Nuclear factor-kappa B （NF-κB） is an important intracellular transcription factor widely involved in the processes such as immune response， inflammatory response， cell proliferation， and apoptosis. The abnormal activation of the NF-κB signaling pathway plays a pivotal role in various liver diseases including chronic hepatitis， liver fibrosis， liver cirrhosis， and hepatocellular carcinoma. Extensive studies have shown that inhibiting NF-κB activity may effectively reduce inflammation and fibrosis and improve metabolic disorders. Several natural compounds， such as matrine and salvianolic acid B， have shown the potential in suppressing NF-κB activity， thereby exerting anti-inflammatory， anti-fibrotic， and anti-tumor effects. This article systematically reviews the critical role of the NF-κB signaling pathway in liver diseases and its potential as a therapeutic target， in order to highlight its potential as a therapeutic target for liver diseases and provide new directions for the treatment of liver diseases.

OBJECTIVE: To explore the mechanism of electroacupuncture (EA) in promoting recovery of the facial function with the involvement of autophagy, glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF), and phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase (PI3K)/mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) signaling pathway. METHODS: Seventy-two male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly allocated into the control, sham-operated, facial nerve injury (FNI), EA, EA+3-methyladenine (3-MA), and EA+GDNF antagonist groups using a random number table, with 12 rats in each group. An FNI rat model was established with facial nerve crushing method. EA intervention was conducted at Dicang (ST 4), Jiache (ST 6), Yifeng (SJ 17), and Hegu (LI 4) acupoints for 2 weeks. The Simone's 10-Point Scale was utilized to monitor the recovery of facial function. The histopathological evaluation of facial nerves was performed using hematoxylin-eosin (HE) staining. The levels of Beclin-1, light chain 3 (LC3), and P62 were detected by immunohistochemistry (IHC), immunofluorescence, and reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction, respectively. Additionally, IHC was also used to detect the levels of GDNF, Rai, PI3K, and mTOR. RESULTS: The facial functional scores were significantly increased in the EA group than the FNI group (P<0.05 or P<0.01). HE staining showed nerve axons and myelin sheaths, which were destroyed immediately after the injury, were recovered with EA treatment. The expressions of Beclin-1 and LC3 were significantly elevated and the expression of P62 was markedly reduced in FNI rats (P<0.01); however, EA treatment reversed these abnormal changes (P<0.01). Meanwhile, EA stimulation significantly increased the levels of GDNF, Rai, PI3K, and mTOR (P<0.01). After exogenous administration with autophagy inhibitor 3-MA or GDNF antagonist, the repair effect of EA on facial function was attenuated (P<0.05 or P<0.01). CONCLUSIONS EA could promote the recovery of facial function and repair the facial nerve damages in a rat model of FNI. EA may exert this neuroreparative effect through mediating the release of GDNF, activating the PI3K/mTOR signaling pathway, and further regulating the autophagy of facial nerves.
Rats ; Male ; Animals ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Electroacupuncture ; Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinase/metabolism* ; Facial Nerve Injuries/therapy* ; Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinases/metabolism* ; Beclin-1 ; Glial Cell Line-Derived Neurotrophic Factor ; Signal Transduction ; TOR Serine-Threonine Kinases/metabolism* ; Autophagy ; Mammals/metabolism*

Objective To make an epidemiological investigation on traditional Chinese medicine(TCM)dampness syndrome manifestations in the population at risk of cerebrovascular diseases in Guangdong area.Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted to analyze the clinical data related to the risk of cerebrovascular diseases in 330 Guangdong permanent residents.The diagnosis of dampness syndrome,quantitative scoring of dampness syndrome and rating of the risk of stroke were performed for the investigation of the distribution pattern of dampness syndrome and its influencing factors.Results(1)A total of 306(92.73%)study subjects were diagnosed as dampness syndrome.The percentage of dampness syndrome in the risk group was 93.82%(258/275),which was slightly higher than that of the healthy group(48/55,87.27%),but the difference was not statistically significant(χ2 = 2.91,P = 0.112).The quantitative score of dampness syndrome in the risk group was higher than that of the healthy group,and the difference was statistically significance(Z =-2.24,P = 0.025).(2)Among the study subjects at risk of cerebrovascular disease,evaluation time(χ2 = 26.11,P = 0.001),stroke risk grading(χ2= 8.85,P = 0.031),and history of stroke or transient ischemic attack(TIA)(χ2 = 9.28,P = 0.015)were the factors influencing the grading of dampness syndrome in the population at risk of cerebrovascular disease.Conclusion Dampness syndrome is the common TCM syndrome in the population of Guangdong area.The manifestations of dampness syndrome are more obvious in the population with risk factors of cerebrovascular disease,especially in the population at high risk of stroke,and in the population with a history of stroke or TIA.The assessment and intervention of dampness syndrome should be taken into account for future project of stroke prevention in Guangdong.

Objective To analyze the medication rules of Professor HUANG Feng for the treatment of low back pain using data mining methods.Methods The information of prescriptions for the effective cases of outpatients with low back pain treated by Professor HUANG Feng were collected and screened.Microsoft Excel 2019 was used to analyze the frequency of medication and the distribution of properties,flavors and meridian tropism of the drugs in the included prescription.IBM SPSS Modeler 18.0 was used for association rule analysis,and IBM Statistics 26.0 was used for cluster analysis.Results A total of 239 prescriptions and 75 Chinese medicines were included.There were 23 high-frequency Chinese medicines with the medication frequency being or over 20 times,and the top 10 Chinese medicines were Glycyrrhizae Radix et Rhizoma,vinegar-processed Corydalis Rhizoma,Cibotii Rhizoma,Atractylodis Macrocephalae Rhizoma,Zanthoxyli Radix,salt-processed Achyranthis Bidentatae Radix,Rehmanniae Radix,Dipsaci Radix,Coicis Semen,and Salviae Miltiorrhizae Radix et Rhizoma.The medicines were mainly warm in nature,and were sweet,bitter and pungent in flavor.Most of the drugs had the meridian tropism of liver,stomach and spleen meridians.Among the drug combinations obtained from association rule analysis with the top 20 highest support,vinegar-processed Corydalis Rhizoma,Cibotii Rhizoma,Atractylodis Macrocephalae Rhizoma and Zanthoxyli Radix were the core drugs.Cluster analysis yielded 6 clustering combinations.Conclusion For the treatment of low back pain,Professor HUANG Feng follows the principle of"treatment adapting to the climate,individuality,and environment"and"treating the root cause of the disease",usually adopts the drugs for activating blood,moving qi and relieving pain,nourishing the liver and kidney,and also uses the medicines for replenishing qi and strengthening the spleen.The ideas of HUANG Feng for the treatment of low back pain can be used as a reference for the clinical treatment.

Objective:To establish the animal model of cervicofacial venous malformations(VMs)by surgical reconstruction of exter-nal jugular vein in sheep.Methods:The external jugular veins of 5 sheep were dissected,and the position,course,branch and exter-nal diameter were observed and measured.The models of VMs with draining and returning veins were constructed by suturing or constric-ting the proximal part of main trunk and ligating or constricting the distal part of the jugular or branch veins.The animal model was eval-uated by Doppler ultrasound,gross observation and histological observation at the 4th week after surgery.Results:The external jugular veins of sheep is in the lateral side of bilateral neck,and the main trunk is formed by the maxillary vein and lingual facial vein.The ex-ternal diameter ranges from 6 to 12 mm,with an average external diameter of 9.3 mm.Immediately after the external jugular vein was sutured and narrowed at the proximal part of the main vein,the distal part of the vein branch was ligated or narrowed,the blood flow speed slowed down and the veins in the model area bulged.4 weeks after surgery,gross observation showed that most veins narrowed and thrombosis was formed in part of the venous lumen.The central region of some specimens was dilated,and the peripheral collateral veins were dilated in some models.Doppler ultrasonography showed that the lumens of most veins were dilated and the returning veins and the inflow veins were narrowed.Colored blood flow was seen in the lumen.Histological observation showed that the structure of vein endothelium and wall was close to the normal vein,and the vein vessel wall of some specimens was thickened.Conclusion:The VMs model estab-lished by external jugular vein of sheep basically meets the re-quirements and is expected to be used in the therapeutic meth-odology research of cervicofacial VMs.

Objective:To investigate the effectiveness and feasibility of a 3D U-Net in conjunction with a three-phase CT image segmentation model in the automatic segmentation of GTVnx and GTVnd in nasopharyngeal carcinoma.Methods:A total of 645 sets of computed tomography (CT) images were retrospectively collected from 215 nasopharyngeal carcinoma cases, including three phases: plain scan (CT), contrast-enhanced CT (CTC), and delayed CT (CTD). The dataset was grouped into a training set consisting of 172 cases and a test set comprising 43 cases using the random number table method. Meanwhile, six experimental groups, A1, A2, A3, A4, B1, and B2, were established. Among them, the former four groups used only CT, only CTC, only CTD, and all three phases, respectively. The B1 and B2 groups used phase fine-tuning CTC models. The Dice similarity coefficient (DSC) and 95% Hausdorff distance (HD95) served as quantitative evaluation indicators.Results:Compared to only monophasic CT (group A1/A2/A3), triphasic CT (group A4) yielded better result in the automatic segmentation of GTVnd (DSC: 0.67 vs. 0.61, 0.64, 0.64; t = 7.48, 3.27, 4.84, P < 0.01; HD95: 36.45 vs. 79.23, 59.55, 65.17; t = 5.24, 2.99, 3.89, P < 0.01), with statistically significant differences ( P < 0.01). However, triphasic CT (group A4) showed no significant enhancement in the automatic segmentation of GTVnx compared to monophasic CT (group A1/A2/A3) (DSC: 0.73 vs. 0.74, 0.74, 0.73; HD95: 14.17 mm vs. 8.06, 8.11, 8.10 mm), with no statistically significant difference ( P > 0.05). For the automatic segmentation of GTVnd, group B1/B2 showed higher automatic segmentation accuracy compared to group A1 (DSC: 0.63, 0.63 vs. 0.61, t = 4.10, 3.03, P<0.01; HD95: 58.11, 50.31 mm vs. 79.23 mm, t = 2.75, 3.10, P < 0.01). Conclusions:Triphasic CT scanning can improve the automatic segmentation of the GTVnd in nasopharyngeal carcinoma. Additionally, phase fine-tuning models can enhance the automatic segmentation accuracy of the GTVnd on plain CT images.

Objective To explore and implement a differentiated management strategy for multi-campus hospitals to improve patient experience and satisfaction,and achieve the goal of homogenized management.Methods In December 2021,the Picker Patient Experience Questionnaire was used to survey the patient experience at 3 campuses of a tertiary A hospital in Hangzhou,and the reasons for the differences were analyzed.Based on policy document reviews,special group discussions,and expert meetings,differentiated management strategy for multi-campus hospitals was formulated.The patient experience and satisfaction before(December 2021)and after(December 2023)the implementation were compared.Results After the application of the one-hospital multi-campus difference management strategy,the overall medical experience score of the patients in the 3 campus was(58.54±2.36)points,which was higher than(58.13±3.24)points before the application(t=-3.223,P=0.001),and there was no statistically significant differences among the patients in the 3 campuses(F=0.781,P=0.458).After the application of the management strategy,the overall satisfaction score of the patients in the 3 campus was(98.44±6.22)points,which was higher than(97.98±6.87)points before the application of the management strategy(t=-2.490,P=0.013),and there was no statistical significance among the patients in the 3 campus(F=1.128,P=0.324).The number of banners and letters of commendation received by the 3 campuses increased from 1 661 before the application to 2 190 after the application,with a growth rate of 31.85％.Conclusion Differentiated management in a multi-campus hospital,aiming at homogenized quality through differentiated strategies,is practicable and can significantly improve the patient experience and satisfaction across different campuses.

Objective To investigate the influence of serum cystatin C (Cys-C) and hypersensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) levels on the 3-year survival of patients undergoing maintenance hemodialysis (MHD). Methods A total of 358 patients with chronic renal failure who underwent MHD at the Second Affiliated Hospital of Nantong University from April 2011 to October 2020 were selected as study subjects. General clinical data, pre-dialysis laboratory test indicators, and echocardiographic indicators 3 months after dialysis were recorded. The survival status of patients after 3 years of dialysis was followed up, and the general clinical data, pre-dialysis laboratory test indicators, and echocardiographic indicators 3 months after dialysis were compared between surviving and deceased patients. Univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses were performed to screen influencing factors of 3-year survival in MHD patients. Results At the 3-year follow-up, of the 302 MHD patients' 203 survived, and 99 died. Statistically significant differences were observed in age, primary disease, diabetes status, congestive heart failure, statin use, antiplatelet drug use, diuretic use, dialysis mode, estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) and gamma-glutamyl transferase (GGT), alkaline phosphatase (AKP), total bilirubin (TBIL), β₂-microglobulin (β₂-MG), creatinine (Cr), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), hypersensitive C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), and serum phosphorus (P) levels between surviving patients and deaths(P < 0.05 or P < 0.01). Univariate Cox regression results showed that age of MHD patients, primary disease (diabetic nephropathy, hypertensive nephropathy, polycystic kidney disease, others), comorbidities(diabetes, congestive heart failure, other cardiovascular diseases), drug use (statins, antiplatelet drugs), dialysis method (hemodialysis, hemodialysis + perfusion), laboratory test indicators [GGT, AKP, TBIL, total bile acid (TBA), albumin (ALB), Cr, Cys-C, eGFR, apolipoprotein A (APO-A), hs-CRP]were all influential factors of 3-year survival rate of MHD patients. Multivariate Cox regression analysis revealed that age, primary disease, other cardiovascular diseases, dialysis mode, AKP, ALB, TBIL, Cys-C, and hs-CRP were significant influencing factors for the survival of patients with chronic renal failure (P < 0.05). Conclusion Serum Cys-C and hs-CRP levels before MHD in patients with chronic renal failure may be associated with their 3-year survival after dialysis treatment. High serum Cys-C may reduce the risk of poor clinical prognosis, while high serum hs-CRP may increase the risk of poor clinical prognosis.

Objective:To study positive rates and typing of oligoclonal bands (OCB) in patients with neurological disorders, and to reveal the clinical significance and applicational value of OCB test.Methods:A retrospective analysis was performed on the detection results of 3 217 patients with neurological disorders who undertook both serum and cerebrospinal fluid OCBs in the First Hospital of Peking University from January 2012 to August 2022. According to the final diagnosis, the patients were divided into 13 groups including multiple sclerosis (479 cases), neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorders (935 cases), autoimmune encephalitis (192 cases), viral encephalitis (94 cases), nervous system complication after HSCT (232 cases), Guillain-Barré syndrome (644 cases), chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (157 cases), etc. Cerebrospinal fluid and serum OCBs were detected using isoelectric focusing electrophoresis combining immunofixation, then classified into Ⅰ-Ⅴ types according to the morphology. Consequently, positive rates and types were analyzed for each group. χ2 test was used for comparison between groups. Results:The positive rates of cerebrospinal fluid OCB in multiple sclerosis, nervous system complication after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT), autoimmune encephalitis, viral encephalitis, neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorders, Guillain-Barré syndrome and chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy were respectively 66.8% (320/479), 48.7% (113/232), 46.4%(89/192), 19.1% (18/94), 17.6% (165/935), 9.9% (64/644), 5.1% (8/157). For patients with multiple sclerosis, neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorders, viral encephalitis, and autoimmune encephalitis, Type Ⅱ bands took the majority of cerebrospinal fluid OCB-positive cases with the rates of 94.1% (301/320), 78.7% (70/89), 77.8% (14/18), and 77.6% (128/165) respectively, indicating intrathecal IgG synthesis; for patients with nervous system complication after HSCT, Guillain-Barré syndrome and chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy, type Ⅳ bands took the majority of cerebrospinal fluid OCB-positive cases with the rates of 94.7% (107/113), 82.8% (53/64) and 100% (8/8), indicating no obvious intrathecal IgG synthesis. The positive rates of cerebrospinal fluid oligoclonal bands were significantly different among all groups (χ 2=1 268.31, P<0.001). Conclusion:The positive rates of cerebrospinal fluid oligoclonal bands are different among different neurological disorders, in which the positive rate of cerebrospinal fluid OCB is higher with type Ⅱ bands as the majority type in multiple sclerosis, which indicates that the detection and typing of cerebrospinal fluid OCB are helpful for the diagnosis of various neurological diseases, especially for multiple sclerosis.

Objective: To analyze the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of the construction on intelligent vaccination clinics in Zhejiang Province, so as to provide countermeasures for promoting the construction of intelligent vaccination clinics in Zhejiang Province. Methods: By reviewing the annual reports of Zhejiang immunization planning, survey data from Zhejiang Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Immunization Intelligent Service System, data of human resources of immunization planning, vaccine procurement, construction progress of intelligent vaccination clinics and vaccination were collected. The relevant literature was searched to gather information on the construction standards and norms of intelligent vaccination clinics. The analysis of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) of the construction of intelligent vaccination clinics was conducted, and corresponding countermeasures and suggestions were proposed. Results: The National Immunization Program reported vaccine rate in Zhejiang Province is more than 99%, and standardized vaccination clinics have been popularized throughout the province. The vaccination staff are professional, and a province-wide intelligent immunization service information system has been established, providing the resources and conditions for the construction of intelligent vaccination clinics. However, there are problems such as low data quality and matching efficiency in vaccination, insufficient data interoperability and sharing, unbalanced regional capabilities in intelligent transformation, and uneven distribution of talent and resources. It is crucial to seize the opportunities presented by the development of big data and artificial intelligence, rely on the regional development of the Internet and health industry, seize the opportunity of rapid growth in demand for intelligent vaccination services and high public acceptance, accelerate the construction of intelligent vaccination clinics, and establish intelligent vaccination service standards as soon as possible. Conclusion We should seize the opportunities presented by the digital reform and development, fully utilize the existing vaccination resources and strengths, address the shortcomings, and accelerate the construction of intelligent vaccination clinics in Zhejiang Province.