As a new generation of time-of-flight mass spectrometry,multiple-reflection time-of-flight mass spectrometry(MR-TOF-MS)has been increasingly applied in the fields such as nuclear physics,chemistry,and biology due to its ultra-high resolution and rapid analysis capabilities.However,the analytical performance of MR-TOF-MS largely depends on the ion bunch state entering the mass analyzer.In this study,a rectangular ion trap(RIT)was developed,designed and processed using printed circuit board technology,as an ion accumulating and focusing device for MR-TOF mass analyzer.Compared to traditional ion traps composed of two sets of planar electrodes,this RIT had higher voltage utilization efficiency,resulting in more efficient ion collection and focusing.The ions were cooled to a sufficiently small bunch for precise mass measurement with MR-TOF-MS mass spectrometry in only 1 ms of cooling time in the RIT,then orthogonally ejected to the MR-TOF mass spectrometer for mass analysis.Experimental results indicated that the working cycle,ion flux,and ion focusing state of the RIT fully met the requirements of the MR-TOF mass analyzer.When coupled with the MR-TOF mass analyzer,the RIT enabled MR-TOF-MS to achieve a mass resolution of 1.5×105.

ObjectiveTobacco-related diseases remain one of the leading preventable public health challenges worldwide and are among the primary causes of premature death. In recent years, accumulating evidence has supported the classification of nicotine addiction as a chronic brain disease, profoundly affecting both brain structure and function. Despite the urgency, effective diagnostic methods for smoking addiction remain lacking, posing significant challenges for early intervention and treatment. To address this issue and gain deeper insights into the neural mechanisms underlying nicotine dependence, this study proposes a novel graph neural network framework, termed TI-GNN. This model leverages functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data to identify complex and subtle abnormalities in brain connectivity patterns associated with smoking addiction. MethodsThe study utilizes fMRI data to construct functional connectivity matrices that represent interaction patterns among brain regions. These matrices are interpreted as graphs, where brain regions are nodes and the strength of functional connectivity between them serves as edges. The proposed TI-GNN model integrates a Transformer module to effectively capture global interactions across the entire brain network, enabling a comprehensive understanding of high-level connectivity patterns. Additionally, a spatial attention mechanism is employed to selectively focus on informative inter-regional connections while filtering out irrelevant or noisy features. This design enhances the model’s ability to learn meaningful neural representations crucial for classification tasks. A key innovation of TI-GNN lies in its built-in causal interpretation module, which aims to infer directional and potentially causal relationships among brain regions. This not only improves predictive performance but also enhances model interpretability—an essential attribute for clinical applications. The identification of causal links provides valuable insights into the neuropathological basis of addiction and contributes to the development of biologically plausible and trustworthy diagnostic tools. ResultsExperimental results demonstrate that the TI-GNN model achieves superior classification performance on the smoking addiction dataset, outperforming several state-of-the-art baseline models. Specifically, TI-GNN attains an accuracy of 0.91, an F1-score of 0.91, and a Matthews correlation coefficient (MCC) of 0.83, indicating strong robustness and reliability. Beyond performance metrics, TI-GNN identifies critical abnormal connectivity patterns in several brain regions implicated in addiction. Notably, it highlights dysregulations in the amygdala and the anterior cingulate cortex, consistent with prior clinical and neuroimaging findings. These regions are well known for their roles in emotional regulation, reward processing, and impulse control—functions that are frequently disrupted in nicotine dependence. ConclusionThe TI-GNN framework offers a powerful and interpretable tool for the objective diagnosis of smoking addiction. By integrating advanced graph learning techniques with causal inference capabilities, the model not only achieves high diagnostic accuracy but also elucidates the neurobiological underpinnings of addiction. The identification of specific abnormal brain networks and their causal interactions deepens our understanding of addiction pathophysiology and lays the groundwork for developing targeted intervention strategies and personalized treatment approaches in the future.

The connection between tendons and bones is called the tendon bone connection. With the continuous improvement of national sports awareness, excessive exercises and the related intensity are prone to damage the tendon bone connection. Tendon bone healing is a complex repair and healing process involving multiple factors, and good tendon bone healing is a prerequisite for its physiological function. The complexity of tendon bone structure also poses great challenges to the repair of tendon bone injuries. In recent years, researches have found that stem cells, growth factors, macrophages, and other factors are closely related to the healing process of tendon bone injuries, among which macrophages play an important role in the healing process. The authors reviewed relevant research literature in recent years and summarized the role of macrophages in tendon bone healing, in order to provide new ideas and directions for treatment strategies to promote tendon bone healing.
Humans ; Macrophages/metabolism* ; Wound Healing ; Animals ; Tendons/physiology* ; Bone and Bones/injuries* ; Tendon Injuries

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the molecular epidemiology of children with phenylketonuria (PKU) in Gansu, China, providing foundational data for intervention strategies. METHODS: A retrospective analysis was conducted on 1 159 PKU families who attended Gansu Provincial Maternity and Child Care Hospital from January 2012 to December 2024. Sanger sequencing, multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification, whole exome sequencing, and deep intronic variant analysis were used to analyze the PAH gene. RESULTS: For the 1 159 children with PKU, 2 295 variants were identified in 2 318 alleles, resulting in a detection rate of 99.01%. The detection rates were 100% (914/914) in 457 classic PKU families, 99.45% (907/912) in 456 mild PKU families, and 96.34% (474/492) in 246 mild hyperphenylalaninemia families. The 2 295 variants detected comprised 208 distinct mutation types, among which c.728G>A (14.95%, 343/2 295) had the highest frequency, followed by c.611A>G (4.88%, 112/2 295) and c.721C>T (4.79%, 110/2 295). The cumulative frequency of the top 23 hotspot variants reached 70.28% (1 613/2 295), and most variant alleles were detected in exon 7 (29.19%, 670/2 295). CONCLUSIONS Deep intronic variant analysis of the PAH gene can improve the genetic diagnostic rate of PKU. The development of targeted detection kits for PAH hotspot variants may enable precision screening programs and enhance preventive strategies for PKU.
Humans ; Phenylketonurias/epidemiology* ; Female ; Male ; Retrospective Studies ; Phenylalanine Hydroxylase/genetics* ; Mutation ; Child, Preschool ; China/epidemiology* ; Child ; Infant

OBJECTIVE: To explore and verify the effect and potential mechanism of Brucea javanica Seed Oil Emulsion Injection (YDZI) and Shengmai Injection (SMI) on peripheral microcirculation dysfunction in treatment of gastric cancer (GC). METHODS: The potential mechanisms of YDZI and SMI were explored through network pharmacology and verified by cellular and clinical experiments. Human microvascular endothelial cells (HMECs) were cultured for quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction, Western blot analysis, and human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) were cultured for tube formation assay. Twenty healthy volunteers and 97 patients with GC were enrolled. Patients were divided into surgical resection, surgical resection with chemotherapy, and surgical resection with chemotherapy combining YDZI and SMI groups. Forearm skin blood perfusion was measured and recorded by laser speckle contrast imaging coupled with post-occlusive reactive hyperemia. Cutaneous vascular conductance and microvascular reactivity parameters were calculated and compared across the groups. RESULTS: After network pharmacology analysis, 4 ingredients, 82 active compounds, and 92 related genes in YDZI and SMI were screened out. β-Sitosterol, an active ingredient and intersection compound of YDZI and SMI, upregulated the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGFA) and prostaglandin-endoperoxide synthase 2 (PTGS2, P<0.01), downregulated the expression of caspase 9 (CASP9) and estrogen receptor 1 (ESR1, P<0.01) in HMECs under oxaliplatin stimulation, and promoted tube formation through VEGFA. Chemotherapy significantly impaired the microvascular reactivity in GC patients, whereas YDZI and SMI ameliorated this injury (P<0.05 or P<0.01). CONCLUSIONS YDZI and SMI ameliorated peripheral microvascular reactivity in GC patients. β-Sitosterol may improve peripheral microcirculation by regulating VEGFA, PTGS2, ESR1, and CASP9.
Humans ; Microcirculation/drug effects* ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal/administration & dosage* ; Stomach Neoplasms/physiopathology* ; Emulsions ; Male ; Plant Oils/administration & dosage* ; Brucea/chemistry* ; Middle Aged ; Female ; Drug Combinations ; Human Umbilical Vein Endothelial Cells/metabolism* ; Seeds/chemistry* ; Injections ; Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A/metabolism* ; Aged ; Network Pharmacology

Objective:To develop a treatment-related quality of life scale for Chinese patients with multiple myeloma (MM) and to test its reliability and validity.Methods:The initial scale was constructed through a literature search, Delphi expert correspondence, and cognitive testing. This study conducted a preliminary survey of 379 patients with MM and a formal survey of 865 patients from the hematology departments of 155 hospitals nationwide from February 2024 to March 2024. The final scale was obtained after conducting item analysis and reliability and validity tests on the initial scale.Results:The constructed scale contains 36 items covering six domains: physiological, psychological, social, treatment side effects, general health, and others. In the preliminary survey, the Cronbach’s alpha coefficient of each item ranged from 0.597 to 0.939, and the test-retest reliability was 0.747 ( P<0.001). Exploratory factor analysis extracted eight common factors with a cumulative variance contribution of 60.058%. In the formal survey, the Cronbach’s alpha coefficient of each item ranged from 0.484 to 0.930, and the test-retest reliability was 0.835 ( P<0.001). Confirmatory factor analysis revealed a comparative fit index of 0.750, a root-mean-square error of approximation of 0.090, and a root-mean-square residual of 0.067. Conclusion:The treatment-related quality of life scale for Chinese patients with MM designed in this study exhibited good reliability and validity, reflecting the impact of treatment on the quality of life of patients. This scale can provide a reference to clinicians for assessing the disease status of patients.

Osteoarthritis(OA)is a common joint disease in clinical practice,and cartilage damage is a typical pathological change.The pathogenesis of OA is complex,and various adverse factors can lead to the occurrence of OA.Mitochondria are im-portant organelles within cells and play important roles in cellular physiological and pathological activ-ities.Mitochondrial quality control is an important regulatory mechanism in the body to maintain nor-mal mitochondrial structure and function,mainly including mitochondrial biogenesis,mitochondrial dynamics,mitochondrial autophagy,mitochondrial oxidative stress,and other forms.The imbalance of mitochondrial quality control in chondrocytes is closely related to the occurrence and development of osteoarthritis,and regulating the balance of mi-tochondrial quality control is a potential therapeu-tic point for osteoarthritis.The author reviewed rel-evant research literature in recent years to provide a review of the relationship between mitochondrial quality control and the occurrence and develop-ment of osteoarthritis,in order to provide new ideas and directions for the research and diagnosis and treatment strategies of osteoarthritis.

Objective:To develop a treatment-related quality of life scale for Chinese patients with multiple myeloma (MM) and to test its reliability and validity.Methods:The initial scale was constructed through a literature search, Delphi expert correspondence, and cognitive testing. This study conducted a preliminary survey of 379 patients with MM and a formal survey of 865 patients from the hematology departments of 155 hospitals nationwide from February 2024 to March 2024. The final scale was obtained after conducting item analysis and reliability and validity tests on the initial scale.Results:The constructed scale contains 36 items covering six domains: physiological, psychological, social, treatment side effects, general health, and others. In the preliminary survey, the Cronbach’s alpha coefficient of each item ranged from 0.597 to 0.939, and the test-retest reliability was 0.747 ( P<0.001). Exploratory factor analysis extracted eight common factors with a cumulative variance contribution of 60.058%. In the formal survey, the Cronbach’s alpha coefficient of each item ranged from 0.484 to 0.930, and the test-retest reliability was 0.835 ( P<0.001). Confirmatory factor analysis revealed a comparative fit index of 0.750, a root-mean-square error of approximation of 0.090, and a root-mean-square residual of 0.067. Conclusion:The treatment-related quality of life scale for Chinese patients with MM designed in this study exhibited good reliability and validity, reflecting the impact of treatment on the quality of life of patients. This scale can provide a reference to clinicians for assessing the disease status of patients.

Objective To evaluate the efficacy and safety of a novel intravascular lithotripsy(IVL)balloon—Vesscrack shockwave balloon—for vascular preparation before stent implantation in patients with severe coronary artery calcification(CAC).Methods This was a prospective,single-arm,multicenter study conducted in China from June 2022 to October 2022.Patients with severe CAC were treated with the Vesscrack shockwave balloon for lesion preparation,followed by drug-eluting stent(DES)implantation.Of these,33 patients underwent optical coherence tomography(OCT).The primary endpoint was procedural success,defined as successful stent implantation with residual stenosis≤30％and the absence of in-hospital major adverse events,including cardiac death,target vessel-related myocardial infarction,or target lesion revascularization.Results A total of 170 patients[mean age:(65.9±7.9)years,116 males]were enrolled.After treatment with IVL and DES,the minimum lumen diameter increased significantly compared to baseline[(2.34±0.40)mm vs.(0.95±0.33)mm,P＜0.001],the degree of stenosis was significantly reduced[(13.24±6.60)％vs.(65.18±10.59)％,P＜0.001].Procedural success was achieved in 100％of cases,and device success was 98.8％.The 30-day patient-related cardiovascular clinical composite endpoint(POCE)rate was 0.0,with no target lesion failure,no confirmed or potential thrombotic events were observed.The shockwave energy generator demonstrated excellent stability and ease of use.Among the 33 patients assessed with OCT,after IVL intervention,the maximum calcified area of the lumen[(3.51±1.51)mm2 vs.(2.85±1.80)mm2,P＜0.001],and the minimum lumen area within the target lesion[(3.08±1.04)mm2 vs.(2.02±0.75)mm2,P＜0.001],and after DES intervention,the luminal area of the largest calcified site[(6.59±1.64)mm2 vs.(2.85±1.80)mm2,P＜0.001]and the minimum luminal area within the target lesion[(6.19±1.45)mm2 vs.(2.02±0.75)mm2,P＜0.001]were significantly increased,and the differences were statistically significant.Conclusions The Vesscrack shockwave balloon is effective and safe for vascular preparation in patients with severe CAC prior to stent implantation.It achieves significant calcified plaque modification,high procedural success rates,and minimal complications.

Osteoarthritis(OA)is a common joint disease in clinical practice,and cartilage damage is a typical pathological change.The pathogenesis of OA is complex,and various adverse factors can lead to the occurrence of OA.Mitochondria are im-portant organelles within cells and play important roles in cellular physiological and pathological activ-ities.Mitochondrial quality control is an important regulatory mechanism in the body to maintain nor-mal mitochondrial structure and function,mainly including mitochondrial biogenesis,mitochondrial dynamics,mitochondrial autophagy,mitochondrial oxidative stress,and other forms.The imbalance of mitochondrial quality control in chondrocytes is closely related to the occurrence and development of osteoarthritis,and regulating the balance of mi-tochondrial quality control is a potential therapeu-tic point for osteoarthritis.The author reviewed rel-evant research literature in recent years to provide a review of the relationship between mitochondrial quality control and the occurrence and develop-ment of osteoarthritis,in order to provide new ideas and directions for the research and diagnosis and treatment strategies of osteoarthritis.