Objective:To describe the detail sampling design,weighting,instruments,filed procedures and quality control methods of the epidemiological survey on dementia among community residents in Tongliao City.Methods:A three-stage disproportionate probability sampling design was used to investigate the inhabitants aged 65 years and over in Tongliao City,Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.The 10/66 Dementia Research Group(10/66 DRG)assessment instruments were used to diagnose dementia,using computer-assisted personal interview mode in the selected older people.Comprehensive quality control methods were implemented throughout the field-work.Results:A total of 166 villages or communities were sampled from nine counties or districts in Tongliao Cit-y.Totally 4 345 older people were interviewed with 96.2％response rate.By calculating sampling design weights,non-response adjustment weights and post-stratification adjustment weights,these weights were multiplied and per-formed trimming adjustment and standardization adjustment to generate final weights.The 171 interviewers were well-trained and qualified to carry out filed interview.Quality control methods included computer data check,audio record check,and telephone check in order to ensure the quality of the survey.Conclusion:This survey is imple-mented using a rigorous sampling design and timely quality control methods,and uses the 10/66 DRG assessment instruments with satisfactory international validity and reliability as survey instruments,which has international cross-cultural comparability.It provides a valid and feasible methodology of epidemiological survey on dementia for further studies in different regions in China.

Objective:To investigate the application value of peri-gastric devasculariza-tion without dissociation of esophagus for portal hypertension.Methods:The retrospective and descriptive study was conducted. The clinical data of 94 patients with portal hypertension who were admitted to three medical centers, including 75 cases in the People′s Hospital of Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, 12 cases in the People′s Hospital of Wuhai and 7 cases in the People′s Hospital of Wuzhong, from July 2018 to December 2022 were collected. There were 68 males and 26 females, aged 46(range, 21-70)years. All 94 patients underwent peri-gastric devascularization without dissociation of esophagus. Observation indicators: (1) intraoperative condition; (2) postoperative complications; (3) follow-up. Measurement data with normal distribution were represented as Mean± SD, and measure-ment data with skewed distribution were represented as M(range). Count data were described as absolute numbers, and comparison between groups was conducted using the chi-square test or Fisher exact probability. Results:(1) Intraoperative condition. All 94 patients underwent surgery success-fully without operation death, including 82 cases receiving open surgery and 12 cases receiving laparoscopic surgery. The operation time and volume of intraoperative blood loss were (183±85)minutes and 289(range, 158-560)mL, respectively, for the 94 patients. (2) Postoperative complications. Of 94 patients, early portal vein thrombosis occurred in 24 cases, intra-abdominal infection occurred in 2 cases, hepatic encephalopathy occurred in 1 case, pulmonary embolism occurred in 1 case, intra-abdominal hemorrhage requiring operation to stop bleeding occurred in 1 case and pleural effusion requiring drainage occurred in 1 case. All patients with postoperative complications were cured after treatment. None of the 94 patient had postoperative esophageal complications such as odynophagia or dysphagia. (3) Follow-up. All 94 patients were followed up for 38(range, 6-60)months. Of the 45 patients with paraesophageal vein, there were 36 cases of thinner and 9 cases of occlusion of the distal subphrenic paraesophageal vein after surgery, respectively. Cases with esophageal varices disappearance, cases with mild and moderate residual of esophageal varices, cases with severe residual of esophageal varices, cases with recurrence of esophageal varices, cases with esophageal varices bleeding were 7, 70, 9, 4, 4 in the 94 patients after surgery. Cases with esophageal varices disappearance was 7 in the 45 patients with paraesophageal vein, versus 0 in the 49 patients without paraesophageal vein, showing a significant difference between them ( P<0.05). Of 94 patients, 17 cases developed postoperative late portal vein thrombosis and cavernous transformation, 7 cases developed liver cancer, 1 case had hepatic encephalopathy, and 6 cases died. Conclusion:Peri-gastric devascularization without dissociation of esophagus is safe and feasible for the treatment of portal hypertension.

OBJECTIVE To investigate whether electroacupuncture(EA)ameliorates abnormal trigeminal neuralgia(TN)orofacial pain and anxiety-like behavior by altering synaptic plasticity in the hippocampus CA1.METHODS A mouse infraorbital nerve transection model(pT-ION)of neuropathic pain was established,and EA or sham EA was used to treat ipsilateral acu-puncture points(GV20-Baihui and ST7-Xia-guan).Golgi-Cox staining and transmission elec-tron microscopy(TEM)were administrated to observe the changes of synaptic plasticity in the hippocampus CA1.RESULTS Stable and per-sistent orofacial allodynia and anxiety-like behav-iors induced by pT-ION were related to changes in hippocampal synaptic plasticity.Golgi stain-ings showed a decrease in the density of dendritic spines,especially mushroom-type dendritic spines,in hippocampal CA1 neurons of pT-ION mice.TEM results showed that the density of synapses,membrane thickness of the postsynap-tic density,and length of the synaptic active zone were decreased,whereas the width of the synap-tic cleft was increased in pTION mice.EA attenu-ated pT-ION-induced orofacial allodynia and anx-iety-like behaviors and effectively reversed the abnormal changes in dendritic spines and syn-apse of the hippocampal CA1 region.CONCLU-SION EA modulates synaptic plasticity of hippo-campal CA1 neurons,and reduces abnormal oro-facial pain and anxiety-like behavior,providing evidence for a TN treatment strategy.

Objective:To study the clinical results of personalized surgical treatment for portal hypertension based on portal venous hemodynamics.Methods:A retrospective study was performed on patients with portal hypertension who underwent surgical treatment from January 2016 to December 2020 at the People’s Hospital of Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region and Wuhai People’s Hospital. Of 229 patients included into this study, there were 156 males and 73 females, with age of (4±11) years old. Portal vein CT and ultrasound doppler examination were performed preoperatively and portal vein manometry and ultrasound doppler examination were performed intraoperatively to evaluate portal venous hemodynamics. Based on the evaluation results, different surgical treatments were adopted. Postoperative complications and results of the operations were recorded. Long-term outcomes were evaluated by the rate of recurrence of gastroesophageal varices which was classified as disappearance, mild, moderate and severe according to endoscopic findings.Results:All the 229 patients completed the operations successfully. All together 13 operative treatments were used: (1) simple splenectomy ( n=11); (2) devascularization ( n=176), including 86 patients with splenectomy combined with extensive devascularization, 44 patients with splenectomy combined with selective devascularization and with preservation of paraesophageal veins, 39 patients with splenectomy combined with selective devascularization and reconstruction of spontaneous portosystemic shunt (34 patients with selective devascularization and reconstruction of spontaneous gastrorenal shunt and 5 patients with selective devascularization and reconstruction of spontaneous splenorenal shunt), 4 patients with secondary devascularization for variceal recurrence and 3 patients with devascularization and preservation of spleen; (3) shunt procedures were performed in 42 patients including 21 patients with splenectomy combined with coronary renal shunt, 11 patients with splenectomy combined with coronary-caval shunt, 6 patients with distal splenorenal shunt, 2 patients with proximal splenorenal shunt combined with devascularization, 1 patient with right gastroepiploic vein-inferior vena cava shunt and 1 patient with trans-inferior mesenteric vein coronary renal shunt. There were no operative deaths. The Clavien-Dindo grade 3 and above postoperative complication rate was 6.6% (15/229). Two hundred and eight patients were followed up for 6-60 months, with a median follow-up of 38 months. Severe recurrent varices were found in 21 patients (10.1%, 21/208), with 5 patients (2.4%, 5/208) presented with variceal bleeding. The rate of severe varices after selective shunting and selective devascularization by reconstructing the spontaneous portosystemic shunt (4.2%, 3/72) was significantly lower than that of the other devascularization procedures (13.7%, 17/124)(χ 2=4.53, P=0.033). Conclusion:Better clinical results were achieved by selecting the appropriate surgical procedures based on portal venous hemodynamic characteristics of patients. Selective shunting and selective devascularization by reconstructing the spontaneous portosystemic shunts significantly reduced the recurrence rate of severe varies.

Objective:To compare the anti-HBs level in maintained hemodialysis patients one year after receiving 20 μg and 60 μg hepatitis B vaccination at 0, 1 and 6 months, and explore the influence factors for the immunity persistence and their interactions.Methods:Based on a randomized controlled trial of 20 μg and 60 μg hepatitis B vaccine immunization in maintained hemodialysis patients at 0, 1, and 6 months, follow up was conducted for the patients for one year after the completion of the vaccination for the quantitative detection of anti-HBs, and χ 2 test, t test, unconditional logistic regression and interaction analyses were used for statistical analysis. Results:One year after the vaccination, 125 and 124 patients in the 20 μg and 60 μg groups were tested for anti-HBs, respectively. The positive rate of anti-HBs in the 60 μg group (77.42%, 96/124) was significantly higher than that in the 20 μg group (65.60%, 82/125) ( P<0.05). After adjusting for the confounding factors, the positive probability of anti-HBs in the 60 μg group was 1.925 times higher than that in the 20 μg group (95% CI: 1.068-3.468). Patients with hemodialysis duration ≥5 years ( OR=0.523, 95% CI: 0.293-0.935) and diabetes mellitus ( OR=0.376, 95% CI: 0.173-0.818) had lower positive probability of anti-HBs. Moreover, there were additive and multiplicative interactions between hemodialysis duration ≥5 years and diabetes mellitus. Conclusions:The immunity persistence after one year in 60 μg hepatitis B vaccination group was longer than that in 20 μg hepatitis B vaccination group in maintained hemodialysis patients, vaccine dose, hemodialysis duration and diabetes mellitus were the influencing factors for the immunity persistence, there were additive and multiplicative interactions between hemodialysis duration ≥5 years and diabetes mellitus.

Objective To summarize the clinical characteristics of autoimmune pancreatitis (AIP) and discuss the role and significance of surgical intervention in the treatment of AIP.Methods The clinical data of 11 patients with preoperative confirmed AIP and 8 patients with preoperative suspected AIP receiving surgical intervention at the First Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University from 2011 to 2017 were retrospectively analyzed.Results Among 11 preoperatively confirmed AIP patients,9 (47.4％) underwent endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) with nasal bile duct implantation or biliary stent drainage,and 2 (10.5％)underwent choledochojejunostomy.Among 8 putative AIP patients in which a cancer was suspected 4 (21.1％) underwent choledochojejunostomy,3 (15.8％) did pancreaticoduodenectomy,and 1 (5.3％) had distal pancreatectomy plus splenectomy.Postoperative pathology confirmed pancreatic cancer in 3 cases,IPMN in 1 case.Conclusions While autoimmune pancreatitis is IgG4 related disease,surgical intervention is indicated when there is poor response to drug treatment or when a cancer is to be ruled out.

Objective: To observe the effect of Prunellae Spica extracts (PS) on the lipid metabolism in Zuker Diabetes Fatty (ZDF) rats based on AMP-activated protein kinase/acetyl CoA carboxylase (AMPK/ACC) signaling pathway.Method: The 32 male ZDF (fa/fa) type 2 diabetic rats were randomly divided into model group,metformin group (180 mg·kg^-1·d^-1),and low and high-dose PS groups (12.25,24.5 mg·kg^-1·d^-1),with 8 in each group.8 male Zuker Lean (ZL) rats were selected as normal group.Body weight and fasting blood glucose were monitored at the 0^th,4^th and 8^th weeks after administration.After 8 weeks,abdominal aorta blood was collected,serum was frozen at-20℃ by centrifugation,liver tissue was frozen at-80℃,fixed with 4% paraformaldehyde and embedded in paraffin.Serum triglyceride (TG),cholesterol (CHO),low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) and free fatty acid (FFA) levels were measured by radioimmunoassay.Fat droplets in hepatocytes were measured by oil red O staining.Gene expressions of AMP-activated protein kinase-alpha 2(AMPKα₂),Acetyl CoA carboxylase (ACC) in liver were detected by real-time polymerase chain reaction (Real-time PCR).Protein expressions of p-AMPKα were observed by immuno-histochemical (IHC) method.Result: Compared with the normal group,the T2DM model group showed significant increases in serum levels of TG,CHO,LDL-C,FFA and lipid droplets in hepatocytes.AMPKα₂ mRNA expression was decreased,while ACC1 and ACC2 mRNA expressions were increased significantly.p-AMPKα protein expression in liver was decreased significantly (P<0.05,P<0.01).Compared with the model group,low and high-dose Ps groups showed significant decreases in serum levels of TG,CHO,LDL-C,FFA and lipid droplets in hepatocytes in ZDF rats,up-regulation in mRNA expression of AMPKα₂,down-regulation in mRNA expressions of ACC1 and ACC2,and up-regulation in protein expression of p-AMPKα(P<0.05,P<0.01).Conclusion:PS can effectively improve liver lipid metabolism in ZDF rats.Its mechanism may be related to the regulation of AMPK/ACC signaling pathway in liver.

In order to study the pesticide residues of the medicinal Crataegi Fructus,this study aims to establish an analysis method for pesticide residues( mainly containing insecticides and fungicides) suitable for the actual situation of medicinal Crataegi Fructus based on the survey of the pesticides of the Crataegi Fructus base,combined with the blind screening results of the LC-ESI-MS/MS pesticide screening platform established by the research team in the early stage. Then,the pesticide residues in medicinal Crataegi Fructus from Shandong,Hebei,Henan,Shanxi,and Liaoning( main cultivation areas) were analyzed. The samples were pretreated by the modified Qu ECh ERS method,i.e.,extracted with acetonitrile-water( 9 ∶1),purified by PSA,C_(18),GCB,silica gel. The detection of pesticides was performed by LC-MS/MS. The ion source was ESI with positive scanning mode,and the linearity of 11 kinds of pesticides in the range of 5-300 μg·kg~(-1) was acceptable( R~2>0. 996 9). All the recoveries of pesticides were within 70. 02%~(-1)12. 0% in the low,medium and high levels,with RSD≤17%. The results showed that the detection rate of carbendazim,chlorpyrifos and difenoconazole is 79%,82%,56%,respectively. Besides,the prohibition pesticide carbofuran were detected in some of the batches,indicating the security risk. This study provides methodological references and basic data for risk assessment of Crataegi Fructus and government regulation.
Chromatography, Liquid ; Crataegus/chemistry* ; Drug Contamination ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal/analysis* ; Pesticide Residues/analysis* ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Tandem Mass Spectrometry

BACKGROUND:Cholesterol is closely linked to the occurrence and progression of atherosclerosis. Current approaches to study celular cholesterol dynamics have their own limitations.
OBJECTIVE: To measure the cholesterol efflux rate of RAW 264.7 mouse macrophages by BODIPY-Cholesterol labeling and to explore the effects of extracelular cholesterol and lipopolysaccharide on the cholesterol efflux rate.
METHODS:RAW 264.7 cels were cultured in vitro with DMEM containing 10% fetal bovine serum, and labeled with BODIPY-Cholesterol for 1, 2, 4, 8 hours. Then, the cels were rinsed with serum-free DMEM and inoculated for 6, 12, 24, 48, 96 hours to optimize the labeling time and incubation time. We measured and compared the cholesterol efflux rates after cultured cels were treated with cholesterol, lipopolysaccharide, human sera with high cholesterol or human sera with normal cholesterol.
RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: The best labeling time for BODIPY-Cholesterol was 2-8 hours. Cholesterol efflux rates were gradualy decreased after the cels that were labeled for 2 hours were incubated with increasing concentrations of cholesterol (0.1, 0.5, 2.5 mmol/L,P< 0.01). Treating cels with lipopolysaccharide also decreased the cholesterol efflux rate (P < 0.05). Furthermore, the cholesterol efflux rate was decreased after cels were treated with human sera with high cholesterol (P< 0.05). These findings indicate that BODIPY-Cholesterol can be used to measure celular cholesterol efflux rate and to study the effects of extracelular cholesterol and lipopolysaccharide on the cholesterol efflux rate.

Background and objective Radiotherapy combined with chemotherapy or molecular targeted therapy remains the standard of treatment for brain metastases from non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). hTe aim of this study is to determine if the deferral of brain radiotherapy impacts patient outcomes.Methods Between May 2003 and December 2015, a total of 198 patients with brain metastases from NSCLC who received both brain radiotherapy and systemic therapy (chemo-therapy or targeted therapy) were identiifed. hTe rate of grade 3-4 adverse reactions related to chemotherapy and radiotherapy had no signiifcant difference between two groups. 127 patients received concurrent brain radiotherapy and systemic therapy, and 71 patients received deferred brain radiotherapy after at least two cycles of chemotherapy or targeted therapy. Disease speciifc-graded prognostic assessment was similar in early radiotherapy group and deferred radiotherapy group.Results Me-dian overall survival (OS) was longer in early radiotherapy group compared to deferred radiotherapy group (17.9 monthsvs 12.6 months;P=0.038). Progression free survival (PFS) was also improved in patients receiving early radiotherapy compared to those receiving deferred radiotherapy (4.0 monthsvs 3.0 months;P<0.01). Receiving tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) therapy atfer the diagnosis of brain metastases as any line therapy improved the OS (20.0 monthsvs 10.7 months;P<0.01), whereas receiving TKI as ifrst line therapy did not (17.9 monthsvs 15.2 months;P=0.289).Conclusion Our study suggests that the use of deferred brain radiotherapy may resulted in inferior OS in patients with NSCLC who develop brain metastases. A prospec-tive multi-central randomized study is imminently needed.