ObjectiveDirect continuous monitoring of arterial blood pressure is invasive and continuous monitoring cannot be achieved by traditional cuffed indirect blood pressure measurement methods. Previously, continuous non-invasive arterial blood pressure monitoring was achieved by using photoplethysmography (PPG), but it is discrete values of systolic and diastolic blood pressures rather than continuous values constructing arterial blood pressure waves. This study aimed to reconstruct arterial blood pressure wave signal based on CNN-LSTM using PPG to achieve continuous non-invasive arterial blood pressure monitoring. MethodsA CNN-LSTM hybrid neural network model was constructed, and the PPG and arterial blood pressure wave synchronized recorded signal data from the Medical Information Mart for Intensive Care (MIMIC) were used. The PPG signals were input to this model after noise reduction, normalization, and sliding window segmentation. The corresponding arterial blood pressure waves were reconstructed from PPG by using the CNN-LSTM hybrid model. ResultsWhen using the CNN-LSTM neural network with a window length of 312, the error between the reconstructed arterial blood pressure values and the actual arterial blood pressure values was minimal: the values of mean absolute error (MAE) and root mean square error (RMSE) were 2.79 mmHg and 4.24 mmHg, respectively, and the cosine similarity is the optimal. The reconstructed arterial blood pressure values were highly correlated with the actual arterial blood pressure values, which met the Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation (AAMI) standards. ConclusionCNN-LSTM hybrid neural network can reconstruct arterial blood pressure wave signal using PPG to achieve continuous non-invasive arterial blood pressure monitoring.

BACKGROUND: This study aimed to develop a comprehensive instrument for evaluating and ranking clinical practice guidelines, named Scientific, Transparent and Applicable Rankings tool (STAR), and test its reliability, validity, and usability. METHODS: This study set up a multidisciplinary working group including guideline methodologists, statisticians, journal editors, clinicians, and other experts. Scoping review, Delphi methods, and hierarchical analysis were used to develop the STAR tool. We evaluated the instrument's intrinsic and interrater reliability, content and criterion validity, and usability. RESULTS: STAR contained 39 items grouped into 11 domains. The mean intrinsic reliability of the domains, indicated by Cronbach's α coefficient, was 0.588 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.414, 0.762). Interrater reliability as assessed with Cohen's kappa coefficient was 0.774 (95% CI: 0.740, 0.807) for methodological evaluators and 0.618 (95% CI: 0.587, 0.648) for clinical evaluators. The overall content validity index was 0.905. Pearson's r correlation for criterion validity was 0.885 (95% CI: 0.804, 0.932). The mean usability score of the items was 4.6 and the median time spent to evaluate each guideline was 20 min. CONCLUSION The instrument performed well in terms of reliability, validity, and efficiency, and can be used for comprehensively evaluating and ranking guidelines.
Reproducibility of Results ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Practice Guidelines as Topic ; Humans

Objective: To analyze whether the upper airway of patients with catathrenia has obstructive manifestations using nasal resistance, craniofacial, and upper airway imaging methods, which could benefit the exploration of the etiology and treatment options. Methods: From August 2012 to September 2019, a total of 57 patients with catathrenia in the Department of Orthodontics at Peking University Hospital of Stomatology were included in the study, including 22 males and 35 females, aged (31.1±10.9) years, with a body mass index of (21.7±2.7) kg/m². All the patients were diagnosed by full-night polysomnography at the Sleep Division, Peking University People's Hospital, of which 10 patients were combined with obstructive sleep apnea hypopnea syndrome (OSAHS). The median groaning index of patients was 4.8 (1.8, 13.0) events/h. Nasal resistance and cone-beam CT were conducted on the patients, and measurements were performed on the craniofacial structures, upper airway, and surrounding soft tissues, compared with non-snoring normal occlusion individuals' references published by the same research team (144 college students recruited at Peking University and 100 non-snoring young adults with normal occlusion recruited at six universities in Beijing). Results: The total nasal resistance of patients with catathrenia was (0.26±0.08) Pa·cm^-3·s^-1. The patients had overall well-developed mandibular hard tissues. However, the patients were found with increased FH/BaN (steep anterior cranial base plane), increased MP/FH (forward rotation of the mandible); increased U1/NA and L1/MP (proclined upper and lower incisors). The sagittal diameter of the velopharynx [(19.2±4.5) mm] was significantly larger than the normal reference (t=8.44, P<0.001), while the sagittal diameter at the hypopharynx [(17.4±6.4) mm] was statistically smaller than the normal reference (t=-2.79, P=0.006). Catarhrenia patients combined with OSAHS presented longer soft palate, tongue, and lower hyoid bone than those with primary catathrenia. Conclusions: In patients with catathrenia, the overall craniofacial characteristics are well-developed skeletal structures, lower nasal resistance, proclined upper and lower incisors, wide upper sagittal development of the upper airway and narrow hypopharynx. Groaning sounds might be related to the narrowing of the hypopharynx during sleep.

Objective: To explore the suitable teaching mode of epidemiology for postgraduates, so as to provide techniques for improving and enhancing the teaching quality. Methods: The course was divided into three stages according to the teaching progress, which was, traditional teaching, traditional teaching and case discussion, online learning and case discussion. The test scores in three stages were compared respectively, and the students' willingness to teaching methods was investigated by questionnaire. Results: The scores of 214 students showed an upward trend in three stages, and the differences were statistically significant (P<0.001). Most students paid more attention to the knowledge systematization and important knowledge. Most students proposed that the teaching time between theoretical knowledge and case discussion should be evenly distributed. More students chose Chinese literature related to their major as teaching cases. Most students believed that case discussion improved the skills of self-study and communication. Conclusion: The epidemiology course for postgraduate should integrate the traditional teaching and case discussion, with online learning as a supplementary, and take effective methods to evaluate, so as to improve the teaching quality of postgraduate.
Humans ; Students ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Teaching

ObjectiveTo reveal the medication rules of the clinical prescriptions containing Citri Sarcodactylis Fructus， and to provide a basis for the modern clinical application of Citri Sarcodactylis Fructus， the development of health products and the research and development of new drugs. MethodThe clinical prescriptions containing Citri Sarcodactylis Fructus were retrieved from CNKI， Wanfang Data， and VIP， and then a basic database of prescriptions was established via the traditional Chinese medicine inheritance auxiliary platform （V2.5）， IBM SPSS V20， and Excel （Microsoft Office 2016）. The frequency and association rules of the medicines in prescriptions （compatible medicines） and the corresponding syndromes were then mined. ResultThe prescriptions were screened according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria. A total of 458 clinical prescriptions containing Citri Sarcodactylis Fructus were collected， involving 388 Chinese medicines， and the total frequency of medicines reached 6 199. The core compatible medicines （frequency > 130） of Citri Sarcodactylis Fructus included Poria （frequency of 222）， Atractylodis Macrocephalae Rhizoma （217）， Paeoniae Radix Alba （196）， Bupleuri Radix （159）， and Citri Reticulatae Pericarpium （142）. The Citri Sarcodactylis Fructus-compatible medicines with frequency > 49 were selected for further analysis， which included 34 medicines with the cumulative frequency of 3 131 （50.51% of the total frequency）. These medicines mainly have the functions of tonifying Qi， invigorating Qi， tonifying blood， alleviating edema and promoting urination， promoting digestion， and activating blood and relieving pain. They are mainly warm， cold， or mild-natured， taste bitter， sweet， or acrid， and have the tropism in the spleen， liver， stomach， or lung meridians. The association rule analysis demonstrated that 14 medicine combinations were commonly used， and the core combinations were Poria-Citri Sarcodactylis Fructus， Atractylodis Macrocephalae Rhizoma-Citri Sarcodactylis Fructus， Paeoniae Radix Alba-Citri Sarcodactylis Fructus， Bupleuri Radix-Citri Sarcodactylis Fructus， Atractylodis Macrocephalae Rhizoma-Poria-Citri Sarcodactylis Fructus， and Citri Reticulatae Pericarpium-Citri Sarcodactylis Fructus. The clinical prescriptions containing Citri Sarcodactylis Fructus were mainly used to treat 52 diseases corresponding to 11 types of traditional Chinese medicine （TCM） syndromes. Three representative syndrome types， including spleen and stomach syndromes， Qi-blood-body fluid syndromes， and gynecological syndromes were selected for further association rule analysis. In the treatment of spleen and stomach syndromes， the core compatible drugs were Atractylodis Macrocephalae Rhizoma， Poria， Paeoniae Radix Alba， Bupleuri Radix， Citri Reticulatae Pericarpium， and Pinelliae Ehizoma， which， together with Citri Sarcodactylis Fructus， formed 25 commonly used medicine combinations （16 combinations composed of 2 medicines and 9 combinations composed of 3 medicines）. In the treatment of Qi-blood-body fluid syndromes， the core compatible drugs were Poria， Paeoniae Radix Alba， Atractylodis Macrocephalae Rhizoma， Astragali Radix， Hordei Fructus Germinatus， and Bupleuri Radix， which， together with Citri Sarcodactylis Fructus， formed 23 common medicine combinations （17 combinations composed of 2 medicines， 5 combinations composed of 3 medicines， and 1 combination composed of 4 medicines）. In the treatment of gynecological syndromes， the core compatible medicines were Atractylodis Macrocephalae Rhizoma， Paeoniae Radix Alba， Angelicae Sinensis Radix， Astragali Radix， Cyperi Rhizoma， and Poria， which constituted 25 common medicine combinations （15 combinations composed of 2 medicines and 10 combinations composed of 3 medicines）. ConclusionWe employed the traditional Chinese medicine（TCM） inheritance auxiliary platform to explore the compatibility of Citri Sarcodactylis Fructus-containing clinical prescriptions and the corresponding TCM syndromes， which intuitively showcased the medication rules of Citri Sarcodactylis Fructus. Specifically， Citri Sarcodactylis Fructus was mainly combined with the medicines for tonifying Qi， invigorating Qi， tonifying blood， alleviating edema and promoting urination， promoting digestion， and activating blood and relieving pain to treat different TCM syndromes. While soothing liver， regulating Qi， harmonizing stomach， and relieving pain， the combinations tonify and activate blood， invigorate spleen， and resolve dampness. The findings are of great significance to the rational application of Citri Sarcodactylis Fructus， the development of health food， and the research of new drugs and will bolster the development of Chinese medicine industry.

Objective: To explore the efficacy of relocation and expansion pharyngoplasty by suspension sutures in the treatment of obstructive sleep apnea hypopnea syndrome (OSAHS). Methods: Seventy-three patients(including 60 males and 13 females) with OSAHS admitted to the department of otorhinolaryngology of our hospital in recent two years were retrospectively analyzed. All the patients had velopharyngeal obstructionevaluated by electronic endoscopic Müller test and were divided into control group (34 cases) and observation group (39 cases). The patients in the control group were performed modified uvulopalatopharyngoplasty, while those in the observation group were performed relocation and expansion pharyngoplasty by suspension sutures.The scores of ESS, AHI and LSaO₂ before and after treatment were collected and compared. Results: The total effective rate of the observation group was 94.87%, which was significantly higher than 79.41% of the control group. The AHI was lower and LSaO₂ value was higher (χ²=-1. 896,-1. 968,P<0.05)in the observation group. The sleeping symptoms and quality of life of the two groups were significantly improved. The ESS score of the observation group was decreased more significantly than that of the control group after treatment, and the difference was statistically significant (χ²=-1.451,P<0.05). The incidence of foreign body sensation in pharynx of the observation group (89.74%) was higher than that of the control group (55.88%), and the postoperative bleeding and postoperative recurrence rate (0.00%, 2.56%) was lower than that of the control group (8.82%, 14.70%)with statistical significance (χ²=4.738,4.249,4.119,P<0.05).The incidence of transient nasopharyngeal reflux in both groups was low and statistically insignificant (χ²=0.629,P>0.05). Conclusions: Preoperative strict screening of indications plays an important role in the selection of palatopharyngeal surgery methods and curative effect. Relocation and expansion pharyngoplasty by suspension sutures can improve the clinical efficacy of OSAHS with better safety and less recurrence.
Female ; Humans ; Male ; Palate, Soft/surgery* ; Pharynx/surgery* ; Quality of Life ; Retrospective Studies ; Sleep Apnea, Obstructive/surgery* ; Sutures

Aim To investigate the protective effects of ginkgolide K (GK) on neurovascular unit injured by ischemic stroke and the potential mechanism associated with hypoxia-inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α) pathway. Methods The BV-2 cells and EA. hy926 cells suffered from oxygen-glucose deprivation and reperfusion (OGD/R) were applied to mimic the injury of neurovascular unit induced by cerebral ischemia in vitro. After 4 h OGD insult, BV-2 cells and EA. hy926 cells received reperfusion and treated with GK. The levels of inflammatory cytokines in the supernatant of BV-2 cells were detected, while the protective effects of GK on EA. hy926 cells were also evaluated after GK administration for 24 h. The p-Akt and p-Erk expressions were examined by Western blot after 1 h of GK treatment, while HIF-1α was detected after 6 h of GK treatment. In addition, PI3K inhibitor LY294002 was applied to further verify the potential mechanisms underlying the beneficial effects of GK. The expressions of p-Akt after 1 h of GK treatment, and the protein levels of HIF-1α pathway after 6 h of GK treatment were also analyzed by Western blot. Results GK significantly inhibited the levels of TNF-α, IL-6 and IL-1β in supernatant of BV-2 cells injured by OGD/R, through increasing p-Akt and decreasing p-Erk expressions, and then affecting HIF-1α pathway. In addition, LY294002 reduced the regulatory effect of GK. Furthermore, GK significantly improved viability and inhibited the release of LDH in supernatant of EA. hy926 cells suffered from OGD/R, and up-regulated the expressions of p-Akt, HIF-1α, HO-1 and VEGF, while cleaved caspase-3/9 was inhibited. Conclusions GK exerts multi-effects on reducing neurovascular unit injury induced by ischemic stroke, and the potential mechanism might be associated with the different regulatory effects of HIF-1α in different cells.

Objective::To identify the active constituents of Paidu Qingzhi tablets by UPLC-Q-TOF-MS technique, and to reveal its potential targets and molecular mechanisms by network pharmacology. Method::Chromatography separation was achieved on an ACQUITY UPLC HSS T3 column (2.1 mm×100 mm, 1.8 μm) with mobile phase consisted of 0.1% formic acid aqueous solution and acetonitrile for gradient elution (0-17 min, 95%-5%A; 17-17.01 min, 5%-95%A; 17.01-20 min, 95%A), the flow rate was 0.3 mL·min^-1, the column temperature was 40 ℃. Data acquisition was carried out in electrospray ionization (ESI) under the negative ion mode, the scanning range was 50-1 200.Ingredients in Paidu Qingzhi tablets were identified according to reference substance, relative molecular weight, mass spectrometric cleavage rule and literature information. Multiple databases were used to retrieve the targets of these identified ingredients and related diseases treated by the tablets, and metabolic pathways. A visual network of " herbs-compounds-targets-pathways-diseases" was constructed by Cytoscape 3.7.1. Result::A total of 33 active compounds in methanol extract of Paidu Qingzhi tablets were identified by UPLC-Q-TOF-MS, including 27 compounds from Rhei Radix et Rhizoma, 4 compounds from Panacis Quinquefolii Radix, 2 compounds from Ophiopogonis Radix. Totally 18 direct targets and 58 indirect targets corresponding to 31 ingredients were obtained, 7 metabolic pathways including steroid hormone biosynthesis pathway, arachidonic acid metabolic pathway, insulin signaling pathway were strongly correlated with the treatment of hyperlipidemia, acne and simple obesity by Paidu Qingzhi tablets. Conclusion::Ingredients of Paidu Qingzhi tablets are revealed by UPLC-Q-TOF-MS, based on these identified ingredients, targets and related metabolic pathways are visualized by network pharmacology. The current research can provide theoretical basis for quality control and clinical application of Paidu Qingzhi tablets.