Artemisia argyi (A. argyi), a plant with a longstanding history as a raw material for traditional medicine and functional diets in Asia, has been used traditionally to bathe and soak feet for its disinfectant and itch-relieving properties. Despite its widespread use, scientific evidence validating the antifungal efficacy of A. argyi water extract (AAWE) against dermatophytes, particularly Trichophyton rubrum, Trichophyton mentagrophytes, and Microsporum gypseum, remains limited. This study aimed to substantiate the scientific basis of the folkloric use of A. argyi by evaluating the antifungal effects and the underlying molecular mechanisms of its active subfraction against dermatophytes. The results indicated that AAWE exhibited excellent antifungal effects against the three aforementioned dermatophyte species. The subfraction AAWE6, isolated using D101 macroporous resin, emerged as the most potent subfraction. The minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of AAWE6 against T. rubrum, M. gypseum, and T. mentagrophytes were 312.5, 312.5, and 625 μg·mL^-1, respectively. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) results and assays of enzymes linked to cell wall integrity and cell membrane function indicated that AAWE6 could penetrate the external protective barrier of T. rubrum, creating breaches ("small holes"), and disrupt the internal mitochondrial structure ("granary"). Furthermore, transcriptome data, quantitative real-time PCR (RT-qPCR), and biochemical assays corroborated the severe disruption of mitochondrial function, evidenced by inhibited tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle and energy metabolism. Additionally, chemical characterization and molecular docking analyses identified flavonoids, primarily eupatilin (131.16 ± 4.52 mg·g^-1) and jaceosidin (4.17 ± 0.18 mg·g^-1), as the active components of AAWE6. In conclusion, the subfraction AAWE6 from A. argyi exerts antifungal effects against dermatophytes by disrupting mitochondrial morphology and function. This research validates the traditional use of A. argyi and provides scientific support for its anti-dermatophytic applications, as recognized in the Chinese patent (No. ZL202111161301.9).
Antifungal Agents/chemistry* ; Arthrodermataceae ; Artemisia/chemistry* ; Molecular Docking Simulation ; Mitochondria ; Microbial Sensitivity Tests

Sj?gren′s syndrome is a chronic autoimmune inflammatory disease characterized by exocrine gland and extraglandular involvement. Cases of Sj?gren′s syndrome-associated aseptic meningitis (SS-AM) are relatively rare, and a case of recurrent aseptic meningitis with leukopenia and mild anemia associated with primary Sj?gren′s syndrome is reported, whose symptoms basically disappeared after treatment with prednison and hydroxychloroquine. The purpose of reporting this case is to raise awareness of SS-AM among fellow clinicians.

A three-dimensional(3D)medical image segmentation network(CA-SegResNet)which incorporates a 3D coordinate attention mechanism is proposed to address the issue of segmenting identified vertebral bones from spinal computed tomography(CT)images.The network extracts image features through a deep residual convolutional neural network and fuses the feature maps from each encoder layer with the input of the corresponding decoder layer.Subsequently,a 3D coordinate attention module is introduced to capture inter-channel relationships as well as directional and positional information,establishing long-range dependencies across different spatial directions,thereby enabling precise segmentation of the identified vertebral bones.For the segmentation tasks involving the identified cervical vertebra(the 7th cervical vertebra)and the identified thoracic vertebra(the 12th thoracic vertebra)across 105 cases,CA-SegResNet achieves average Dice similarity coefficients(DSC)of 0.934 5 and 0.918 9 on the test set,with average Hausdorff distances(HD)of 7 and 8 mm.Compared with U-Net results,the average DSC is improved by 0.014 5 and 0.0463,while average HD is reduced by 176 and 388 mm.The results demonstrate that the network can realize the precise segmentation of identified vertebral bones from CT images.

Objective:To analyze the clinical characteristics and prognosis of patients with stiff-person syndrome (SPS) associated with glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD) antibodies.Methods:A retrospective analysis was conducted on demographic characteristics, clinical manifestations, auxiliary examination results, treatment, and prognosis of patients with GAD antibody-related SPS treated at Peking Union Medical College Hospital from January 2015 to July 2023.Results:A total of 33 patients were included, comprising 26 females (78.8%) and 7 males (21.2%), with an onset age of (42±12) years and a disease duration of 24.0 (10.5, 37.5) months. Two cases (6.1%) were diagnosed with tumors, including 1 case with invasive thymoma and 1 case with small cell lung cancer. The majority of patients (87.9%, 29/33) presented with stiffness of trunk and proximal limb muscles, 42.4% (14/33) of patients exhibited episodic spasm, and 54.5% (18/33) of patients were triggered by stimuli such as sound and light. Babinski or Chaddock reflexes were elicited in 33.3% (11/33) of patients. Some patients (36.4%, 16/33) had concurrent limbic encephalitis/epilepsy or cerebellar ataxia (referred to as complex SPS). The median cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) white blood cell count was 2×10 6/L [quartile: 1×10 6/L, 6×10 6/L; range: (0-30)×10 6/L], with mild elevation in 28.0% (7/25) of patients. Multi-channel surface electromyography in 14 out of 21 cases (66.7%) suggested synchronous contraction of agonist and antagonist muscles in a relaxed state. The modified Rankin Scale (mRS) score during the acute phase was 4 (3, 4). All patients received treatment with benzodiazepines or baclofen. Thirty patients (90.9%, 30/33) received first-line immunotherapy, 3 patients (9.1%, 3/33) received second-line immunotherapy with rituximab, and 14 (42.4%, 14/33) received mycophenolate mofetil as long-term immunotherapy. The follow-up period was 16 (10, 42) months, with a median best mRS score of 2; 66.7% (22/33) of patients had a favorable functional prognosis (mRS score≤2), and the recurrence rate was 30.0% (9/30). At the last follow-up, the median mRS score was 2, and 53.3% (16/30) of patients had a favorable functional prognosis. Prognosis was not significantly correlated with gender, age, clinical type, or CSF white blood cell level (all P>0.05). Conclusions:SPS is one of the main clinical phenotypes of GAD antibody-related neuroimmune diseases, commonly observed in middle-aged women, and exhibits a chronic progressive course. Only a minority of patients have concomitant tumors. The diagnosis relies on typical symptoms, GAD antibody testing, and electromyography examination. The initial immune therapy yields good results, but the prognosis for recurrent patients is poor.

Objective:To analyze the effectiveness and safety of the second course radiotherapy for unresectable colorectal cancer liver metastases.Methods:We retrospectively collected the data of 28 patients with unresectable colorectal cancer liver metastases who received the second course radiotherapy at Peking University Cancer Hospital and Institute from 2017 to 2023, to analyze the feasibility of re-irradiation.Results:For the 28 patients, the median follow-up time after re-irradiation was 20.2 months. The median time interval between the first- and second-course radiotherapy was 11.1 months. The median biologically effective doses of the first- and second-course radiotherapy were 100 Gy and 96 Gy, respectively. Stereotactic body radiotherapy was administered to 25 patients (89.3%) during the first course and 24 patients (85.7%) during the second course of radiotherapy. The mean equivalent dose in 2 Gy fractions to the normal liver was 10.1 Gy in the first-course radiotherapy and 7.9 Gy in the second-course radiotherapy. The complete response rate, partial response rate, and objective response rate after re-irradiation were 54.5%, 18.2%, and 72.7%, respectively. After re-irradiation, the 2-year cumulative local failure rate was 17.0% when calculated based on patients and 15.1% when calculated based on lesions, the 1-year progression-free survival rate was 27.4%, and the 3-year overall survival rate was 46.7%. The second-course radiotherapy was well tolerated, with most patients (75.0%) experiencing grade 1-2 acute adverse reactions and only one case (3.6%) experiencing grade 3 acute adverse events.Conclusions:Second course radiotherapy is an effective and safe treatment approach for selected patients with unresectable colorectal cancer liver metastases.

ObjectiveThis study aimed to investigate the risk factors affecting the positive detection of Acinetobacter baumannii on the hands in medical staff of hospitals in Shanghai， and provide epidemiological evidence for the prevention and control of nosocomial infections. MethodsThe hands of doctors， nurses and care workers in key departments were sampled every quarter from 2018 to 2020 according toGB 15982‒2012 "Hospital Disinfection and Hygiene Standards". Separation and identification of A. baumannii were followed with sampling shortly. Information about the working years of sampling subjects， the hand sanitizers of which sampling subjects had used and the ingredients and actual using time of the hand sanitizers was collected while sampling. Finally， 709 samples were selected for this research after excluding the unqualified samples. ResultsThe positive detection of the hand samples was 7.05%. The logistic regression model suggested that the department， the time of using hand sanitizer， the hospital grade and occupational category were determinants of A. baumannii positive detection on hands in medical staff. The risk of A. baumannii positive detection in internal medicine department was 2.846 （95%CI：1.402‒5.776） times higher than that in intensive care unit while it was 3.357 （95%CI：1.349‒8.353） times higher in surgery department than that in intensive care unit. Regarding the use of hand sanitizer， the risk of A. baumannii positive detection was 3.076 （95%CI：1.534‒6.168） times higher in the staff used the hand sanitizer over 14 days than in the medical staff used the sanitizer within 14 days. The risk of A. baumannii positive detection in medical worker in secondary hospitals was 2.235（95%CI：1.088‒4.588）times than in tertiary hospitals. The risk of A. baumannii positive detection of care workers was 3.634 （95%CI：1.764‒7.484） times higher than nurses. ConclusionThe positive detection of hand samples was 7.05%. Department， the time of using hand sanitizer， the hospital grade and occupational category were determinants of A. baumannii positive detection on hands in medical staff. It was necessary to improve hand hygiene for medical staff， especially for care worker. Cleaning and disinfection need to be strengthened in internal department and surgery department.

Objective:To evaluate the clinical efficacy of Rotarex percutaneous mechanical thrombectomy(PMT) for treatment of lower extremity arterial graft occlusion.Methods:The clinical data of 19 patients with lower extremity arterial bypass occlusion admitted to our hospital from January 2016 to December 2020 were retrospectively analyzed. All patients were treated with Rotarex-based endovascular therapy. After 12 months follow-up, the clinical features, surgical outcomes and follow-up data were analyzed to identify effectiveness and safety of the therapy. Independent sample t test was used to analyze the measurement data of continuous normal distribution which were expressed as mean±standard deviation( ± s), enumeration data were expressed as number and percentage, and the comparison between groups were analyzed by chi-square test. Results:A technical success rate of 100% was demonstrated. Rotarex combined with catheter directed thrombolysis was performed in 2 cases, Rotarex combined with percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (PTA) was performed in 9 cases. Rotarex combined with stent implantation was performed in 8 patients. The Ankle brachial index significantly increased (0.82±0.14 vs 0.47±0.11, P<0.05). Critical limb ischemia (Rutherford class 4 or higher) improved significantly (0 case vs 9 cases, P<0.05). Distal embolism occurred in 1 patient and acute myocardial infarction occurred in 1 patient. There was no vascular rupture, haemorrhage, infection, pseudoaneurysm, death and amputation. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis revealed 12-month primary patency rate and freedom from clinically driven target lesion revascularization was 78.9% and 89.5% respectively. Conclusion:Rotarex-based endovascular therapy is a safe and effective treatment for graft occlusion after lower extremity arterial prosthesis bypass with high patency rate and few complications.

Objective:To assess the long-term follow-up results of intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) combined with transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE) and tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) showing macrovascular invasion (MVI).Methods:A retrospective analysis was conducted for 63 patients with HCC showing MVI without distant metastasis treated in Peking University Cancer Hospital from October 2015 to October 2018. Among them 28 patients were treated with IMRT combined with TACE and sorafenib (Group A) and 35 patients were treated with IMRT combined with TACE (Group B). Propensity score matching (PSM) was applied to assess the progression-free survival (PFS) and the overall survival (OS) of both groups.Results:The median follow-up time was 62 months. Before PSM, the median OS of group A and B were 19.0 months and 15.2 months ( χ2=3.15, P=0.076), respectively, and the median PFS of groups A (10.7 months) was longer than that of group B (8.6 months; χ2=3.99, P=0.046). After PSM, the median OS of group A (30.6 months) was significantly longer than that of group B (15.2 months; χ2=5.34, P=0.023), and the PFS of groups A (12.5 months) was still longer than that of group B (8.3 months; χ2=4.79, P=0.026). In the whole group, 10 patients (15.9%) suffered from grade-3 hematologic toxicity, and seven patients (11.1%) experienced grade-3 hepatic toxicity. The incidence of skin reactions, hand-foot syndrome, and diarrhea in group A was higher than that in group B, but all these adverse events were grade 1-2. Moreover, no grade-4 adverse events, radiation-induced liver disease, and treatment-related mortality occurred in both groups. Conclusions:As demonstrated by the long-term follow-up result, IMRT combined with TACE and TKI could improve both the PFS and the OS of patients with HCC showing MVI after PSM.

Objective:To study the morphologic features of the fusion site of proximal tibial epiphysis in normal adults and analyze its potential clinical value based on Mimics three-dimensional (3D) reconstruction.Methods:CT images of knee joint of 68 patients without obvious abnormalities of lower limbs were retrospectively analyzed in electronic database of our hospital from June 2020 to June 2021, including 41 males and 27 females. The mean age of the patients was 38.7±8.4 years (range, 25-55 years), and the mean body mass index (BMI) was 25.3±4.0 kg/m 2 (range, 18.75-41.8 kg/m 2). Mimics 3D reconstruction technique was used to reconstruct the 3D model of the proximal tibia and epiphyseal fusion site. The relationship between the surface area of epiphyseal fusion site and age and BMI was studied, and the changes of cortical thickness and density at epiphyseal fusion site were also explored. Results:The fusion site of adult epiphyseal reconstructed by Mimics 3D reconstruction is a complex wavy surface structure in 3D space. The surface area of the epiphyseal fusion site was 2,994.7±645.3 mm 2 (range, 1,704.0-4,650.0 mm 2) obtained by 3-Matic Research 12.0. The fusing area of male epiphysis was 3 269.3±533.9 mm 2 than that of female 2,577.6±578.7 mm 2, the difference was statistically significant ( t=5.06, P<0.001). However, there was no significant correlation between the epiphyseal fusion site surface area and age ( R2=0.02, P=0.268) and BMI ( R2=0.04, P=0.125). Mimics software was used to obtain the CT values of bone cortex at the epiphysis line and the distal end of the epiphysis line at 10 mm and 20 mm levels as 451.059±74.953 Hu, 1,018.412±125.732 Hu and 1,414.162±107.848 Hu, respectively. The thickness of bone cortex was 1.814±0.090 mm, 2.511±0.089 mm and 3.189±0.185 mm at 10 mm and 20 mm layers of epiphysis line and distal epiphysis line, respectively. Conclusion:In this study, Mimics 3D reconstruction technique was used to visualize the fusion site of the proximal tibial epiphysis in normal adults. The epiphyseal fusion site of adult is a undulating plate-like structure, and the cortical bone density of epiphyseal fusion site is low and thin, theoretically, it is easy to fracture under indirect violence.

Paraneoplastic neurological syndromes (PNS) are heterogeneous disorders caused by autoimmune responses of cancer, which can affect any part of the nervous system. Anti-amphiphysin antibody is one of the high-risk PNS antibodies, which is usually associated with small cell lung cancer and breast cancer. However, extrapulmonary neuroendocrine carcinoma is rare in patients with anti-amphiphysin antibody. A case of anti-amphiphysin-associated paraneoplastic brainstem encephalitis with esophageal neuroendocrine carcinoma is reported. The tumor was detected by fluorine 18 fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography and pathologically confirmed by gastroscopic biopsy. The patient′s neurological symptoms were partially improved after treatment of intravenous immunoglobulin and glucocorticoids. However, the disease prognosis is closely related to the accompanying tumor.