In September 2023， the Measures for Scientific and Technological Ethics Review （Trial Implementation） was issued， revising the provisions related to the simplified procedure for ethical review in Chapter 3， Section 3. This revision of these provisions provides systematic guarantees for further optimizing ethical review work， ensuring that ethical review procedure is well-regulated， and improving scientific research efficiency. The “simplified procedure” does not mean reducing the quality and requirements of the review. Instead， based on always following internationally recognized ethical standards and emphasizing not violating national laws and regulations， improving the efficiency of ethical review and subsequent research work， and promoting the development of life sciences and medical research involving humans. In practical work， it introduces numerous new opportunities and challenges for the improvement of ethics review ability， such as new tests on the judgment and decision-making power of ethics committees， how to ensure the reliability and controllability of the conditions related to the simplified review procedure， and how to determine the basic conditions for adopting the simplified review procedure for review. Therefore， to actively respond to the challenges and possible risks brought by the simplified procedure review， efforts should be made to achieve three “unifications”， including the unification of researchers’ moral autonomy and the heteronomy of supervision implemented by relevant departments； the unification of the standard formulation of the simplified procedure review and the review work in practice； and the unification of ethical responsibility and legal responsibility.

AIM: To investigate the changes of retinal nerve fiber layer(RNFL)thickness, retinal thickness and blood flow density in different stages of diabetic retinopathy(DR)patients based on optical coherence tomography angiography(OCTA).METHODS: A retrospective analysis was conducted on 382 patients(382 eyes)diagnosed with DR in our hospital from February 2023 to February 2024. According to the staging criteria, the patients were divided into mild group(n=121), moderate group(n=133), severe group(n=72), and proliferative group(n=56). The general clinical data of the four groups of patients was compared; OCTA was used to scan and collect data from all patients, and the RNFL thickness, retinal thickness, and blood flow density were compared among the four groups of patients.RESULTS: There was no statistically significant difference in age, gender, hypertension, chronic kidney disease, and random blood glucose among patients in the mild, moderate, severe, and proliferative groups(all P>0.05). As the stage of DR worsened, the duration of the disease gradually prolonged(P<0.05). The thickness of the RNFL(superior, inferior, temporal, nasal, and average thickness)and retinal thickness significantly increased with the severity of DR(all P<0.001); however, there was no statistically significant difference in inferior RNFL thickness between the moderate and mild groups(P>0.05). The blood flow density in the superficial and deep retinal layers, as well as in the choroidal capillary layer, significantly decreased with the progression of DR(all P<0.05). Nevertheless, there was no statistically significant difference in superficial retinal blood flow density between the moderate and severe groups(P>0.05).CONCLUSION: OCTA can accurately observe the changes in RNFL thickness, retinal thickness, and blood flow density in patients with DR at different stages, which can serve as sensitive indicators for monitoring DR progression.

Task performance is an important concern in ergonomics. Task performance is often affected by adverse ergonomic factors, resulting in health and economic losses. How to utilize effective indicators to evaluate the degree of impact of adverse ergonomic factors on workers' task performance is particularly important. In this paper, we conducted a literature review and analysis on the impact of adverse ergonomic factors on workers' task performance, focusing on summarizing available physiological, psychological, and neurocognitive behavioral function test indicators for evaluating workers' task performance. This summary of existing evaluation indicators provided reference and guidance for future evaluations of the impact of adverse ergonomic factors on workers' task performance.

Objective:To delineate the clinical characteristics and outcomes associated with severe cardiac toxicity during the preconditioning phase of allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT) in patients with aplastic anemia (AA).Methods:This retrospective case series study included 31 patients with severe AA who underwent allo-HSCT and were diagnosed with severe cardiac toxicity at the Hematology Department of Peking University People′s Hospital from August 2012 to June 2022. The clinical manifestations of severe cardiac toxicity observed during the preconditioning process were assessed. Patient survival was assessed using the Kaplan-Meier method.Results:In this cohort of 31 patients, the median follow-up period was 9 days (range: 4-365 days). Severe cardiac toxicity manifested within 6 days after the initial cyclophosphamide (Cy) administration. Twenty patients died within 30 days of initiating Cy preconditioning, of which 16 patients died due to severe cardiac toxicity within 25 days. Patients whose cardiac function improved within 30 days post-preconditioning showed a median survival duration of 222 days ( n=11). Troponin I (TNI) levels in patients who died within 30 days of initiating Cy preconditioning began increasing on day 5 post-Cy, peaking sharply by day 9 after a notable rise on day 8. B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) levels in patients who died within 30 days of initiating Cy preconditioning started to rise from day 1, stabilized between days 2 and 5, and then doubled daily from days 6 to 8, remaining elevated thereafter. Notably, the initial increases in BNP and TNI correlated with electrocardiogram (ECG) signs of low voltage and T-wave inversion in 83.87% of cases ( n=26). Most patients ( n=28, 90.32%) were administered corticosteroid therapy. In those with restored cardiac function, the ejection fraction returned to >50% within 30 days of initiating Cy preconditioning. Conclusions:Patients with severe cardiac toxicity during the preconditioning phase of allo-HSCT typically exhibit early, sustained, and marked elevations in myocardial damage markers, including BNP and TNI, accompanied by ECG abnormalities following Cy administration, with BNP often increasing first. These indicators are associated with rapid disease progression and high mortality. Prompt initiation of treatment upon clinical diagnosis is critical for improving survival outcomes.

Objective:To systematically evaluate the recurrence risk prediction model of diabetic foot ulcers (DFU) .Methods:Research on DFU recurrence risk prediction models was electronically searched in PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Wanfang Data, and China Biomedical Service System. The search period was from database establishment to July 20, 2023. Two researchers independently screened literature and conducted data extraction and quality evaluation using the prediction model research data extraction table and the Prediction Model Risk of Bias Assessment Tool (PROBAST) .Results:A total of 8 articles were included, including 14 models. The area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve included in the model ranged from 0.660 to 0.940. The most common five predictors in the model were ulcers location, glycosylated hemoglobin, smoking, combined peripheral neuropathy and diabetes course. All 8 articles had a high risk of bias, mainly due to insufficient sample size, improper handling and reporting of missing data, and a lack of internal validation, which might lead to overfitting of the model. Only one article was subjected to external validation.Conclusions:The research on DFU recurrence risk prediction models is still in the development stage, and the predictive performance of various studies is still acceptable, but there is a high risk of bias. Future research still needs to use rigorous statistical analysis methods to construct new risk prediction models and improve internal and external validation.

Objective:To investigate whether IL-6 using in early pregnancy can improve the pregnancy outcome of recurrent spontaneous abortion(RSA)mice and its relevant mechanism,providing new ideas for RSA clinical treatment.Methods:CBA/J×DBA/2 RSA model mice were constructed,and randomly divided the pregnant mice into five groups:control group,0.1 ng/ml IL-6 group,1 ng/ml IL-6 group,10 ng/ml IL-6 group and 100 ng/ml IL-6 group.IL-6 was not injected in control group,while different concentra-tions of IL-6 were respectively injected into other groups on the 0.5 day of pregnancy.Pregnant rats were killed at 13.5 d and the embryo loss rate was calculated,the placental tissue was taked out,and expressions of IL-6 and indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase(IDO)in tissues were detected by Western blot.Results:Embryo absorption rates of 0.1 ng/ml IL-6 group,1 ng/ml IL-6 group,10 ng/ml IL-6 group and 100 ng/ml IL-6 group were obviously lower than that in control group(P=0.002 4,P=0.007 0,P=0.027 0,P=0.031 0).IL-6 of exogenous injection was positive correlated with that expressed in mice placental tissue(r=0.791,P=0.000 052).IL-6 concentration of exogenous injection was between 0～1 ng/ml,which was positively correlated with IDO expression in placental tissue(r=0.868,P<0.000 1),IL-6 was positively correlated with IDO expressed in placental tissue(r=0.982,P<0.000 1).IL-6 concentration of exogenous injection was between 1～100 ng/ml,which was inversely correlated with IDO expression(r=-0.725,P=0.002),and IL-6 was inversely correlated with IDO expressed in placental tissue(r=-0.972,P<0.000 1).Conclusion:A single intraperitoneal injection of specific concentration of exogenous IL-6 to RSA mice can reduce embryo absorption rate of mice and modify their pregnancy outcome,which possible mecha-nism is the exogenous IL-6 induces expressions of IL-6 and IDO for a long term.Whether the IDO expression in placental tissue in-crease or not can be regarded as a mark for whether the specific concentration IL-6 can protect the pregnancy or not.

Objective:To verify the therapeutic effect of Astragalus on mice with acute respiratory distress syndrome with sepsis and to explore its mechanism.Methods:Seventy SPF-grade C57 mice were divided into astragalus group ( n=30), control group ( n=30) and sham surgery group ( n=10) according to random number table method, and CLP surgery was performed on Astragalus group and control group to induce sepsis acute respiratory distress syndrome, and CLP sham surgery was performed in the sham surgery group. After surgery, the astragalus group was treated with astragalus decoction for gastric gavage, the sham surgery group and the control group were gavaged with normal saline, and the mice were sacrificed 12 hours and 24 hours after the operation, and the lung histopathology was observed, the ratio of dry to wet weight of lung tissue, the protein concentration of alveolar lavage fluid was determined, the alveolar lavage fluid and serum were analyzed proteomics, and the differential proteins were enriched and analyzed. Results:Astragalus reduced the total protein concentration of BALF in ARDS mice, reduced the dry-to-wet ratio of ARDS mice, and HE staining of lung tissues showed that Astragalus decoction improved acute alveolar injury in ARDS mice. Proteomic analysis of serum samples and BALF samples showed that there were certain differential proteins between astragalus group and control group, and enrichment analysis showed that it was mainly enriched in the pathway of inflammatory factors, confirming that astragalus decoction may play a role by inhibiting the activation and release of inflammatory factors.Conclusions:Astragalus decoction can effectively reduce the inflammatory exudation of lung tissue in acute respiratory distress syndrome of sepsis, and its mechanism of action may be to inhibit the expression of inflammatory factors.

Humans ; Nephrotic Syndrome ; Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation ; Tissue Donors ; Transplantation Conditioning ; Graft vs Host Disease