Objective: To evaluate whether serum hepatitis B virus (HBV) ribonucleic acid (RNA) positivity, compared with HBV deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), is independently associated with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) in patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB). Study Design: A descriptive study. Place and Duration of the Study: Department of Clinical Laboratory, Wenzhou Central Hospital, Wenzhou, China, from October 2023 to May 2025. Methodology: This study included 1,843 patients with CHB. The relationships between HBV markers and T2DM were examined in 239 patients. The association between T2DM and different HBV RNA/DNA stratifications was assessed using multivariate logistic regression. Results: Among 1,843 patients, there was a moderate positive correlation between HBV RNA and HBV DNA levels (r = 0.452, p <0.001). Among 239 patients, the prevalence of T2DM was significantly higher in the HBV RNA-positive group than in the RNA-negative group (p = 0.021). By contrast, there was no statistically significant difference in T2DM prevalence between the HBV DNA-positive and DNA-negative groups (p = 0.242). Multivariate analysis showed that HBV DNA was not significantly associated (p > 0.05), whereas RNA positivity was an independent risk factor for T2DM (odds ratio [OR] = 2.091, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.127-3.881, p = 0.019). Stratified analysis showed that patients with HBV DNA-negative/RNA-positive status had the highest risk of T2DM (OR = 2.981, 95% CI = 1.316-6.755, p = 0.009) compared with the HBV DNA-negative/RNA-negative reference group. Furthermore, male gender was independently associated with T2DM (OR range = 3.480-3.764, p < 0.001). Conclusion: HBV RNA (especially DNA-negative) better assesses T2DM risk in patients with CHB.
Objective: To provide a reference for the clinical differentiation of behavioural variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD) and Alzheimer's disease (AD) by analysing differences in scores across various neuropsychiatric scales and their relationships with activities of daily living and caregiver burden. Study Design: A cross-sectional study. Place and Duration of the Study: Department of Neurology, the Affiliated Hospital of Putian University, Putian, China, from January 2024 to March 2025. Methodology: Data from the Mild Behavioural Impairment Checklist (MBI-C), Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI), Frontal Behavioural Inventory (FBI), Activities of Daily Living (ADL) scale, and Zarit Caregiver Burden Interview (ZBI) were collected from patients with bvFTD and AD. t-test or chi-square test was used to analyse differences in the scores between the two groups. Pearson's correlation analysis was conducted to examine the relationship between ADL and ZBI scores and MBI-C, NPI, and FBI scores. ROC curve analysis was used to evaluate the sensitivity and specificity of the MBI-C, NPI, and FBI scales. The AUC values were calculated and compared. Results: The bvFTD group exhibited significantly higher MBI-C, NPI, and FBI scores than the AD group (p <0.05). Emotional problems, lack of motivation, disinhibition, speech disorders, impaired judgment, lack of self-awareness, inattention, stubbornness, and incontinence were all more pronounced in the bvFTD group. ADL and ZBI scores were positively correlated with MBI-C, NPI, and FBI scores in both groups. The FBI scale had an AUC value of 0.85, with sensitivity and specificity of 81.82% and 74.71%, respectively, when the score exceeded 20.5. Conclusion: The MBI-C, NPI, and FBI scales can quickly and effectively distinguish bvFTD from AD, with the FBI scale having the highest diagnostic value. Neuropsychiatric disturbances in patients with bvFTD and AD reduce their daily living abilities and increase their caregiver burden.
Objective: To evaluate the impact of cognitive-motor intervention on cognitive function in patients with stroke and explore predictive factors for clinically meaningful improvement. Study Design: An observational study. Place and Duration of the Study: Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Anshun People's Hospital, Guizhou, China, from January 2023 to June 2025. Methodology: Two hundred patients with cerebral infarction underwent a 3-week standardised programme combining structured cognitive training with motor exercises. MMSE scores were recorded at baseline and at 2, 4, and 8 weeks. Cognitive changes were analysed longitudinally using a linear mixed-effects model, and predictive models were tested for clinically meaningful improvement. Results: MMSE scores improved significantly over time, with the mean MMSE increasing from 22.3 at baseline to 26.3 at week 8 (p <0.001). The main effect of group was not significant (p = 0.165); however, a significant time & times; group interaction (p <0.001) indicated that patients in the TMS group exhibited more rapid and greater improvement than controls. In predictive modelling, the random forest (RF) model achieved the best overall performance, with an AUC of 0.758 and an F1-score of 0.716, outperforming the other algorithms. XGBoost showed relatively weaker performance, whereas SVM demonstrated a slight advantage in specificity. Conclusion: Cognitive-motor intervention provides sustained cognitive benefits after stroke. RF modelling may assist in the early identification of patients with a high potential for recovery, thereby supporting individualised rehabilitation.
Objective: To perform a bioinformatics analysis of differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC), evaluate their clinical significance, and identify potential therapeutic targets for ccRCC. Study Design: An analytical study. Place and Duration of the Study: Department of Clinical Medicine, Inner Mongolia Medical University, Hohhot, China, from February 2024 to March 2026. Methodology: RNA-sequencing data from 601 patients with ccRCC in the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) were analysed using R. Immune and stromal scores were estimated using ESTIMATE, and immune-cell fractions were calculated using CIBERSORT. Associations with survival and clinicopathological features were assessed. Overlapping DEGs from ImmuneScore and StromalScore groups underwent Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopaedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) enrichment analyses. A protein-protein interaction (PPI) network and univariate Cox regression were used to identify prognostic genes. Core genes were identified by intersecting PPI hub nodes with significant Cox predictors, followed by immune-infiltration analysis. Results: The immune score showed significant relationships with both overall survival and clinicopathological characteristics in ccRCC (p <0.05). Differential expression screening retained 375 shared DEGs. Functional enrichment identified 114 significant GO terms and 28 significant KEGG pathways (p <0.05). Plasminogen (PLG) emerged as the core candidate associated with survival and clinicopathological stage (p <0.05). CIBERSORT analysis further demonstrated significant differences in resting dendritic cells, resting mast cells, plasma cells, M0 macrophages, and activated memory CD4+T cells between the high-and low-PLG-expression groups (p <0.05). Conclusion: Bioinformatics analysis identified PLG as a core gene associated with ccRCC prognosis and immune-cell infiltration, thereby providing a basis for subsequent mechanistic investigation and external validation.
The purpose of this study was to evaluate the feasibility, effectiveness, and safety of a bleomycin-lipiodol emulsion combined with polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) particles for the treatment of hepatic focal nodular hyperplasia (FNH) by transarterial embolisation (TAE). From September 2020 to February 2022, six patients with hepatic FNH treated with TAE were retrospectively analysed, including 4 males and 2 females (20-55 years of age), with a median maximum tumour diameter of 6.1 cm. The technical success rate was 100%. The volume of all lesions decreased significantly during the 1-6-month follow-up period. According to the mRECIST 1.1 criteria, five cases achieved complete response and one case achieved partial response. None of the patients underwent additional treatment such as surgery during the follow-up period. TAE demonstrated both safety and effectiveness in the treatment of hepatic FNH and may serve as a viable alternative to surgery.
