Background: Twenty-four-hour urinary free cortisol (UFC) measurement is the initial diagnostic test for Cushing’s syndrome (CS). We compared UFC determination by both direct and extraction immunoassays using Abbott Architect, Siemens Atellica Solution, and Beckman DxI800 with liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). In addition, we evaluated the value of 24-hr UFC measured by six methods for diagnosing CS. Methods: Residual 24-hr urine samples of 94 CS and 246 non-CS patients were collected.A laboratory-developed LC-MS/MS method was used as reference. UFC was measured by direct assays (D) using Abbott, Siemens, and Beckman platforms and by extraction assays (E) using Siemens and Beckman platforms. Method was compared using Passing–Bablok regression and Bland–Altman plot analyses. Cut-off values for the six assays and corresponding sensitivities and specificities were calculated by ROC analysis. Results: Abbott-D, Beckman-E, Siemens-E, and Siemens-D showed strong correlations with LC-MS/MS (Spearman coefficient r = 0.965, 0.922, 0.922, and 0.897, respectively), while Beckman-D showed weaker correlation (r = 0.755). All immunoassays showed proportionally positive bias. The areas under the curve were 0.975 for Abbott-D, 0.972 for LCMS/MS, 0.966 for Siemens-E, 0.948 for Siemens-D, 0.955 for Beckman-E, and 0.877 for Beckman-D. The cut-off values varied significantly (154.8–1,321.5 nmol/24 hrs). Assay sensitivity and specificity ranged from 76.1% to 93.2% and from 93.0% to 97.1%, respectively. Conclusions Commercially available immunoassays for measuring UFC show different levels of analytical consistency compared to LC-MS/MS. Abbott-D, Siemens-E, and Beckman-E have high diagnostic accuracy for CS.

Objective To investigate the effects of different deflation methods of endotracheal tube cuff on coughing response and hemodynamics during extubation. Methods Ninety patients undergoing elective surgery for endotracheal intubation under general anesthesia were selected as study subjects and randomly divided into study group and control group, with 45 patients in each group. In the study group, the cuff end of the endotracheal tube cuff was connected to a syringe and a non-liquid pressure gauge through a three-way stopcock. Before extubation, the cuff was aspirated to decrease the cuff pressure at a rate of 3 cmH₂O/s. In the control group, the gas in cuff was rapidly deflated by aspirating all the gas inside with a syringe during extubation. The incidence and severity of coughing response during extubation were recorded in both groups. Mean arterial pressure (MAP) and heart rate (HR) were recorded before induction of general anesthesia (T₀), before cuff deflation (T₁), immediately after cuff deflation (T₂), 1 minute after extubation (T₃), 3 minutes after extubation (T₄), and 5 minutes after extubation (T₅). Adverse events were also recorded in both groups. Results The coughing response during extubation started immediately after cuff deflation in both groups. The incidence and severity of coughing response were lower in the study group than in the control group (P < 0.05). Compared with the control group, values of MAP were lower at T₂ to T₄ and values of HR were lower at T₂ to T₅ in the study group (P < 0.05). The incidence of post-extubation pharyngeal discomfort was 6.67 % in the study group, which was lower than 26.67 % in the control group (P < 0.05). There was no significant difference in the incidence of post-extubation hypoventilation between the two groups (P>0.05). Conclusion The method of slowly reducing the pressure of the endotracheal tube cuff at a constant rate can reduce the incidence and severity of coughing, decrease postoperative extubation complications, and stabilize hemodynamics, with better effects than the method of rapidly aspirating all the gas inside the cuff at once.

Establish a production line with controllable process and high intelligence, contribute to improve the quality and production efficiency of aconite processed by microwave, and promote the transformation and application of aconite processed by microwave. According to the principle of aconite detoxification and the characteristics of industrial microwave equipment, an industrial production line of aconite processed by microwave was established with diester alkaloids and monoester alkaloids as indicators, and pilot production was carried out. At the same time, the content of active constituents and efficacy were compared with that of the main processed products, such as Shengfupian, Baifupian and Heishunpian. The results showed that the industrial production of aconite processed by microwave can be divided into two stages: "Liquid seal to detoxification - drying and puffing". The content of monoester alkaloids in 10 batches of aconite processed by microwave was 0.071%-0.166% and the content of diester alkaloids was 0.004%-0.016%, which met the relevant requirements of the Chinese Pharmacopoeia in 2020. Compared with Heishunpian and Baifupian, the retention rate of the effective components of aconite processed by microwave was higher. Pharmacological experiments showed that aconite processed by microwave not only retained the anti-inflammatory and analgesic activities of Heishunpian and Baifupian, but also significantly increased the levels of leukocytes and lymphocytes in mice with liver cancer chemotherapy, enhanced the CD4/CD8 ratio in spleen cells of mice (P < 0.05), thus regulating the body's immunity. However, this effect of Baifupian was weak, while Heishunpian and Shengfupian had no such effect. Through the above research, this study established microwave processing line with controllable process and high intelligence, as well produced the aconite processed by microwave with low toxicity and stable quality. It laid a foundation for the industrialized continuous production and clinical positioning of aconite by microwave processed, and provided scientific support for the development and application of microwave technology in the field of traditional Chinese medicine. All animal experiments in this study were reviewed and approved by the Experimental Animal Ethics Committee of Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine before being carried out (Approval No. 2020-28).

Objective: To compare the efficacy and safety of combining diosmin with Jiuhua hemorrhoid suppository versus diosmin alone for the treatment of hemorrhoid hemorrhage. Methods: The Jiuhua hemorrhoid suppository study was conducted in 10 medical centers across China from April 1, 2019 to June 30, 2020. Patients with hemorrhoid bleeding were randomized in a ratio of 1 : 1 to either receive Jiuhua hemorrhoid suppository and diosmin tablets (the study group) or diosmin tablets alone (the control group). The suppository was used once a day after defecation or at bedtime after rinsing the anus with warm water. Diosmin tablets were administered only once a day (0.9 g). The primary endpoint of the study was the assessment of hemorrhoid bleeding relief 7 ± 2 days after treatment, classified as “very effective” “effective” and “ineffective”. The secondary endpoint included the evaluation of pain alleviation using the visual analogue scale (VAS, with scores ranging from 0 to 10) and edema (with scores ranging from 0 to 3). The safety of the two treatment regimens was evaluated 14 ± 2 days after drug administration. Results: The full analysis set (FAS) comprised 107 participants in the study group and 111 in the control group, while the per-protocol set (PPS) included 106 participants in the study group and 111 in the control group. In terms of hemorrhoid bleeding, the proportion of very effective and effective cases in the study group were significantly higher than that in the control group [106 (99.06%) vs. 91 (81.98%), P < 0.0001] in the FAS, and the PPS results [105 (99.06%) vs. 91 (81.98%), P < 0.0001] were comparable to the FAS results. The pain VAS scores at day 7 after treatment were comparable between the two groups (0.80 ± 1.17 vs. 0.80 ± 1.20, P = 0.2177). The majority of the participants in both groups had an edema score of 0 at day 7 after treatment [96 (89.72%) vs. 99 (91.67%), P = 0.370 5]. Adverse events (AEs) occurred in 9 patients (8.4%) in the study group and 3 patients (2.7%) in the control group. In addition, 5 AEs in the study group and 1 AE in the control group were possibly in association with the study drug. Conclusion Compared with the administration of diosmin oral tablets alone, the addition of Jiuhua hemorrhoid suppository to the tablets demonstrates enhanced efficacy in addressing hemorrhoid bleeding, with satisfactory patient adherence and acceptable safety.

Objective:To construct a real-time artificial intelligence (AI)-assisted endoscepic diagnosis system based on YOLO v3 algorithm, and to evaluate its ability of detecting focal gastric lesions in gastroscopy.Methods:A total of 5 488 white light gastroscopic images (2 733 images with gastric focal lesions and 2 755 images without gastric focal lesions) from June to November 2019 and videos of 92 cases (288 168 clear stomach frames) from May to June 2020 at the Digestive Endoscopy Center of Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University were retrospectively collected for AI System test. A total of 3 997 prospective consecutive patients undergoing gastroscopy at the Digestive Endoscopy Center of Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University from July 6, 2020 to November 27, 2020 and May 6, 2021 to August 2, 2021 were enrolled to assess the clinical applicability of AI System. When AI System recognized an abnormal lesion, it marked the lesion with a blue box as a warning. The ability to identify focal gastric lesions and the frequency and causes of false positives and false negatives of AI System were statistically analyzed.Results:In the image test set, the accuracy, the sensitivity, the specificity, the positive predictive value and the negative predictive value of AI System were 92.3% (5 064/5 488), 95.0% (2 597/2 733), 89.5% (2 467/ 2 755), 90.0% (2 597/2 885) and 94.8% (2 467/2 603), respectively. In the video test set, the accuracy, the sensitivity, the specificity, the positive predictive value and the negative predictive value of AI System were 95.4% (274 792/288 168), 95.2% (109 727/115 287), 95.5% (165 065/172 881), 93.4% (109 727/117 543) and 96.7% (165 065/170 625), respectively. In clinical application, the detection rate of local gastric lesions by AI System was 93.0% (6 830/7 344). A total of 514 focal gastric lesions were missed by AI System. The main reasons were punctate erosions (48.8%, 251/514), diminutive xanthomas (22.8%, 117/514) and diminutive polyps (21.4%, 110/514). The mean number of false positives per gastroscopy was 2 (1, 4), most of which were due to normal mucosa folds (50.2%, 5 635/11 225), bubbles and mucus (35.0%, 3 928/11 225), and liquid deposited in the fundus (9.1%, 1 021/11 225).Conclusion:The application of AI System can increase the detection rate of focal gastric lesions.

Background: Thyroid diseases are highly prevalent worldwide, but their diagnosis remains a challenge. We established reference intervals (RIs) for thyroid-associated hormones and evaluated the prevalence of thyroid diseases in China. Methods: After excluding outliers based on the results of ultrasound screening, thyroid antibody tests, and the Tukey method, the medical records of 20,303 euthyroid adults, who visited the Department of Health Care at Peking Union Medical College Hospital from January 2014 to December 2018, were analyzed. Thyroid-associated hormones were measured by the Siemens Advia Centaur XP analyzer. The RIs for thyroid-associated hormones were calculated according to the CLSI C28-A3 guidelines, and were compared with the RIs provided by Siemens. The prevalence of thyroid diseases over the five years was evaluated and compared using the chi-square test. Results: The RIs for thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH), free thyroxine (FT4), free triiodothyronine (FT3), total thyroxine (TT4), and total triiodothyronine (TT3) were 0.71–4.92 mIU/L, 12.2–20.1 pmol/L, 3.9–6.0 pmol/L, 65.6–135.1 nmol/L, and 1.2–2.2 nmol/L, respectively. The RIs of all hormones except TT4 differed significantly between males and females. The RIs of TSH increased with increasing age. The prevalence of overt hypothyroidism, overt hyperthyroidism, subclinical hypothyroidism, and subclinical hyperthyroidism was 0.5% and 0.8%, 0.2% and 0.6%, 3.8% and 6.1%, and 3.3% and 4.7% in males and females, respectively, which differed from those provided by Siemens. Conclusions Sex-specific RIs were established for thyroid-associated hormones, and the prevalence of thyroid diseases was determined in the Chinese population.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the prevalence and risk factors of multi-site work-related musculoskeletal disorders(WMSDs) among workers in the industry of electronic equipment manufacturing. METHODS: A total of 815 workers in three factories of electronic equipment manufacturing in Guangdong Province were selected as study subjects by convenience sampling. The prevalence of multi-site WMSDs in the past year was investigated using Musculoskeletal Disorders Investigating Questionnaire and the influencing factors were analyzed. RESULTS: The total prevalence of WMSDs was 69.4%(566/815). The prevalence of multi-site WMSDs was 54.5%(444/815), and the prevalence of one-site WMSDs was 15.0%(122/815). Multiple logistic regression showed that female workers had higher prevalence of multi-site WMSDs than males [odds radio(OR) and 95% confidence interval(CI): 1.59(1.12-2.26), P<0.05]. The prevalence of multi-site WMSDs in left-handed workers was lower than that of right-handed workers [OR(95% CI): 0.42(0.19-0.91), P<0.05]. The longer service of current position and the more neck forward movement, the higher prevalence of multi-site WMSDs [OR(95% CI) were 1.33(1.09-1.63) and 1.62(1.23-2.15), P<0.01]. The workers who had long-time sitting at work, adopted uncomfortable working posture, could decide when to work on their own, kept head down for a long time, or often bending wrists up/down had higher prevalence of multi-site WMSDs [OR(95% CI) were 1.41(1.16-1.73), 1.82(1.40-2.38), 1.79(1.16-2.75), 1.92(1.38-2.69) and 1.60(1.14-2.24), respectively, P<0.01]. The workers who could take turns with colleagues to finish work or had enough rest time had lower prevalence of multi-site WMSDs [OR(95% CI): 0.57(0.41-0.78) and 0.67(0.48-0.92), P<0.05]. The workers who worked >10 h per day had lower prevalence of multi-site WMSDs than those who worked ≤8 h per day [OR(95% CI): 0.57(0.37-0.87), P<0.05]. CONCLUSION: Multi-site WMSDs were more common than one-site WMSDs among workers in the industry of electronic equipment manufacturing, and the prevalence of multi-site WMSDs was high. The risk factors include personal factors, work organization and adverse ergonomic factors.

Objectives: . The simulation of microlaryngeal skills is rarely seen in surgical training, but it is particularly important in phonomicrosurgery. This study described and validated the laryngeal surgical simulator through surgical training. Methods: . A simple and low-cost simulator was developed for the fixation of the suspension laryngoscope and porcine larynges. Twenty participants with work skills and experience did preparation before training, and performed suture and carbon dioxide (CO2) laser cordectomy for simulator evaluation. The results were proposed by the aspects of time taken for each procedure, the global rating scale, a procedure-specific assessment, and a post-simulation questionnaire. Results: . All participants completed the preparation within 9 minutes and reached the conclusion that the microlaryngeal surgical simulator was helpful in improving their surgical skills. The performance of experts was superior to that of novices in both suture and CO2 laser cordectomy. Conclusion . This simulator could be easily assembled and was successfully validated by microlaryngeal surgical training both subjectively and objectively. It may be helpful to clinicians in microlaryngeal skills.

Objective: To evaluate the effect of anesthesia management based on regional cerebral oxygen saturation (rSO₂)-bispectral index (BIS)-goal-directed hemodynamic multi-modal monitoring on acute kidney injury (AKI) after cardiac valve replacement. Methods: A total of 238 patients of both sexes, aged 18-75 yr, weighing 45-95 kg, of American Society of Anesthesiologists physical status Ⅲ or Ⅳ (New York Heart Association class Ⅱ or Ⅲ ), undergoing elective cardiac valve replacement, were assigned into routine experience group (group C, n=122) and multi-mode monitoring group (group M, n=116) using a random number table method.After admission to the operating room, the invasive blood pressure of radial artery, central venous pressure, electrocardiogram, SpO₂ and end-tidal pressure of carbon dioxide were recorded in group C, and rSO₂, BIS, stroke volume variation, cardiac index and stroke volume index were monitored based on the monitoring in group C. The patients were tracheally intubated when BIS value was about 50.BIS value was maintained between 45 and 55, rSO₂ was maintained not less than 20% of the baseline value or the absolute value not less than 55%, and fluctuation in mean arterial pressure did not exceed 20% of the baseline value, and stroke volume index was maintained >25 ml/m² and cardiac index>2.5 L·min^-1 ·m^-2, maintaining not lower than the baseline value before induction in special conditions.The intraoperative volume of fluid infused, infusion of allogeneic blood, consumption of propofol, time of cardiopulmonary bypass, aortic cross-clamping time, anesthesia time, operation time, occurrence of AKI within 48 h after operation, renal replacement therapy, extubation time, duration of intensive care unit stay, postoperative length of hospital stay, development of other serious postoperative complications and fatality rate at day 30 after operation were recorded. Results: Compared with group C, the incidence of AKI was significantly decreased, the volume of plasma infused and consumption of propofol were reduced, the extubation time, duration of intensive care unit stay and postoperative length of hospital stay were shortened (P<0.05), and no significant change was found in the rate of renal replacement therapy, constituent ratio of AKI degree, incidence of other serious postoperative complications or mortality rate at day 30 after operation in group M (P>0.05). Conclusion Anesthesia management based on rSO₂-BIS-goal-directed hemodynamic multi-modal monitoring can decrease the occurrence of AKI after cardiac valve replacement.

Objective: To compare the differences and similarities in emotional and behavioral problems among children with developmental dyslexia (DD), attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) or both, aiming to provide basis for targeted intervention. Methods: Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) was used to investigate emotional and behavioral problems among four groups of children (DD=32, ADHD=32, DD+ADHD=14, TD=32). Hierarchical regression analysis was recruited to investigate the associations of emotional and behavioral problems with spelling impairment or ADHD symptoms. Results: Except for peer problems, emotional and behavioral problems varied in the four groups [prosocial DD: (641±2.75), ADHD: (5.53±2.49), combined: (7.07±2.37), control: (7.72±2.19), F=4.42, P<0.05; emotional problems DD: (1.81±1.94), ADHD: (3.66±1.66), combined: (3.21±2.33), control: (2.03±1.99), F=6.36， P<0.05; conduct problems DD: (2.31±1.23), ADHD: (3.66±1.77), combined: (2.64±1.98), control: (1.97±1.31), F=7.24, P<0.05; difficulties score DD: (6.94±2.96), ADHD: (10.28±3.90), combined: (9.07±3.17), control: (6.06±3.94), F=8.82, P<0.05 ], most serious in ADHD group. In addition, children in DD group scored higher than those in normal group in terms of prosocial behavior. Children in the combined group showed higher total scores of peer problems and difficult score than those in the normal group. Emotional symptoms were more serious among children in combined group than those in the DD group. Compared with the combined group, behavioral problems in ADHD group were more common. Hierarchical regression analysis indicated that occurrence of emotional and behavioral problems in combined group was mostly mediated by hyperactivity symptoms. Conclusion Compared with DD group, children with ADHD combined or not combined with DD show more emotional and behavioral problems. Emotional and behavioral problems are notably observed among those with hyperactivity symptoms than DD.