BACKGROUND:Traumatic brain injury is a condition in which the normal function of the brain is disrupted by a bump or impact to the head.It is necessary to find effective treatments and objective targets that can help doctors diagnose the injury status and restore the brain function of patients. OBJECTIVE:To explore the effect of electroacupuncture combined with low-frequency transcranial ultrasound stimulation on the electroencephalographic signals of rats with traumatic brain injury. METHODS:Forty 6-week-old SPF male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into five groups:sham group,model group,electroacupuncture group,low-frequency transcranial ultrasound stimulation group and combined group(electroacupuncture+low-frequency transcranial ultrasound stimulation),with eight rats in each group.Feeney weight-drop method was used to establish the animal model of traumatic brain injury.In the sham group,the bone window was only opened without impact.Interventions were started at 1 day after modeling.Electroacupuncture in the electroacupuncture group,low-frequency transcranial ultrasound stimulation in the low-frequency transcranial ultrasound stimulation group,and electroacupuncture+low-frequency transcranial ultrasound stimulation in the combined group were performed for days in total.The modified neurological severity scale score for assessing rats'neurological deficits was performed at 8 hours after modeling.The percentage of spontaneous alternation behavior in the Y-maze was measured at 7 days after modeling.Then,the electroencephalographic signals were collected and electroencephalographic data of α,β,θ,and δ waves were extracted by fast Fourier transform,and the value of oscillation amplitude and energy ratio were calculated in α,β,θ,and δ waves,as well as the Lempel-Ziv complexity and sample entropy. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:Compared with the sham group,the modified neurological severity scale scores in the model group,electroacupuncture group,low-frequency transcranial ultrasound stimulation group and combined group were significantly increased at 8 hours after modeling(P<0.05).Compared with the sham group,the value of oscillation amplitude in δ wave and the value of δ energy ratio were significantly increased in the model group at 7 days after modeling,meanwhile the percentage of spontaneous alternation behavior in Y-maze,and the value of α/β energy ratio,Lempel-Ziv complexity,and sample entropy were significantly decreased(P<0.05).Compared with the model group,the value of oscillation amplitude in α and δ waves was significantly decreased in the combined group(P<0.05),while the value of α/β energy ratio was significantly increased(P<0.05)and the value of δ energy ratio was significantly decreased(P<0.05)in the electroacupuncture group,low-frequency transcranial ultrasound stimulation group and combined group.Compared with the electroacupuncture group and low-frequency transcranial ultrasound stimulation group,the value of δ energy ratio was significantly decreased in the combined group(P<0.05),while the percentage of spontaneous alternation behavior,the value of α/β energy ratio,the Lempel-Ziv complexity,and the sample entropy were significantly increased(P<0.05).To conclude,abnormal electroencephalographic signals can appear in rats with traumatic brain injury,while the electroacupuncture combined with low-frequency transcranial ultrasound stimulation can alleviate the abnormal electroencephalographic signals in rats,which suggests the electroencephalographic frequency domain value and nonlinear features can be used to assess the severity of traumatic brain injury.

BACKGROUND:There is less report about mitigating sustained bone grinding injuries during craniotomy based on a model of traumatic brain injury established using the modified Feeney's free-fall method. OBJECTIVE:To modify a modified traumatic brain injury model by altering the opening of the skull window. METHODS:Thirty-six Sprague-Dawley rats were equally randomized into sham group,model group and modified model group.The modified procedure of opening the bone window was used in the modified model group.Six to eight small holes of 0.3-0.5 mm in diameter were punched at the edge of the impact area and the drill was immediately withdrawn without touching the cortex.In the modified model group,the skull window was opened by using the modified method,while the skull window in the model group was opened using the conventional method.The modified model group and model group were established using the Feeney's free-fall method.In the sham group,only the skull window was opened without impact.The modified neurological severity scoring was performed at 1 day after modeling.T2 weighted imaging was performed and T2 values were measured at 1 and 7 days after modeling.Hematoxylin-eosin staining of the brain section was made for histopathological observation at 7 days after modeling.The level of blood viscosity,interleukin-6,interleukin-1β,and tumor necrosis factor-α were determined at 7 days after modeling. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:Compared with the sham group,the modified neurological severity scores in the model group and modified model group were significantly increased at 1 day after modeling(P＜0.000 1).Meanwhile,the modified neurological severity scores in the modified model group were lower than those in the model group(P＜0.000 1).Compared with the sham group,the T2 values were significantly increased in the model group and modified model group at 1 and 7 days after modeling(P＜0.05),while the T2 values in the modified model group were lower than those in the model group(P＜0.05).Compared with the sham group,the level of blood viscosity,interleukin-6,interleukin-1β and tumor necrosis factor-α were increased in the model group and modified model group at 7 days after modeling(P＜0.05),while the level of interleukin-6 in the modified model group was lower than that in the model group(P＜0.05).To conclude,establishing a modified traumatic brain injury model based on the Feeney's free-fall method provides better controls of injury factors during cranial opening.

Chronic hepatitis B (CHB) is a chronic progressive disease caused by hepatitis B virus (HBV), and without timely and effective antiviral therapy, it will eventually develop into liver cirrhosis, liver failure or hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Early initiation of antiviral therapy can prevent or delay disease progression and greatly reduce the incidence rates of liver cirrhosis, liver failure, and HCC. Due to the limited efficacy of current antiviral drugs, the indications for antiviral therapy are mainly applicable to patients with positive HBV DNA and persistent ALT abnormality and some special populations with HBV infection. However, some patients who cannot reach the criteria for antiviral therapy may have insidious disease progression, leading to adverse clinical outcomes. Therefore, the guidelines and consensus statements in China and globally are constantly expanding the indications for antiviral therapy for CHB, so as to bring benefits to more patients.

Liver fibrosis is a pathological condition characterized by replacement of normal liver tissue with scar tissue, and also the leading cause of liver-related death worldwide. During the treatment of liver fibrosis, in addition to antiviral therapy or removal of inducers, there remains a lack of specific and effective treatment strategies. For thousands of years, Chinese herbal medicines (CHMs) have been widely used to treat liver fibrosis in clinical setting. CHMs are effective for liver fibrosis, though its mechanisms of action are unclear. In recent years, many studies have attempted to determine the possible mechanisms of action of CHMs in treating liver fibrosis. There have been substantial improvements in the experimental investigation of CHMs which have greatly promoted the understanding of anti-liver fibrosis mechanisms. In this review, the role of CHMs in the treatment of liver fibrosis is described, based on studies over the past decade, which has addressed the various mechanisms and signaling pathways that mediate therapeutic efficacy. Among them, inhibition of stellate cell activation is identified as the most common mechanism. This article provides insights into the research direction of CHMs, in order to expand its clinical application range and improve its effectiveness.
Humans ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal/therapeutic use* ; Fibrosis ; Liver Diseases/drug therapy* ; Treatment Outcome ; Liver Cirrhosis/drug therapy*

Objective:To evaluate the mid-term complication rates of the Hui-Jing one-stage procedure (lingual mucosa combined with longitudinal preputial island flap onlay urethroplasty + tubularized incised plate glansplasty)versus the classic Bracka staged surgery for children with severe hypospadias.Methods:A retrospective analysis was conducted on clinical data of 75 children with proximal hypospadias who were treated at the Seventh Medical Center of PLA General Hospital from March 2017 to June 2022. Of these patients, 31 cases (15 cases penoscrotal type and 16 cases perineal type) were underwent the Bracka two-stage surgery with a median age of 38 months (24.0, 44.5) and 44 cases underwent the Hui-Jing one-stage procedure (23 cases penoscrotal type and 21 perineal type) with a median age of 40.5 months (20.75, 90.5). The length of urethral plate defect after correction of penile curvature was (4.30±0.84)cm in the Bracka group and (4.56±0.79)cm in the Hui-Jing group, which also showed no significant difference.There was no statistically significant difference of the median age and the position of preoperative urethral opening between the two groups( P=0.47, P=0.74). The first stage of Bracka repair consists of orthoplasty and urethral bed substitution with free preputial graft. After 6 months, the urethral plate created from free graft was tabularized to form neourethra; Hui-Jing procedure group used the free lingual mucosal as urethral plate substitution, then we conducted longitudinal preputial island flap Onlay and Snodgrass phalloplasty. The incidence of postoperative urethral fistula, urethral stricture and urethral diverticulum was compared between the two groups of cases and the difference in efficacy between the two procedures was assessed. Results:Among the 75 patients included in the study, there was no statistically significant difference in age or location of urethral meatus between the Bracka and Hui-Jing groups. In Bracka group, 9 cases of urethral stricture (29.0%), 6 case of urethral fistula (19.4%), and 2 cases of urethral diverticulum (6.5%) occurred after surgery, while 12 cases of urethral fistula (27.3%) and 3 case of urethral fistula (6.8%) occurred in the Hui-Jing group. No urethral stricture occurred in Hui-Jing group. There was no statistically significant difference in overall incidence of complications between the two groups [17/31(54.8%) vs.15/44(34.1%), P=0.12]. The incidence of urethral fistula and urethral diverticulum show no significant differences between two groups(19.4% vs 27.3, P=0.61, 6.5% vs. 6.8%, P=0.13). The number of operation in Bracka group was (2.68±1.03) and the hospitalization cost was (12 984.63±3 808.15) Yuan, while the number of operation in Hui-Jing group was (1.36±0.53) and the hospitalization cost was (8 490.54±3 136.84) Yuan. Conclusions:The Hui-Jing one-stage procedure can be used for the surgical treatment of children with severe hypospadias. There is no urethral stricture happened in Hui-Jing group, while the general complication incidence and incidence of urethral fistula and diverticulum show no differences.

Objective:To prospectively explore the treatment strategies for clinical difficulties in patients with hyperviremia HBeAg-positive chronic hepatitis B with incomplete response to first-line nucleos(t)ide analogues (NAs).Methods:Patients with hyperviremia HBeAg-positive chronic hepatitis B were treated with first-line NAs, including entecavir, tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (TDF), tenofovir alafenamide fumarate (TAF) for 48 weeks or more. Tenofovir amibufenamide (TMF) or TAF therapy was changed when HBV DNA remained positive and then divided into a TMF group and a TAF group. Clinical efficacy of treatment was evaluated at 24 and 48 weeks, including HBV DNA undetectable rates and virological and serological responses in both patient groups.Results:In the TMF group and the TAF groups, 30 and 26 cases completed 24-week follow-up, while 18 and 12 cases completed 48-week follow-up. There were no statistically significant differences in baseline HBV DNA, HBsAg, and HBeAg levels between the two groups before switching to TMF/TAF therapy ( P > 0.05). At 24 weeks of treatment, 19 (19/30, 63.33%) cases in the TMF group had HBV DNA negative conversion, while 14 (14/26, 53.85%) cases in the TAF group had HBV DNA negative conversion ( P > 0.05). Among the patients who completed 48 weeks of follow-up, 15 (15/18, 83.33%) cases in the TMF group and 7 (7/12, 58.33%) cases in the TAF group had negative HBV DNA tests ( P > 0.05). The changes in HBsAg and HBeAg levels between the two groups of patients at 24 and 48 weeks of treatment were not statistically significant compared to baseline ( P > 0.05). Conclusion:TMF is effective in treating patients with hyperviremia HBeAg-positive CHB with an incomplete response to first-line NAs treatment, but there is no significant difference compared to TAF.

In recent years, epileptic seizure detection based on electroencephalogram (EEG) has attracted the widespread attention of the academic. However, it is difficult to collect data from epileptic seizure, and it is easy to cause over fitting phenomenon under the condition of few training data. In order to solve this problem, this paper took the CHB-MIT epilepsy EEG dataset from Boston Children's Hospital as the research object, and applied wavelet transform for data augmentation by setting different wavelet transform scale factors. In addition, by combining deep learning, ensemble learning, transfer learning and other methods, an epilepsy detection method with high accuracy for specific epilepsy patients was proposed under the condition of insufficient learning samples. In test, the wavelet transform scale factors 2, 4 and 8 were set for experimental comparison and verification. When the wavelet scale factor was 8, the average accuracy, average sensitivity and average specificity was 95.47%, 93.89% and 96.48%, respectively. Through comparative experiments with recent relevant literatures, the advantages of the proposed method were verified. Our results might provide reference for the clinical application of epilepsy detection.
Algorithms ; Child ; Deep Learning ; Electroencephalography ; Epilepsy/diagnosis* ; Humans ; Seizures/diagnosis* ; Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted ; Wavelet Analysis

Objective:To investigate efficacy and advantages of combined local flaps in repairing large defects in patients with nasal and perinasal non-melanoma skin cancers after Mohs micrographic surgery.Methods:From March 2018 to November 2020, 11 patients with nasal and perinasal non-melanoma skin cancers, who underwent Mohs micrographic surgery followed by repair with combined local flaps, were collected from Department of Dermatology, the Second Hospital of Hebei Medical University. According to the location and size of postoperative defects, flaps were designed based on the nasal aesthetic subunit principle. For large defects that could not be directly sutured or covered by a single local flap, 2 or 3 kinds of flaps were applied in combination, such as kite flap, modified diamond flap, nasolabial skin flap, bilobed skin flap, etc.Results:Among the 11 patients, 10 were diagnosed with basal cell carcinoma and 1 with squamous cell carcinoma, and the area of defects ranged from 2.0 cm × 2.3 cm to 2.7 cm × 3.6 cm. After Mohs micrographic surgery combined with local skin flap repair, all skin flaps survived well without blood supply obstruction, the texture, color and contour of the skin flaps were similar to those of the surrounding normal skin, and no obvious scars were formed. During the postoperative follow-up of 4 to 32 months, no recurrence of the tumors occurred, and the patients was satisfied with the appearance.Conclusion:To repair large defects using combined skin flaps of 2 or 3 kinds after Mohs micrographic surgery in patients with nasal and perinasal non-melanoma skin cancers can maintain the normal nasal or perinasal morphological structure and aesthetic appearance, and yield a satisfactory cosmetic effect.

Background::Sepsis is a serious disease caused by infection. Aminophylline has anti-asthma and anti-inflammatory effects. We aimed to explore the safety and effect of aminophylline in sepsis.Methods::We conducted a clinical randomized controlled trial involving 100 patients diagnosed with sepsis within 48 h after intensive care unit (ICU) admission in two sites. All patients were randomized in a 1:1 ratio to receive standard therapy with or without aminophylline. The primary clinical outcome was all-cause mortality at 28 days.Results::From September 27, 2018 to February 12, 2020, we screened 277 septic patients and eventually enrolled 100 patients, with 50 assigned to the aminophylline group and 50 to the usual-care group. At 28 days, 7 of 50 patients (14.0%) in the aminophylline group had died, compared with 16 of 50 (32.0%) in the usual-care group ( P = 0.032). Cox regression showed that the aminophylline group had a lower hazard of death (hazard ratio = 0.312, 95% confidence interval: 0.129-0.753). Compared with the usual-care group, patients in the aminophylline group had a longer survival time ( P = 0.039 by the log-rank test). The effects of aminophylline on vasopressor dose, oxygenation index, and sequential organ failure assessment score were time-dependent with treatment. There were no significant differences in total hospitalization days, ICU hospitalization days, and rates of serious adverse events (all P > 0.05). No adverse events were observed in the trial. Conclusions::Aminophylline as an adjunct therapy could significantly reduce the risk of death and prolong the survival time of patients with sepsis.Trial registration::ChiCTR.org.cn, ChiCTR1800019173.

"The Expert Group on Tumor Ablation Therapy of Chinese Medical Doctor Association, The Tumor Ablation Committee of Chinese College of Interventionalists, The Society of Tumor Ablation Therapy of Chinese Anti-Cancer Association and The Ablation Expert Committee of the Chinese Society of Clinical Oncology" have organized multidisciplinary experts to formulate the consensus for thermal ablation of pulmonary subsolid nodules or ground-glass nodule (GGN). The expert consensus reviews current literatures and provides clinical practices for thermal ablation of GGN. The main contents include: (1) clinical evaluation of GGN, (2) procedures, indications, contraindications, outcomes evaluation and related complications of thermal ablation for GGN and (3) future development directions.
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