ObjectiveHepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) represents 90% of all primary liver cancers. The main risk factors associated with HCC include viral hepatitis (B and/or C), alcohol abuse, and metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD), which progressively advance to liver fibrosis, cirrhosis, and ultimately evolve into HCC. Surgical resection represents the most effective treatment for HCC, while recent advances in immunotherapy, including immune checkpoint inhibitors and adoptive cell therapies, have provided improved treatment prospects for patients with unresectable HCC. However, the complex metabolic heterogeneity of HCC limits the therapeutic efficacy. Metabolic intermediates acyl-CoA not only provide energy and substrates for numerous biochemical reactions but also serve as donors for protein lysine acylation, a major class of post-translational modification (PTM). Therefore, a deeper understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying protein lysine acylation and hepatocarcinogenesis is urgently needed. MethodsThe levels of protein lysine acylation and silence information regulator 5 (SIRT5) expression levels in clinical HCC samples were analyzed by Western blot. Quantitative malonylome and succinylome of HCC samples were analyzed by antibody-based affinity enrichment coupled with tandem mass spectrometry. The proliferation of HCC cells was analyzed with Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK-8) assays, the apoptosis was quantified by Annexin V-FITC/propidium iodide (PI) staining coupled with flow cytometry, and the ability of cells to migrate was assayed by Transwell assays. The enzymatic activity of glutathione S-transferase Mu 1 (GSTM1) was quantified. Transgenic mice with hepatic overexpression of SIRT5 were constructed using CRISPR-Cas9, and primary hepatocarcinogenesis was induced by administration of diethylnitrosamine. ResultsWestern blot analysis indicated that the expression level of SIRT5 was elevated in clinical samples from HCC patients, and the levels of lysine malonylation, glutarylation, and succinylation were significantly reduced in HCC tissues. Knockout of SIRT5 in MHCC-97H and MHCC-97L hepatoma cells suppressed cell proliferation, and increased the percentage of apoptotic cells significantly. Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichment analyses of the differentially malonylome and succinylome of HCC samples revealed significant enrichment in two major classes of biological processes: core energy metabolism (e.g., glycolysis/gluconeogenesis, tricarboxylic acid metabolic process, fatty acid beta oxidation) and detoxification and oxidative stress response (e.g., response to toxic substance, chemical carcinogenesis, reactive oxygen species (ROS)). SIRT5 removes malonylation from lysine residues in GSTM1 and restores its detoxification activity, which is crucial for the survival of hepatocytes under stressed conditions. More importantly, in vivo experiment indicated that hepatic-specific overexpression of SIRT5 in mice accelerated diethylnitrosamine-induced liver fibrosis and hepatocarcinogenesis, indicating the critical role of SIRT5 in HCC progression. ConclusionThis study highlights the previously unrecognized SIRT5-GSTM1 axis as a key regulator in hepatocarcinogenesis, and suggests a potential target for the treatment of patients with HCC.

ObjectiveStroke poses a heavy burden due to its high mortality and morbidity rates. Accurate and real-time detection of lesions is pivotal for prompt clinical intervention and favorable prognosis. Electrical impedance tomography (EIT) and microwave tomography (MWT) have emerged as compelling alternatives for stroke screening, owing to their non-ionizing, non-invasive and portable nature. EIT provides information on tissue conductivity, and MWT offers high sensitivity to changes in dielectric properties. However, single-modality imaging is inherently limited, EIT suffers from low sensitivity to deep-seated tissues and severe ill-posedness of inverse problems, whereas MWT is challenged by strong nonlinearity in inverse scattering and susceptibility to modeling errors. Consequently, the clinical utility of standalone EIT or MWT for stroke diagnosis remains constrained by poor spatial resolution and imaging artifacts. To improve the accuracy and robustness of stroke imaging, a dual-modality fusion conditional denoising diffusion probabilistic model (DM-DDPM) was proposed for high-precision dual-modality image reconstruction. MethodsA dual-encoder network with a symmetric architecture and independently trained parameters was constructed to extract heterogeneous features separately from EIT boundary voltage measurements and MWT scattered field signals. Attentional feature fusion (AFF) is employed to integrate complementary information from the two modalities adaptively, generating robust fused priors that suppress redundant noise while preserving key physical characteristics. Subsequently, the fused priors are embedded into a Transformer-based diffusion model via a cross attention mechanism to guide the reverse denoising process. This approach effectively reduces artifacts and enhances the stability of conductivity distribution reconstruction. Time step embedding is introduced to enable the network to perceive the diffusion stage and further improve the accuracy of noise prediction. ResultsSimulated experiments demonstrated that DM-DDPM significantly outperforms single-modality and multi-modality networks under various noise levels. A head model simulation dataset was constructed based on COMSOL Multiphysics, and tests were carried out under 50 dB, 40 dB and 30 dB signal-to-noise ratio levels. At 30 dB, the average relative error (RE) was below 0.20, while the structural similarity index measure (SSIM) and correlation coefficient (CC) remained above 0.90 and 0.89, respectively. Compared with single-modality and multi-modality networks, artifacts were significantly reduced, lesion edges were clearer, and localization was more accurate. The model maintains high reconstruction quality and strong robustness for single, double, and triple lesions simultaneously. Furthermore, physical experiments were conducted using a 16-electrode EIT system and a 16-antenna MWT system with asynchronous data acquisition. These experiments confirmed the feasibility of the method in real-world scenarios and demonstrated that it can robustly reconstruct simulated lesions despite environmental interference and measurement noise, validating its reliability for practical clinical applications. ConclusionThe proposed method effectively combines complementary dual-modality information with a conditional diffusion model. Low accuracy and poor noise resistance in single-modality imaging were effectively addressed, while the noise amplification issue caused by direct multimodal data fusion was avoided. The proposed algorithm exhibits strong anti-noise interference ability and high imaging stability in both simulation and physical experiments. Precise localization of stroke lesions with different quantities was achieved, providing a high-precision, and practical technical support for clinical stroke detection.

Background: Older adults undergoing surgery frequently have multiple comorbidities and reduced physical and cognitive reserves. This study aims to assess the effect of physical and cognitive frailty on long-term mortality in older patients undergoing elective non-cardiac surgery in a tertiary center. Methods: Patients aged ≥65 years old admitted to surgical wards at the University of Malaya Medical Centre were recruited. Physical frailty and cognitive status were assessed using the Fried Frailty Index (FFI) and the Montreal Cognitive Assessment, respectively. Patients were stratified into six groups based on their frailty and cognitive status: Group 1, normal cognition and non-frail (reference group); Group 2, normal cognition and frail; Group 3, mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and non-frail; Group 4, MCI and frail; Group 5, dementia and non-frail; and Group 6, dementia and frail. Results: A total of 406 patients with a mean FFI score of 1.1±1.2 were recruited. Predictors of mortality include male sex (hazard ratio [HR]=1.96; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.14–3.37; p=0.015), presence of active malignancy (HR=3.86; 95% CI, 2.14–6.95; p<0.001), and high FFI scores (1.8±1.2 vs. 1.0±1.1; p=0.013). Compared to Group 1, long-term mortality risk was significantly increased in Group 4 (HR=3.17; 95% CI, 1.36–7.38) and Group 6 (HR=3.91; 95% CI, 1.62–9.43) patients. Conclusion The combination of physical frailty and cognitive impairment was associated with long-term mortality risk among older patients who underwent elective non-cardiac surgery. This highlights the importance of assessing physical frailty and cognitive function of all older surgical patients to guide targeted intervention, especially for those with impairments which may be potentially reversible.

Occult hepatitis B virus(HBV)infection(OBI)represents a potential reservoir for HBV transmission,capable of spreading through routes such as blood transfusion.Additionally,OBI can con-tribute to the chronic progression of hepatitis B-related diseases,sustaining a state of chronic HBV infec-tion.In individuals with compromised immune function or undergoing immunosuppressive therapy,OBI may lead to HBV re-activation,potentially triggering severe liver conditions such as acute hepatitis or liv-er failure.As a result,OBI poses a significant public health challenge,profoundly impacting the health and well-being of affected populations and complicating HBV infection control efforts in China.Clinically diagnosing OBI remains challenging,but its hallmark is serum hepatitis B surface antigen negative and the presence of HBV covalently closed circular DNA(cccDNA)in the liver.With the increasing focus on achieving functional cure for chronic hepatitis B,both domestic and international guidelines have re-fined functional cure.Notably,these guidelines acknowledge that cccDNA may persist in the liver tissue of individuals who have achieved functional cure,suggesting resemblance of an occult infection state.Here,we provide a comprehensive overview of OBI,including its definition,classification,public health implications,underlying mechanisms,and clinical reactivation.By updating the understanding of OBI,we aim to raise awareness among clinicians and public health professionals regarding the significance of OBI in the current context and encourage greater attention to this population.

Inflammatory bowel disease(IBD)is a common di-gestive system disease with an increasing morbidity year by year.Its pathological mechanisms have not been fully clarified,and there are currently no ideal or effective curative methods.Phos-phodiesterase(PDE)can regulate intracellular cAMP/cGMP levels to mediate downstream signaling pathways,participating in various pathophysiological processes.In recent years,the po-tential efficacy of PDE inhibitors in the treatment of IBD has gradually attracted attention.This article reviews the pharmaco-logical effects and mechanisms of selective PDE subtype inhibi-tors in the prevention and treatment of IBD,providing references for further research of IBD therapeutic drugs.

AIM To establish the quantitative models for gallic acid,mononucleoside,loganin,resveratrol,and rhein in Yishen Xiezhuo Mixture.METHODS HPLC was adopted in the content determination of various effective components,after which the near-infrared spectroscopy(NIRS)data were collected in 128 batches of samples and pretreatment was conducted,competitive adaptive reweighting sampling(CARS)algorithm was used for screening wavelength,partial least square method(PLS)regression analysis was performed.RESULTS There were no significant differences between the predicted values obtained by PLS models and measured values obtained by HPLC for various effective components(P＞0.05).CONCLUSION The quantitative models established by NIRS combined with chemometrics display good predictive performance,which can be used for the rapid determination of effective components in Yishen Xiezhuo Mixture,and provide a reference for the rapid monitoring of other traditional Chinese medicine preparations in production processes.

This study was aimed at preliminarily investigating the genetic and antimicrobial resistance characteristics of Salmonella Alachua isolates through whole-genome analyses.Five Salmonella Alachua isolates from various sources(both hu-man and non-human)were collected and identified.Phenotype and serotype verification,antimicrobial susceptibility testing,and whole-genome sequencing were performed.Virulence genes,antimicrobial resistance genes,and plasmid replicons were predicted according to globally available Salmonella Alachua genomic data.A phylogenetic tree was constructed to explore the genetic background.The first report of Salmonella Alachua in China emerged in Shanghai in 2015,and patients presented pri-marily with diarrhea.The isolates have been found predominantly in the eastern and southern coastal regions.Among the five i-solates analyzed,four belonged to sequence type(ST)2061,and one belonged to ST1298.All isolates were susceptible to most commonly used clinical antibiotics.Whole-genome analyses revealed that two ST2061 strains carried the blaKPC-2 gene,and one ST1298 strain carried the fosA7 gene.Phylogenetic analysis of global Salmonella Alachua populations indicated that the ST2061 clone belonged to the C1 clade,which was closely related to strains from the UK,whereas the ST1298 clone was found in the C4 clade,a globally disseminated fosA 7-positive lineage.This study provides initial insights into the genetic and antimi-crobial resistance characteristics of Salmonella Alachua in China,highlighting the presence of strains carrying blaKPC-2 and fo-sA7 genes.These findings may provide a reference for future large-scale molecular epidemiological surveillance and source-trac-ing efforts,and they underscore the importance of enhanced resistance monitoring for Salmonella Alachua.

Objective To evaluate the effect of Intravascular lithotripsy(IVL)in the treatment of calcified nodules,and to observe the presence of coronary dissection after IVL treatment.Methods A total of 106 patients with coronary atherosclerotic heart disease(coronary heart disease)admitted to the cardiovascular Department of Shougang Hospital,Peking University from March 2023 to July 2024 were retrospectively analyzed.A total of 106 patients with moderate to severe stenosis accompanied by calcification as detected by coronary angiography were treated with IVL after intravascular ultrasound(IVUS)examination.Patients were divided into two groups according to whether there were calcified nodules in the coronary lesions:39 cases in the calcified nodules group and 67 cases in the non-calcified nodules group.The occurrence of coronary dissection during surgery was observed between the two groups,and other perioperative related complications and major adverse cardiovascular events(MACE)within 1 month after percutaneous coronary intervention(PCI)were compared between the two groups.Results The levels of renal insufficiency(25.6％vs.9.0％,P=0.021)and creatinine[(119.71±134.75)μmol/L vs.(71.82±16.53)μmol/L,P=0.033]in the calcified nodule group were higher than those in the non-calcified nodule group,the difference was statistically significant,and there was no difference in other baseline data.The target vessels in the calcified nodule group were mainly left anterior descending branch and right coronary artery,while those in the non-calcified nodule group were mainly left anterior descending branch,with few circumflex branches in both groups,and there was statistical significance in the distribution of target vessels in the left anterior descending branch and right coronary artery between the two groups(P=0.020).In terms of eccentric calcification(P=0.048)and asymmetric calcification(48.7％vs.28.4％,P=0.035)between the two groups,the calcified nodule group was higher than the non-calcified nodule group,the difference was statistically significant(P＜0.05).In terms of whether more than 20 pulses were needed and whether there was slippage during IVL,the calcified nodule group was higher than the non-calcified nodule group,the difference was statistically significant(P=0.022).The success rate of interventional therapy was 100％in both groups.After IVL treatment,the calcified nodule group was higher than the non-calcified nodule group in terms of the occurrence of coronary artery dissection,the difference was statistically significant(P＜0.009).The MACE of the two groups within 1 month after PCI was slightly higher in the calcified nodule group than in the non-calcified nodule group,but the difference was not statistically significant(P=0.235).Conclusions IVL is feasible and effective for the treatment of calcified coronary nodules.However,in the course of treatment,the occurrence of coronary dissection should be vigilant,identified as early as possible,and treated in time.

Objective To observe the efficacy and safety of Baduanjin combined with acupuncture in treating neck-type cervical spondylopathy(NTCS)patients.Methods Eighty patients were randomly divided into an intervention group and a control group in a 1∶1 ratio.The intervention group was treated with a combination of Baduanjin and acupuncture.Patients underwent Baduanjin exercise daily and acupuncture treatment twice a week for a total of 8 consecutive weeks.The control group received routine acupuncture twice a week for a total of 8 consecutive weeks.After the end of the treatment course,the effective rates of the two groups,as well as the visual analogue scale(VAS),neck disability index(NDI),self-rating anxiety scale(SAS),self-rating depression scale(SDS),and general comfort questionnaire(GCQ)assessment before and after treatment were compared,then safety evaluations was assessed.Results After intervention,the total effective rates of the intervention group and the control group were 91.4%and 76.31%,respectively,with a statistically significant difference(P<0.05);Compared within the group,the VAS,NDI,SAS,SDS scores of both groups were significantly lower than before treatment(all P<0.01),and the GCQ scores were higher than before treatment(both P<0.01);After intervention,inter-group comparison showed that the improvement of VAS,NDI,SAS,SDS,and GCQ scores in the intervention group was more significant than that in the control group(all P<0.05).Conclusion The combination of Baduanjin and acupuncture treatment can improve the clinical efficacy of NTCS patients and has good safety,which is worthy of clinical promotion and application.

AIM To establish the preparation process and quality standard for Zhenggu Pills.METHODS With decoction time,decoction frequency and water addition as influencing factors,comprehensive score for extract yield and transfer rates of epicatechin and naringin as an evaluation index,the decoction process was optimized by orthogonal test.With sugarless paste relative density,medicinal powder fineness,sugarless paste-corn starch ratio,drying temperature and drying time as influencing factors,soft material traits,pill formability,moisture and disintegration time limit as evaluation indices,the formability process was optimized by single factor test.TLC was adopted in the qualitative identification of Dipsaci Radix,salt-processed Psoraleae Fructus,cooked Rhei Radix et Rhizoma and Notoginseng Radix et Rhizoma.HPLC was used for the content determination of paeoniflorin and naringin.RESULTS The optimal decoction process was determined to be 0.5 h for decoction time,two times for decoction frequency,and 10 times for water addition,the comprehensive score was 0.93.The optimal formability process was determined to be 1.21-1.22 for sugarless paste relative density,80 mesh for medicinal powder fineness,1∶0.17-1∶0.18 for sugarless paste-corn starch ratio,70 ℃ for drying temperature,and 24 h for drying time,good soft material traits and pill formability were observable,and moisture and disintegration time limit accored with 2020 edition of Chinese Pharmacopoeia requirements.The TLC spots were clear without negative interference.Two constituents showed good linear relationships within 61.30-490.41 μg/mL(r=0.999 8)and 3.27-26.18 μg/mL(r=0.999 8),whose average recoveries were 100.15％and 98.15％with the RSDs of 0.55％and 2.30％,respectively.CONCLUSION This stable,reliable and specific method can be used for the production and quality evaluation of Zhenggu Pills.