Craving-induced effects of different drug cues on persons abstaining from heroin

Background: The key factors of inducing drug cravings in persons abstaining from drug use remain a focus of addictions research. Given the accumulating evidences, the scope of cues investigated in the cue-reactivity paradigm has increased considerably. Yet, few studies have examined the effects of the intensity and endurance of different types of cues on their ability to induce craving. This study investigated differences among drug-cue words, negative physiological-cue words, and negative social-cue words in the induction of drug cravings among persons abstaining from heroin.

Methods: The sample consisted of 149 male abstinent heroin abusers from four addiction rehabilitation centers in China. Based on their abstinence lengths, they were labeled as short-term, medium-term, and long-term abstainer participants respectively. All participants completed a stress-imagery task and rated craving by visual analog scale.

Results: There was a significant interaction of cue type and abstinence length. There was no difference on the craving induced by three types of cue words in the short-term group. In the medium-term group, craving induced by negative social-cue words was significantly stronger than that by negative physiological-cue words, but not that by drug-cue words. In the long-term group, the craving induced by negative social-cue words remained the strongest, significantly stronger than that by both drug-cue words and negative physiological-cue words.

Conclusion: Negative social-cue words presented in the current study retain the ability to induce craving in heroin abstainers; this finding suggests that negative social cues encountered under more general circumstances could be a risk factor for relapse.     

督脉灸联合香砂养胃丸治疗脾虚泄泻的临床观察

目的观察督脉灸联合香砂养胃丸治疗脾虚泄泻的临床疗效。方法将2018年3月—2019年3月在东营市垦利县人民医院确诊为脾虚泄泻的90例患者,按照随机数字表法分为对照组和观察组各45例。对照组采用香砂养胃丸治疗,观察组采用香砂养胃丸联合督脉灸治疗。两组治疗1个疗程后观察并比较疗效以及治疗前后各项中医证候积分变化情况。结果治疗后观察组总有效率为88.89%,高于对照组的57.87%,观察组各项中医证候积分均降低且低于对照组,两组各项指标差异均具有统计学意义(P<0.05)。结论督脉灸联合香砂养胃丸治疗脾虚泄泻疗效显著,能够有效改善患者临床症状。     

Rethinking PICO in the Machine Learning Era: ML-PICO

Background  Machine learning (ML) has captured the attention of many clinicians who may not have formal training in this area but are otherwise increasingly exposed to ML literature that may be relevant to their clinical specialties. ML papers that follow an outcomes-based research format can be assessed using clinical research appraisal frameworks such as PICO (Population, Intervention, Comparison, Outcome). However, the PICO frameworks strain when applied to ML papers that create new ML models, which are akin to diagnostic tests. There is a need for a new framework to help assess such papers. Objective  We propose a new framework to help clinicians systematically read and evaluate medical ML papers whose aim is to create a new ML model: ML-PICO (Machine Learning, Population, Identification, Crosscheck, Outcomes). We describe how the ML-PICO framework can be applied toward appraising literature describing ML models for health care. Conclusion  The relevance of ML to practitioners of clinical medicine is steadily increasing with a growing body of literature. Therefore, it is increasingly important for clinicians to be familiar with how to assess and best utilize these tools. In this paper we have described a practical framework on how to read ML papers that create a new ML model (or diagnostic test): ML-PICO. We hope that this can be used by clinicians to better evaluate the quality and utility of ML papers.     

Deferoxamine promotes recovery of traumatic spinal cord injury by inhibiting ferroptosis

Ferroptosis is an iron-dependent novel cell death pathway. Deferoxamine, a ferroptosis inhibitor, has been reported to promote spinal cord injury repair. It has yet to be clarified whether ferroptosis inhibition represents the mechanism of action of Deferoxamine on spinal cord injury recovery. A rat model of Deferoxamine at thoracic 10 segment was established using a modified Allen's method. Ninety 8-week-old female Wistar rats were used. Rats in the Deferoxamine group were intraperitoneally injected with 100 mg/kg Deferoxamine 30 minutes before injury. Simultaneously, the Sham and Deferoxamine groups served as controls. Drug administration was conducted for 7 consecutive days. The results were as follows:(1) Electron microscopy revealed shrunken mitochondria in the spinal cord injury group.(2) The Basso, Beattie and Bresnahan locomotor rating score showed that recovery of the hindlimb was remarkably better in the Deferoxamine group than in the spinal cord injury group.(3) The iron concentration was lower in the Deferoxamine group than in the spinal cord injury group after injury.(4) Western blot assay revealed that, compared with the spinal cord injury group, GPX4, xCT, and glutathione expression was markedly increased in the Deferoxamine group.(5) Real-time polymerase chain reaction revealed that, compared with the Deferoxamine group, mRNA levels of ferroptosis-related genes Acyl-CoA synthetase family member 2(ACSF2) and iron-responsive element-binding protein 2(IREB2) were up-regulated in the Deferoxamine group.(6) Deferoxamine increased survival of neurons and inhibited gliosis. These findings confirm that Deferoxamine can repair spinal cord injury by inhibiting ferroptosis. Targeting ferroptosis is therefore a promising therapeutic approach for spinal cord injury.     

2018-2020年焦作市儿童青少年视力现状分析

目的 了解2018—2020年河南省焦作市儿童青少年视力状况，为相关部门制定儿童青少年近视预防控制措施提供依据。方法 2018—2020年分别在焦作市选择1～2个城区和1个郊县，采用分层整群抽样方法抽取幼儿园、小学和中学共25所学校，对幼儿园5.5～6.5岁儿童和不同学段学生开展远视力检查和屈光检测，以SPSS 17.0软件统计分析数据，采用单因素χ2检验分析不同特征人群的近视率。结果 共调查22 257人，总体近视率62.13%,2018—2020年近视率先降后升；女生近视率（65.71%）高于男生（58.63%），差异有统计学意义（χ2=118.555,P<0.05），城区近视率（64.37%）高于郊县（57.73%），差异有统计学意义（χ2=93.226,P<0.05）；近视率和中、高度近视率均随学段升高而升高，幼儿园、小学、初中和高中近视率分别达21.45%,46.71%,80.43%和88.21%，高中阶段中高度近视率分别达41.40%和20.16%。结论焦作市儿童青少年的近视患病形势不容乐观，近视发展呈低龄化，中高度近视率较高。学校、家庭和社会应共同干预，采取减...