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BackgroundHematological medicine is a practical discipline that is difficult to study. Problem-based learning (PBL) is an innovative student-centered teaching method wherein students define their own learning objectives from clinically based problems. Considering that WeChat is the most popular communication app in China, we selected it as a new platform for online PBL to reduce the limitations of traditional PBL in hematology teaching. ObjectiveThis study aims to explore a new pedagogical method called WeChat-PBL, which is based on real micro clinical cases for postgraduates majoring in hematology and to demonstrate its feasibility and acceptability. MethodsA total of 48 hematological postgraduates and 7 tutors participated in this study. We divided the participants into 7 groups where students can learn theoretical knowledge. After each course, the members of each group were required to complete in-class quizzes. Moreover, the students and tutors were required to fill out periodic (after each class) and overall (after each semester) evaluations. ResultsA total of 8 micro clinical cases were presented in WeChat-PBL. The average quiz score for acute myelogenous leukemia, chronic myeloid leukemia, multiple myeloma, acute promyelocytic leukemia, and lymphoma were 89.0%, 86.0%, 83.4%, 88.8%, and 77.5%, respectively. Periodic evaluations showed that both students and tutors were satisfied with the process of WeChat-PBL. The overall evaluation results showed that WeChat-PBL was able to positively impact the learning experiences of hematological postgraduates. ConclusionsOur results indicate the feasibility and acceptability of the WeChat-PBL teaching method for postgraduates majoring in hematology.

Objective To investigate the advantages and disadvantages of purse-string suture, Hem-o-lok clip and double thread ligation in the treatment of appendiceal stump. Methods A retrospective study was conducted on 237 acute appendicitis patients who underwent laparoscopic appendectomy at Nanjing Jiangbei Hospital from July 2021 to April 2023. According to the treatment, the patients were divided into purse-string suture group (n=48), Hem-o-lok clip group (n=152) and double thread ligation group (n=37). The baseline data, surgical time, intraoperative bleeding, length of hospital stay, total hospitalization costs, and incidence of postoperative complications among three different treatment methods were compared. Results There was no significant in operation time, blood loss, and hospital stay among three groups (P＞0.05). there was significant difference in total hospitalization cost among three groups (F=5.823, P=0.003), and that in double thread ligation group was (9 809.1±1 199.7) yuan, which was significantly lower than that in the purse-string suture group ［(10 355.0±1 133.7) yuan］ and Hem-o-lok clip group ［(10 541.6±1 179.3) yuan］ (P＜0.05). The incidence of complications in the purse string suture group was 2.1% (1/48), the Hem-o-lok clip group was 2.0% (3/152), and the double thread ligation group was 2.7% (1/37). There was no statistically significant difference in the incidence of complications among the three groups (P＞0.05). Conclusion The three methods to secure the appendiceal stump are safe and effective, but double thread ligation is cost-saving than purse-string suture and Hem-o-lok clip.

Abstract Neurodegenerative diseases (NDs) are common chronic diseases arising from progressive damage to the nervous system. Here, in-house natural product database screening revealed that libertellenone C (LC) obtained from the fermentation products of Arthrinium arundinis separated from the gut of a centipede collected in our Tongji campus, showed a remarkable neuroprotective effect. Further investigation was conducted to clarify the specific mechanism. LC dose-dependently reversed glutamate-induced decreased viability, accumulated reactive oxygen species, mitochondrial membrane potential loss, and apoptosis in SH-SY5Y cells. Network pharmacology analysis predicted that the targets of LC were most likely directly related to oxidative stress and the regulation of inflammatory factor-associated signaling pathways. Further study demonstrated that LC attenuated nitrite, TNF-α, and IL-1β production and decreased inducible nitric oxide synthase and cyclooxygenase expression in lipopolysaccharide-induced BV-2 cells. LC could directly inhibit NLRP3 inflammasome activation by decreasing the expression levels of NLRP3, ASC, cleaved Caspase-1, and NF-κB p65. Our results provide a new understanding of how LC inhibits the NLRP3 inflammasome in microglia, providing neuroprotection. These findings might guide the development of effective LC-based therapeutic strategies for NDs.

[Introduction] Under the current situation of increasing automation level of distribution network, in order to solve the problem that the influence of distribution automation is not considered in traditional distribution network power supply reliability assessment methods, in this paper, a method for rapid assessment of power supply reliability of urban distribution network is proposed, which takes into account the automatic partitioning of distribution network. [Method] In this paper, based on the node division method of path characteristics, by demarcating automatic partitioning of distribution network, defining large and small segments, a method for evaluating the effect of power supply reliability improvement that was suitable for automatic partitioning of distribution network was proposed. [Result] Compared with the industry standard for reliability evaluation of medium-voltage distribution network, the proposed method fully considers the influence of distribution automation on reducing fault location, isolation and switching operation time, and the evaluation result is reduced by about 22%. [Conclusion] The proposed method can more accurately analyze the power supply reliability of the distribution network with a higher level of distribution automation, and is suitable for urban distribution network areas with a small power outage time base.

Bound states in the continuum (BICs) based on metasurfaces have gained significant attention recently to enhance the strength of light-matter interaction. However, most BIC metasurfaces possess fixed optical properties once they have been fabricated. In this study, we introduce the concept of BICs to the phase-change metasurfaces composed of Ge2Sb2Te5 nanodisk dimers. The Ge2Sb2Te5 nanodisk dimers can support a low-Q transverse magnetic dipole resonance, a high-Q toroidal dipole resonance and a high-Q longitudinal magnetic dipole resonance. By adjusting geometric parameter, the high-Q longitudinal magnetic dipole resonance can be converted into a BIC mode. Notably, when Ge2Sb2Te5 is in the amorphous phase, high-Q electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT)-like resonances can be achieved due to the interaction between a low-Q transverse magnetic dipole mode and either a high-Q toroidal dipole mode or a high-Q longitudinal magnetic dipole mode. However, the EIT resonances are switched off when Ge2Sb2Te5 is transformed into the crystalline phase. Furthermore, the high-Q EIT resonances enable the realization of an ultrahigh group refractive index, and can be tuned through the phase transition of Ge2Sb2Te5. The switchable high-Q EIT resonances hold potential applications in slow-light devices, optical modulators, and biosensors.