Background Coal workers' pneumoconiosis is a serious occupational disease in China. Exhaled volatile organic compounds (VOCs) can serve as the "breath fingerprint" of internal pathological processes, which provides a theoretical basis for exhaled VOCs to be used as potential non-invasive biomarkers for early diagnosis of coal workers' pneumoconiosis. Objective To screen out the characteristic VOCs and important characteristic VOCs of exhaled air in patients with coal workers' pneumoconiosis, and to explore the potential of these VOCs as biomarkers for early non-invasive diagnosis of the disease. Methods In this study, 27 VOCs in the exhaled breath of 22 patients with stage I coal workers' pneumoconiosis, 77 workers exposed to dust, and 92 healthy controls were quantitatively detected by thermal desorption gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (TD-GC-MS). Substances with P<0.05 in univariate analysis and variable importance projection (VIP) >1 in supervised orthogonal partial least squares discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA) model were selected as the characteristic VOCs for early diagnosis of coal workers' pneumoconiosis. Age was included in the LASSO regression model as a covariate to screen out important characteristic VOCs, and the diagnostic performance was evaluated by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve. Spearman correlation was further used to explore the correlation between important characteristic VOCs and clinical lung function indicators. Results Through univariate analysis and OPLS-DA modeling, 8 VOCs were selected, including 2-methylpentane, 3-methylpentane, n-hexane, methylcyclopentane, n-heptane, methylcyclohexane, 4-methyl-2-pentanone, and 2-hexanone, in exhaled breath of patients with coal workers' pneumoconiosis. The concentrations of 4 VOCs, including 3-methylpentane, n-hexane, 4-methyl-2-pentanone, and 2-hexanone, showed a decreasing trend with the increase of dust exposure years. By LASSO regression, the important characteristic VOCs of the coal workers' pneumoconiosis group and the dust exposure group were n-hexane, methylcyclohexane and 4-methyl-2-pentanone, and the important characteristic VOCs of the coal workers' pneumoconiosis group and the healthy group were 2-methyl-pentane and 4-methyl-2-pentanone. The ROC analysis showed that the area under the curve (AUC) of n-hexane, methylcyclohexane, and 4-methyl-2-pentanone were 0.969, 0.909, and 0.956, respectively, and the AUC of combined diagnosis was 0.988 and its Youden index was 0.961, suggesting that these results can serve as a valuable reference for further research on early diagnosis. The Correlation analysis found that there was a positive correlation between n-hexane and lung function indicators in the important characteristic VOCs, indicating that it could indirectly reflect the obstruction of lung function ventilation, further proving that important characteristic VOCs have the potential to monitor lung function decline. Conclusion Three important characteristic VOCs selected in this study have the potential to be used as non-invasive biomarkers for early diagnosis and disease monitoring of coal workers' pneumoconiosis, and are worthy of further study and verification.

Chronic kidney disease(CKD)comprises a group of clinical syndromes affecting kidney structure and function,with various causes,high treatment costs,and a poor prognosis.Epigenetic modification of gene expression and cell function has been shown to play a key regulatory role in the occurrence and development of CKD.Homocysteine(Hey)is a common amino acid-containing thiol group in the body.Hyperhomocysteinemia(HHcy)is a damaging condition involving many organs,and is an independent predictor of end-stage renal disease morbidity and mortality.This review considers the relationship between HHcy and chronic renal injury,and examines research progress in the role of epigenetic modification in the mechanism of Hcy-mediated chronic renal injury,with the aim of furthering our understanding of the occurrence and development of CKD.This process and its mechanism provide new ideas and a theoretical basis for further research into CKD.

Objective To investigate the current status of cleaning,disinfection,and sterilization management of dental instruments in medical institutions in Henan Province,analyze potential issues in hospital infection control,and propose targeted nursing strategies.Methods A convenience sampling method was used to survey the cleaning,disinfection,and sterilization management of dental instruments in 352 medical institutions in Henan Province from February to April 2024.A self-made questionnaire was designed,covering aspects such as the handling model and personnel configuration for dental instruments,training for cleaning,disinfection,and sterilization personnel,configuration and maintenance of cleaning and disinfection equipment,use and management of small pressure steam sterilizers,and reprocessing status of dental instruments.Results A total of 352 questionnaires were distributed,with 348 valid responses.Among the 34 primary medical institutions,only 10(29.41％)had a centralized cleaning,disinfection,and sterilization model for dental instruments;13(38.24％)had dedicated personnel for cleaning,disinfection,and sterilization of dental instruments;25(73.53％)were equipped with pressure water guns.Compari-sons among medical institutions of different levels showed statistically significant differences(P＜0.001).In the 348 medical institutions,194(55.75％)arranged pre-job training for nursing personnel;143(41.09％)performed mainte-nance on cleaning and disinfection equipment once a year;52(14.94％)did not perform pre-treatment on contaminated dental instruments after use.Among the 104 institutions using small pressure steam sterilizers,21(20.19％)used Type N small pressure steam sterilizers.Conclusion The centralized management rate of dental instruments and the basic equipment configuration rate in primary medical institutions in Henan Province are relatively low.There are issues such as insufficient personnel training,neglect of equipment maintenance,improper management of small pressure steam sterilizer usage,and incomplete reprocessing procedures in medical institutions at all levels.It is recommended that nursing managers further strengthen the training of nurses in the disinfection supply center,standardize the cleaning,disinfection,and sterilization workflow for dental instruments,in order to prevent and control hospital infections.

Chronic kidney disease(CKD)comprises a group of clinical syndromes affecting kidney structure and function,with various causes,high treatment costs,and a poor prognosis.Epigenetic modification of gene expression and cell function has been shown to play a key regulatory role in the occurrence and development of CKD.Homocysteine(Hey)is a common amino acid-containing thiol group in the body.Hyperhomocysteinemia(HHcy)is a damaging condition involving many organs,and is an independent predictor of end-stage renal disease morbidity and mortality.This review considers the relationship between HHcy and chronic renal injury,and examines research progress in the role of epigenetic modification in the mechanism of Hcy-mediated chronic renal injury,with the aim of furthering our understanding of the occurrence and development of CKD.This process and its mechanism provide new ideas and a theoretical basis for further research into CKD.

Objective To investigate the current status of cleaning,disinfection,and sterilization management of dental instruments in medical institutions in Henan Province,analyze potential issues in hospital infection control,and propose targeted nursing strategies.Methods A convenience sampling method was used to survey the cleaning,disinfection,and sterilization management of dental instruments in 352 medical institutions in Henan Province from February to April 2024.A self-made questionnaire was designed,covering aspects such as the handling model and personnel configuration for dental instruments,training for cleaning,disinfection,and sterilization personnel,configuration and maintenance of cleaning and disinfection equipment,use and management of small pressure steam sterilizers,and reprocessing status of dental instruments.Results A total of 352 questionnaires were distributed,with 348 valid responses.Among the 34 primary medical institutions,only 10(29.41％)had a centralized cleaning,disinfection,and sterilization model for dental instruments;13(38.24％)had dedicated personnel for cleaning,disinfection,and sterilization of dental instruments;25(73.53％)were equipped with pressure water guns.Compari-sons among medical institutions of different levels showed statistically significant differences(P＜0.001).In the 348 medical institutions,194(55.75％)arranged pre-job training for nursing personnel;143(41.09％)performed mainte-nance on cleaning and disinfection equipment once a year;52(14.94％)did not perform pre-treatment on contaminated dental instruments after use.Among the 104 institutions using small pressure steam sterilizers,21(20.19％)used Type N small pressure steam sterilizers.Conclusion The centralized management rate of dental instruments and the basic equipment configuration rate in primary medical institutions in Henan Province are relatively low.There are issues such as insufficient personnel training,neglect of equipment maintenance,improper management of small pressure steam sterilizer usage,and incomplete reprocessing procedures in medical institutions at all levels.It is recommended that nursing managers further strengthen the training of nurses in the disinfection supply center,standardize the cleaning,disinfection,and sterilization workflow for dental instruments,in order to prevent and control hospital infections.

Objective To observe the value of feature pyramid network(FPN)for automatic segmentation and semantic feature classification of spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage(sICH)hematoma showed on non-contrast CT.Methods Non-contrast CT images of 408 sICH patients in hospital A(training set)and 103 sICH patients in hospital B(validation set)were retrospectively analyzed.Deep learning(DL)segmentation model was constructed based on FPN to segment the hematoma region,and its efficacy was assessed using intersection over union(IoU),Dice similarity coefficient(DSC)and accuracy.Then DL classification model was established to identify the semantic features of sICH hematoma.Receiver operating characteristic curves were drawn,and the area under the curves(AUC)were calculated to evaluate the efficacy of DL classification model for recognizing semantic features of sICH hematoma.Results The IoU,DSC and accuracy of DL segmentation model for 95％sICH hematoma in training set was 0.84±0.07,0.91±0.04 and(88.78±8.04)％,respectively,which was 0.83±0.07,0.91±0.05 and(88.59±7.76)％in validation set,respectively.The AUC of DL classification model for recognizing irregular shape,uneven density,satellite sign,mixed sign and vortex sign of sICH hematoma were 0.946-0.993 and 0.714-0.833 in training set and validation set,respectively.Conclusions FPN could accurately,effectively and automatically segment hematoma of sICH,hence having high efficacy for identifying semantic features of sICH hematoma.

Objective To observe the value of 3D Res2Net deep learning model for predicting volume doubling time(VDT)of solid pulmonary nodule.Methods Chest CT data of 734 patients with solid pulmonary nodules were retrospectively analyzed.The patients were divided into progressive group(n=218)and non-progressive group(n=516)according to whether lung nodule volume increased by ≥25％during follow-up or not,also assigned into training set(n=515)and validation set(n=219)at a ratio of 7∶3.Then a clinical model was constructed based on clinical factors being significantly different between groups,CT features model was constructed based on features of nodules on 2D CT images using convolutional neural network,and 3D Res2Net model was constructed based on Res2Net network using 3D CT images as input.Receiver operating characteristic curve was drawn,and the area under the curve(AUC)was calculated.Taken actual VDT as gold standard,the efficacy of the above models for predicting solid pulmonary nodule'VDT≤400 days were evaluated.Results No significant difference of predicting efficacy for solid pulmonary nodule'VDT≤400 days was found among clinical model,CT feature model and 3D Res2Net model,the AUC of which was 0.689,0.698 and 0.734 in training set,0.692,0.714 and 0.721 in validation set,respectively.3D Res2Net model needed 5-7 s to predict VDT of solid pulmonary nodules,with an average time of(5.92±1.08)s.Conclusion 3D Res2Net model could be used to predict VDT of solid pulmonary nodules,which might obviously reduce manual interpreting time.

Objective To investigate the value of a risk assessment model in predicting venous thromboembolism (VTE) in patients with liver failure after artificial liver support therapy. Methods A retrospective analysis was performed for the clinical data of 124 patients with liver failure who received artificial liver support therapy in Affiliated Drum Tower Hospital of Nanjing University Medical School from March 2019 to December 2021, among whom there were 41 patients with VTE (observation group) and 143 patients without VTE (control group). Related clinical data were compared between the two groups, and the Caprini risk assessment model was used for scoring and risk classification of the patients in both groups. The t -test was used for comparison of continuous data between two groups; the chi-square test was used for comparison of categorical data between two groups; the Mann-Whitney U rank sum test was used for comparison of ranked data between two groups. The logistic regression analysis was used to investigate the independent risk factors for VTE in patients with liver failure after artificial liver support therapy. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to investigate the value of Caprini score and the multivariate predictive model used alone or in combination in predicting VTE. Results The observation group had a significantly higher Caprini score than the control group (4.39±1.10 vs 3.12±1.04, t =6.805, P < 0.001). There was a significant difference between the two groups in risk classification based on Caprini scale ( P < 0.05), and the patients with high risk or extremely high risk accounted for a higher proportion among the patients with VTE. The univariate analysis showed that there were significant differences between the two groups in age ( t =6.400, P < 0.001), catheterization method ( χ 2 =14.413, P < 0.001), number of times of artificial liver support therapy ( Z =-4.720, P < 0.001), activity ( Z =-6.282, P < 0.001), infection ( χ 2 =33.071, P < 0.001), D-dimer ( t =8.746, P < 0.001), 28-day mortality rate ( χ 2 =5.524, P =0.022). The multivariate analysis showed that number of times of artificial liver support therapy (X 1 ) (odds ratio [ OR ]=0.251, 95% confidence interval [ CI ]: 0.111-0.566, P =0.001), activity (X 2 ) ( OR =0.122, 95% CI : 0.056-0.264, P < 0.001), D-dimer (X 3 ) ( OR =2.921, 95% CI : 1.114-7.662, P =0.029) were independent risk factors for VTE in patients with liver failure after artificial liver support therapy. The equation for individual predicted probability was P =1/[1+e -(7.425-1.384X 1 -2.103X 2 +1.072X 3 ) ]. The ROC curve analysis showed that Caprini score had an area under the ROC curve of 0.802 (95% CI : 0.721-0.882, P < 0.001), and the multivariate model had an area under the ROC curve of 0.768 (95% CI : 0.685-0.851, P < 0.001), while the combination of Caprini score and the multivariate model had an area under the ROC curve of 0.957 (95% CI : 0.930-0.984, P < 0.001). Conclusion The Caprini risk assessment model has a high predictive efficiency for the risk of VTE in patients with liver failure after artificial liver support therapy, and its combination with the multivariate predictive model can significantly improve the prediction of VTE.

Objective:To investigate the current status of prevention and treatment of esophagogastric variceal bleeding (EVB) in cirrhotic portal hypertension patients in Ningxia region.Methods:The retrospective and descriptive study was conducted. The clinical data of 820 cirrhotic portal hypertension patients who were admitted to 21 medical centers in Niangxia region from January 2018 to December 2020 were collected, including 85 cases in Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region People′s Hospital, 73 cases in the Fifth People′s Hospital of Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, 59 cases in the Wuzhong People′s Hospital, 52 cases in the Qingtongxia People′s Hospital, 50 cases in the Guyuan People′s Hospital, 47 cases in the Yuanzhou District People′s Hospital of Guyuan City, 47 cases in the Yinchuan Second People′s Hospital, 40 cases in the General Hospital of Ningxia Medical University, 40 cases in the Tongxin People′s Hospital, 35 cases in the Yinchuan First People′s Hospital, 34 cases in the Third People′s Hospital of Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, 32 cases in the Zhongwei People′s Hospital, 30 cases in the Lingwu People′s Hospital, 30 cases in the Wuzhong New District Hospital, 30 cases in the Yanchi People′s Hospital, 29 cases in the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine, 28 cases in the Shizuishan Second People′s Hospital, 25 cases in the Shizuishan First People′s Hospital, 21 cases in the Haiyuan People′s Hospital, 20 cases in the Pengyang People′s Hospital, 13 cases in the Longde People′s Hospital. There were 538 males and 282 females, aged (56±13)years. Observation indicators: (1) clinical charac-teristics of cirrhotic portal hypertension patients; (2) overall prevention and treatment of EVB in cirrhotic portal hypertension patients; (3) prevention and treatment of EVB in cirrhotic portal hypertension patients from different grade hospitals. Measurement data with normal distribution were represented as Mean± SD. Count data were described as absolute numbers, and comparison between groups was analyzed using the chi-square test. Results:(1) Clinical characteristics of cirrhotic portal hypertension patients: of 820 cirrhotic portal hypertension patients, 271 cases were in compensated stage and 549 cases were in decompensated stage. Of the 271 cases in compensated stage, there were 183 maels and 88 females, aged (53±12)years. There were 185 Han people, 85 Hui people and 1 case of other ethic group. The etiological data of liver cirrhosis showed 211 cases of viral hepatitis B, 4 cases of alcoholic liver disease, 8 cases of viral hepatitis C, and 48 cases of other etiology. There were 235 cases of Child-Pugh grade A and 36 cases lack of data. Of the 549 cases in decompensated stage, there were 355 males and 194 females, aged (57±14) years. There were 373 Han people, 174 Hui people and 2 cases of other ethic group. The etiological data of liver cirrhosis showed 392 cases of viral hepatitis B, 33 cases of alcoholic liver disease, 10 cases of viral hepatitis C, and 114 cases of other etiology. There were 80 cases of Child-Pugh grade A, 289 cases of grade B, 170 cases of grade C and 10 cases lack of data. (2) Overall prevention and treatment of EVB in cirrhotic portal hypertension patients: of 271 patients in compensated stage, 38 cases received non-selective β-blocker (NSBB) therapy, 16 cases received endoscopic treatment, 6 cases received interventional therapy. Of 549 patients in decompensated stage, 68 cases received NSBB therapy, 46 cases received endoscopic treatment, 28 cases received interventional therapy. (3) Prevention and treatment of EVB in cirrhotic portal hypertension patients from different grade hospitals: of 271 patients in compensated stage, 181 cases came from tertiary hospitals, of which 28 cases received NSBB therapy, 15 cases received endoscopic treatment, 6 cases received interventional therapy. Ninety cases came from secondary hospitals, of which 10 cases received NSBB therapy, 1 cases received endoscopic treatment. There was no significant difference in NSBB for prevention of EVB between tertiary and secondary hospitals ( χ2=0.947, P>0.05), while there was a significant difference in endoscopic treatment for prevention of EVB between tertiary and secondary hospitals ( χ2=5.572, P<0.05). Of 549 patients in decompensated stage, 309 cases came from tertiary hospitals, of which 22 cases received NSBB therapy, 29 cases received endoscopic treatment, 22 cases received interventional therapy. Two hundreds and fourty cases came from secondary hospitals, of which 46 cases received NSBB therapy, 17 cases received endoscopic treatment, 6 cases received interven-tional therapy. There were significant differences in NSBB and interventional therapy for prevention of EVB between tertiary and secondary hospitals ( χ2=18.065, 5.956, P<0.05). Conclusions:The proportion of receiving EUB prevention in cirrhotic portal hypertension in Ningxia is relatively low. For patients with compensated liver cirrhosis, the proportion of NSBB therapy and endoscopic treatment in the secondary hospitals was lower than that in tertiary hospitals. For patients with decompensated liver cirrhosis, the proportion of interventional treatment in secondary hospitals is lower than that of tertiary hospitals, but the proportion of NSBB in secondary hospitals taking is higher than that of tertiary hospitals.

Objective To preliminarily understand the current status of medication safety management of medical institutions in China. Methods Medication Safety Panel in China Core Group of International Network for the Rational Use of Drugs (INRUD) and Chinese Pharmacological Society Professional Committee of Drug-induced Diseases jointly established a research group. Basing on the voluntary principle,members (medical institutions)of the group did medication safety self-assessment using the questionnaires of "2011 ISMP Medication Safety Self Assessment? for Hospitals (Chinese version)", which included 10 key elements,20 core indicators,and 270 assessment projects. The questionnaires were handed out on August 17,2018 and needed to be completed and submitted within 2 months. Results As of October 19,2018,67 hospitals of 16 provincial administrative regions in total had submitted their questionnaires,including 61 (91. 0％)3A hospitals and 6 (9％)2A hospitals. The average value of total scores of medication safety self-assessment in the 67 hospitals was 58. 9％ (7. 6％ -90. 0％). None of the 67 hospitals evaluated the key element Ⅵ(medication device acquisition,use,and monitoring). The scores of the other 9 key elements from high to low were 67. 6％,66. 2％,65. 1％,64. 8％,64. 1％,58. 2％, 54. 5％,54. 4％,and 52. 5％ respectively for element Ⅶ (environmental factors,workflow and staffing patterns),element Ⅳ(drug labeling,packaging and nomenclature),element Ⅸ (patient education), element Ⅲ(communication of drug orders and other drug information),element Ⅷ (staff competency and education),element Ⅴ(drug standardization,storage and distribution),element Ⅹ (quality processes and risk management),element Ⅰ (patient information),and element Ⅱ (drug information). Conclusion The data of medication safety from 67 hospitals of 16 provincial administrative regions were obtained through the first national self-assessment questionnaire survey in medical institutions,which initially reflected the current status of medication safety in medical institutions in China.