Investigation of the morbidity of dry eye among special crowd in Shunde district

AIM: To investigate the morbidity of dry eye in policeman of Shunde district, and to analyze the related factors and proposed methods of preventing and treating dry eye.<p>METHODS:Totally 650 policemen who came for physical examination in Shunde district recived questionnaire survey. The patients with dye eye disease were finally diagnosed through slit lamp examination, Schirmer test, tear film break-up time(BUT)measurement and keratoconjunctival fluorescent staining. The morbidity among different policemen was further analyzed and stasticed.<p>RESULTS:The results showed that 152 in 650 policemen suffered from dry eye disease, the ratio was 23.4%. Comparied with security police and crimanl police, the ratio in traffic police, patrolman,and back office police was significantly higher. The prevalence was higher when the ages were greater than 40.<p>CONCLUSION: Unsuitable working environment, air contamination are high risk factors of dry eye disease

Systematic review and meta-analysis of Chinese herbal formula Tongxie Yaofang for diarrhea-predominant irritable bowel syndrome: Evidence for clinical practice and future trials

Introduction: Diarrhea-predominant irritable bowel syndrome (IBS-D) significantly decreases the quality of life of patients and their families, and affects patients’ mental health. No specific western medications are available. Ancient classical Chinese medical texts have recognized Tongxie Yaofang (TXYF) as a therapy for diarrhea which is widely used in clinical practice. Standard TXYF prescription (S-TXYF) is composed of four herbal medicines: Atractylodes macrocephala Koidz. [Asteraceae; Rhizoma Atractylodis Macrocephalae.], Paeonia lactiflora Pall. [Ranunculaceae; Paeoniae Radix Alba], Citrus × aurantium L. [Rutaceae; Citri Reticulatae Pericarpium] and Saposhnikovia divaricata (Turcz. ex Ledeb.) Schischk. [Umbelliferae; Saposhnikoviae Radix]. This review aimed to evaluate the therapeutic effects and safety of S-TXYF for IBS-D. Methods: Eight English and Chinese electronic databases were searched from their inception to 25 December 2021 for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) comparing S-TXYF with placebo, western medications or no treatment for IBS-D. The primary outcome was the global improvement of IBS-D symptoms. Data were analyzed using Cochrane’s Revman 5.4 software. Evidence certainty was assessed using the online GRADEpro tool for the primary outcome. Results: Eleven RCTs involving 985 adults with IBS-D were included. For global improvement of symptoms, S-TXYF was superior to western medication and placebo (moderate evidence by GRADE). Regarding the improvement of stool consistency, stool frequency and abdominal pain, S-TXYF was significantly effective than placebo. In addition, S-TXYF was superior to western medication on improving the quality of life and relieving anxiety. Six trials reported adverse events: five of them reported (non-serious) adverse events occurred in both groups, and one trial reported that 3 cases with adverse events (constipation, elevation in liver-enzyme, nausea) occurred in S-TXYF group and 3 cases with adverse events (abdominal distension, nausea) occurred in placebo group. Conclusion: Although current results showed that S-TXYF may have potential to treat IBS-D and its use appears to be safe, no a clear and confirmed conclusion can be drawn from our review as the overall inadequate design of the included trials reviewed. So more rigorous trials are warranted to establish confirmed evidence on its benefits and safety

Optimized antimicrobial and antiproliferative activities of titanate nanofibers containing silver

Titanate nanofibers containing silver have been demonstrated through the experiments reported herein to have effective antifungal and antiproliferative activities in the presence of UV light. The titanate nanofibers containing silver can be fabricated by means of ion exchange followed by a topochemical process in an environment suitable for reductive reactions. Excellent antibacterial, antifungal, and antiproliferative activities could be demonstrated by both Ag2Ti5O11 · xH2O and Ag/titanate (UV light irradiation) due to their unique structures and compositions, which have photocatalytic activities to generate reactive oxygen species and capabilities to continuously release the silver ions. Therefore these materials have the potential to produce a membrane for the treatment of superficial malignant tumor, esophageal cancer, or cervical carcinoma. They may also hold utility if incorporated into a coating on stents in moderate and advanced stage esophageal carcinoma or for endoscopic retrograde biliary drainage. These approaches may significantly reduce infections, inhibit tumor growth, and importantly, improve quality of life and prolong survival time for patients with tumors

Modeling Hidden Nodes Collisions in Wireless Sensor Networks: Analysis Approach

This paper studied both types of collisions. In this paper, we show that advocated solutions for coping with hidden node collisions are unsuitable for sensor networks. We model both types of collisions and derive closed-form formula giving the probability of hidden and visible node collisions. To reduce these collisions, we propose two solutions. The first one based on tuning the carrier sense threshold saves a substantial amount of collisions by reducing the number of hidden nodes. The second one based on adjusting the contention window size is complementary to the first one. It reduces the probability of overlapping transmissions, which reduces both collisions due to hidden and visible nodes. We validate and evaluate the performance of these solutions through simulations

Comparison of the effectiveness and safety of perampanel and oxcarbazepine as monotherapy in children and adolescents with newly diagnosed focal epilepsy

Objective: This study aims to compare the effectiveness and safety of perampanel and oxcarbazepine as monotherapy in children with focal epilepsy (FE).Methods: This is an ambispective, single-center, non-inferiority study comparing the effectiveness and safety of perampanel (PER) monotherapy and oxcarbazepine (OXC) monotherapy in children with newly diagnosed FE. The primary endpoint was a six-month seizure freedom rate. The secondary endpoints included retention, responder, and seizure freedom rates at 3, 6, and 12 months, respectively. Adverse events (AEs) were also recorded for both groups.Results: One hundred and thirty children and adolescents aged from 4 to 18years newly diagnosed with FE between May 2020 and November 2022 in Wuhan Children’s Hospital were included. There were 71 patients in the PER group and 59 patients in the OXC group. In the per protocol set (PPS), 50 (78.1%) in the PER group and 43 (78.2%) in the OXC group completed six months of treatment without seizures. The lower 95% CI (66.0%–87.5%) limit of PER was higher than the non-inferiority margin of 62.4% (80% of the 6-month seizure freedom rate in the OXC group); PER was non-inferior to OXC. The 3-month and 12-month seizure freedom rates were 77.1% and 82.9% for the PER group, respectively, while they were 80.4% and 75.8% for the OXC group. There were no serious adverse events in both groups.Conclusion: PER showed comparable effectiveness and safety compared with OXC in children with newly diagnosed focal epilepsy, which might be an effective and safe treatment for children and adolescents with newly diagnosed FE.Clinical Trial Registration: Identifier ChiCTR230007469

Inhibition of Src Homology 2 Domain-Containing Protein Tyrosine Phosphatase-2 Facilitates CD31hiEndomucinhi Blood Vessel and Bone Formation in Ovariectomized Mice

Background/Aims: Recently, we and others showed that the relative abundance of a specific vessel subtype, strongly positive for CD31 and Endomucin (CD31hiEmcnhi), is associated with bone formation and bone loss, and platelet-derived growth factor-BB (PDGF-BB) secreted by preosteoclasts induces the formation of the specific vessels and thereby stimulates osteogenesis. Inhibition of Src homology 2 domain-containing protein tyrosine phosphatase-2 (SHP-2) has been shown to block the fusion of preosteoclasts into mature osteoclasts. However, it is unclear whether inhibition of SHP-2 could promote preosteoclast-induced angiogenesis and then enhance bone formation. This study aimed to determine the effects of a specific SHP-2 inhibitor (NSC-87877) on CD31 hiEmcnhi vessel and bone formation. Methods: 3-month-old C57BL/6 mice were subjected to either ovariectomy (OVX) or sham operation. OVX mice were intraperitoneally injected with NSC-87877 and the control (sham) mice were treated with an equal volume of diluents (PBS). Two months later, bone samples from mice were collected for µCT, histological, immunohistochemical and immunofluorescent analyses to assess bone mass, osteogenic and osteoclastic acitivities, as well as the densities of CD31hiEmcnhi vessels. A series of angiogenesis- related assays were performed to test the effects of NSC-87877 on the pro-angiogenic activities of preosteoclasts in vitro. Results: We found that NSC-87877 is sufficient to induce bone-sparing effects in OVX-induced osteoporotic mouse model. We also found that NSC-87877 induces higher numbers of preosteoclasts and CD31hiEmcnhi vessels and higher levels of PDGF-BB in bone marrow of osteoporotic mice. In vitro assays showed that NSC-87877 prevents preosteoclast fusion, increases PDGF-BB production, and augments the pro-angiogenic abilities of preosteoclasts. Conclusion: Our results suggest that NSC-87877 can be used as a promising therapeutic agent for osteoporosis by inhibiting osteoclast formation and promoting preosteoclast-induced angiogenesis

Yishen Tongbi decoction attenuates inflammation and bone destruction in rheumatoid arthritis by regulating JAK/STAT3/SOCS3 pathway

BackgroundYishen-Tongbi Decoction (YSTB), a traditional Chinese prescription, has been used to improve syndromes of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) for many years. Previous research has shown that YSTB has anti-inflammatory and analgesic properties. However, the underlying molecular mechanism of the anti-RA effects of YSTB remains unclear.Purpose and study designThe purpose of this research was to investigate how YSTB affected mice with collagen-induced arthritis (CIA) and RAW264.7 cells induced with lipopolysaccharide (LPS).ResultsThe findings show that YSTB could significantly improve the clinical arthritic symptoms of CIA mice (mitigate paw swelling, arthritis score, thymus and spleen indices, augment body weight), downregulated expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines like tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), interleukin-1β (IL-1β), IL-6 and IL-17, while upregulated the level of anti-inflammatory like IL-10 and transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β). Meanwhile, YSTB inhibits bone erosion and reduces inflammatory cell infiltration, synovial proliferation, and joint destruction in CIA mice. In addition, we found that YSTB was able to suppress the LPS-induced inflammation of RAW264.7 cells, which was ascribed to the suppression of nitric oxide (NO) production and reactive oxygen species formation (ROS). YSTB also inhibited the production of inducible nitric oxide synthase and reduced the releases of pro-inflammatory cytokines TNF-α, IL-1β, and IL-6 in LPS-induced RAW264.7 cells. Furthermore, the phosphorylation expression of JAK2, JAK3, STAT3, p38, ERK and p65 protein could be suppressed by YSTB, while the expression of SOCS3 could be activated.ConclusionTaken together, YSTB possesses anti-inflammatory and prevention bone destruction effects in RA disease by regulating the JAK/STAT3/SOCS3 signaling pathway

Instant and short-term effects of acupuncture for depression and anxiety in unstable angina pectoris patients with percutaneous coronary interventions

AimPatients with unstable angina pectoris (UAP) usually present anxiety or depression during percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). This study sought to investigate the instant and short-term effects of acupuncture for anxiety and depression in UAP patients with PCI.MethodsA total of 210 UAP patients who underwent PCI were recruited and randomly assigned (1:1:1) to acupuncture, placebo, or control groups. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was used to detect the levels of fasting glucose, fasting insulin, homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR), interleukin-6 (IL-6), high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (Hs-CRP), advanced oxidation protein products (AoPPs), and oxidized low-density lipoprotein (OX-LDL). Serial questionnaires with the Hamilton Anxiety (HAMA) scale and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index were evaluated, and heart rate variability indicators were obtained.ResultsPrimary end-point: low frequency/high frequency (HF) was lower in the electroacupuncture group (p = 0.014), while standard deviation of normal-to-normal intervals, average standard deviation of normal-to-normal intervals, percentage of successive intervals that differ more than 50 ms, and HF were increased with acupuncture (p = 0.018, p = 0.043, p = 0.016, and p = 0.002, respectively). Secondary end-point: significant improvements in anxiety levels (HAMA) were observed in the three groups (p &lt; 0.001). The fasting insulin and HOMA-IR levels were similar between the control group and the acupuncture group (p = 0.285 and p = 0.165, respectively). The levels of IL-6 and AoPPs differed among the three groups (p = 0.021 and p &lt; 0.001, respectively). However, no significant differences were found in fasting plasma glucose, fasting c-peptide, Hs-CRP, and OX-LDL levels among the three groups (p = 0.585, p = 0.611, p = 0.902, and p = 0.756, respectively).ConclusionsIn this study, short-term acupuncture may potentially relieve clinical symptoms before PCI treatment. Clinical Trial RegistrationClinicalTrials.gov, identifier (NCT03789344)