Biomolecular condensates are formed through phase separation of biomacromolecules such as proteins and RNAs. These condensates exhibit liquid-like properties that can futher transition into more stable material states. They form complex internal structures via multivalent weak interactions, enabling precise spatiotemporal regulations. However, the use of inconsistent and non-standardized terminology has become increasingly problematic, hindering academic exchange and the dissemination of scientific knowledge. Therefore, it is necessary to discuss the terminology related to biomolecular condensates in order to clarify concepts, promote interdisciplinary cooperation, enhance research efficiency, and support the healthy development of this field.

Objective To analyze the clinical efficacy of valve surgeries for infective endocarditis and the affecting factors, and compare the early- and long-term postoperative outcomes of different surgery approaches. Methods The patients with infective endocarditis who underwent valve replacement/valvuloplasty in our hospital from 2010 to 2022 were retrospectively collected. The clinical data of the patients were analyzed. Results A total of 343 patients were enrolled, including 197 patients with mechanical valve replacement, 62 patients with bioprosthetic valve replacement, and 84 patients with valvuloplasty. There were 238 males and 105 females with an average age of (44.2±14.8) years. Single-valve endocarditis was present in 200 (58.3%) patients, and multivalve involvement was present in 143 (41.7%) patients. Sixty (17.5%) patients had suffered thrombosis before surgery, including cerebral embolisms in 32 patients. The mean follow-up time was (60.6±43.8) months. Early mortality within one month after the surgery occurred in 17 (5.0%) patients, while later mortality occurred in 19 (5.5%) patients. Eight (2.3%) patients underwent postoperative dialysis, 13 (3.8%) patients suffered postoperative stroke, 6 patients underwent reoperation, and 3 patients suffered recurrence of infective endocarditis. Smoking (P=0.002), preoperative embolisms (P=0.001), duration of surgery (P=0.001), and postoperative dialysis (P=0.001) were risk factors for early mortality, and left ventricular ejection fraction ≥60% (P=0.022) was protective factor for early mortality. New York Heart Association classification Ⅲ-Ⅳ (P=0.010) and ≥3 valve procedures (P=0.028) were risk factors for late mortality. The rate of composite endpoint events was significantly lower in the valvuloplasty group than that in the valve replacement group. Conclusion For patients with infective endocarditis, smoking and preoperative embolisms are associated with high postoperative mortality, multiple-valve surgery is associated with a poorer prognosis, and valvuloplasty has advantages over valve replacement and should be attempted in the surgical management of patients with infective endocarditis.

Lymphatic metastasis is the main metastatic route for colorectal cancer, which increases the risk of cancer recurrence and distant metastasis. The properties of the lymph node metastatic colorectal cancer (LNM-CRC) cells are poorly understood, and effective therapies are still lacking. Here, we found that hypoxia-induced fibroblast activation protein alpha (FAPα) expression in LNM-CRC cells. Gain- or loss-function experiments demonstrated that FAPα enhanced tumor cell migration, invasion, epithelial-mesenchymal transition, stemness, and lymphangiogenesis via activation of the STAT3 pathway. In addition, FAPα in tumor cells induced extracellular matrix remodeling and established an immunosuppressive environment via recruiting regulatory T cells, to promote colorectal cancer lymph node metastasis (CRCLNM). Z-GP-DAVLBH, a FAPα-activated prodrug, inhibited CRCLNM by targeting FAPα-positive LNM-CRC cells. Our study highlights the role of FAPα in tumor cells in CRCLNM and provides a potential therapeutic target and promising strategy for CRCLNM.

This study aims to investigate the effect of salvianolic acid B (Sal B), the active ingredient of Salvia miltiorrhiza, on H9C2 cardiomyocytes injured by oxygen and glucose deprivation/reperfusion (OGD/R) through regulating mitochondrial fission and fusion. The process of myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injury was simulated by establishing OGD/R model. The cell proliferation and cytotoxicity detection kit (cell counting kit-8, CCK-8) was used to detect cell viability; the kit method was used to detect intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS), total glutathione (t-GSH), nitric oxide (NO) content, protein expression levels of mitochondrial fission and fusion, apoptosis-related detection by Western blot. Mitochondrial permeability transition pore (MPTP) detection kit and Hoechst 33342 fluorescence was used to observe the opening level of MPTP, and molecular docking technology was used to determine the molecular target of Sal B. The results showed that relative to control group, OGD/R injury reduced cell viability, increased the content of ROS, decreased the content of t-GSH and NO. Furthermore, OGD/R injury increased the protein expression levels of dynamin-related protein 1 (Drp1), mitofusions 2 (Mfn2), Bcl-2 associated X protein (Bax) and cysteinyl aspartate specific proteinase 3 (caspase 3), and decreased the protein expression levels of Mfn1, increased MPTP opening level. Compared with the OGD/R group, it was observed that Sal B had a protective effect at concentrations ranging from 6.25 to 100 μmol·L^-1. Sal B decreased the content of ROS, increased the content of t-GSH and NO, and Western blot showed that Sal B decreased the protein expression levels of Drp1, Mfn2, Bax and caspase 3, increased the protein expression level of Mfn1, and decreased the opening level of MPTP. In summary, Sal B may inhibit the opening of MPTP, reduce cell apoptosis and reduce OGD/R damage in H9C2 cells by regulating the balance of oxidation and anti-oxidation, mitochondrial fission and fusion, thereby providing a scientific basis for the use of Sal B in the treatment of myocardial ischemia reperfusion injury.

Chronic pelvic inflammatory disease(CPID)is a common chronic inflammatory disease in women,and has a long course and is easy to relapse.Danggui Shaoyao Powder is from Jin Gui Yao Lve(Synopsis of the Golden Chamber),which was a commonly-used formula for the treatment of women's abdominal pain in ancient medical records.It is now often used in the treatment of CPID and has achieved satisfactory therapeutic effect.The article summarizes and analyzes the achievements in the clinical research and experimental study of Danggui Shaoyao Powder in the treatment of CPID over the past 10 years,and invesigates the clinical efficacy of Danggui Shaoyao Powder in the treatment of CPID and its therapeutic mechanism.In the field of clinical studies,Danggui Shaoyao Powder for the treatment of CPID was used by modification,or alone,or in combination with antibiotics and Chinese medicine external treatment,and its combined use was effective on significantly improving the indicators of inflammatory response and immune function,alleviating the clinical signs and symptoms such as pain,and did not increase the incidence of adverse reactions compared with the application of western medicines alone.In the field of experimental studies,Danggui Shaoyao Powder played the therapeutic role in CPID by decreasing the adhesion of endothelial cells,regulating the degradation of extracellular matrix,improving the level of inflammatory factors,and down-regulating the expression of proteins related to the nuclear factor κB(NF-κB)pathway.

Objective To evaluate the efficacy and safety of brexpiprazole in treating acute schizophrenia.Methods Patients with schizophrenia were randomly divided into treatment group and control group.The treatment group was given brexpiprozole 2-4 mg·d-1 orally and the control group was given aripiprazole 10-20 mg·d-1orally,both were treated for 6 weeks.Clinical efficacy of the two groups,the response rate at endpoint,the changes from baseline to endpoint of Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale(PANSS),Clinical Global Impression-Improvement(CGI-S),Personal and Social Performance scale(PSP),PANSS Positive syndrome subscale,PANSS negative syndrome subscale were compared.The incidence of treatment-related adverse events in two groups were compared.Results There were 184 patients in treatment group and 186 patients in control group.After treatment,the response rates of treatment group and control group were 79.50％(140 cases/184 cases)and 82.40％(150 cases/186 cases),the scores of CGI-I of treatment group and control group were(2.00±1.20)and(1.90±1.01),with no significant difference(all P＞0.05).From baseline to Week 6,the mean change of PANSS total score wese(-30.70±16.96)points in treatment group and(-32.20±17.00)points in control group,with no significant difference(P＞0.05).The changes of CGI-S scores in treatment group and control group were(-2.00±1.27)and(-1.90±1.22)points,PSP scores were(18.80±14.77)and(19.20±14.55)points,PANSS positive syndrome scores were(-10.30±5.93)and(-10.80±5.81)points,PANSS negative syndrome scores were(-6.80±5.98)and(-7.30±5.15)points,with no significant difference(P＞0.05).There was no significant difference in the incidence of treatment-related adverse events between the two group(69.00％vs.64.50％,P＞0.05).Conclusion The non-inferiority of Brexpiprazole to aripiprazole was established,with comparable efficacy and acceptability.

Objective To observe the efficacy and safety of Morinda officinalis oligosaccharides in the continuation treatment of mild and moderate depression.Methods An open,single-arm,multi-center design was adopted in our study.Adult patients with mild and moderate depression who had received acute treatment of Morinda officinalis oligosaccharides were enrolled and continue to receive Morinda officinalis oligosaccharides capsules for 24 weeks,the dose remained unchanged during continuation treatment.The remission rate,recurrence rate,recurrence time,and the change from baseline to endpoint of Hamilton Depression Scale(HAMD),Hamilton Anxiety Scale(HAMA),Clinical Global Impression-Severity(CGI-S)and Arizona Sexual Experience Scale(ASEX)were evaluated.The incidence of treatment-related adverse events was reported.Results The scores of HAMD-17 at baseline and after treatment were 6.60±1.87 and 5.85±4.18,scores of HAMA were 6.36±3.02 and 4.93±3.09,scores of CGI-S were 1.49±0.56 and 1.29±0.81,scores of ASEX were 15.92±4.72 and 15.57±5.26,with significant difference(P＜0.05).After continuation treatment,the remission rate was 54.59％(202 cases/370 cases),and the recurrence rate was 6.49％(24 cases/370 cases),the recurrence time was(64.67±42.47)days.The incidence of treatment-related adverse events was 15.35％(64 cases/417 cases).Conclusion Morinda officinalis oligosaccharides capsules can be effectively used for the continuation treatment of mild and moderate depression,and are well tolerated and safe.

Objective To investigate the infection status and changing trend of hepatitis C virus(HCV)infection in hospitalized patients in medical institutions,and provide reference for formulating HCV infection prevention and control strategies.Methods HCV infection surveillance results from cross-sectional survey data reported to China Healthcare-associated Infection(HAI)Surveillance System in 2020 were summarized and analyzed,HCV positive was serum anti-HCV positive or HCV RNA positive,survey result was compared with the survey results from 2003.Results In 2020,1 071 368 inpatients in 1 573 hospitals were surveyed,738 535 of whom underwent HCV test,4 014 patients were infected with HCV,with a detection rate of 68.93％and a HCV positive rate of 0.54％.The positive rate of HCV in male and female patients were 0.60％and 0.48％,respectively,with a statistically sig-nificant difference(x2=47.18,P＜0.001).The HCV positive rate in the 50-＜60 age group was the highest(0.76％),followed by the 40-＜50 age group(0.71％).Difference among all age groups was statistically signifi-cant(x2=696.74,P＜0.001).In 2003,91 113 inpatients were surveyed.35 145 of whom underwent HCV test,resulting in a detection rate of 38.57％;775 patients were infected with HCV,with a positive rate of 2.21％.In 2020,HCV positive rates in hospitals of different scales were 0.46％-0.63％,with the highest in hospital with bed numbers ranging 600-899.Patients'HCV positive rates in hospitals of different scales was statistically signifi-cant(X2=35.34,P＜0.001).In 2020,12 provinces/municipalities had over 10 000 patients underwent HCV-rela-ted test,and HCV positive rates ranged 0.19％-0.81％,with the highest rate from Hainan Province.HCV posi-tive rates in different departments were 0.06％-0.82％,with the lowest positive rate in the department of pedia-trics and the highest in the department of internal medicine.In 2003 and 2020,HCV positive rates in the depart-ment of infectious diseases were the highest,being 7.95％and 3.48％,respectively.Followed by departments of orthopedics(7.72％),gastroenterology(3.77％),nephrology(3.57％)and general intensive care unit(ICU,3.10％)in 2003,as well as departments of gastroenterology(1.35％),nephrology(1.18％),endocrinology(0.91％),and general intensive care unit(ICU,0.79％)in 2020.Conclusion Compared with 2003,HCV positive rate decreased significantly in 2020.HCV infected patients were mainly from the department of infectious diseases,followed by departments of gastroenterology,nephrology and general ICU.HCV infection positive rate varies with gender,age,and region.

Objective To understand the respiratory protection competency of staff in hospitals.Methods Staff from six hospitals of different levels and characteristics in Beijing were selected,including doctors,nurses,medical technicians,and servicers,to conduct knowledge assessment on respiratory protection competency.According to exposure risks of respiratory infectious diseases,based on actual cases and daily work scenarios,content of respira-tory protection competency assessment was designed from three aspects:identification of respiratory infectious di-seases,transmission routes and corresponding protection requirements,as well as correct selection and use of masks.The assessment included 6,6,and 8 knowledge points respectively,with 20 knowledge points in total,all of which were choice questions.For multiple-choice questions,full marks,partial marks,and no mark were given respective-ly if all options were correct,partial options were correct and without incorrect options,and partial options were correct but with incorrect options.Difficulty and discrimination analyses on question of each knowledge point was conducted based on classical test theory.Results The respiratory protection competency knowledge assessment for 326 staff members at different risk levels in 6 hospitals showed that concerning the 20 knowledge points,more than 60％participants got full marks for 6 points,while the proportion of full marks for other questions was relatively low.Less than 10％participants got full marks for the following 5 knowledge points:types of airborne diseases,types of droplet-borne diseases,conventional measures for the prevention and control of healthcare-associated infec-tion with respiratory infectious diseases,indications for wearing respirators,and indications for wearing medical protective masks.Among the 20 knowledge questions,5,1,and 14 questions were relatively easy,medium,and difficult,respectively;6,1,4,and 9 questions were with discrimination levels of ≥0.4,0.30-0.39,0.20-0.29,and ≤0.19,respectively.Conclusion There is still much room for hospital staff to improve their respiratory protection competency,especially in the recognition of diseases with different transmission routes and the indications for wearing different types of masks.

Objective To compare the perioperative renal function changes in patients undergoing heart transplantation (HT) and left ventricular assist device (LVAD) implantation. Methods Patients with end-stage heart failure who underwent surgical treatment at Beijing Anzhen Hospital, Capital Medical University from January 2019 to April 2024 were included. According to the surgical method, patients were divided into a HT group and a LVAD group, and the estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) of patients before surgery and postoperative 1, 7, 30, 60 days was compared between the two groups. The patients with preoperative renal dysfunction were subdivided into subgroups for comparison of eGFR changes before surgery and 30 days after surgery between the two groups. Results A total of 112 patients were enrolled. There were 78 patients in the HT group, including 61 males and 17 females, aged (44.42±18.51) years. There were 34 patients in the LVAD group, including 30 males and 4 females, aged (54.94±11.37) years. Compared with the HT group, the average age of patients in the LVAD group was greater (P<0.001), body mass index was higher (P=0.008), preoperative eGFR was lower (P=0.009), and the proportions of smokers (P=0.017), alcohol drinkers (P=0.041), and diabetes mellitus (P=0.028) patients were higher. Among patients with preoperative renal dysfunction [eGFR<90 mL/(min·1.73 m2)], compared with the HT group, the postoperative eGFR of the LVAD group was significantly higher than that of the HT group, and it was significantly increased compared with that before surgery; the postoperative eGFR of the HT group was comparable to that before surgery, and more than half of the patients had a lower eGFR than before surgery. Among patients with preoperative renal dysfunction, 11 patients in the HT group received continuous renal replacement therapy, and 8 died early; 2 patients in the LVAD group received continuous renal replacement therapy, and 1 died early. Conclusion For end-stage heart failure patients with combined renal dysfunction, compared with HT, LVAD implantation enables patients to obtain better renal function benefits.