Objective To study the effects of the intelligent hearing-assistive system incorporated in Nuro-tron cochlear implants(CI),including the autonomic acoustic scene recognition(ASR),intelligent strategy config-uration as well as the objective and subjective hearing improvements on recipients.Methods ① To evaluate the per-formance of the ASR matule,in a sound-proof room,the preset five kinds of test audios,including speech,noise,speech in noise,pure music(without human voice)and non-pure Music(with human voice)were played.Each type of scenes included 6 to 9 5 min test files.The prediction accuracy and scene switching times were calculated.② In order to evaluate the noise-reduction performance of the ABeam technology in the speech enhancement module,13 Nurotron? CI recipients were recruited and their speech recognition rate when ABeam was"ON"and"OFF"with noise coming from 90°,180°or 270°were tested,individually.Also,their subjective hearing feedback was evaluated through visual analogue scale(VAS)evaluation.Results The ASR module achieved high prediction performance,with prediction accuracy 99％±4％,96％±9％,94％±12％,94％±15％,92％±13％for speech,noise,noisy speech,pure music and non-pure music,respectively.The scene transation times for each individual scene were 1.1 ±0.3,1.4±0.7,1.3±0.5,1.4±0.8 and 1.3±0.5,indicating that the prediction was also stable.When noise came from the sides and behind of recipients and speech signal from the front,the adaptive dual microphone noise re-duction algorithm ABeam significantly increased the speech recognition score(SRS)in 5 dB signal-to-noise(SNR)environment(P＜0.001),with an average increase of 15.92％.Especially when the noise came from 180 degree backward,the SRS increased 28.68％when ABeam was"0N",which was significantly higher than when ABeam was"OFF"(P＜0.01).Conclusion The intelligent hearing-assistive system can help CI recipients automatically configure appropriate SPSs under different environments,improving the speech intelligibility and hearing comfort.

BACKGROUND:As tissue engineering brings new hope to the worldwide problem of articular cartilage repair,the construction of light-curing 3D printed hydrogel scaffolds with biomimetic composition is of great significance for cartilage tissue engineering. OBJECTIVE:To construct a biomimetic methacryloylated hyaluronic acid/acellular Wharton's jelly composite hydrogel scaffold by digital light processing 3D printing technology,and to evaluate its biocompatibility. METHODS:Wharton's jelly was isolated and extracted from human umbilical cord,then decellulated,freeze-dried,ground into powder,and dissolved in PBS to prepare 50 g/L acellular Wharton's jelly solution.Methylallylated hyaluronic acid was prepared,lyophilized and dissolved in PBS to prepare 50 g/L methylallylated hyaluronic acid solution.Acellular Wharton's jelly solution was mixed with methacrylyacylated hyaluronic acid solution at a volume ratio of 1:1,and was used as bio-ink after adding photoinitiator.Methylacrylylated hyaluronic acid hydrogel scaffolds(labeled as HAMA hydrogel scaffolds)and methylacrylylated hyaluronic acid/acellular Wharton's jelly gel scaffolds(labeled as HAMA/WJ hydrogel scaffolds)were prepared by digital light processing 3D printing technology,and the microstructure,swelling performance,biocompatibility,and cartilage differentiation performance of the scaffolds were characterized. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:(1)Under scanning electron microscope,the two groups of scaffolds showed a three-dimensional network structure,and the fiber connection of HAMA/WJ hydrogel scaffold was more uniform.Both groups achieved swelling equilibrium within 10 hours,and the equilibrium swelling ratio of HAMA/WJ hydrogel scaffold was lower than that of HAMA hydrogel scaffold(P＜0.05).(2)CCK-8 assay showed that HAMA/WJ hydrogel scaffold could promote the proliferation of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells compared with HAMA hydrogel scaffold.Dead/live staining showed that bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells grew well on the two groups of scaffolds,and the cells on the HAMA/WJ hydrogel scaffolds were evenly distributed and more cells were found.Phalloidine staining showed better adhesion and spread of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells in HAMA/WJ hydrogel scaffold than in HAMA.(3)Bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells were inoculated into the two groups for chondrogenic induction culture.The results of qRT-PCR showed that the mRNA expressions of agglutinoglycan,SOX9 and type Ⅱ collagen in the HAMA/WJ hydrogel scaffold group were higher than those in the HAMA hydrogel scaffold group(P＜0.05,P＜0.01).(4)These findings indicate that the digital light processing 3D bioprinting HAMA/WJ hydrogel scaffold can promote the proliferation,adhesion,and chondrogenic differentiation of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells.

Objective To explore early postoperative gait characteristics and clinical outcomes after total knee arthroplasty(TKA).Methods From February 2023 to July 2023,26 patients with unilateral knee osteoarthritis(KOA)were treated with TKA,including 4 males and 22 females,aged from 57 to 85 years old with an average of(67.58±6.49)years old;body mass in-dex(BMI)ranged from 18.83 to 38.28 kg·m-2 with an average of(26.43±4.15)kg·m-2;14 patients on the left side,12 pa-tients on the right side;according to Kellgren-Lawrence(K-L)classification,6 patients with grade Ⅲ and 20 patients with grade Ⅳ;the courses of disease ranged from 1 to 14 years with an average of(5.54±3.29)years.Images and videos of standing up and walking,walking side shot,squatting and supine kneeling were taken with smart phones before operation and 6 weeks after operation.The human posture estimation framework OpenPose were used to analyze stride frequency,step length,step length,step speed,active knee knee bending angle,stride length,double support phase time,as well as maximum hip flexion angle and maximum knee bending angle on squatting position.Western Ontario and McMaster Universities(WOMAC)arthritis index and Knee Society Score(KSS)were used to evaluate clinical efficacy of knee joint.Results All patients were followed up for 5 to 7 weeks with an average of(6.00±0.57)weeks.The total score of WOMAC decreased from(64.85±11.54)before op-eration to(45.81±7.91)at 6 weeks after operation(P＜0.001).The total KSS was increased from(101.19±9.58)before opera-tion to(125.50±10.32)at 6 weeks after operation(P＜0.001).The gait speed,stride frequency and stride length of the affected side before operation were(0.32±0.10)m·s-1,(96.35±24.18)steps·min-1,(0.72±0.14)m,respectively;and increased to(0.48±0.11)m·s 1,(104.20±22.53)steps·min-1,(0.79±0.10)m at 6 weeks after operation(P＜0.05).The lower limb support time and active knee bending angle decreased from(0.31±0.38)sand(125.21±11.64)° before operation to(0.11±0.04)s and(120.01±13.35)° at 6 weeks after operation(P＜0.05).Eleven patients could able to complete squat before operation,13 patients could able to complete at 6 weeks after operation,and 9 patients could able to complete both before operation and 6 weeks after operation.In 9 patients,the maximum bending angle of crouching position was increased from 76.29° to 124.11° before operation to 91.35° to 134.12° at 6 weeks after operation,and the maximum bending angle of hip was increased from 103.70° to 147.25° before operation to 118.61° to 149.48° at 6 weeks after operation.Conclusion Gait analysis technology based on artificial intelligence image recognition is a safe and effective method to quantitatively identify the changes of pa-tients'gait.Knee pain of KOA was relieved and the function was improved,the supporting ability of the affected limb was im-proved after TKA,and the patient's stride frequency,stride length and stride speed were improved,and the overall movement rhythm of both lower limbs are more coordinated.

Objective To observe the differences in the expression levels of the hypoxia-inducible factor-1α/heme oxygenase-1/vascular endothelial growth factor A (HIF-1α/HO-1/VEGF-A) signaling pathway under different maturation outcomes of arteriovenous fistula (AVF) in patients with stage 5 chronic kidney disease, and explore the regulatory mechanism of the HIF-1α/HO-1/VEGF-A signaling pathway in the maturation process of AVF. Methods A total of 45 patients with AVF surgery for stage 5 chronic kidney disease were selected as research objects, vascular specimens were collected during the AVF surgery, and the patients were divided into AVF maturation group (n=35) and AVF poor maturation group (n=10) based on the AVF maturation outcomes within 8 weeks after surgery. Reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was used to detect the gene expression levels of HIF-1α, HO-1 and VEGF-A in the HIF-1α/HO-1/VEGF-A signaling pathway; the Western blotting was used to detect the protein expression levels of HIF-1α, HO-1 and VEGF-A; the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was used to detect the expression levels of downstream inflammatory factors such as interleukin-1β (IL-1β), interleukin-8 (IL-8), and transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β). Results The expression levels of HIF-1α mRNA, HO-1 mRNA, and VEGF-A mRNA in the AVF maturation group were significantly higher than those in the AVF poor maturation group (P < 0.01); the protein expression levels of HIF-1α, HO-1 and VEGF-A in the AVF maturation group were significantly higher than those in the AVF poor maturation group (P < 0.01); the expression levels of IL-1β, IL-8 and TGF-β in the AVF maturation group were significantly lower than those in the AVF poor maturation group (P < 0.01). Conclusion The upregulation of the HIF-1α/HO-1/VEGF-A signaling pathway is conducive to the early maturation of AVF. The measurement of the expression levels of the HIF-1α/HO-1/VEGF-A signaling pathway has a certain predictive significance for the early maturation outcome of AVF.

Influenza is a contagious respiratory disease caused by influenza viruses, and the burden of severe disease is commonly seen in high risk populations. Influenza vaccination is an effective way to prevent influenza and its complications, especially for high risk populations. Although some countries have included influenza vaccine in their national immunization programs, influenza vaccination rates remain low globally in high risk populations. The influenza vaccine in China is still a non-immunization program vaccine that is voluntarily vaccinated at its own expense, and the influenza vaccine immunization strategy is different across the country. There is still a gap between the vaccination rate of the influenza vaccine and that of developed countries. It is an urgent problem to further optimize the whole population immunization strategy of influenza vaccine in China, strengthen the publicity of the whole population immunization strategy of influenza vaccine, and reduce the disease burden of influenza in China.

Objective·To develope an auditory brainstem implant(ABI)vocoder based on cochlear implant(CI)vocoder characteristics and ABI electrode array topology,and to verify its reliability.Methods·An"n-of-m"coding strategy CI/ABI vocoder was constructed based on MATLAB.Within each frame,only the envelopes of the n channels with the highest energy were selected.The interaction coefficient(IC)(range:1?3),channel numbers(range:5?22),and electrode array topology(CI/ABI)were adjustable parameters,allowing for the synthesis of simulated speech.Psychoacoustic evaluation was employed,recruiting normal hearing subjects to perform closed-set simulated phoneme perception.The phoneme recognition accuracy(20 vowel questions/condition,11 consonant questions/condition)was compared with the corresponding conditions of CI and ABI from reference literature to determine the IC value of the vocoder and verify its reliability.Results·The vocoder successfully synthesized all test stimuli.In the closed-set CI-simulated speech recognition,the simulated vowel and consonant recognition accuracy for IC2 and IC3 conditions showed no significant difference compared to the accuracy reported in the CI reference literature(P＞0.05).The difference in vowel and consonant accuracy between IC2 and the literature was smaller than that between IC3 and the literature(vowel|d|=1.6%vs.20%,consonant|d|=8.4%vs.9.9%),thus determining the optimal interaction coefficient of this model as 2.Subsequently,when modifying the electrode array topology to ABI,it was found that the simulated phoneme recognition accuracy for a 16-channel ABI was significantly lower than that for the 16-channel CI group,consistent with the reported literature.The simulated vowel and consonant accuracy within the 5?8 channel range for ABI showed no significant difference(P＞0.05),also aligning with the trend reported in the literature.Conclusion·A CI/ABI vocoder based on"n-of-m"coding strategy is established and the optimal IC is determined.The established ABI encoder has been evaluated for high reliability through psychoacoustic experiments.It provides suitable technical means for validating ABI-specific coding strategies.

This article reviews the relevant studies on the efficacy and safety of influenza, pneumococcal and COVID-19 vaccination among tumor patients worldwide in recent years. By combing and analyzing the retrieved literature, the results show that influenza and pneumococcal vaccination can significantly reduce the morbidity and hospitalization rate of infectious diseases in tumor patients, reduce the risk of cardiovascular events and death, and significantly improve survival prognosis. COVID-19 vaccination can also protect tumor patients, especially those who have completed full dose vaccination. Authoritative guidelines and consensuses worldwide all recommend that tumor patients receive influenza, pneumococcal and COVID-19 vaccines. We should carry out relevant researches, as well as take effective measures to strengthen patient education, so that tumor patients can fully experience the health protection brought by the vaccine to this specific group.
Humans ; Influenza, Human/prevention & control* ; COVID-19 Vaccines ; COVID-19/prevention & control* ; Influenza Vaccines/therapeutic use* ; Vaccination ; Pneumococcal Vaccines/therapeutic use* ; Streptococcus pneumoniae ; Neoplasms

Articular cartilage (AC) injuries often lead to cartilage degeneration and may ultimately result in osteoarthritis (OA) due to the limited self-repair ability. To date, numerous intra-articular delivery systems carrying various therapeutic agents have been developed to improve therapeutic localization and retention, optimize controlled drug release profiles and target different pathological processes. Due to the complex and multifactorial characteristics of cartilage injury pathology and heterogeneity of the cartilage structure deposited within a dense matrix, delivery systems loaded with a single therapeutic agent are hindered from reaching multiple targets in a spatiotemporal matched manner and thus fail to mimic the natural processes of biosynthesis, compromising the goal of full cartilage regeneration. Emerging evidence highlights the importance of sequential delivery strategies targeting multiple pathological processes. In this review, we first summarize the current status and progress achieved in single-drug delivery strategies for the treatment of AC diseases. Subsequently, we focus mainly on advances in multiple drug delivery applications, including sequential release formulations targeting various pathological processes, synergistic targeting of the same pathological process, the spatial distribution in multiple tissues, and heterogeneous regeneration. We hope that this review will inspire the rational design of intra-articular drug delivery systems (DDSs) in the future.

Rabies is a zoonosis caused by rabies virus for which no effective treatment is available.The main preventive measure is vaccination with human rabies vaccine before or after rabies exposure.With progress in science and technology,the production process of human rabies vaccine has continually advanced,thereby increasing vaccine quality,and providing a safer,more effective means of rabies prevention and control through increasing human resistance to rabies.New human rabies vac-cines have made breakthroughs in basic research and clinical research.However,the problems of poor vaccine compliance and low vaccination rates must urgently be addressed.China must actively explore effective coping strategies,accelerate the upda-ting of existing immunization procedures,effectively increase the rabies vaccination rate,and achieve the goal of eliminating ra-bies by 2030 as soon as possible.

Objective:To explore the detection rate, clinical characteristics of vulvar squamous intraepithelial lesion (SIL).Methods:Women diagnosed with vulvar high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions (HSIL) through colposcopy-guided biopsy from January 1, 2018 to August 31, 2022 in Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital of Fudan University were included in a 1∶1 ratio with patients diagnosed with vulvar low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions (LSIL) during the same period. Clinical characteristics including human papillomavirus (HPV) infection rate, genotype, cytology result, colposcopy impression, and lesion location were retrospectively analyzed.Results:(1) The proportion of vulvar SIL detected by colposcopy-guided biopsy increased annually from 2018 to 2022, with rates of 1.64% (740/45 057), 2.34% (1 110/47 402), 2.68% (1 108/41 335), 3.26% (1 536/47 078), 3.31% (667/20 155), with an average rate of 2.57% (5 161/201 027). (2) A total of 1 096 cases of vulvar HSIL and 1 096 cases of vulvar LSIL were included. The overall infection rate of HPV was 92.7% (1 993/2 150), with higher infection rate in vulvar HSIL patients than that in vulvar LSIL patients [96.0% (1 012/1 054) vs 89.5% (981/1 096); χ2=33.62, P<0.001]. Among vulvar HSIL patients, the common HPV genotype from high to low were HPV 16 (66.7%), HPV 52 (14.3%), and HPV 58 (10.0%). For vulvar LSIL patients, the most common HPV genotype were respectively HPV 16 (24.9%), HPV 6 (20.1%) and HPV 52 (17.1%). The overall sensitivity rate of cytology was 53.6%, with no significance difference between vulvar LSIL and HSIL groups (54.3% vs 52.9%; χ2=0.40, P=0.526). The accuracy of colposcopy impression for vulvar HSIL was lower than that for vulvar LSIL [40.2% (163/405) vs 81.7% (380/465); χ2=158.72, P<0.001]. About 57.3% (1 257/2 192) of the patients had concomitant cervical and vaginal lesions, with a higher rate in vulvar HSIL group than that in vulvar LSIL group [62.6% (686/1 096) vs 52.1% (571/1 096); χ2=24.67, P<0.001]. Unifocal lesion was the main type, with no significance difference between vulvar LSIL and HSIL groups [81.4% (381/468) vs 82.5% (386/468); χ2=0.18, P=0.671]. The most common lesion locations were the posterior commissure, followed by labia minora, vaginal vestibule, labia majora, perianal and clitoris. Conclusions:The detection rate of vulvar SIL under colposcopy is about 3%, and the infection rate of HPV is 92.7%. Vulvar SIL, especially vulvar HSIL, is likely to cause concomitant cervical and vaginal lesions. The accuracy of colposcopy in diagnosing vulvar HSIL is low. Therefore a comprehensive and careful examination of the vulva is necessary and suspicious vulvar lesions should be undergone colposcopy-guided biopsy for diagnosis.