Objective To explore the efficacy and safety of endoscopic retrograde appendicitis therapy (ERAT) for pediatric acute appendicitis. Methods Thirty-five pediatric patients with acute simple appendicitis admitted between June 2021 and November 2023 were selected as study subjects. Relevant perioperative data including clinical manifestations, diagnostic and therapeutic processes, as well as treatment and follow-up outcomes were collected. Results All 35 patients successfully underwent ERAT with an operation time ranging from 24 to 75 min. Intubation of the appendiceal lumen was successful in all patients, with pus flushed out or stones removed. After contrast administration and flushing, 16 patients were found to have pus only in the appendiceal lumen with no appendicoliths, while 19 patients had both pus and visible appendicoliths with diameters ranging from 2 to 5 mm. Of 19 patients, 17 appendicoliths were loose and 2 were well-formed. Abdominal pain symptoms were alleviated within a short period, with the average VAS score decreasing from 6.6 preoperatively to 1.7 at 3 hours postoperatively and to 0.2 at 24 hours postoperatively. There was a statistically significant difference in Visual Analogue Scale(VAS) scores before and after surgery (P < 0.05). During follow-up ranging from 3 to 11 months postoperatively, appendicitis recurred in one patient one week after ERAT, while no surgery-related complications occurred in the other patients during follow-up. Conclusion ERAT is a safe and effective endoscopic treatment for pediatric acute appendicitis, with advantages including reduced trauma and shorter recovery time. It is particularly suitable for pediatric patients with acute simple appendicitis complicated by appendicoliths, appendiceal lumen stenosis, or intra-appendiceal abscesses.

OBJECTIVE: To summarize the research progress of stem cell transplantation in treating spinal cord injury (SCI) at different stages based on the pathophysiological mechanism of SCI. METHODS: The relevant research literature at home and abroad was extensively reviewed to explore the impact of transplantation timing on the effectiveness of stem cell transplantation in treating SCI. RESULTS: Researchers performed different types of stem cell transplantation for subjects at different stages of SCI through different transplantation approaches. Clinical trials have proved the safety and feasibility of stem cell transplantation at acute, subacute, and chronic stages, which can alleviate inflammation at the injured site and restore the function of the damaged nerve cells. But the reliable clinical trials comparing the effectiveness of stem cell transplantation at different stages of SCI are still lacking. CONCLUSION Stem cell transplantation has a good prospect in treating SCI. In the future, the multi-center, large sample randomized controlled clinical trials are needed, with a focus on the long-term effectiveness of stem cell transplantation.
Humans ; Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation ; Neurons ; Recovery of Function/physiology* ; Spinal Cord ; Spinal Cord Injuries/surgery* ; Stem Cell Transplantation

Objective To investigate ecological isolation between Oncomelania hupensis snail populations in hilly regions and marshland and lake regions in Yuanjiang valley, Changde City, Hunan Province, and to unravel its underlying mechanisms. Methods Taoyuan County, Shimen County, Linli County and Lixian County in Changde City were selected as snail sampling sites in hilly regions, and Lixian County, Jinshi City, West Lake Administration District, Hanshou County and Dingcheng District were selected as snail sampling sites in marshland and lake areas. Cytochrome C oxidase 1 (cox 1) gene was amplified in snail samples and sequenced. The genetic sequences of O. hupensis snails were aligned using the software MEGA 11, and the haplotypes of O. hupensis snails were determined using the software DNASP 5.10.01. The phylogenetic tree was generated using Bayesian inference with the software MrBayes 3.2, and analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) was performed to analyze the source of genetic divergence and estimate the genetic divergence index (F_ST) among snail populations with the software Arlequin 3.5.2.2. The genetic barrier among 11 O. hupensis snail populations was estimated using the Monmonier algorithm of adegenet toolkit in R package. The settings with “land in winter and water in summer” in the Yuanjian River section were divided into two categories according to the upstream and downstream, and the areas with “land in winter and water in summer” in the upstream and downstream were transformed into raster data, and then loaded into the software Fragstats 4 for analysis of landscape indicators. The trends in changes of digital elevation were extracted from the Yuanjiang River section based on the digital elevation model, and made three-dimensional visualization using the R package. Results The mitochondrial cox 1 gene were amplified in 165 O. hupensis snais from 11 sampling sites and sequenced, and a total of 152 valid gene sequences were obtained, with 46 haplotypes or 9 populations determined. No haplotype was shared in snails between Taoyuan County and Dingcheng District and Hanshou County along the downstream of the Yuanjiang River. The total area of settings with “land in winter and water in summer” was 617.66 hm² in the upsteram of the Yuanjiang River, which consisted of 473 patches, with each patch measuring 1.31 hm², the largest area index of 0.735 2, the landscape division index of 0.999 9, and the landscape shape index of 45.293 7. The total area of settings with “land in winter and water in summer” was 9 956.92 hm² in the downstream of the Yuanjiang River, which consisted of 771 patches, with each patch measuring 12.91 hm², the largest area index of 97.839 9, the landscape division index of 0.042 7, and the landscape shape index of 7.249 6. The area of settings with “land in winter and water in summer” was much larger in the downstream than that in the upstream of the Yuanjiang River, and the stronger landscape connectivity and non-remarkable alteration of riverbed elevation provided suitable habitats for snail breeding. Conclusion The hydrological and environmental characteristics of the upstream of the Yuanjiang River restrain the breeding and spread of O. hupensis, resulting in ecological isolation between Oncomelania hupensis in Taoyuan County and those in the downstream of Yuanjiang River.

Objective:To investigate the association between skin advanced glycation end products (AGEs) and carotid atherosclerosis (AS) in subjects with normal glucose regulation (NGR).Methods:This was a cross-sectional study. Data from the Health Management Center of the First Affiliated Hospital of University of Science and Technology between January 2019 to June 2019 were collected. A total of 902 NGR subjects aged 40-79 were enrolled and categorized into control group (530 cases), carotid intima-media thickness (IMT) thickening group (150 cases), and carotid atherosclerosis plaque group (222 cases) based on the carotid ultrasound results. Data as follows were collected, gender, age, blood pressure, body mass index (BMI), triglyceride (TG), total cholesterol (TC), high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), fasting blood glucose (FPG), glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA 1c) and skin AGEs. Comparison via ANOVA analysis were carried out among the 3 groups. Logistic regression analysis was used to screen the independent influencing factors of carotid atherosclerosis plaque. Spearman correlation analysis was used to evaluate the correlation between AGEs and other parameters, and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to evaluate the efficiency of skin AGEs in predicting carotid atherosclerosis plaque in NGR subjects. Results:Among the control group, IMT thickening group and carotid atherosclerosis plaque group, gender, age, systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), TC, LDL-C, FPG, HbA 1c, AGEs were significantly different (all P<0.05). Compared with IMT thickening group, the age, SBP and AGEs of carotid atherosclerotic plaque group were higher [55 (50, 60) vs 53 (49, 56) year; 132 (122, 141) vs 126 (115, 142) mmHg(1 mmHg=0.133 kPa); 74 (67, 81) vs 72 (67, 78) AU] (all P<0.001); compared with the control group, age, LDL-C, HbA 1c and AGEs of IMT thickening group were higher [53 (49, 56) vs 48 (45, 52) year; (2.8±0.7) vs (2.7±0.7) mmol/L; 5.4% (5.2, 5.6)% vs 5.4% (5.1, 5.6)%; 72 (67, 78) vs 70 (66, 76)] (all P<0.05). Age ( OR=1.179, 95% CI: 1.107-1.255), SBP ( OR=1.045, 95% CI: 1.013-1.077), LDL-C ( OR=2.028, 95% CI: 1.036-3.969), AGEs ( OR=1.049, 95% CI: 1.000-1.100) were independent influencing factors of carotid atherosclerotic plaque in population with normal glucose regulated (all P<0.05). AGEs was positively correlated with age, HbA 1c and carotid atherosclerosis plaque ( r=0.407, 0.092, 0.172) (all P<0.01). The area under the ROC curve of skin AGEs for identifying carotid atherosclerotic plaque in NGR population was 0.650 (95% CI 0.601-0.698), the best cutoff value was 70.5, the sensitivity was 65.8%, and the specificity was 56.9%. Conclusion:Skin AGEs level is closely associated with the occurrence of carotid atherosclerosis in NGR subjects.

In deep learning-based image registration, the deformable region with complex anatomical structures is an important factor affecting the accuracy of network registration. However, it is difficult for existing methods to pay attention to complex anatomical regions of images. At the same time, the receptive field of the convolutional neural network is limited by the size of its convolution kernel, and it is difficult to learn the relationship between the voxels with far spatial location, making it difficult to deal with the large region deformation problem. Aiming at the above two problems, this paper proposes a cascaded multi-level registration network model based on transformer, and equipped it with a difficult deformable region perceptron based on mean square error. The difficult deformation perceptron uses sliding window and floating window techniques to retrieve the registered images, obtain the difficult deformation coefficient of each voxel, and identify the regions with the worst registration effect. In this study, the cascaded multi-level registration network model adopts the difficult deformation perceptron for hierarchical connection, and the self-attention mechanism is used to extract global features in the basic registration network to optimize the registration results of different scales. The experimental results show that the method proposed in this paper can perform progressive registration of complex deformation regions, thereby optimizing the registration results of brain medical images, which has a good auxiliary effect on the clinical diagnosis of doctors.
Algorithms ; Neural Networks, Computer ; Image Processing, Computer-Assisted/methods*

【Objective】 To explore the surgical characteristics and clinical efficacy of percutaneous endoscopic visualization trephine for thoracic spinal stenosis. 【Methods】 We made a retrospective analysis of 37 patients with single-segment thoracic spinal stenosis treated with percutaneous endoscopic visualization trephine from January 2019 to June 2020. Among them， there were 14 males and 23 females； their age ranged from 31 to 82 years old， with an average of （57.6±11.8） years old. Their posture， length of hospital stay， length of operation and blood loss were recorded. The visual analogue scale （VAS）， Oswestry disability index （ODI） and the modified Japanese Orthopaedic Association （JOA） score were used to evaluate the preoperative and final conditions of patients and calculate the improvement rate. 【Results】 The operation was successfully completed in all the patients， and no patients developed epidural hematoma， incision infection or postoperative paralysis. Among the 37 patients， 24 ones with ossification of ligamentum flavum （OLF） were in the prone position， and 13 patients had lateral surgery. Among them， thoracic disc herniation （TDH） occurred in 3 cases， OPLL in 5 cases and OLF+OPLL in 5 cases. The hospital stay was （7.2±1.6） days， the operation time was （96.5±20.0） min， and the blood loss was （41.9±10.8） mL. VAS score decreased from （7.0±0.9） to （1.9±0.8）； ODI improved from （41.7±2.1） to （16.1±1.7）； and JOA score increased from （5.8±1.4） to （8.6±1.4）. The preoperative and postoperative differences were statistically significant （P<0.05）. 【Conclusion】 Percutaneous endoscopic visualization of thoracic spinal stenosis is treated by choosing different positions according to the type of compression. The spinal canal is fully decompressed. The surgical method is safe and minimally invasive， and the postoperative effect is satisfactory.

Objective:To evaluate the accuracy of an ultrasound-guided robot-assisted system for percutaneous facet joint puncture in an animal experiment by registration of ultrasound images and two-dimensional X-ray fluorescence images.Methods:Six specimens of fresh adult sheep lumbar spine were prepared and soaked in gelatin solution. The specimens contained a total of 48 facet joints with 24 ones respectively on the left and right sides. Half of the joints were assigned by the random number table method into a robot-assisted group which were subjected to percutaneous facet joint puncture assisted by the ultrasound-guided robot-assisted system while the contralateral ones into a freehand group which were subjected to percutaneous facet joint puncture by freehand. In the robot-assisted group, the left facet joints were 3 L 1, 3 L 2, 3 L 3 and 3 L 4 ones while the right facet joints were 2 L 1, 3 L 2, 5 L 3 and 2 L 4 ones. In this self-control animal experiment, both the robot-assisted punctures and the freehand punctures were carried out in the same specimen. The puncture success rate, puncture needle adjustment, positioning deviation, orientation deviation and operation time were recorded. Results:The positioning deviation and orientation deviation in the robot-assisted group [(2.21 ± 1.12) mm and 1.51° ± 0.47°] were significantly lower than those in the freehand group [(3.26 ± 1.44) mm and 2.24° ± 0.89°] ( P < 0.05). All the articular facet joint punctures were successfully accomplished for the first time in the robot-assisted group while those required multiple adjustments in the freehand group. In the robot-assisted group, the total operation time [(463.84 ± 34.93) s] was significantly longer than that in the freehand group [(298.40 ± 27.48) s], but the puncture time [(37.97 ± 6.87) s] was significantly shorter than that in the freehand group [(261.61 ± 33.15) s] ( P < 0.05). Conclusion:The ultrasound-guided robot-assisted system for percutaneous facet joint puncture can lead to accurate puncture with limited needle adjustments.

To date, there is no report on the genetic diversity of ticks in these regions. A total of 370 representative ticks from the south and east regions of Kazakhstan (SERK) and Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR) were selected for molecular comparison. A fragment of the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (cox1) gene, ranging from 631 bp to 889 bp, was used to analyze genetic diversity among these ticks. Phylogenetic analyses indicated 7 tick species including Hyalomma asiaticum, Hyalomma detritum, Hyalomma anatolicum, Dermacentor marginatus, Rhipicephalus sanguineus, Rhipicephalus turanicus and Haemaphysalis erinacei from the SERK clustered together with conspecific ticks from the XUAR. The network diagram of haplotypes showed that i) Hy. asiaticum from Almaty and Kyzylorda Oblasts together with that from Yuli County of XUAR constituted haplogroup H-2, and the lineage from Chimkent City of South Kazakhstan was newly evolved; and ii) the R. turanicus ticks sampled in Israel, Almaty, South Kazakhstan, Usu City, Ulugqat and Baicheng Counties of XUAR were derivated from an old lineage in Alataw City of XUAR. These findings indicate that: i) Hy. asiaticum, R. turanicus and Ha. erinacei shared genetic similarities between the SERK and XUAR; and ii) Hy. marginatum and D. reticulatus show differences in their evolution.

Objective:To investigate the clinical effects of robot-assisted minimally invasive percutaneous pedicle screwing in the treatment of multi-segmental thoracolumbar burst fractures without neurological dysfunction.Methods:A retrospective analysis was conducted of the 24 patients who had been treated at Department of Orthopaedics, Hospital Affiliated to Inner Mongolia Medical University for multi-segmental thoracolumbar fractures from January 2019 to December 2020. They were randomly divided into a robot group ( n=12) in which the minimally invasive percutaneous pedicle screwing was assisted by a surgical robot and a manual group ( n=12) in which the minimally invasive percutaneous pedicle screwing was performed manually. There were 8 males and 4 females in the robot group, aged from 35 to 74 years; there were 7 males and 5 females in the manual group, aged from 36 to 69 years. The clinical effects were evaluated by comparing the 2 groups in terms of operation time, fluoroscopy frequency, fluoroscopy time, intra-operative needle adjustments, intra-operative blood loss, screwing accuracy, and visual analogue scale (VAS) scores, anterior vertebral height ratios and sagittal cobb angles at preoperation, postoperative 3 days and the last follow-up. Results:There was no statistically significant difference in the preoperative general data between the 2 groups, showing comparability ( P>0.05). A total of 128 screws were implanted in the robot group and 126 ones in the manual group. In the robotic group, operation time [(129.2±10.5) min], fluoroscopy frequency [(8.5±2.1) times], fluoroscopy time [(9.8±1.9) s], guide needle adjustments [(2.3±1.4) times], and intraoperative blood loss [(65.3±9.8) mL] were significantly less than those in the manual group [(153.8±18.1) min, (39.8±5.1) times, (43.9±4.8) s, (18.6±2.6) times and (96.8±10.9) mL] (all P<0.05). Regarding the screwing accuracy evaluated using CT scanning, the robot group was significantly higher (93.75%, 120/128) than the manual group (84.92%, 107/126) ( P<0.05). There was no significant difference between the 2 groups in VAS score, anterior vertebral height ratio or sagittal cobb angle at postoperative 3 days or the last follow-up ( P>0.05). The VAS scores, anterior vertebral height ratios and sagittal cobb angles at postoperative 3 days and the last follow-up were significantly improved than the preoperative values in all patients ( P<0.05). There was no supplementary surgery or screw loosening in either of the 2 groups. Conclusion:In the treatment of multi-segmental thoracolumbar fractures, robot-assisted percutaneous pedicle screwing can achieve satisfactory clinical effects, because, compared with traditional open surgery, it has exhibited advantages of less operation time, lower radiation exposure, less intraoperative blood loss, and higher screwing accuracy.

Objective To explore the effects of the interfacial debonding caused by water environment in the mouth and the interfacial defects between the crown and cement on stress distributions in all-ceramic crowns. Methods The three-dimensional solid model of lithium disilicate CAD/CAM crowns for the first mandibular molar was established. Seven debonding states between inferior surface of the crown and top surface of the cement (Stage 1-7) as well as two interfacial defects (Case I and II) were defined in finite element software ABAQUS. The bottom of nine models was completely constrained. For stress calculation, the 600 N vertical load was applied at occlusal surface via an analytical rigid hemisphere with the diameter of 5 mm. Results Under occlusal vertical load, the stress on interior of the crown and top surface of the cement was mainly distributed at the boundary of the debonding areas and margin of the defects. The first principle stress on interior of the crown did not exceed its ultimate tensile strength, but the maximum tensile stress of the cement exceeded its ultimate tensile strength, leading to cohesive failure in the cement. Conclusions The axial wall played a critical role in maintaining the principal tensile stress of the crown at a lower level. The defects at bonding interface between the crown and cement had a more significantly impact on load capacity of the crown than the increase in debonding areas. In order to improve load bearing capacities of all-ceramic crowns, attention should be paid to avoid defects in clinical prosthodontic practices.