BACKGROUND: Death burden of stroke is severe with over one-third rural residents in China, but there is still a lack of specific national and high-quality reports on the urban-rural differences in stroke burden, especially for subtypes. We aimed to update the understanding of urban-rural differences in stroke deaths. METHODS: This is a descriptive observational study. Data from the national mortality surveillance system, which covers 323.8 million with 605 disease surveillance points (DSPs) across all 31 provinces, municipalities, and autonomous regions in China. All deaths from stroke as the underlying cause from 2015 to 2020 according to DSPs. Crude mortality rate and age-standardized mortality rate (ASMR) were estimated through DSPs. Average annual percentage change was used to explain the change in mortality rate. RESULTS: From 2015 to 2020, the majority of deaths from all stroke subtypes occurred in rural areas. There were significant differences between the changes of urban and rural ASMRs. On the whole, the changes in urban areas were evidently better, and the ASMR differences were basically expanding. Stroke ASMR in urban China decreased by 15.5%. The rural ASMR of ischemic stroke increased by 12.9%. The rural and urban ASMRs of intracerebral hemorrhage decreased by 24.9% and 27.4%, and those of subarachnoid hemorrhage decreased by 29.5% and 40.4%, respectively. The highest ASMRs of all stroke subtypes and the increasing trend of ischemic stroke ASMR make rural males the focus of stroke management. CONCLUSIONS The death burden of stroke varies greatly between urban and rural China. Rural residents face unique challenges.
Humans ; China/epidemiology* ; Stroke/mortality* ; Rural Population/statistics & numerical data* ; Male ; Female ; Urban Population/statistics & numerical data* ; Middle Aged ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Adult

This study explores the effect and mechanism of Banxia Xiexin Decoction(BXD) in inhibiting colon cancer progression by reshaping tryptophan metabolism. Balb/c mice were assigned into control, model, low-dose BXD(BXD-L), and high-dose BXD(BXD-H) groups. Except the control group, the other groups were subcutaneously injected with CT26-Luc cells for the modeling of colon cancer, which was followed by the intervention with BXD. Small animal live imaging was employed to monitor tumor growth, and the tumor volume and weight were measured. Hematoxylin-eosin(HE) staining was used to observe the pathological changes in mouse tumors. Immunohistochemistry was used to detect Ki67 expression in tumors. Immunofluorescence and flow cytometry were used to detect the infiltration and number changes of CD3~+/CD8~+ T cells in the tumor tissue. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA) was employed to measure the levels of interferon-gamma(IFN-γ) and interleukin-2(IL-2) in tumors. Targeted metabolomics was employed to measure the level of tryptophan(Trp) in the serum, and the Trp content in the tumor tissue was measured. Western blot and RT-qPCR were employed to determine the protein and mRNA levels, respectively, of indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase 1(IDO1), MYC proto-oncogene, and solute carrier family 7 member 5(SLC7A5) in the tumor tissue. Additionally, a co-culture model with CT26 cells and CD8~+ T cells was established in vitro and treated with the BXD-containing serum. The cell counting kit-8(CCK-8) assay was used to examine the viability of CT26 cells. The content of Trp in CT26 cells and CD8~+ T cells, as well as the secretion of IFN-γ and IL-2 by CD8~+ T cells, was measured. RT-qPCR was used to determine the mRNA levels of MYC and SLC7A5 in CT26 cells. The results showed that BXD significantly inhibited the tumor growth, reduced the tumor weight, and decreased the tumor volume in the model mice. In addition, the model mice showed sparse arrangement of tumor cells, varying degrees of patchy necrosis, and downregulated expression of Ki67 in the tumor tissue. BXD elevated the levels of IFN-γ and IL-2 in the tumor tissue, while upregulating the ratio of CD3~+/CD8~+ T cells and lowering the levels of Trp, IDO1, MYC, and SLC7A5. The co-culture experiment showed that BXD-containing serum reduced Trp uptake by CT26 cells, increased Trp content in CD8~+T cells, enhanced IL-2 and IFN-γ secretion of CD8~+T cells, and down-regulated the mRNA levels of MYC and SLC7A5 in CT26 cells. In summary, BXD can inhibit the MYC/SLC7A5 pathway to reshape Trp metabolism and adjust Trp uptake by CD8~+ T cells to enhance the cytotoxicity, thereby inhibiting the development of colon cancer.
Animals ; Tryptophan/metabolism* ; Colonic Neoplasms/pathology* ; Mice ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal/administration & dosage* ; Mice, Inbred BALB C ; Humans ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Indoleamine-Pyrrole 2,3,-Dioxygenase/metabolism* ; Female ; Disease Progression ; Cell Proliferation/drug effects* ; Proto-Oncogene Mas ; Male

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effects of posterior cruciate ligament(PCL) resection on soft tissue elasticity and knee stability in total knee arthroplasty(TKA). METHODS: Six adult cadaveric knee specimens (involving 10 knees) were included in the study. With the assistance of the robotic system(TiRobot Recon, TINAVI, Beijing), total knee arthroplasty (TKA) was performed sequentially using cruciate retaining (CR) prostheses and posterior stabilizing (PS) prostheses. Between the two surgical procedures, the femoral and tibial osteotomy surfaces were not altered;only the posterior cruciate ligament (PCL) was resected and the intercondylar fossa was treated. After installing the femoral trial component, a soft tissue balance solver was used to apply tension ranging from 30 N to 90 N in 5 N increments at 0°, 10°, and 90° of knee flexion. Meanwhile, the medial and lateral joint gaps were measured synchronously. Based on the tension-gap coupling data, the equivalent elastic coefficients of the medial and lateral soft tissue sleeves at different knee flexion angles, as well as the range of the joint line convergence angle (JLCA) under fixed varus-valgus stress, were calculated. Additionally, the gap balance status under 80 N of tension was analyzed. Self-control comparisons of each indicator were conducted before and after PCL resection to analyze the change patterns. RESULTS: After PCL resection, in the fully extended position (knee flexion 0°). The medial equivalent elastic coefficient was 32.2 (25.7, 63.3) N·mm^-1 for the CR prosthesis and 27.7 (22.0, 51.9) N·mm^-1 for the PS prosthesis, and the statistically significant difference (P=0.013). The range of JLCA was 0.41°(0.26, 0.55)° for the CR prosthesis, which was smaller than 0.75° (0.40, 0.98)° for the PS prosthesis, and the difference was statistically significant(P=0.041). At 90° of knee flexion, the medial joint gap was 10.7(10.1, 11.7) mm for the CR prosthesis, which was smaller than 12.1(10.9, 15.1) mm for the PS prosthesis, with a statistically significant difference(P=0.011). No statistically significant differences were observed in other joint gaps. CONCLUSION PCL resection reduces the rigidity of the medial soft tissues in the fully extended knee and increases the medial joint gap in the flexed position, thereby affecting knee stability and balance. This finding suggests that PS and CR prostheses may require different morphological designs, and there should be differences in indications and osteotomy strategies between CR-TKA and PS-TKA. CR-TKA is more suitable for patients with preoperative medial soft tissue laxity.
Humans ; Posterior Cruciate Ligament/physiopathology* ; Knee Joint/physiopathology* ; Arthroplasty, Replacement, Knee ; Elasticity ; Male ; Female ; Middle Aged ; Aged ; Biomechanical Phenomena ; Adult

Insulin is an important protein hormone that participates in multiple metabolic pathways.Biosynthetic insulin has been widely used in the treatment of type 1 and type 2 diabetes.Currently,the number of reported cases of insulin overdose both at home and abroad is gradually increasing,and insulin homicide is no longer a means of"committing murder without leaving a trace".At present,there are no systematic protocols for the identification of insulin overdose in the field of forensic medi-cine in China.This article introduces the causes,toxicological characteristics,forensic examination,labo-ratory testing methods and indicator reference of insulin overdose.Based on the identification practice and research results and referring to relevant studies on insulin overdose at home and abroad,this pa-per aims to provide recommendations and references for the formulation of forensic identification guide-lines for insulin overdose cases.

Objective This research was performed to identify rodent-borne pathogens in Hekou Port,Yunnan Province.Methods Rodents were captured using cages and dissected to collect their lungs,liver,spleen,and other viscera.Eight pathogens,including Yersinia pestis,Leptospira,Bartonella,and Anaplasmataceae,were identified using polymerase chain reaction amplification.Amplified pathogen sequences from positive samples were sequenced,and BLAST homology searches were conducted using GenBank to confirm pathogen identities.A phylogenetic tree of the identified pathogens was constructed using the neighbor joining method.Results The total of 31 rodents,identified as Rattus tanezumi,R.norvegicus,and Mus musculus,were captured.Among these,R.tanezumi was the dominant species,accounting for 64.52％of the total.Two pathogens,Leptospira interrogans and Neoehrlichia mikurensis,were detected,with positivity rates of 9.68％and 29.03％,respectively.No other pathogens were detected.The overall positivity rate for rodent-borne pathogens was 35.48％.Conclusions The single 16S rRNA gene fragment is insufficient for the molecular identification of all Neoehrlichia species.Accurate species identification should be based on a combined analysis of multiple genes.The prevalence of rodent-borne pathogens in Hekou Port indicates the necessity for enhanced surveillance of rodent-borne diseases and implementation of additional prevention and control measures in border ports.

Objective To investigate the performance of brands and types of high-flow nasal cnnula oxygen therapy(HFNC)devices at different altitudes.Methods Four different models of HFNC devices,including R-80S bi-level non-invasive ventilator integrated with HFNC device,HF-60A HFNC device,HFT-300 HFNC device and H-80A HFNC device,were connected with the gas flow meter,simularted head and QuickLung and then put into a low-pressure chamber.The flow rates of the HFNC devices were set to 10,15,20,25,30,35,40,45,50,55 and 60 L/min,and the simulated altitudes of the low-pressure chamber were set to 6 000,5 000,4 000,3 000,2 000,1 000 and 0 m.The actual output airway flow rates,airway pressure changes and trends of the four HFNC devices were recorded at different setting altitudes and flow rates.SPSS 25.0 software was used for statistical analysis.Results The actual output airway flow rates of the four HFNC devices showed an increasing trend as the altitude rose with the simulated altitude of 6 000 m and the setting flow rate kept constant,which increased slowly and even went to decrease when the altitude and flow rate exceeded some limits.The degree of changes in the flow rate with the increasing altitude varied,and there was no uniform pattern.With the rising of altitude,the actual output airway pressure of the four HFNC devices with the flow rate raning from 10 to 35 L/min also increased gradually,which showed a decreasing trend(turning point)after going up to some certain value when the flow rate exceeded 35 L/min,and the altitude where the turning point appeared was lowered as the flow rate increased.Conclusion The actual output airway flow rates and airway pressure during HFNC rise at a high-altitude environment,and generally considerations have to be taken on required airway pressure,patient comfort and the altitude of the patient's usual place of residence when setting the flow rates of the HFNC device.[Chinese Medical Equipment Journal,2024,45(6):49-58]

Giardia duodenalis is a zoonotic intestinal parasitic protozoan that can severely harm human and animal health,and causes substantial economic losses to humans and animal husbandry annually.Currently,no effective drugs and vaccines a-gainst giardiasis are available.With the development of bioinformatics and sequencing techniques,genomic sequencing of the Giardia genome and comparative genomics analysis have advanced understanding of the molecular characteristics of Giardia.This article reviews the current status of genome sequencing,structural genomics,comparative genomics,and functional ge-nomics for Giardia duodenalis,to provide new ideas for understanding the origins,evolution and pathogenic mechanisms of Giardia,to aid in the diagnosis,design of new veterinary drugs,and development of vaccines for giardiasis.

Aim To compare the pharmacokinetics of pemirolast potassium tablets in healthy subjects in Chi-na under single fasting and postprandial conditions,and to evaluate the bioequivalence of the test prepara-tion(T)and the reference preparation(R).Methods A randomized,open-ended,single-dose,two-cycle,double-cross bioequivalence trial design was adopted,and 26 and 30 subjects were enrolled in the fasting group and the postprandial group,respectively,and 10 mg of the test preparation and the reference preparation were taken in the fasting or postprandial state each cy-cle,and venous blood was collected at the designed time points before and after the administration cycle.The concentration of pemirolast potassium in plasma was determined by LC-MS/MS method,and the phar-macokinetic parameters were calculated with PhoenixTM WinNonlin ?(8.3)software,and the bioequivalence analysis of the two preparations was performed.Re-sults The t1/2 of the test preparation and the reference preparation was(4.44±0.91)h and(4.49±0.93)h,respectively;the median tmax was(1.96±1.29)h and(2.18±1.25)h,respectively;the Cmax was(867.12±205.56)μg·L-1 and(863.35±172.03)μg·L-1,respectively;the AUC0-t was(5 513.23±1463.67)h·μg·L-1 and(5 661.32±1 628.65)h·μg·L-1,respectively;AUC0_∞ was(5 699.81±1477.68)h·μg·L-1 and(5 849.44±1 644.75)h·μg·L-1,respectively.The statistical results of the 90％confidence intervals of the main pharmacokinetic parameters Cmax,AUC0-t,and AUC0-∞ was 92.49％～107.53％,94.71％～100.67％and 95.28％～100.27％,respectively,all of which were within the range of 80.00％～125.00％,and the safety of the tested preparation and the reference preparation was good when taken orally on an empty stomach.The t1/2 of single oral administration after prandial administra-tion of the tested preparation and the reference prepara-tion was(4.46±0.78)and(4.51±0.84)h,respec-tively;the median tmax was(3.08±1.36)h and(3.28±1.28)h,respectively;the Cmax was(683.83±111.87)μg·L-1 and(689.77±110.24)μg·L-1,respectively;the AUC0-t was(5 695.99±1566.05)h·μg·L-1 and(5 773.60±1 551.04)h·μg·L-1,respectively;the AUC0-∞ was(5 914.06±1 551.86)h·μg·L-1 and(5 967.30±1552.89)h·μg·L-1,respectively.The 90％confi-dence interval of Cmax,AUC0-t,and AUC0-∞ was 93.56％～104.69％,96.43％～100.83％,and 97.29％～101.14％,respectively,which was in the range of 80.00％～125.00％,and the safety of the tested preparation and the reference preparation was good after meals.Conclusion In the state of fasting and postprandial single oral administration,the two kinds of pemirolast potassium tablets have good bio-equivalence.

Objective To explore the role of indole-3-propionic acid(IPA)in the pathogenesis of metabolic associated fatty liver disease(MAFLD)induced by high-fat diet(HFD)in order to reveal the role and related mechanism of adipose tissue metabolism in the process.Methods A mouse model of MAFLD was induced by HFD.Male C57BL/6J mice(6～7 weeks old)were randomly divided into control group(CON),HFD group,and HFD+IPA intervention group(HFD+IPA).The CON group was fed with control diet,and the HFD group and HFD+IPA group were fed with 60％of high-fat diet.The experiment period was 12 weeks,and IPA was administered at 20 mg/(kg·d)for 6 weeks starting from the 7th week.The body weight and food intake of each group were monitored weekly.After the intervention,the body composition of mice was detected by animal body composition analyzer.After the mice were euthanized,the morphological and structural changes in the liver and adipose tissues were observed by HE staining,the indicators relevant to lipid metabolism in the serum,l iver and adipose tissues were detected by automatic blood biochemical analyzer and biochemical kits,and the mRNA expression changes of lipid metabolism and inflammation related genes were detected by qRT-PCR.Results Compared with the CON group,the HFD group had significantly increased body weight and body fat percentage,obvious lipid deposition in the liver,obviously elevated serum alanine aminotransferase,aspartate aminotransferase,liver triglyceride and total cholesterol levels(P＜0.05),and raised mRNA levels of liver fatty acid transporter CD36(P＜0.05),while IPA intervention significantly reversed the above changes(P＜0.05).IPA intervention significantly inhibited the HFD-induced enlargement of visceral and brown fat cells,reduced the content of visceral adipose tissue(VAT)and serum level of free fatty acids(P＜0.05),and increased the mRNA expression levels of VAT lipolysis(HSL,CGI58),browning genes(Cidea,ND5,UCP1,Prdm16)(P＜0.05),as well as those of brown adipose tissue(BAT)lipolysis(HSL,ATGL)and fatty acid beta oxidation(Cpt1a,PPARα)genes(P＜0.05).Meanwhile,the mRNA levels of TNF-α,IL-1β,CXCL1 and CCL2 in VAT and BAT were decreased after IPA intervention(P＜0.05).Conclusion IPA can improve the occurrence of MAFLD induced by HFD,and its mechanism may be closely associated with its regulation of BAT and VAT morphology,and the mRNA expression of metabolic function and inflammation related genes.