OBJECTIVE: This study investigates the efficacy and mechanisms of Qingjie Fuzheng Granules (QFG) in inhibiting colitis-associated colorectal cancer (CAC) development via RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) and 16S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) correlation analysis. METHODS: CAC was induced in BALB/c mice using azoxymethane (AOM) and dextran sulfate sodium (DSS), and QFG was administered orally to the treatment group. The effects of QFG on CAC were evaluated using disease index, histology, and serum T-cell ratios. RNA-seq and 16S rRNA analysis assessed the transcriptome and microbiome change. Key pharmacodynamic pathways were identified by integrating these data and confirmed via Western blotting and immunofluorescence. The link between microbiota and CAC-related markers was explored using linear discriminant analysis effect size and Spearman correlation analysis. RESULTS: Long-term treatment with QFG prevented AOM/DSS-induced CAC formation, reduced levels of interleukin (IL)-1β, tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), IL-6, and interferon γ (IFN-γ), and increased CD3⁺ and CD4⁺/CD8⁺ T cells ratio, without causing hepatic or renal toxicity. A 16S rRNA analysis revealed that QFG rebalanced the Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes ratio and mitigated AOM/DSS-induced microbiota disturbances. Transcriptomics and Western blotting analysis identified the nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain-containing protein 2 (NOD2)/nuclear factor kappa-B (NF-κB) pathway as key for QFG's treatment against CAC. Furthermore, QFG decreased the abundance of Bacilli, Bacillales, Staphylococcaceae, Staphylococcus, Lactobacillales, Aerococcus, Alloprevotella, and Akkermansia, while increasing Clostridiales, Lachnospiraceae, Lachnospiraceae_NK4A136_group, Ruminococcaceae, and Muribaculaceae, which were highly correlated with CAC-related markers or NOD2/NF-κB pathway. CONCLUSION By mapping the relationships between CAC, immune responses, microbiota, and key pathways, this study clarifies the mechanism of QFG in inhibiting CAC, highlighting its potential for clinical use as preventive therapy.

Objective:To monitor intra-fractional set-up errors in tumor radiotherapy using a real-time intelligent capture system for precision displacement.Methods:A simulated radiotherapy environment was created in both the laboratory and the treatment room. A three-axis ( xyz) displacement platform (LD60-LM) and dial gauges were used as displacement measurement tools. Moreover, a real-time intelligent capture system for precision displacement was developed for displacement monitoring. With 23 patients treated with radiotherapy enrolled in this study, the above system was employed to monitor their intra-fractional set-up errors in fractionated radiotherapy. Descriptive analyses were conducted on the deviations between the data captured by cameras and the actual displacement, obtaining the mean values and standard deviation. Results:The monitoring calibration data from the laboratory revealed displacement differences of ≤ 0.5 mm within 20 mm and a maximum displacement difference of 1.47 mm for 50 mm. In contrast, the calibration result from the treatment room exhibited deviations of ± 0.2 mm on the y- z axes, as displayed by both the left and right cameras, and ± 0.31 mm on the x- z axes, as displayed by the middle camera. During 37 radiotherapy sessions in 23 patients, the monitoring result from the middle camera revealed five deviations exceeding the threshold of 5 mm, with the maximum deviation duration and displacement of 57.2 s and 9.24 mm, respectively. Conclusions:The real-time intelligent capture system for precision displacement based on machine vision can achieve real-time monitoring of set-up errors during tumor radiotherapy. Nevertheless, further improvements and service testing are necessary for this system.

Purpose To explore the value of deep learning ultrasound radiomics nomogram in assessing the biological characteristics of invasive metastases in invasive breast cancer.Materials and Methods A retrospective collection of ultrasound imaging data from 180 pathologically confirmed invasive breast cancer between January 2021 to December 2022 in Maoming People's Hospital was conducted,with pathological reports indicating the status of lymph node metastasis(LNM),lymphovascular space invasion(LVSI)or perineural invasion(PNI),according to the LNM/LVSI/PNI status,the three indexes were divided into the training cohort and the verification cohort by 8∶2.Based on Pyradiomics and ResNet50 deep learning extractor,1 316 radiomic features and 2 048 deep learning features were extracted,respectively.The random forest machine learning algorithm was employed to develop evaluation models,and the model scores were calculated.The deep learning radiomics nomograms were developed based on the radiomic and deep learning model scores.The receiver operating characteristic curve was used to assess the performance of the models.The Delong test was applied to analyze the performance differences between different models.Results In the evaluation of LNM,LVSI and PNI status,the area under the curve of all the nomogram in the cohorts demonstrated moderate or above assessment performance(≥0.73),with accuracies all greater than 0.70.Specifically,in the LNM evaluation,the area under the curve of the training cohort was 0.97,the accuracy was 0.93,the sensitivity was 0.88 and the specificity was 0.96.Through the Delong test,the assessment performance of the nomograms was superior to the radiomics models(LNM,Z=2.04,P=0.04;LVSI,Z=2.80,P=0.01;PNI,Z=3.52,P<0.01),and was superior to or similar to the deep learning models(LNM,Z=4.52,P<0.01;LVSI,Z=1.86,P=0.06;PNI,Z=0.31,P=0.76)in the training cohort.Conclusion The deep learning radiomics nomogram can effectively evaluate the biological characteristics of invasion and metastasis in invasive breast cancer.The nomogram improves the assessment performance by integrating the radiomic and deep learning feature information.

Pancytopenia is one of the serious complications of Graves disease, and its clinical treatment is quite challenging. Based on traditional Chinese medicine theory and combining with literature reports and clinical practice in China, we discuss the etiology, pathogenesis, and syndromes-based treatment of pancytopenia, hoping to open up new treatment approaches, guide clinical practice, and improve treatment effectiveness.

ObjectiveTo observe the therapeutic effect of Yiyuan Qiwei pills （YYQW） on diabetes mellitus-induced induced erectile dysfunction （DMED） in rats and explore its regulation on the nitric oxide （NO）-cyclic guanosine monophosphate （cGMP） signaling pathway. MethodFifty-five healthy SD male rats of clean grade aged 2-3 months underwent intraperitoneal injection of streptozotocin （STZ） to induce the DMED model， and another 10 healthy SD male rats of clean grade aged 2-3 months were assigned to the control group. The model rats were randomly divided into a model group， a sildenafil group （5 mg·kg^-1， ig）， and low-， medium-， and high-dose YYQW groups （1.5， 3.0， 6.0 g·kg^-1， ig）. The rats in the model group and the control group were given normal saline by gavage at 10 mL·kg^-1， once a day for two months. After intervention， the penile erectile function of rats in each group was measured by a pressure detection system. The pathological changes and ultrastructure of penile corpus cavernosum were observed by hematoxylin-eosin （HE） staining and transmission electron microscopy， respectively. The level of NO in the corpus cavernosum was detected by nitrate reductase. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay （ELISA） was used to detect the levels of cGMP and advanced glycation end products （AGEs）. Real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction （Real-time PCR） was used to detect the mRNA expression of endothelial nitric oxide synthase （eNOS）， neurogenic nitric oxide synthase （nNOS）， total nitric oxide synthase （NOS）， and phosphodiesterase type5 （PDE5） in rat penile tissues. The expression of above proteins was detected by Western blot. ResultCompared with the control group， the model group showed decreased intracavernous pressure （ICP）， NO， and cGMP levels， reduced mRNA and protein expression of nNOS and NOS， and increased PDE5 mRNA and protein expression （P<0.05）. Compared with the model group， the sildenafil group and the YYQW groups displayed increased ICP， NO， and cGMP levels， elevated mRNA and protein expression levels of nNOS and NOS， and reduced PDE5 mRNA and protein expression levels （P<0.05）. There were no pathological changes in the tissues and cell ultrastructure of the corpus cavernosum in the control group， while serious pathological changes were observed in the model group. Additionally， the sildenafil group and the YYQW groups were superior to the model group， the optimal effect was observed in the high-dose YYQW group. ConclusionYYQW can improve the penile erectile function of DMED rats and reduce the pathological damage of corpus cavernosum. The mechanism may be related to the promotion of nNOS and NOS expression， the inhibition of PDE5 expression， and the activation of the NO/cGMP signaling pathway.

Objective:To investigate the effect of ultrasound-guided early removal of indwelling catheter on recovery quality and catheter-related infection of patients with general anesthesia in post anesthesia recovery unit (PACU).Methods:From September 2019 to April 2020, 146 patients with gynecological benign diseases who underwent hysteroscopic surgery in the Department of Anesthesiology, Shenzhen Hospital of Southern Medical University were selected prospectively and randomly divided into two groups, with 4 cases excluded. The function of the bladder was evaluated by ultrasound in the anesthesia recovery room after operation. In the ultrasound group, 71 patients had no abnormality, and the catheter was removed after the residual urine of the bladder was drained. 71 patients in the control group were normal, and the catheter was removed 24 hours after operation. The residual urine volume, urine retention, incidence of restlessness, urinary tract infection rate, time to first walking and hospital stay were observed in the two groups after the first bladder emptying.Results:The incidence of agitation in PACU was 7.0%(5/71) in the ultrasound group and 22.5%(16/71) in the control group, with statistically significant difference ( P<0.01); the first postoperative walking time in the ultrasound group and the control group was statistically significant [(10.5±4.1)h vs (18.9±6.5)h, P<0.05]; the postoperative hospital stay in the ultrasound group and the control group was statistically significant [(3.2±1.3)d vs (5.1±2.5)d, P<0.05]. The incidence of urinary tract infection and urinary tract irritationin in ultrasound group was significantly lower than that in control group (1.4% vs 9.8%, 1.4% vs 14.0%, P<0.05). Conclusions:For uncomplicated patients after gynecological laparoscopic surgery, ultrasound evaluation of bladder function, extraction of residual urine immediately after the removal of catheter, is more conducive to the early recovery of patients than 24 hours after the removal of catheter.

In eukaryotes, protein phosphorylation is specifically catalyzed by numerous protein kinases (PKs), faithfully orchestrates various biological processes, and reversibly determines cellular dynamics and plasticity. Here we report an updated algorithm of Group-based Prediction System (GPS) 5.0 to improve the performance for predicting kinase-specific phosphorylation sites (p-sites). Two novel methods, position weight determination (PWD) and scoring matrix optimiza-tion (SMO), were developed. Compared with other existing tools, GPS 5.0 exhibits a highly com-petitive accuracy. Besides serine/threonine or tyrosine kinases, GPS 5.0 also supports the prediction of dual-specificity kinase-specific p-sites. In the classical module of GPS 5.0, 617 individual predic-tors were constructed for predicting p-sites of 479 human PKs. To extend the application of GPS 5.0, a species-specific module was implemented to predict kinase-specific p-sites for 44,795 PKs in 161 eukaryotes. The online service and local packages of GPS 5.0 are freely available for academic research at http://gps.biocuckoo.cn.

Objective:To explore the application of pyrophosphorolysis-activated polymerization(PAP)to monitor plasma cfDNA in ad-vanced non-small cell lung cancer(NSCLC).Methods:A total of 85 patients diagnosed with advanced NSCLC between March 2016 and June 2017 were enrolled in the present study. EGFR mutations in cfDNA extracted from the plasma were detected using PAP and ARMS-PCR technology.The concordance analysis of EGFR mutations involved plasma vs.tumor tissue and PAP vs.ARMS-PCR.Further-more,38 EGFR-positive patients were selected to monitor EGFR mutations with PAP.Results:No statistical differences in EGFR muta-tions were observed between plasma and tumor tissue(P=0.092),as well as PAP and ARMS-PCR(P=0.210).The detection rate of EGFR mutations in cfDNA was higher in the progressor than in the non-progressor(62.5% vs.21.3%,P<0.001).Conclusions:PAP can be used for detecting and monitoring EGFR mutations in cfDNA to predict disease progression.

Various posttranslational modifications (PTMs) participate in nearly all aspects of biological processes by regulating protein functions, and aberrant states of PTMs are frequently implicated in human diseases. Therefore, an integral resource of PTM-disease associations (PDAs) would be a great help for both academic research and clinical use. In this work, we reported PTMD, a well-curated database containing PTMs that are associated with human diseases. We manually collected 1950 known PDAs in 749 proteins for 23 types of PTMs and 275 types of diseases from the literature. Database analyses show that phosphorylation has the largest number of disease associations, whereas neurologic diseases have the largest number of PTM associations. We classified all known PDAs into six classes according to the PTM status in diseases and demonstrated that the upregulation and presence of PTM events account for a predominant proportion of disease-associated PTM events. By reconstructing a disease-gene network, we observed that breast cancers have the largest number of associated PTMs and AKT1 has the largest number of PTMs connected to diseases. Finally, the PTMD database was developed with detailed annotations and can be a useful resource for further analyzing the relations between PTMs and human diseases. PTMD is freely accessible at http://ptmd.biocuckoo.org.
Databases, Protein ; Disease ; genetics ; Gene Regulatory Networks ; Humans ; Phosphorylation ; Protein Processing, Post-Translational ; Proteins ; metabolism ; Search Engine

Objective:To investigate the wear characteristics of bovine enamel and lithium disilicate glass ceramic under simulated oral environment.Methods:18 cylindrical lithium disilicate glass-ceramic specimens with the length of 8 mm and diameter of 3 mm were randomly divided into 2 groups (n =9),9 lithium disilicate glass-ceramic specimens and 9 bovine enamel specimens were served as the antagonists respectively.The specimens were then loaded in a wear simulator and subjected to friction force of 10 N for 540 000 cycles in artificial saliva and room temperature(speed 100 r/min,turning radius of 2.5 mm,uniform circular motion) condition.During the testing,10 checkpoints were applied to measure the height loss of the specimens with 3D profilometer,then wear curves were plotted.Scanning electron microscopy were applied to investigate the worn surfaces at different wear stages.Results:At every checkpoints,bovine enamel wear height loss was larger than the lithium disilicate specimens (P ＜ 0.05);bovine enamel wear curve exhibits a runningin period,steady wear period and severe wear period 3 stages of wear,while wear curves of lithium disilicate glass ceramics exhibit onlyrunning-in period and steady wear period 2 wear stages.Both groups had the corresponding micro-morphological features in different periods.Conclusion:Bovine enamel and lithium disilicate glass ceramics show a phase dynamic evolution law under the simulated oral environment.Bovine enamel is more susceptible to wear than lithium disilicate,suggesting that clinical attention should be paid to prevent the excessive wear of natural teeth caused by lithium disilicate glass ceramic restorations.