ObjectiveTo explore the regulatory effects and mechanisms of Astragali Radix polysaccharide （APS） on inhibitor of differentiation1 （ID1） and protein kinase B （Akt） in gastric cancer. MethodsImmunohistochemical staining was used to detect the expression of ID1 and Akt in 61 gastric cancer tissue samples and 20 adjacent normal gastric tissue samples. Immunofluorescence was used to detect the localization of ID1 and Akt. The effects of APS at the concentrations of 0.625， 1.25， 2.5， 5， 10， 20 mg·L^-1 on the proliferation of gastric cancer MGC-803 cells were examined by the cell counting kit-8（CCK-8） method and the colony formation assay. The target information of APS was retrieved from the Traditional Chinese Medicine Systems Pharmacology and Analysis Platform and Swiss Target Prediction. Keywords such as gastric cancer， gastric tumor， and stomach cancer were searched against GeneCards， UniProt， DisGeNET， and Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man （OMIM） for the screening of gastric cancer-related targets. The online tool jvenn was used to create the Venn diagram to identify the common targets， and STRING and Cytoscape were used to construct the protein-protein interaction network. Gene Ontology （GO） and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes （KEGG） pathway enrichment analyses were conducted via R 4.2.2 to predict the potential roles of APS in the development of gastric cancer. The cell scratch assay was employed to assess the effect of APS on the migration of MGC-803 cells. The protein and mRNA levels of ID1 and Akt in the cells treated with APS were determined by Western blot and Real-time PCR， respectively. ResultsCompared with the adjacent normal gastric tissue， the gastric adenocarcinoma tissue showed increased positive expression of ID1 （χ² =81.00， P<0.01）. Immunofluorescence detection showed that ID1 and Akt were mainly located in the cytoplasm of gastric adenocarcinoma cells. Bioinformatics analysis identified 14 common genes shared between APS and gastric cancer. The average degree of protein-protein interaction network nodes was 14.29. GO and KEGG pathway enrichment results showed that ID1 and Akt were significantly enriched in the Rap1 and phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase （PI3K） /Akt signaling pathways. Cell experiments demonstrated that 5-fluorouracil （0.1 mg·L^-1） and APS （10， 20 mg·L^-1） groups showed decreased cell proliferation， migration， and colony formation. Compared with the control group， 10， 20 mg·L^-1 APS inhibited the proliferation of MGC-803 cells （P<0.01）， with 10 mg·L^-1 APS demonstrating stronger inhibitory effect. In addition， APS at 10， 20 mg·L^-1 inhibited the migration （P<0.01） and colony formation （P<0.05， P<0.01） of MGC-803 cells. Compared with the control group， APS at 10， 20 mg·L^-1 down-regulated the protein levels of ID1 （P<0.01） and Akt （P<0.05） and the mRNA levels of ID1 （P<0.05， P<0.01） and Akt （P<0.05， P<0.01） in MGC-803 cells. ConclusionID1 and Akt are highly expressed in the gastric adenocarcinoma tissue， which may be related to the development of gastric cancer. APS can down-regulate the protein and mRNA levels of ID1 and Akt to exert anti-tumor effects， which is expected to provide new therapeutic targets for gastric cancer treatment.

ObjectiveTo investigate the difference in the level of biliary calprotectin between patients with cholangiocarcinoma and those with choledocholithiasis. MethodsClinical data and bile samples were collected from 34 patients with cholangiocarcinoma and 78 patients with choledocholithiasis who were diagnosed and treated with endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography in The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University from May 2021 to September 2022. Fluorescence lateral flow immunoassay was used to measure the levels of calprotectin， hemoglobin， and lactoferrin in bile. The Mann-Whitney U test was used for comparison of continuous data between two groups， and the chi-square test was used for comparison of categorical data between two groups； the Spearman correlation test was used for correlation analysis； the DeLong test was used for comparison of the area under the ROC curve （AUC）. ResultsCompared with the choledocholithiasis group， the cholangiocarcinoma group had significant increases in the levels of calprotectin ［4 795.50 （2 286.79‍ ‍—‍ ‍20 179.73） ng/mL vs 411.16 （67.03‍ ‍—‍ ‍1 991.88） ng/mL， Z=5.572， P<0.001］ and fluoride ［115.70 （109.10‍ — ‍125.50） mmol/L vs 106.60 （98.60‍ ‍—‍ ‍114.40） mmol/L， Z=2.702， P=0.007］. The patients with cholangiocarcinoma were further divided into high cholangiocarcinoma group and low cholangiocarcinoma group， and there was no significant difference between the two groups in the level of calprotectin ［3 867.71 （2 235.66‍ — ‍26 407.40） ng/mL vs 4 795.50 （2 361.15‍ — ‍13 070.53） ng/mL， Z=0.129， P>0.05］. Biliary calprotectin level was correlated with white blood cell count， hemoglobin concentration， and lactoferrin concentration in bile （r=0.316， 0.353， and 0.464， all P<0.05）. The ROC curve analysis showed that biliary calprotectin （with a sensitivity of 79.4% and a specificity of 75.6%）， blood CA19-9 （with a sensitivity of 82.4% and a specificity of 78.2%）， and their combination （with a sensitivity of 88.2% and a specificity of 73.1%） had good sensitivity and specificity in the diagnosis of cholangiocarcinoma. ConclusionThere is an increase in the level of biliary calprotectin in patients with cholangiocarcinoma， and therefore， it might become a biomarker for the diagnosis of cholangiocarcinoma.

Based on the interaction between supramolecule of traditional Chinese medicine and enterobacteria, the material basis of Rhei Radix et Rhizoma and Coptidis Rhizoma was explored. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and dynamic light scattering (DLS) were used to characterize the morphological differences of Rhubarb single decoction, Coptis single decoction and Rhubarb and Coptis co-decoction. An in vitro antibacterial model (E. coli, E. faecium and B. subtilis) was established to evaluate the damage effect of the combination of Rhei Radix et Rhizoma and Coptidis Rhizoma on enterobacteria. Ultra high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS) was used to analyze the changes of chemical components of single decoctions and co-decoctions. The co-decoction of Rhei Radix et Rhizoma and Coptidis Rhizoma was turbid after decocting. The spherical particles of 300-400 nm were observed under SEM, and the co-decoction was more uniform and stable than that of single decoction. The interaction between supramolecules formed after the combination of Rhei Radix et Rhizoma and Coptidis Rhizoma and enterobacteria was significantly different from that of single decoction. In the process of interaction between supramolecules and enterobacteria, the spherical state was maintained, and the medicinal ingredients in Coptidis Rhizoma or Rhei Radix et Rhizoma were blocked, which could effectively alleviate the damage to enterobacteria. This study provided a reference for subsequent studies on the regulation of intestinal flora homeostasis by the combination of Rhei Radix et Rhizoma and Coptidis Rhizoma.

Objective:To study the current status of longitudinal extrauterine growth restriction (EUGR) in extremely preterm infants (EPIs) and to develop a prediction model based on clinical data from multiple NICUs.Methods:From January 2017 to December 2018, EPIs admitted to 32 NICUs in North China were retrospectively studied. Their general conditions, nutritional support, complications during hospitalization and weight changes were reviewed. Weight loss between birth and discharge > 1SD was defined as longitudinal EUGR. The EPIs were assigned into longitudinal EUGR group and non-EUGR group and their nutritional support and weight changes were compared. The EPIs were randomly assigned into the training dataset and the validation dataset with a ratio of 7∶3. Univariate Cox regression analysis and multiple regression analysis were used in the training dataset to select the independent predictive factors. The best-fitting Nomogram model predicting longitudinal EUGR was established based on Akaike Information Criterion. The model was evaluated for discrimination efficacy, calibration and clinical decision curve analysis.Results:A total of 436 EPIs were included in this study, with a mean gestational age of (26.9±0.9) weeks and a birth weight of (989±171) g. The incidence of longitudinal EUGR was 82.3%(359/436). Seven variables (birth weight Z-score, weight loss, weight growth velocity, the proportion of breast milk ≥75% within 3 d before discharge, invasive mechanical ventilation ≥7 d, maternal antenatal corticosteroids use and bronchopulmonary dysplasia) were selected to establish the prediction model. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of the training dataset and the validation dataset were 0.870 (95% CI 0.820-0.920) and 0.879 (95% CI 0.815-0.942), suggesting good discrimination efficacy. The calibration curve indicated a good fit of the model ( P>0.05). The decision curve analysis showed positive net benefits at all thresholds. Conclusions:Currently, EPIs have a high incidence of longitudinal EUGR. The prediction model is helpful for early identification and intervention for EPIs with higher risks of longitudinal EUGR. It is necessary to expand the sample size and conduct prospective studies to optimize and validate the prediction model in the future.

Objective At present, the grading evaluation of patients with disorders of consciousness (DOC) is still a focus and difficulty in related fields. Electroencephalogram (EEG) can directly read and continuously reflect scalp electrical activity generated by brain tissue structure, with high temporal resolution. Auditory stimulation is easy to operate and has broad application prospects in clinical detection of DOC. The causal network can intuitively reflect the direction of information transmission through the causal relationship between time series, helping us better understand the information interaction between different regions of the brain of patients. This paper combines EEG and causal networks to explore the differences in brain functional connectivity between patients with unresponsive arousal syndrome (VS) and those with minimum state of consciousness (MCS) under auditory stimulation. MethodsA total of 23 DOC patients were included, including 11 MCS patients and 12 VS patients. Based on the Oddball paradigm, auditory naming stimulation was performed on DOC patients and EEG signals of DOC patients were synchronously collected. The brain functional networks were constructed using multivariate Granger causality method, and the differences in node degree, clustering coefficient, global efficiency, and causal flow of the brain networks between MCS patients and VS patients were calculated. The differences in network characteristics of patients with different levels of consciousness under auditory stimulation were compared from the perspective of cooperation between brain regions. ResultsThe causal connectivity between most brain regions in MCS patients was stronger than that in VS patients, and MCS patients had more brain network connectivity edges than VS patients. The average degree (P<0.05), average clustering coefficient, and global efficiency (P<0.05) of MCS patients under naming stimulation were higher than those of VS patients. The difference in out-degree between each node of VS patients was larger, and the difference in in-degree between each node of MCS patients was smaller. The difference in in-degree of MCS patients was more significant than that of VS patients, and the inflow and outflow of information in the brain functional network of MCS patients were stronger than those of VS patients. MCS and VS patients had differences of causal flow in the frontal and temporal lobes, the direction of information transmission in the parietal lobe and central region was not the same, and MCS patients had more electrodes as causal sources than VS patients. ConclusionThe information transmission ability of MCS patients is stronger than that of VS patients under auditory naming stimulation. Compared with VS patients, MCS patients have an increase in the number of electrode channels as the causal source, an increase in information output to other brain regions, and also an increase in the information output within brain regions, which may indicate a better state of consciousness in patients. MCS patients have more electrode channels for information output in the frontal lobe than VS patients, and the number of electrode channels for changing the direction of information transmission in the frontal lobe is the highest. The frontal lobe is closely related to the level of consciousness in patients with consciousness disorders. This study can provide a theoretical basis for the grading evaluation of consciousness levels in DOC patients.

BACKGROUND:Sepsis is one of the main causes of mortality in intensive care units(ICUs).Early prediction is critical for reducing injury.As approximately 36%of sepsis occur within 24 h after emergency department(ED)admission in Medical Information Mart for Intensive Care(MIMIC-IV),a prediction system for the ED triage stage would be helpful.Previous methods such as the quick Sequential Organ Failure Assessment(qSOFA)are more suitable for screening than for prediction in the ED,and we aimed to find a light-weight,convenient prediction method through machine learning. METHODS:We accessed the MIMIC-IV for sepsis patient data in the EDs.Our dataset comprised demographic information,vital signs,and synthetic features.Extreme Gradient Boosting(XGBoost)was used to predict the risk of developing sepsis within 24 h after ED admission.Additionally,SHapley Additive exPlanations(SHAP)was employed to provide a comprehensive interpretation of the model's results.Ten percent of the patients were randomly selected as the testing set,while the remaining patients were used for training with 10-fold cross-validation. RESULTS:For 10-fold cross-validation on 14,957 samples,we reached an accuracy of 84.1%±0.3%and an area under the receiver operating characteristic(ROC)curve of 0.92±0.02.The model achieved similar performance on the testing set of 1,662 patients.SHAP values showed that the five most important features were acuity,arrival transportation,age,shock index,and respiratory rate. CONCLUSION:Machine learning models such as XGBoost may be used for sepsis prediction using only a small amount of data conveniently collected in the ED triage stage.This may help reduce workload in the ED and warn medical workers against the risk of sepsis in advance.

Objective:To analyze the differences between trans-radial access (TRA) and trans-femoral access (TFA) in hepatic arterial perfusion chemotherapy (HAIC) in terms of patient experience, postoperative complications, and patient preferences; explore whether TRA in HAIC is associated with better patient experience and compliance; and determine whether it is safer than TFA.Methods:The study was a retrospective cohort study of patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma and liver metastases from colorectal cancer treated with HAIC. We enrolled a total of 91 patients with advanced liver malignancies treated with HAIC from November 2022 to May 2023 in the Department of Interventional Therapy and Hepatobiliary Medicine at Tianjin Medical University Cancer Hospital. The patients were divided into three groups: group TRA ( n=20, receiving TRA HAIC only), group TFA ( n=33, receiving TFA HAIC only), and crossover group [ n=19, receiving TFA HAIC (Cross-TFA group) first, followed by TRA HAIC (Cross-TRA group)]. Meanwhile, to facilitate the expression of partial results, all patients receiving TRA HAIC were defined as the TRA-HAIC group ( n=39, TRA+Cross-TRA group), and all patients receiving TFA HAIC were defined as the TFA-HAIC group ( n=52, TFA+Cross-TFA group). The primary research index was the Quality of Life (QOL) visualization scale score. The secondary research index included approach-related and catheter-related adverse events, duration of surgery, and mean length of patient stay. We used various statistical methods such as Mann-Whitney U test, t-test, Chi-square test, Fisher′s exact test, univariate logistic regression analysis, and multi-factor analysis. Results:TRA patients had significantly lower QOL scores than TFA patients (all P<0.001). The QOL scores of the Cross-TRA group were significantly lower than those of the Cross-TFA group (pain at the puncture site Z=-3.24, P=0.001, others P<0.001). The QOL scores of the Cross-TRA group were compared with those of the TRA group, which showed that the scores of the Cross-TRA group in overall discomfort ( Z=-3.07, P=0.002), postoperative toilet difficulty ( Z=-2.12, P=0.034), and walking difficulty ( Z=-2.58, P=0.010) were significantly lower than those of the TRA group. Satisfaction scores were significantly higher in the Cross-TRA group than in the Cross-TFA group ( Z=-3.78, P<0.001), and patients were more likely to receive TRA HAIC as the next procedure ( χ2=30.42, P<0.001). In terms of mean length of stay, patients receiving TRA HAIC had a significantly lower mean length of stay than those receiving TFA HAIC (50.1±3.2 h vs. 58.4±6.4 h, t=7.98, P<0.001). The incidence of radial artery occlusion (RAO) as an approach-related adverse event was 15.4% (6/39) in the TRA-HAIC group, which was significantly higher than that in the TFA-HAIC group (15.4% vs. 0, χ2=8.56, P=0.005). Notably, multifactorial analysis of RAO-related factors showed that intraoperative enoxaparin use and patency of radial artery flow during pressure were significantly associated with a reduced risk of postoperative RAO ( P=0.037 for enoxaparin use and P=0.049 for pressure). Conclusions:With respect to procedure approach, TRA was significantly better than TFA in terms of patient satisfaction and mean length of stay. Through further process optimization and prevention of adverse reactions, the incidence of adverse reactions can be maintained at a relatively low level, so that patients can benefit from TRA in future operations in terms of cost-effectiveness and medical efficiency.

Objective:To compare the short-term efficacy of robotic-assisted sacrocolpopexy(RASC)and lap-aroscopic sacrocolpopexy(LSC)in overweight/obese patients with pelvic organ prolapse(POP),and to evaluate the advantages of RASC.Methods:We retrospectively collected the clinical data of overweight/obese(body mass index≥24 kg/m2)patients over 50 years old with POP who underwent sacrocolpopexy in the Department of Gynecology of the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University from November 2014 to June 2023.According to the surgical method,they were divided into robotic group(68 cases)and laparoscopic group(110 cases).The intraoperative,postoperative and short-term follow-up outcomes of the two groups were compared.Pelvic Floor Distress Inventory-short form 20(PFDI-20),Pelvic Floor Impact Questionnaire-short form 7(PFIQ-7)and the Patient Global Impression of Improvement(PGI-Ⅰ)were used to evaluate surgical outcomes.Results:①No intra-operative conversion to laparotomy was found in both groups.Compared with the laparoscopic group,the robotic group had shorter operation time,less intraoperative blood loss,shorter postoperative anal exhaust time,and shor-ter postoperative hospital stay.The difference was statistically significant(P＜0.05).②There were no intraopera-tive complications in the robot group.While in the laparoscopic group,there was 1 case of bladder injury.③Within the two groups,the PFDI-20 and PFIQ-7 scores at 3 and 12 months after surgery were lower than those before surgery,and the difference was statistically significant(P＜0.05).PGI-Ⅰ scores were both"significantly im-proved".Subjective and objective cure rate were 100％.④The POP-Q indicator points(Aa,Ba,C,Ap,Bp,gh,pb,TVL)of both groups at 3 and 12 months after surgery were better than those before surgery(P＜0.05),achie-ving satisfactory anatomical reduction.Conclusions:RASC is safe and feasible in the treatment of overweight and obese patients with POP.Compared to LSC,RASC has significantly shorter operation time,less blood loss,faster postoperative intestinal function recovery,shorter postoperative hospital stay,and stable short-term effect.Therefore,RASC can provide a new choice for overweight/obese patients with POP.

Objective:To compare the short-term efficacy of robotic-assisted sacrocolpopexy(RASC)and lap-aroscopic sacrocolpopexy(LSC)in overweight/obese patients with pelvic organ prolapse(POP),and to evaluate the advantages of RASC.Methods:We retrospectively collected the clinical data of overweight/obese(body mass index≥24 kg/m2)patients over 50 years old with POP who underwent sacrocolpopexy in the Department of Gynecology of the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University from November 2014 to June 2023.According to the surgical method,they were divided into robotic group(68 cases)and laparoscopic group(110 cases).The intraoperative,postoperative and short-term follow-up outcomes of the two groups were compared.Pelvic Floor Distress Inventory-short form 20(PFDI-20),Pelvic Floor Impact Questionnaire-short form 7(PFIQ-7)and the Patient Global Impression of Improvement(PGI-Ⅰ)were used to evaluate surgical outcomes.Results:①No intra-operative conversion to laparotomy was found in both groups.Compared with the laparoscopic group,the robotic group had shorter operation time,less intraoperative blood loss,shorter postoperative anal exhaust time,and shor-ter postoperative hospital stay.The difference was statistically significant(P＜0.05).②There were no intraopera-tive complications in the robot group.While in the laparoscopic group,there was 1 case of bladder injury.③Within the two groups,the PFDI-20 and PFIQ-7 scores at 3 and 12 months after surgery were lower than those before surgery,and the difference was statistically significant(P＜0.05).PGI-Ⅰ scores were both"significantly im-proved".Subjective and objective cure rate were 100％.④The POP-Q indicator points(Aa,Ba,C,Ap,Bp,gh,pb,TVL)of both groups at 3 and 12 months after surgery were better than those before surgery(P＜0.05),achie-ving satisfactory anatomical reduction.Conclusions:RASC is safe and feasible in the treatment of overweight and obese patients with POP.Compared to LSC,RASC has significantly shorter operation time,less blood loss,faster postoperative intestinal function recovery,shorter postoperative hospital stay,and stable short-term effect.Therefore,RASC can provide a new choice for overweight/obese patients with POP.

Objective:To compare the short-term efficacy of robotic-assisted sacrocolpopexy(RASC)and lap-aroscopic sacrocolpopexy(LSC)in overweight/obese patients with pelvic organ prolapse(POP),and to evaluate the advantages of RASC.Methods:We retrospectively collected the clinical data of overweight/obese(body mass index≥24 kg/m2)patients over 50 years old with POP who underwent sacrocolpopexy in the Department of Gynecology of the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University from November 2014 to June 2023.According to the surgical method,they were divided into robotic group(68 cases)and laparoscopic group(110 cases).The intraoperative,postoperative and short-term follow-up outcomes of the two groups were compared.Pelvic Floor Distress Inventory-short form 20(PFDI-20),Pelvic Floor Impact Questionnaire-short form 7(PFIQ-7)and the Patient Global Impression of Improvement(PGI-Ⅰ)were used to evaluate surgical outcomes.Results:①No intra-operative conversion to laparotomy was found in both groups.Compared with the laparoscopic group,the robotic group had shorter operation time,less intraoperative blood loss,shorter postoperative anal exhaust time,and shor-ter postoperative hospital stay.The difference was statistically significant(P＜0.05).②There were no intraopera-tive complications in the robot group.While in the laparoscopic group,there was 1 case of bladder injury.③Within the two groups,the PFDI-20 and PFIQ-7 scores at 3 and 12 months after surgery were lower than those before surgery,and the difference was statistically significant(P＜0.05).PGI-Ⅰ scores were both"significantly im-proved".Subjective and objective cure rate were 100％.④The POP-Q indicator points(Aa,Ba,C,Ap,Bp,gh,pb,TVL)of both groups at 3 and 12 months after surgery were better than those before surgery(P＜0.05),achie-ving satisfactory anatomical reduction.Conclusions:RASC is safe and feasible in the treatment of overweight and obese patients with POP.Compared to LSC,RASC has significantly shorter operation time,less blood loss,faster postoperative intestinal function recovery,shorter postoperative hospital stay,and stable short-term effect.Therefore,RASC can provide a new choice for overweight/obese patients with POP.