BACKGROUND:The abnormal gait of stroke patients seriously affects their propulsive force during walking,which subsequently reduces their walking speed,walking distance,and stability,increases their risk of falls,and seriously affects their quality of life. OBJECTIVE:To review the relevant research on propulsive force deficits in stroke patients with hemiplegia,to summarize the understanding of existing researchers on propulsive force deficits,to analyze the relationship between propulsive force and gait,and finally to explain and compare the latest rehabilitation technologies used to improve propulsive force deficits,providing reference for clinical treatment. METHODS:Relevant literature was retrieved from WanFang,CNKI,PubMed,and Web of Science Core Collection through computer search.The Chinese and English search terms were"propulsive force OR propulsive,stroke OR cerebral infarction OR hemiplegia,walk* OR gait."The search time limit was from 2003 to 2023,and 71 articles were finally included for review and analysis. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:Training targeting the hip and ankle joints may be more effective for patients'walking function,especially training with the application of flexible exoskeleton robots,but more sufficient evidence is still needed to use propulsion as a prognostic indicator of walking function in stroke patients.Biomechanical variables related to propulsive force include:the hip joint extension angle at terminal stance,ankle joint dorsiflexion torque,and knee joint extension.Damage to the corticospinal tract,cerebellar-cortical pathways,and the reticulospinal tract in hemiplegic patients are associated with reduced propulsive force and gait asymmetry.Propulsive force is crucial for the stability of healthy gait,and a decrease in propulsive force is unfavorable for gait stability.Gait symmetry is correlated with propulsive force,stride length symmetry,trunk displacement,and lower limb swing ability,with propulsive force being a key factor.Propulsive force can serve as a quantitative indicator for assessing the gait of hemiplegic patients,and evaluation of gait using propulsive force is beneficial for the long-term development of walking ability.Main rehabilitation techniques for improving propulsive force include:lower limb exoskeleton robot walking training,treadmill training combined with functional electrical stimulation,adaptive speed treadmill training,biofeedback technology,and whole-body vibration training.Among them,whole-body vibration training and biofeedback technology are more effective.The specific contributions and mechanisms of the hip,knee,and ankle joints in improving propulsive force are still controversial,but it is expected that the contributions of the hip and ankle joints are greater.Focusing on the improvement of propulsive force as a rehabilitation goal may yield more sustainable advancements in walking function.However,several current challenges persist in this field:understanding the neurobiological basis of propulsive force deficits in stroke patients,assessing the long-term efficacy of current rehabilitation techniques for enhancing propulsive force,and determining the most suitable patient populations for the application of major rehabilitation techniques aiming at improving propulsive force.These areas require further exploration by subsequent researchers.

Objective:To establish auto verification rules for the routine coagulation assays,and to provide reference for clinical laboratories to improve the quality and efficiency of results verification.Methods:A total of 24,510 specimens of sodium citrate anticoagulation routine coagulation test from the laboratory departments of eight hospitals including the First Medical Center,Chinese PLA General Hospital during January to March 2020 were collected and randomly divided into a rule establishment group and a rule verification group,with 6,670 specimens in the rule establishment group,including 2,056 Delta checks,and 17,840 specimens in the rule validation group,including 3,210 Delta checks.The activities of prothrombin time(PT),activated partial thromboplastin time(APTT),fibrinogen(Fib),thrombin time(TT),D-dimer(DD)and/or antithrombin(AT)were detected by Stago STA R Max automatic coagulation analyzer and supporting reagents.Taking the manual verification results as the standard,the auto verification and manual false negative rate(invalid verification),false positive rate(invalid interception),pass rate,positive coincidence rate,negative coincidence rate,verification consistency rate and specimen turnaround time(TAT)of the two groups were calculated.Results:The auto verification rules and the application process were preliminarily established,including internal quality control,alarm information,auto verification scope,critical value and deviation value inspection.In the rule establishment group,the single item pass rate was 82.6%-92.4%,and the overall pass rate was 73.8%.The consistency rate between auto verification and manual verification was 98.2%,and the positive coincidence rate and negative coincidence rate were 24.4%and 73.8%,respectively.In the rule verification group,the single item pass rate was 86.4%-91.5%,and the overall review pass rate was 71.5%.By simulating the application of auto verification rules,the average TAT of two hospitals among the eight hospitals was shortened by 1.5 hours and 2.1 hours,respectively.Conclusion:The application of auto verification rules can reduce workload of manual verification,and significantly shorten the TAT,and improve the report efficiency of the laboratory.

OBJECTIVE To investigate the effect of eukaryotic translation elongation factor 1A1(eEF1A1)on the replication of vesicular stomatitis virus(VSV)and Herpes simplex virus 1(HSV-1)to identify a potential target for broad-spectrum regulation of viruses.METHODS Small interfering RNA(si-eEF1A)was transfected into human skin fibroblasts(BJ-5ta)to inhibit the expression of eEF1A1,and the negative control group was set up.The transfection efficiency was detected by real-time fluo-rescence quantitative PCR(RT-qPCR)and Western blotting,the cell model of eEF1A1 gene silencing was constructed.The cell model was infected with VSV,the gene copy number and protein expression of VSV in the cells were detected.The cell model was infected with HSV-1,the mRNA and protein expres-sion of HSV-1 in the cells were detected.The cell models were transfected with polyinosinic acid[Poly(I:C)]or sodium deoxyribonucleic acid(HT-DNA),respectively.The mRNA expression of interferon-β(IFN-β),C-X-C Motif Chemokine 10(CXCL10)and interferon-stimulated gene 56(ISG56)were detected by RT-qPCR.The phosphorylation expression of interferon regulatory factor 3(IRF3)and TANK binding kinase 1(TBK1)were detected by Western blotting.RESULT Compared with the negative control group,the mRNA and protein expression of eEF1A1 in the eEF1A1 gene silencing group were signifi-cantly decreased(P<0.01),the cell model of eEF1A1 gene silencing was successfully constructed.Compared with the negative control group,the VSV gene copy number of the eEF1A1 gene silencing group decreased by 70%-80%.The VSV protein expression decreased significantly(P<0.01).The mRNA expression of HSV-1 was decreased by 50%-60%,and the protein expression of HSV-1 was significantly decreased(P<0.01).After stimulation with Poly(I:C)or HT-DNA,compared with the negative control group.there was no significant difference in the mRNA expressions of IFN-β,ISG56 and CXCL10 and the protein phosphorylation expression of IRF3 and TBK1 in the eEF1A1 gene silencing group.CONCLUSION eEF1A1 silencing can inhibit VSV and HSV-1 virus replication,suggesting that eEF1A1 has a potential broad-spectrum regulatory effect on RNA viruses and DNA viruses,and may not recog-nize activated immune pathways through intracellular nucleic acid recognition.

Objective To analyze the research hotspots and development in the field of post-stroke pneumonia over the past decade. Methods The English literature on post-stroke pneumonia in the Web of Science Core Collection database from January,2014 to June,2024 was retrieved,and analyzed using CiteSpace 6.3.R1 software. Results A total of 1 681 papers were included.The number of publications gradually increased from 2014 to 2021,and decreased from 2022 to 2024,but still more than 2014 overall.The United States and China were the countries with the highest number of publications,and most of the institutions with a high number of publications were uni-versities,while independent collaborative networks were found among the authors.Hot keywords included dys-phagia,management and venous thromboembolism,etc.;and the bursting words appeared within the last three years were scale score and mechanical thrombectomy. Conclusion The researches related to post-stroke pneumonia present an inverted U-shape in the past ten years.The rela-tionship and risk management of post-stroke pneumonia with dysphagia and venous thromboembolism are the main hotspots in the researches.The studies may tend to explore the sensitivity of the integration scale for post-stroke pneumonia and the control of risk factors during mechanical thrombectomy.

Objective:To construct an Internet + linkage model based on medical alliance and evaluate its implementation effect.Methods:From October 2020 to June 2021, convenience sampling was used to select 132 patients with malignant tumors who were treated with peripherally inserted central catheters (PICC) chemotherapy and discharged with catheters in Chongming Branch of Xinhua Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine. The 67 patients who returned to the PICC outpatient clinic of Chongming Branch, Xinhua Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine during the treatment interval for PICC maintenance were set as the control group, and the routine maintenance method was adopted. A total of 65 patients who chose maintenance points near their residence for PICC maintenance during the treatment interval were set as the observation group. On the basis of the control group, the maintenance method based on the Internet + linkage mode of medical alliance was adopted. The PICC self-management ability, catheter-carrying satisfaction, PICC complication, average cost and average time spent on PICC maintenance during treatment were compared between the two groups.Results:There were no significant differences in the scores of daily life with catheters, exercise with catheters, catheter abnormality handling, compliance with catheter maintenance and confidence in catheter management between the two groups ( P>0.05) . There was no significant difference in the scores of Catheter Satisfaction Survey in the two groups of patients ( P>0.05) .There was also no significant difference in the incidence of PICC complications between the two groups ( P>0.05) . The registration fee, maintenance fee, and transportation fee for PICC maintenance in the observation group were lower than those in the control group, and the round-trip time and visit time were shorter than those in the control group, and the differences were statistically significant ( P<0.05) . Conclusions:The Internet + linkage model based on the medical alliance can ensure the quality of PICC maintenance for patients with malignant tumors undergoing PICC chemotherapy and discharged with catheters, and improve their PICC self-management ability, which has good economic and time benefits.

Background: The association between Graves’ disease (GD) and co-existing thyroid cancer is still controversial and most of the previously reported data have been based on surgically treated GD patients. This study investigated the clinicopathological findings and prognosis of concomitant thyroid cancer in GD patients in the era of widespread application of ultrasonography. Methods: Data of GD patients who underwent thyroidectomy for thyroid cancer between 2010 and 2019 in three tertiary hospitals in South Korea (Asan Medical Center, Chonnam National University Hwasun Hospital, and Pusan National University Hospital) were collected and analyzed retrospectively. In the subgroup analysis, aggressiveness and clinical outcomes of thyroid cancer were compared nodular GD and non-nodular GD groups according to the presence or absence of the thyroid nodules other than thyroid cancer (index nodules). Results: Of the 15,159 GD patients treated at the hospitals during the study period, 262 (1.7%) underwent thyroidectomy for coexisting thyroid cancer. Eleven patients (4.2%) were diagnosed with occult thyroid cancer and 182 patients (69.5%) had microcarcinomas. No differences in thyroid cancer aggressiveness, ultrasonographic findings, or prognosis were observed between the nodular GD and non-nodular GD groups except the cancer subtype. In the multivariate analysis, only lymph node (LN) metastasis was an independent prognostic factor for recurrent/persistent disease of thyroid cancer arising in GD (P=0.020). Conclusion The prevalence of concomitant thyroid cancer in GD patients was considerably lower than in previous reports. The clinical outcomes of thyroid cancer in GD patients were also excellent but, more cautious follow-up is necessary for patients with LN metastasis in the same way as for thyroid cancer in non-GD patients.

Objective:To investigate the risk factors of birth weight discordance in dichorionic diamniotic (DCDA) twins.Methods:This study retrospectively analyzed 1 757 cases of DCDA twin pregnancies from 11 Chinese hospitals from January 1, 2014, to December 31, 2017. Birth weight discordance was defined as ≥ 20% difference between the twins. All cases were divided into two groups: the concordant group ( n=1 520) and discordant group ( n=237). General information was compared and the high-risk factors of birth weight discordance were analyzed. Mann-Whitney U test, Chi-square test or Fisher's exact test, and logistic regression analysis were used as statistical methods. Results:Compared with the concordant group, the discordant group showed a higher incidence of hypertensive disorders of pregnancy [24.5% (58/237) vs 12.8% (194/1 520), χ2=22.882, P<0.05], fetal structural malformations [4.2% (10/237) vs 1.0% (15/1 520), χ2=15.160, P<0.05], fetal distress [6.3% (15/237) vs 1.4% (21/1 520), χ2=22.602, P<0.05], umbilical cord abnormalities [3.8% (9/237) vs 1.2% (18/1 520), χ2=7.607, P<0.05] and abnormal placental cord insertion [3.8% (9/237) vs 1.4% (21/1 520), χ2=34.904, P<0.05], but lower incidence of premature rupture of membranes [11.0% (26/237) vs 16.5% (250/1 520), χ2=4.645, P=0.034]. Logistic regression analysis showed that the independent risk factors of birth weight discordance in DCDA twins were hypertensive disorders of pregnancy ( OR=2.258, 95% CI: 1.620-3.184, P<0.001), fetal structural malformations ( OR=4.268, 95% CI: 1.892-9.631, P<0.001), umbilical cord abnormalities ( OR=2.889, 95% CI: 1.245-6.705, P=0.014) and abnormal placental cord insertion ( OR=2.318, 95% CI: 1.012-5.311, P=0.047). Conclusions:Hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, fetal structural malformations, umbilical cord abnormalities and abnormal placental cord insertion may be the risk factors of birth weight discordance in DCDA twins.

Objective: To investigate the radiographic manifestations and clinical relevance to central nervous system complications of leukemia (CNSCL)in children. Methods: The CT and magnetic resonance imaging(MRI) fin-dings and clinical features of 49 pediatric patients with CNCSL in Shanghai Children′s Medical Center Affiliated to Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine from May 2010 to June 2018 were retrospectively analyzed. Results: (1) Cerebrovascular abnormalities in 23 cases included hemorrhage(20 cases), infarction(2 cases) and sinus thrombosis(1 case). One case of epidural hematoma and 19 cases of intracerebral multiple bleeding were seen in the hemorrhage group, which demonstrated high-density on CT and different signal on MRI as time went by.Microhe-morrhage displayed as low signal on susceptibility weighted imaging.(2) Among 23 cases of leukemic infiltration, the dura and/or skull were involved in 18 cases, which presented as fusiform or mass, with high density on CT, low signal on T1WI, intermediate signal on T2WI and strong enhancement; 6 leptomeningeal infiltration demonstrated as meningeal thickening and enhancement; 2 parenchymal involvement manifested with high-density mass; 2 oculomotor nerve and 1 optic nerve infiltration demonstrated thickening and enhancement.(3)White matter disease was seen in 2 cases, with hyper-intensity on T2WI.(4) One case of secondary tumor was glial tumor in the brainstem. Conclusions The radiographic manifestations of CNCSL in children are various.CT and MRI are of important diagnostic values.Choosing the best imaging examination method and sequence according to clinical symptoms and test results can provide more valuable information for clinical diagnosis and treatment.

OBJECTIVES: This study analyzed the health technology trends and sentiments of users using Twitter data in an attempt to examine the public's opinions and identify their needs. METHODS: Twitter data related to health technology, from January 2010 to October 2016, were collected. An ontology related to health technology was developed. Frequently occurring keywords were analyzed and visualized with the word cloud technique. The keywords were then reclassified and analyzed using the developed ontology and sentiment dictionary. Python and the R program were used for crawling, natural language processing, and sentiment analysis. RESULTS: In the developed ontology, the keywords are divided into ‘health technology‘ and ‘health information‘. Under health technology, there are are six subcategories, namely, health technology, wearable technology, biotechnology, mobile health, medical technology, and telemedicine. Under health information, there are four subcategories, namely, health information, privacy, clinical informatics, and consumer health informatics. The number of tweets about health technology has consistently increased since 2010; the number of posts in 2014 was double that in 2010, which was about 150 thousand posts. Posts about mHealth accounted for the majority, and the dominant words were ‘care‘, ‘new‘, ‘mental‘, and ‘fitness‘. Sentiment analysis by subcategory showed that most of the posts in nearly all subcategories had a positive tone with a positive score. CONCLUSIONS: Interests in mHealth have risen recently, and consequently, posts about mHealth were the most frequent. Examining social media users' responses to new health technology can be a useful method to understand the trends in rapidly evolving fields.
Biomedical Technology ; Biotechnology ; Boidae ; Data Mining ; Informatics ; Medical Informatics ; Methods ; Natural Language Processing ; Privacy ; Public Opinion ; Social Media ; Telemedicine

BACKGROUND: Poor root canal filling or poor post-core crown restoration can cause microleakage between the implant material and the tooth, leading to secondary infection of the periapical tissue and affecting long-term effect of tooth restoration. OBJECTIVE: To analyze the microleakage in a glucose penetration model when post space preparation is performed with different timing and remaining lengths. METHODS: Eighty-six freshly extracted mandibular premolars from the Orthodontics Department of Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hospital of Sun Yat-Sen University were randomly divided into eight groups: positive control group (n=10) undertook root canal preparation; negative control group (n=10) undertook root canal preparation and filling but not post space preparation; A1, B1 and C1 groups (n=11 per group) were subjected to root canal filling immediately followed by post space preparation with the filling material of 4 mm, 5 mm, and 6 mm in length, respectively; A2, B2 and C2 groups were subjected to root canal filling and 1 week after filling, the three groups underwent post space preparation with the filling material of 4, 5 and 6 mm in length, respectively. At 48 hours after post space preparation, the integration of root canal wall and filling material was observed by scanning electron microscopy. The glucose microleakage model was used to detect the amount of glucose leaking from the crown to the root in each group. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: (1) Under the scanning electron microscope, the fillings were most tightly bonded to the root canal wall in C1, while microcracks were most apparent in A2. (2) According to the measurement of glucose penetration model, A2 showed more microleakage than A1 (P < 0.05), B2 showed more microleakage than B1 (P < 0.05), and there was no statistically significant difference between C1 and C2 (P> 0.05). No significant difference was found among A1, B1 and C1 (P> 0.05), B2 showed no statistical difference in the microleakage from A2 and C2 (P> 0.05), but A2 showed more microleakage than C2 (P′ < 0.017). These results indicate that immediate post space preparation is superior to delayed preparation in reducing the microleakage. For immediate post space preparation, the remaining length of the filling material has no effect on the microleakage, but for delayed preparation, the filling material of at least 5 mm in length should be preserved.