BackgroundFloortime therapy（FTT） as a child-centered intervention approach， has gained increasing attention in the rehabilitation training of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder （ASD）. In recent years， it has shown unique advantages and potentials in the education and treatment of autistic children.Currently， domestic research on the application of FTT in ASD treatment remains limited. ObjectiveTo explore the intervention effects of FTT on children with ASD， so as to provide references for rehabilitation treatment. MethodsA total of 30 children diagnosed with ASD according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders， Fifth Edition （DSM-5） criteria，and receiving rehabilitation training at the Child Mental Health Department in the Third Hospital of Mianyang were enrolled from January 2022 to December 2023. All participants received FTT for 9 months. Assessments were conducted using the Childhood Autism Rating Scale （CARS） and the Functional Emotional Assessment Scale （FEAS） at baseline， and the 3^rd， 6^th， and 9^th month of intervention. ResultsThe time effects on CARS score and total FEAS score in children with ASD were both statistically significant （F=43.184， 80.232， P<0.01 ）. At the 3^rd， 6^th and 9^th months of treatment， the CARS scores of ASD children were significantly lower than baseline （t=5.232， 11.997， 16.600， P<0.01 ）， while the total FEAS scores were significantly higher than baseline（t=-4.048， -10.566， -14.615， P<0.01 ）. ConclusionFTT may help to improve the functional emotional capacities and alleviate ASD symptoms in children.［Funded by The 2022 Incentive Research Project of Health Commission of Mianyang City （number，202245）］

With the rapid advancement of vaccines, the research and application of vaccine adjuvants have garnered significant attention. Despite the development of numerous vaccine adjuvants, their applications in human vaccines remain limited due to either insufficient efficacy or severe side effects. Consequently, there is growing interest in developing bioactive compounds derived from traditional Chinese medicines (TCMs) as vaccine adjuvants, owing to their natural biocompatibility, diversity, and safety. Here, we systematically review the current application status and potential value of TCM-based bioactive compounds in vaccine adjuvants. Firstly, we elaborate on the types and characteristics of active ingredients, such as polysaccharides, saponins, flavonoids, acids, and alkaloids. The mechanisms by which these compounds function as vaccine adjuvants are then discussed, including their roles in enhancing humoral immunity, cellular immunity, and relieving the immune suppression in the microenvironment. Additionally, we summarize the current strategies for structural modification and platform optimization to adapt to different application scenarios. Finally, we offer insights into the future development directions for these potential adjuvants, highlighting research priorities, technical approaches, and application prospects. In conclusion, natural vaccine adjuvants derived from TCMs present broad application prospects and hold promise for future vaccine development.

Objective:To investigate the clinical value of targeted sequencing panel in the detection of genetic variation in neonates in neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).Methods:All neonates (≤28 d of age) admitted in the NICU (case group) and 200 full-term healthy neonates born with no obvious phenotypic abnormalities of Huzhou Maternity and Child Health Care Hospital were enrolled in this prospective study from November 2022 to January 2023. Based on a list of preventable and treatable rare diseases as well as newly screened diseases in China, a targeted sequencing panel suitable for Chinese newborns was designed to target the pathogenic genes and mutation sites associated with 601 genes and 542 diseases. Dried blood spot specimens were prepared and analyzed by the targeted sequencing panel. Pathogenic sites detected by the panel sequencing were verified using Sanger sequencing. The genetic testing results were analyzed according to the clinical features of the neonates. According to the number of primary clinical diagnosis index (including premature infants, neonatal hyperbilirubinemia, hemorrhagic diseases, neonatal infections, ventricular septal defect/patent ductus arteriosus, and others), these patients were divided into four groups with 1, 2, 3, and ≥4 diagnosis index, respectively. Chi-square test and linear correlation Chi-square test were used for statistical analysis. Results:There were 173 patients in the case group and 30.6% (53/173) of them carried pathogenic variants, including 52 positive for pathogenic genes and one with chromosome copy number variant. The positive rate of pathogenic genes was significantly higher in the case group than in the control group [30.1% (52/173) vs. 15.0% (30/200), χ 2=12.26, P<0.001]. Fourteen pathogenic genes were detected in the case group, including FLG, UGT1A1, G6PD, MYH7, AR, ABCC2, ACADS, CYP21A2, GJB2, MEFV, PAH, PKHD1, SCN4A, and HBA. In the case group, the detection rate of pathogenic variants in jaundiced neonates was higher than that in non-jaundiced neonates [35.2% (44/125) vs. 18.8% (9/48), χ 2=4.42, P=0.036]. However, there were no statistically significant differences in the detection rates of pathogenic variants between male and female infants, infants born to mothers of advanced maternal age or not, infants born to mothers with or without gestational diabetes mellitus, premature and term infants, or infants with or without hemorrhagic disorders, neonatal infections, or ventricular septal defects/patent ductus arteriosus in the case group (all P>0.05). The detection rate of pathogenic variants showed a linear increase in infants with 1, 2, 3, and ≥4 diagnosis index [21.1% (8/38), 25.4% (15/59), 38.2% (13/34), and 40.5% (17/42); linear correlation χ 2=4.84, P=0.028]. In the case group, seven genes with a high detection rate of genetic variation (including positive pathogenic genes and carriers) were UGT1A1 [had the highest detection rate, 24.9% (43/173)], GJB2, FLG, DUOX2, ABCA4, G6PD, and MUT. Seven loci with higher mutation frequency were c.211G>A(p.Gly71Arg), c.1091C>T(p.Pro364Leu), c.-41_-40dupTA, and c.686C>A(p.Pro229Gln) in the UGT1A1 gene, c.109G>A(p.Val37Ile) in the GJB2 gene, and c.12064A>T(p.Lys4022Ter) and c.3321del(p.Gly1109GlufsTer13) in the FLG gene. Conclusion:This panel sequencing can provide effective genetic testing for neonates in NICU, especially in children with complex clinical diagnosis.

Objective:To analyze the types and distribution of pathogenic variants for neonatal genetic diseases in Huzhou, Zhejiang Province.Methods:One thousand neonates (48 ~ 42 h after birth) born to Huzhou region were selected as the study subjects. Dry blood spot samples were collected from the newborns, and targeted capture high-throughput sequencing was carried out for pathogenic genes underlying 542 inherited diseases. Candidate variants were verified by Sanger sequencing.Results:Among the 1 000 newborns, the male to female ratio was 1.02 : 1.00. No pathogenic variants were detected in 253 cases, whilst 747 cases were found to carry at least one pathogenic variant, which yielded a carrier rate of 74.7%. The most frequently involved pathogenic gene was FLG, followed by GJB2, UGT1A1, USH2A and DUOX2. The variants were classified as homozygous, compound heterozygous, and hemizygous variants. Based on the guidelines from the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics (ACMG), 213 neonates were verified to have carried pathogenic and/or likely pathogenic variants, with a positive rate of 21.3%. The most commonly involved genes had included UGT1A1, FLG, GJB2, MEFV and G6PD. Conclusion:Newborn screening based on high-throughput sequencing technology can expand the scope of screening and improve the positive predictive value. Genetic counseling based on the results can improve the patients′ medical care and reduce neonatal mortality and childhood morbidity, while provide assistance to family members′ health management and reproductive decisions.

Objective To study the clinical manifestations of children with epilepsia partialis continua(EPC),and to improve the understanding of the treatment and prognosis of this disease.Methods We retrospectively analyzed the data of 23 patients with EPC at the Department of Pediatrics of Xuanwu Hospital of Capital Medical University from July 2017 to July 2022.The data included general information,clinical manifestations,electroencephalography(EEG)re-sults,and surgical and prognostic information.Results A total of 23 patients(15 males and 8 females)were included,with a mean age of onset of(5.1±3.0)years and a mean age of epileptic exposure of(6.0±3.5)years.Twenty-one pa-tients(91.3%)developed motor seizures of focal origin as the initial presentation.Eleven patients(47.8%)presented with hemiparesis at 0.3 to 3 years after disease onset.All the patients showed a slow rhythm of the affected hemisphere on EEG;and cerebral hemiatrophy was found in 11 cases,and hippocampal abnormalities were found in 13 cases.The me-tabolism of the affected hemisphere was decreased in all the 7 examinees.All the 9 examinees had decreased perfusion in different brain regions.Among 10 cases undergoing surgery,the mean age at the time of the operation was(7.7±3.4)years,and the mean duration of the disease at the time of the operation was(3.6±3.6)years;after surgery,7 cases were free from seizures;2 cases had remission,and 1 had no improvement.Conclusion EPC is common in preschool-age and school-age children,manifesting as slower rhythms and interictal epileptiform discharges in the affected hemisphere on EEG.The decreased perfusion of the brain may be linked to the development of EPC.Surgical treatment can alleviate sei-zures for patients with EPC.

Objective:To investigate the value of three-dimensional (3D) T 1WI structural images using different acceleration methods including parallel acquisition technique, joint compressed sensing (uCS) technique, and artificial intelligence-assisted compressed sensing (ACS) technique for brain region segmentation. Methods:In this cross-sectional study, fifty patients (female: n=25, age range: 13 to 87 years old) at Corning Hospital of Ningbo University from July to September 2023 were prospectively and consecutively collected. All the subjects underwent brain MRI. Six groups of 3D T 1WI structural images were obtained using different acceleration technique and parameters, including 3D T 1WI without acceleration factor (3D-T 1WI group), 3D T 1WI with parallel acquisition technique with acceleration factor 3 (3D-T 1WI-PI-3 group), 3D T 1WI with uCS technique with acceleration factor 4.5 and 6.9 (3D-T 1WI-uCS-4.5 group, 3D-T 1WI-uCS-6.9 group), 3D T 1WI by ACS technique with acceleration factors of 3 and 5 (3D-T 1WI-ACS-3 group, 3D-T 1WI-ACS-5 group). T 2WI fluid-attenuated inversion recovery (FLAIR) images were also acquired. Subjective scores (cerebral grey matter and white matter clarity scores, clarity scores of cerebral white matter degeneration lesions in relation to the surrounding white matter, and Gibbs artifact scores) and objective metrics [signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR), cerebrospinal fluid signal homogeneity, peak signal-to-noise ratio (PSNR), structural similarity index (SSIM), and natural image quality evaluator (NIQE)] were used to evaluate image quality in different groups. Totally 109 brain regions were segmented and volumes were measured using the uAI Research Portal image analysis tool. Kappa or intraclass correlation coefficient ( ICC) was used to evaluate the agreement of subjective and objective evaluation indexes between the 3D-T 1WI-PI-3 group, 3D-T 1WI-uCS-4.5 group, 3D-T 1WI-uCS-6.9 group, 3D-T 1WI-ACS-3 group, 3D-T 1WI-ACS-5 group, and 3D-T 1WI group. Kappa or ICC value>0.70 was considered as good agreement. Results:The acquisition time for the 3D-T 1WI group, 3D-T 1WI-PI-3 group, 3D-T 1WI-uCS-4.5 group, 3D-T 1WI-uCS-6.9 group, 3D-T 1WI-ACS-3 group, and 3D-T 1WI-ACS-5 group were 527, 204, 169, 95, 133, 90 s, respectively. Subjective evaluation showed that the 3D-T 1WI-uCS-4.5, 3D-T 1WI-ACS-3, and 3D-T 1WI-ACS-5 groups had excellent agreement with the 3D-T 1WI group in terms of the distribution of cases of cerebral grey matter and white matter clarity scores, respectively (all Kappa value=1.000); The distribution of cases of clarity score of cerebral white matter lesions and surrounding white matter in the 3D-T 1WI-PI-3 group, 3D-T 1WI-uCS-4.5 group, and 3D-T 1WI-ACS-3 group were in good agreement with that of the 3D-T 1WI group ( Kappa values of 0.775, 0.701, and 0.777, respectively); the distribution of the number of cases of the Gibbs artifact score of the 3D-T 1WI-uCS-4.5, 3D-T 1WI-ACS-3, and 3D-T 1WI-ACS-5 groups was in good agreement with the 3D-T 1WI group (all Kappa value=1.000). Objective evaluation showed the CNR of the images in the 3D-T 1WI-PI-3, 3D-T 1WI-uCS-4.5, and 3D-T 1WI-uCS-6.9 groups were in good agreement with those of the 3D-T 1WI group ( ICC of 0.720, 0.759, and 0.752, respectively); PSNR and SSIM were in good agreement among the 3D-T 1WI-PI-3 group, 3D-T 1WI-uCS-4.5 group, 3D-T 1WI-uCS-6.9 group, 3D-T 1WI-ACS-3 group, and 3D-T 1WI-ACS-5 group (PSNR: ICC=0.854; SSIM: ICC=0.851). NIQE of 3D-T 1WI-PI-3 group, 3D-T 1WI-uCS-4.5 group, and 3D-T 1WI-ACS-3 group images were in good agreement with the 3D-T 1WI group ( ICC value of 0.866, 0.727, 0.753, respectively). The ICC values of the volume of each segmented brain region among the 3D-T 1WI-PI-3, 3D-T 1WI-uCS-4.5, 3D-T 1WI-uCS-6.9, 3D-T 1WI-ACS-3, 3D-T 1WI-ACS-5 group and the 3D-T 1WI group images showed decreased in order (all ICC≥0.62). Conclusions:The uCS and ACS techniques used in 3D-T 1WI show high agreement with 3D-T 1WI in terms of brain segmentation. The application of these accelerating techniques can significantly shorten the acquisition time with obtaining images with good image quality, displaying great value.

Objective To evaluate the diagnostic value of plasma the soluble CD14 subtype (sCD14-ST, renamed as presepsin) in early diagnosis of sepsis patients with acute kidney injury (AKI). Methods A total of 110 patients with AKI in intensive care unit(ICU)of Wuhu Hospital Affiliated to East China Normal University from January 2021 to December 2022 were prospectively selected. The patients were divided into AKI stage 1 group (n=34), AKI stage 2 group (n=36) and AKI stage 3 group (n=40) according to the staging criteria defined byKidney Disease: Improving Global Outcomes (KDIGO) in 2012, and 53 non-AKI patients in the same period were selected as the control group. The patients were further divided into non-sepsis group and sepsis group according to whether combined sepsis or not. Plasma Presepsin levels were recorded in all the patients. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was drawn to evaluate the diagnostic value of Presepsin inearly sepsis in AKI patients, and the optimal cutoff value was found using Jorden index. Results The level of Presepsin in the sepsis group was higher than that in non-sepsis group (P < 0.05). In non-sepsis patients, the level of Presepsin increased gradually with the aggravation of renal function injury (P < 0.05). The level of Presepsin in stage 3 AKI group was higher than that in non-AKI group (P < 0.01). ROC curve analysis results showed that thearea under the curve (AUC) of Presepsin level for diagnosing sepsis in stage 1 AKI group, stage 2 AKI group and stage 3 AKI group was smaller than that in non-AKI group (P > 0.05). Conclusion Presepsin can be used as a marker for early diagnosis of sepsis in AKI patients, but different thresholds should be used according to the severity of renal impairment.

Resection of oral and maxillofacial tumors is often accompanied by the inferior alveolar nerve neurectomy, resulting in abnormal sensation in lower lip. It is generally believed that spontaneous sensory recovery in this nerve injury is difficult. However, during our follow-up, patients with inferior alveolar nerve sacrifice showed different degrees of lower lip sensory recovery. In this study, a prospective cohort study was conducted to demonstrate this phenomenon and analyze the factors influencing sensory recovery. A mental nerve transection model of Thy1-YFP mice and tissue clearing technique were used to explore possible mechanisms in this process. Gene silencing and overexpression experiments were then conducted to detect the changes in cell morphology and molecular markers. In our follow-up, 75% of patients with unilateral inferior alveolar nerve neurectomy had complete sensory recovery of the lower lip 12 months postoperatively. Patients with younger age, malignant tumors, and preservation of ipsilateral buccal and lingual nerves had a shorter recovery time. The buccal nerve collateral sprouting compensation was observed in the lower lip tissue of Thy1-YFP mice. ApoD was demonstrated to be involved in axon growth and peripheral nerve sensory recovery in the animal model. TGF-β inhibited the expression of STAT3 and the transcription of ApoD in Schwann cells through Zfp423. Overall, after sacrificing the inferior alveolar nerve, the collateral compensation of the ipsilateral buccal nerve could innervate the sensation. And this process was regulated by TGF-β-Zfp423-ApoD pathway.
Mice ; Animals ; Lip/innervation* ; Prospective Studies ; Mandibular Nerve/pathology* ; Sensation/physiology* ; Trigeminal Nerve Injuries/pathology*

Effective supervision of the clinical research management department can guarantee and improve the quality of the investigator initiated trials(IIT). The authors analyzed relevant clinical research regulations and literature and summarized the current situation of risk-based IIT project process quality management. On such basis, they determined the risk-based IIT project process quality management method in combination with the previous research of the research group.From 2021 to 2022, this method was used to implement process quality management for 353 IIT projects in Shanghai′s tertiary hospitals. More than 3 000 risk points were identified through centralized supervision, and then on-site supervision was carried out to correct the problems found. As proven by the results, the method could find existing problems in time and define the risk level of the project, and also formulate an individualized risk supervision plan accordingly, so as to effectively ensure the data reliability and scientific results. It is suggested that the clinical research management department implement risk based management for the whole process of IIT projects, increase funding and staffing, and implement hierarchical management for the projects by research types, so as to promote the sustainable development of IITs.

Objective:To investigate the incidence of acute kidney injury (AKI) following pancreaticoduodenectomy and related risk factors in elderly patients.Methods:The clinical data of elderly patients who underwent pancreaticoduodenectomy in Henan Provincial People′s Hospital from January 2017 to June 2020 were collected retrospectively. According to the changes of serum creatinine within 48 h or 7 days after operation, the patients were divided into AKI group and non-AKI group. The basic clinical characteristics of the two groups were compared, and the incidence of AKI was calculated. Multivariate logistic regression model was used to analyze the risk factors of postoperative AKI.Results:A total of 322 elderly patients were enrolled, with age of (67.1±5.2) years old (60-85 years old) and 186 males (57.76%). Among 322 elderly patients, there were 41 patients (12.73%) suffering from AKI following pancreaticoduodenectomy. Compared with the non-AKI group, the level of bilirubin in AKI group was higher ( Z=-2.012, P=0.044), and the level of hemoglobin in AKI group was lower ( Z=-2.111, P=0.035). Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that increased preoperative total bilirubin ( OR=1.003, 95% CI 1.000-1.006, P=0.027) and postoperative exploratory laparotomy ( OR=3.936, 95% CI 1.071-14.460, P=0.039) were the independent influencing factors for AKI after pancreaticoduodenectomy in elderly patients. Conclusions:The incidence of AKI after pancreaticoduodenectomy in elderly patients is 12.73%. Preoperative high bilirubin and postoperative exploratory laparotomy may be the independent risk factors for AKI after pancreaticoduodenectomy in elderly patients.