objective To investigate the mechanism by which fragile X mental retardation protein(FMRP)regulates ferroptosis evasion in colorectal cancer(CRC)cells.Methods We examined FMRP expression levels in CRC cell lines using RT-qPCR and Western blotting and analyzed the biological functions and signaling pathways involved in FMRP-mediated regulation of CRC progression using the TCGA database.A lentiviral FMRP overexpression vector(Lv-FMRP)and 3 knockdown vectors(siFMRP-1,siFMRP-2,and siFMRP-3)were constructed,and their effects on proliferation of HCT116 cells were examined using CCK8 assay and plate clone formation assay;the changes in cell ferroptosis level was determined using MDA/ROS/GSH/Fe2+kits,mitochondrial membrane potential changes were detected using JC-1 fluorescence staining,and the expressions of proteins associated with ferroptosis and the RAS/MAPK signaling pathway were detected using Western blotting.The subcutaneous tumorigenic potential of the transfected cells was evaluated in nude mice.Results Compared with normal colonic mucosal epithelial NCM460 cells,the CRC cell lines had significantly higher FMRP expression level.Bioinformatics analysis suggested the involvement of FMRP in regulation of reactive oxygen,oxidative stress-induced cell death,mitochondrial respiration,and glutathione metabolism pathways.In the cell experiments,FMRP knockdown significantly inhibited proliferation of HCT116 cells,lowered cellular GSH content,increased MDA and ROS levels,Fe2+fluorescence intensity,and mitochondrial membrane potential,and decreased SLC7A11/GPX4 protein expressions and the phosphorylation levels of ERK,MEK,MAPK,and RAS proteins;FMRP overexpression resulted in the opposite changes in the cells.In the tumor-bearing nude mice,HCT116 cells with FMRP knockdown showed attenuated tumorigenic potential with lowered xenograft growth rate and reduced SLC7A11 expression in the xenograft.Conclusion The high expression of FMRP inhibits ferroptosis in CRC cells and promotes progression of CRC by activating the RAS/MAPK signaling pathway.