ObjectiveTo explore the mechanism by which Xiaoyaosan regulates HPT axis dysfunction in the rat model with the syndrome of liver depression and spleen deficiency by observing its effect on the glycoprotein hormone α-subunit （CGA）/glutathione peroxidase 2 （GPX2）/thyroid-stimulating hormone β-subunit （TSHβ） pathway for thyroid hormone synthesis. MethodsSeventy-two male SD rats were randomized into six groups： normal， model， high-dose （16.7 g·kg^-1）， medium-dose （8.35 g·kg^-1）， and low-dose （4.175 g·kg^-1） Xiaoyaosan， and fluoxetine （0.001 8 g·kg^-1） groups， with 12 rats in each group. The rat model of liver depression and spleen deficiency was induced by chronic restraint stress for 21 days. The intervention groups were treated with Xiaoyaosan decoctions or fluoxetine suspension， respectively. After modeling， hematoxylin-eosin staining was employed to observe morphological changes in the thyroid and pituitary tissue of the rats. Serum levels of triiodothyronine （T3）， tetraiodothyronine （T4）， and thyroid-stimulating hormone （TSH） were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay （ELISA）. Real-time fluorescence quantitative polymerase chain reaction （Real-time PCR） and Western blot were employed to determine the mRNA and protein levels， respectively， of TSH receptor （TSHR） in the thyroid tissue， thyrotropin-releasing hormone receptor （TRHR） and TSHβ in the pituitary tissue， and thyrotropin-releasing hormone （TRH）， CGA， GPX2， and TSHβ in the hypothalamic tissue. ResultsCompared with the normal group， the model group showed significant atrophy and irregularity of thyroid follicles， a marked reduction in colloid secretion， extensive vacuolar degeneration of adenocytes in the anterior pituitary， lowered serum levels of T3， T4， and TSH （P<0.01）， and down-regulated mRNA and protein levels of TSHR in the thyroid tissue， TRHR and TSHβ in the pituitary tissue， and TRH， CGA， GPX2， and TSHβ in the hypothalamic tissue （P<0.01）. Compared with the model group， high- and medium-dose Xiaoyaosan and fluoxetine alleviated the pathological changes in the thyroid and pituitary tissue， outperforming the low-dose Xiaoyaosan group. Moreover， they elevated the serum levels of T3， T4， and TSH （P<0.05， P<0.01）. The serum TSH level was also elevated in the low-dose Xiaoyaosan group （P<0.05）. The mRNA and protein levels of TSHR in the thyroid， TRHR and TSHβ in the pituitary， and TRH， CGA， GPX2， and TSHβ in the hypothalamus were up-regulated in the high- and medium-dose Xiaoyaosan groups （P<0.05， P<0.01）. Additionally， the mRNA and protein levels of TSHβ in the hypothalamus were up-regulated in the low-dose Xiaoyaosan group （P<0.01）. In the fluoxetine group， the mRNA and protein levels of TSHR in the thyroid， TRHR in the pituitary， and TRH， CGA， and GPX2 in the hypothalamus were up-regulated （P<0.05， P<0.01）. ConclusionThe downregulation of CGA/GPX2/TSHβ pathway may be one of the biological mechanisms underlying HPT axis dysfunction in the rat model with the syndrome of liver depression and spleen deficiency. Xiaoyaosan may regulate the HPT axis dysfunction by up-regulating the CGA/GPX2/TSHβ pathway.

Objective To investigate the effect of naringenin(Nar)on hippocampal neuronal injury in neonatal mice with bilirubin encephalopathy,focusing on the Nrf2/GPX4-mediated ferroptosis pathway.Methods Neonatal mice were randomly divided into Control group,Model group,Nar low(Nar-L),high dose group(Nar-H)and high dose naringenin combined with Nrf2 inhibitor ML385 group(Nar-H+ML385),with 15 mice in each group.With the exception of the Control group,mice in the other groups were injected with bilirubin solution(20 μg/g)through the cerebellar bulbar cisterna to establish neonatal mouse bilirubin encephalopathy model.After the establishment of the model,intraperitoneal injection of naringin(25 or 100 mg/kg)or ML385(30 mg/kg)was administered once daily for a consecutive period of 7 days.After intervention,the neurobehavioral changes of each group of mice were observed.The water maze experiment was conducted to assess the long-term learning and memory abilities of the mice in each group.Nissl staining was performed to observe hippocampal neuron damage in mice.Chemical methods were used to measure the levels of malondialdehyde(MDA),4-hydroxynonenal(4-HNE),superoxide dismutase(SOD),and glutathione peroxidase(GSH-Px)in the hippocampal tissue of mice.Colorimetric analysis was employed to determine the content of Fe2+in hippocampal tissue.Western blotting was utilized to detect protein expression levels of nuclear associated factor 2(Nrf2),solute carrier family 7 member 11(SLC7A11)and glutathione peroxidase 4(GPX4)protein in the hippocampal tissue of mice.Results Compared with the Control group,the Model group showed different degrees of abnormal neural behavior,and the long-term learning and memory ability were significantly reduced(P<0.05),at the same time,the hippocampal nerve was seriously damaged,and the contents of MDA,4-HNE and Fe2+in hippocampal tissue were significantly increased(P<0.05),the activities of SOD and GSH-Px and the protein expression levels of Nrf2,SLC7A11 and GPX4 were significantly decreased(P<0.05).Compared with the Model group,the Nar-L and Nar-H groups had less abnormal behavior,and the long-term learning and memory ability were significantly enhanced(P<0.05),at the same time,the hippocampal nerve injury was significantly improved,and the contents of MDA,4-HNE and Fe2+in hippocampal tissue were significantly decreased(P<0.05),the activities of SOD and GSH-Px and the protein expression levels of Nrf2,SLC7A11 and GPX4 were significantly increased(P<0.05).However,the combined intervention of ML385 significantly attenuates the beneficial effects of Nar on hippocampal neuron damage in neonatal mice with bilirubin encephalopathy.Conclusion This study suggested that Nar can ameliorate neuronal damage in hippocampus of neonatal mice with bilirubin encephalopathy,possibly through the regulation of iron death mediated by Nrf2/GPX4 axis.

Objective To investigate an automated pretreatment technology for detecting levels of free silica in workplace dust. Methods An fully automated pretreatment workstation for detecting free silica levels in workplace dust was developed by integrating graphite-controlled digestion temperature, online-controlled dilution of digestion solutions, and filtration endpoint recognition based on monitoring technology, combined with multi-channel synchronous measurements. Results The fully automatic pretreatment workstation was used to digest and filter 14 standard samples of free silica produced by three institutions, and then detected by pyrophosphate method. The result range of high-, medium-, and low-level free silica standard samples detection was 66.5%-84.8%, 40.0%-44.5%, and 2.1%-24.8%, respectively. The mean relative standard deviations were 3.9%, 1.4% and 1.5%. Conclusion The fully automated pretreatment workstation produced results that met relevant requirements. It can effectively replace the manual digestion and filtration steps of the pyrophosphate method to measure free silica levels in workplace dust and enable rapid detection of free silica in dust samples.

Early-onset neonatal sepsis (EONS) is a systemic inflammatory response syndrome caused by bacterial and fungal infections within 3 days after birth, which is one of the important causes of poor prognosis and even death in neonates.Early accurate diagnosis and timely treatment are crucial to improving the prognosis and reducing the mortality and unreasonable use of antibiotics.Because umbilical cord blood shares the same cell composition with fetal peripheral blood at the end of pregnancy, and has the advantages of easy availability and painlessness, many researchers have been devoted to exploring umbilical cord blood markers related to the diagnosis of EONS in recent years.Most studies suggest that umbilical cord blood culture, procalcitonin, C-reactive protein and interleukin-6 should be routinely used as single indicators for clinical diagnosis of EONS.The combination of two or more biomarkers may be more accurate for the diagnosis of EONS, which, however, needs to be confirmed with more trials, and it is also a significant direction of future research.In this article, progress in relevant research was reviewed in order to provide reference for early diagnosis of EONS.

Objective To investigate the effect of naringenin(Nar)on hippocampal neuronal injury in neonatal mice with bilirubin encephalopathy,focusing on the Nrf2/GPX4-mediated ferroptosis pathway.Methods Neonatal mice were randomly divided into Control group,Model group,Nar low(Nar-L),high dose group(Nar-H)and high dose naringenin combined with Nrf2 inhibitor ML385 group(Nar-H+ML385),with 15 mice in each group.With the exception of the Control group,mice in the other groups were injected with bilirubin solution(20 μg/g)through the cerebellar bulbar cisterna to establish neonatal mouse bilirubin encephalopathy model.After the establishment of the model,intraperitoneal injection of naringin(25 or 100 mg/kg)or ML385(30 mg/kg)was administered once daily for a consecutive period of 7 days.After intervention,the neurobehavioral changes of each group of mice were observed.The water maze experiment was conducted to assess the long-term learning and memory abilities of the mice in each group.Nissl staining was performed to observe hippocampal neuron damage in mice.Chemical methods were used to measure the levels of malondialdehyde(MDA),4-hydroxynonenal(4-HNE),superoxide dismutase(SOD),and glutathione peroxidase(GSH-Px)in the hippocampal tissue of mice.Colorimetric analysis was employed to determine the content of Fe2+in hippocampal tissue.Western blotting was utilized to detect protein expression levels of nuclear associated factor 2(Nrf2),solute carrier family 7 member 11(SLC7A11)and glutathione peroxidase 4(GPX4)protein in the hippocampal tissue of mice.Results Compared with the Control group,the Model group showed different degrees of abnormal neural behavior,and the long-term learning and memory ability were significantly reduced(P<0.05),at the same time,the hippocampal nerve was seriously damaged,and the contents of MDA,4-HNE and Fe2+in hippocampal tissue were significantly increased(P<0.05),the activities of SOD and GSH-Px and the protein expression levels of Nrf2,SLC7A11 and GPX4 were significantly decreased(P<0.05).Compared with the Model group,the Nar-L and Nar-H groups had less abnormal behavior,and the long-term learning and memory ability were significantly enhanced(P<0.05),at the same time,the hippocampal nerve injury was significantly improved,and the contents of MDA,4-HNE and Fe2+in hippocampal tissue were significantly decreased(P<0.05),the activities of SOD and GSH-Px and the protein expression levels of Nrf2,SLC7A11 and GPX4 were significantly increased(P<0.05).However,the combined intervention of ML385 significantly attenuates the beneficial effects of Nar on hippocampal neuron damage in neonatal mice with bilirubin encephalopathy.Conclusion This study suggested that Nar can ameliorate neuronal damage in hippocampus of neonatal mice with bilirubin encephalopathy,possibly through the regulation of iron death mediated by Nrf2/GPX4 axis.

Early-onset neonatal sepsis (EONS) is a systemic inflammatory response syndrome caused by bacterial and fungal infections within 3 days after birth, which is one of the important causes of poor prognosis and even death in neonates.Early accurate diagnosis and timely treatment are crucial to improving the prognosis and reducing the mortality and unreasonable use of antibiotics.Because umbilical cord blood shares the same cell composition with fetal peripheral blood at the end of pregnancy, and has the advantages of easy availability and painlessness, many researchers have been devoted to exploring umbilical cord blood markers related to the diagnosis of EONS in recent years.Most studies suggest that umbilical cord blood culture, procalcitonin, C-reactive protein and interleukin-6 should be routinely used as single indicators for clinical diagnosis of EONS.The combination of two or more biomarkers may be more accurate for the diagnosis of EONS, which, however, needs to be confirmed with more trials, and it is also a significant direction of future research.In this article, progress in relevant research was reviewed in order to provide reference for early diagnosis of EONS.

Objective:To establish the normal values of water-perfused high resolution esophageal manometry (HREM)(GAP-36A) at resting period, water swallowing, semisolid swallowing and solid swallowing in Chinese population.Methods:From September 1, 2019 to June 30, 2020, 91 healthy volunteers receiving water-perfused HREM (GAP-36A) at resting period, water swallowing, semisolid swallowing and solid swallowing were selected from 9 hospitals (Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology; the First Affiliated Hospital of Dalian Medical University; the Second Hospital of Hebei Medical University; the Second Affiliated Hospital, Naval Medical University; the First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University; the First Affiliated Hospital, University of Science and Technology of China; Aviation General Hospital of China Medical University; the Affiliated Hospital of Medical School of Nanjing University and the First People′s Hospital of Yichang). Parameters included the position of the upper and lower edges of the upper esophageal sphincter (UES) and lower esophageal sphincter (LES), the length of the LES and UES, the position of the pressure inversion point (PIP), the resting pressure of UES and LES and swallow-related parameters such as the distal contraction integral (DCI), 4 s integrated relaxation pressure (IRP), distal latency (DL) and UES residual pressure. One-way analysis of variance, post-hoc test and sum rank test were used for statistical analysis.Results:A total of 87 healthy volunteers were enrolled, including 40 males and 47 females, aged (38.5±14.2) years old (ranged from 19 to 65 years old). The position of the upper and lower edges of the LES was (42.7±2.8) and (45.6±2.8) cm, respectively, the length of the LES was (2.9±0.4) cm, and the position of PIP was (43.3±2.8) cm. The position of the upper and lower edges of the UES was (18.1±3.0) and (22.6±2.0) cm, respectively, and the length of the UES was (4.8±1.0) cm. The resting pressure of LES and UES was (17.4±10.7) and (84.1±61.1) mmHg (1 mmHg=0.133 kPa), respectively. The DCI value at solid swallowing was higher than those at water swallowing and semisolid swallowing ((2 512.4±1 448.0) mmHg·s·cm vs. (2 183.2±1 441.2) and (2 150.8±1 244.8) mmHg·s·cm), and the differences were statistically significant ( t=-4.30 and -3.74, both P<0.001). The values of 4 s IRP at semisolid swallowing and solid swallowing were lower than that at water swallowing ((4.6±4.1) and (4.9±3.9) mmHg vs. (5.4±3.9) mmHg), and the differences were statistically significant ( t=3.38 and 2.09, P=0.001 and 0.037). The DL at water swallowing was shorter than those at semisolid swallowing and solid swallowing ((8.5±1.8) s vs. (9.8±2.2) and (10.6±2.8) s), and the DL at semisolid swallowing was shorter than that at solid swallowing, and the differences were statistically significant ( t=-10.21, -13.91 and -4.68, all P<0.001). The UES residual pressure at water swallowing was higher than those at semisolid swallowing and solid swallowing (9.5 mmHg, 6.5 to 12.3 mmHg vs. 8.0 mmHg, 4.5 to 11.7 mmHg and 5.5 mmHg, 2.0 to 9.3 mmHg), and the UES residual pressure at semisolid swallowing was higher than that at solid swallowing, and the differences were statistically significant ( t=3.48, 10.30 and 6.35, all P<0.001). Conclusions:The normal values of water-perfused HREM (GAP-36A) in Chinese population at resting period, water swallowing, semisolid swallowing and solid swallowing can provide a reference basis for clinical diagnosis and treatment for patients receiving water-perfused HREM examination.

To investigate the pathogenesis of Broca-like and Wernicke-like conduction aphasia. Methods 7 cases with Broca-like aphasia (Group A), 7 cases with Wernicke-like aphasia (Group B) and 10 healthy volunteers (Group C) participated in the study. Broca'sarea, Wernicke's area, and the arcuate fasciculus were analyzed by diffusion tensor imaging, and their fractional anisotropy (FA) weremeasured and compared; The fiber construction of Broca's and Wernicke's areas were also compared by diffusion tensor imaging-fibre tractography.Results In Group C, All of the FA was higher in the left hemisphere than in the right hemisphere (P<0.05); In Group A, the FA ofthe Broca's area and anterior segment of the arcuate fasciculus were less in the left than in the right hemisphere (P<0.05)； In Group B, theFA of the Wernicke's area and posterior segment of the arcuate fasciculus were less in the left than in the right (P<0.05). Conclusion Conductionaphasia results not only from arcuate fasciculus destruction, but also from disruption of the associated cortical area. A lesion involvingBroca's area and the anterior segments of the arcuate fasciculus would lead to Broca-like conduction aphasia, whereas a lesion involvedWernicke's area and posterior segments of the arcuate fasciculus would lead to Wernicke-like conduction aphasia.

Emergency gastroscopy was performed for 146 patients with upper gastrointestinal hemorrhage admitted to Tieying Hospital, Beijing to identify causes of bleeding and establish diagnosis. One hundred and thirty-nine of them were cured with endoscopic treatment, but two failed so to change to surgical operation. It suggested that early gastroscopy is a convenient, easy and safe method in diagnosis and treatment of upper gastrointestinal hemorrhage.

Objective To evaluate the significance of hemihepatic vascular occlusion with extrahepatic control of major hepatic veins for hepatectomy in cirrhotic carcinoma. Methods A retrospective comparative study for hepatectomy in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC) using Pringle maneuver (groupA,n=44),hemihepatic vascular occlusion(group B,n=76) and hemihepatic vascular occlusion plus extrahepatic control of major hepatic veins(group C,n=85)were made from March 2006 to September 2008.The amount of intraoperative bleeding,time of operation,postoperative liver function,liver function recovering and complications were compared.Results There was significant difference in the amount of intraoperative blood loss between the three groups(543.7 ml、415.8 ml、324.5 ml,respectively,F=98.96,P<0.001).There was no difference in the time of operation.The level of serum alanine transaminase(ALT) and that of serum bilirubin on the 3rd and 6th day postoperatively in group B,and C was significantly lower than that in group A.Conclusions Hemihepatic vascular occlusion with control of major hepatic veins results in selective liver isolation from the systemic circulation,which is more effective than Pringle maneuver for controlling intraoperative bleeding without interruption of hemodynamic stability in liver cancer patients.