Objective:To assess the effectiveness of a 6-month Ba Duan Jin exercise program in improving the balance of community-dwelling older adults.Methods:A two arms, parallel-group, cluster randomized controlled trial was conducted in 1 028 community residents aged 60-80 years in 40 communities in 5 provinces of China. Participants in the intervention group (20 communities, 523 people) received Ba Duan Jin exercise 5 days/week, 1 hour/day for 6 months, and three times of falls prevention health education, and the control group (20 communities, 505 people) received falls prevention health education same as the intervention group. The Berg balance scale (BBS) score was the leading outcome indicator, and the secondary outcome indicators included the length of time of standing on one foot (with eyes open and closed), standing in a tandem stance (with eyes open and closed), the closed circle test, and the timed up to test.Results:A total of 1 028 participants were included in the final analysis, including 731 women (71.11%) and 297 men (28.89%), and the age was (69.87±5.67) years. After the 3-month intervention, compared with the baseline data, the BBS score of the intervention group was significantly higher than the control group by 3.05 (95% CI: 2.23-3.88) points ( P<0.001). After the 6-month intervention, compared with the baseline data, the BBS score of the intervention group was significantly higher than the control group by 4.70 (95% CI: 4.03-5.37) points ( P<0.001). Ba Duan Jin showed significant improvement ( P<0.05) in all secondary outcomes after 6 months of exercise in the intervention group compared with the control group. Conclusions:This study showed that Ba Duan Jin exercise can improve balance in community-dwelling older adults aged 60-80. The longer the exercise time, the better the improvement.

Objective:To analyze the short-term efficacy and safety of tislelizumab combined with neoadjuvant chemotherapy in the treatment of resectable esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) .Methods:The clinical data of 56 patients with ESCC who received neoadjuvant therapy combined with surgical resection in the Department of Thoracic Surgery, Affiliated Hospital of Guangdong Medical University from April 2021 to October 2023 were collected. According to the different preoperative neoadjuvant therapy methods, the patients were divided into neoadjuvant chemotherapy combined with immunotherapy group (chemoimmunization group, n=24) and neoadjuvant chemotherapy group (chemotherapy group, n=32). The postoperative tumor regression grade, objective response rate (ORR), disease control rate (DCR), pathological complete response (pCR) rate, major pathological remssion (MPR) rate, R0 resection rate, perioperative indicators, and security were compared between the two groups. Results:In chemoimmunization group, the tumor regression grade was better than that in chemotherapy group, with a statistically significant difference ( Z=9.39, P=0.025). The ORR and the DCR were 75.00% (18/24) and 91.67% (22/24) in chemoimmunization group, and 46.88% (15/32) and 65.62% (21/32) in chemotherapy group, with statistically significant differences ( χ2=4.48, P=0.034; χ2=5.21, P=0.022). The R0 resection rate was 87.50% (21/24) in chemoimmunization group, which was higher than that of the chemotherapy group [59.38% (19/32) ], with a statistically significant difference ( χ2=5.31, P=0.021). The pCR rate and MPR rate were 29.17% (7/24) and 54.17% (13/24) in chemoimmunization group, and 6.25% (2/32) and 28.12% (9/32) in chemotherapy group, there was no statistically significant difference in pCR rate ( χ2=3.78, P=0.052), but there was a statistically significant difference in MPR rate ( χ2=3.89, P=0.048). The interval between the end of neoadjuvant treatment and the start of surgery was (42.71±8.29) days in chemoimmunization group, and (42.25±8.03) days in chemotherapy group. The intraoperative blood loss of patients was (215.54±57.85) ml in chemoimmunization group, and (229.65±57.74) ml in chemotherapy group. The operation time of patients was (293.52±37.50) minutes in chemoimmunization group, and (295.31±37.66) minutes in chemotherapy group. The postoperative hospitalization time of patients was (17.90±3.49) days in chemoimmunization group, and (18.42±3.82) days in chemotherapy group, all with no statistically significant differences ( t=0.21, P=0.835; t=0.90, P=0.370; t=0.18, P=0.861; t=0.52, P=0.603). In terms of postoperative complications, there was no statistically significant difference in the total incidence of postoperative complications between the two groups [62.50% (15/24) vs. 84.38% (27/32), χ2=0.59, P=0.440]. The main adverse drug reactions in the two groups included decreased white blood cell count, nausea and vomiting, liver dysfunction, pruritus, hypothyroidism, etc. Most of them were grade 1-2, 3 cases were grade 3, and no grade 4 adverse reactions occurred. The total incidence of adverse reactions was 62.50% (15/24) in chemoimmunization group, and 65.62% (21/32) in chemotherapy group, with no statistically significant difference ( χ2=0.06, P=0.809) . Conclusion:For the preoperative neoadjuvant therapy of resectable ESCC, the combination of tislelizumab and chemotherapy has better short-term efficacy and better safety than the single chemotherapy scheme, which can improve the surgical efficacy.

The purpose of this study was to explore the role and mechanism of transient receptor potential M₂ (TRPM₂) in antigen-induced arthritis (AIA) mice. Twelve C57BL/6 mice and 12 TRPM₂ knockout mice were divided into 4 groups, includingwild type control group, wild type AIA group, TRPM₂ knockout control group and TRPM₂ knockout AIA group, with 6 mice in each group. Methylated bovine serum albumin (mBSA) was used to establish AIA mouse model. The degree of joint swelling and inflammatory cell infiltration were recorded, as well as synovial hyperplasia of the knee joints. Real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was used to detect the expression of interleukin (IL)-6, IL-8, chemokine ligand 6 (CXCL-6) and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFα) mRNA in synovial cells of knee joints. The results showed that compared with the wild-type AIA group, the TRPM₂ knockout AIA group had more significant synovial proliferation and inflammatory cell infiltration in the synovial tissue.The neutrophil and macrophage counts rather than monocytes in the knee joints of TRPM₂ knockout AIA group were higher than those in wild-type AIA mice. The expression of IL-6, IL-8 and CXCL-6 mRNA were significantly increased in the knock out mice. In summary, TRPM₂ may inhibit inflammatory cytokines such as IL-6 and IL-8 in knee joints of AIA mice by reducing the infiltration of neutrophils and macrophages, the refore alleviates the manifestations of knee arthritis.

Protein nitration and nitrosylation are essential post-translational modifications (PTMs) involved in many fundamental cellular processes. Recent studies have revealed that excessive levels of nitration and nitrosylation in some critical proteins are linked to numerous chronic diseases. Therefore, the identification of substrates that undergo such modifications in a site-specific manner is an important research topic in the community and will provide candidates for targeted therapy. In this study, we aimed to develop a computational tool for predicting nitration and nitrosylation sites in proteins. We first constructed four types of encoding features, including positional amino acid distributions, sequence contextual dependencies, physicochemical properties, and position-specific scoring features, to represent the modified residues. Based on these encoding features, we established a predictor called DeepNitro using deep learning methods for predicting protein nitration and nitrosylation. Using n-fold cross-validation, our evaluation shows great AUC values for DeepNitro, 0.65 for tyrosine nitration, 0.80 for tryptophan nitration, and 0.70 for cysteine nitrosylation, respectively, demonstrating the robustness and reliability of our tool. Also, when tested in the independent dataset, DeepNitro is substantially superior to other similar tools with a 7%-42% improvement in the prediction performance. Taken together, the application of deep learning method and novel encoding schemes, especially the position-specific scoring feature, greatly improves the accuracy of nitration and nitrosylation site prediction and may facilitate the prediction of other PTM sites. DeepNitro is implemented in JAVA and PHP and is freely available for academic research at http://deepnitro.renlab.org.
Amino Acid Sequence ; Amino Acids ; metabolism ; Deep Learning ; Humans ; Internet ; Neural Networks (Computer) ; Nitrosation ; Proteins ; chemistry ; metabolism ; Reproducibility of Results ; Software

[Objective]To observe the dynamic changes of serum LH levels in different GnRH-along protocols ,and investigate the relationship between GnRH-adosage and LH levels ,and compare the clinical outcomes among different GnRH-a long protocols.[Methods]In this retrospective study,1.0 mg,0.8 mg,0.375 mg long-acting and 0.1 mg/d,0.05 mg/d short-acting GnRH-a long protocols were included from January to June in 2015 at the Reproductive Medicine Center of the First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-Sen University. Serum LH levels were evaluated from a total of 250 women at the four time points,on the day before gonadotropin stimulation(Gn0),the fourth day of Gn stimulation(Gn4),the seventh day of Gn stimulation(Gn7),and the HCG administration day(HCG day),then the relationship between serum LH levels and the dosage of GnRH-a were analyzed. The number of oocytes retrieved,fertilization rate,good quality embryos rate,blastocyst transferred rate,the number of transferred embryos,implantation rate and clinical pregnancy rate were also compared.[Results]Among the long-acting groups,LH levels in 0.375 mg group were higher than those in 1.0 mg and 0.8 mg groups at the four time points(P<0.05). Total Gn dose,duration of Gnstimualtion and HMG dosage of 1.0 mg protocol and 0.8 mg protocol were significantly higher than those of 0.375 mg group(P < 0.05). In addition,the implantation rate showed an increasing tendency when the level of LH increases(P>0.05). In short-acting groups,the LH levels in 0.05 mg/d protocol were significantly lower than those in the 0.1 mg/d group at Gn0,Gn7 and HCG day(P<0.05). Total Gn dose,du?ration of Gn stimulation and HMG dosage did not show significant difference between 0.05mg and 0.1mg group. What′s more,the im?plantation rate in 0.1 mg/d group was higher than in 0.05 mg/d group(P>0.05).[Conclusion]Among the long-acting groups,the smaller amount of GnRH-a was administrated ,the higher LH levels during ovarian stimulation and implantation rate the patients ob?tained. As to the short-acting groups,the LH level and implantation rate in 0.1 mg/d group is higher than those in 0.05 mg/d group.

BACKGROUND:As the bone and marrow tissue have very special structure, it is difficult to simultaneously display the bone with tough hard tissue and bone marrow tissues containing various immature hematopoietic cel s in the conventional process of pathological section preparation. OBJECTIVE:To choose the best decalcifying solution that cannot only completely remove the calcium in the bone tissue but also protect the structure of bone marrow tissues and cel s from damage. METHODS:Bone marrow tissues from the long bone of dogs were randomly divided into four groups. Under the same conditions, the bone marrow tissues were decalcified with 14%formaldehyde saline solution of nitric acid (group A), 14%nitric acid solution (group B), 20%A saline solution of hydrochloric acid formaldehyde (group C) and 20%A hydrochloric acid aqueous solution (group D). Decalcified time was recorded, fol owed by routine dehydration, section, hematoxylin-eosin staining and microscopic observation. Pathological section quality and hematoxylin-eosin staining were compared among the four groups. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:Group A had the best sections and hematoxylin-eosin staining, strongest decalcified ability, shortest decalcified time and minimum damage to the bone marrow. Group B had the worst results of section and hematoxylin-eosin staining, in which, the bone tissues were loose and became yel ow and the bone marrow tissue were damaged greatly, and the decalcified effect was worse. Group C was worse than group A in decalcified ability, damage degree, section quality and hematoxylin-eosin staining results. Group D also had a better result of section and hematoxylin-eosin staining as wel as exhibited uniform decalcification effect and less damage to the bone marrow, which was ranked between group B and group C. Al the four kinds of decalcifying solutions have a good decalcification ability, but the section quality and hematoxylin-eosin staining results rank as fol ows:Group A>Group C>Group D>Group B. Taken together, 14%formaldehyde saline solution of nitric acid is ideal for the clinical preparation of pathological sections.

The in-vitro fertilization and embryo transfer technique has been widely applied in human insemination. The rate of successful insemination is gradual y rising, and the in-vitro fertilization directly determine the insemination outcome.
OBJECTIVE:To evaluate the difference between the two common using insemination methods, microdrop and open, in in-vitro fertilization and embryo development.
METHODS:A randomized study was conducted to compare microdrop and open insemination methods among non-male factor patients undergoing in-vitro fertilization and embryo transfer. A total of 1 175 cases were enrol ed in the research. There were 573 cases in the microdrop group, and 602 cases in open insemination group. The fertilization rate and embryo development in the two groups were compared.
RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:The fertilization failure rate [total fertilization failure rate+low fertilization rate (<25%oocytes fertilized)] in the microdrop insemination group was higher than in the open insemination group (11.9%, 3.3%, P<0.001), while the good quality embryo rate and pregnancy rate did not differ significantly between the two groups (al P>0.05). The open insemination method is a simple insemination method with a lower fertilization failure rate. As the fertilization is a highly complicated process involving many extrinsic and intrinsic factors, further study is needed to confirm the effects of the two insemination methods on in-vitro fertilization outcome.

Objective To investigate the effect of hyperthermia and mild hypothermia on permeability of blood-brain barrier(BBB),activity of matrix metalloproteinase-9(MMP-9)and expression of laminin in rats with severe traumatic brain injury(TBI)so as to explore the mechanism of hyperthermia and mild hypothermia affecting permeability of BBB. Methods A total of 72 healthy adult SpragueDawley rats were randomly divided into four groups,ie,sham operation group(SO group),TBI group,hyperthermia group(HT group)and mild hypothermia group(MH group).The rats were sacrificed at 24hours and the samples of injured brain tissues collected to detect the content of Evans blue(EB),activity of MMP-9 and expression of laminin. Results The content of EB and activity of MMP-9 in HT group were more significantly increased compared with those in TBI group(P<0.05),while the expression of laminin in HT group Was more significantly decreased than that in TBI group(P<0.05).However,the content of EB and activity of MMP-9 in MH group were significantly lower than those in TBI group(P<0.05),while the expression of laminin in MH group was significantly higher than that in TBI group(P<0.05). Conclusions The high activity of MMP-9 can.degrade laminin and increase permeability of BBB after TBI.After TBI,hyperthermia can increase permeability of BBB while mild hypothermia does on the contrary,which may be related to their different roles in changing activity of MMP-9.

Objective To investigate the clinical effects of tendon sheath laceration by syringe needle under the guidance of ultrasonography in the treatment of stenosing tenosynovitis. Methods A retrospective comparison was made on the curative efficacy in 78 patients with stenosing tenosynovitis of the hand. The patients were divided into two groups: the treatment group (n=39) was given tendon sheath laceration by 20-gauge syringe needle under the guidance of 10 MHz ultrasonography, while the control group ( n= 39) received the conventional puncture and laceration without the ultrasound guidance. Results At the fourth postoperative week, complete pain relief was achieved in 32 patients in the treatment group (82.1%) and in 20 patients in the control group (51.3%), respectively, with a significant difference ( ? 2 =8.34, P =0.004). The visual analogue score (VAS) was 8.9~3.5 (mean, 6.7?2.0) lower than before operation in the treatment group and 8.5~0.5 (mean, 5.2?2.9) in the control group. The pain relief in the treatment group is significantly superior to that in the control group ( t =2.659, P =0.010). Conclusions Ultrasound-guided laceration of the stenotic tendon sheath by syringe needle is a simple, minimally invasive and effective option for the management of stenosing tenosynovitis of the hand.