ObjectiveThe rapid advancement of bioanalytical technologies has heightened the demand for high-throughput, label-free, and real-time cellular analysis. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) operating in the GHz frequency range (GHz-EIS) has emerged as a promising tool for characterizing cell suspensions due to its ability to rapidly and non-invasively capture the dielectric properties of cells and their microenvironment. Although GHz-EIS enables rapid and label-free detection of cell suspensions, significant challenges remain in interpreting GHz impedance data for complex samples, limiting the broader application of this technique in cellular research. To address these challenges, this study presents a novel method that integrates GHz-EIS with deep learning algorithms, aiming to improve the precision of cell suspension concentration identification and quantification. This method provides a more efficient and accurate solution for the analysis of GHz impedance data. MethodsThe proposed method comprises two key components: dielectric property dataset construction and backpropagation (BP) neural network modeling. Yeast cell suspensions at varying concentrations were prepared and separately introduced into a coaxial sensor for impedance measurement. The dielectric properties of these suspensions were extracted using a GHz-EIS dielectric property extraction method applied to the measured impedance data. A dielectric properties dataset incorporating concentration labels was subsequently established and divided into training and testing subsets. A BP neural network model employing specific activation functions (ReLU and Leaky ReLU) was then designed. The model was trained and tested using the constructed dataset, and optimal model parameters were obtained through this process. This BP neural network enables automated extraction and analytical processing of dielectric properties, facilitating precise recognition of cell suspension concentrations through data-driven training. ResultsThrough comparative analysis with conventional centrifugal methods, the recognized concentration values of cell suspensions showed high consistency, with relative errors consistently below 5%. Notably, high-concentration samples exhibited even smaller deviations, further validating the precision and reliability of the proposed methodology. To benchmark the recognition performance against different algorithms, two typical approaches—support vector machines (SVM) and K-nearest neighbor (KNN)—were selected for comparison. The proposed method demonstrated superior performance in quantifying cell concentrations. Specifically, the BP neural network achieved a mean absolute percentage error (MAPE) of 2.06% and an R² value of 0.997 across the entire concentration range, demonstrating both high predictive accuracy and excellent model fit. ConclusionThis study demonstrates that the proposed method enables accurate and rapid determination of unknown sample concentrations. By combining GHz-EIS with BP neural network algorithms, efficient identification of cell concentrations is achieved, laying the foundation for the development of a convenient online cell analysis platform and showing significant application prospects. Compared to typical recognition approaches, the proposed method exhibits superior capabilities in recognizing cell suspension concentrations. Furthermore, this methodology not only accelerates research in cell biology and precision medicine but also paves the way for future EIS biosensors capable of intelligent, adaptive analysis in dynamic biological research.

Human exhaled breath has great application prospects,e.g.,monitoring pharmacokinetics,disease diagnosis,due to its advantages such as non-invasive and high-frequency sampling.Breath samples can be collected from the oral and nasal cavity.However,the oral and nasal environment affect the chemical composition of breath sample.Therefore,the investigation on the chemical composition of mouth-exhaled breath and nose-exhaled breath is crucial for selection of appropriate sampling strategy for individual studies.In this work,secondary electrospray ionization-high resolution mass spectrometry(SESI-HRMS)was applied to analysis of respiratory metabolomics in real time.A quantitative analysis approach was established for 9 kinds of volatile organic compounds(VOCs)e.g.2-butanone,2-pentanone,ethyl acetate,methyl methacrylate,toluene,styrene,mesitylene,isoprene and limonene.The limit of detection was 2.3?240.8 ng/m3.The intra-day(n=6)and inter-day(n=18)relative standard deviations were 0.6%?4.6%and 4.3%?12.2%,respectively.Nine healthy subjects were recruited to investigate the chemical composition of mouth-exhaled and nose-exhaled breath.The results showed the good performance in quantitative analysis of 9 VOCs in breath air.It was found that the number of unique component(m/z)detected in mouth-exhaled breath(167)was 2.2 times greater than that detected in nose-exhaled breath(76),which might result from the complex environment in oral cavity.The signal intensity of commun component(163)was significantly different between mouth-exhaled breath and nose-exhaled breath.Additionally,the elemental composition analysis showed that the proportion of polar compounds detected in nose-exhaled breath was higher than that in mouth-exhaled breath.This study demonstrated that there was significant differences in the chemical composition between mouth-exhaled and nose-exhaled breath,which provided a theoretical basis for selection of exhalation mode.

With the rapid development of information technology， research on ancient TCM books has shifted from the traditional collation and digitization into intelligent knowledge service， thereby achieving the deep integration of ancient TCM books collation and clinical needs. Based on the clinical problem and knowledge element theory， we implemented in-depth indexing and knowledge mining for 600 kinds of ancient TCM books， built a knowledge sharing service platform for ancient TCM books by integrating database， cloud platform， knowledge graph and other technologies， and carried out the thematic literature research and developed databases for four major diseases including stroke， heart failure， liver cirrhosis， and diabetes. The digital intelligence products have been applied in hundreds of hospitals for evaluation and feedback. Finally， through "digital processing plus intelligent application"， the two-way interaction between ancient TCM books and current clinical practice is realized， and the path and paradigm of ancient TCM books knowledge serving the modern prevention and control of major diseases is formed， providing reference for the innovative utilization of ancient TCM books.

Bladder cancer is one of the most prevalent cancers worldwide, with a high rate of recurrence and mortality, which is the ninth most common malignancy globally. Cystoscopy remains the gold standard for clinical bladder cancer diagnosis, but its invasive nature can lead to bacterial infection and inflammation. Urine cytology is a non-invasive and simple diagnostic method, but it has lower sensitivity in detecting low-grade bladder cancer and may yield false negative results. Therefore, identifying ideal diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers is crucial for accurate diagnosis and effective treatment of bladder cancer. Aptamers, characterized as single-stranded DNA or RNA with unique three-dimensional conformations, exhibit the ability to identify various targets, ranging from small molecules to tumor cells. Aptamers, also known as chemical antibodies, are generated by systematic evolution of ligands by exponential enrichment (SELEX) process and can function similarly to traditional antibodies. They hold numerous advantages over antibodies, such as ease of modification, low immunogenicity, and rapid tissue penetration and cell internalization due to their nucleic acid molecule structure. Since their discovery in the 1990s, aptamers have been widely used in biochemical analysis, disease detection, new drug research and other fields. This article provides an overview of aptamer selection and characterization for bladder cancer, discussing the research advancements involving aptamers in diagnosing and treating this disease. It covers aptamers obtained through different SELEX methods, including protein-SELEX, cell-SELEX, tissue-SELEX, and aptamers from other cancer SELEX; the detection in blood samples and urine samples; and application in targeted therapy and immunotherapy for bladder cancer. Currently, several aptamers capable of identifying bladder cancer have been generated, serving as molecular probes that have played a pivotal role in the early detection and treatment of bladder cancer. Bladder cancer perfusion therapy is well-suited for aptamer drug therapy because it does not require internal circulation, making it a suitable clinical indication for aptamer drug development. In addition, bladder cancer can be detected and monitored by collecting urine samples from patients, making it a preferred disease for clinical conversion of aptamers. While aptamers show promise, there is still much room for development compared with antibodies. There are still many clinically applied cancer biomarkers without corresponding aptamers, and more aptamers targeting different biomarkers should be selected and optimized to improve the sensitivity and accuracy for cancer detection and therapy. The field of aptamers urgently needs successful commercial products to promote its development, and home rapid detection/monitoring, imaging and targeted therapy of bladder cancer by infusion may be the breakthrough point for future application of aptamers.

This study was aimed at performing epidemiologic investigation of the first psittacosis death case in Hangzhou City,to provide a reference for the investigation and disposal of psittacosis cases,as well as prevention and control.Epidemio-logic data were collected through field epidemiologic investigation,and close contacts and environmental samples were collected for pathogenicity testing.The first symptom in the patient was cough,which did not raise concerns at the time.Several days later,the patient developed abdominal distension and black stools,and visited two medical institutions for treatment and hospi-talization.The patient's sputum and peripheral blood were tested for Chlamydia psittaci infection by metagenomic analysis via next-generation sequencing.Samples collected from the patient's family members,close contacts,and home environment test-ed negative with real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction.The patient later died of gastrointestinal bleeding.This article is the first report of a case of psittacosis contracted from exposure to a sick parrot in Hangzhou City,in a patient who died be-cause of an underlying disease.Operational training should be provided for medical personnel,and early diagnosis with mNGS and treatment of patients with underlying diseases should be performed as early as possible to avoid fatality.In addition,health education should be carried out to raise public awareness of the disease.

Objective To determine the neurotoxic effects of amyloid beta 42(Aβ42)oligomers and investigate the mechanism of their induction of Alzheimer's disease(AD)-like pathogenesis in neuronal cells.Methods Western blotting and transmission electron microscopy were used to identify the synthesized Aβ42 oligomers.In order to assess the impact of the oligomers,MTT assay was employed to measure cell viability in neuroblastoma cell line SH-SY5Y treated with 10μmol/L Aβ42 oligomers for 12 or 24 h,glutamatergic neurons derived from human embryonic stem cells(hESC)exposed to Aβ42 oligomers for 24,48,or 96 h,and corresponding control cells.TUNEL assay was utilized to assess the apoptosis of glutamatergic neurons.Additionally,immu-nofluorescence assay was applied to detect the changes in Aβ plaques and p-tau pathology.Results Western blotting displayed monomers and small-molecule aggregation(＜30 000)in our synthe-sized Aβ42 oligomers,and transmission electron microscopy showed that the synthesized oligomers were mainly in a shape of spherical particles.Treatment of 10 μmol/L Aβ42 oligomers for 12 and 24 h in SH-SY5Y cells significantly decreased cell viability when compared with the control cells[(70.89±2.54)％vs(100.00±2.02)％,(52.63±3.37)％vs(100.00±2.80)％,P＜0.05].The 10μmol/L oligomers treatment for 24,48 and 96 h also decreased cell viability in glutamatergic neu-rons(P＜0.05).The apoptotic rates was significantly higher in glutamatergic neurons after treat-ment for 48 and 96 h when compared to the control cells[(1.44±0.31)％vs(1.00±0.38)％,(1.75±0.64)％vs(1.00±0.31)％,P＜0.05].Furthermore,circular granular Aβ-positive plaque signals were observed in the glutamatergic neurons after treated with the oligomers for 24,48,and 96 h,but no such plaque signals were seen in the control cells.Additionally,glutamatergic neurons incu-bation with 10 μmol/L oligomers for 24 h resulted in tau hyperphosphorylation at the Thr231 site,with the average fluorescence intensity significantly higher than that in control cells(P＜0.05).Conclusion Aβ42 oligomers show toxic effects to both SH-SY5Y cells and glutamatergic neurons,and they can also induce glutamatergic neurons to produce AD pathology.

Objective To study the ability of radial basis function neural network(RBFNN)with different implementations for electrical impedance tomography(EIT)under real brain shapes,to evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of different approaches,and to provide a reference for the selection of practical imaging methods.Methods COMSOL Multiphysics was used to establish a multilayer 2D model with real structure based on brain CT and an EIT simulation dataset.The effects of the exact RBFNN,the orthogonal least squares-based RBFNN(OLS RBFNN)and the K-Means-based BRFNN(K-Means RBFNN)on the image reconstruction result were explored with the dataset constructed.The root mean square error(RMSE)and image correlation coefficient(ICC)were adopted to evaluate the imaging results.Results EIT could be completed with all the three RBFNNs without noise,and the exact RBFNN had the best results with average ICC and RMSE of 0.784 and 0.467,respectively,in the test set.The OLS RBFNN had the best imaging results at a hidden node of 50,with an average ICC and RMSE of 0.788 and 0.462,respectively.The K-Means RBFNN achieved the best imaging results at noise levels of 30,40,50,60,70 and 80 dB with stable ICC and RMSE and high robustness.Conclusion All the three RBFNNs can be used for brain EIT image reconstruction with their own advantages and disadvantages,and the RBFNN has to be selected for EIT reconstruc-tion based on considerations on actual conditions.[Chinese Medical Equipment Journal,2024,45(10):1-6]

Objective:To investigate the effects of external application of Sanying Plaster on the size of thyroid nodules and the states of depression and anxiety in patients with benign thyroid nodules.Methods:A randomized controlled trial was conducted. A total of 120 patients with benign thyroid nodules from the outpatient clinic of the Department of Thyroid Diseases at Shanghai Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital from June to December 2022 were selected as the subjects of the study. They were divided into two groups using the random number table method, with 60 patients in each group. The control group received lifestyle intervention treatment, while the treatment group received Sanying Ointment in addition to the treatment of the control group. Both groups were treated for 3 months. TCM syndrome scores were measured before and after treatment; the maximum diameter of thyroid nodules was measured using a color Doppler ultrasound transverse section; the quality of life was assessed using the short form 36 (SF-36); the degree of anxiety and depression was evaluated using the self-rating anxiety scale (SAS) and the self-rating depression scale (SDS); adverse reactions during the treatment period were recorded, and the clinical efficacy was evaluated.Results:During the treatment period, 4 cases in the treatment group and 3 cases in the control group did not complete the treatment. Finally, 56 cases in the treatment group and 57 cases in the control group entered the efficacy evaluation. The total effective rate of the treatment group was 71.4% (40/56), and that of the control group was 14.0% (8/57), with a statistically significant difference between the two groups ( χ2=26.82, P<0.001). After treatment, the TCM syndrome score of the treatment group (10.02±3.65 vs. 16.65±3.44, t=-10.24) was lower than that of the control group ( P<0.001); the maximum diameter of thyroid nodules [11.00 (4.65, 19.93) mm vs. 15.00 (7.15, 28.50) mm, Z=-2.43] was lower than that of the control group ( P<0.05); the SF-36 score [121.83 (117.00, 130.00) vs. 114.42 (104.25, 127.50), Z=-2.62] was higher than that of the control group ( P<0.01); the SDS (46.72±4.59 vs. 57.02±5.99, t=14.80) and SAS (42.25±5.72 vs. 50.60±7.12, t=10.04) scores were lower than those in the control group ( P<0.001). The incidence of adverse reactions during the treatment period in the treatment group was 3.5% (2/57), and no adverse reactions occurred in the control group. Conclusion:The external application of Sanying Ointment helps to reduce the size of thyroid nodules in patients with benign thyroid nodules, improve the quality of life and anxiety and depression, and increase clinical efficacy with good safety.

Chronic atrophic gastritis(CAG)is a common intractable gastric disease in clinic,which belongs to the gastric precancerous lesions.Professor LIU Feng-Bin and his team have performed the exploration and practice in the field of CAG for more than 30 years,and they proposed that the evolution of the traditional Chinse medicine(TCM)pathogenesis of inflammation-to-tumor transition(ITT)in CAG was characterized by spleen deficiency being the root cause,qi stagnation,blood stasis and dampness retention being the branch cause,and stasis and toxin being the aggravating factors.Deificiency of the spleen and stomach is the initial factor of CAG,which influences the whole process of the disease.Qi stagnation,blood stasis and dampness retention are the triggering and aggravating factors for the ITT in CAG.The formation of blood stasis and toxin is the key to the progression and transition of CAG.Treatment of ITT in CAG should be based on the results of syndrome differentiation and gastroscopic findings by staging therapy.Before treatment,disease dianosis and syndrome differentiation should be made,and macro and micro syndrome differentiation should be carried out for assistance.Therapy of strengthening the spleen and supporting healthy qi should be implemented throughout the whole process of the disease.The early stage of CAG has the features of gastric mucosa with mild to moderate atrophy and with or without mild intestinal epithelial hyperplasia,the pathogenesis of early CAG is characterized by weakness of the spleen and stomach and is accompanied with the pathological factors of qi stagnation,damp-retention and blood stasis,and the basic treatment should adopt the therapies of strengthening the spleen and clearing heat,regulating qi and activating blood stasis.The advanced stage of CAG has the features of severe atrophic gastric mucosa with or without moderate to severe intestinal epithelial and/or mild to moderate intraepithelial neoplasia,the pathogenesis is characterized by weakness of the spleen and stomach,phlegm blended with blood stasis,and stasis-toxin in the gastric collaterals,and the basic treatment should adopt the therapies of supporting healthy qi and dissipating masses,and unblocking the collaterals and removing toxin,so as to construct an intact line to blocking the ITT in CAG with traditional Chinese medicine.

Objective To investigate the effect of Polyetheretherketone(PEEK)rod semi-rigid pedicle screw fixation sys-tem in lumbar spine non-fusion surgery.Methods A total of 74 patients with tow-level lumbar degenerative diseases who un-derwent surgery from March 2017 to December 2019 were divided into PEEK rod group and titanium rod group.In the PEEK rod group,there were 34 patients,including 13 males and 21 females,aged from 51 to 79 years old with an average of(62.4±6.8)years old;There were 1 patient of L1-L3 segments,7 patients of L2-L4 segments,20 patients of L3-L5 segments and 6 pa-tients of L4-S1 segments.In the titanium rod group,there were 40 patients,including 17 males and 23 females,aged from 52 to 81 years old with an average of(65.2±7.3)years old;There were 3 patient of L1-L3 segments,11 patients of L2-L4 segments,19 patients of L3-L5 segments and 7 patients of L4-S1 segments.The general conditions of operation,such as operation time,intraoperative blood loss,postoperative drainage was recorded.The visual analogue scale(VAS)for low back pain and Os-westry disability index(ODI)were compared in preoperatively and postoperatively(3 months,12 months and last follow-up)between two groups.The change of range of motion(ROM)was observed by flexion and extension x-ray of lumbar Results All patients successfully completed the operation.The follow-up time ranged from 22 to 34 months with an average of(26.8±5.6)months.The operative time(142.2±44.7)min and intraoperative blood loss(166.5±67.4)ml in PEEK group were lower than those in titanium group[(160.7±57.3)min、(212.8±85.4)ml](P＜0.05).There was no significant differences in postoperative drainage between the two groups(P＞0.05).At the final follow-up visit,in PEEK group and titanium group VAS of low back pain[(0.8±0.4)points vs(1.0±0.5)points],VAS for leg pain[(0.7±0.4)points vs(0.8±0.5)points]and ODI[(9.8±1.6)％vs(12.1±1.5)％]were compared with preoperative[(5.8±1.1)points vs(6.0±1.1)points],[(7.2±1.7)points vs(7.0±1.6)points],[(68.5±8.9)％vs(66.3±8.2)％]were significantly different(P＜0.05).There was no significant difference in VAS scores between the two groups at each postoperative time point(P＞0.05).At 3 months after surgery,there was no difference in ODI between the two groups(P＞0.05).There were significant differences in ODI between PEEK group and titanium rod group at 12 months[(15.5±2.1)％vs(18.4±2.4)％]and at the last follow-up[(9.8±1.6)％vs(12.1±1.5)％](P＜0.05).The total range of motion(ROM)of lumbar decreased in both groups after surgery.At 12 months after surgery and the last follow-up,the PEEK group compared with the titanium rod group,the total range of motion of lumbar was statistically significant(P＜0.05).The range of motion(ROM)of the fixed segments decreased in both groups after surgery.The ROM of the fixed segments in PEEK group decreased from(9.5±4.6)° to(4.1±1.9)° at the last follow-up(P＜0.05),which in the titanium rod group was de-creased from(9.8±4.3)°to(0.9±0.5)° at the last follow-up(P＜0.05).The range of motion(ROM)of upper adjacent segment increased in both groups,there was statistical significance in the ROM of upper adjacent segment between the two groups at 12 months after surgery and the last follow-up,(P＜0.05).There was no screw loosening and broken rods in both groups during the follow-up period.Conclusion The PEEK rod semi-rigid pedicle screw internal fixation system used in lumbar non-fusion surgery can retain part of the mobility of the fixed segment,showing comparable short-term clinical efficacy to titanium rod fu-sion.PEEK rod semi-rigid pedicle screw internal fixation system is a feasible choice for the treatment of lumbar spine degener-ative diseases,and its long-term efficacy needs further follow-up observation.