T helper cells (Th cells) play an important role in periodontitis. During the progression of periodontitis, the levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines such as INF-γ and IL-17, which are produced by Th1 and Th17 cells, are elevated, while the levels of anti-inflammatory cytokines such as IL-4 and TGF-β, which are secreted by Th2 cells and regulatory T cells (Tregs), are diminished. Interventions using mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) or their exosomes can alter the dynamics of helper T cell populations and their associated cytokine profiles, thereby mitigating the bone loss associated with periodontitis or even promoting bone regeneration. Mesenchymal stem cell-derived exosomes (MSC-exos) have been shown to directly modulate Th cell activity through the proteins and microRNAs they transport. Recent studies indicate that MSC-exos carry immune-suppressive protein molecules: PD-L1 and IDO contribute to regulating the balance between Th17 and Tregs; TGF-β inhibits the proliferation of T lymphocytes while facilitating differentiation into Tregs by sustaining forkhead box protein O3 (FOXP3) and Smad expression; and CD73 catalyzes the conversion of monophosphate adenosine into adenosine, which interacts with A2A receptors on Th1 cells to induce apoptosis in Th1 cells. In addition, microRNAs exhibit immunoregulatory functions: periodontal ligament stem cell-derived exosomes contain miRNA-155-5p, which targets sirtuin-1 to suppress Th17 cell differentiation. Furthermore, evidence in rat models of periodontitis suggests that these exosomes may also carry miR-205-5p targeting XBP1 to restore the balance between Th17 and Tregs. Dental pulp stem cell-derived exosomes reestablish this balance via the miR-1246/Nfat5 axis. Bone marrow mesenchymal stem cell-derived exosomes harbor miR-1246, which targets ACE2 to promote differentiation towards Tregs. Moreover, MSC-exos can indirectly enhance the differentiation of Tregs through interactions with other immune entities, such as antigen-presenting cells or macrophages. This article reviews the changes and roles of helper T cells in periodontitis, as well as the regulatory role of exosomes on helper T cells, hoping to provide new ideas for immunotherapy in the treatment of periodontitis.

Objective To evaluate the influence of the wearing position of dosimeters outside lead aprons on effective dose estimation for interventional radiology workers, analyze the differences between single and double dosimeter methods in effective dose estimation, and provide a reference for the personal dose monitoring of interventional radiology workers. Methods This study employed a combined approach of on-site monitoring and Monte Carlo simulation to evaluate the impact of the wearing position of dosimeters outside lead aprons on effective dose estimation, as well as the differences between effective doses measured using single and double dosimeters. Interventional radiology workers wore dosimeters at three positions: the neck outside the lead collar, the left chest outside the lead apron, and inside the lead apron. Effective doses were estimated using the single and double dosimeter methods specified in GBZ 128-2019 Specifications for individual monitoring of occupational external exposure, and the impact of different wearing positions on the estimation results was compared. Geant4 Monte Carlo simulations were used to model dose distributions at the neck outside the lead collar and at the left chest outside the lead apron for operators performing cardiovascular interventions under tube voltages of 70, 80, 90, and 100 kVp and exposure angles of posteroanterior (PA), anteroposterior (AP), and left anterior oblique 45° (LAO45°) positions. The study assessed the impact of dosimeter wearing position on effective dose estimation. Results Monte Carlo simulations demonstrated that neck doses consistently exceeded left chest doses across different tube voltages and exposure angles, with neck-to-chest dose ratios of 0.80-0.90. Under identical tube voltage conditions, AP showed the highest doses, followed by LAO45°, and PA demonstrated the lowest doses. The single and double dosimeter methods exhibited consistent patterns in effective dose estimation. Single dosimeter method generally yielded higher effective doses with relative deviations of 9.9% to 83%, though these deviations decreased under high tube voltages. Field monitoring data indicated that most interventional radiology workers maintained relative deviations between single and double dosimeter calculations below 6%, with neck-to-chest dose ratios of 0.95-1.1. The estimation patterns remained consistent across both methods, though single dosimeter method showed slightly higher results. Conclusion Under PA, AP, or LAO45°, the doses at the neck consistently exceeded those at the left chest. Therefore, when wearing lead protective equipment, the dosimeter should be properly positioned at the neck outside the lead collar to accurately reflect the radiation doses of surgeons. Some interventional radiology workers improperly positioned the dosimeter (intended at the neck outside the lead collar) at the left chest outside the lead apron, and this may result in an underestimation of the effective dose.

Understory planting of medicinal plants is a new planting mode that connects Chinese herbal medicine(CHM) with forest resources.The complex and variable understory environmental factors will inevitably affect the yield and quality of understory CHM.This research summarized the research progress on understory planting of medicinal plants based on forest types and environmental factors within the forest from the perspectives of understory light, air temperature and humidity, soil characteristics, and the interaction between crops within the forest.The results showed that the complex and variable light, temperature and humidity, and soil factors(such as fertility, acidity and alkalinity, and microorganisms) under the forest could affect the yield and quality of medicinal plants to varying degrees through physiological activities such as photosynthesis and respiration, resulting in a significant increase or decrease in yield and quality compared to open field cultivation.In addition, the competition or mutual benefit between different crops within the forest could lead to differences in the yield and quality of understory medicinal plants compared to open field cultivation.A reasonable combination of planting could achieve resource sharing and complementary advantages.Therefore, conducting systematic research on the effects of understory environmental factors on the yield and content of medicinal plants with different growth and development characteristics can provide theoretical guidance and technical references for formulating comprehensive strategies for understory planting of medicinal plants, such as selecting suitable medicinal plant varieties, optimizing planting density, and conducting reasonable forest management, thus contributing to the sustainable development and ecological protection of CHM.
Plants, Medicinal/growth & development* ; Forests ; Soil/chemistry* ; Environment ; Ecosystem ; Temperature

OBJECTIVES: To study genotype-phenotype correlations in children with FGFR3 variants and to improve clinical recognition of related disorders. METHODS: Clinical data of 95 patients aged 0-18 years harboring FGFR3 variants, confirmed by whole‑exome sequencing at Shanghai Children's Medical Center from January 2012 to December 2023, were retrospectively reviewed. Detailed phenotypic characterization was performed for 22 patients with achondroplasia (ACH) and 10 with hypochondroplasia (HCH). RESULTS: Among the 95 patients, 52 (55%) had ACH, 24 (25%) had HCH, 9 (9%) had thanatophoric dysplasia, 3 (3%) had syndromic skeletal dysplasia, 2 (2%) had severe achondroplasia with developmental delay and acanthosis nigricans, and 5 (5%) remained unclassified. A previously unreported FGFR3 variant, c.1663G>T, was identified. All 22 ACH patients presented with disproportionate short stature accompanied by limb dysplasia, commonly with macrocephaly, a depressed nasal bridge, bowed legs, and frontal bossing; complications were present in 17 (77%). The 10 HCH patients predominantly exhibited disproportionate short stature with limb dysplasia and depressed nasal bridge. CONCLUSIONS ACH is the most frequent phenotype associated with FGFR3 variants, and missense variants constitute the predominant variant type. The degree of FGFR3 activation appears to correlate with the clinical severity of skeletal dysplasia.
Humans ; Receptor, Fibroblast Growth Factor, Type 3/genetics* ; Child ; Male ; Child, Preschool ; Female ; Infant ; Adolescent ; Dwarfism/genetics* ; Achondroplasia/genetics* ; Lordosis/genetics* ; Infant, Newborn ; Retrospective Studies ; Genetic Association Studies ; Bone and Bones/abnormalities* ; Phenotype ; Limb Deformities, Congenital

Objective:To investigate the clinicopathological and genetic characteristics of neuromuscular choristoma-associated desmoid type fibromatosis (NMC-DF).Methods:The clinical morphological and immunohistochemical features of 7 NMC-DF cases diagnosed from January 2013 to January 2023 in Beijing Jishuitan Hospital were retrospectively analyzed. A series of neuromuscular choristoma and neuromuscular choristoma-associated desmoid type fibromatosis were evaluated for CTNNB1 mutations, and hotspot mutations for CTNNB1 were tested in 4 NMC-DF cases using Sanger sequencing.Results:The tumors were collected from 3 females and 4 males, aged 1 to 22 years (mean 7.1 years), involving the sciatic nerve ( n=4), brachial plexus ( n=2) or multiple nerves ( n=1). The course of the disease spanned from 3 months to 10 years. Two cases were recurrent tumors. All the 7 NMC cases showed endoneurial intercalation of mature skeletal muscle fibers among the peripheral nerve fascicles, and the histologic features of the NMC-DF were strikingly similar to the conventional desmoid-type fibromatosis. By immunohistochemistry, all NMC and NMC-DF cases showed aberrant nuclear staining of β-catenin (7/7), the muscle cells in NMC were intensely immunoreactive for desmin, and the admixed nerve fibers were highlighted by NF and S-100 (7/7). Four NMC and NMC-DF had CTNNB1 mutations, 3 c.121A>G (p.T41A) and 1 c.134C>T (p.S45F). Follow-up of the 7 cases, ranging from 22 to 78 months, showed tumor recurrence in 2 patients at 3 and 8 months respectively after the first surgical resection, of which 1 patient underwent above-knee amputation. No recurrence occurred in other cases with tumor excision and neurological reconstruction surgery. There was no metastasis occurred in the 7 cases. Conclusions:NMC is a rare congenital lesion with differentiated mature skeletal muscle tissue found in peripheral nerve fascicles, and approximately 80% of patients with NMC develop a soft tissue fibromatosis. CTNNB1 mutation in the Wnt signaling pathway may be involved in the pathogenesis of NMC and NMC-DF, and S45F mutations seems to have a higher risk of disease progression.

Accurate determination of the thickness of multi-layered nanofilm materials is of great importance to advance the development of thin film deposition technology and ensure the quality assurance of photovoltaic materials.Laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry(LA-ICP-MS)has been successfully employed for depth profiling of thin film materials,such as metal coatings.However,the accuracy of interface discrimination and thin layer thickness measurement is limited by the mixing effects of elemental signals.In this work,a high-depth resolution method for measuring the thin film thickness of lead sulfide(PbS)colloidal quantum dot(CQD)photovoltaic devices by LA-ICP-MS was introduced.The influence of different laser parameters on the mixing effects of element signals during the ablation process was compared,and the results showed that the laser ablation behavior of multi-layered nanofilm materials were improved and the mixing of element signals were reduced by optimizing parameters such as laser energy density and spot diameter.Meanwhile,a self-developed aerosol rapid wash-out small volume tubular ablation cell was used to effectively improve the aerosol transport efficiency,and the wash-out time of aerosol was(1.60±0.6)s.Compared with commercial cylindrical ablation cells,the depth profile of multi-layer thin film samples was clearer.The depth profile of the interlayer interface showed a significant melting phenomenon during the ablation of the PbS CQD layer,leading to severe mixing of elemental signals at the PbS/ZnO layer interface.Under the conditions such as 2.5 J/cm2 laser energy,32 μm spot diameter,and 1 Hz repetition rate,the average ablation rates of Au,PbS and ZnO layers in PbS CQD photovoltaic devices were(60±2)nm/pulse,(69±5)nm/pulse,and(22±2)nm/pulse,with depth resolution of(26±2)nm,(213±11)nm,and(68±6)nm,respectively.The thickness of PbS CQD photovoltaic device films from the same batch was determined,and the test results exhibited good consistency with scanning electron microscope(SEM)measurement values,with a relative deviation of less than 6％.This method could accurately determine the thickness of nanoscale multilayer thin film samples,which was crucial for improving the performance of photovoltaic devices and controlling product quality.

Background::A phase II trial on recombinant human tenecteplase tissue-type plasminogen activator (rhTNK-tPA) has previously shown its preliminary efficacy in ST elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) patients. This study was designed as a pivotal postmarketing trial to compare its efficacy and safety with rrecombinant human tissue-type plasminogen activator alteplase (rt-PA) in Chinese patients with STEMI.Methods::In this multicenter, randomized, open-label, non-inferiority trial, patients with acute STEMI were randomly assigned (1:1) to receive an intravenous bolus of 16 mg rhTNK-tPA or an intravenous bolus of 8 mg rt-PA followed by an infusion of 42 mg in 90 min. The primary endpoint was recanalization defined by thrombolysis in myocardial infarction (TIMI) flow grade 2 or 3. The secondary endpoint was clinically justified recanalization. Other endpoints included 30-day major adverse cardiovascular and cerebrovascular events (MACCEs) and safety endpoints.Results::From July 2016 to September 2019, 767 eligible patients were randomly assigned to receive rhTNK-tPA ( n = 384) or rt-PA ( n = 383). Among them, 369 patients had coronary angiography data on TIMI flow, and 711 patients had data on clinically justified recanalization. Both used a –15% difference as the non-inferiority efficacy margin. In comparison to rt-PA, both the proportion of patients with TIMI grade 2 or 3 flow (78.3% [148/189] vs. 81.7% [147/180]; differences: –3.4%; 95% confidence interval [CI]: –11.5%, 4.8%) and clinically justified recanalization (85.4% [305/357] vs. 85.9% [304/354]; difference: –0.5%; 95% CI: –5.6%, 4.7%) in the rhTNK-tPA group were non-inferior. The occurrence of 30-day MACCEs (10.2% [39/384] vs. 11.0% [42/383]; hazard ratio: 0.96; 95% CI: 0.61, 1.50) did not differ significantly between groups. No safety outcomes significantly differed between groups. Conclusion::rhTNK-tPA was non-inferior to rt-PA in the effect of improving recanalization of the infarct-related artery, a validated surrogate of clinical outcomes, among Chinese patients with acute STEMI.Trial registration::www.ClinicalTrials.gov (No. NCT02835534).

Most chemical medicines have polymorphs. The difference of medicine polymorphs in physicochemical properties directly affects the stability, efficacy, and safety of solid medicine products. Polymorphs is incomparably important to pharmaceutical chemistry, manufacturing, and control. Meantime polymorphs is a key factor for the quality of high-end drug and formulations. Polymorph prediction technology can effectively guide screening of trial experiments, and reduce the risk of missing stable crystal form in the traditional experiment. Polymorph prediction technology was firstly based on theoretical calculations such as quantum mechanics and computational chemistry, and then was developed by the key technology of machine learning using the artificial intelligence. Nowadays, the popular trend is to combine the advantages of theoretical calculation and machine learning to jointly predict crystal structure. Recently, predicting medicine polymorphs has still been a challenging problem. It is expected to learn from and integrate existing technologies to predict medicine polymorphs more accurately and efficiently.

Objective To investigate the infection status and changing trend of hepatitis C virus(HCV)infection in hospitalized patients in medical institutions,and provide reference for formulating HCV infection prevention and control strategies.Methods HCV infection surveillance results from cross-sectional survey data reported to China Healthcare-associated Infection(HAI)Surveillance System in 2020 were summarized and analyzed,HCV positive was serum anti-HCV positive or HCV RNA positive,survey result was compared with the survey results from 2003.Results In 2020,1 071 368 inpatients in 1 573 hospitals were surveyed,738 535 of whom underwent HCV test,4 014 patients were infected with HCV,with a detection rate of 68.93％and a HCV positive rate of 0.54％.The positive rate of HCV in male and female patients were 0.60％and 0.48％,respectively,with a statistically sig-nificant difference(x2=47.18,P＜0.001).The HCV positive rate in the 50-＜60 age group was the highest(0.76％),followed by the 40-＜50 age group(0.71％).Difference among all age groups was statistically signifi-cant(x2=696.74,P＜0.001).In 2003,91 113 inpatients were surveyed.35 145 of whom underwent HCV test,resulting in a detection rate of 38.57％;775 patients were infected with HCV,with a positive rate of 2.21％.In 2020,HCV positive rates in hospitals of different scales were 0.46％-0.63％,with the highest in hospital with bed numbers ranging 600-899.Patients'HCV positive rates in hospitals of different scales was statistically signifi-cant(X2=35.34,P＜0.001).In 2020,12 provinces/municipalities had over 10 000 patients underwent HCV-rela-ted test,and HCV positive rates ranged 0.19％-0.81％,with the highest rate from Hainan Province.HCV posi-tive rates in different departments were 0.06％-0.82％,with the lowest positive rate in the department of pedia-trics and the highest in the department of internal medicine.In 2003 and 2020,HCV positive rates in the depart-ment of infectious diseases were the highest,being 7.95％and 3.48％,respectively.Followed by departments of orthopedics(7.72％),gastroenterology(3.77％),nephrology(3.57％)and general intensive care unit(ICU,3.10％)in 2003,as well as departments of gastroenterology(1.35％),nephrology(1.18％),endocrinology(0.91％),and general intensive care unit(ICU,0.79％)in 2020.Conclusion Compared with 2003,HCV positive rate decreased significantly in 2020.HCV infected patients were mainly from the department of infectious diseases,followed by departments of gastroenterology,nephrology and general ICU.HCV infection positive rate varies with gender,age,and region.

Guided by the theory of "kidney generates marrow"， the study elaborates the viewpoint that the route of Yin Heel Channel （阴跷脉） is consistent with the "kidney-marrow-brain" axis from the perspective of the circulation of the meridians and the relationship between the zang-fu organs. Accordingly， it is believed that disease of Yin Heel Channel and dysfunction of the "kidney-marrow-brain" axis are the core pathogenesis of children enuresis， and it is elaborated from the following three major aspects， firstly， insufficient kidney essence， dysfunction of the "kidney-marrow-brain" axis， secondly， disease of Yin Heel Channel and deficiency and cold in lower jiao， and thirdly， disease of Yin Heel Channel and loss of nourishment of Chong Vessel. It is proposed to use the mode of "firstly needle， secondly moxibustion， and lastly consolidation" to treat children enuresis. Needle is to adjust yin and yang， warm yang and tonify kidney， and wake up the brain and open the orifices. The acupoints in Yin Heel Channel such as Zhaohai （KI 6）， Jiaoxin （KI 8） and confluence points of the eight extraordinary vessels such as Waiguan （TE 5）， Zulinqi （GB 41） are used， together with Baihui （GV 20）， Yintang （EX-HN 3）， Guanyuan （CV 4）， Qixue （KI 13）， Dazhong （KI 4）. Moxibustion is to reinforce healthy qi and warm yang， bank up the root and consolidate the original qi by moxibustion at Shenque （CV 8）， Mingmen （GV 4）， and Xuanshu （GV 5）. Consolidation is to use acupoints application to consolidate the therapeutic effect， and Guanyuan （CV 4） & Pangguangshu （BL 28）， Qihai （CV 6） & Zhishi （BL 52）， and Shenque （CV 8） & Ciliao （BL 32） are commonly used as the three groups of acupoints to warm the kidney and stop collapse， regulate and tonify the qi and blood.