Objective To assess the clinical efficacy of stroke unit (SU) of integrated traditional Chinese medicine and western medicine in the treatment of acute cerebral stroke. Methods Randomized or quasi-randomized controlled trials (RCTs or q-RCTs) were identified from CBM (1978-2009), CNKI (1994-2009), VIP (1989-2009), PubMed (1966-2009), MEDLINE (1978-2009), Scifinder (1998-2009), and The Cochrane Library (Issue 6, 2009), and relevant journals from Liaoning University of Traditional Chinese Medicine were also hand searched. Data were extracted and evaluated by two reviewers independently with a designed extraction form. RevMan5.0.23 software was used for data analyses. Results A total of 12 RCTs and q-RCTs involving 2 316 patients were included. Meta-analyses showed that, stroke unit of integrated traditional Chinese medicine and western medicine was superior to general medicine treatment (Plt;0.05) in case fatality rate one month after stroke (RR= 0.34, 95%CI 0.22 to 0.54), discharge NIHSS score (WMD= –1.01, 95%CI –1.52 to –0.51) and discharge OHS score (WMD= –0.48, 95%CI –0.78 to –0.18); and it was superior to SU of western medicine (Plt;0.05) in NIHSS score one week after stroke (WMD= –2.38, 95%CI –4.08 to –0.68), NIHSS score one month after stroke (WMD= –1.52, 95%CI –2.32 to –0.73) NIHSS score three months after stroke (WMD= –1.77, 95%CI –2.59 to –0.95), difference value of NIHSS score of hospital admission and discharge (WMD= –1.94, 95%CI –2.54 to –1.34), OHS score one month after stroke (WMD= –0.56, 95%CI –0.95 to –0.17) and OHS score three months after stroke (WMD= –1.05, 95%CI –1.44 to –0.66). Conclusion The current limited evidence shows that there is a significant difference between stroke unit of integrated traditional Chinese medicine and western medicine and general medicine treatment. Although there is no significant difference compared with SU of western medicine, it is superior in improving the functional impairment of nerve as well as disability of injury. More large-scale RCTs with high quality are required to verify the effect of stroke unit of integrated traditional Chinese medicine and western medicine in the treatment of acute cerebral stroke.
Objective To systematically evaluate the diagnostic value of artificial intelligence assisted narrow-band imaging endoscopy diagnostic system for colorectal adenomatous polyps. Methods Pubmed, Embase, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, SinoMed, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Chongqing VIP and Wanfang databases were searched. The diagnostic trials of the artificial intelligence assisted narrow-band imaging endoscopy diagnostic system for colorectal adenomatous polyps were comprehensively searched. The search time limit was from January 1, 2000 to October 31, 2022. The included studies were evaluated according to the Quality Assessment of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies-2, and the data were meta-analysed with RevMan 5.3, Meta-Disc 1.4 and Stata 13.0 statistical softwares. Results Finally, 11 articles were included, including 2178 patients. Meta-analysis results of the artificial intelligence assisted narrow-band imaging endoscopy diagnostic system for colorectal adenomatous polyps showed that the pooled sensitivity was 0.91, the pooled specificity was 0.88, the pooled positive likelihood ratio was 7.41, the pooled negative likelihood ratio was 0.10, the pooled diagnostic odds ratio was 76.45, and the area under the summary receiver operating characteristic curve was 0.957. Among them, 5 articles reported the diagnosis of small adenomatous polyps (diameter <5 mm) by the artificial intelligence assisted narrow-band imaging endoscopy diagnostic system. The results showed that the pooled sensitivity and the pooled specificity were 0.93 and 0.91, respectively, and the area under the summary receiver operating characteristic curve was 0.971. Five articles reported the accuracy of endoscopic diagnosis for adenomatous polyps of those with insufficient experience. The results showed that the pooled sensitivity and the pooled specificity were 0.84 and 0.76, respectively. The area under the summary receiver operating characteristic curve was 0.848. Compared with the artificial intelligence assisted narrow-band imaging endoscopy diagnostic system, the difference was statistically significant (Z=1.979, P=0.048). Conclusion The artificial intelligence assisted narrow-band imaging endoscopy diagnostic system has a high diagnostic accuracy, which can significantly improve the diagnostic accuracy for colorectal adenomatous polyps of those with insufficient endoscopic experience, and can effectively compensate for the adverse impact of their lack of endoscopic experience.
Implantable brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) have potentially important clinical applications due to the high spatial resolution and signal-to-noise ratio of electrodes that are closer to or implanted in the cerebral cortex. However, the surgery and electrodes of implantable BCIs carry safety risks of brain tissue damage, and their medical applications face ethical challenges, with little literature to date systematically considering ethical norms for the medical applications of implantable BCIs. In order to promote the clinical translation of this type of BCI, we considered the ethics of practice for the medical application of implantable BCIs, including: reducing the risk of brain tissue damage from implantable BCI surgery and electrodes, providing patients with customized and personalized implantable BCI treatments, ensuring multidisciplinary collaboration in the clinical application of implantable BCIs, and the responsible use of implantable BCIs, among others. It is expected that this article will provide thoughts and references for the research and development of ethics of the medical application of implantable BCI.
ObjectiveTo analyze the difference of expression of B7 superfamily member 1 (B7S1) in gastric cancer and adjacent cancer tissues, and to explore the relationship between B7S1 expression and the clinicopathological characteristics and the prognosis of gastric cancer patients.MethodsReverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and immunohistochemistry were performed to investigate the expression of B7S1 in 78 cases of gastric cancer tissues and adjacent tissues. The correlation of B7S1 expressions with the clinicopathological characteristics and prognosis of the patients was analyzed.ResultsThe results showed that cancer tissues relative expression of B7S1 mRNA was higher than that of adjacent tissues, and the difference was statistically significant (P<0.05). The results showed that positive rate of B7S1 protein expression in gastric cancer tissues was significantly higher than that of adjacent tissues, 74.36% and 11.54%, the difference was statistically significant (P=0.001). Chi-square analysis showed that the expression of B7S1 protein was associated with tumor diameter (P=0.006), pathological-stage (P=0.002), T-stage (P=0.011), and lymph node metastasis (P=0.001). There were no relationship with gender, age, tumor site, and M-stage (P>0.05). B7S1 protein expression was correlated with the overall survival rate for gastric cancer patients. Both univariate and Cox multivariate survival analysis suggested that B7S1 positive expression was a risk factor for poor prognosis in patients with gastric cancer.ConclusionsThe relative expression level of B7S1 mRNA and the positive rate of protein expression in gastric cancer tissues are higher than those in adjacent tissues. The positive expression of B7S1 is correlated with the poor clinicopathological characteristics and prognosis. We speculate that B7S1 may be involved in the malignant progression of gastric cancer.
The development and potential application of brain-computer interface (BCI) technology is closely related to the human brain, so that the ethical regulation of BCI has become an important issue attracting the consideration of society. Existing literatures have discussed the ethical norms of BCI technology from the perspectives of non-BCI developers and scientific ethics, while few discussions have been launched from the perspective of BCI developers. Therefore, there is a great need to study and discuss the ethical norms of BCI technology from the perspective of BCI developers. In this paper, we present the user-centered and non-harmful BCI technology ethics, and then discuss and look forward on them. This paper argues that human beings can cope with the ethical issues arising from BCI technology, and as BCI technology develops, its ethical norms will be improved continuously. It is expected that this paper can provide thoughts and references for the formulation of ethical norms related to BCI technology.
Objective To evaluate the efficacy and safety of rifaximin in the treatment of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). Methods The computer system was used to retrieve PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, SinoMed, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Wanfang and Chongqing VIP databases, and the randomized controlled trials of rifaximin for IBS published before November 30, 2022 were retrieved. The data were meta-analysed using RevMan 5.1 and Stata 12.0 softwares. Results Finally, 8 studies including 5176 patients were included. Meta-analysis results showed that the overall effective rate [relative risk (RR)=1.40, 95% confidence interval (CI) (1.21, 1.62), P<0.00001], abdominal pain relief rate [RR=1.21, 95%CI (1.12, 1.32), P<0.00001], abdominal distension relief rate [RR=1.28, 95%CI (1.15, 1.41), P<0.00001], and stool character improvement rate [RR=1.20, 95%CI (1.10, 1.32), P<0.0001] of rifaximin in the treatment of IBS were better than those of the control group. There was no significant difference in the incidence of adverse reactions (P>0.05). Conclusion Rifaximin can effectively improve the abdominal pain, abdominal distension and stool characteristics of IBS patients, and it is safe and reliable.
With the development of brain-computer interface (BCI) technology and its translational application in clinical medicine, BCI medicine has emerged, ushering in profound changes to the practice of medicine, while also bringing forth a series of ethical issues related to BCI medicine. BCI medicine is progressively emerging as a new disciplinary focus, yet to date, there has been limited literature discussing it. Therefore, this paper focuses on BCI medicine, firstly providing an overview of the main potential medical applications of BCI technology. It then defines the discipline, outlines its objectives, methodologies, potential efficacy, and associated translational medical research. Additionally, it discusses the ethics associated with BCI medicine, and introduces the standardized operational procedures for BCI medical applications and the methods for evaluating the efficacy of BCI medical applications. Finally, it anticipates the challenges and future directions of BCI medicine. In the future, BCI medicine may become a new academic discipline or major in higher education. In summary, this article is hoped to provide thoughts and references for the development of the discipline of BCI medicine.