With the widespread use of antimicrobial agents, bacterial drug resistance has become an increasingly severe issue, posing significant challenges to global healthcare. Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has emerged as a research focus in the field of bacterial resistance due to its broad sources, high safety profile, low toxicity, and antimicrobial mechanisms distinct from those of chemical drugs. Studies have shown that various TCM herbs, such as Scutellaria baicalensis, exert antibacterial effects through multiple pathways, including disrupting the integrity of bacterial cell walls and membranes, inhibiting nucleic acid and protein synthesis, and impairing energy production and metabolism. Additionally, certain TCM herbs, including Scutellaria baicalensis, Coptis chinensis, and Fritillaria thunbergii, can reverse antimicrobial resistance by eliminating resistant plasmids, inhibiting bacterial efflux pump function, and suppressing β-lactamase activity. TCM holds promising potential for antibacterial applications and synergistically reversing antimicrobial resistance, though systematic analyses remain limited. This review summarizes the mechanisms of antibacterial action of TCM and current research on its synergistic use with antimicrobial agents to reverse drug resistance, aiming to provide insights for developing novel TCM-based antimicrobials and addressing bacterial resistance.

Objective The study aimed to construct and validate a predictive model for pulmonary nodules(PN)nature based on clinicopa-thological features,imaging,and serum biomarkers,so as to provide scientificdecision-making for early diagnosis and treatment of lung cancer.Methods A retrospective was performed on 816 PN patients with definited pathological diagnosis who received surgical resection analysisor lung biopsy in the Department of Thoracic Surgery and Oncology of Shenzhen Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital from January 2019 to February 2023.Among them,113 cases that did not meet the inclusion criteria were excluded,and the remaining 703 cases were included in the study.The study based on the clinicopathologic features(age,gender,smoking history,smoking cessation history and family history of cancer),chest imaging(maximum diameter of nodule,location of lesion,clear border,Lobulation,spiculation,vascular convergence sign,vacuole,calcification,air bronchial sign,emphysema,nodule type and pleural indentation,nodule number)and serum carcinoembryonic antigen(CEA),cytokeratin 19 fragment(CYFRA21-1),squamous cell carcinoma antigen(SCCA)in patients with PN.These cases were randomly divided into a modeling group(n=552,237 benign,315 malignant)and a validation group(n=151,85 benign,66 malignant).First,univariate analysis was performed to screen for statistically significant predictors of nodules nature.Then,multivariate regression analysis was performed to screen for independent predictors of nodules nature.Finally,the prediction model of PN nature was constructed by logistic regression analysis.Subsequently,the validation group data were entered into the proposed model and Mayo clinic(Mayo)model,veterans affairs(VA)model,Brock University(Brock)model,Peking University(PKU)model and Guangzhou Medical University(GZMU)model,respectively.PN malignancy probability was calculated.The receiver operating characteristic(ROC)curves were plotted.The diagnostic efficiency of each model was compared according to the area under the curve(AUC).Results There were statistically significant variables including age,family history of cancer,maximum nodule diameter,nodule type,upper lobe of lung,calcification,vascular convergence sign,lobulation,clear border,spiculation,and serum CEA,SCCA,CYFRA21-1 using univariate analysis.Multiple regression analysis showed that age,CEA,clear border,CYFRA21-1,SCCA,upper lobe of lung,maximum nodule diameter,family history of cancer,spiculation and nodule type were independent predictors of PN nature.The prediction model equation constructed in this study is as follows:f(x)= ex/(1+ex),X=(-6.318 8+0.020 8×Age+0.527 4×CEA-0.928 4×clear border+0.294 6×Cyfra21-1+0.294×maximum nodule diameter+1.220 1×family history of cancer +0.573 2×upper lobe of lung +0.064 8×SCCA +1.461 5×Spiculation +1.497 6×nodule type).The AUC(0.799 vs 0.659,0.650)of the proposed model was significantly higher compared with Mayo model and VA model,and there were statistically significant differences(Z=3.029,2.638,P=0.003,0.008).However,compared with Brock model,PKU model and GZMU model,the differences of AUC(0.799 vs 0.762,0.773,0.769)were not statistically significant(Z=1.063,0.686,0.757,P=0.288,0.493,0.449).Conclusion The prediction model for PN nature established in this study is accurate and reliable,which can help clinics with early diagnosis and early intervention,and this prediction model deserves to be popularized.

Objective To Explore the feasibility and value of deep learning technology for quality control of echocardiography images.Methods A total of 180985 echocardiography images collected from Sichuan Provin-cial People's Hospital between 2015 and 2022 were selected to establish the experimental dataset.Two task models of the echocardiography standard views quality assessment method were trained,including intelligent recognition of seven types of views(six standard views and other views)and quality scoring of six standard views.The predictions of the models on the test set were compared with the results of the sonographer's annotation to assess the accuracy,feasibility,and timeliness of the runs of the two models.Results The overall classification accuracy of the stan-dard views recognition model was 98.90%,the precision was 98.17%,the recall was 98.18%and the F1 value was 98.17%,with the classification results close to the expert recognition level;the average PLCC of the six standard views quality scoring models was 0.933,the average SROCC was 0.929,the average RMSE was 7.95 and the average MAE was 4.83,and the prediction results were in strong agreement with the expert scores.The single-frame inference time after deployment on the 3090 GPU was less than 20 ms,meeting real-time requirements.Conclusion The echocardiography standard views quality assessment method can provide objective and accurate quality assessment results,promoting the development of echocardiography image quality control management towards real-time,objective,and intelligent.

BACKGROUND:Synovitis plays a leading role in the early progression of knee osteoarthritis and is a potential early therapeutic target.However,the mechanism of synovitis remains unclear.In animal models,increased systemic iron and intracellular iron uptake can induce and exacerbate osteoarthritis,but the association with ferroptosis in synovitis remains unclear.Further studies are needed to investigate the role of ferroptosis in the development and progression of synovitis in osteoarthritis. OBJECTIVE:To investigate the role of ferroptosis mediated by glutathione peroxidase 4(GPX4)in the development of synovitis in knee osteoarthritis. METHODS:The synovial tissues of 43 patients with osteoarthritis who underwent arthroscopic or joint replacement surgery and 10 patients undergoing arthroscopic treatment of meniscal injury or ligament tear were collected and divided into three groups according to the Kellgren-Lawrence grading of X-ray images:normal control group(KLG 0,n=10),early knee osteoarthritis group(KLG 1,2,n=20)and late knee osteoarthritis group(KLG 3,4,n=23).Hematoxylin-eosin staining was used to observe the severity of synovitis in each group,and iron deposition in the synovium in each group was evaluated by Prussian blue staining.The expressions of Acyl-CoA Synthetase Long Chain Family Member 4(ACSL4),GPX4,cyclooxygenase 2 and tumor necrosis factor α in the synovium were detected by immunohistochemical staining.Western blot and immunofluorescence were used to detect the expression of ferroptosis-related proteins ACSL4 and GPX4. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:Compared with the normal control group,iron content in synovial tissue was increased in the knee osteoarthritis groups,and iron deposition in the late knee osteoarthritis group was higher than that in the early osteoarthritis group.ACSL4 was highly expressed in the synovial tissue of knee osteoarthritis compared with the normal control group(P＜0.01),and GPX4 was lowly expressed in the synovial tissue of knee osteoarthritis(P＜0.01).The expression level of ACSL4 increased with the progression of osteoarthritis,while the expression level of GPX4 decreased with the progression of osteoarthritis.The expression of cyclooxygenase 2 in the synovium of osteoarthritis was significantly higher than that in the normal synovium,and the expression was the highest in the early stage of osteoarthritis,which was significantly different from that in the advanced stage of osteoarthritis(P＜0.01).The expression of tumor necrosis factor α in the synovium of osteoarthritis was significantly higher than that in the normal synovium,but there was no significant difference between early and late osteoarthritis groups(P＞0.05).To conclude,the deposition of iron exists in the synovial tissue of osteoarthritis and ferroptosis is involved in the occurrence and progression of synovitis in knee osteoarthritis.

BACKGROUND:Diabetic ulcers are a common complication of diabetes mellitus,which is manifested as foot ulcers complicated with infection,long treatment cycle,high disability rate and mortality rate,and brings a heavy burden to patients and social care. OBJECTIVE:To review the mechanism of action and the latest treatment progress of traditional Chinese medicine(TCM)in the treatment of diabetic ulcers,and to provide a basis for further theoretical research and clinical application. METHODS:CNKI,WanFang Database and PubMed database were searched for relevant literature using the keywords of"diabetic ulcer,medicinal herb,inflammation,interleukin-1β,interleukin-6,tumor necrosis factor,hypersensitive C-reactive protein,γ-interferon,interleukin-4,interleukin-10"in Chinese and English,respectively.The relevant literature in recent years was searched,and finally 75 articles were included for review. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:The high glucose environment of the body will increase the level of pro-inflammatory cytokines,so that diabetic ulcer wounds are in a state of chronic inflammatory response for a long time,and difficult to heal or even not heal.TCM has summed up a lot of experience in the long-term struggle with diabetic ulcer.At present,TCM divides diabetic ulcers into four syndrome types:dampness and heat poison syndrome,blood and blood stasis obstruction pattern,heat poison injury Yin pattern,and Qi and blood deficiency syndrome,as well as representative prescriptions for treatment.According to their clinical characteristics,diabetic ulcers can be also divided into three stages:primary,middle and late stages.Different treatment methods are proposed:"clear method,""warm and clear combined use"and"maintenance method."Under the guidance of dialectical typing and staging of TCM,TCM monomers,extracts and compounds inhibit the inflammatory response and promote the healing of diabetic ulcers by down-regulating the expression of pro-inflammatory factors and/or up-regulating the expression of anti-inflammatory factors.Compared with modern medicine,TCM has significant advantages in the treatment of diabetic ulcers.There are many TCM monomers,extracts and compounds for the treatment of diabetic ulcers,such as angelica,curcumin,improved Chonghe ointment,Sanhuang blood exhaustion prescription and sore-ulcer I.formula,etc.It has been found that TCM for the treatment of diabetic ulcers is mainly heat-clearing and detoxifying,invigorating blood circulation and removing blood stasis,and amassing sores and muscle-building drugs,and the frequency of use,treatment scope and therapeutic effect of TCM compounds are obviously better than those of TCM monomers and extracts.Among them,the most commonly used are the Sanhuang blood exhaustion prescription and the sore-ulcer I as well as prescription for the treatment of damp heat toxicity syndrome and Zizhu ointment for the treatment of non-ischemic diabetic ulcers.However,there are also some shortcomings in the treatment of diabetic ulcers with TCM.First,there are few clinical syndrome studies on diabetic ulcers.Secondly,there are a wide variety of TCM monomers,extracts and compounds for the treatment of diabetic ulcers,and the relevant research is insufficiently in-depth.Finally,the research on the mechanism underlying TCM treatment of diabetic ulcers is still in the preliminary exploration stage,and the mechanism of action still needs to be further explored.In the future,it is necessary to strengthen the research on the pharmacology of TCM and the clinical syndrome of diabetic ulcers,analyze the potential targets and related signaling pathways of TCM in the treatment of diabetic ulcers,give full play to the therapeutic advantages of TCM with multiple targets,multiple pathways,multiple levels and multiple systems,and develop TCM with significant efficacy,active ingredients and clear targets.

Objective:To investigate the expression of nuclear matrix protein 4 (NMP4) in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), and its relationship with clinicopathological features and survival prognosis of patients.Methods:The clinical data of 100 HCC patients who were treated with radical resection of liver cancer in the Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery of the Third Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University from July 1, 2014 to July 1, 2019 were retrospectively analyzed. There were 63 males and 37 females, aged (58.5±10.4) years old. Immunohistochemical method was used to detect the expression of NMP4 protein in HCC cancer tissue and the corresponding adjacent normal tissue. According to the expression of NMP4 in HCC tissues, 100 patients were divided into two groups: the NMP4-positive expression group ( n=62) and the NMP4-negative expression group ( n=32). Univariate analysis was performed on the relationship between NMP4 expression and clinical pathological features as well as overall survival of HCC patients. Cox multivariate analysis was performed on the factors influencing postoperative prognosis of HCC patients. Results:Immunohistochemistry results showed that NMP4 was primarily expressed in the nucleus, the positive expression rate of NMP4 in HCC tissues was higher than that in adjacent non-cancerous tissues [62.0% (62/100) vs. 8.0%(8/100)], and the difference was statistically significant ( χ2=2.12, P=0.003). Univariate analysis revealed that the overall survival of HCC patients was correlated with the degree of tumor differentiation, tumor length, BCLC stage, number of tumor foci, vascular tumor thrombus and expression of NMP4 (all P<0.05). Cox multivariate analysis revealed that low differentiation, high BCLC stage (stage C), number of tumor foci (≥3), and positive expression of NMP4 were independent risk factors affecting postoperative survival and recurrence-free survival of HCC patients. The median overall survival and median recurrence-free survival of HCC patients in the NMP4-positive expression group were 22.3 months and 11.5 months, respectively. In contrast, that in the NMP4-negative expression group were 40.6 months and 19.4 months, respectively. The cumulative survival rate and recurrence-free survival rate of HCC patients in the NMP4-positive expression group were lower than those in the NMP4-negative expression group, and the differences were statistically significant (both P<0.05). Conclusion:Positive NMP4 expression was closely correlated with malignant biological progression and poor prognosis of HCC patients.

Objective To observe effect of reconstructing physiological fulcrum in the treatment of elderly patients with intertrochanteric fracture of the femur. Methods Clinical materials of 40 elderly patients with osteoporotic intertrochanteric fracture of femur in the Tongling City People's Hospital from October 2020 to October 2022 were retrospectively analyzed. Among them, 20 patients treated with proximal femoral nail anti-rotation (PFNA) were assigned to the PFNA group, and 20 patients treated with proximal femoral bionic nail (PFBN) were assigned to the PFBN group. The operation time, intraoperative blood loss, length of hospital stay, postoperative rehabilitation, and incidence of complications were compared between the two groups. Results The postoperative weight-bearing time in the PFBN group was (8.50±1.99) days, which was significantly shorter than (20.15±4.87) days in the PFNA group (P<0.05). There were no significant differences in operation time, intraoperative blood loss, length of hospital stay, fracture healing time, excellent and good rate of fracture reduction quality, and excellent and good rate of Harris score between the PFBN group and the PFNA group (P>0.05). During the follow-up period of 10 to 14 months, no patients had complications such as wound infection, bone nonunion, implant failure, or deep venous thrombosis. Conclusion Both PFBN and PFNA can effectively treat elderly patients with osteoporotic intertrochanteric fracture of femur. However, patients treated with PFBN can take bed-off activities earlier, which is beneficial for postoperative rehabilitation, and the reason may be related to the double triangular stable structure reconstructed by PFBN.

Objective:To analyze the changes rule of serum procalcitonin (PCT) levels in patients with traumatic brain injury in plateau areas, and to evaluate its value in assessing the severity and prognosis of the patients.Methods:A prospective cohort study was conducted. The patients with traumatic brain injury admitted to the critical care medicine departments of Xining Third People's Hospital (at an altitude of 2 260 metres) and Golmud City People's Hospital (at an altitude of 2 780 metres) from May 2018 to September 2022 were enrolled. According to the Glasgow coma scale (GCS) score at admission, the patients were divided into mild injury group (GCS score 13-15), severe injury group (GCS score 9-12), and critical injury group (GCS score 3-8). All patients received active treatment. Chemiluminescence immunoassay was used to measure the serum PCT levels of patients on the 1st, 3rd, 5th, and 7th day of admission. The Kendall tau-b correlation method was used to analyze the correlation between serum PCT levels at different time points and the severity of the disease. The patients were followed up until October 30, 2022. The prognosis of the patients was collected. The baseline data of patients with different prognosis were compared. The Cox regression method was used to analyze the relationship between baseline data, serum PCT levels at different time points and prognosis. Receiver operator characteristic curve (ROC curve) was drawn to analyze the predictive value of serum PCT levels at different time points for death during follow-up.Results:Finally, a total of 120 patients with traumatic brain injury were enrolled, including 52 cases in the mild injury group, 40 cases in the severe injury group, and 28 cases in the critical injury group. The serum PCT levels of patients in the mild injury group showed a continuous downward trend with the prolongation of admission time. The serum PCT levels in the severe injury and critical injury groups reached their peak at 3 days after admission, and were significantly higher than those in the mild injury group (μg/L: 3.53±0.68, 4.47±0.63 vs. 0.40±0.14, both P < 0.05), gradually decreasing thereafter, but still significantly higher than the mild injured group at 7 days. Kendall tau-b correlation analysis showed that there was a significant positive correlation between serum PCT levels on days 1, 3, 5, and 7 of admission and the severity of disease ( r value was 0.801, 0.808, 0.766, 0.528, respectively, all P < 0.01). As of October 30, 2022, 92 out of 120 patients with traumatic brain injury survived and 28 died, with a mortality of 23.33%. Compared with the survival group, the GCS score, serum interleukin-6 (IL-6) levels, white blood cell count (WBC) in peripheral blood, and PCT levels in cerebrospinal fluid at admission in the death group were significantly increased [GCS score: 5.20±0.82 vs. 4.35±0.93, IL-6 (ng/L): 1.63±0.45 vs. 0.95±0.27, blood WBC (×10 9/L): 14.31±2.03 vs. 11.95±1.98, PCT in cerebrospinal fluid (μg/L): 11.30±1.21 vs. 3.02±0.68, all P < 0.01]. The serum PCT levels of patients in the survival group showed a continuous downward trend with prolonged admission time. The serum PCT level in the death group peaked at 3 days after admission and was significantly higher than that in the survival group (μg/L: 4.11±0.62 vs. 0.52±0.13, P < 0.01), gradually decreasing thereafter, but still significantly higher than the survival group at 7 days. Cox regression analysis showed that serum IL-6 levels [hazard ratio ( HR) = 17.347, 95% confidence interval (95% CI) was 5.874-51.232], WBC in peripheral blood ( HR = 1.383, 95% CI was 1.125-1.700), PCT levels in cerebrospinal fluid ( HR = 1.952, 95% CI was 1.535-2.482) at admission and serum PCT levels on admission days 1, 3, 5, and 7 [ HR (95% CI) was 6.776 (1.844-24.906), 1.840 (1.069-3.165), 3.447 (1.284-9.254), and 6.666 (1.214-36.618), respectively] were independent risk factors for death during follow-up in patients with traumatic brain injury (all P < 0.05). ROC curve analysis showed that the AUC of serum PCT levels on days 1, 3, 5, and 7 for predicting death during follow-up in patients with traumatic brain injury was all > 0.8 [AUC (95% CI) was 0.898 (0.821-0.975), 0.800 (0.701-0.899), 0.899 (0.828-0.970), 0.865 (0.773-0.958), respectively], indicating ideal predictive value. The optimal cut-off value for serum PCT level at 3 days of admission was 1.88 μg/L, with the sensitivity of 78.6% and specificity of 88.0% for predicting death during follow-up. Conclusions:Abnormal expression of serum PCT levels in patients with traumatic brain injury on the 3rd day of admission was found. The serum PCT levels greater than 3 μg/L may be related to severe illness. The serum PCT levels greater than 1.88 μg/L can predict the poor prognosis of patients. Dynamic observation of changes in serum PCT levels has good evaluation value for the severity and prognosis of patients with traumatic brain injury in plateau areas.

Objective: To evaluate the risk of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) on excess mortality among residents. Methods: The data of residential mortality in Yangzhou City, Jiangsu Province from 2015 to 2021 were collected from the Chinese Disease Prevention and Control Information System. The average daily mass concentration of PM2.5 and meteorology data were collected from the Yangzhou Environmental Monitoring Station and Yangzhou Meteorological Bureau, respectively. The effects of PM2.5 on non-accidental mortality, morality of respiratory diseases and mortality of circulatory diseases were evaluated using a generalized additive model. The risk of excess mortality was evaluated using excess risk (ER) and the number of excess mortality. Results: The median average annual mass concentration of PM2.5 was 38.00 (interquartile range, 31.95) µg/m3 in Yangzhou City from 2015 to 2021, decreasing from 51.75 (interquartile range, 32.82) µg/m3 in 2015 to 28.00 (interquartile range, 23.42) µg/m3 in 2021. The median average annual number of non-accidental mortality, mortality of respiratory diseases and mortality of circulatory diseases were 96 (interquartile range, 22), 9 (interquartile range, 5) and 38 (interquartile range, 13) cases, respectively. The greatest effects of per 10 μg/m3 increase in PM2.5 mass concentration on non-accidental mortality, mortality of respiratory diseases, and mortality of circulatory diseases were seen at a cumulative lag of 1 day (ER=0.528%, 95%CI: 0.293%-0.763%), a cumulative lag of 2 days (ER=0.917%, 95%CI: 0.125%-1.714%) and a cumulative lag of 1 day (ER=0.595%, 95%CI: 0.232%-0.961%), respectively. The number of excess mortality caused by PM2.5 on non-accidental mortality, mortality of respiratory diseases, and mortality of circulatory diseases in Yangzhou City from 2015 to 2021 were 2 125, 412 and 977 cases, respectively; compared with 2015, the number of excess mortality in 2021 decreased by 66.95%, 75.53% and 64.42%, respectively. Conclusions An increase in the mass concentration of atmospheric PM2.5 may elevate the risk of excess mortality among residents. Compared to 2015, the number of excess deaths attributed to exposure to atmospheric PM2.5 declined in 2021.

Objective:To explore the application of an automatic slide-dropping instrument in bone marrow chromosomal karyotyping.Methods:The effects of manual and automatic dropping methods under different environmental humidity were retrospectively analyzed, and the repeatability of the automatic dropping method was analyzed.Results:No statistical difference was found between the results of automatic and manual dropping methods under the optimum ambient humidity and high humidity ( P>0.05). At low humidity, there was a statistical difference between the two methods ( P<0.05). With regard to the repeatability, the coefficient of variations of the automatic dropping method for the number of split phases, the rate of good dispersion and the rate of overlap were all lower than those of the manual dropping method. A statistical difference was also found in the number of split phases ( P<0.05) but not in the discrete excellent rate and overlapping rate between the two methods ( P>0.05). Conclusion:Better effect can be obtained by the automatic dropping instrument. It is suggested to gradually replace manual work with machine.