Objective To observe the efficacy of self-guided attention network for detecting responsible lesions related to cerebral palsy(CP)in children with periventricular white matter injury(PVWMI).Methods Totally 383 children with PVWMI were retrospectively enrolled and divided into CP group(n=243)and non-CP group(n=140),while 214 children without obvious brain abnormality on brain MRI were taken as control group.ROI of 4 key anatomical structures related to CP,i.e.centrum semiovale,posterior limb of internal capsule,cerebral peduncle and thalamus were delineated on T1WI,while responsible lesions related to CP within the key anatomical structures were labeled on T2WI,and the images were then registrated and used as input of the networks.ResNet34 network was adopted combined with attention and self-guided networks to train the network for detecting responsible lesions related to CP in children with PVWMI,and their efficacies were evaluated.The optimal network was screened,and its efficacy for segmenting the key anatomical structures was evaluated.Results Self-guided attention network was the optimal network,its area under the curve(AUC)for detecting lesions was 0.794-0.914,and the Dice similarity coefficient for segmenting the key anatomical structures was 0.702-0.764.Conclusion Self-guided attention network could be used for preliminarily detecting responsible lesions related to CP in children with PVWMI.

Aim To clarify the mechanism by which Qishen Yixin Granules improved microcirculation vas-cular endothelial dysfunction(VED)in mice,through activating the Nrf2/HO-1 signaling pathway to regulate oxidative stress.Methods C57 mice were randomly divided into six groups:blank group,model group,pos-itive drug group,and low-,medium-,and high-dose groups of Qishen Yixin Granules.The VED model was established by long-term infusion of Ang Ⅱ combined with a high-fat diet.Each treatment group received the corresponding drug intervention.After four weeks of drug intervention,cardiac function was assessed by echocardiography.Carstairs staining was used to ob-serve the formation of microthrombi in myocardial tis-sue.The micro vascular ischemia was evaluated by Hei-denhain staining.The ultrastructure of endothelial cells was observed by electron microscopy.The levels of EMPs,ROS,NO,ET-1,TF,TM,VWF,and TXA2 in serum were measured by ELISA.The expression levels of MDA,SOD,and GSH-Px in mouse heart tissue were determined by chemical methods.Cardiac microvascu-lar density and the expression of Nrf2,Keap1,and HO-1 proteins were detected by Immunohistochemical stai-ning.The protein expressions of Keap1,cytoplasmic Nrf2,nuclear Nrf2,and HO-1 in myocardial tissue were detected by Western blot.Results Qishen Yixin Granules could effectively improve the cardiac function of mice,alleviate the damage of endothelial cells and endothelial function.They could up-regulate serum NO levels and the activities of antioxidant enzymes SOD and GSH-Px,while down-regulating the expression of ROS and vascular inflammatory injury factors such as ET-1,VWF,TXA2,TF,TM,and EMPs.Qishen Yixin Granules also increased the positive counts of CD34,Nrf2,and HO-1,as well as microvessel density.Fur-thermore,they inhibited the expression of MDA,Keap1,and cytoplasmic Nrf2 protein in myocardial tis-sue,while increasing the expression of nuclear proteins HO-1 and Nrf2.Conclusions Qishen Yixin Granules may inhibit oxidative stress and inflammatory response by regulating the Nrf2/HO-1 signaling pathway,thereby improving vascular endothelial damage and cardiac function in VED mice.

Aim To investigate the protective effects of Tilianin on lipopolysaccharide(LPS)-induced septice-mia-induced myocardial injury in rats and to explore the related mechanisms.Methods Animals were ran-domly grouped and a rat septicemia-induced myocardial injury model was constructed.Echocardiography was used to assess the cardiac function of rats,left ventricu-lar internal diameter at end-diastole(LVIDd)and left ventricular internal diameter at end-systole(LVIDs)were measured,and left ventricular ejection fraction(LVEF)and left ventricular fractional shortening(LVFS)were calculated;the kits were used to detect the serum activity of the relevant cardiac enzymes and the level of inflammatory factors;HE staining was used to observe the morphological changes of myocardium;immunofluorescence staining of cardiac tissues was used to detect the nuclear translocation of NF-κB p65;Western blot was used to detect the expression of TLR4,MyD88,p-NF-κB p65,and NLRP3 proteins in cardiac tissues.Results Compared with the model group,each administration group differently upregulated LVEF,LVFS,and LVIDs,and improved the coordina-tion of LV wall fluctuations in the model group of rats;cardiac enzymes LDH and CK-MB levels increased,and levels of inflammatory factors TNF-α,IL-6,and IL-1 β were reduced,exerting cardioprotective effects;HE staining showed that myocardial tissue cell gap was re-duced,myocardial fiber breakage was reduced,cardio-myocyte arrangement tended to be normal,and inflam-matory cell infiltration was reduced;NF-κB p65 entry into the nucleus was reduced,and phosphorylated NF-κB p65(p-NF-κB p65)expression was reduced;and Western blot results showed that the expression of TLR4,MyD88,and NLRP3 proteins was reduced.Conclusions Tilianin pretreatment reduces serum my-ocardial enzymes and inflammatory factors and im-proves myocardial injury in rats with septicemia-in-duced myocardial injury,which may be related to the Tilianin anti-TLR4/NF-κB/NLRP3 inflammatory signa-ling pathway.

Objective To observe the efficacy of self-guided attention network for detecting responsible lesions related to cerebral palsy(CP)in children with periventricular white matter injury(PVWMI).Methods Totally 383 children with PVWMI were retrospectively enrolled and divided into CP group(n=243)and non-CP group(n=140),while 214 children without obvious brain abnormality on brain MRI were taken as control group.ROI of 4 key anatomical structures related to CP,i.e.centrum semiovale,posterior limb of internal capsule,cerebral peduncle and thalamus were delineated on T1WI,while responsible lesions related to CP within the key anatomical structures were labeled on T2WI,and the images were then registrated and used as input of the networks.ResNet34 network was adopted combined with attention and self-guided networks to train the network for detecting responsible lesions related to CP in children with PVWMI,and their efficacies were evaluated.The optimal network was screened,and its efficacy for segmenting the key anatomical structures was evaluated.Results Self-guided attention network was the optimal network,its area under the curve(AUC)for detecting lesions was 0.794-0.914,and the Dice similarity coefficient for segmenting the key anatomical structures was 0.702-0.764.Conclusion Self-guided attention network could be used for preliminarily detecting responsible lesions related to CP in children with PVWMI.

Aim To investigate the protective effects of Tilianin on lipopolysaccharide(LPS)-induced septice-mia-induced myocardial injury in rats and to explore the related mechanisms.Methods Animals were ran-domly grouped and a rat septicemia-induced myocardial injury model was constructed.Echocardiography was used to assess the cardiac function of rats,left ventricu-lar internal diameter at end-diastole(LVIDd)and left ventricular internal diameter at end-systole(LVIDs)were measured,and left ventricular ejection fraction(LVEF)and left ventricular fractional shortening(LVFS)were calculated;the kits were used to detect the serum activity of the relevant cardiac enzymes and the level of inflammatory factors;HE staining was used to observe the morphological changes of myocardium;immunofluorescence staining of cardiac tissues was used to detect the nuclear translocation of NF-κB p65;Western blot was used to detect the expression of TLR4,MyD88,p-NF-κB p65,and NLRP3 proteins in cardiac tissues.Results Compared with the model group,each administration group differently upregulated LVEF,LVFS,and LVIDs,and improved the coordina-tion of LV wall fluctuations in the model group of rats;cardiac enzymes LDH and CK-MB levels increased,and levels of inflammatory factors TNF-α,IL-6,and IL-1 β were reduced,exerting cardioprotective effects;HE staining showed that myocardial tissue cell gap was re-duced,myocardial fiber breakage was reduced,cardio-myocyte arrangement tended to be normal,and inflam-matory cell infiltration was reduced;NF-κB p65 entry into the nucleus was reduced,and phosphorylated NF-κB p65(p-NF-κB p65)expression was reduced;and Western blot results showed that the expression of TLR4,MyD88,and NLRP3 proteins was reduced.Conclusions Tilianin pretreatment reduces serum my-ocardial enzymes and inflammatory factors and im-proves myocardial injury in rats with septicemia-in-duced myocardial injury,which may be related to the Tilianin anti-TLR4/NF-κB/NLRP3 inflammatory signa-ling pathway.

This study was aimed at investigating the infection status of orf virus(ORFV)and the genetic evolution characteristics of epidemic ORFV isolates from Anhui province.A total of 303 clinical samples collected from major meat sheep breeding cities in An-hui during 2021-2023 were subjected to ORFV detection with fluorescence quantitative PCR(qPCR).The full-length B2L and F1L genes of ORFV in the positive samples were amplified through conventional PCR and sequenced.Genetic evolution analysis of the B2L and F1L genes was conducted after sequencing.The qPCR results indicated a total ORFV positivity rate in the clinical samples of 48.8%(148/303).Multiple sequence comparisons indicated that the B2L genes of 56 sample isolates shared 96.7%-100.0%DNA and 97.4%-100.0%amino acid sequence identity.Moreover,the F2L genes of 56 sample isolates shared 95.1%-100.0%DNA and 95.0%-100.0%amino acid sequence identity.The genetic evolution tree constructed with the B2L gene DNA sequences indicated sample iso-lates and 21 reference strains located in subgroup 1,and 26 sheep-derived sample isolates and 17 reference strains located in sub-group 2.Among them,the goat-derived sample isolate FY-TYA was located in the same sub-branch as the human-derived reference strain Gansu,whereas the goat-derived sample isolate FY-XQC was located in the same sub-branch as the reference strains China Vaccine and OV-HLJ-04.The genetic evolution tree constructed with the F1L gene DNA sequences showed,the goat sample isolates FY-XQA and FY-XQC were located in the same sub-branch as the sheep-derived reference strain Xinjiang.ORFV infection was rela-tively widespread in the major meat sheep breeding areas of Anhui province,and the DNA and amino acid sequences of the B2L and F1L genes of current circulating ORFV isolates showed different degrees of genetic variation,among which F1L gene had a high de-gree of variation.Furthermore,some goat-derived sample isolates were closely related to human,vaccine,and sheep-derived refer-ence strains.These results may serve as a reference for the prevention and control of ORFV infection in Anhui province.

In 2015,the International Ascites Club proposed a new definition of hepatorenal syndrome-acute kidney injury based on the progression of hepatorenal syndrome,and studies are still being conducted to explore the exact pathogenesis of hepatorenal syndrome-acute kidney injury.Intestinal barrier plays an important bridging role in liver-kidney connection,and intestinal flora disturbance,bacterial translocation,and endotoxins entering the blood cause damage to the kidneys by releasing proinflammatory cytokines and activating immune-related cells.The entrance of bile acid into the circulation system also directly or indirectly lead to the development and progression of hepatorenal syndrome-acute kidney injury.This article reviews the crosstalk mechanism of hepatorenal syndrome-acute kidney injury from the perspective of the intestinal barrier and further clarifies the key role of the liver-gut-kidney axis in the pathogenesis of this disease,in order to provide new treatment ideas.

Objective:To investigate the relationship among seminal oxidation-reduction potential(nORP),sperm DNA frag-mentation(DFI)and semen parameters in patients with varicocele.Methods:Clinical data of 522 patients treated in the reproduc-tive andrology clinic of the Northern Theater General Hospital from November 2023 to December 2023 were retrospectively analyzed,in-cluding 435 men of childbearing age and 87 men of infertile age.The patients were divided into the varicocele group(n=116)and non-varicocele group(n=406)according to clinical diagnosis.The differences of seminal plasma nORP,DFI,sperm high DNA stain ability(HDS)and semen parameters were analyzed between the two groups.The relationship among general clinical data,seminal plasma nORP,semen parameters,DFI and HDS in patients with varicocele were further analyzed.According to the severity of varico-cele,the patients were divided into three groups,including mild,moderate and severe.And the differences of seminal plasma nORP and semen parameters,DFI and HDS among all groups were analyzed.The differences of seminal plasma nORP,semen parameters,DFI and HDS were compared between the varicocele and non-varicocele groups.Results:The total sperm count,sperm concentra-tion,progressive motility sperm percentage(PR％)and normal sperm morphology rate(NSMR)in patients with varicocele were sig-nificantly lower than those in control group(P＜0.05).And seminal plasma nORP,DFI and HDS in patients with varicocele were sig-nificantly higher than those in control group(P＜0.05).Seminal plasma nORP in patients with varicocele was significantly negatively correlated with total sperm,sperm concentration and NSMR(P＜0.05),and significantly positively correlated with DFI and HDS(P＜0.05).There were significant differences in nORP,total sperm count,sperm concentration,PR％,DFI and HDS among mild,moderate and severe varicocele groups(P＜0.05).Seminal plasma nORP,sperm concentration,PR％and DFI in severe group were significantly lower than those in mild and moderate groups(P＜0.05).Sperm count and HDS in severe group were significantly lower than those in mild group(P＜0.05).In infertile patients,seminal plasma nORP,DFI and HDS in varicocele group were significantly higher than those in control group(P＜0.05).And PR％in varicocele group was significantly lower than that in control group(P＜0.05).Conclusions:Seminal plasma nORP in patients with varicocele may be an important marker of oxidative stress affecting DFI and semen parameters.

Aim To clarify the mechanism by which Qishen Yixin Granules improved microcirculation vas-cular endothelial dysfunction(VED)in mice,through activating the Nrf2/HO-1 signaling pathway to regulate oxidative stress.Methods C57 mice were randomly divided into six groups:blank group,model group,pos-itive drug group,and low-,medium-,and high-dose groups of Qishen Yixin Granules.The VED model was established by long-term infusion of Ang Ⅱ combined with a high-fat diet.Each treatment group received the corresponding drug intervention.After four weeks of drug intervention,cardiac function was assessed by echocardiography.Carstairs staining was used to ob-serve the formation of microthrombi in myocardial tis-sue.The micro vascular ischemia was evaluated by Hei-denhain staining.The ultrastructure of endothelial cells was observed by electron microscopy.The levels of EMPs,ROS,NO,ET-1,TF,TM,VWF,and TXA2 in serum were measured by ELISA.The expression levels of MDA,SOD,and GSH-Px in mouse heart tissue were determined by chemical methods.Cardiac microvascu-lar density and the expression of Nrf2,Keap1,and HO-1 proteins were detected by Immunohistochemical stai-ning.The protein expressions of Keap1,cytoplasmic Nrf2,nuclear Nrf2,and HO-1 in myocardial tissue were detected by Western blot.Results Qishen Yixin Granules could effectively improve the cardiac function of mice,alleviate the damage of endothelial cells and endothelial function.They could up-regulate serum NO levels and the activities of antioxidant enzymes SOD and GSH-Px,while down-regulating the expression of ROS and vascular inflammatory injury factors such as ET-1,VWF,TXA2,TF,TM,and EMPs.Qishen Yixin Granules also increased the positive counts of CD34,Nrf2,and HO-1,as well as microvessel density.Fur-thermore,they inhibited the expression of MDA,Keap1,and cytoplasmic Nrf2 protein in myocardial tis-sue,while increasing the expression of nuclear proteins HO-1 and Nrf2.Conclusions Qishen Yixin Granules may inhibit oxidative stress and inflammatory response by regulating the Nrf2/HO-1 signaling pathway,thereby improving vascular endothelial damage and cardiac function in VED mice.

Aim To design and synthesize a series of glycyrrhetinic acid derivatives by using glycyrrhetinic acid as the parent nucleus,screen their antitumor activ-ities,and investigate the in vitro and in vivo antitumor effects and mechanisms of the most active compound.Methods MTT assay was used to screen for the com-pound with the most potent antitumor activity.MTT as-say,wound healing assay,colony formation assay and Transwell migration assay were used to evaluate the effects of the compound on tumor cell viability and mi-gration.Flow cytometry was employed to assess the im-pact of the compound on tumor cell cycle progression and apoptosis.Western blot was conducted to verify the effects on the expression of pro-apoptotic proteins Bax,caspase-3 and cleaved caspase-3.A mouse model of hepatocellular carcinoma ascites tumor was estab-lished to examine the antitumor effects of the compound in vivo.Results Compound C22 was identified as having the most significant inhibitory effect on hepato-cellular carcinoma cells.C22 inhibited the viability and migration of hepatocellular carcinoma cells in a time and concentration-dependent manner.C22 upreg-ulated the expression of pro-apoptotic proteins Bax,caspase-3 and cleaved caspase-3 in hepatocellular car-cinoma cells,induced apoptosis,and arrested the cell cycle in the G0/G1 and S phases.C22 significantly re-duced the growth of mouse hepatocellular carcinoma as-cites tumors and prolonged survival.Conclusion Glycyrrhetinic acid derivative C22 significantly inhibits the viability and migration of hepatocellular carcinoma cells in vitro and in vivo,and induces cell cycle arrest and apoptosis.