The chemical constituents from the n-butanol fraction of ethanol extract of safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.) were isolated and purified using chromatographic process including MCI Gel CHP-20, ODS, Sephadex LH-20 column chromatography, and semi-preparative HPLC method, and one alkyne and two phenylpropanoid derivants were obtained. Their structures were identified as (5R,E)-tetradecane-12-ene-8,10-diyne-1,5,14-triol (1), (E)-8-O-β-D-glucopyranosyl n-butyl cinnamate (2), and (7S,8S)-7-(4-hydroxy-3-methoxybenzene)-7-butyl-8,9-diol (3) by modern spectroscopy methods (1D NMR, 2D NMR, UV, IR and MS). 1-3 are all new compounds. Compounds 1-3 were screened for their anti-renal fibrosis activities in vitro, and none of them showed obvious effect.

Objective:To investigate the effect of feeder layer cells expressing interleukin(IL)-21 on the amplification of NK cells in vitro.Methods:The K562 cell line with IL-21 expression on its membrane was constructed by electroporation,and co-cultured with NK cells after inactivation.The proliferation of NK cells was observed.The killing function of the amplified NK cells in vitro was evaluated by the lactate dehydrogenase(LDH)and interferon-γ(IFN-y)release assay.A colorectal cancer xenograft model in NOD/SCID mice was established,and a blank control group,a NK cell group and an amplified NK cell group were set up to detect the tumor killing effect of amplified NK cells in vivo.Results:K562 cells expressing IL-21 on the membrane were successfully constructed by electroporation.After co-culturing with K562 cells expressing IL-21 on the membrane for 17 days,the NK cells increased to 700 times,which showed an enhanced amplification ability compared with control group(P＜0.001).In the tumor cell killing experiment in vitro,there was no significant difference in the killing activity on tumor cells between NK cells and amplified NK cells,and there was also no significant difference in mice in vivo.Conclusion:K562 cells expressing IL-21 on the membrane can significantly increase the amplification ability of NK cells in vitro,but do not affect the killing function of NK cells in vitro and in vivo.It can be used for the subsequent large-scale production of NK cells in vitro.

Objective:This study aims to develop a country prioritization index system for China's international vaccine cooperation,providing a screening tool and referenceindicators.Method:Based on the PESTEL analysis model,the indicator system was preliminarily determined through literature review and expert interviews.Additional expert consultations were conducted to refine and finalize this system.The weight of the indicators was determined using the Analytic Hierarchy Process(AHP).Result:A comprehensive screening index system for identifying preferred countries in China's international vaccine cooperation has been established.This indicator system covers 5 factors including economy,politics,society,technology,law,and regulations,with 15 secondary indicators and 34 tertiary indicators subdivided.Legal and regulatory factors received the highest weight(0.48),followed by economic(0.23),political(0.15),social(0.095),and technological(0.045).The authority of the experts and the coordination of their opinions were both deemed satisfactory.All judgment matrices in the AHP passed the consistency tests,affirming the reliability of the indicator weight results.Conclusion:The study has established an evidence-based and reliable index system for prioritizing countries in China'sinternational vaccine cooperation,providing references for the selection process.

Objective:To study the experience and efficacy of treating the isolated left vertebral artery (ILVA) during total aortic arch replacement combined with stent-trunk surgery in patients with Stanford type A aortic dissection (TAAD) combined with ILVA.Methods:The clinical data of 21 patients with TAAD combined with ILVA from July 2017 to March 2022 in the First Affiliated Hospital of University of Science and Technology of China were retrospectively analyzed. All patients were treated with ILVA-left common carotid artery transplantation and total arch replacement combined with stent-trunk surgery under moderate hypothermia cardiopulmonary bypass and selective cerebral perfusion (SCP). Among them, aortic root repair surgery was in 15 cases, Bentall surgery in 6 cases, coronary artery bypass grafting performed simultaneously in 2 cases. The surgical details, postoperative complications and length of stay were recorded. The patients were followed up 1 and 12 months after surgery for CTA examination to observe the patency of transplanted ILVA. The follow-up was performed until October 1, 2022, and survival, aorta-related death and ILVA patency rate were recorded.Results:Three hundred and thirty-five TAAD patients were admitted during the same period, including 21 (6.27%) with ILVA. ILVA was reconstructed successfully in all patients. No complications related to ILVA were observed. Three cases died during the perioperative period: 1 case had preoperative myocardial infarction due to coronary artery involvement and the CPB could not be removed after operation; 1 case died of postoperative liver and renal failure due to severe organ hypoperfusion; 1 case suffered from postoperative acute renal failure and died of low cardiac output. The patients did not experience damage to the vagus nerve or recurrent laryngeal nerve, lymphatic leakage, chylothorax, ILVA thrombosis, paraplegia or cerebral vascular complications. The other 18 patients recovered and discharged from hospital. The median duration of follow-up was 30 (6 to 62) months. During the follow-up, aortic-related death did not observe, ILVA was unobstructed, and there were no manifestations of anastomotic stenosis or arterial stenosis.Conclusions:ILVA is a supra-aortic trunk variant, it is not so rare. ILVA may pose additional difficulties during total arch replacement surgery. The clinical effect of prior reconstruction of ILVA by ILVA-LCCA transposition is satisfactory, and it may be a simple and efficient method to complete reconstruction and optimize arch surgery before cardiopulmonary bypass.

Objective To observe the value of contrast-enhanced mammography(CEM)for differentiating benign and malignant breast lesions with calcifications.Methods Data of 116 female patients with 132 breast imaging reporting and data system(BI-RADS)category 4 to 5 lesions were retrospectively analyzed.The lesions were divided into malignant group(n=86)and benign group(n=46)according to the pathologic results.The morphological manifestations of calcification and their distributions were classified into high or low risk,and the combined risk typing of calcifications was assessed according to these two.Finally,an overall risk typing of CEM was obtained through combining the combined risk type of calcifications and accompanied enhancement or not.Then receiver operating characteristic(ROC)curves were drawn,the area under the curves(AUC)were calculated,and the efficacy of the above indexes for differentiating benign and malignant breast lesions with calcifications were evaluated and compared.Results Significant differences of morphology,distribution and accompanied enhancement were found between groups(all P＜0.05).The AUC of morphology risk,distribution risk,the combined risk of calcification,accompanied enhancement and CEM overall risk for differentiating benign and malignant breast lesions with calcifications was 0.709,0.678,0.774,0.800 and 0.875,respectively,of CEM overall risk was higher than that of the others(all P＜0.05).Conclusion CEM overall risk type obtained through integrating morphology and distribution manifestations of calcifications and enhancement type could improve the efficiency of CEM for differentiating benign and malignant breast lesions with calcifications.

Objective To observe the differences in motor function and quality of life among mild-to-moderate Parkinson's disease(PD)patients with or without freezing of gait(FOG),and the correlation of FOG to motor function and quality of life. Methods From April,2021 to December,2022,132 mild-to-moderate PD patients aged 60 to 80 years were selected from Peking Union Medical College Hospital,and were divided into FOG group(n = 43)and non-FOG group(n = 89)according to the clinical features.They were assessed with Freezing of Gait Questionnaire(FOGQ),Berg Balance Scale(BBS),Timed"Up&Go"Test(TUGT),Five Times Sit to Stand Test(FTSST),isokinetic muscle strength,Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale(UPDRS)and 39-item Parkinson's Disease Question-aire-39(PDQ-39). Results The BBS score was lower(Z =-2.354,P<0.05),and the TUGT,FTSST,UPDRS part 2 and part 3 scores,and the Parkinson's disease summary index(PDSI)were higher in FOG group than in non-FOG group(Z>3.074,t = 2.748,P<0.01).FOGQ score correlated with BBS score,UPDRS Part 2 and Part 3 scores,and PDSI(|r|>0.392,P<0.001). Conclusion FOG would impair motor function,activities of daily living and quality of life in mild-to-moderate PD pa-tients,and increase the risk of falls.

Objective To analyze the perioperative outcomes of cardiac valve surgery in patients with asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection. Methods The perioperative clinical data of patients receiving heart valve replacement in the Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, the First Affiliated Hospital of University of Science and Technology of China from November 2022 to February 2023 were retrospectively analyzed. According to whether the patients were infected with SARS-CoV-2, they were divided into a non-infected group and an asymptomatic group. The perioperative data of the patients were compared between the two groups, and the effect of asymptomatic infection on the result of heart valve replacement surgery was analyzed. Results A total of 66 patients were enrolled including 36 males and 30 females with a mean age of 58.0±11.1 years. There were 51 patients in the non-infected group and 15 patients in the asymtomatic group. There were 2 patients of mitral valve replacement, 20 patients of aortic valve replacement, 1 patient of double valve replacement, 3 patients of aortic valve replacement with tricuspid valvoplasty, 22 patients of mitral valve replacement and tricuspid valvoplasty, 18 patients of double valve replacement and tricuspid valvoplasty. Asymptomatic infected patients received more emergency surgery than uninfected patients (26.7% vs. 0.0%, P<0.01). There was no statistical difference in the duration of extracorporeal circulation, aortic occlusion, mechanical ventilation time after the surgery, ICU stay, postoperative drainage volume, or postoperative complications between the two groups. Conclusion Perioperative results of cardiac valve surgery in patients with asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection and non-infection are almost the same.

ObjectiveUsing the Delphi method and analytic hierarchy process （AHP） to screen diagnostic items for qi stagnation syndrome and determine their weights， providing a reference for the development of a diagnostic scale of qi stagnation syndrome. MethodsLiterature related to qi stagnation syndrome were screened from databases including CNKI， Wanfang， VIP， SinoMed （from inception to October 31， 2020）. Through systematic review of literature and expert discussions， the information on the four examinations of traditional Chinese medicine were organized and an item pool was constructed. The Delphi method was used to screen the item indicators， while the AHP was employed to determine their weights. Statistical methods such as mean value， full score ratio， rank sum， unimportant percentage， and coefficient of variation were used for item screening， with the weights calculated by AHP serving as the item weights. ResultsA total of 235 articles and books were included for analysis， resulting in an item pool of 16 items. After three rounds of expert consultation， a total of 84 valid questionnaires were collected， with a total expert enthusiasm coefficient of 99% and authority coefficient of 0.86， 0.84， 0.83， respectively， and the coordination coefficients were 0.45， 0.49， and 0.29， respectively. Through the statistics analysis， 8 diagnosis items were screened out， including distension （stuffi-ness） or distending pain or scurrying pain， wiry pulse， depressed emotions， frequent sighing， deep and wiry pulse， irritability， pale red tongue， and thin white coating. The AHP showed that the order of weights of the first-level indicators from high to low was clinical symptoms， pulse manifestation， and tongue manifestation； the order of weights of the second-level indicators from high to low was distension （stuffiness） or distending pain or scurrying pain， wiry pulse， depressed emotions， frequent sighing， deep and wiry pulse， irritability， pale red tongue， and thin white coating. ConclusionBy applying the Delphi method and AHP to analyze and evaluate the diagnostic items for qi stagnation syndrome， key diagnostic items were screened and their weights determined， laying the foundation for the development of a diagnostic scale for qi stagnation syndrome.

Objective To investigate the expression of centromere protein U(CENPU)in the intestinal tissues of patients with colon cancer,and to analyze the effect of CENPU expression level on the prognosis of patients with colon cancer combined with bioinformatics.Methods Firstly,the expression of CENPU in cancer tissues and normal tissues of colon cancer patients was analyzed by the expression of CENPU in tissues was further verified by real-time quantitative real time polymerase chain reaction(qRT-PCR),Western blot(WB)and immunohistochemistry(IHC).Combined with clinical data,univariate and multivariate Cox regression are used to analyze the correlation between CENPU expression and clinical case parameters of colon cancer patients.Then,the predictive effect of CENPU expression on the prognosis of colon cancer patients are explored by drawing receiver operating characteristic(ROC)curve and Kaplan-Meier survival curve.Finally,the possible molecular mechanism of the effect of CENPU expression on the progression of colon cancer are analyzed by bioinformatics.Results By qRT-PCR,WB and IHC experiments,we find that compared with normal tissues,the expression of CENPU in cancer tissues of colon cancer patients is significantly increased.Cox regression analysis show that the expression of CENPU is significantly correlated with the age and TNM stage of patients,and is a risk factor affecting the prognosis of patients.Kaplan-Meier survival curve analysis show that colon cancer patients with high CENPU expression has significantly lower survival rates.ROC curve show that the model based on CENPU expression has a high predictive power for the prognosis of colon cancer patients area under the curve(AUC=0.832).Bioinformatics analysis show that CENPI,CENPN,CENPD,CENPK,CENPP,CENPM,CENPQ,CENPH,NDC80 and ITGB3BP have significant interaction with CENPU gene.CENPU is involved in DNA repair,MYC/TARGETS/V1 and PI3K/AKT/MTOR signaling pathways.Conclusion High expression of CENPU in cancer tissues of patients with colon cancer is significantly associated with poor prognosis of patients,suggesting that CENPU is expected to be a potential target for early diagnosis and prognosis prediction of patients with colon cancer.

ObjectiveExisting artificial vision devices can be divided into two types: implanted devices and extracorporeal devices, both of which have some disadvantages. The former requires surgical implantation, which may lead to irreversible trauma, while the latter has some defects such as relatively simple instructions, limited application scenarios and relying too much on the judgment of artificial intelligence (AI) to provide enough security. Here we propose a system that has voice interaction and can convert surrounding environment information into tactile commands on head and neck. Compared with existing extracorporeal devices, our device can provide a larger capacity of information and has advantages such as lower cost, lower risk, suitable for a variety of life and work scenarios. MethodsWith the latest remote wireless communication and chip technologies, microelectronic devices, cameras and sensors worn by the user, as well as the huge database and computing power in the cloud, the backend staff can get a full insight into the scenario, environmental parameters and status of the user remotely (for example, across the city) in real time. In the meanwhile, by comparing the cloud database and in-memory database and with the help of AI-assisted recognition and manual analysis, they can quickly develop the most reasonable action plan and send instructions to the user. In addition, the backend staff can provide humanistic care and emotional sustenance through voice dialogs. ResultsThis study originally proposes the concept of “remote virtual companion” and demonstrates the related hardware and software as well as test results. The system can not only achieve basic guide functions, for example, helping a person with visual impairment to shop in supermarkets, find seats at cafes, walk on the streets, construct complex puzzles, and play cards, but also can meet the demand for fast-paced daily tasks such as cycling. ConclusionExperimental results show that this “remote virtual companion” is applicable for various scenarios and demands. It can help blind people with their travels, shopping and entertainment, or accompany the elderlies with their trips, wilderness explorations, and travels.