ObjectiveTo observe the clinical efficacy and safety of Modified Guomin Decoction （加味过敏煎， MGD） in patients with mild to moderate atopic dermatitis （AD） of the traditional Chinese medicine （TCM） pattern of heart fire and spleen deficiency， and to explore its possible mechanisms. MethodsIn this randomized， double-blind， placebo-controlled study， 72 patients with mild to moderate AD and the TCM pattern of heart fire and spleen deficiency were randomly divided into a treatment group and a control group， with 36 cases in each group. The treatment group received oral MGD granules combined with topical vitamin E emulsion， while the control group received oral placebo granules combined with topical vitamin E treatment. Both groups were treated twice daily for 4 weeks. Clinical efficacy， TCM syndrome scores， Visual Analogue Scale （VAS） for pruritus， Dermatology Life Quality Index （DLQI） scores， Scoring Atopic Dermatitis （SCORAD） and serum biomarkers， including interleukin-33 （IL-33）， interleukin-1β （IL-1β）， immunoglobulin E （IgE）， and tumor necrosis factor-α （TNF-α） were compared before and after treatment. Safety indexes was also assessed. ResultsThe total clinical effective rates were 77.78% （28/36） in the treatment group and 38.89% （14/36） in the control group， with cure rates of 19.44% （7/36） and 2.78% （1/36）， respectively. The treatment group showed significantly better clinical outcomes compared to the control group （P＜0.05）. The treatment group exhibited significant reductions in total TCM syndrome scores， including erythema， edema， papules， scaling， lichenification， pruritus， irritability， insomnia， abdominal distension， and fatigue scores， as well as reductions in VAS， DLQI， SCORAD， and serum IgE and IL-33 levels （P＜0.05 or P＜0.01）. Compared to the control group， the treatment group had significantly better improvements in all indicators except for insomnia （P＜0.05）. No adverse events occurred in either group. ConclusionMGD is effective and safe in treating mild to moderate AD patients with heart fire and spleen deficiency pattern. It significantly alleviates pruritus， improves TCM syndromes and quality of life， and enhances clinical efficacy， possibly through modulation of immune responses.

The CyberKnife, an acronym for the stereotactic radiosurgery platform, represents an image-guided stereotactic radiotherapy technique. This technology precisely delivers ionizing radiation to tissues, effectively damaging tumor cells, and is suitable for radiotherapy of both intracranial and extracranial tumors. This article reports the first performance of CyberKnife by radiotherapy at Peking Union Medical College Hospital, including a patient with uncontrolled pituitary adenoma after surgery and radiotherapy, and another patient with vertebral metastasis following targeted therapy for lung adenocarcinoma. The application of CyberKnife technology in radiotherapy has achieved highly accurate dose delivery, enabling targeted irradiation of tumor lesions while minimizing damage to surrounding normal tissues, thereby yielding relatively ideal clinical outcomes.

Previous studies have identified two group-level processes, neural representations of interracial between-group difference and intraracial within-group similarity, that contribute to the racial categorization of faces. What remains unclear is how the brain tracks race-related information that varies across different faces as an individual-level neural process involved in race perception. In three studies, we recorded functional MRI signals when Chinese adults performed different tasks on morphed faces in which proportions of pixels contributing to perceived racial identity (Asian vs White) and expression (pain vs neutral) varied independently. We found that, during a pain expression judgment task, tracking other-race and same-race-related information in perceived faces recruited the ventral occipitotemporal cortices and medial prefrontal/anterior temporal cortices, respectively. However, neural tracking of race-related information tended to be weakened during explicit race judgments on perceived faces. During a donation task, the medial prefrontal activity also tracked race-related information that distinguished between two perceived faces for altruistic decision-making and encoded the Euclidean distance between the two faces that predicted decision-making speeds. Our findings revealed task-dependent neural mechanisms underlying the tracking of race-related information during face perception and altruistic decision-making.
Adult ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Young Adult ; Brain/diagnostic imaging* ; Brain Mapping ; Decision Making/physiology* ; Facial Recognition/physiology* ; Judgment/physiology* ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Photic Stimulation ; Racial Groups ; Social Perception ; East Asian People

OBJECTIVE: Cigarette smoking exacerbates the progression of pulmonary tuberculosis (TB). The role of tertiary lymphoid structures (TLS) in chronic lung diseases has gained attention; however, it remains unclear whether smoking-exacerbated lung damage in TB is associated with TLS. This study aimed to analyze the characteristics of pulmonary TLS in smokers with TB and to explore the possible role of TLS in smoking-related lung injury in TB. METHODS: Lung tissues from 36 male patients (18 smokers and 18 non-smokers) who underwent surgical resection for pulmonary TB were included in this study. Pathological and immunohistological analyses were conducted to evaluate the quantity of TLS, and chest computed tomography (CT) was used to assess the severity of lung lesions. The correlation between the TLS quantity and TB lesion severity scores was analyzed. The immune cells and chemokines involved in TLS formation were also evaluated and compared between smokers and non-smokers. RESULTS: Smoker patients with TB had significantly higher TLS than non-smokers ( P < 0.001). The TLS quantity in both the lung parenchyma and peribronchial regions correlated with TB lesion severity on chest CT (parenchyma: r = 0.5767; peribronchial: r = 0.7373; both P < 0.001). Immunohistochemical analysis showed increased B cells, T cells, and C-X-C motif chemokine ligand 13 (CXCL13) expression in smoker patients with TB ( P < 0.001). CONCLUSION Smoker TB patients exhibited increased pulmonary TLS, which was associated with exacerbated lung lesions on chest CT, suggesting that cigarette smoking may exacerbate lung damage by promoting TLS formation.
Humans ; Male ; Tuberculosis, Pulmonary/immunology* ; Middle Aged ; Tertiary Lymphoid Structures/pathology* ; Adult ; Lung/pathology* ; Smoking/adverse effects* ; Smokers ; Aged ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed

Bovine rotavirus(BRV)is an important pathogen causing diarrhea in calves.To understand the genomic charac-teristics and genetic variations in bovine rotavirus,and to further enrich data on the biological characteristics of rotavirus,we aimed to amplify 11 gene segments of the isolated and cultured G6P[1]bovine rotavirus BLL strain,perform whole genome se-quencing,and analyze the molecular characteristics.MEGA7.0 and DNAMAN software were used for homology and typing a-nalysis,and the whole genome phylogenetic tree was constructed to analyze genetic evolution relationships.The complete geno-type of the BLL strain was G6-P[1]-I2-R2-C2-M2-A3-N2-T6-E2-H3.Phylogenetic analysis of the VP7 and VP4 genes of the BLL strain showed that the VP7 gene had the highest homology with RVA/Cow-wt/HB01/China/2021,and the VP4 gene of the BLL strain was in the same branch as RVA/Human-tc/ISR/Ro8059/1995.From the sequence alignment of VP8*amino acids,the sialic acid domain of the BLL strain was found to be similar to that in other P[1]strains,but different from those in other types of strains,except for residue 189,which was the same as that in Ro8059 but different from that in other strains.The results suggested that the BLL strain might potentially infect humans.Therefore,continued monitoring and study of the biological characteristics of this strain are necessary to provide more information and evidence supporting further research on the cross-species transmission of group A rotavirus in China.

Objective: To explore the plasma metabonomic characteristics of patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus and turbid toxin accumulation syndrome. Methods: One hundred and three patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus and turbid toxin accumulation syndrome were enrolled from November 2023 to February 2024 in the First Teaching Hospital of Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine and 54 healthy individuals were recruited. The general data of the two groups were analyzed, and the plasma metabolite content was detected using ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-Orbitrap mass spectrometry. Construct an orthogonal partial least squares discriminant analysis model to screen metabolites with significant intergroup changes. The variable importance in projection≥ 1, |log2FC|>1, and P<0.05 were used as the criteria for the screening of differential metabolites. Annotate differential metabolites using internal databases and the human metabolome database, and perform pathway analysis using MetaboAnalyst website. Results: There was no statistically significant difference in gender and age between the two groups.Seventeen potential differential metabolites were identified. The D-4′-phosphopantothenate, 2, 6-dichloroindophenol, 4-methylphenol, hypoxanthine, 11, 12-epoxyeicosatrienoic acids, oleamide, 3-phenyllactic acid contents were higher in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus and turbid toxin accumulation syndrome than in healthy individuals(P<0.05); 3-anisic acid, 3-iodo-octadecanoic acid, mebendazole, β-alanine, citric acid, trans-aconitic acid, geranyl diphosphate, lysophosphatidylcholine(18∶2), phosphatidylethanolamine(18∶1), and caprolactam contents were lower in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus and turbid toxin accumulation syndrome than in healthy individuals(P<0.05). Ten metabolic pathways were identified, including the key metabolic pantothenate and coenzyme A biosynthesis pathways. Conclusion Metabolic differences were observed between patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus and turbid toxin accumulation syndrome and healthy individuals, and the underlying mechanism may involve the pantothenate and coenzyme A biosynthesis pathways, jointly mediated by D-4′-phosphopantothenate and β-alanine.

To enhance the practical ability and job competency of full-time master of public health (MPH) postgraduates and explore a collaborative training mode that integrates medical education with a prevention-and-control approach, in line with standardized public health physician training, the Beijing Center for Disease Control and Prevention, in collaboration with the School of Public Health affiliated to Capital Medical University, had recruited full-time MPH postgraduates since 2015. These students were trained and assessed through a collaborative training mode based on the Beijing public health physician training mechanism. Through the introduction and analysis of the training objectives, training process, practical assessment methods, training quality, and results, this article suggests that the construction of a collaborative training mode integrating MPH postgraduate education of public health professionals and standardized public health physician training has explored a new pathway for cultivating "four-certification integration" public health professionals. This aligns with the Chinese national strategy for public health talent development and can alleviate the problems of "contradictions between work and study", including the current shortage of public health physicians at present and the difficulties in standardized training enrollment. In addition, this collaborative training mode provides valuable experience for other medical schools in training applied public health professionals who meet national public health standards and combine prevention with treatment.

Objective:To compare the immobilization effect of two different immobilization methods in treatment with CyberKnife for intracranial tumors.Methods:A retrospective analysis was conducted on 48 patients with intracranial tumors who received treatment with CyberKnife in the Department of Radiotherapy at Peking Union Medical College Hospital from June 2023 to July 2024.Based on the different immobilization method,patients were divided into two groups:the Double Shell Positioning System(DSPS)group(n=22)and the Qfix group(n=26).The DSPS group was immobilized using an American full-body integrated positioning frame combined with a carbon fiber bracket and DSPS film,while the Qfix group was immobilized using an Encompass board and Qfix film.All patients were treated with 6 dimensions(6D)-skull tracking technique.During treatment,images were acquired as one times per 60 seconds,which were registered with digitally reconstructed radiograph(DRR)to record and compare the overall relative errors.The data of relative displacement error during treatment was calculated as|dx|=d1-d0,and differences between the two groups were compared.The maximum displacement(|d|=dmax-dmin)was also calculated,and difference in maximum displacement between the two kinds of immobilization methods was analyzed.Results:In the comparison of the overall relative errors between the two kinds of immobilization methods,the median values in the errors of superior-inferior(SI),anterior-posterior(AP),Roll,Pitch,and Yaw directions in the Qfix group were respectively 0.174,0.309,0.150,0.147,and 0.477,which were significantly less than those(0.224,0.316,0.175,0.221,and 0.584)of DSPS group,and the differences were statistically significant(Z=-4.358,-1.698,-2.595,-6.833,-5.371,P<0.05).The difference of the relative displacement errors between two kinds of immobilization methods was not significant(P>0.05),while the median values in all directions were not zero.The comparison of the maximum displacement value between the two kinds of immobilization methods indicated the displacement amounts of Qfix group was less than those of DSPS group on SI,left-right(LR),AP,roll,pitch,and yaw directions,and the differences of them were significant(Z=-3.373,-2.525,-2.488,-3.169,-5.130,-5.166,P<0.05).Conclusion:Both immobilization methods can meet the requirements of clinical treatment.The results of comparison indicate the immobilization effect of Qfix group is best,and the combination of Encompass board and Qfix film is recommended as the immobilization method of CyberKnife-based radiotherapy for intracranial tumors.

In recent years, with the implementation of policies such as multi-point practice, medical groups in China have flourished, mainly presenting three development modes: doctor alliance type, enterprise type, and public hospital type. However, they are confronted with development predicaments such as unclear nature and connotation, absence of relevant laws and policies, lack of management and operation experience, and insufficient market competitiveness. It is suggested that the high-quality development of medical groups be promoted through measures such as revising or enacting relevant laws and regulations, improving related policies, and enhancing operational management levels.

BACKGROUND: The available evidence regarding the benefits of percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) on patients receiving dialysis with coronary artery disease (CAD) is limited and inconsistent. This study aimed to evaluate the association between PCI and clinical outcomes as compared with medical therapy alone in patients undergoing dialysis with CAD in China. METHODS: This multicenter, retrospective study was conducted in 30 tertiary medical centers across 12 provinces in China from January 2015 to June 2021 to include patients on dialysis with CAD. The primary outcome was major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE), defined as a composite of cardiovascular death, non-fatal myocardial infarction, and non-fatal stroke. Secondary outcomes included all-cause death, the individual components of MACE, and Bleeding Academic Research Consortium criteria types 2, 3, or 5 bleeding. Multivariable Cox proportional hazard models were used to assess the association between PCI and outcomes. Inverse probability of treatment weighting (IPTW) and propensity score matching (PSM) were performed to account for potential between-group differences. RESULTS: Of the 1146 patients on dialysis with significant CAD, 821 (71.6%) underwent PCI. After a median follow-up of 23.0 months, PCI was associated with a 43.0% significantly lower risk for MACE (33.9% [ n  = 278] vs . 43.7% [ n  = 142]; adjusted hazards ratio 0.57, 95% confidence interval 0.45-0.71), along with a slightly increased risk for bleeding outcomes that did not reach statistical significance (11.1% vs . 8.3%; adjusted hazards ratio 1.31, 95% confidence interval, 0.82-2.11). Furthermore, PCI was associated with a significant reduction in all-cause and cardiovascular mortalities. Subgroup analysis did not modify the association of PCI with patient outcomes. These primary findings were consistent across IPTW, PSM, and competing risk analyses. CONCLUSION This study indicated that PCI in patients on dialysis with CAD was significantly associated with lower MACE and mortality when comparing with those with medical therapy alone, albeit with a slightly increased risk for bleeding events that did not reach statistical significance.
Humans ; Percutaneous Coronary Intervention/methods* ; Male ; Female ; Coronary Artery Disease/drug therapy* ; Retrospective Studies ; Renal Dialysis/methods* ; Middle Aged ; Aged ; China ; Proportional Hazards Models ; Treatment Outcome