OBJECTIVE To investigate the effects and potential mechanism of Qiangxin decoction on mitochondrion of rats with chronic heart failure （CHF）. METHODS The CHF model was established by ligating the left anterior descending branch of the coronary artery. Modeled rats were divided into model group， Qiangxin decoction low-dose and high-dose groups （12.25， 24.50 g/kg， calculated by crude drug）， and chemical medicine group （Sacubitril valsartan sodium tablets， 10.42 mg/kg）， with 10 rats in each group； control group was set up without treatment. Each group of rats was orally administered with the corresponding medication or normal saline twice a day for 28 consecutive days. After the last medication， the contents of N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide （NT-proBNP） and adenosine triphosphate （ATP） in serum and phosphatidic acid （PA） and cardiolipin （CL） in myocardial tissue were all detected； the pathological damage and collagen fibrosis of rat myocardial tissue were observed； the apoptosis of myocardial cells was determined； the ultrastructure of myocardial tissue was observed； the protein expressions of mitofusin 1 （Mfn1）， Mfn2， optic atrophy protein 1 （OPA1） and dynamin-related protein 1 （Drp1） were all detected in myocardial tissue. RESULTS Compared with control group，the serum content of NT-proBNP， apoptotic rate of myocardial cells， and relative expressions of S-OPA1 and Drp1 proteins were all increased significantly； serum content of ATP，contents of PA and CL， and relative expressions of Mfn1， Mfn2 and L-OPA1 proteins were all significantly reduced （P＜0.05）. There were abnormal membrane tissue structure in various layers of myocardial tissue， degeneration and necrosis of myocardial cells， and severe fibrosis； the mitochondria were swollen， with reduced or absent cristae， and uneven matrix density. After intervention with Qiangxin decoction， the levels of the aforementioned quantitative indicators in serum and myocardial tissue of rats （excluding CL content in the Qiangxin decoction low- dose group） were significantly reversed （P＜0.05）； the pathological damage of myocardial tissue had significantly improved， fibrosis had significantly reduced， mitochondrial morphology tended to be normal， cristae had increased， and matrix density was uniform. CONCLUSIONS Qiangxin decoction can regulate myocardial mitochondrial function and structural integrity of CHF rats， thereby improving myocardial energy metabolism and antagonizing myocardial fibrosis， the mechanism of which may be associated with activating PA/Mfn/CL signaling pathway.

OBJECTIVE To investigate the effects and potential mechanism of Qiangxin decoction on mitochondrion of rats with chronic heart failure （CHF）. METHODS The CHF model was established by ligating the left anterior descending branch of the coronary artery. Modeled rats were divided into model group， Qiangxin decoction low-dose and high-dose groups （12.25， 24.50 g/kg， calculated by crude drug）， and chemical medicine group （Sacubitril valsartan sodium tablets， 10.42 mg/kg）， with 10 rats in each group； control group was set up without treatment. Each group of rats was orally administered with the corresponding medication or normal saline twice a day for 28 consecutive days. After the last medication， the contents of N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide （NT-proBNP） and adenosine triphosphate （ATP） in serum and phosphatidic acid （PA） and cardiolipin （CL） in myocardial tissue were all detected； the pathological damage and collagen fibrosis of rat myocardial tissue were observed； the apoptosis of myocardial cells was determined； the ultrastructure of myocardial tissue was observed； the protein expressions of mitofusin 1 （Mfn1）， Mfn2， optic atrophy protein 1 （OPA1） and dynamin-related protein 1 （Drp1） were all detected in myocardial tissue. RESULTS Compared with control group，the serum content of NT-proBNP， apoptotic rate of myocardial cells， and relative expressions of S-OPA1 and Drp1 proteins were all increased significantly； serum content of ATP，contents of PA and CL， and relative expressions of Mfn1， Mfn2 and L-OPA1 proteins were all significantly reduced （P＜0.05）. There were abnormal membrane tissue structure in various layers of myocardial tissue， degeneration and necrosis of myocardial cells， and severe fibrosis； the mitochondria were swollen， with reduced or absent cristae， and uneven matrix density. After intervention with Qiangxin decoction， the levels of the aforementioned quantitative indicators in serum and myocardial tissue of rats （excluding CL content in the Qiangxin decoction low- dose group） were significantly reversed （P＜0.05）； the pathological damage of myocardial tissue had significantly improved， fibrosis had significantly reduced， mitochondrial morphology tended to be normal， cristae had increased， and matrix density was uniform. CONCLUSIONS Qiangxin decoction can regulate myocardial mitochondrial function and structural integrity of CHF rats， thereby improving myocardial energy metabolism and antagonizing myocardial fibrosis， the mechanism of which may be associated with activating PA/Mfn/CL signaling pathway.

Objective: The study aims to explore the neural mechanism of cognitive differences in college students with posttraumatic stress disorder under verbal fluency task based on functional near infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS), so as to provide neuroimaging support for the evaluation, diagnosis and treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder(PTSD). Methods: Posttaumatic Stress Disorder Checklist Combat(PCL-C) was used to screen the subjects, including 21 students in PTSD group (PCL-C≥38) and 30 students in control group from September to Novenber in 2020. A 53 channel near infrared spectroscopy device was used to collect cerebral blood oxygen signals under the verbal fluency task, and correlation analysis, Mann Whitney U test and independent sample t test were performed on the results. Results: The difference in the total average score of PCL-C Scale between PTSD group and the control group(46.38±6.96，25.57±6.09) was statistically significant ( t=11.33, P <0.05). Correlation analysis showed that Avg-HbO in left dorsolateral prefrontal lobe was negatively correlated with PCL-C Score ( r=-0.37, P <0.05). Mann Whitney U test showed that in the left dorsolateral prefrontal lobe (Ch6), the Avg-HbO change in PTSD group [0.19(-0.09, 0.86)mmol/(L〖KG*7〗·mm)] was significantly lower than the control group [0.79( 0.37 , 1.47)mmol/(L ·mm)] ( Z=2.16, P <0.05), which was statistically significant. Conclusions The degree of PTSD was negatively correlated with the index of oxygenated hemoglobin in the left dorsolateral prefrontal lobe, and the oxygenated hemoglobin content in the PTSD group was lower than that in the normal group. In the future, fNIRS may be used to collect blood oxygen signals from the left dorsolateral prefrontal lobe in cognitive tasks to provide imaging evidence for the identification of PTSD.

Aim To explore the impacts of high mobility group box 1 (HMGB1) on the phenotypes, endocy-tosis and extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK)/ Jun N-terminal protein kinase (JNK)/P38 mitogen-ac-tivated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling pathway in indoxyl sulfate (IS) -induced dendritic cells (DCs). Methods After treatment with 30, 300 and 600 (xmol · L

Objective To investigate the predictive value of new simplified insulin resistance(IR)assessment indexes in identifying subclinical left ventricular systolic function impairment in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus(T2DM).Methods A total of 150 T2DM patients with preserved left ventricular ejection fraction(LVEF≥50%)who were admitted to Department of Endocrinology of the First Affiliated Hospital of Air Force Medical University from June 2021 to December 2021 were retrospectively analyzed.All patients underwent two-dimensional speckle tracking echocardiography to measure left ventricular global longitudinal strain(GLS).According to GLS value,the subjects were divided into the normal group(GLS≥18%group,n=80)and the impaired group(GLS<18%group,n=70).Some new simplified IR assessment indicators were calculated and compared between the two groups,including body mass index(BMI),TG/HDL-C ratio,triglyceride-glucose(TyG)index,TyG-BMI index,TyG-WHR and metabolic score for IR(METS-IR).Correlation between the GLS and the new simplified IR assessment indexes was analyzed.The receiver operating characteristic(ROC)curve was used to analyze the diagnostic efficacy of different simplified IR assessment indexes,with the area under the curve(AUC)calculated.Furthermore,according to whether the subjects were complicated with hypertension,binary logistics regression analysis was performed to explore the independent correlation between the simplified IR assessment index and GLS<18%.Results Total 150 were included with aged(54.5±13.7)years with 96(64.0%)men and 54(36.0%)women.Compared with the GLS≥18%group,the TG/HDL-C ratio,TyG index,TyG-BMI,and METS-IR of subjects in the GLS<18%group were significantly increased(P<0.05).Pearson correlation analysis showed that TG/HDL-C ratio,TyG index,TyG-BMI,TyG-WHR,and METS-IR were negatively correlated with GLS(P<0.05).ROC analysis showed that TyG index had a certain predictive value for the evaluation of GLS<18%(AUC=0.678,95%CI 0.591-0.765,P<0.001).Stratification based on hypertension and further adjusting for confounding factors,TyG index remains significantly associated with GLS<18%(OR=3.249,95%CI 1.045-10.103,P=0.042).Conclusions The novel simplified insulin resistance evaluation indexes are closely associated with left ventricular subclinical systolic dysfunction in T2DM patients with preserved ejection fraction.TyG index is an effective index to identify left ventricular subclinical dysfunction in these populations.

ObjectiveThe scale of microalgae farming industry is huge. During farming, it is easy for microalgae to be affected by miscellaneous bacteria and other contaminants. Because of that, periodic test is necessary to ensure the growth of microalgae. Present microscopy imaging and spectral analysis methods have higher requirements for experiment personnel, equipment and sites, for which it is unable to achieve real-time portable detection. For the purpose of real-time portable microalgae detection, a real-time microalgae detection system of low detection requirement and fast detection speed is needed. MethodsThis study has developed a microalgae detection system based on deep learning. A microscopy imaging device based on bright field was constructed. With imaged captured from the device, a neural network based on YOLOv3 was trained and deployed on microcomputer, thus realizing real-time portable microalgae detection. This study has also improved the feature extraction network by introducing cross-region residual connection and attention mechanism and replacing optimizer with Adam optimizer using multistage and multimethod strategy. ResultsWith cross-region residual connection, the mAP value reached 0.92. Compared with manual result, the detection error was 2.47%. ConclusionThe system could achieve real-time portable microalgae detection and provide relatively accurate detection result, so it can be applied to periodic test in microalgae farming.

As the search for effective treatments for COVID-19 continues, the high mortality rate among critically ill patients in Intensive Care Units (ICU) presents a profound challenge. This study explores the potential benefits of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) as a supplementary treatment for severe COVID-19. A total of 110 critically ill COVID-19 patients at the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of Vulcan Hill Hospital between Feb., 2020, and April, 2020 (Wuhan, China) participated in this observational study. All patients received standard supportive care protocols, with a subset of 81 also receiving TCM as an adjunct treatment. Clinical characteristics during the treatment period and the clinical outcome of each patient were closely monitored and analysed. Our findings indicated that the TCM group exhibited a significantly lower mortality rate compared with the non-TCM group (16 of 81 vs 24 of 29; 0.3 vs 2.3 person/month). In the adjusted Cox proportional hazards models, TCM treatment was associated with improved survival odds (P < 0.001). Furthermore, the analysis also revealed that TCM treatment could partially mitigate inflammatory responses, as evidenced by the reduced levels of proinflammatory cytokines, and contribute to the recovery of multiple organic functions, thereby potentially increasing the survival rate of critically ill COVID-19 patients.
Humans ; COVID-19 ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; SARS-CoV-2 ; Critical Illness ; Treatment Outcome

Objective To investigate the environmental contamination related to first patient with carbapenem-re-sistant Acinetobacter baumannii(CRAB)infection and the infection status of relevant patients in a newly established intensive care unit(ICU)of a hospital in Tibetan area,and analyze the transmission risk.Methods From the ad-mission in ICU of a patients who was first detected CRAB on November 15,2021 to the 60th day of hospitalization,all patients who stayed in ICU for＞48 hours were performed active screening on CRAB.On the 30th day and 60th day of the admission to the ICU of the first CRAB-infected patient,environment specimens were taken respectively 2 hours after high-frequency diagnostic and therapeutic activities but before disinfection,and after disinfection but before medical activities.CRAB was cultured with chromogenic culture medium.Results Among the 13 patients who were actively screened,1 case was CRAB positive,he was transferred from the ICU of a tertiary hospital to the ICU of this hospital on November 19th.On the 40th day of admission to the ICU,he had fever,increased frequency for sputum suction,and CRAB was detected.The drug sensitivity spectrum was similar to that of the first case,and he also stayed in the adjacent bed of the first case.64 environmental specimens were taken,and 9 were positive for CRAB,with a positive rate of 14.06％,8 sampling points such as the washbasin,door handle and bed rail were positive for CRAB after high-frequency diagnostic and therapeutic activities.After routine disinfection,CRAB was detected from the sink of the washbasin.Conclusion For the prevention and control of CRAB in the basic-level ICU in ethnic areas,it is feasible to conduct risk assessment on admitted patients and adopt bundled prevention and con-trol measures for high-risk patients upon admission.Attention should be paid to the contaminated areas(such as washbasin,door handle,and bed rail)as well as the effectiveness of disinfection of sink of washbasin.

OBJECTIVE To explore the specific application and evaluation effect of objective structured clinical examination(OSCE)-guided scenario-based practical teaching mode in training clinical pharmacists. METHODS Fifty-six trainees who participated in the clinical pharmacist training program in the Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University from October 2020 to September 2022 were selected as the research objects. OSCE-guided teaching was conducted, and the application effect of OSCE-guided teaching mode in clinical pharmacist training was explored and analyzed by using theoretical examination results and OSCE assessment results as evaluation indicators. RESULTS Through comparative analysis, it was found that the OSCE-guided teaching mode not only enabled students to better grasp the theoretical knowledge points required by the training outline, but also improved their clinical thinking ability, problem-solving ability, and communication and coordination skills to varying degrees. CONCLUSION For clinical pharmacist trainees, the OSCE teaching mode is conducive to the comprehensive improvement of clinical pharmacist skills and is suitable for cultivating clinical pharmacists who are capable of independently carrying out clinical pharmacy services in the new situation.

Objective This study aimed to investigate the potential relationship between urinary metals copper (Cu), arsenic (As), strontium (Sr), barium (Ba), iron (Fe), lead (Pb) and manganese (Mn) and grip strength. Methods We used linear regression models, quantile g-computation and Bayesian kernel machine regression (BKMR) to assess the relationship between metals and grip strength.Results In the multimetal linear regression, Cu (β=-2.119), As (β=-1.318), Sr (β=-2.480), Ba (β=0.781), Fe (β= 1.130) and Mn (β=-0.404) were significantly correlated with grip strength (P < 0.05). The results of the quantile g-computation showed that the risk of occurrence of grip strength reduction was -1.007 (95％ confidence interval:-1.362, -0.652; P < 0.001) when each quartile of the mixture of the seven metals was increased. Bayesian kernel function regression model analysis showed that mixtures of the seven metals had a negative overall effect on grip strength, with Cu, As and Sr being negatively associated with grip strength levels. In the total population, potential interactions were observed between As and Mn and between Cu and Mn (Pinteractions of 0.003 and 0.018, respectively).Conclusion In summary, this study suggests that combined exposure to metal mixtures is negatively associated with grip strength. Cu, Sr and As were negatively correlated with grip strength levels, and there were potential interactions between As and Mn and between Cu and Mn.