Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is an increasingly widespread sleep-breathing disordered disease, and is an independent risk factor for many high-risk chronic diseases such as hypertension, coronary heart disease, stroke, arrhythmias and diabetes, which is potentially fatal. The key to the prevention and treatment of OSA is early diagnosis and treatment, so the assessment and diagnostic technologies of OSA have become a research hotspot. This paper reviews the research progresses of severity assessment parameters and diagnostic technologies of OSA, and discusses their future development trends. In terms of severity assessment parameters of OSA, apnea hypopnea index (AHI), as the gold standard, together with the percentage of duration of apnea hypopnea (AH%), lowest oxygen saturation (LSpO₂), heart rate variability (HRV), oxygen desaturation index (ODI) and the emerging biomarkers, constitute a multi-dimensional evaluation system. Specifically, the AHI, which measures the frequency of sleep respiratory events per hour, does not fully reflect the patients’ overall sleep quality or the extent of their daytime functional impairments. To address this limitation, the AH%, which measures the proportion of the entire sleep cycle affected by apneas and hypopneas, deepens our understanding of the impact on sleep quality. The LSpO₂ plays a critical role in highlighting the potential severe hypoxic episodes during sleep, while the HRV offers a different perspective by analyzing the fluctuations in heart rate thereby revealing the activity of the autonomic nervous system. The ODI provides a direct and objective measure of patients’ nocturnal oxygenation stability by calculating the number of desaturation events per hour, and the biomarkers offers novel insights into the diagnosis and management of OSA, and fosters the development of more precise and tailored OSA therapeutic strategies. In terms of diagnostic techniques of OSA, the standardized questionnaire and Epworth sleepiness scale (ESS) is a simple and effective method for preliminary screening of OSA, and the polysomnography (PSG) which is based on recording multiple physiological signals stands for gold standard, but it has limitations of complex operations, high costs and inconvenience. As a convenient alternative, the home sleep apnea testing (HSAT) allows patients to monitor their sleep with simplified equipment in the comfort of their own homes, and the cardiopulmonary coupling (CPC) offers a minimal version that simply analyzes the electrocardiogram (ECG) signals. As an emerging diagnostic technology of OSA, machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI) adeptly pinpoint respiratory incidents and expose delicate physiological changes, thus casting new light on the diagnostic approach to OSA. In addition, imaging examination utilizes detailed visual representations of the airway’s structure and assists in recognizing structural abnormalities that may result in obstructed airways, while sound monitoring technology records and analyzes snoring and breathing sounds to detect the condition subtly, and thus further expands our medical diagnostic toolkit. As for the future development directions, it can be predicted that interdisciplinary integrated researches, the construction of personalized diagnosis and treatment models, and the popularization of high-tech in clinical applications will become the development trends in the field of OSA evaluation and diagnosis.

ObjectiveMagnetoencephalography (MEG), a non-invasive neuroimaging technique, meticulously captures the magnetic fields emanating from brain electrical activity. Compared with MEG based on superconducting quantum interference devices (SQUID), MEG based on optically pump magnetometer (OPM) has the advantages of higher sensitivity, better spatial resolution and lower cost. However, most of the current studies are clinical studies, and there is a lack of animal studies on MEG based on OPM technology. Pain, a multifaceted sensory and emotional phenomenon, induces intricate alterations in brain activity, exhibiting notable sex differences. Despite clinical revelations of pain-related neuronal activity through MEG, specific properties remain elusive, and comprehensive laboratory studies on pain-associated brain activity alterations are lacking. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of inflammatory pain (induced by Complete Freund’s Adjuvant (CFA)) on brain activity in a rat model using the MEG technique, to analysis changes in brain activity during pain perception, and to explore sex differences in pain-related MEG signaling. MethodsThis study utilized adult male and female Sprague-Dawley rats. Inflammatory pain was induced via intraplantar injection of CFA (100 μl, 50% in saline) in the left hind paw, with control groups receiving saline. Pain behavior was assessed using von Frey filaments at baseline and 1 h post-injection. For MEG recording, anesthetized rats had an OPM positioned on their head within a magnetic shield, undergoing two 15-minute sessions: a 5-minute baseline followed by a 10-minute mechanical stimulation phase. Data analysis included artifact removal and time-frequency analysis of spontaneous brain activity using accumulated spectrograms, generating spectrograms focused on the 4-30 Hz frequency range. ResultsMEG recordings in anesthetized rats during resting states and hind paw mechanical stimulation were compared, before and after saline/CFA injections. Mechanical stimulation elevated alpha activity in both male and female rats pre- and post-saline/CFA injections. Saline/CFA injections augmented average power in both sexes compared to pre-injection states. Remarkably, female rats exhibited higher average spectral power 1 h after CFA injection than after saline injection during resting states. Furthermore, despite comparable pain thresholds measured by classical pain behavioral tests post-CFA treatment, female rats displayed higher average power than males in the resting state after CFA injection. ConclusionThese results imply an enhanced perception of inflammatory pain in female rats compared to their male counterparts. Our study exhibits sex differences in alpha activities following CFA injection, highlighting heightened brain alpha activity in female rats during acute inflammatory pain in the resting state. Our study provides a method for OPM-based MEG recordings to be used to study brain activity in anaesthetized animals. In addition, the findings of this study contribute to a deeper understanding of pain-related neural activity and pain sex differences.

The accumulation of uremic toxins such as urea nitrogen, blood creatinine, and uric acid of patients with renal failure in vivo would lead to aggravated kidney damage. In this study, coated aldehyde oxy-starch (CAO) was used as an adsorbent to investigate its in vitro adsorption performance on renal failure indexes for urea, indoxyl sulfate (INS), monomethylamine (MMA), dimethylamine (DMA), uric acid (UA), and creatinine (Cr). The effects of variables such as pH, temperature, concentration, dosage, and time on the adsorption capacity of CAO were systematically investigated, employing analytical techniques of high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and gas chromatography (GC). The results revealed that CAO exhibited a strong adsorption capacity for urea, INS, and MMA, alongside a moderate adsorption capacity for DMA, UA, and Cr. The adsorption kinetics and thermodynamic studies indicated that the adsorption of urea and UA by CAO were fitted in pseudo-first-order kinetics, and the adsorption isotherm aligned with the Freundlich adsorption model. The enthalpy change ΔH of urea in adsorption was in the range of 40 to 60 kJ·mol^-1, which demonstrated the presence of strong adsorption force due to the interactions of coordinating groups. The ΔH of UA was greater than 80 kJ·mol^-1, indicating the generation of chemical bonds during the adsorption. Both of them, Gibbs free energy ΔG was less than 0, within the range of -20 to 0 kJ·mol^-1, suggested that the adsorption of urea and UA by CAO occurred spontaneously as physical adsorption process. The adsorption entropy ΔS of urea and UA was > 0, which indicated an increase in entropy throughout the adsorption. The infrared spectroscopygram showed the formation of a chemical bond, specifically the imine bond, following the adsorption of urea by CAO, thereby indicating a chemical reaction during the adsorption. This study elucidates the adsorption mechanism of CAO on various indexes of renal failure, providing a scientific basis for its clinical usage.

ObjectiveTo investigate the role of 4-week high-intensity interval training (HIIT) in modulating the metabolic homeostasis of the pyruvate-lactate axis in the hippocampus of rats with chronic unpredictable mild stress (CUMS) to improve their depressive-like behavior. MethodsForty-eight SPF-grade 8-week-old male SD rats were randomly divided into 4 groups: the normal quiet group (C), the CUMS quiet group (M), the normal exercise group (HC), and the CUMS exercise group (HM). The M and HM groups received 8 weeks of CUMS modeling, while the HC and HM groups were exposed to 4 weeks of HIIT starting from the 5th week (3 min (85%-90%) S_max+1 min (50%-55%) S_max, 3-5 cycles, S_max is the maximum movement speed). A lactate analyzer was used to detect the blood lactate concentration in the quiet state of rats in the HC and HM groups at week 4 and in the 0, 2, 4, 8, 12, and 24 h after exercise, as well as in the quiet state of rats in each group at week 8. Behavioral indexes such as sucrose preference rate, number of times of uprightness and number of traversing frames in the absenteeism experiment, and other behavioral indexes were used to assess the depressive-like behavior of the rats at week 4 and week 8. The rats were anesthetized on the next day after the behavioral test in week 8, and hippocampal tissues were taken for assay. LC-MS non-targeted metabolomics, target quantification, ELISA and Western blot were used to detect the changes in metabolite content, lactate and pyruvate concentration, the content of key metabolic enzymes in the pyruvate-lactate axis, and the protein expression levels of monocarboxylate transporters (MCTs). Results4-week HIIT intervention significantly increased the sucrose preference rate, the number of uprights and the number of traversed frames in the absent field experiment in CUMS rats; non-targeted metabolomics assay found that 21 metabolites were significantly changed in group M compared to group C, and 14 and 11 differential metabolites were significantly dialed back in the HC and HM groups, respectively, after the 4-week HIIT intervention; the quantitative results of the targeting showed that, compared to group C, lactate concentration in the hippocampal tissues of M group, compared with group C, lactate concentration in hippocampal tissue was significantly reduced and pyruvate concentration was significantly increased, and 4-week HIIT intervention significantly increased the concentration of lactate and pyruvate in hippocampal tissue of HM group; the trend of changes in blood lactate concentration was consistent with the change in lactate concentration in hippocampal tissue; compared with group C, the LDHB content of group M was significantly increased, the content of PKM2 and PDH, as well as the protein expression level of MCT2 and MCT4 were significantly reduced. The 4-week HIIT intervention upregulated the PKM2 and PDH content as well as the protein expression levels of MCT2 and MCT4 in the HM group. ConclusionThe 4-week HIIT intervention upregulated blood lactate concentration and PKM2 and PDH metabolizing enzymes in hippocampal tissues of CUMS rats, and upregulated the expression of MCT2 and MCT4 transport carrier proteins to promote central lactate uptake and utilization, which regulated metabolic homeostasis of the pyruvate-lactate axis and improved depressive-like behaviors.

Comprehensive occupational hazard risk assessment in employers is a core component of the pilot program for occupational health classification supervision and law enforcement. The quality and effectiveness of classification-based supervision are directly affected by both the assessment process and its outcomes. However, several issues have emerged since the implementation of the pilot program on the comprehensive risk assessment, including an excessive number of self-assessment items, lack of implementation basis for certain self-assessment items, misinterpretation for certain self-assessment items, inconsistencies between evaluation criteria and existing standards, incomplete implementation of some items, omission of comprehensive risk assessment elements, unclear definitions of key industries and key occupational hazards, and inconvenient assessment procedures on comprehensive risk assessment. To enhance the applicability, accuracy, and objectivity of the comprehensive risk assessments conducted by employers, it is recommended to optimize self-assessment items, standardize risk assessment content, tailor comprehensive risk assessments to actual workplace conditions, refine the identification of key industries and key occupational hazards, improve comprehensive risk assessment methodologies, and establish clear grading rules for the comprehensive risk assessment.

Aim To explore the improvement effect of Bazi Bushen capsule on thymic degeneration in SAMP6 mice and the possible mechanism.Methods Twenty 12 week old male SAMP6 mice were randomly divided into the model group(SAMP6)and the Bazi Busheng capsule treatment group(SAMP6+BZBS).Ten SAMR1 mice were assigned to a homologous control group(SAMR1).The SAMP6+BZBS group was oral-ly administered Bazi Bushen capsule suspension(2.8 g·kg-1)daily,while the other two groups were orally administered an equal amount of distilled water.After nine weeks of administration,the morphology of the thymus in each group was observed and the thymus in-dex was calculated;HE staining was used to observe the structural changes of thymus tissue;SA-β-gal stai-ning was used to detect thymic aging;flow cytometry was used to detect the proportion of thymic CD3+T cells in each group;Western blot was used to detect the levels of p16,Bax,Bcl-2,and cleaved caspase-3 proteins in thymus;immunofluorescence was applied to detect the proportion of cortical thymic epithelial cells in each group;ELISA was employed to detect IL-7 lev-els in thymus.Results Compared with the SAMP6 group,the thymic index of the SAMP6+BZBS group significantly increased(P＜0.05);the disordered thy-mic structure was significantly improved;the positive proportion of SA-β-gal staining significantly decreased(P＜0.01);the proportion of CD3+T cells apparently increased(P＜0.05);the level of p16 protein signifi-cantly decreased(P＜0.05);the level of Bcl-2 pro-tein significantly increased(P＜0.05),while the lev-el of cleaved caspase-3 protein markedly decreased(P＜0.05);the proportion of cortical thymic epithelial cells evidently increased;the level of IL-7 significantly increased(P＜0.01).Conclusions Bazi Bushen capsule can delay thymic degeneration,inhibit cell ap-optosis in thymus and promote thymic cell development in SAMP6 mice,which may be related to increasing the proportion of cortical thymic epithelial cells and promoting IL-7 secretion.

Objective To compare screw versus Kirschner wire fixation in the treatment of lateral humeral condyle frac-tures in children.Methods A systematic search was conducted in PubMed,Embase,the Cochrane library,Web of Science,China National Knowledge Internet(CNKI),Wanfang Datebase from in ception to February 2022.Studies comparing screws and Kirschner wire fixation in the treatment of lateral humeral condyle fractures in children were included.Outcome measures included and excluded by a set of inclusion and exclusion criteria and evaluated for their quality,their excellent and good rate of fracture healing,malunion,delayed union or nonunion,infection,limitation of elbow flexion or extension(＞10°)were ex-tracted and analyzed using software Rev Man 5.3.Results A total of 9 retrospective studies involving 647 patients were includ-ed,with 255 patients in the screw fixation group(including screw combined with Kirschner wire)and 392 patients in the Kirschner wire fixation group.Meta analysis showed the following:infection rate in the screw group was significantly lower than that in the Kirschner wire group[OR=0.22,95％CI(0.09,0.56),P=0.001].There were no significant differences between the 2 groups in excellent and good rate of fracture healing,malunion rate(P＞0.05).Subgroup analysis showed that infection rate in the screw-only group was significantly lower than that in the Kirschner wire group[OR=0.18,95％CI(0.05,0.65),P=0.009].Conclusion For lateral humeral condyle fractures,Screw fixation alone had a lower infection rate than kirschner wire fixation and screw combined with Kirschner wire fixation.There were no significant differences in the excellent and good rate of fracture healing,malunion.In terms of postoperative efficacy and safety of internal fixation,orthopaedic surgeons are more like-ly to recommend screws for fixation of lateral humeral condyle fractures in children.

The molecular epidemiological characteristics of 1,4,[5],12:i:-Salmonella in Jiangsu Province were analyzed through whole genome sequencing(WGS).The distribution characteristics of related genes were obtained on the basis of anno-tated drug-resistant genes and plasmid types in the whole genome.Analysis of the molecular epidemiological characteristics of strains with cgMLST revealed possible modes of transmission of quinolone resistance in 1,4,[5],12:i:-Salmonella.Eleven cat-egories of antibiotic resistance genes(ARGs)were annotated among the fluoroquinolone-resistant strains.The detection rate of aminoglycoside ARGs was highest(100％).Twelve quinolone-resistant strains(92.3％)carried the IncHI2/IncHI2A plasmid type.PMQR gene analysis of various strains indicated that the strains from the United States and Europe carried six types of PMQR genes,and the detection rate of qnrB19 was highest.The Jiangsu strains carried three PMQR gene types,and the de-tection rate of aac(6')-Ib-cr was highest(11.84％).Analysis of cgMLST loci from different countries/regions revealed three main epidemic clusters.Some isolates from Jiangsu province might have the same evolutionary origin as some isolates from Eu-rope and the United States,and national/regional differences were observed in the PMQR gene carriage level.

AIM To investigate the effects of Zuogui Jiangtang Tongmai Recipe on necroptosis pathway in a rat model of type 2 diabetes mellitus(T2DM)complicated with cerebral infarction(CI).METHODS The SD rats were randomly divided into the sham operation group,the model group,the metformin group(0.045 g/kg),and the low,medium and high dose Zuogui Jiangtang Tongmai Recipe groups(6.5,13,26 g/kg),with 9 rats in each group.In contrast to rats of the sham operation group,rats of the other groups were given 4 weeks feeding of high-sugar and high-fat diet combined with intraperitoneal injection of streptozotocin to establish a T2DM rat model with one week stable blood glucose,followed by gavage of corresponding drugs 3 days before the establishment of the middle cerebral artery occlusion(MCAO)model.After 7 days of administration,the rats had their CI injury assessed by mNSS method and TTC staining;their level of blood glucose detected by blood glucose meter;their levels of glycated serum protein,serum TNF-α and IL-1β detected by ELISA;their cerebral mRNA expressions of FADD,RIPK1,RIPK3 and MLKL detected by RT-qPCR;and their cerebral protein expressions of FADD,p-RIPK1,p-RIPK3 and p-MLKL detected by Western blot.RESULTS Compared with the sham operation group,the model group displayed increased levels of blood glucose value,glycosylated serum protein,neurological function score,cerebral infarction volume,cerebral FADD,RIPK1,RIPK3 and MLKL mRNA expressions,cerebral FADD,p-RIPK1,p-RIPK3 and p-MLKL protein expressions,serum TNF-α and IL-1β levels(P＜0.01);and more disordered and morphologically diverse neurons with smaller nucleus.Compared with the model group,the groups intervened with medium or high dose Zuogui Jiangtang Tongmai Recipe,or metformin shared improvement in terms of the aforementioned indices(P＜0.05,P＜0.01);and more neurons with regular morphology neat arrangement,and reduced cell gap.CONCLUSION Zuogui Jiangtang Tongmai Recipe can improve the neurological dysfunction of the rat model of T2DM complicated with CI,which may associate with the inhibited activation of necroptosis signaling pathway.

Objective To compare the efficacy and safety of three kinds of endoscopic minimally invasive treatment of internal hemorrhoids.Methods The clinical data of 222 patients with internal hemorrhoids who underwent endoscopic treatment in Shangyu People's Hospital of Shaoxing from January 2020 to June 2023 were retrospectively analyzed.According to the treatment method,the patients were divided into simple sclerotherapy group(40 cases),simple ligation group(114 cases)and combined group(68 cases).The perioperative indexes,postoperative adverse events,effective rate and satisfaction of three groups were compared.Results There was significant difference in operation time among three groups(P＜0.05),and the operation time of simple ligation group was the shortest.There was no significant difference in postoperative hospital stay among three groups(P＞0.05).The incidences of anal distention,postoperative pain and dysuria in simple ligation group and combined group were significantly higher than those in simple sclerotherapy group(P＜0.05).The incidence of postoperative bleeding in simple ligation group was significantly higher than that in simple sclerotherapy group and combined group(P＜0.05).There was significant difference in treatment effectiveness among three groups(P＜0.05),and combined treatment had the best effect.The satisfaction of three groups was higher,and the difference was not statistically significant(P＞0.05).Conclusion The three endoscopic minimally invasive treatment methods for internal hemorrhoids are safe and effective.Ligation combined with sclerotherapy can effectively improve symptoms,and the postoperative delayed bleeding are low,which is a safe and efficient treatment method.