Analysis of the correlation between the axial length and diabetic retinopathy in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus / 国际眼科杂志(Guoji Yanke Zazhi)

AIM: To investigate the correlation between axial length and diabetic retinopathy(DR)in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus.METHODS:This study is a cross-sectional study. A total of 53 cases(104 eyes)of type 2 diabetes patients who admitted to the ophthalmology department of the Jining No.1 People's Hospital between January and May 2023 were included. Among these cases, 51 patients had both eyes included, while 2 patients had only one eye included. The patients were divided into two groups based on the presence or absence of fundus lesions. The non-diabetic retinopathy(NDR)group consisted of 32 eyes, and the DR group consisted of 72 eyes. Within the DR group, the patients were further categorized based on the severity of fundus lesions. The non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy(NPDR)group comprised of 27 eyes, and the proliferative diabetic retinopathy(PDR)group consisted of 45 eyes. The axial lengths of eyes in the DR group were divided into four groups using quartiles: 19 eyes in the 20.00～22.09 mm group, 17 eyes in the 22.10～22.70 mm group, 18 eyes in the 22.71～23.12 mm group, and 18 eyes in the 23.13～24.48 mm group. Binary Logistic regression analysis was employed to investigate the factors influencing the occurrence of DR and PDR.RESULTS:Binary Logistic regression analysis showed that both axial length and age significantly influenced the development of DR and PDR.(Axial length: OR=0.296, 95%CI:0.130～0.672, P<0.05; OR=0.237, 95%CI:0.076～0.736, P<0.05; age: OR=0.949, 95%CI:0.907～0.994, P<0.05; OR=0.879, 95%CI: 0.820～0.942, P<0.05). The risk of PDR in the group with axial length of 23.13～24.48 mm was reduced compared to the group with axial length of 20.00～22.09 mm(OR=0.057; 95%CI: 0.006～0.515, P=0.011).CONCLUSION:The findings indicate that longer axial length in patients with type 2 diabetes are associated with a decreased risk of developing DR, as well as a reduced likelihood of DR progressing to PDR. Therefore, a long axial length can be considered a protective factor against DR.

Early multi-disciplinary intervention reduces neurological disability in premature infants / 中国当代儿科杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of multi-disciplinary treatment approaches in reducing neurological disabilities in premature infants.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>A total of 117 infants who were born premature in our hospital between March 2008 and February 2010 but had no congenital malformations and no severe neonatal complications, were enrolled in this study. They were randomly allocated to a multi-disciplinary treatment group (n=63) and a control group (n=54). While patients in the control group underwent an early conventional treatment, those in the multi-disciplinary treatment group were subjected to regular development monitoring, neurological examination and screening for brain injury, neuro-nutrition and neurodevelopment therapies, and rehabilitation training.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The incidence rates of abnormalities in posture, reflex, sleep, muscle tone and EEG were significantly lower in the multi-disciplinary treatment group than in the control froup (P<0.05) at corrected postnatal ages of 6-12 months. At corrected postnatal ages of 6, 12, 18 and 24 months, both mental development index (MDI) and psychomotor development index (PDI) scores were significantly higher in the multi-disciplinary treatment group than in the control group (P<0.05). At corrected postnatal age of 3 years, incidence rates of cerebral palsy, language barrier, abnormal muscle tone and hearing impairment were significantly lower in the multi-disciplinary treatment group than in the control group (P<0.05).</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>Early multi-disciplinary intervention approaches may significantly improve mental and motor developments and reduce the incidence of cerebral palsy-associated neurological disabilities in premature infants.</p>

Clinical study on simvastatin treatment of pulmonary hypertension in patients with coal worker's pneumoconiosis / 中华劳动卫生职业病杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To observe simvastatin treatment of pulmonary hypertension in patients with coal workers pneumoconiosis (CWP).</p><p><b>METHODS</b>96 CWP patients with pulmonary hypertension were randomly divided into treatment and control groups. The control group was treated with 2.5 mg warfarin, once a day for four months; the treatment group was treated with 20 mg simvastatin, taken in evening, for 4 months. 6 min walking distance (6MWD) test and inspection pulmonary artery pressure were measured by echocardiography before and after treatment.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>In the treatment group, the 6MWD were (258 ± 26) m after treatment and (225 ± 19) m before treatment, respectively. Compared with control group, pulmonary artery pressure was (41 ± 9) mm Hg in the treatment group before treatment, (36 ± 3) mm Hg in the treatment group after treatment, and (39 ± 5) mm Hg in control group, respectively, the difference was statistically significant (P < 0.05).</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>Simvastatin can improve pulmonary hypertension in coal workers pneumoconiosis, and shows a definite curative effect.</p>

Analysis of a novel expanded tip wire (ETW) antenna for microwave ablation of cardiac arrhythmias.

A novel expanded tip wire (ETW) catheter antenna is proposed for microwave ablation for the treatment of atrial fibrillation (AF). The antenna is designed as an integral part of coaxial cable so that it can be inserted via a 6F catheter. A numerical model based on the rotationally symmetric finite-difference time-domain technique incorporating the generalized perfectly matched layer as the absorbing boundary condition has been utilized to accurately model the interaction between the antenna and the myocardium. Numerical and in-vitro experimental results are presented for specific absorption rate, return loss and heating pattern produced by the antenna. Both numerical modeling and in-vitro experimentation show that the proposed ETW antenna produces a well-defined electric field distribution that provides continuous long and linear lesions for the treatment of AF.