Objective To investigate the effect of Anchusa italica Retz.extract on cough variant asthma(CVA)and its mechanism of action.Methods Forty-eight SD rats of each eight were randomly divided into blank group(equal amount of saline),model group(equal amount of saline),control group(250 mg·kg-1 prednisone acetate)and experimental-A1,-A5,-A7 groups(61.1 mg·kg-1 Anchusa italica Retz.extract A1,48.8 mg·kg-1 Anchusa italica Retz.extract A5,201.8 mg·kg-1 Anchusa italica Retz.extract A7),continuous gavage for 28 d;except for the blank group,the other groups were made with ovalbumin-complete Freund's adjuvant.The number of cough times of each rat was observed.The changes in the expression of Toll-like receptor 4(TLR4),myeloid differentiation factor(MyD88)and nuclear factor κB(NF-κB)proteins were observed in the lung tissue.Results The cough times in the blank group,model group,control group and experimental-A1,-A5,-A7 groups were 1.10±0.22,8.33±1.24,3.08±0.65,3.31±0.99,3.08±1.02 and 3.06±0.68;the relative expression levels of TLR4 protein were 0.61±0.01,0.84±0.04,0.66±0.02,0.64±0.04,0.64±0.03 and 0.69±0.02;the relative expression levels of MyD88 protein were 0.54±0.08,0.86±0.06,0.71±0.06,0.65±0.05,0.64±0.08 and 0.70±0.06;the relative expression levels of p-NF-κB protein were 0.48±0.11,0.94±0.06,0.80±0.08,0.68±0.04,0.68±0.06 and 0.78±0.09.Compared with the experimental-A1,-A5,-A7 groups,control group,normal group,the differences were statistically significant in the model group(all P＜0.05).Conclusion The extract of Anchusa Italica Retz.can inhibit the symptoms of CVA rats,and the mechanism may be related to the inhibition of TLR4/MyD88/NF-κB signaling pathway.

Objective Viral encephalitis is an infectious disease severely affecting human health.It is caused by a wide variety of viral pathogens,including herpes viruses,flaviviruses,enteroviruses,and other viruses.The laboratory diagnosis of viral encephalitis is a worldwide challenge.Recently,high-throughput sequencing technology has provided new tools for diagnosing central nervous system infections.Thus,In this study,we established a multipathogen detection platform for viral encephalitis based on amplicon sequencing. Methods We designed nine pairs of specific polymerase chain reaction(PCR)primers for the 12 viruses by reviewing the relevant literature.The detection ability of the primers was verified by software simulation and the detection of known positive samples.Amplicon sequencing was used to validate the samples,and consistency was compared with Sanger sequencing. Results The results showed that the target sequences of various pathogens were obtained at a coverage depth level greater than 20×,and the sequence lengths were consistent with the sizes of the predicted amplicons.The sequences were verified using the National Center for Biotechnology Information BLAST,and all results were consistent with the results of Sanger sequencing. Conclusion Amplicon-based high-throughput sequencing technology is feasible as a supplementary method for the pathogenic detection of viral encephalitis.It is also a useful tool for the high-volume screening of clinical samples.

The breakthrough progress of implantable brain-computer interfaces (iBCIs) technology in the field of clinical trials has attracted widespread attention from both academia and industry. The development and advancement of this technology have provided new solutions for the rehabilitation of patients with movement disorders. However, challenges from many aspects make it difficult for iBCIs to further implement and transform technologies. This paper illustrates the key challenges restricting the large-scale development of iBCIs from the perspective of system implementation, then discusses the latest clinical application progress in depth, aiming to provide new ideas for researchers. For the system implementation part, we have elaborated the front-end signal collector, signal processing and decoder, then the effector. The most important part of the front-end module is the neural electrode, which can be divided into two types: piercing and attached. These two types of electrodes are newly classified and described. In the signal processing and decoder section, we have discussed the experimental paradigm together with signal processing and decoder for the first time and believed that the experimental paradigm acts as a learning benchmark for decoders that play a pivotal role in iBCIs systems. In addition, the characteristics and roles of the effectors commonly used in iBCIs systems, including cursors and robotic arms, are analyzed in detail. In the clinical progress section, we have divided the latest clinical progress into two categories: functional rehabilitation and functional replacement from the perspective of the application scenarios of iBCIs. Functional rehabilitation and functional replacement are two different types of application, though the boundary between the two is not absolute. To this end, we have first introduced the corresponding clinical trial progress from the three levels: application field, research team, and clinical timeline, and then conducted an in-depth discussion and analysis of their functional boundaries, in order to provide guidance for future research. Finally, this paper mentions that the key technical challenges in the development of iBCIs technology come from multiple aspects. First of all, from the signal acquisition level, high-throughput and highly bio-compatible neural interface designing is essential to ensure long-term stable signal acquisition. The electrode surface modification method and electrode packaging were discussed. Secondly, in terms of decoding performance, real-time, accurate, and robust algorithms have a decisive impact on improving the reliability of iBCIs systems. The third key technology is from the perspective of practicality, we believe that the signal transmission mode of wireless communication is the trend of the future, but it still needs to overcome challenges such as data transmission rate and battery life. Finally, we believe that issues such as ethics, privacy, and security need to be addressed through legal, policy, and technological innovation. In summary, the development of iBCIs technology requires not only the unremitting efforts of scientific researchers, but also the participation and support of policymakers, medical professionals, technology developers, and all sectors of society. Through interdisciplinary collaboration and innovation, iBCIs technology will achieve wider clinical applications in the future and make important contributions to improving the quality of life of patients.

Objective To investigate the clinical outcomes of suture anchors and knotless anchors in the repair of anterior talofibular ligament.Methods A total of 187 patients with chronic ankle instability caused by anterior talofibular ligament injury admitted to First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University from January 2018 to December 2021 were included and divided into the suture anchor group(97 cases)and the knotless anchor group(90 cases)according to the treatment methods.Patients in the suture anchor group were repaired with suture anchor,and patients in the knotless anchor group were repaired with knotless anchor.The postoperative follow-up was conducted for 24 to 48 months,the American Foot and Ankle Association(AOFAS)scores,visual analogue scale(VAS)scores and Cumberland ankle instability tool(CAIT)scores before and after surgery were compared between the two groups,and the ankle MR was performed 12 months after surgery to evaluate the recovery of patients.The complications of patients after surgery were observed.Results There was no significant difference in the VAS score,AOFAS scores or CAIT scores before surgery and at the end of follow-up between the two groups(P>0.05).At the end of follow-up,the VAS scores of the two groups were significantly lower than those before surgery,and the AOFAS scores and CAITs score were significantly higher than those before surgery,with significant differences(P<0.05).The sutures loosing or knots that irritated the surrounding soft tissues was not found in the patients of the suture anchor group,and the signs of knotless anchor loosening was not found in the patients of the knotless suture group.Postoperative complications such as infection and thrombosis were not found in all patients.The local skin numbness at the back of the foot in the early postoperative period was found in 3 patients of the suture anchor group and 2 patients of the knotless suture group,which disappeared at 6 months of follow-up.One patient in the suture anchor group reported subcutaneous discomfort on the operative side after 12 months of follow-up,which was suspected knot irritation,but no obvious abnormality was found in MR examination.Conclusion The clinical outcomes of suture anchors or knotless anchors in patients with chronic ankle instability are similar in the repair of anterior talofibular ligament,which can significantly improve the postoperative stability of the ankle after surgery.

Patients with severe trauma require an extremely timely treatment and transfusion plays an irreplaceable role in the emergency treatment of such patients. An increasing number of evidence-based medicinal evidences and clinical practices suggest that patients with severe traumatic bleeding benefit from early transfusion of low-titer group O whole blood or hemostatic resuscitation with red blood cells, plasma and platelet of a balanced ratio. However, the current domestic mode of blood supply cannot fully meet the requirements of timely and effective blood transfusion for emergency treatment of patients with severe trauma in clinical practice. In order to solve the key problems in blood supply and blood transfusion strategies for emergency treatment of severe trauma, Branch of Clinical Transfusion Medicine of Chinese Medical Association, Group for Trauma Emergency Care and Multiple Injuries of Trauma Branch of Chinese Medical Association, Young Scholar Group of Disaster Medicine Branch of Chinese Medical Association organized domestic experts of blood transfusion medicine and trauma treatment to jointly formulate Chinese expert consensus on blood support mode and blood transfusion strategies for emergency treatment of severe trauma patients ( version 2024). Based on the evidence-based medical evidence and Delphi method of expert consultation and voting, 10 recommendations were put forward from two aspects of blood support mode and transfusion strategies, aiming to provide a reference for transfusion resuscitation in the emergency treatment of severe trauma and further improve the success rate of treatment of patients with severe trauma.

Objective:To develop and test the intelligent model for automatically counting the number of vertebral ossification centers below the end of conus medullaris.Methods:From January 2021 to October 2022, 3 000 ultrasound images of the sacrococcygeal spinal middle sagittal plane were retrospectively selected from Shenzhen Maternal and Child Healthcare Hospital and Zhuhai People′s Hospital. The vertebral ossification center and spinal conus medullaris were artificially fine-marked in 2, 800 images for segmentation training. Yolov8 algorithm was used to build the segmentation model for segmentation training, and the fitting and automatic counting of vertebral ossification centers were carried out by post-processing. In the other 200 planes, the counting was performed by the artificial intelligence (AI) model, attending physician (D1), and junior physician (D2), and the accuracy of their performance were evaluated by a specialist physician. The accuracy and the time spent between D1, D2, and AI were compared.Results:The accuracy of AI model segmentation fitting and counting reached 95.00% (190/200) by the specialist physician evaluation, which was almost equal to 94.50%(189/200) by D1( P=0.823) and higher than that of 88.50% by D2(177/200)( P=0.012). The counting time spent for D1, D2, and AI model were 5.00 (4.25, 6.00)s, 7.00 (7.00, 8.00)s, 0.09 (0.08, 0.10)s, respectively, showing that the time spent by AI model was significantly shorter than that of doctors(all P<0.001). Conclusions:The trained artificial intelligence model can efficiently and accurately complete the vertebral ossification center counting below the end of conus medullaris, equivalent to the level of attending physicians. This study is expected to be further applied in the screening of fetal spina bifida and improve the automation and intelligence level of prenatal ultrasound screening.

Objective To investigate the value of the human chorionic gonadotropin(hCG)stimulation test in the diagnosis of disorder of sexual development(DSD)in children.Methods A retrospective analysis was conducted on 132 children with DSD.According to the karyotype,they were divided into three groups:46,XX group(n=10),46,XY group(n=87),and sex chromosome abnormality group(n=35).The above groups were compared in terms of sex hormone levels before and after hCG stimulation test,and the morphological manifestation of the impact of testicular tissue on the results of the hCG stimulation test was analyzed.Results There was no significant difference in the multiple increase of testosterone after stimulation among the three groups(P>0.05).In the 46,XY group,the children with 5α-reductase type 2 deficiency had a testosterone-to-dihydrotestosterone ratio higher than that of the 46,XY DSD children with other causes.Morphological analysis showed that DSD children with testicular tissue demonstrated a significantly higher multiple increase in testosterone after stimulation compared to children without testicular tissue(P<0.05).Conclusions The hCG stimulation test has an important value in assessing the presence and function of testicular interstitial cells in children with different types of DSD,and it is recommended to perform the hCG stimulation test for DSD children with unclear gonadal type.[Chinese Journal of Contemporary Pediatrics,2024,26(2):158-163]

Objective:To investigate the popularization of non-iodized salt among residents in water-borne high iodine areas and the iodine nutrition status of key populations in Shandong Province.Methods:In 2021, monitoring was conducted on a county-by-county basis in 47 counties (cities, districts, hereinafter referred to as counties) in 9 cities of Shandong Province, in accordance with the newly designated high iodine areas in the "Definition of Water Source High Iodine Areas and High Iodine Disease Areas" (GB/T 19380-2016) and historical high iodine areas. In each monitoring county, administrative villages with a median water iodine level greater than 100 μg/L were sorted by water iodine value, and a systematic sampling method was used to select 5 administrative villages as monitoring sites to investigate the water improvement situation and the iodine level of residents' drinking water. Totally 40 non boarding students aged 8 to 10 from one primary school and 20 pregnant women were selected in each village location to collect household edible salt samples and random urine samples for testing salt iodine and urine iodine levels, and the B-ultrasound method was used for thyroid examination in children.Results:A total of 364 high iodine administrative villages had been monitored, all of which had completed water improvement with a water improvement rate of 100.0%. The median iodine content in residential drinking water was 20.3 μg/L, ranging from 0.1 to 869.1 μg/L; and 11 464 edible salt samples were collected from residents' homes, with a non-iodized salt rate of 82.7% (9 481/11 464). A total of 9 197 urine samples from children and 2 335 urine samples from pregnant women were tested, with median urinary iodine levels of 219.0 and 139.0 μg/L, respectively. A total of 9 197 children were examined for thyroid, with 262 cases detected and a goiter rate of 2.8%.Conclusions:The rate of non-iodized salt in high iodine areas of Shandong Province still needs to be improved. Children's iodine nutrition is above the appropriate level, while pregnant women are at an iodine deficiency level.

Objective To quantitatively analyze the impact of environmental hygiene on the occurrence of health-care-associated infections(HAI).Methods Monitoring data of HAI and environmental hygiene from a tertiary first-class hospital from January 2018 to December 2022 were collected,and the impact of environmental bacterial colony forming unit(CFU)on the occurrence of HAI was analyzed by a time-series generalized additive model.Results The single-contamination model showed a significant positive correlation between HAI and staff's hand bacterial CFU(β1=0.009,P=0.012).For an increase of 1 interquartile range(IQR)in the monthly mean CFU per dish(MCFU/Dish)of staffs'hand,the incidence of HAI increased by 13.28％(95％CI:2.82％-24.81％).Subgroup and lag effect analysis showed that when the monthly MCFU/Dish(after hand disinfection)of staffs'hand in-creased by one IQR,the excess risk(ER)of HAI for the month(lag0)was 16.26％(95％CI:15.45％-17.09％).In the multi-contamination model,the correlation between surface contamination and HAI was also statistically sig-nificant.Conclusion There is a significant correlation between hospital environmental hygiene and the occurrence of HAI.

Objective To observe the therapeutic effect and mechanism of Guhuaisi Kangfu Pills on rats with steroid-induced osteonecrosis of the femoral head(SONFH).Methods Sixty rats were randomly divided into blank group,model group,Xianling Gubao Capsules group and Guhuaisi Kangfu Pills low-,medium-and high-dose groups,10 rats in each group.Except for the blank group,the SONFH model was established by lipopolysaccharide combined with Glucocorticoid induction method in all other groups of rats.At the end of the intervention,for the femoral head,blood vessel radiography was performed to observe the microvascular changes in the bone marrow,and hematoxylin-eosin(HE)staining and calculation of the empty bone trap rate,Micro-CT scanning analysis,and compression experiments were carried out,and the real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction(RT-qPCR)was used to detect the gene expressions of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase(PI3K),protein kinase B(Akt)1,vascular endothelial growth factor(VEGF)and platelet endothelial cell adhesion molecule 1(CD31)in whole blood.Results Compared with the blank group,the blood supply in the femoral head medullary cavity of the model group was poor,the empty bone lacuna rate was increased(P＜0.05),the bone mineral density and bone volume fraction were significantly decreased(P＜0.05),the maximum load and elastic modulus of the femoral head were decreased(P＜0.05),and the mRNA expression levels of Akt1,PI3K,VEGF and CD31 in whole blood were decreased(P＜0.05).Compared with the model group,the blood supply in the femoral head medullary cavity was relatively good,the empty bone lacuna rate was decreased(P＜0.05),the bone mineral density,bone volume fraction,trabecular number and trabecular thickness were significantly increased(P＜0.05),the trabecular separation was significantly decreased(P＜0.05),the maximum load and elastic modulus of the femoral head were increased(P＜0.05),and the mRNA expression levels of Akt1,PI3K,VEGF and CD31 in the whole blood were increased(P＜0.05)in the high-dose group of Guhuaisi Kangfu Pills and Xianling Gubao Capsules group.There was no significant difference in the above indexes between the high-dose group of Guhuaisi Kangfu Pills and the Xianling Gubao Capsules group(P＞0.05).Conclusion Guhuaisi Kangfu Pills improves SONFH in rats,and its mechanism is related to the promotion of VEGF/PI3K/Akt pathway gene expression,thereby promoting angiogenesis.