Genetically modified pigs for welfare assurance is crucial for conducting xenotransplantation. However, traditional experimental animal ethics principles cannot address the social benefits issues brought about by xenotransplantation, and there is a lack of ethical justification for the assurance of experimental animal welfare. Degrazia and Bechtel proposed six principles for the welfare of experimental animals: the principle of no alternative methods, the principle of expected net benefits, the principle of adequate defense of harm, the principle of no harm without necessity, the principle of basic needs and the principle of harm limit. This paper conducts an ethical-level argumentation on the six principles for the welfare of genetically modified pigs in xenotransplantation, and points out that these six principles are of great significance in closely integrating the social benefits of xenotransplantation with the welfare of genetically modified pigs, emphasizing the moral status of genetically modified pigs, and providing standards for the ethical review of the welfare of genetically modified pigs.

OBJECTIVE To establish the UPLC fingerprint and the method for multi-component content determination in Jingangteng capsules， and to evaluate its quality by combining chemical pattern recognition analysis. METHODS An UPLC method was established. Separation was performed on a Zorbax SB-C 18 Rapid Resolution HD column， with acetonitrile-0.1% formic acid as the mobile phase for gradient elution.Using the Similarity Evaluation System for Chromatographic Fingerprints of Traditional Chinese Medicines （2012 edition）， UPLC fi ngerprints were established for 10 batches of Jingangteng capsules， and similarity was evaluated. SPSS 22.0 and SIMCA 14.1 software were used to perform hierarchial-cluster analysis and orthogonal partial least squares discriminant analysis （OPLS-DA）， respectively. The same UPLC method was employed to determine the contents of chlorogenic acid， 3，5-dihydroxy-2-methylbenzoic acid-3- O -glucoside （M1）， caffeic acid， astilbin， oxyresveratrol， quercitrin and resveratrol in the 10 batches of samples. RESULTS A total of 17 common peaks were identified in UPLC fingerprints of the 10 batches of samples， of which 7 were identified as chlorogenic acid， M1， caffeic acid， astilbin， oxyresveratrol， quercitrin， and resveratrol. The similarities of 10 batches of samples ranged from 0.820 to 0.985. The results of hierarchial-cluster analysis showed that 10 batches of samples were grouped into four categories： S1-S4 formed one group， S5 and S6 formed another， S7， S8 and S10 formed a third， and S9 formed a fourth， consistent with the OPLS-DA results； the variable importance projection values for peaks 7， 10， 2， 16 （resveratrol）， 13 （oxyresveratrol）， 11， 6 （caffeic acid）， 5 （M1） and 15 （quercitrin） were ＞1. Quantitative analysis results showed that the contents of chlorogenic acid， M1， caffeic acid， astilbin， oxyresveratrol， quercitrin， and resveratrol were 1.650 8-4.213 7， 0.636 2-2.161 7， 0.031 0-0.086 5， 0.239 1-1.069 3， 0.211 9-1.104 0， 0.488 8-2.399 2， and 0.164 0-0.699 8 mg/g， respectively. CONCLUSIONS UPLC fingerprint and content determination methods established in this study are simple to operate， accurate， reliable and reproducible； when combined with chemical pattern recognition analysis， they can be used to evaluate the quality of Jingangteng capsules. Nine components， such as resveratrol， oxyresveratrol， caffeic acid， M1 and quercitrin， may serve as markers of quality variation.

Objective:To investigate the relationship between adiponectin (ADPN), the ratio of high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) to albumin (ALB), and the progression of acute cerebral infarction (ACI).Methods:This case-control study involved 147 patients with ACI who were treated at Xingyuan Hospital of Yulin between January 2023 and March 2024. The National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) was used to evaluate disease progression. Based on the progression of the disease, the patients were divided into two groups: the progressive group ( n = 38) and the non-progressive group ( n = 109). ADPN level and the hs-CRP/ALB ratio were compared between the two groups. Additionally, multivariate logistic regression analysis was conducted to identify risk factors for disease progression in ACI patients. The predictive value of ADPN and the hs-CRP/ALB ratio for ACI was assessed using receiver operating characteristic curve analysis. Results:In the progressive group, hs-CRP level and hs-CRP/ALB ratio were (14.38 ± 3.27) mg/L and (0.43 ± 0.13), respectively, both of which were significantly higher than those in the non-progressive group [(8.92 ± 2.73) mg/L, (0.20 ± 0.07), t = 9.22, 10.37, both P < 0.001]. In contrast, the levels of ADPN and albumin in the progressive group were (2.71 ± 0.59) mg/L and (33.54 ± 8.66) g/L, respectively, both of which were significantly lower than those in the non-progressive group [(5.36 ± 1.42) mg/L, (45.05 ± 10.42) g/L, t = -15.99, -6.68, both P < 0.001]. The progressive group had higher admission NIHSS scores, a higher proportion of patients with diabetes, higher white blood cell counts, higher hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) and fibrinogen levels compared with the non-progressive group ( t = 8.43, 2.88, 5.79, 2.77, χ2 = 4.40, all P < 0.05). Multivariate logistic regression analysis results indicated that higher admission NIHSS scores, HbA1c levels, and hs-CRP/ALB ratios were independent risk factors for disease progression in ACI patients ( OR = 2.438, 1.600, 2.971, all P < 0.05), while higher levels of ADPN were identified as a protective factor against disease progression ( OR = 0.321, P < 0.05). The receiver operating characteristic curve analysis showed that the area under the curve for predicting disease progression after admission for ACI patients using serum ADPN and hs-CRP/ALB ratio alone were 0.730 (95% CI: 0.658-0.800) and 0.758 (95% CI: 0.685-0.826), respectively. The area under the curve for the combined prediction of serum ADPN and the hs-CRP/ALB ratio was 0.895 (95% CI: 0.845-0.940), demonstrating higher predictive efficacy ( Z = 1.80, 2.13, both P < 0.05). Conclusions:ADPN level and hs-CRP/ALB ratio are closely related to the progression of ACI and demonstrate good predictive efficacy for disease progression.

Objective:To investigate the efficacy of radiotherapy in patients with advanced esophageal cancer receiving first-line chemoimmunotherapy.Methods:A retrospective analysis was conducted on the data of 137 patients with Stage Ⅳ esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) treated at our hospital from January 2018 to May 2023. These patients were divided into two groups: a group treated with first-line chemoimmunotherapy combined with radiotherapy (chemoimmunotherapy + radiotherapy group, n = 43) and a group treated with only chemoimmunotherapy ( n = 94). Inverse probability of treatment weighting (IPTW) was applied to balance baseline characteristics between the groups. With overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) as study endpoints, the survival data were analyzed using the Kaplan-Meier method, the log-rank test, and the Cox regression method. Results:Before calibration, the chemoimmunotherapy + radiotherapy group significantly outperformed the sole chemoimmunotherapy group in median PFS (13.6 months vs. 7.0 months; HR: 0.501, 95% CI: 0.309-0.811, P = 0.005). After calibration using the COX proportional-hazards model for age, gender, Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status, smoking history, T/N/M stage, and tumor location, the chemoimmunotherapy + radiotherapy group still had significant advantages in PFS (14.7 months vs. 7.0 months; HR: 0.441, 95% CI: 0.261-0.745, P = 0.002). IPTW analysis further confirmed this trend (13.9 months vs. 7.0 months; HR: 0.492, 95% CI: 0.304-0.795, P < 0.001). Specifically, the median OS of the chemoimmunotherapy + radiotherapy group demonstrated significant improvement in all analyses: pre-calibration (29.5 months vs. 18.0 months; HR: 0.507, 95% CI: 0.297-0.867, P = 0.013), after calibration using the Cox model (27.5 months vs. 16.7 months; HR: 0.470, 95% CI: 0.266-0.830, P = 0.009), and after calibration using IPTW (29.5 months vs. 16.9 months; HR: 0.448, 95% CI: 0.262-0.764, P < 0.001). Conclusions:The combination of radiotherapy and first-line chemoimmunotherapy can significantly improve survival outcomes of patients with advanced ESCC, suggesting its potential as a standard treatment strategy.

Objective:To explore the dual mediating effects of health belief and depression among health knowledge, social support, and health behaviors based on the capacity, opportunity, motivation-behavior (COM-B) model, and analyze the influencing factors of health behaviors in patients with ischemic stroke.Methods:This multi-center cluster sampling research recruited ischemic stroke patients ( n=1 696) who were hospitalized in neurology departments of five tertiary hospitals in Henan Province from October 2023 to October 2024. A cross-sectional investigation was conducted using the general information questionnaire, social support rating scale (SSRS), stroke prevention knowledge questionnaire(SPKQ), short form health belief model scale(SF-HBMS), health promoting lifestyle profile-Ⅱ (HPLP-Ⅱ), and patient health questionnaire-9(PHQ-9) to ultimately reveal the pathways and effect sizes among variables. Partial correlation analysis and multiple linear stepwise regression analysis were conducted to examine the relationships among social support, health knowledge, health belief, health behaviors, and depression in stroke patients by SPSS 26.0 software. Structural equation modeling was constructed using AMOS 28.0 software, and the mediating effect was tested using the Bootstrap method. Results:The scores of social support, health knowledge, health belief, and health behaviors among ischemic stroke patients were (37.46±9.94), (26.56±6.84), (75.62±12.62) and (130.79±26.27), respectively. The score of depression was 5.00 (2.00, 8.00). Health behaviors were positively correlated with health knowledge, social support, and health belief( r=0.333, 0.246, 0.267, all P<0.05), while negatively correlated with depression ( r=-0.146, P<0.05). Multiple linear stepwise regression analysis showed that health knowledge, social support, health belief, and depression were all influencing factors of health behaviors in ischemic stroke patients (all P<0.05). Health belief (effect value=0.068, 95% CI=0.048-0.093) and depression (effect value=0.009, 95% CI=0.003-0.018) both played partial mediating roles between health knowledge and health behaviors, accounting for 17.3%(0.077/0.446) of the total effect. Meanwhile, health belief (effect value=0.045, 95% CI=0.029-0.063) and depression (effect value=0.016, 95% CI=0.008-0.027) both played partial mediating roles between social support and health behaviors, accounting for 26.5%(0.061/0.230) of the total effect. Conclusion:Health knowledge and social support can not only directly influence health behaviors but also indirectly affect them through health belief and depression in patients with ischemic stroke.

Objective:To investigate the mediating effect of rehabilitation exercise self-efficacy in the relationship between psychological pain and quality of life among postoperative patients with osteoporotic fractures.Methods:A total of 203 patients with osteoporotic fractures who underwent surgical treatment in the Department of Orthopedics of the Affiliated Hospital of Jining Medical University from June 2023 to June 2024 were recruited using convenience sampling. Postoperatively, patients were assessed with the General Information Questionnaire, the Self-Efficacy Rehabilitation Outcome Scale (SER), the Psychological Pain Scale, and the World Health Organization on Quality of Life Brief Scale (WHOQOL-BREF). The mediating role of rehabilitation exercise self-efficacy was tested using the bootstrap method.Results:A total of 210 questionnaires were distributed, with 203 valid responses collected, yielding an effective response rate of 96.67%. The mean scores of rehabilitation exercise self-efficacy, psychological pain, and quality of life were (65.56±8.89), (26.68±5.57), and (85.90±5.59), respectively. Correlation analysis showed that rehabilitation exercise self-efficacy was negatively correlated with psychological pain ( r=-0.562, P<0.01), psychological pain was negatively correlated with quality of life ( r=-0.801, P<0.01), and rehabilitation exercise self-efficacy was positively correlated with quality of life ( r=0.741, P<0.01). Mediation analysis revealed that rehabilitation exercise self-efficacy partially mediated the relationship between psychological pain and quality of life, with an effect size of -0.231 ( P<0.01), accounting for 38.95% of the total effect. Conclusions:Psychological pain not only directly affects the quality of life in postoperative patients with osteoporotic fractures but also indirectly affects it through rehabilitation exercise self-efficacy. Clinical medical staff should adopt targeted interventions to alleviate psychological pain and enhance rehabilitation exercise self-efficacy, thereby improving patients' quality of life.

Objective To explore the safety of Yttrium-90 resin microsphere selective internal radiation therapy (⁹⁰Y-SIRT) on malignant liver tumors. Methods A retrospective analysis was conducted on 64 patients with malignant liver tumors who underwent ⁹⁰Y-SIRT from February 2023 to November 2024 at Weifang People’s Hospital. The clinical characteristics of the patients and the occurrence of adverse reactions after treatment were analyzed to assess the safety of ⁹⁰Y-SIRT. Results Among the 64 patients, there were 52 males (81.25%) and 12 females (18.75%); the average age was (56.29±11.08) years. Seven patients (10.94%) had tumors with maximum diameter of less than 5 cm, 38 patients (59.38%) had tumors with maximum diameter of 5-10 cm, and 19 patients (29.68%) had tumors with maximum diameter of greater than 10 cm. There were 47 cases (73.44%) of solitary lesions and 17 cases (26.56%) of multiple lesions; 53 cases (82.81%) were primary liver cancers and 11 cases (17.19%) were metastatic liver cancers. Of the 64 patients, 63 successfully completed the Technetium-99m macroaggregated albumin (^99mTc-MAA) perfusion test and received the ⁹⁰Y-SIRT; one patient received ⁹⁰Y-SIRT after the second ^99mTc-MAA perfusion test due to a work error. The most common adverse reactions included grade 1 alanine aminotransferase (ALT) elevation in 26 cases (40.62%) and grade 2 in 2 cases (9.37%), grade 1 aspartate aminotransferase (AST) elevation in 27 cases (42.18%) and grade 2 in 7 cases (10.93%); grade 1 nausea in 17 cases (26.56%) and grade 2 in 6 cases (9.37%); grade 1 abdominal pain in 12 cases (18.75%), grade 2 in 5 cases (7.81%), and grade 3 in 1 case (1.56%); grade 1 vomiting in 11 cases (17.18%), grade 2 in 5 cases (7.81%), and grade 3 in 1 case (1.56%). Conclusion The adverse reactions of ⁹⁰Y-SIRT for treating malignant liver tumors are mild, indicating good safety.

ObjectiveTo investigate the therapeutic effect of sequential administration of Dihuang Baoyuan granules （DHBY， the prescription for consolidating body resistance） and Fuling Yunhua granules （FLYH， the prescription for treating symptoms） on spontaneous type 2 diabetes mellitus （T2DM） in mice. MethodsAccording to the fasting blood glucose （FBG） level， 12-week-old db/db mice were randomized into six groups： model， DHBY （18.02 g·kg^-1）， FLYH （14.80 g·kg^-1）， sequential administration 1 （SEQ-1， DHBY 18.02 g·kg^-1+FLYH 14.80 g·kg^-1）， sequential administration 2 （SEQ-2， FLYH 14.80 g·kg^-1+DHBY 18.02 g·kg^-1）， and dapagliflozin （Dapa， 1.3 mg·kg^-1）. The m/m mice in the same litter were selected as the normal group. The mice were administrated with corresponding drugs by gavage for 8 consecutive weeks. During the 8 weeks of drug administration and 2 weeks after withdrawal， the retinal thickness， FBG， hemoglobin A1c （HbA1c）， and insulin were determined， and histopathological changes of the pancreas， liver， kidney， and retina were observed by hematoxylin-eosin （HE） staining. ResultsCompared with the model group， SEQ-1 for 4 weeks lowered the FBG level （P<0.05）， raised the insulin level， decreased the triglyceride （TG） level （P<0.05）， increased the number of optic ganglion cells and diminished vacuolar degeneration of pancreatic islet and liver. SEQ-2 lowered FBG and HbA1c levels （P<0.05）， rose the insulin level， increased the retinal thickness and the number of optic ganglion cells （P<0.05）， and alleviated vacuolar degeneration of pancreatic islet and liver. Two weeks after drug withdrawal， Dapa tended to increase FBG and HbA1c compared with those at the time of drug withdrawal. However， the levels of FBG and HbA1c in the SEQ-2 group remained decreasing （P<0.05）. ConclusionSEQ-1 and SEQ-2 can lower the blood glucose level and ameliorate diabetic retinopathy， and SEQ-2 outperformed DHBY and FLYH in lowering the blood glucose level. Moreover， SEQ-2 can maintain the blood glucose-lowering effect after drug withdrawal.

ObjectiveTo investigate the therapeutic effect of sequential administration of Dihuang Baoyuan granules （DHBY， the prescription for consolidating body resistance） and Fuling Yunhua granules （FLYH， the prescription for treating symptoms） on spontaneous type 2 diabetes mellitus （T2DM） in mice. MethodsAccording to the fasting blood glucose （FBG） level， 12-week-old db/db mice were randomized into six groups： model， DHBY （18.02 g·kg^-1）， FLYH （14.80 g·kg^-1）， sequential administration 1 （SEQ-1， DHBY 18.02 g·kg^-1+FLYH 14.80 g·kg^-1）， sequential administration 2 （SEQ-2， FLYH 14.80 g·kg^-1+DHBY 18.02 g·kg^-1）， and dapagliflozin （Dapa， 1.3 mg·kg^-1）. The m/m mice in the same litter were selected as the normal group. The mice were administrated with corresponding drugs by gavage for 8 consecutive weeks. During the 8 weeks of drug administration and 2 weeks after withdrawal， the retinal thickness， FBG， hemoglobin A1c （HbA1c）， and insulin were determined， and histopathological changes of the pancreas， liver， kidney， and retina were observed by hematoxylin-eosin （HE） staining. ResultsCompared with the model group， SEQ-1 for 4 weeks lowered the FBG level （P<0.05）， raised the insulin level， decreased the triglyceride （TG） level （P<0.05）， increased the number of optic ganglion cells and diminished vacuolar degeneration of pancreatic islet and liver. SEQ-2 lowered FBG and HbA1c levels （P<0.05）， rose the insulin level， increased the retinal thickness and the number of optic ganglion cells （P<0.05）， and alleviated vacuolar degeneration of pancreatic islet and liver. Two weeks after drug withdrawal， Dapa tended to increase FBG and HbA1c compared with those at the time of drug withdrawal. However， the levels of FBG and HbA1c in the SEQ-2 group remained decreasing （P<0.05）. ConclusionSEQ-1 and SEQ-2 can lower the blood glucose level and ameliorate diabetic retinopathy， and SEQ-2 outperformed DHBY and FLYH in lowering the blood glucose level. Moreover， SEQ-2 can maintain the blood glucose-lowering effect after drug withdrawal.

Objective:To investigate the mediating effect of rehabilitation exercise self-efficacy in the relationship between psychological pain and quality of life among postoperative patients with osteoporotic fractures.Methods:A total of 203 patients with osteoporotic fractures who underwent surgical treatment in the Department of Orthopedics of the Affiliated Hospital of Jining Medical University from June 2023 to June 2024 were recruited using convenience sampling. Postoperatively, patients were assessed with the General Information Questionnaire, the Self-Efficacy Rehabilitation Outcome Scale (SER), the Psychological Pain Scale, and the World Health Organization on Quality of Life Brief Scale (WHOQOL-BREF). The mediating role of rehabilitation exercise self-efficacy was tested using the bootstrap method.Results:A total of 210 questionnaires were distributed, with 203 valid responses collected, yielding an effective response rate of 96.67%. The mean scores of rehabilitation exercise self-efficacy, psychological pain, and quality of life were (65.56±8.89), (26.68±5.57), and (85.90±5.59), respectively. Correlation analysis showed that rehabilitation exercise self-efficacy was negatively correlated with psychological pain ( r=-0.562, P<0.01), psychological pain was negatively correlated with quality of life ( r=-0.801, P<0.01), and rehabilitation exercise self-efficacy was positively correlated with quality of life ( r=0.741, P<0.01). Mediation analysis revealed that rehabilitation exercise self-efficacy partially mediated the relationship between psychological pain and quality of life, with an effect size of -0.231 ( P<0.01), accounting for 38.95% of the total effect. Conclusions:Psychological pain not only directly affects the quality of life in postoperative patients with osteoporotic fractures but also indirectly affects it through rehabilitation exercise self-efficacy. Clinical medical staff should adopt targeted interventions to alleviate psychological pain and enhance rehabilitation exercise self-efficacy, thereby improving patients' quality of life.