Objective To explore the application value of artificial intelligence in medical research assistance, and analyze the key paths to achieve precise execution of model instructions, improvement of model interpretation completeness, and control of hallucinations. Methods Taking esophageal cancer research as the scenario, five types of literature including research articles, case reports, reviews, editorials, and guidelines were selected for model interpretation tests. The model performance was systematically evaluated from five dimensions: recognition accuracy, format accuracy, instruction execution accuracy, content reliability rate, and content completeness index. The performance differences of Ruibin Agent, GPT-4o, Claude 3.7 Sonnet, DeepSeek V3, and DouBao-pro models in medical literature interpretation tasks were compared. Results A total of 15 studies were included, with 3 studies of each type. The five models collectively conducted 1 875 tests. Due to the poor recognition accuracy of the editorial type, the overall recognition accuracy of Ruibin Agent was significantly lower than other models (92.0% vs. 100.0%, P＜0.001). In terms of format accuracy, Ruibin Agent was significantly better than Claude 3.7 Sonnet (98.7% vs. 92.0%, P=0.002) and GPT-4o (98.7% vs. 78.9%, P＜0.001). In terms of instruction execution accuracy, Ruibin Agent was better than GPT-4o (97.3% vs. 80.0%, P＜0.001). In terms of content reliability rate, Ruibin Agent was significantly lower than Claude 3.7 Sonnet (84.0% vs. 92.0%, P=0.010) and DeepSeek V3 (84.0% vs. 94.7%, P＜0.001). In terms of content completeness index, the median scores of Ruibin Agent, GPT-4o, Claude 3.7 Sonnet, DeepSeek V3, and DouBao-pro were 0.71, 0.60, 0.85, 0.74, and 0.77, respectively. Conclusion Ruibin Agent has significant advantages in terms of formatted interpretation of medical literature and instruction execution accuracy. In the future, it is necessary to focus on optimizing the recognition ability of editorial types, strengthening the coverage ability of core elements of various types of literature to improve interpretation completeness, and improving content reliability through optimizing the confidence mechanism to ensure the rigor of medical literature interpretation.

In response to the new requirements for course instruction outlined in the revised training program for medical imaging program, this study integrated medical imaging technology courses based on the principle of outcome-oriented education and by leveraging self-developed digital resources, with imaging methods as the entry point. The core elements of the course teaching were re-optimized and reorganized to transcend the temporal and spatial limitations of course delivery, enabling the rational application of diverse teaching methods. This approach facilitated the integration of knowledge across three specialized courses, namely medical imaging physics, medical imaging equipment, and medical imaging examination techniques, and achieved full-dimensional and whole-process teaching evaluation. While reducing the number of hours allocated to theoretical instruction, the teaching objectives were achieved with high quality, providing a reference for the integration of digital technologies into the teaching of medical imaging and related disciplines.

In response to the new requirements for course instruction outlined in the revised training program for medical imaging program, this study integrated medical imaging technology courses based on the principle of outcome-oriented education and by leveraging self-developed digital resources, with imaging methods as the entry point. The core elements of the course teaching were re-optimized and reorganized to transcend the temporal and spatial limitations of course delivery, enabling the rational application of diverse teaching methods. This approach facilitated the integration of knowledge across three specialized courses, namely medical imaging physics, medical imaging equipment, and medical imaging examination techniques, and achieved full-dimensional and whole-process teaching evaluation. While reducing the number of hours allocated to theoretical instruction, the teaching objectives were achieved with high quality, providing a reference for the integration of digital technologies into the teaching of medical imaging and related disciplines.

Objective:To explore the genetic etiology of two patients with Gitelman syndrome (GS).Methods:Two patients who had presented at the Linyi People′s Hospital in January and June 2022 respectively were selected as the study subjects. Peripheral blood samples of them were collected and subjected to whole exome sequencing (WES). Electrolyte levels in their serum and urine were detected. Candidate variants were verified by Sanger sequencing. PyMOL software was used to predict the impact of the variants on the protein structure.Results:Patient 1 was a 27-year-old female with decreased serum levels of sodium, potassium, chloride and magnesium, along with decreased urine chloride and calcium. WES revealed that she has harbored compound heterozygous variants of the SLC12A3 gene, namely c. 1456G>A (p.D486N) and c. 179C>T (p.T60M). The former was inherited from her mother and known to be pathogenic. Patient 2 was a 4-year-old male with lower serum sodium, chloride and magnesium levels, and his serum potassium level was found to be critically low. He was found to harbor compound heterozygous variants of c. 602-16G>A and c. 805_806insTTGGCGTGGTCTCGGTCA (p.V268_T269insIGVVSV) of the SLC12A3 gene, which were inherited from his mother and father, respectively. Based on the guidelines from the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics, both variants were predicted to be pathogenic (PVS1+ PM2_Supporting+ PP3; PVS1+ PM2_Supporting+ PM4). Conclusion:The above heterozygous variants of the SLC12A3 gene probably underlay the GS in these patients.

Objective:To investigate the current status of endoscopic treatment for gastroesophageal varices in portal hypertension in China, and to provide supporting data and reference for the development of endoscopic treatment.Methods:In this study, initiated by the Liver Health Consortium in China (CHESS), a questionnaire was designed and distributed online to investigate the basic condition of endoscopic treatment for gastroesophageal varices in portal hypertension in 2022 in China. Questions included annual number and indication of endoscopic procedures, adherence to guideline for preventing esophagogastric variceal bleeding (EGVB), management and timing of emergent EGVB, management of gastric and isolated varices, and improvement of endoscopic treatment. Proportions of hospitals concerning therapeutic choices to all participant hospitals were calculated. Guideline adherence between secondary and tertiary hospitals were compared by using Chi-square test.Results:A total of 836 hospitals from 31 provinces (anotomous regions and municipalities) participated in the survey. According to the survey, the control of acute EGVB (49.3%, 412/836) and the prevention of recurrent bleeding (38.3%, 320/836) were major indications of endoscopic treatment. For primary [non-selective β-blocker (NSBB) or endoscopic therapies] and secondary prophylaxis (NSBB and endoscopic therapies) of EGVB, adherence to domestic guideline was 72.5% (606/836) and 39.2% (328/836), respectively. There were significant differences in the adherence between secondary and tertiary hospitals in primary prophylaxis of EGVB [71.0% (495/697) VS 79.9% (111/139), χ2=4.11, P=0.033] and secondary prophylaxis of EGVB [41.6% (290/697) VS 27.3% (38/139), χ2=9.31, P=0.002]. A total of 78.2% (654/836) hospitals preferred endoscopic therapies treating acute EGVB, and endoscopic therapy was more likely to be the first choice for treating acute EGVB in tertiary hospitals (82.6%, 576/697) than secondary hospitals [56.1% (78/139), χ2=46.33, P<0.001]. The optimal timing was usually within 12 hours (48.5%, 317/654) and 12-24 hours (36.9%, 241/654) after the bleeding. Regarding the management of gastroesophageal varices type 2 and isolated gastric varices type 1, most hospitals used cyanoacrylate injection in combination with sclerotherapy [48.2% (403/836) and 29.9% (250/836), respectively], but substantial proportions of hospitals preferred clip-assisted therapies [12.4% (104/836) and 26.4% (221/836), respectively]. Improving the skills of endoscopic doctors (84.2%, 704/836), and enhancing the precision of pre-procedure evaluation and quality of multidisciplinary team (78.9%, 660/836) were considered urgent needs in the development of endoscopic treatment. Conclusion:A variety of endoscopic treatments for gastroesophageal varices in portal hypertension are implemented nationwide. Participant hospitals are active to perform emergent endoscopy for acute EGVB, but are inadequate in following recommendations regarding primary and secondary prophylaxis of EGVB. Moreover, the selection of endoscopic procedures for gastric varices differs greatly among hospitals.

Objective:To construct an evaluation index system for community hospice comfort care.Methods:This was a cross-sectional study. Two rounds of expert consultations were conducted using modified Delphi method from June to September 2023, 14 experts in the field of palliative care nursing were invited to participate in the consultations. Based on the consultation results, an evaluation index system for comfort care of community hospice was preliminarily developed.Results:All consultation experts were females, with an average age of (48±8) years; 9 held senior professonal titles, and 12 had more than 5 years of palliative care-related working experiencs. The positive coefficient of correspondence in two rounds of consultations was 100%, and the degree of authority was 0.841 and 0.834, respectively. The expert coordination coefficients for the importance of secondary indicators were 0.281 (χ 2=182.65) and 0.284 (χ 2=132.98), and the expert coordination coefficients for the operability of secondary indicators were 0.231 (χ 2=150.12) and 0.252 (χ 2=118.01), respectively. The constructed evaluation index system of hospice comfort care consisted of 5 primary indexes and 32 secondary indexes. The five primary indexes were environmental comfort, physiological comfort, psychological comfort, spiritual comfort and social comfort with a weight coefficient of 0.202 3, 0.205 3, 0.205 3, 0.199 4 and 0.187 7, respectively. Conclusion:An evaluation index system for comfort care in community hospice has been preliminarily developed in this study, after validation it would provide a reference for assessing the comfort needs of patients with palliative care.

Objective:To analyze the clinical efficacy of three-dimensional (3D) navigation-assisted percutaneous sacroiliac screw fixation in the treatment of Tile C1 pelvic fractures.Methods:A total of 12 patients with Tile C1 pelvic fractures who underwent percutaneous sacroiliac screw fixation assisted by 3D navigation in Liuzhou People's Hospital Affiliated to Guangxi Medical University from September 2019 to March 2022 were retrospectively analyzed. There were 8 males and 4 females, aged 43.08±16.93 years (range, 21-72 years). 24 patients with Tile C1 pelvic fractures who underwent fluoroscopy-assisted percutaneous sacroiliac screw internal fixation during the same period were selected as controls by pairing them according to age and sex in a ratio of 1:2. There were 15 males and 9 females, aged 45.75±11.69 years (range, 32-75 years). The operation time, intraoperative blood loss, number of screws, intraoperative fluoroscopy times, guide pin drilling times and pelvic function scores were compared between the two groups. The quality of pelvic fracture reduction was evaluated based on the Matta scoring criteria, the screw cut-out rate was calculated according to the Lonstein evaluation criteria, and the degree of postoperative heterotopic ossification was evaluated according to the Brooker grading system.Results:All patients were followed up for 18.1±4.7 months (range, 12-30 months). In the 3D navigation group, the operation time was 110.67±44.85 min, the number of intraoperative fluoroscopies was 24.42±9.94, and the number of guided needle drilling was 7.33±4.70, which was lower than 145.00±48.51 min, 75.75±29.47, and 13.92±5.78 in the fluoroscopically-assisted group, and the differences were statistically significant ( P<0.05). At the last follow-up, the Majeed pelvic function score of 3D navigation group was 89.08±3.89, and the excellent and good rate was 100% (12/12). The score of fluoroscopy-assisted group was 74.00±10.71, and the excellent and good rate was 79% (19/24). The difference was statistically significant ( χ2=10.23, P<0.001). The excellent and good rate of Matta grading was 92% (11/12) in the 3D navigation group and 79% (19/24) in the fluoroscopic assisted group, showing no significant difference between the two groups ( χ2=2.93, P=0.403). The screw cut-out rate and heterotopic ossification rate in the 3D navigation group were 17% (2/12) and 8% (1/12), which were lower than 71% (17/24) and 13% (3/24) in the fluoroscopy-assisted group, and the differences were statistically significant ( χ2=9.76, P=0.021; χ2=31.71, P<0.001). Conclusion:3D navigation-assisted percutaneous sacroiliac screw fixation for Tile C1 pelvic fractures can reduce the operation time and radiation exposure, improve the postoperative pelvic function, and reduce the incidence of screw cut-out and heterotopic ossification.

Objective:To solve the difficult problem of experimental teaching of MRI equipment by independently designing a virtual simulation teaching system for performance testing of medical magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) equipment.Methods:A total of 202 students of Batch 2016 majoring in 4-year medical imaging technology and 5-year medical imaging of Binzhou Medical University. According to the teaching requirements of MRI equipment in Medical Imaging Equipment Science, a 3D experimental simulation model and experimental scenes were established based on Unity3D engine by using Unity3D, 3D Studio Max, Maya and Visual Studio technology to design experimental learning content and assessment content, develop the teaching system software and perform Web-based online learning. Then, the satisfaction survey on experimental learning was conducted, the statistics of the experimental results of the teaching system on the national virtual simulation experiment teaching platform was collected and the learning effects were evaluated in multiple dimensions. Results:The virtual simulation teaching system was a comprehensive experiment with 12 knowledge points, 12 experimental items and a total of 81 interactive contents and steps. The overall satisfaction rate of 202 students in our school was 96.82%(2 347/2 424). Among the 499 subjects who participated in the learning of the teaching system on the national virtual simulation experiment teaching platform and submitted the experimental report, the average score of the experiment was 78.07 points (the full score of online learning assessment was 90 points), and the overall passing rate was 96.79%(483/499). The average learning time of the 18 students who got 90 points was 54 min.Conclusion:This virtual simulation teaching system possesses comprehensive experimental contents with high fidelity of experimental scenes and strong interactivity of experimental operation, prospecting great learning effects and promotion value.

We researched the mechanism of African swine fever virus (ASFV) protein E248R in regulating the cGAS-STING pathway. First, we verified via the dual-luciferase reporter assay system that E248R protein inhibited the secretion of IFN-β induced by cGAS-STING or HT-DNA in a dose-dependent manner. The relative quantitative PCR analysis indicated that the overexpression of E248R inhibited HT-DNA-induced transcription of IFN-b1, RANTES, IL-6, and TNF-α in PK-15 cells. Next, we found that E248R interacted with STING by co-immunoprecipitation assay and laser confocal microscopy. Finally, we demonstrated that E248R inhibited the expression of STING protein by using Western blotting. We demonstrated for the first time that the E248R protein of ASFV suppressed the host innate immune response via inhibiting STING expression. The results are pivotal in extending the understanding of the ASFV immune escape and can guide the design of vaccines against ASFV.
African Swine Fever Virus/genetics* ; Animals ; DNA ; Immunity, Innate ; Nucleotidyltransferases/metabolism* ; Signal Transduction ; Swine

Objective:To evaluate the development and application of gastrointestinal endoscopy technology in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei (BTH) region from 2016 to 2020, and the impact of the corona virus disease 2019 (COVID-19) epidemic on gastrointestinal endoscopy screening and lesion detection rate of medical institutions.Methods:Data of gastroscopy and colonoscopy cases from 26 cooperative institutions in BTH Region Gastrointestinal Endoscopy Medical Association from January 2016 to December 2020 were collected by questionnaire. The number of gastrointestinal endoscopy, the detection of main lesions (including upper gastrointestinal malignant tumors, early gastric cancer and colon cancer), and the number of endoscopic treatment were retrospectively analyzed by year.Results:From 2016 to 2019, the number of gastroscopy and colonoscopy showed a yearly increasing trend with an annual growth rate of over 10%. Compared with 2019, the number of gastroscopy and colonoscopy decreased by 10.86% and 8.29%, respectively, in 2020 due to the impact of the epidemic. The annual detection rates of upper gastrointestinal malignant tumors, early gastric cancer and colon cancer were on a rise, from 7.22%, 1.49% and 8.98% in 2016 to 9.87%, 2.71% and 12.04% in 2020, respectively. The number of gastroscopic mucosal resection, submucosal dissection and colonoscopic endoscopic submucosal dissection increased yearly, from 2 132, 300 and 217 cases in 2016 to 5 466, 872 and 560 cases in 2020, respectively.Conclusion:The Medical Association has promoted the expansion of endoscopic screening and the application of endoscopic treatment techniques, resulting in a continuous increase in the endoscopy detection rate and early cancer diagnosis rate in the BTH region. The sharp decrease of gastrointestinal endoscopy procedures and the increase in the lesion detection rate in 2020 reflect the impact of epidemic COVID-19 on detection of gastrointestinal cancers.