This study explored the drying kinetics of Salviae Miltiorrhizae Radix et Rhizoma(SM), established the suitable models simulating the drying kinetics, and then analyzed the dynamic changes of active components during the drying processes with different methods, aiming to provide a basis for the establishment of suitable drying methods and the quality control of SM. The drying kinetics were studied based on the drying curve, drying rate, moisture effective diffusion coefficient, and drying activation energy, and the appropriate drying kinetics model of SM was established. The drying performance of different methods, such as hot air drying, infrared drying, and microwave drying of SM was evaluated, and the changes in the content of 10 salvianolic acids and 6 tanshinones during drying were analyzed by UPLC-TQ-MS. The Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to an Ideal Solution(TOPSIS) was employed to evaluate the quality of SM dried with different methods. The results showed that the drying rate and moisture effective diffusion coefficient of SM increased with the rise in drying temperature, and the maximum drying rates of different methods were in the order of microwave drying > infrared drying > hot air drying, slice > whole root. The drying rate decreased with the rise in temperature and the extension of drying time. The activation energy of hot air drying was higher than that of infrared drying in SM. The most suitable model for simulating the drying process of SM was the Page model. The TOPSIS results suggested infrared drying at 50 ℃ was the optimal drying method for SM. During the drying process, the content of salvianolic acids increased in different degrees with the loss of moisture, among which salvianolic acid B showed the largest increase of 44 times compared with that in the fresh medicinal material. Tanshinones also existed in the fresh herb of SM, and the content of tanshinone Ⅱ_A increased by 3 times after drying. The results provided a basis for the establishment of suitable drying methods and the quality control of SM.
Salvia miltiorrhiza/chemistry* ; Desiccation/methods* ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal/chemistry* ; Rhizome/chemistry* ; Kinetics ; Quality Control ; Abietanes

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the short-and medium-term efficacy of posterior medial branch block in the treatment of persistent pain after percutaneous vertebral augmentation. METHODS: From January 2018 to January 2023, a total of 1, 062 patients with osteoporotic vertebral compression fractures underwent percutaneous vertebral augmentation. Among them, 32 elderly patients who experienced persistent low back pain after surgery and subsequently received posterior medial branch block and cryoablation were included. Six patients died during follow-up, leaving 26 patients for final analysis (1 male, 25 females). The mean age was (82.96±5.66) years (ranged, 76 to 94 years). The mean body mass index was (23.76±3.08) kg·m^-2(ranged 18.1 to 27.2 kg·m^-2). The bone mineral density T-value ranged from -2.5 to -4.3 with a mean of (-3.09±0.56). The mean volume of bone cement injected was 6.00 (5.38, 7.00) ml. Fracture locations were T₁₁ (2 cases), T₁₂ (7 cases), L₁ (10 cases), L₂ (6 cases), and L₃ (1 case). The mean interval from vertebral augmentation to block treatment was (7.12±2.22) months (rangd 6 to 12 months). The vertebral augmentation procedures were percutaneous kyphoplasty(PKP) in 12 cases and percutaneous vertebroplasty (PVP) in 14 cases. At the 2nd week, 3rd month, and 6th month after the block, the numerical rating scale(NRS), Oswestry disability index(ODI), patient satisfaction, and pain relief rate at the 6th month were evaluated. Relationships between pain relief rate at the 6th month after the last treatment and possible influencing factors were analyzed. RESULTS: Compared with X-ray films after percutaneous vertebral augmentation, the X-ray films before block showed an increase in kyphotic angle and vertebral compression rate, with statistically significant differences(P<0.05). At the 2nd week, 3rd month, and 6th month after posterior medial branch block and cryoablation, NRS and ODI scores were significantly lower than before the block(P<0.05). Among the 26 patients, 5 received additional cryoablation. At the 6th month after the last treatment, 19 patients reported excellent or good satisfaction. Univariate binary Logistic analysis showed all P>0.05, and no independent factor affecting final satisfaction or pain relief at 6 months after the last treatment was identified. CONCLUSION Posterior medial branch block(with cryoablation) can effectively improve short-and medium-term symptoms and function in patients with persistent axial low back pain after percutaneous vertebral augmentation for osteoporotic vertebral fractures.
Humans ; Male ; Female ; Aged ; Spinal Fractures/surgery* ; Aged, 80 and over ; Osteoporotic Fractures/surgery* ; Vertebroplasty/adverse effects* ; Nerve Block/methods*

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the relationship between serum levels of fibroblast growth factor-23 (FGF-23), heparanase (HPSE) and early renal impairment (RI) in patients with multiple myeloma (MM). METHODS: A retrospective analysis was conducted on the clinical data of 125 MM patients who were initially diagnosed in the Department of Hematology of the First Affiliated Hospital of Baotou Medical College, Inner Mongolia University of Science and Technology from June 2020 to June 2023. The patients were divided into RI group (>176.80 μmol/L) and non-RI group (≤176.80 μmol/L) based on their serum creatinine levels when diagnosed. The baseline data and laboratory indexes of the two groups were compared. The relationship between serum FGF-23, HPSE and early RI in MM patients was analyzed. RESULTS: Among 125 newly diagnosed MM patients, 33 cases developed early RI, accounting for 26.40%. The proportion of light chain type, blood urea nitrogen (BUN), blood uric acid, lactate dehydrogenase, FGF-23, and HPSE levels in RI group were higher than those in non-RI group (all P <0.05). There was no statistical significant difference in other data between the two groups (P >0.05). Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that BUN, FGF-23 and HPSE were associated with early RI in MM patients (all P <0.05). The serum FGF-23 level was divided into Q1-Q4 groups by quartile, and the serum HPSE level was divided into q1-q4 groups. The correlation analysis showed that with the increase of serum FGF-23 and HPSE levels, the incidence of early RI increased (r =0.668, 0.592). Furthermore, logistic regression analysis showed that after controlling for confounding factors, elevated levels of serum FGF-23 and HPSE were still influencing factors for early RI in MM patients (OR>1, P <0.05). According to Pearson's linear correlation test, there was a positive correlation between serum FGF-23 level and HPSE level (r =0.373). CONCLUSION There is a certain correlation between serum levels of FGF-23, HPSE and early RI in MM patients, and the incidence of early RI is higher in patients with abnormally high levels of both.
Humans ; Multiple Myeloma/complications* ; Fibroblast Growth Factor-23 ; Retrospective Studies ; Fibroblast Growth Factors/blood* ; Glucuronidase/blood* ; Male ; Female ; Middle Aged ; Renal Insufficiency/blood* ; Aged

Objective:To evaluate the clinical efficacy of proximal femoral reconstruction osteotomy (PFRO) in hip revision arthroplasty.Methods:A retrospective analysis was conducted of the 92 patients (93 hips) who had undergone PFRO in hip revision arthroplasty at Department of Orthopedics, The First Affiliated Hospital, University of Science and Technology of China from January 2019 to December 2023. The cohort included 50 males (51 hips) and 42 females (42 hips), with an age of (64.5±11.7) years and a body mass index of (23.7±2.9) kg/m 2. Surgical procedures were performed under general anesthesia via a posterolateral approach. Biologic prostheses were used in femoral reconstruction, and PFRO fragments repositioned and fixed using cerclage wires. The data collected were operative time, intraoperative blood loss, length of osteotomy fragments, healing at the osteotomy site, intraoperative and follow-up complications, as well as Harris hip score (HHS) and leg length discrepancy (LLD) at the last follow-up. Results:For this cohort, operative time was (174.9±45.6) minutes, intraoperative blood loss (594.6±206.6) mL, and length of osteotomy fragments (12.3±2.3) mm. The 92 patients were followed up for (35.8±12.3) months. For them, HHS improved from preoperative (38.3±8.5) points to (80.5±12.8) points at the last follow-up, and LLD decreased from preoperative (21.2±13.0) mm to 2.0(0.0, 5.0) mm at the last follow-up, showing significant differences ( P<0.05). The osteotomy sites healed in 89 cases (90 hips), with a displacement of the greater trochanter <5 mm; 3 cases (3 hips) experienced nonunion with wire loosening and a displacement of the greater trochanter >10 mm. The osteotomy fragment of the greater trochanter got fractured in 2 patients (2 hips) and a fracture of the medial cortex of the proximal femur occurred in 11 patients (11 hips), but follow-ups observed healing of all the fractures. One patient (1 hip) developed postoperative posterior dislocation of the hip which was treated conservatively. One patient (1 hip) developed postoperative periprosthetic infection which did not recur after twice of debridement followed by prosthetic revision of the proximal femoral tumor. Conclusion:In hip revision arthroplasty, as PFRO demonstrates a low incidence of fragment fractures of the greater trochanter and a high rate of healing at the osteotomy site, its short-term clinical outcomes are satisfactory.

Objective:To investigate the therapeutic effects of the copper chelator ammonium tetrathiomolybdate (TTM) on rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in a mouse model.Methods:Twenty-four male dilution brown non-Agoutia/1 mice were randomly divided into 4 groups: a blank control group (Ctrl group, n=6), a collagen-induced arthritis (CIA) + phosphate buffer saline (PBS) treatment group (PBS group, n=6), a CIA+TTM treatment group (TTM group, n=6), and a CIA+Elesclomol treatment group (Eles group, n=6). Eles, a copper ion carrier, served as a control for administration of TTM, a copper ion chelator. One week after treatment, the swelling of mouse paw was observed, and the clinical scoring of the arthritis in mice was evaluated once a week. Paw mechanical pain detection was performed and photographs were taken to observe the severity of paw swelling before the mice were sacrificed. Catwalk gait analysis system was used to evaluate the gait changes in mice. HE and saffron O solid green staining were used to evaluate pathomorphologic changes in the mice knee joints and paws. Immunostaining techniques were used to detect the protein expression of MMP3, CD31, and VEGF in the mice paws. Luminex technology was used to detect alterations in the serum inflammatory factors. Results:Compared with the Ctrl group, in the PBS and Eles groups, the joints were red, swollen and deformed; the arthritis clinical scores were significantly higher; the bone destruction, synovial hyperplasia and inflammatory cell infiltration and pathological changes in the joint tissues were obvious; the expression levels of inflammatory factors, such as serum MCP-1, IL-1 β, IL-9, and IFN- γ, were significantly higher while the expression level of IL-10 was significantly lower. Simultaneously, the expression of CD31 and VEGF factors was significantly enhanced. Compared with the PBS group, in the TTM group, the joint swelling and deformation were significantly improved, the arthritis clinical score was reduced, and the joint bone destruction, inflammatory cell infiltration and synovial hyperplasia were alleviated, and the levels of serum MCP-1, IL-1 β, IL-9 and IFN- γ were significantly decreased while the level of anti-inflammatory factor IL-10 was increased. There was no significant difference in the expression of MMP-3, CD31 or VEGF factors between the CTRL group and the TTM group. Conclusion:TTM can block synovial inflammation, angiogenesis, and bone destruction multiple times by simultaneously targeting multiple inflammatory factors, VEGF factors, and bone destruction mediators, thereby alleviating the pathological damage to the joint tissues induced by CIA in RA mice.

Aim To predict and verify the potential mechanism of the compatibility of"ginseng-astragalus-pueraria"in protecting islet morphology and improving insulin resistance by using network pharmacology.Methods The active ingredients and targets of the horn medicine were obtained from three platforms:TC-MSP,TCMIP,and BATMAN.The targets of type 2 dia-betes mellitus(T2DM)were obtained from three plat-forms:TTD,OMIM,and disgeNET.The PPI network was constructed by using the STRING database and Cy-toscape 3.9.1;GO and KEGG analysis were per-formed;POCASA 1.1 was used to predict protein binding sites,and AutoDock Vina1.1.2 was used for docking and experimental verification.Results"Gin-seng-astragalus-pueraria"screened out 2 021 targets,of which 152 were closely related to T2DM,and 10 key genes and the AGE-RAGE signaling pathway were i-dentified.Molecular docking showed that quercetin had good binding to RAGE,INS,and PI3K.Experi-ments showed that the horn drug increased insulin binding rate and secretion index and reduced serum in-sulin level and insulin resistance index.These data benefited from"ginseng-astragalus-pueraria"reducing the expression of AGE-RAGE,activating PI3K-Akt,in-hibiting NF-κB,and reducing the expression of IL-6,IL-1β and TNF-α.Conclusion The study suggests that"ginseng-astragalus-pueraria"regulates the AGE-RAGE/PI3K-Akt/NF-κB signaling pathway,repairs damaged islet morphology,and improves insulin resist-ance.

Objective To systematically review the efficacy and safety of azithromycin versus amoxicillin and clavulanate potassium in the treatment of otitis media in children.Methods PubMed,Embase,Cochrane Library,CNKI,WanFang Data and VIP databases were electronically searched to collect randomized controlled trials(RCTs)of azithromycin versus amoxicillin and clavulanate potassium in the treatment of otitis media in children from inception to February 28,2025.Two researchers independently screened the literature,extracted data,and assessed the risk of bias of the included studies.Meta-analysis was then performed using RevMan 5.3 software.Results A total of 21 RCTs involving 6,092 patients were included.The results of Meta-analysis showed that there was no statistically significant difference in the total effective rate after completion of treatment[RR=0.99,95％CI(0.96,1.03),P=0.72]and the total effective rate during follow-up period[RR=0.99,95％CI(0.94,1.04),P=0.10]between amoxicillin and clavulanate potassium group and azithromycin group.The results of subgroup analysis showed there was no statistically significant difference in the total effective rate between amoxicillin and clavulanate potassium group and azithromycin group in children under two years old or 2 years old and above(P＞0.05).The incidence of diarrhea[RR=0.41,95％CI(0.28,0.60),P＜0.001],vomiting[RR=0.49,95％CI(0.28,0.87),P=0.02],nausea[RR=0.46,95％CI(0.27,0.78),P=0.004],loose stools[RR=0.44,95％CI(0.24,0.79),P=0.006],rash[RR=0.62,95％CI(0.39,0.96),P=0.03],fungal dermatitis[RR=0.32,95％CI(0.18,0.57),P＜0.001],dermatitis[RR=0.31,95％CI(0.14,0.67),P=0.003]in the azithromycin group were all lower than those in the amoxicillin and clavulanate potassium group,and the difference was statistically significant.Conclusion The current evidence shows that azithromycin versus amoxicillin and clavulanate potassium are equally effective in treating otitis media in children,but azithromycin is considered safer.Due to the limited quality and quantity of included studies,more high-quality studies are required to verify the above conclusions.

Objective:To investigate the efficacy of combined sufentanil and remifentanil in pediatric ear, nose, and throat surgeries.Methods:This study used a prospective study design. A total of 110 pediatric children who underwent elective ear, nose, and throat surgery at Xi'an Children's Hospital from January 2022 to December 2023 were included in this study. The patients were randomly divided into a control group ( n = 55) and an observation group ( n = 55) using a random number table method. In the control group, only sufentanil was used for general anesthesia, while the observation group received both sufentanil and remifentanil during the anesthesia process. The changes in average arterial pressure and heart rate were compared between the two groups at five time points: T1 (before anesthesia induction), T2 (during tracheal intubation), T3 (at the start of surgery), T4 (5 min after the start of surgery), and T5 (immediately after surgery). Additionally, the recovery time for spontaneous breathing, the time to open eyes, extubation time, and adverse reactions were compared between the two groups. Ramsay sedation scores were compared between the two groups at three time points: T6 (5 min after extubation), T7 (15 min after extubation), and T8 (30 min after extubation). Pain Visual Analog Score was compared between the two groups at T8 (30 min after extubation), T9 (60 min after extubation), and T10 (90 min after extubation). Results:The differences in average arterial pressure and heart rate between the two groups at time points T1-T5, as well as Ramsay sedation scores at T6-T8 and Visual Analog Score scores at T8-T10, were all statistically significant ( F = 152.93, 2 718.29, 2 347.47, 751.77, all P < 0.05). In the observation group, the recovery time for spontaneous breathing [(5.37 ± 2.18) min vs. (6.74 ± 2.42) min], the time to open eyes [(9.03 ± 2.02) min vs. (10.84 ± 3.11) min], and extubation time [(13.22 ± 4.22) min vs. (16.47 ± 5.14) min] were significantly shorter in the observation group than in the control group ( t = 3.11, 3.62, 3.62, all P < 0.001). The incidence of adverse reactions was significantly lower in the observation group than in the control group [3.64% (2/55) vs. 16.36% (9/55), χ2 = 4.94, P < 0.05]. Conclusions:Both sufentanil alone and in combination with remifentanil yield effective anesthesia outcomes in pediatric ear, nose, and throat surgeries. However, the combination of sufentanil and remifentanil significantly shortens the recovery time for spontaneous breathing, the time to open eyes, and extubation time. This combined approach also lowers the incidence of adverse reactions, improves surgical outcomes, and promotes postoperative recovery of children.

The scientific research and innovation capabilities of medical students are intrinsically linked to the sustained and high-quality development of national healthcare initiatives.Cultivating outstanding medi-cal students with independent scientific capabilities and innovative consciousness is a critical component in the education and training of high-level medical professionals.Our investigation revealed that within the imperfections of the cultivating model,some faculty and students at medical schools have an insufficient understanding of scientific research and innovation and lack motivation for engaging in such activities,which hinder the progression of scientific research activities.Consequently,we initiated a teaching practice and exploratory study on the"tutorial system"aimed at fostering medical students'scientific research and innovation abilities.Based on the principle of"research informing teaching,teaching and research advan-cing together,"this study implements a"tutorial system"coordinated by tutors,supplemented by graduate and undergraduate student mentors,to cultivate innovative thinking,stimulate interest in scientific re-search,and enhance practical and research skills among medical students.Through collaborative efforts within"scientific research innovation teams,"various educational methods—including preliminary re-search,in-class and extracurricular activities,intra-group and inter-group interactions,and theoretical and practical applications—are employed to improve and strengthen the cultivation of medical students'scientif-ic research and innovation abilities.This study aims to provide valuable references for optimizing medical education management systems and enhancing the quality of medical student training.