To elucidate the mechanism by which steaming affects the quality of Curcuma kwangsiensis root tubers, methods such as LSCM, RVA, dual-wavelength spectrophotometry, LF-NMR, and LC-MS were employed to qualitatively and quantitatively detect changes in starch gelatinization characteristics, water distribution, and material composition of C. kwangsiensis root tubers under different steaming durations. Based on multivariate statistical analysis, the correlation between differences in gelatinization parameters, water distribution, and terpenoid material composition was investigated. The results indicate that steaming affects both starch gelatinization and water distribution in C. kwangsiensis. During the steaming process, transformations occur between amylose and amylopectin, as well as between semi-bound water and free water. After 60 min of steaming, starch gelatinization and water distribution reached an equilibrium state. The content of amylopectin, the amylose-to-amylopectin ratio, and parameters such as gelatinization temperature, viscosity, breakdown value, and setback value were significantly correlated(P≤0.05). Additionally, the amylose-to-amylopectin ratio was significantly correlated with total free water and total water content(P≤0.05). Steaming induced differences in the material composition of C. kwangsiensis root tubers. Clustering of primary metabolites in the OPLS-DA model was distinct, while secondary metabolites were classified into 9 clusters using the K-means clustering algorithm. Differential terpenoid metabolites such as(-)-α-curcumene were significantly correlated with zerumbone, retinal, and all-trans-retinoic acid(P<0.05). Curcumenol was significantly correlated with isoalantolactone and ursolic acid(P<0.05), while all-trans-retinoic acid was significantly correlated with both zerumbone and retinal(P<0.05). Alpha-tocotrienol exhibited a significant correlation with retinal and all-trans-retinoic acid(P<0.05). Amylose was extremely significantly correlated with(-)-α-curcumene, curcumenol, zerumbone, retinal, all-trans-retinoic acid, and α-tocotrienol(P<0.05). Amylopectin was significantly correlated with zerumbone(P<0.05) and extremely significantly correlated with(-)-α-curcumene, curcumenol, zerumbone, retinal, all-trans-retinoic acid, and 9-cis-retinoic acid(P<0.01). The results provide scientific evidence for elucidating the mechanism of quality formation of steamed C. kwangsiensis root tubers as a medicinal material.
Curcuma/chemistry* ; Starch/chemistry* ; Multivariate Analysis ; Water/chemistry* ; Terpenes/analysis* ; Plant Roots/chemistry* ; Plant Tubers/chemistry* ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal/chemistry*

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the clinical and immunological features of children with primary immune thrombocytopenia (pITP) or connective tissue disease (CTD) with thrombocytopenia as the initial manifestation at initial diagnosis, and to provide a basis for early differentiation. METHODS: A retrospective study was performed on 236 children with pITP (pITP group) or CTD with thrombocytopenia as the initial manifestation (CTD-TP group) who were admitted from January 2019 to August 2024. Clinical and immunological indicators were compared between the two groups to identify potential influencing factors for early differentiation and their discriminative validity. RESULTS: Compared with the pITP group, the CTD-TP group had a significantly older age of onset and significantly lower leukocyte count, eosinophil count, lymphocyte count, and complement C4 level (P<0.05), as well as significantly higher levels of C-reactive protein, IgE, and IgM (P<0.05). The logistic regression analysis showed that age, IgE, IgM, total B cells, and complement C4 were predictive factors for early differentiation between pITP and CTD-TP (P<0.05). The receiver operating characteristic curve analysis showed that a combination of these five factors had a good discriminative validity, with an area under the curve of 0.944. The correlation analysis showed a negative correlation between IgG and platelet count in the pITP group (r_s=-0.363, P<0.05) and a positive correlation between NK cells and platelet count in the CTD-TP group (r_s=0.713, P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS There is heterogeneity in the clinical and immunological indicators between children with pITP and CTD-TP at initial diagnosis, and these research findings can help with the early differentiation between the two diseases.
Purpura, Thrombocytopenic, Idiopathic/immunology* ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Connective Tissue Diseases/immunology* ; Retrospective Studies ; Early Diagnosis ; Age of Onset ; Leukocyte Count ; Complement C4/immunology* ; C-Reactive Protein/immunology* ; Immunoglobulin E/immunology* ; Immunoglobulin M/immunology* ; Humans ; Male ; Female ; Infant ; Child, Preschool ; Child ; Adolescent ; Biomarkers/blood*

OBJECTIVE: To determine the prevalence of lumbar spondylolysis (LS) and the proportion of spondylolytic spondylolisthesis (SS) in China, and to evaluate the musculoskeletal status of patients with LS and SS. METHODS: Spine Computed Tomography (CT) images were collected from community populations aged 40 and above in a nationwide multi-center project. LS was diagnosed, and SS was graded by an experienced radiologist. Bone mineral density (BMD) and paraspinal muscle parameters were quantified based on CT images. RESULTS: One hundred and seventeen patients of a total of 3,317 individuals were diagnosed with LS, corresponding to a prevalence rate of 3.53%. 63 of the 1,214 males (5.18%) and 54 of the 2,103 females (2.57%) were diagnosed with LS. SS occurred in 64/121 vertebrae (52.89%). BMD was not associated with LS ( P = 0.341). The L5 extensor paraspinal muscle density was higher in the LS group than in the non-LS group. In the LS group, patients with SS had a smaller L5 paraspinal extensor muscle cross-sectional area than those without SS ( P = 0.003). CONCLUSION The prevalence of LS in Chinese adults was 3.53%, with prevalence rates of 5.18% in males and 2.57% in females. Patients with LS have higher muscle density, whereas those with SS have smaller muscle cross-sectional areas at the L5 level.
Humans ; Male ; Female ; Middle Aged ; China/epidemiology* ; Prevalence ; Adult ; Lumbar Vertebrae/diagnostic imaging* ; Spondylolysis/diagnostic imaging* ; Aged ; Bone Density ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed ; Aged, 80 and over ; Spondylolisthesis/epidemiology* ; East Asian People

Objective:To explore the relationship between corrected serum calcium level and clinical characteristics in patients with newly-diagnosed multiple myeloma (MM), as well as the influencing factors of concomitant hypercalcemia.Methods:A retrospective case cohort study was conducted. The clinical data of newly-diagnosed MM patients who were admitted to Shanxi Province Cancer Hospital from January 2020 to December 2023 were collected. When serum albumin (ALB) was less than 40 g/L, the serum calcium level was corrected. The hypercalcemia group was defined as the corrected serum calcium level >2.60 mmol/L, the normal blood calcium group was defined as 2.20-2.60 mmol/L, and the hypocalcemia group was defined as <2.20 mmol/L; the combination of normal blood calcium group and hypocalcemia group was the non-hypercalcemia group. The age, gender, immune typing, ALB, blood urea nitrogen (BUN), serum creatinine (Scr), β 2-microglobulin (β 2-MG), and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) of patients in the hypercalcemia group and the non-hypercalcemia group were compared. Pearson correlation analysis was used for the correlation analysis. The logistic regression model was used to conduct multivariate analysis on the influencing factors of hypercalcemia. Results:Before correction, there were 31 cases (26.5%), 48 cases (40.0%) and 38 cases (32.5%) of MM patients in the hypocalcemia group, normal blood calcium group and hypercalcemia group, respectively. After correction, there were 17 cases (14.5%), 58 cases (49.6%) and 42 cases (35.9%), respectively. The corrected serum calcium level for male MM patients was (2.58± 0.41) mmol/L, while for females it was (2.53±0.38) mmol/L, and there was no statistically significant difference between the two groups ( t = 0.79, P > 0.05). The corrected serum calcium levels for patients in stage Ⅰ, stage Ⅱ and stage Ⅲ of the International Staging System (ISS) were (2.31±0.15) mmol/L, (2.52±0.37) mmol/L and (2.65±0.42) mmol/L, respectively, and the difference between the three groups was statistically significant ( F = 53.62, P < 0.01). Corrected serum calcium showed a negative correlation with patients' serum ALB ( r = -0.201, P < 0.05), and positive correlations with Scr, BUN and β 2-MG levels ( r values were 0.470, 0.247 and 0.469, respectively, all P < 0.01), but it had no correlation with age or ALP ( r values were -0.013 and 0.078, respectively, both P > 0.05). There were 15 cases (17.1%), 48 cases (54.5%) and 25 cases (28.4%) of patients with normal renal function in the hypocalcemia group, normal blood calcium group and hypercalcemia group, respectively; there were 2 cases (6.9%), 10 cases (34.5%) and 17 cases (58.6%) of patients with impaired renal function in the hypocalcemia group, normal blood calcium group and hypercalcemia group, respectively; there were statistically significant differences between the hypocalcemia group and the hypercalcemia group, as well as between the normal blood calcium group and the hypercalcemia group ( χ2 = 4.57, P < 0.05; χ2 = 6.67, P < 0.05), but there was no statistically significant difference between the hypocalcemia group and the normal calcium group ( χ2 = 0.29, P>0.05). The patients with approximately normal bone status in the hypocalcemia group, normal blood calcium group and hypercalcemia group were 3 cases (13.0%), 17 cases (74.0%) and 3 cases (13.0%), respectively, and the patients with bone damage were 14 cases (14.9%), 41 cases (43.6%), and 39 cases (41.5%), respectively, and there was a statistically significant difference between the normal blood calcium group and the hypercalcemia group ( χ2 = 7.48, P < 0.01), while there was no statistically significant difference between the hypocalcemia group and the hypercalcemia group ( χ2 = 1.46, P > 0.05). The proportions of patients with Scr > 177 μmol/L and β 2-MG > 3.5 mg/L in the hypercalcemia group were higher than those in the non-hypercalcemia group, and the differences were statistically significant (both P < 0.05). The results of logistic regression multivariate analysis showed that β 2-MG >3.5 mg/L was an independent risk factor for hypercalcemia in newly-diagnosed MM patients ( OR = 1.178, 95% CI: 1.058-1.311, P = 0.003). Conclusions:Corrected serum calcium level may be an important indicator for evaluating the severity of disease, renal function and bone status in newly-diagnosed MM patients.

Objective To analyze the stress changes of thoracic vertebra(T)11-sacrum(S)titanium rods in patients with ankylosing spondylitis after vertebral column decancellation(VCD)osteotomy,and provide reference for the selection and improvement of titanium rods before surgery.Methods The original data of the continuous scanning tomographic images of patients with ankylosing spondylitis after VCD osteotomy were imported into Mimics 21.0 in DICOM format,and T11-S vertebrae,screws and titanium rods were respectively reconstructed.They were imported into 3-Matic to establish a preliminary geometric modeling,and then processed with noise removal,paving,smoothing,etc.The improved model was imported into Hypermesh 10 software for grid division,and the material was imported into ANSYS 19.2 to display the finite element model after attribute assignment,Set the boundary and load conditions,and measure the stress value at the connection between the screw and the titanium rod.Results Under neutral position,forward bending,lateral bending,and axial rotation conditions,the titanium rod had the highest stress at the upper vertebrae(T11)and the lowest stress at the top vertebrae(L3);Under the backward extension condition,the titanium rod has the highest stress at the lower end vertebra(L5).Conclusion In the upper and lower vertebrae,it is possible to consider increasing the diameter of the titanium rod,enhancing its hardness,or changing it to a double rod.

Objective To establish a normal three-dimensional model of the hip bone in adolescents aged 10-19 years old,analyze the morphology and positional parameters of the posterior superior iliac spine of the hip bone among different genders,sides,and ages,which can supplement the study of the anatomical morphology of the hip bone and to provide a reference for the diagnosis of the clinically relevant diseases and for the therapeutic manipulation and localization of the hip bone.Methods Forty adolescent patients aged 10-19 years without previous spinal pelvic diseases were selected,and the pelvic CT image data were collected and imported into Mimics 21.0 software to establish the model.The relative position parameters of the posterior superior iliac spine and the surrounding anatomical landmarks included the length from the posterior superior iliac spine to the anterior superior iliac spine(ab),the length from the tip of the posterior superior iliac spine to the sciatica(ac),the length from the tip of the posterior superior iliac spine to the pubic tubercle(ae),the length from the tip of the posterior superior iliac spine to the midpoint of the posterior margin of the auricular joint surfaces(af),the length from the tip of the posterior superior iliac spine to the iliac spine turn(ag),and the length from the sciatica tubercle to the highest point of the iliac spine(cd).The local parameters of the posterior superior iliac spine included the width(W0)and the thickness(H0)at point A.The maximum width of the posterior iliac spine(WMAX),its distance from point a(D0),and the width of the iliac spine were measured at 0.5,1,and 1.5 cm from point a,and were recorded sequentially as W1,W2,and W3.The width of the iliac spine at the turn of the iliac spine(point g)was measured(W4).The relative positions and parameters of the posterior superior iliac spine to the surrounding anatomical landmarks and the localized parameters of the posterior superior iliac spine were compared sequentially for different genders,sides,and age groups.Results In the measurement result of the parameters of the posterior superior iliac spine and the surrounding anatomical landmarks,the differences in the comparisons between different genders of the ac,ae,and af indexes were statistically significant(P＜0.05),and the differences in the comparisons between different genders of the ab,ag,and cd indexes were not statistically significant(P＞0.05).The differences in the comparisons between the right and left sides of the ab,ac,ae,af,ag,and cd indexes were not statistically significant(P＞0.05).The difference in comparison between different age groups of ab,ac,ae,af,ag,and cd indicators was statistically significant(P＜0.05).In the measurement result of the local parameters of the posterior superior iliac spine,the difference in the comparison between the sexes of the W0,W1,W2,WMAX,and H0 indexes was statistically significant(P＜0.05),and the difference in the comparison between the sexes of the W3,W4,and D0 indexes was not statistically significant(P＞0.05);And the difference in the comparison between the left and right sides of the W0,W1,W2,and the right and left sides of the W3,W4,WMAX,D0,and H0 indexes was not statistically significant(P＞0.05);The difference between W0,W1,W2,W3,W4,WMAX,D0,H0 indicators compared between different age groups was not statistically significant(P＞0.05).Conclusion Adolescent females have overall greater pelvic parameters than males,with wider and thicker tips of the posterior superior iliac spine in females and narrower and thinner tips of the posterior superior iliac spine in males;Pelvic parameters show a tendency to increase with age,while the width and thickness of the posterior superior iliac spine,as well as the width of the cephalic end to the iliac spine remain essentially unchanged.

Spinocerebellar ataxia (SCA) is a group of progressively aggravated neurodegenerative disease with autosomal dominant inheritance. Cerebellar ataxia is the core symptom, which may be accompanied by pyramidal tract signs, extrapyramidal signs, cognitive dysfunction and peripheral neuropathy. Although SCA can be accurately diagnosed by genetic testing, treatment is still difficult. We review the pathogenesis and therapeutic targets of SCA in recent years, in terms of genetic or gene regulation abnormalities, disruption of protein quality control (PQC) network, disruption of energy homeostasis, stability maintenance of PQC system, maintenance of cerebellar Purkinje cell function, and regulation of neuroinflammation, so as to promote the transformation of preclinical research into human therapy.

The global morbidity and mortality of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2(SARS-CoV-2)infection are gradually decreasing,but the elderly people are still at higher risk of death than the general population,especially for those with Alzheimer's disease(AD).AD is a slowly progressing degenerative disease of the nervous system,and is the most common type of dementia.Its neuropathological features include overproduction and clea-rance imbalance of amyloid β-protein and overphosphorylated tau protein leading to neurofibrillary tangle.People with AD are more susceptible to be infected with SARS-CoV-2,likewise,the virus can also cause AD in those who are infected.After SARS-CoV-2 infection,it affects AD through immune response,inflammatory response,cell aging,DNA damage reaction,autophagy disorder,choroidal homeostasis disorder,over-activation of renin-angio-tensin system,and oxidative stress.This article mainly reviews the research progress in the effect of SARS-CoV-2 infection on AD.

Objective To investigate the effect of artemisinin(ART)on the malignant biological behavior of colorectal cancer(CRC)cells stimulated by glucose and its mechanism.Methods The concentration gradients of 0,5,10,20,40 and 60 μmol/L of ART were used to treat the human colorectal cancer cell line SW480,and then the cell viability was detected by CCK-8.Cell apoptosis was detected by flow cytometry.Transwell was used to detect the cell migration and invasion.Western blot was used to detect the apoptosis,epithelial-mesenchymal transition(EMT)and Janus kinase 2(JAK2)/signal transducer and activator of transcription 3(STAT3)related proteins expression.Results Compared with the 0 μmol/L of ART,the viability of SW480 cells decreased under 5,10,20,40,60 μmol/L of ART treatment(P<0.05),and IC50 was 36.91 μmol/L.Therefore,the cells treated with 10,20 and 40 μmol/L of ART were as the low-dose,medium-dose and high-dose ART groups,the cells treated with 0 μmol/L of ART were as the control group,and the cells treated with 40 μmol/L of ART and 10 μmol/L of Coumermycin A1 were as the Coumermycin A1 group.Compared with the control group,the cell scratch wound healing rate,invasion ability,and expression levels of Bcl-2,N-cadherin,Vimentin,p-JAK2,and p-STAT3 in the low-dose ART group,the medium-dose ART group,and the high-dose ART group decreased obviously(P<0.05),while the apoptosis rate,and expression levels of Bax,Caspase-3 and E-cadherin increased(P<0.05).Compared with the high-dose ART group,the cell scratch wound healing rate,invasion ability,and expression levels of Bcl-2,N-cadherin,Vimentin,p-JAK2,and p-STAT3 in the Coumermycin A1 group increased obviously(P<0.05),while the apoptosis rate,and expression levels of Bax,Caspase-3 and E-cadherin decreased(P<0.05).Conclusion ART may inhibit the viability,migration,invasion and EMT of glucose-stimulated CRC cells and promote apoptosis by inhibiting the JAK2/STAT3 signaling pathway.

Objective To explore the value of electrocardiogram in predicting culprit vessels in acute inferior myocardial infarction.Methods The clinical data of 129 patients with acute inferior myocardial infarction admitted to First Affiliated Hospital of Army Medical University from January 2015 to December 2021 were retrospectively analyzed.Patients were received coronary intervention treatment,and the culprit vessels were identified by coronary angiography.The culprit vessels during surgery were recorded.The preoperative electrocardio-gram of patients were analyzed,a new method for predicting culprit vessels in acute inferior myocardial infarction was established based on the previous researches,and the accuracies of the Fiol method,Tiala method,Huang's algorithm and new method in predicting the culprit vessels in acute inferior myocardial infarction were also counted.The predictive abilities of various methods on culprit vessels were evaluated using receiver operating characteristic(ROC)curve and the area under the curve(AUC)was calculated.Results The culprit vessels of 109 patients were the right coronary artery,16 cases were the left circumflex artery,and 4 cases were the anterior descending artery.A total of 52 patients developed clinical complications,of which the culprit vessels of 47 cases were right coronary artery and 5 cases were circumflex artery.The accuracies of the Fiol method,Tierala method,Huang's algorithm,and new method in predicting culprit vessels were 83.7%,81.4%,82.9%,and 85.3%,respectively.The ROC curve analysis showed that the Fiol method(AUC=0.941),Tierrala method(AUC= 0.945),Huang's algorithm(AUC=0.945),and new method(AUC=0.964)all had strong predictive ability for culprit vessels.Conclusion For patients with acute inferior myocardial infarction,the Fiol method,Tierala method,Huang's algorithm,and new method all have high predictive value for culprit vessels in analyzing the preoperative electrocardiogram,and the new method has a higher predictive value.