The antidepressant mechanism of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) remains not clearly understood. This study aimed to detect the changes in gray matter volume (GMV) in patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) caused by ECT and exploratorily analyzed the potential functional mechanisms.

A total of 24 patients with MDD who underwent eight ECT sessions were included in the study. Clinical symptom assessments and MRI scans were conducted and compared. Using whole-brain micro-array measurements provided by the Allen Human Brain Atlas (AHBA), regional gene expression profiles were calculated. The differential gene PLS1 was obtained through Partial Least Squares (PLS) regression analysis, and PLS1 was divided into positive contribution (PLS1+) and negative contribution (PLS1−) genes. Through gene function enrichment analysis, the functional pathways and cell types of PLS1 enrichment were identified.

Gray matter volume (GMV) in the somatosensory and motor cortices, occipital cortex, prefrontal cortex, and insula showed an increasing trend after ECT, while GMV in the temporal cortex, posterior cingulate cortex, and orbitofrontal cortex decreased. PLS1 genes were enriched in synapse- and cell-related biological processes and cellular components (such as ‘pre- and post-synapse’, ‘synapse organization’ etc.). A large number of genes in the PLS1+ list were involved in neurons (inhibitory and excitatory), whereas PLS1− genes were significantly involved in Astrocytes (Astro) and Microglia (Micro).

This study established a link between treatment-induced GMV changes and specific functional pathways and cell types, which suggests that ECT may exert its effects through synapse-associated functional and affect neurons and glial cells.

This research seeks to ascertain the prevalence and determinants of mirror-image dextrocardia in fetuses

With December 2022 as the reference point, we compiled colleted data on pregnant women who carried fetuses with mirror-image dextrocardia in Xi’an, Shaanxi Province: September–October 2022, November 2022, and December 2022–January 2023. An online questionnaire was distributed to 209 pregnant across China who had contracted COVID-19. The case group comprised women whose final menstrual cycle occurred in November 2022 and who had a fetus with mirror-image dextrocardia. Women with a November 2022 final menstrual period and a fetus without this condition made up the control group. To identify the risk factors associated with fetal mirror-image dextrocardia, both univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were employed.

A significant difference was noted in the gestational age at COVID-19 infection women with a September to October 2022 and December 2022 to January 2023 final menstrual period who did not bear a fetus with mirror-image dextrocardia, and those with a November 2022 final menstrual period whose fetus exhibited this condition. The univariate and multivariate analyses conducted on pregnant women with a final menstrual period in November 2022 who had contracted COVID-19 revealed significant differences in the presence and duration of fever between those bearing fetuses with mirror-image dextrocardia and those without (P = 0.000).

The findings suggest two critical factors to the increased prevalence of fetal mirror-image dextrocardia: 1) the infection timing which occurs between the 4th and 6th week of pregnancy and 2) the presence of fever and its prolonged duration.

Obsessive-compulsive personality disorder (OCPD) is a high-prevalence personality disorder characterized by subtle but stable interpersonal dysfunction. There have been only limited studies addressing the behavioral patterns and cognitive features of OCPD in interpersonal contexts. The purpose of this study was to investigate how behaviors differ between OCPD individuals and healthy controls (HCs) in the context of guilt-related interpersonal responses.

A total of 113 participants were recruited, including 46 who were identified as having OCPD and 67 HCs. Guilt-related interpersonal responses were manipulated and measured with two social interactive tasks: the Guilt Aversion Task, to assess how anticipatory guilt motivates cooperation; and the Guilt Compensation Task, to assess how experienced guilt induces compensation behaviors. The guilt aversion model and Fehr–Schmidt inequity aversion model were adopted to analyze decision-making in the Guilt Aversion Task and the Guilt Compensation Task, respectively.

Computational model-based results demonstrated that, compared with HCs, the OCPD group exhibited less guilt aversion when making cooperative decisions as well as less guilt-induced compensation after harming others.

Our findings indicate that individuals with OCPD tend to be less affected by guilt than HCs. These impairments in guilt-related responses may prevent adjustments in behaviors toward compliance with social norms and thus result in interpersonal dysfunctions.

The incidence of gout has increased rapidly in recent years, and the suspected lack of awareness of gout among general practitioners may lead to misdiagnosis and inappropriate treatment.

To assess general practitioners’ management of gout at community health service clinics in the Tongzhou district of Beijing, as well as the factors that contributed to optimal decision making.

A survey based on current guidelines for assessment and management of gout was sent to 245 general practitioners at community health service clinics in the Tongzhou district of Beijing. The questionnaire included personal information of general practitioners and ten items that addressed knowledge of gout. Our questionnaire was self-administered and distributed electronically via WeChat, and data were collected on a platform called ‘Wenjuanwang’. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS version 19.0 software.

Totally, 216 general practitioners responded to the survey. About three-quarters (71.8%) reported having received Continuing Medical Education (CME) about gout. More than half (54.6%) reported an awareness of treat to target (T2T) for gout. However, the overall rate of good understanding of gout was only 6.5%, a basic knowledge of gout was 55.6%, and understanding about gout diagnosis and treatment was only 11.1%. The general practitioners’ understanding of basic concepts related to gout indicated that CME could improve their understanding (P < 0.05). An analysis of the general practitioners’ rate of comprehension of gout diagnosis and treatment showed that education level, CME, and familiarity with T2T could improve understandings of gout diagnosis and treatment (P < 0.05).

There are serious deficits in understandings about gout among general practitioners in the Tongzhou district of Beijing. Quality CME is needed to improve Chinese general practitioners’ management of gout.

To analyze the development of disaster medicine and to identify the main obstacles to improving disaster medicine research and application.

A topic search strategy was used to search the Web of Science Core Collection database. The 100 articles with the highest local citation scores were selected for bibliometric analysis; summarizing informetric indicators; and preparing a historiography, themes network, and key word co-occurrence map.

The 100 articles with the highest local citation scores were published from 1983 to 2013 in 9 countries, mainly in the United States. The most productive authors were Koenig and Rubinson. The lead research institution was Columbia University. The most commonly cited journal was the Annals of Emergency Medicine. The development of disaster medicine could be separated into 3 consecutive periods. All results indicate that the development of disaster medicine faces some obstacles that need to be addressed.

Research works have provided a solid foundation for disaster medicine, but its development has been in a slow growth period for a long time. Obstacles to the development of disaster medicine include the lack of scientist communities, transdisciplinary research, innovative research perspectives, and continuous research. Future research should overcome these obstacles so as to make further advances in this field.