OBJECTIVE: To compare the differences of plasma valine level between autistic and healthy children, and to explore the relationship between plasma valine level and developmental quotient in children with autism. METHODS: In this study, a total of 29 autistic children and 30 typically developing children of the same age range were recruited as the autistic group and the control group. The childhood autism rating scale (CARS) was used to assess autistic core symptoms and severity in the autistic children. Children's developmental quotient was evaluated by Gesell developmental schedules (GDS), and plasma valine level was measured by high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. The correlation between plasma valine level and developmental quotient scores in the autistic group was analyzed. RESULTS: The plasma level of valine in the autism group was significantly lower than in the control group (P < 0.05). Children in the autism group got significantly lower scores in the adaption, gross motor, fine motor, language function and personal/social function subscales in GDS than in the control group (P < 0.000 1). Plasma valine level in the autism group showed significant positive correlations with scores of the fine motor (r=0.441, P < 0.05) and personal/social function (r=0.437, P < 0.05) subscales in GDS, but showed no significant correlations with scores of the adaption, gross motor and language function subscales in GDS (P>0.05). According to the criteria of CARS, children in the autism group were subdivided into the mild to moderate subgroup and the severe subgroup based on the severity of the autistic symptoms. Compared with children in the mild to moderate subgroup, children in the severe subgroup got significantly lower scores in the adaption, fine motor, language function and personal/social function subscales in GDS (P < 0.05), while there was no significant difference between the two subgroups in gross motor scores and plasma valine level (P>0.05). CONCLUSION The level of valine in plasma of autistic children is relatively lower, and there is a certain relationship between plasma valine level and the fine movement and personal/social function among children with autism.
Humans ; Autistic Disorder/physiopathology* ; Child ; Male ; Female ; Valine/blood* ; Child Development ; Child, Preschool ; Case-Control Studies

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of a hospital-made resuscitation pack, a Chinese medicinal herbal compound formula designed to enhance recovery in post-bronchoscopy patients. METHODS: In this randomized, single-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial, eligible patients were randomly assigned 1:1 to either the treatment or control groups. The patients in the treatment group applied the resuscitation pack, which contained aromatic compounded Chinese herbs. The patients in the control group applied a hospital-made, single herb placebo pack. Packs were placed on the Tiantu (CV 22) acupuncture point for 4 h as soon as the bronchoscopy finished. Efficacy indicators, such as recovery time, patients' symptoms including nausea and dizziness, and adverse events (AEs) were observed and compared. The outcome indices were evaluated at baseline, 1 and 24 h after the bronchoscopy. Subgroup analysis was further performed by patients' age and depth of sedation. RESULTS: When applying generalized estimating equations (GEE) to evaluate the intensity of post-bronchoscopy nausea and vomiting, the intensity was lower in the treatment group (163 cases) compared with the control group (162 cases; 95% CI: 0.004, 0.099, P=0.03]. Also, significantly lower intensity of nausea was observed in the 60-70 years of age subgroup (95% CI: 0.029, 0.169, P=0.006) and deep sedation subgroup (95% CI: 0.002, 0.124; P=0.04). There was no significant difference in dizziness between two groups by GEE (95% CI: -0.134, 0.297; P=0.459). In addition, no serious AEs were observed in either group. CONCLUSIONS Our study found that the resuscitation pack markedly improved patients' symptoms by reducing nausea and vomiting after bronchoscopy without AEs, compared with placebo in the perioperative period. (Trial registration No. ChiCTR2000038299).
Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Female ; Bronchoscopy/adverse effects* ; Single-Blind Method ; Aged ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal/adverse effects* ; Treatment Outcome ; Resuscitation ; Adult ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is an acute infectious respiratory disease that has been prevalent since December 2019. Chinese medicine (CM) has demonstrated its unique advantages in the fight against COVID-19 in the areas of disease prevention, improvement of clinical symptoms, and control of disease progression. This review summarized the relevant material components of CM in the treatment of COVID-19 by searching the relevant literature and reports on CM in the treatment of COVID-19 and combining with the physiological and pathological characteristics of the novel coronavirus. On the basis of sorting out experimental methods in vivo and in vitro, the mechanism of herb action was further clarified in terms of inhibiting virus invasion and replication and improving related complications. The aim of the article is to explore the strengths and characteristics of CM in the treatment of COVID-19, and to provide a basis for the research and scientific, standardized treatment of COVID-19 with CM.
Humans ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal/pharmacology* ; COVID-19 Drug Treatment ; SARS-CoV-2/drug effects* ; COVID-19/therapy* ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional/methods* ; Antiviral Agents/pharmacology* ; Animals

OBJECTIVES: To study the impact of family socioeconomic status on children's reading fluency and the chain mediation effect of family reading environment and children's living and learning styles in this relationship. METHODS: A total of 473 children from grades 2 to 6 in two primary schools in Nanjing were selected through stratified random sampling. The children's reading fluency was assessed, and a questionnaire was used to collect information on family socioeconomic status, family reading environment, and children's living and learning styles. The mediation model was established using the Process macro in SPSS, and the Bootstrap method was employed to test the significance of the mediation effects. RESULTS: Family socioeconomic status, family reading environment, and children's living and learning styles were significantly positively correlated with reading fluency (P<0.001). The family reading environment and children's living and learning styles mediated the relationship between family socioeconomic status and children's reading fluency. Specifically, the independent mediation effect of family reading environment accounted for 11.02% of the total effect, while the independent mediation effect of children's living and learning styles accounted for 10.79%. The chain mediation effect of family reading environment and children's living and learning styles accounted for 7.41% of the total effect. CONCLUSIONS Family socioeconomic status can affect children's reading fluency through three pathways: family reading environment, children's living and learning styles, and the chain mediation effect of family reading environment and children's living and learning styles.
Humans ; Child ; Male ; Female ; Reading ; Learning ; Social Class ; Family

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the role of nucleolin (NCL) in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) Kasumi-1 cells and its underlying mechanism. METHODS: The Kasumi-1 cells were infected with lentivirus carrying shRNA to downregulate NCL expression. Cell proliferation was detected by CCK-8 assay, and cell apoptosis and cell cycle were determined by flow cytometry. Transcriptome next-generation sequencing (NGS) was performed to predict associated signaling pathways, the expression levels of related genes were measured by RT-PCR. RESULTS: Down-regulation of NCL expression significantly inhibited the proliferation of Kasumi-1 cells (P <0.01) and markedly increased the apoptosis rate (P <0.001). Cell cycle analysis showed significant changes in the distribution of cells in the G₁ and S phases after NCL knockdown (P <0.05), while no significant difference was observed in the G₂ phase (P >0.05). Transcriptome sequencing analysis demonstrated that differentially expressed genes in Kasumi-1 cells with low expression of NCL were primarily enriched in key signaling pathways, including ribosome, spliceosome, RNA transport, cell cycle, and amino acid biosynthesis. qPCR validation showed that the expression of BAX, CASP3, CYCS, PMAIP1, TP53 , and CDKN1A was significantly upregulated after NCL downregulation (P <0.05), with CDKN1A exhibiting the most pronounced difference. CONCLUSION NCL plays a critical role in regulating the proliferation, apoptosis, and cell cycle progression of Kasumi-1 cells. The mechanism likely involves suppressing cell cycle progression through activation of the TP53-CDKN1A pathway and promoting apoptosis by upregulating apoptosis-related genes.
Humans ; Leukemia, Myeloid, Acute/pathology* ; Down-Regulation ; Cell Proliferation ; Apoptosis ; RNA-Binding Proteins/genetics* ; Nucleolin ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Phosphoproteins/metabolism* ; Cell Cycle ; Signal Transduction ; RNA, Small Interfering

OBJECTIVE: To explore and quantify the association of hot night exposure during the sperm development period (0-90 lag days) with semen quality. METHODS: A total of 6,640 male sperm donors from 6 human sperm banks in China during 2014-2020 were recruited in this multicenter study. Two indices (i.e., hot night excess [HNE] and hot night duration [HND]) were used to estimate the heat intensity and duration during nighttime. Linear mixed models were used to examine the association between hot nights and semen quality parameters. RESULTS: The exposure-response relationship revealed that HNE and HND during 0-90 days before semen collection had a significantly inverse association with sperm motility. Specifically, a 1 °C increase in HNE was associated with decreased sperm progressive motility of 0.0090 (95% confidence interval [ CI]: -0.0147, -0.0033) and decreased total motility of 0.0094 (95% CI: -0.0160, -0.0029). HND was significantly associated with reduced sperm progressive motility and total motility of 0.0021 (95% CI: -0.0040, -0.0003) and 0.0023 (95% CI: -0.0043, -0.0002), respectively. Consistent results were observed at different temperature thresholds on hot nights. CONCLUSION Our findings highlight the need to mitigate nocturnal heat exposure during spermatogenesis to maintain optimal semen quality.
Humans ; Male ; Semen Analysis ; Adult ; Sperm Motility ; Hot Temperature/adverse effects* ; China ; Middle Aged ; Spermatozoa/physiology* ; Young Adult

Turning to critical illness is a common stage of various diseases and injuries before death. Patients usually have complex health conditions, while the treatment process involves a wide range of content, along with high requirements for doctor′s professionalism and multi-specialty teamwork, as well as a great demand for time-sensitive treatments. However, this is not matched with critical care professionals and the current state of medical care in China. Telemedicine, which shortens the distance of medical professionals and the gap of disease diagnosis and treatments in various regions through electronic information, can effectively solve the current problem. Therefore, there is an urgent need to develop a standardized, high-quality visualization telemedicine round system .Therefore, experts have been organized to search domestic and foreign literature on telemedicine round for critically ill patients and to form this consensus based on clinical experiences so as to further improve the level of critical care treatments in regions.

Objective To observe the efficacy of positive pressure oxygen therapy combined with drugs to improve pulmonary circulation in the treatment of severe viral pneumonia in high-altitude areas.Methods A two-way cohort study was conducted.Patients with severe viral pneumonia and those with common viral pneumonia complicated with underlying heart and lung diseases admitted to department of intensive care unit of Xizang Autonomous Region People's Hospital were selected as the research subjects.Patients who received conventional treatment in the early stage were assigned to the control group,while those who received conventional treatment plus active positive pressure oxygen therapy combined with drugs to improve pulmonary circulation in the later stage were assigned to the study group.The treatment effective rates of the two groups were observed(including the time for viral nucleic acid to turn negative,hospital stay,and 28-day follow-up mortality)and changes in cardiopulmonary function indicators[pulmonary artery pressure,tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion(TAPSE),left ventricular stroke volume(SV),and lung ultrasounol score(LUS)]before and after treatment were also observed,and the Kaplan-Meier curve was drawn to analyze the 28-day cumulative survival rate of the two groups.Results There was no statistically significant difference in the time for viral nucleic acid to turn negative and hospital stay between the two groups.Compared with the control group,the 28-day mortality in the study group was significantly lower[6.5%(2/31)vs.25.0%(13/52),P<0.05].Compared with before treatment,pulmonary artery pressure gradually decreased,TAPSE significantly increased,and left ventricular SV significantly increased after treatment in the study group,and the differences were statistically significant compared with 10 days after treatment[pulmonary artery pressure(mmHg,1 mmHg≈0.133 kPa):28.84±8.71 vs.34.68±10.76,TAPSE(cm):2.37±0.11 vs.2.03±0.41,SV(mL):68.68±7.17 vs.59.61±6.73,all P<0.01].Pulmonary lesions,especially bilateral pulmonary exudative lesions,significantly improved compared with before treatment,atelectasis improved significantly,and LUS significantly decreased(14.77±5.33 vs.20.32±5.63,P<0.01).Kaplan-Meier curve analysis showed that the 28-day cumulative survival rate in the study group was significantly higher than that in the control group(Log-Rank test:χ2=4.510,P=0.034).Conclusion Active use of positive pressure ventilation and early administration of drugs to improve pulmonary circulation in patients in high-altitude areas can significantly reduce pulmonary artery pressure and significantly improve left and right heart function and pulmonary exudative lesions.These improvements may reduce the mortality rate of viral pneumonia and viral infections complicated with underlying heart and lung diseases in high-altitude areas.

Objective To explore the mechanism of Kangliu Zengxiao Jiandu Prescription(KLJD)in enhancing the efficacy of cisplatin chemotherapy in non-small cell lung cancer(NSCLC)through network pharmacology and in vivo/in vitro experiments.Methods Components of KLJD were screened via the TCMSP database to identify active components and potential targets.Lung cancer-related genes were obtained from the GeneCards and OMIM databases.GO and KEGG pathway enrichment analysis was performed on drug-disease intersection targets using the Metascape database;molecular docking was performed between core target proteins and main active components.A Lewis lung cancer mouse model was established,and intervened with KLJD and cisplatin.Organ indexes and tumor inhibition rate were counted,and Western blot and RT-PCR were used to detect the expressions of key pathway target proteins and mRNA;A549 and H1299 cells were intervened with KLJD,and Western blot was used to detect key target protein expressions.Results Network pharmacology identified 74 active components and 20 key targets of KLJD,primarily involved in biological processes such as cell proliferation and inflammatory response,and pathways in cancer and PI3K/AKT signaling pathway;molecular docking revealed stable binding between EGFR and major compounds.Animal experiments demonstrated that,compared with the model group,the KLJD group showed significantly higher tumor inhibition rate(P<0.01)and downregulation of EGFR,AKT and PI3K protein and mRNA expression in tumor tissues(P<0.05).Compared with the cisplatin group,the combination group exhibited significantly enhanced tumor inhibition rate(P<0.01),elevated thymic and splenic indices(P<0.01),and decreased EGFR,PI3K and AKT protein and mRNA expressions(P<0.01).Cell experiments showed that KLJD concentration-dependently inhibited A549 and H1299 cell proliferation(IC50:14.72 mg/mL and 14.68 mg/mL,respectively).Combined with cisplatin,KLJD synergistically down-regulated EGFR PI3K and AKT protein expressions(P<0.01).Conclusion KLJD effectively enhances cisplatin's chemotherapeutic efficacy in NSCLC by inhibiting the EGFR/PI3K/AKT pathway while improving immune organ function.Its mechanism likely involves multi-target regulation,including suppression of tumor proliferation,promotion of apoptosis,and modulation of the immune microenvironment.

To summarize the perioperative nursing experience of a patient with thoracic and abdominal aortic dissection aneurysm after Stanford type A aortic dissection surgery,who underwent intra-abdominal aortic aneurysm endovascular isolation,in situ fenestration branch covered stent placement,and artificial blood vessel bypass.The nursing points include regular evaluation of the intra-abdominal pressure of the patient,being on guard against the rupture of the dissection;specialist nurses participated in the preoperative multidisciplinary discussion;establishing an emergency plan for the rescue of ruptured aortic dissection;monitoring the vital signs of patients closely to prevent critical complications during surgery.After multidisciplinary treatment and meticulous care,the patient's surgery went smoothly and the postoperative recovery was good.The patient was discharged 8 days later.