Objective To investigate the changes of serum metabolites in patients with occupational chronic lead poisoning using non-targeted metabolomics, and to screen differential metabolic pathways. Methods A total of 14 patients with occupational chronic lead poisoning were selected as the poisoning group, and 14 healthy people without occupational hazard exposure history were selected as the control group using the judgment sampling method. Serum of the individuals from the two groups was collected. Non-targeted metabolomics technology based on ultra high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry was used to detect serum metabolite levels in the two groups. Differential metabolites (DMs) were screened by the principal component analysis, partial least squares discriminant analysis and orthogonal partial least squares discriminant analysis, and related metabolic pathways were explored. Results The blood lead level in the poisoning group was higher than that in the control group (median: 359.59 vs 5.04 μg/L, P<0.01). There were significant differences in serum metabolites between the poisoning group and control group. After the combination of results from the positive and negative ion patterns, a total of 89 DMs were screened in serum of patients in the poisoning group, including 50 upregulated and 39 downregulated metabolites compared with the control group. The serum DMs of poisoning group were mainly enriched in arginine biosynthesis, ABC transporter, purine metabolism, choline metabolism in malignant tumor, glycerophospholipid metabolism and ether lipid metabolism compared with the control group (all P<0.05). Conclusion Abnormal changes of serum metabolic profile occurred in patients with occupational chronic lead poisoning. The metabolic pathways such as arginine biosynthesis, ABC transporter, purine metabolism, choline metabolism, glycerophospholipid metabolism and ether lipid metabolism may be involved in the occurrence and development of lead poisoning.

Objective To investigate the expression levels of plasma circular RNA PTP4A2(circPTP4A2)and circTLK2 in elderly patients with acute ischemic stroke(AIS)and their predic-tive value for neurological functional outcomes.Methods A total of 122 elderly AIS patients admitted to our department from May 2021 to December 2022 were prospectively recruited,and according to their modified Rankin Scale(mRS)score at 3 months after stroke onset,they were divided into a good outcome group(mRS score≤2,81 cases)and a poor outcome group(mRS score:3-6,41 cases).Their baseline data,and plasma circPTP4A2 and circTLK2 levels were compared between the two groups.Multivariate logistic regression analysis was employed to iden-tify prognostic factors for poor outcomes in the elderly AIS patients.ROC curve analysis was ap-plied to evaluate the prognostic value of circPTP4A2 and circTLK2 for adverse outcomes in the patients.Pearson correlation analysis was performed to assess the relationship of plasma levels of circPTP4A2 and circTLK2 with NIHSS score,as well as mRS score.Results The plasma expres-sion levels of circPTP4A2 and circTLK2 were significantly higher in the poor outcome group than the good outcome group[2.08(0.87,2.77)vs 0.93(0.63,1.20),1.71(0.92,2.80)vs 0.75(0.49,1.09),P＜0.01].Multifactor logistic regression analysis showed that plasma circPTP4A2 and circTLK2 were independent predictive factors for poor functional outcomes in elderly AIS patients(P＜0.01,P＜0.05).ROC curve analysis demonstrated that the AUC value of combined circPTP4A2 and circTLK2 in predicting poor outcome in elderly AIS patients was 0.787(95％CI:0.691-0.883).Pearson correlation analysis revealed that the expression levels of circPTP4A2 and cir-cTLK2 in elderly AIS patients were mildly positively correlated with baseline NIHSS scores(r=0.463,r=0.456;P＜0.01)and moderately positively correlated with mRS scores at 3 months after stroke onset(r=0.682,r=0.604;P＜0.01).Conclusion Plasma circPTP4A2 and circTLK2 may be potential biomarkers for predicting neurological functional outcomes in elderly AIS patients.

To present the clinical characteristics and the misdiagnosis rate of acute coronary syndrome manifested primarily as throat discomfort, we conducted a multicentric and retrospective study in the cardiology and otorhinolaryngology departments. Records of patients with primary complaint of throat discomfort, absence of chest pain at onset, and an ultimate diagnosis of acute coronary syndrome, as well as patients with pharyngitis (as controls) were collected from May 2015 to April 2016. The patients' main manifestations were compared. Logistic regression results showed that chest tightness, dyspnea, perspiring, and exertional throat symptoms were significantly associated with acute coronary syndrome, with odds ratios of 8.3 (95% CI 2.2-31.5), 10.9 (95% CI 1.8-66.9), 25.4 (95% CI 3.6-179.9), and 81.2 (95% CI 13.0-506.7). A total of 25 (56.82%) out of 44 acute coronary syndrome patients, who were first admitted to the otorhinolaryngology department, were misdiagnosed, with a 12% (3/25) mortality rate. Throat discomfort can be the principal manifestation of acute coronary syndrome. Such patients exhibit high misdiagnosis and mortality rates. Exertional throat symptoms, chest tightness, perspiring, and dyspnea were important indicators of acute coronary syndrome in patients whose main complaint was throat discomfort. The awareness of this condition will result in prompt diagnosis and reduce morbidity and mortality.
Acute Coronary Syndrome/etiology* ; Dyspnea/etiology* ; Humans ; Pharyngitis/diagnosis* ; Pharynx ; Retrospective Studies

Objective    To investigate the operation of transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR), the use of TAVR instruments and the current situation of TAVR-related nursing in our country, to reveal the characteristics of TAVR in various hospitals in our country, and to provide reference data for improving perioperative nursing and industry development of TAVR. Methods    A questionnaire survey was conducted among the head nurses of the cardiac catheterization laboratories of 51 hospitals in China that carried out TAVR operations, with a total of 5 items and 23 questions. The current situation of TAVR operation methods, intraoperative instruments and nursing care in China were analyzed. Results    The number of hospitals in China which started conducting TAVR and the beginning year were: 2 in 2010, 1 in 2012, 1 in 2013, 1 in 2015, 11 in 2016, 13 in 2017, 15 in 2018 and 7 in 2019; the number of transfemoral TAVR in 2019: 32 (62.75%) hospitals conducted on less than 20 patients, 7 (13.73%) hospitals 20-<50 patients, 6 (11.76%) hospitals 50-100 patients and 6 (11.76%) hospitals more than 100 patients; TAVR strategies adopted by most hospitals were: general anesthesia (90.20%), the use of vascular sealers (80.39%), backing by cardiac surgeon (74.51%) and using homemade prosthetic valves. Conclusion     At present, the number of TAVR carried out in Chinese hospitals is still far behind that of developed countries in Europe and the United States. Our country has adopted the form of multi-disciplinary cardiac team cooperation and formed a TAVR nursing model with Chinese characteristics.

Nanotechnology has emerged as an ideal approach for achieving the efficient chemo agent delivery. However, the potential toxicity and unclear internal metabolism of most nano-carriers was still a major obstacle for the clinical application. Herein, a novel "core‒shell" co-assembly carrier-free nanosystem was constructed based on natural sources of ursolic acid (UA) and polyphenol (EGCG) with the EpCAM-aptamer modification for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) synergistic treatment. As the nature products derived from food-plant, UA and EGCG had good anticancer activities and low toxicity. With the simple and "green" method, the nanodrugs had the advantages of good stability, pH-responsive and strong penetration of tumor tissues, which was expected to increase tumor cellular uptake, long circulation and effectively avoid the potential defects of traditional carriers. The nanocomplex exhibited the low cytotoxicity in the normal cells

Objective: To investigate the relationship between ultrasound derived ratio of femoral vein to femoral artery diameter and hemodynamics in patients with heart failure. Methods: This was a case-control study. A total of 61 patients with heart failure and 49 patients with non-heart failure hospitalized in the Department of Critical Care Medicine from September 2017 to September 2018 were included in this study. Doppler ultrasound was used to measure the femoral artery and vein diameter. After deep inhalation, the femoral vein diameter was measured again, and the ratio of femoral vein and artery diameter was calculated. The central venous pressure (CVP) and mean pulmonary wedge pressure (mPAWP) were also measured. Pearson correlation analysis was used to explore the correlation between the ratio of femoral vein diameter to femoral artery diameter and CVP and mPAWP, and linear regression equation was established. Results: The overall CVP and mPAWP levels were significantly higher, and the femoral vein diameter after deep inhalation was bigger in heart failure patients than in non-heart failure patients(all P<0.001). The femoral vein diameter/femoral artery diameter ratio was positively correlated with CVP (r=0.76, P<0.001), and positively correlated with mPAWP (r=0.40, P<0.001) in heart failure group. The linear regression equation established by the femoral vein/femoral artery diameter ratio and CVP in the heart failure group showed that the inner diameter of the femoral vein/the inner diameter of the femoral artery ratio≥1.3 corresponded CVP≥15.518 cmH₂O(1 cmH₂O=0.098 kPa) in heart failure patients. Conclusions In patients with heart failure, the inner diameter of the femoral vein/femoral artery ratio is positively correlated with CVP and mPAWP. The ratio of inner diameter of the femoral vein/femoral artery can be used to assess the volumetric load of patients with heart failure and to guide the clinical treatment of heart failure patients.

Objective To scale the frequencise of medical X-ray diagnosis based on the survey conducted in 58 hospitals to the all hospitals in Henan province,in order to make them available for providing the basis for reasonable application of diagnostic radiology.Methods Stratified sampling method was used to select medical institutions at different levels in 6 cities in the province as sample hospitals.The information of examined patients on sex,age,diagnostic type and exposure category were gathered and the results were analyzed.Results The sex ratio of male and female examined patients was close to 1∶1.The largest proportion,60.47％,of examined patients was from the age group of above 40 years old among the three age groups.Medical diagnositc medical X-ray examinations mainly include conventional X-ray photography and CT examination,accounting for 52.15％ and 40.31％,respectively.Chest examination contributed the largest propotions,23.84％,of conventional diagnositic X-ray examination and,13.25％,of CT examination respectively.CT examinations were mainly concentrated in the secondary and tertiary hospitals,accounting for 21.54％ and 72.99％ of the total CT examinations,respectively.Contrast examination,mammography and extracorporeal lithotripsy were concentrated in the tertiary hospitals,accounting for 77.82％,95.01％ and 100％ of the same type of examinations,respectively.Conventional photographic examinations were mainly conducted in primary hospitals,accounting for 74.56％ of all types of examinations in the primary hospitals.By using multiple linear regression model,the diagnostic examination frequency in 2016 was estimated to be 826 examinations per 1 000 population,of which the frequency of dianostic X-ray examination and CT examination were 541 per 1 000 and 285 per 1 000,respectively.Conclusions The frequency of diagnostic radiology in Henan has increased rapidly in recent years.All types of diagnostic radiology equipment are unevenly distributed in hospitals at different levels which posed a challenge for health care.Relevant departments should make efforts to reallocation of diagnostic radiology equipment in such hospitals and make utilization of health resources more reasonable.

Objective To investigate the effects of different treatment modes on the prognosis of patients with severe trauma.Methods The general data of 396 patients with severe trauma [injurey severity scores (ISS) ≥25] in our hospital emergency for treatment from January 1,2008 to January 1,2012 was collected.The trauma patients were divided into study group and control group.In the study group,the trauma patients were cared by emergency physician of our hospital for pre-hospital treatment during transportation by ambulance since January 1,2010.In the control group,the trauma patients were served with traditional pre-hospital emergency care by the 120 and 999 before January 1,2010.The injury severity score,medical care and outcomes were recorded in trauma database and the efficiency and quality of medical care were compared between two groups.Results The emergency treatment time,length of hospital stays,ICU admission rate,prehospital mortality rate,long-term (6 months) disability rate,and complication rate in the study group were lower than those in the control group,presenting (78.23 ± 21.57) min vs.(96.45 ± 35.14) min,(23.55±12.46) dvs.(28.67±20.72) d,8.1％ (18/222)vs.65.5％ (114/174),13.3％ (34/256) vs.21.6％ (48/222),4.1％ (9/222)vs.9.2％ (16/174),8.1％ (18/222)vs.18.4％ (32/174),in which the differences were statistically significant (P ＜ 0.05).Hospital mortality in the study group was also lower than that in the control group,showing 8.1％ (18/222) vs.12.6％ (22/174),but there was no statistically significant difference (P ＜ 0.05).There was no significant difference in time from occurrence of injury to receiving treatment between the two groups.Conclusion Emergency physicians-cared mode had advantages to improve treatment success rates and reduce mortality in patients with multiple trauma compared with the current conventional emergency mode.It is a good alternative emergency mode.

Surface electromyography (sEMG), as an objective and quantitive assessment tool, has been used to evaluate the hand neural- muscle dysfunction after stroke in recent years. This paper reviews related literatures in nearly 10 years, which mainly introduced the common parameters of sEMG for the hand neural-muscle function, focused on the application of sEMG to estimate hand neural-muscle dysfunction after stroke.

Objective To compare the effects of two skin sampling methods (negative pressure suction blister and skin shaving) on the physical status of autologous epidermal keratinocytes transplanted to patients with vitiligo. Methods Skin samples were obtained from the normal skin of 32 patients with stable vitiligo by suction blister under negative pressure and skin shaving alone or in combination. Immunohistochemistry was performed to examine the expression of proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) and caspase-3 in these samples.Skin tissues resected from 15 normal human subjects served as the control. Results There was an expression of PCNA and caspase-3 at different degrees in all the skin tissues obtained by the two sampling methods from the 32 patients. Most PCNA-positive cells were focally distributed at the basal layer in epidermis obtained from suction blisters, and a few PCNA-positive cells were observed in the middle and lower part of the prickle cell layer of epidermis from shaved skin. There was a significant difference in the percentage of PCNA-positive cells between the epidermis from suction blisters and shaved skin as well as between the epidermis from suction blisters and normal control skin (x2 = 10.99, 14.08, both P < 0.05), but not between the epidermis from shaved skin and normal control skin (x2 = 1.31, P > 0.05). The expression of caspase-3 was predominantly located in the cytoplasm of keratinocytes in the basal layer as well as middle and lower part of prick cell layer, and no difference was observed in the percentage of caspase-3-expressing keratinocytes between the epidermis from shaved skin, suction blisters and normal control skin (x2 = 1.41, 2.89, 1.91, all P > 0.05). Conclusions The proliferation activity of epidermal cells seems important to the survival of grafted skin, and compared to the suction blister technique, skin shaving appears to have less influence on the proliferation of keratinocytes.