[Digital loop-mediated isothermal amplification detection technology and its application progress]

Digital loop-mediated isothermal amplification (digital LAMP, dLAMP) is a novel nucleic acid amplification technique developed in recent years. It divides the target nucleic acid and LAMP reagent into a large number of independent detection regions, and uses a highly active chain replacement DNA polymerase and four specially designed primers for rapid amplification under isothermal conditions, which provides a good platform for quantitative detection of target nucleic acids. The advantages of high accuracy, high sensitivity, absolute quantification, high tolerance to inhibitors and simple instrumentation make the dLAMP technique very promising in molecular diagnosis, especially in rapid detection of pathogenic microorganisms, it shows a good application prospect in the fields of clinical diagnosis, food safety and environmental monitoring. Certainly, the development of dLAMP still faces some challenges, such as how to avoid non-specific amplification in multiple primer designs, multi-target nucleic acids and simultaneous detection of a large number of samples. With the development of dLAMP technology, this technology will greatly enrich the future development of molecular diagnostics. Applying rapid and effective molecular diagnostic techniques to the diagnosis of pathogenic microorganisms has important social significance for disease prevention and control.

Fabrication of a permeable SnO2-Sb reactive anodic filter for high-efficiency electrochemical oxidation of antibiotics in wastewater

Electrochemical oxidation (ECO) is an appealing technology for treating emerging organic pollutants in wastewater. However, the conventional flow-by ECO process is expensive with a low energy efficiency owing to the limitations of mass transport of contaminants to the limited surface area of the anode. In this study, a novel freestanding porous and permeable SnO₂-Sb anode was fabricated by one-step sintering using micrometer-sized (NH₄)₂CO₃ grains as the pore-forming agents. This permeable SnO₂-Sb anode without Ti substrate functioned as a reactive anodic filter (RAF) in an ECO cell to treat wastewater containing ciprofloxacin (CIP). Forcing the wastewater through the porous RAF depth-wise improved the mass transport and vastly enlarged the electroactive surface area. Compared with the conventional flow-by configuration, the flow-through RAF exhibited a 12-fold increase in the mass transfer rate constant (60.7 × 10^-6 m s^-1) and a 5-fold increase in the CIP degradation rate constant (0.077 min^-1). At a cell potential of 4.0 V, more than 92% of the CIP was degraded in a single-pass operation at a filtration flux of 54 L m^-2 h^-1 and a short retention time of 1.7 min through the RAF. The robustness and stability of the RAF were demonstrated by its remarkable CIP degradation efficacy of 99% during 200 h of operation. The mechanism of CIP degradation was examined using probe molecules and density functional theory calculations and found to be a combined effect of direct electron transfer and oxidation by generated radicals (OH and SO₄^-). The great potential of RAF in flow-through ECO was further validated by its effective removal (>92%) of various organic pollutants in actual municipal wastewater at a low energy consumption of 0.33 kWh m^-3. The RAF-based ECO process thus provides an advanced environmental technology for the oxidation of toxic and recalcitrant organic pollutants in wastewater treatment.

Facial fabricated biocompatible homogeneous biocarriers involving biochar to enhance denitrification performance in an anoxic moving bed biofilm reactor

Biochar prepared from pineapple peel was facially combined with polyurethane sponges for the first time to form homogeneous biocompatible biocarriers, which can enhance denitrification performance in an anoxic MBBR. The experiments showed that a higher NO₃^--N removal efficiency (96.24 ± 1.3%) and kinetic constant (0.26 h^-1) were obtained in the MBBR employing these new biocarriers (B-MBBR), compared with a control MBBR with polyurethane sponges (C-MBBR). The attached and suspended biomass of the B-MBBR was increased by 47% and 26%, respectively. Biochar significantly enhanced the abundance of functional bacteria in terms of promoting biofilm (i.e., Leptonema), denitrifying bacteria (i.e., Thauera, Enterobacter and Pseudomonas) and electroactive bacteria (i.e., Geobacter) in the B-MBBR. Meanwhile, based on the content of coenzyme I (NADH) and denitrifying enzymes, biochar would also enhance electron transport activity for denitrification. Consequently, these facial prepared biocarriers are effective to enhance denitrification performance in MBBR with application significance.

NEDD4L-induced ubiquitination mediating UBE2T degradation inhibits progression of lung adenocarcinoma via PI3K-AKT signaling

Background

A number of studies have indicated that Ubiquitin-conjugating enzyme E2T (UBE2T), as an oncogene, promotes progression and metastasis of lung cancer, including lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD), but it is completely unknown whether and how UBE2T is ubiquitylated and degraded, and by which E3 ligase. NEDD4L plays a critical role in the regulation of cellular processes of various cancers, most of which is attributed to its E3 ubiquitin ligase function. However, the relationship between NEDD4L and UBE2T in LUAD has not been elucidated.

Methods

The relationship between NEDD4L and UBE2T in LUAD tissues and cells was found by bioinformatic analyses and immunoblotting. Cell counting kit-8, colony formation assay, half-life analysis and the in vivo ubiquitylation assay, generation of xenograft model were performed to determine how NEDD4L regulates UBE2T and its downstream signaling pathway in vitro and in vivo.

Results

Bioinformatic analyses found that NEDD4L, as a potential correlation E3 ligase of UBE2T, was negatively correlated with UBE2T in LUAD. Consistently, UBE2T protein half-life was shortened or extended by NEDD4L overexpression or depletion, respectively. NEDD4L inhibited LUAD cell progression in vitro and in vivo via inducing the ubiquitination-mediated UBE2T degradation, which repressed PI3K-AKT signaling. Similarly, NEDD4L predicted a better patient survival, whereas UBE2T predicted a worse survival.

Conclusions

Collectively, our results reveal that NEDD4L is a novel E3 ligase of UBE2T, which can inhibit PI3K-AKT signaling by targeting for UBE2T ubiquitination and degradation, resulting in repression of LUAD cell progression.

[Interaction analysis of the influence of different factors and benzene exposure on the white blood cell count of workers]

Objective: To explore the main influencing factors of leucopenia in benzene workers. Methods: The data of 514 benzene hazardous enterprises and 97 non benzene hazardous enterprises in 16 municipal districts of Tianjin from January to December 2019 were collected. A total of 16113 benzene exposed workers and 5817 non benzene exposed workers were included in the study. The occupational health examination data of workers during on-the-job were analyzed, and they were divided into white blood cell count reduction group and white blood cell count normal group. Additive interaction was used to evaluate the effects of workers' general situation, occupational history, enterprise information and benzene exposure on leukocyte count reduction. Results: The age and length of service of workers in the white blood cell count reduction group were higher than those in the white blood cell count normal group (Z=-3.411, -4.539, P<0.01) . The detection rate of white blood cell count reduction in women was higher than that in men (χ(2)=211.631, P<0.01) . The detection rate of white blood cell count reduction in workers in enterprises located in urban areas, classified as manufacturing and small and micro enterprises was higher than that in workers in suburbs, non manufacturing and large and medium-sized enterprises (χ(2)=8.039, 4.232, 37.478, P<0.05) . The additive interaction analysis of the influencing factors of white blood cell count reduction showed that there was additive interaction between gender and benzene exposure, the relative excess risk ratio (RERI) , attribution ratio (AP) and interaction index (S) were 3.789 (95%CI: 2.280-5.299) , 0.571 (95%CI: 0.414-0.726) and 3.045 (95%CI: 1.699-5.459) , respectively. Conclusion: The management of benzene operation in the production environment of small and micro manufacturing enterprises in Tianjin should be strengthened, as well as the personal protective articles and occupational health protection measures for female operators, so as to protect the health of operators and prevent the occurrence of occupational diseases.

Efficacy analysis and hemodynamic changes of hematological system diseases after PICC chemotherapy

OBJECTIVE

The aim of the study was to investigate the efficacy analysis and hemodynamic changes of hematological system diseases after peripherally inserted central catheter (PICC) chemotherapy.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

From March 2017 to March 2020, patients with hematological diseases who received chemotherapy in our hospital were selected. The experimental group consisted of 80 patients with PICC, and the control group consisted of 70 patients with routine intravenous injection. The indwelling time, prevalence rate of adverse reactions, hemodynamic indicators before and after chemotherapy and compliance of patients in the two groups were compared.

RESULTS

The longest time and average time of indwelling catheter in experimental group were significantly higher than those in control group (p<0.05). The total prevalence rate of adverse reactions in experimental group (3.75%) was significantly lower than that in control group (20%) (p<0.05). The compliance of patients with PICC in experimental group was significantly better than that of patients with superficial intravenous injection in control group. There was no significant difference in hemodynamic indicators between experimental group and control group before and after chemotherapy (p>0.05). There was significant difference in high-shear whole blood indicators, low-shear whole blood viscosity and high-shear whole blood viscosity after chemotherapy (p<0.05), while there was no significant difference in changes of other hemodynamic indicators (p>0.05) or in hemorheological indicators between the two groups after chemotherapy (p>0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

The total prevalence of adverse reactions in hematological diseases by PICC infusion is lower than that by superficial vein infusion, and the catheter has no significant influence on hemodynamic indicators in patients. Therefore, PICC catheter is worthy of application and promotion in hematological diseases.

Effect of Early Enteral Nutrition on Serum Inflammatory Factors and Intestinal Mucosal Permeability in Patients with Severe Acute Pancreatitis

BACKGROUND

To analyze the effect of early enteral nutrition on serum inflammatory factors and intestinal mucosal permeability in patients with severe acute pancreatitis.

METHODS

A total of 55 patients with severe acute pancreatitis were divided into 2 groups: the control group (n = 27), who received routine treatment and the observation group (n = 28), who received early enteral nutrition. The expression of serum inflammatory factors and the permeability of the intestinal mucosa were compared between the 2 groups before and after treatment, and rates of infection and mortality within 30 days were statistically analyzed.

RESULTS

The recovery duration of serum and urine amylase and the length of hospital stay in the observation group were shorter than those in the control group. The white blood cell counts, levels of procalcitonin, and the expression of interleukin-6 (IL-6) in the observation group were lower than those in the control group 7 days after the treatment was commenced, and the differences were statistically significant (P < .05). The concentration of diamine oxidase in the serum and the urinary lactulose to mannitol (L/M) ratio in the observation group were lower than those in the control group 7 days after treatment was commenced. The infection rate in the observation group (21.43%) was lower than that in the control group (51.85%) (P < .05). There was no difference in the 30-day mortality between the 2 groups (P > .05).

CONCLUSION

Early enteral nutrition may reduce the expression of serum inflammatory factors, decrease the permeability of the intestinal mucosa, and improve the prognosis of patients with severe acute pancreatitis.

Suprafascial plane endoscopy versus open carpal tunnel release for idiopathic carpal tunnel syndrome: Use of the Accordion Severity Grading System

This study aimed to assess the safety and effectiveness of modified endoscopic technique with a single portal from an external carpal tunnel approach for surgical operations in a suprafascial plane superficial to the transverse carpal ligament. Reversible nerve injury risk is threefold greater with a conventional endoscopic method than with open carpal tunnel release (OCTR), and this suprafascial plane endoscopic release (SPER) should circumvent the problem of hardware in the carpal tunnel encountered with the conventional endoscopic method and liable to cause iatrogenic damage to the median nerve. However, the surgical consequences of the new technique have not been studied. To fill this gap, a retrospective therapeutic study was conducted to compare negative outcomes versus open surgery. The Accordion Severity Grading System was used to grade complications from 0 to 3 according to necessity of treatment. Sequela and failure rates were also compared between the SPER and OCTR groups. Eighty-eight cases in 72 patients with idiopathic carpal tunnel syndrome (ICTS) met the inclusion criteria. SPER was performed in 28 hands in 27 patients, and OCTR in 60 hands in 49 patients. The results showed no significant difference in complication, sequela, or failure rates between groups (p > 0.05). Suprafascial plane endoscopic release, has certain advantages over the open method and was validated as a safe and effective method of treating ICTS.

LncRNA MORT negatively regulates FGF1 to suppress malignant progression of breast cancer

OBJECTIVE

To explore the biological function of long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) MORT in the malignant progression of breast cancer (BCa) and the underlying mechanism, and to provide a novel strategy for clinical treatment.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

Quantitative Real Time-Polymerase Chain Reaction (qRT-PCR) was conducted to detect differential level of MORT in BCa specimens and cell lines. The correlation between MORT level and pathological indexes of BCa patients was analyzed. After intervening MORT level in SKBR-3 and MCF-7 cells, cell viability, migratory rate and wound closure were examined through Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK-8), transwell and wound healing assay, respectively. Dual-Luciferase reporter assay and rescue experiments were conducted to uncover the regulatory effect of MORT on its target gene FGF1. In vivo function of MORT in mediating tumor growth of BCa was finally assessed by generating a xenograft model in nude mice.

RESULTS

MORT was downregulated in BCa tissues and cell lines. Low level of MORT predicted higher rate of distant metastasis in BCa patients. Overexpression of MORT in SKBR-3 cells reduced proliferative and migratory rates, while knockdown of MORT in MCF-7 enhanced them. Moreover, in vivo overexpression of MORT slowed down tumor growth of BCa in nude mice. MORT could negatively regulate its target gene FGF1, which was responsible for the anti-cancer role of MORT in BCa progression.

CONCLUSIONS

MORT is downregulated in BCa specimens, which suppresses proliferative and migratory potentials of BCa cells by negatively regulating FGF1. MORT can be an effective target for precision treatment of BCa.

Single institution retrospective review of CD34+ apheresis collection based on mobilization regimen and primary diagnosis

Introduction/Objective

Plerixafor has been increasingly used in conjunction with G-CSF to increase mobilization of CD34+ stem cells in patients undergoing leukapheresis collection for autologous stem cell transplantation. While G- CSF and plerixafor have been shown to increase CD34+ counts, studies examining patients’ ability to meet collection goals for patients with multiple myeloma (MM), diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL), Hodgkin lymphoma (HL), and non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) have not been well documented.

Methods/Case Report

All autologous stem cell collection patients between 2017-2021 were retrospectively reviewed and categorized by primary diagnosis. Patients received a mobilization regimen of G-CSF alone, G-CSF and plerixafor, G-CSF and chemotherapy, or G-CSF, plerixafor, and chemotherapy. CD34+ stem cell collection results were recorded. All units of CD34+ stem cells were processed according to protocol and viability was assessed by Trypan blue method on a thawed aliquot 2 weeks after processing.

Results (if a Case Study enter NA)

385 patients (271 MM, 41 DLBCL, 30 HL, and 43 NHL patients; male: 242; female: 143; age range: 16-78) were identified. Binomial logistic regression demonstrated that use of plerixafor with G- CSF was negatively associated with meeting CD34+ goal collection (OR= -1.57, p= 0.003) compared to G-CSF alone. This result was particularly true for MM patients (OR= -1.62, p= 0.014). A pairwise t-test indicated that patients receiving G-CSF and plerixafor had lower CD34+ cell viabilities (t= 2.21, p = 0.028); after Bonferroni correction for multiple comparisons, MM samples also had significantly lower percentage viability than DLBCL (p= 0.003) or HL (p= 0.022) samples.

Conclusion

A higher percentage of patients mobilized on G-CSF alone were able to meet collection goal versus patients who were mobilized on G-CSF and plerixafor. Patients who received G-CSF and plerixafor had significantly lower viability than those who received G-CSF alone. We hypothesize these findings to be due to lower baseline mobilization for patients on G-CSF and plerixafor.

[Pisussion on noise exposure level measurement and risk assessment of typical posts in coal-fired power plants]

Objective: To study the group noise exposure level of typical coal-fired power plants and explore the establishment of risk assessment methods for noise exposed posts. Methods: In April 2020, 295 typical workers in 11 coal-fired power plants were selected as the study subjects. The noise exposure dose of typical posts and the proportion of exposure groups under different exposure doses were analyzed, and the risk assessment based on the dose-response relationship was conducted. Results: The exposure level of typical noise posts in coal-fired power plants was (84.24±4.10) dB (A) , and the over-standard rate was 44.07% (130/295) . The highest noise over-standard rate in main posts were desulfurization inspectors (51.52%) , followed by steam turbine inspectors (47.92%) and belt inspectors (46.32%) . Taking 30 years as an example, the incidence rate of occupational noise deafness of noise-exposed posts in coal-fired power plants was 12.30%. The position with the highest incidence rate was belt inspector (13.21%) , followed by steam turbine inspector (12.97%) , desulfurization inspectors (12.42%) , boiler inspectors (11.59%) and chemical water inspectors (6.89%) . Conclusion: The risk of noise exposure in coal-fired power plants is relatively high. Comprehensive control measures are recommended to effectively reduce the risk of noise deafness.

ERp29 forms a feedback regulation loop with microRNA-135a-5p and promotes progression of colorectal cancer

Expression of endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress-associated genes is often dysregulated in cancer progression. ER protein 29 (ERp29) is abnormally expressed in many neoplasms and plays an important role in tumorigenesis. Here, we showed ERp29 is a novel target for microRNA-135a-5p (miR-135a-5p) to inhibit the progression of colorectal cancer (CRC); correspondingly, ERp29 acts as an oncoprotein in CRC by promoting proliferation and metastasis of CRC cells, and suppressing apoptosis of the cells. More importantly, we found that miR-135a-5p expression is reversely upregulated by ERp29 through suppressing IL-1β-elicited methylation of miR-135a-5p promoter region, a process for enterocyte to maintain a balance between miR-135a-5p and ERp29 but dysregulated in CRC. Our study reveals a novel feedback regulation loop between miR-135a-5p and ERp29 that is critical for maintaining appropriate level of each of them, but partially imbalanced in CRC, resulting in abnormal expression of miR-135a-5p and ERp29, which further accelerates CRC progression. We provide supporting evidence for ERp29 and miR-135a-5p as potential biomarkers for diagnosis and treatment of CRC.

Emerging Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 Mutation Hotspots Associated With Clinical Outcomes and Transmission

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is the cause of the ongoing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Understanding the influence of mutations in the SARS-CoV-2 gene on clinical outcomes is critical for treatment and prevention. Here, we analyzed all high-coverage complete SARS-CoV-2 sequences from GISAID database from January 1, 2020, to January 1, 2021, to mine the mutation hotspots associated with clinical outcome and developed a model to predict the clinical outcome in different epidemic strains. Exploring the cause of mutation based on RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) and RNA-editing enzyme, mutation was more likely to occur in severe and mild cases than in asymptomatic cases, especially A > G, C > T, and G > A mutations. The mutations associated with asymptomatic outcome were mainly in open reading frame 1ab (ORF1ab) and N genes; especially R6997P and V30L mutations occurred together and were correlated with asymptomatic outcome with high prevalence. D614G, Q57H, and S194L mutations were correlated with mild and severe outcome with high prevalence. Interestingly, the single-nucleotide variant (SNV) frequency was higher with high percentage of nt14408 mutation in RdRp in severe cases. The expression of ADAR and APOBEC was associated with clinical outcome. The model has shown that the asymptomatic percentage has increased over time, while there is high symptomatic percentage in Alpha, Beta, and Gamma. These findings suggest that mutation in the SARS-CoV-2 genome may have a direct association with clinical outcomes and pandemic. Our result and model are helpful to predict the prevalence of epidemic strains and to further study the mechanism of mutation causing severe disease.

Clinical phenotypes of cardiac sarcoidosis by latent class analysis

Background

Sarcoidosis is a systemic granulomatous disease with cardiac involvement reported in 20–27% of patients [1]. Cardiac sarcoidosis (CS) can lead to atrial or ventricular arrhythmias, various conduction system disorders, heart failure or sudden cardiac death, depending on the location of myocardial involvement [2]. Previous studies have investigated the possible types of CS based on the distribution of myocardial involvement on imaging as well as the role of genetic factors [3,4]. However, there are no studies describing the clinical heterogeneity of CS patients.

Purpose

In order to determine if clinical clusters exist in CS, we carried out a latent class analysis (LCA) to explore potential phenotypes in a large sample of CS patients from the National Inpatient Sample (NIS).

Methods

We identified 848 patients with a diagnosis of CS from the NIS in 2016–2018. A LCA was performed based on comorbidities. Utilizing the Bayesian information criterion and Akaike's information criterion we divided our study population into 3 cohorts. We subsequently applied the LCA model for our study population to fit each patient into one of the 3 cohorts. Finally, we compared the clinical outcomes among the 3 groups.

Results

Following LCA, patients in cohort 3 were strongly associated with a cardiometabolic syndrome profile with the highest prevalence of congestive heart failure (CHF, 95.1%), chronic kidney disease (CKD, 69.7%), diabetes mellitus (68.9%), hyperlipidemia (52.5%) and obesity (45.1%). Patients in cohort 2 had an intermediate prevalence of cardiometabolic syndrome with a universal diagnosis of hypertension (100%) but with the lowest number of CHF (32.5%) patients and none with CKD. Finally, patients in cohort 1 had the least comorbidities in comparison to the other groups but there was a higher prevalence of CHF (71.7%). There was no significant difference in mortality among the 3 groups, but acute respiratory failure was the highest in cohort 3. However, ventricular arrhythmias were more prevalent in cohort 1 patients (Table).

Conclusion

We identified 3 different types of CS based on their clinical phenotype. The clinical outcomes varied among the cohorts with ventricular arrhythmias being the most prevalent in patients with the least cardiometabolic comorbidities.

Funding Acknowledgement

Type of funding sources: None.

The impact of maternal hypothyroidism on the prevalence of preeclampsia in a contemporary nationwide cohort

Introduction

Hypothyroidism is common with a prevalence of 3.7% in the general population and 3.1% in women of childbearing age (12–49) in the United State of America (USA) according to the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Studies have found an increased prevalence of hypertension in patients with hypothyroidism. However, there is a dearth of literature exploring the association between hypothyroidism and hypertensive disorders in pregnancy, especially preeclampsia. Our study aims to fill that void.

Purpose

To examine the association between hypothyroidism and preeclampsia.

Methods

We conducted a retrospective cohort study using the latest available data from the USA National Inpatient Sample (2016). Using the ICD-10 codes, we identified patients admitted with a primary diagnosis of delivery and classified them into two cohorts based on the presence or absence of hypothyroidism. We compared the prevalence of preeclampsia and eclampsia among the patient with and without hypothyroidism. We used propensity score matching for age, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, obesity, anemia, hyperthyroidism, sleep apnea, chronic kidney disease, and smoking and repeated the analysis.

Results

We identified 752,054 patients who were admitted for delivery from January 1, 2016 to December 31, 2016. Of these, 726,769 did not have hypothyroidism and 25,285 had hypothyroidism. In the unmatched cohort, 1,572 patients had preeclampsia (6.2%, p&lt;0.001) in the hypothyroidism group and 32,539 (4.5%, p&lt;0.001) patients had preeclampsia in the non-hypothyroidism group. In the unmatched cohort, there was a significantly higher proportion of obesity (13.8% vs 8.2%, p&lt;0.001) and diabetes (3.3% vs 0.9%, p&lt;0.001) in the hypothyroidism group compared to the non hypothyroidism group. There were 25,282 patients in each group after propensity score matching. In the matched cohort, the prevalence of preeclampsia was still high in the hypothyroidism group compared to the non hypothyroidism group (6.2% vs 4.9, p&lt;0.001). The LOS was longer in the hypothyroidism group compared to the non hypothyroidism group (2.99±2.90 vs 2.75±2.42, p&lt;0.001). There was no statistical difference in the prevalence of eclampsia between the two groups (26 patients vs 30 patients, p=0.688). The difference in outcomes of death, cardiac arrest, acute kidney injury, acute respiratory failure and stroke were not statistically significant between these two groups.

Conclusion

Our study shows that hypothyroidism is associated with an increased prevalence of preeclampsia. The association existed even after propensity score matching for other common risk factors for preeclampsia. Given the retrospective nature of the study, we could not establish causation. Further prospective studies are required to find out if hypothyroidism leads to increased incidence of preeclampsia and if patients from hypothyroidism would benefit from prophylaxis for preeclampsia.

Funding Acknowledgement

Type of funding sources: None. Study design

Shortening pre-hospital time delay in patients with acute myocardial infarction using a modelling-based narrative intervention with a virtual heart attack experience: a randomized controlled trial

Background

Prolonged delay in seeking treatment by patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) remains a significant therapeutic gap. Previous mass-media campaigns or brief educational interventions were largely ineffective in shortening pre-hospital patient delay. The brevity and didactic nature of these interventions are inadequate to address complex decision-making encountered by patients with AMI.

Purpose

This randomized controlled trial examined the effects of a theory-driven modelling-based narrative intervention on AMI knowledge, care-seeking intention as indicated by attitudes and beliefs regarding care-seeking for AMI, prehospital delay time and use of ambulance among AMI survivors.

Methods

A total of 285 of patients with history of at least one AMI were randomized 1:1 to modelling-based narrative intervention (n=144) and control with didactic education (n=141). The modelling-based narrative intervention comprised 4 weekly group-based interactive sessions to engage participants in mental rehearsals of the perceptual-cognitive processes in recognizing and responding to AMI symptoms through a virtual heart attack experience, then followed by a booster session one month later The control group received a 4-weekly education on factual information about AMI with traditional didactic education approach. Study endpoints included AMI knowledge, attitudes and belief about care-seeking for AMI to be measured at baseline, (T0), 3 months (T1), 12 months (T2) and 24 months (T3) after the intervention. Prehospital delay time and use of ambulance for an AMI attack were tracked since patients' enrolment until T3 endpoint of the study.

Results

Generalized estimating equation analysis indicated that the participants in the intervention group had significantly greater improvement in attitudes and beliefs about care seeking for AMI symptoms at all endpoints than those in the control group (Table 1). There were no between-group differences in the change of AMI knowledge score over the baseline and 3- or 12-month endpoints, such difference became significant at 24-month endpoint. A total of 78 participants, including 38 (26.4%) in the intervention group and 40 (28.4%) in the control groups, had experienced AMI symptoms and admitted to an emergency department during the follow-up period. The participants in the intervention group showed significant reduction in prehospital delay time than the control group (p=0.031). There was no between-group difference on use of ambulance (p=0.422) for those participants who had symptom attack during the follow-up period.

Conclusion

This study demonstrated favorable effects in shortening prehospital time delay and promoting positive attitudes and beliefs regarding care-seeking for AMI symptoms among AMI survivors. A virtual heart attack experience helped support them through a cognitive-perceptual processes in recognizing and interpreting AMI symptoms.

Funding Acknowledgement

Type of funding sources: Public grant(s) – National budget only. Main funding source(s): Early Career Scheme, Research Grants Council, Hong Kong

[The application of artificial intelligence on the classification of benign and malignant breast tumors based on dynamic enhanced MR images]

This retrospective analysis was conducted on clinical obtained DCE-MR images of 198 patients, age from 21 to 79 years(45.5±13.7). The CBAM-ResNet model was developed to perform the classification automatically at the image-level based on deep learning method using the pathological examination as the reference standard,then the classification result of each individual patient was obtained by ensemble learning. The proposed method can have an accuracy of 82.69% for correctly distinguishing between benign and malignant breast tumors at the slice-level based on CBAM-ResNet model and with a sensitivity of 85.67%.. After the voting mechanism is applied, the classification accuracy can reach up to 88.24% at the patient-level with a sensitivity of 87.50%. Our experimental results demonstrated the proposed approach have a high classification accuracy.

Branching Fraction Measurements of the Rare B_{s}^{0}→ϕμ^{+}μ^{-} and B_{s}^{0}→f_{2}^{'}(1525)μ^{+}μ^{-} Decays

The branching fraction of the rare B_{s}^{0}→ϕμ^{+}μ^{-} decay is measured using data collected by the LHCb experiment at center-of-mass energies of 7, 8, and 13 TeV, corresponding to integrated luminosities of 1, 2, and 6  fb^{-1}, respectively. The branching fraction is reported in intervals of q^{2}, the square of the dimuon invariant mass. In the q^{2} region between 1.1 and 6.0  GeV^{2}/c^{4}, the measurement is found to lie 3.6 standard deviations below a standard model prediction based on a combination of light cone sum rule and lattice QCD calculations. In addition, the first observation of the rare B_{s}^{0}→f_{2}^{'}(1525)μ^{+}μ^{-} decay is reported with a statistical significance of 9 standard deviations and its branching fraction is determined.

Exploration of Potential Diagnostic Value of Protein Content in Serum Small Extracellular Vesicles for Early-Stage Epithelial Ovarian Carcinoma

Epithelial ovarian carcinoma (EOC) is one of the most common gynecologic malignancies with a high mortality rate. Serum biomarkers and imaging approaches are insufficient in identifying EOC patients at an early stage. This study is to set up a combination of proteins from serum small extracellular vesicles (sEVs) for the diagnosis of early-stage EOC and to determine its performance. A biomarker for early-stage ovarian cancer (BESOC) cohort was used as a Chinese multi-center population-based biomarker study and registered as a Chinese Clinical Trial ChiCTR2000040136. The sEV protein levels of CA125, HE4, and C5a were measured in 299 subjects. Logistic regression was exploited to calculate the odds ratio and to create the sEV protein model for the predicted probability and subsequently receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) analysis. The combined sEV marker panel of CA125, HE4, and C5a as a sEV model obtained an area under curve (AUC) of 0.912, which was greater than the serum model (0.809), by ROC analysis to identify EOC patients from the whole cohort. With the cutoff of 0.370, the sensitivity and specificity of the sEV model were 0.80 and 0.89, which were much better performance than the serum markers (sensitivity: 0.55~0.66; specificity: 0.59~0.68) and the risk of ovarian malignancy algorithm (ROMA) index approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (sensitivity: 0.65; specificity: 0.61), to identify EOC patients from patients with benign ovarian diseases or other controls. The sEV levels of CA125 significantly differed among early-stage and late-stage EOC (p < 0.001). Moreover, the AUC of ROC to identify early-stage EOC patients was 0.888. Further investigation revealed that the sEV levels of these 3 proteins significantly decreased after cytoreductive surgery (CA125, p = 0.008; HE4, p = 0.025; C5a, p = 0.044). In summary, our study showed that CA125, HE4, and C5a levels in serum sEVs can identify EOC patients at the early stage, elucidating the possibility of using a sEV model for the diagnosis of early-stage EOC.

Fabrication of conductive ceramic membranes for electrically assisted fouling control during membrane filtration for wastewater treatment

Membrane technology is widely used in water and wastewater treatment. However, membrane fouling remains one of the biggest challenges for membrane applications. In this study, an electrically assisted technique was developed for the control of fouling on flat-sheet ceramic membranes. The novel conductive membrane was fabricated by coating dopamine and carbon nanotubes (CNTs) onto the surface of an α-alumina membrane support to form a conductive CNT coating. The resulting flat-sheet conductive ceramic membrane (FSCCM) exhibited excellent electric conductivity and stability, which performed well in filtration of the synthetic wastewater containing inorganic matter (kaolin solution) or organic pollutants (oil emulsion). By applying a negative charge on the FSCCM with a DC voltage of 2.0 V, the membrane fouling rate was reduced by approximately 50%. The energy consumption rate for the electrically assisted membrane fouling control was only 22.2 × 10^-3 kWh/m³ in paused-charge mode, with a pause duration of 15 s. A fouling-layer analysis indicted that the imposed electric field greatly reduced the amount of strongly attached foulants on the membrane surface and in the membrane pores. It is believed that the electric field exerted an electrostatic force on the negatively charged pollutants, such as particles and oil droplets, which prevented the foulants from attaching to the membrane surface. This FSCCM-based method provides a clean, effective, and energy-efficient technique for membrane fouling control, thereby enabling high-rate membrane filtration.

Broadband laser chaos generation using a quantum cascade laser with optical feedback

We propose a method to generate broadband laser chaos using a quantum cascade laser (QCL). Through numerical simulation, we give the evidence that the QCL with optical feedback can route to chaos through the quasi-periodic path. Furthermore, we investigate the influence of the feedback intensity and the bias current on the chaos bandwidth. Final results demonstrate that the chaos bandwidth can headily reach 43.1 GHz due to the lack of relaxation oscillation phenomena in QCLs.

Uptake of Aβ by OATPs might be a new pathophysiological mechanism of Alzheimer disease

BACKGROUND

The accumulation of neurotoxic amyloid-beta (Aβ) in the brain is a characteristic of Alzheimer's disease (AD), at the same time, it is possible alterations of liver function could affect brain Aβ levels through changes in blood Aβ concentration. Over the last decade, a number of reports have shown that P-glycoprotein (encoded by ABC1B1) actively mediates the efflux transport of Aβ peptides. However, the mechanism by which Aβ peptides enter the cells is not clear. In the preliminary study, we found that the protein expression of organic anion transporting Polypeptide 1a4 (OATP1B1) in the liver tissue of mice with AD was significantly higher than that in the normal mice. In contrast, the protein expression of Oatp1a4 in the brain significantly decreased in mice with AD. OATP1B1, an important drug transporter might be related to the pathophysiology of AD.

RESULTS

In this study, we established an OATP1B1-GFP-HEK293T cell model to confirm the OATP1B1 mediated transport of Aβ_1-42. Compared to the control group of GFP-HEK293Tcells, the uptake of Aβ_1-42 protein in the OATP1B1-GFP-HEK293T group increased significantly with the increase in concentration of Aβ_1-42, and also increased significantly with an increase in the duration of incubation. Similar results were observed in the flow cytometry experiment, and the uptake of Aβ_1-42in HEK293T-OATP1B1 cells was almost twice that in the control group. These results indicate that OATPs may act as an important "carrier" for the transport of Aβ1-42 from the blood to the tissues, including liver and brain.

CONCLUSIONS

This is a novel and interesting finding and OATP1B1 can be investigated as a new treatment target for AD.

Regulating Fibrocartilage Stem Cells via TNF-α/Nf-κB in TMJ Osteoarthritis

In this study, we investigate harnessing fibrocartilage stem cell (FCSC) capacities by regulating tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α) signaling for cartilage repair in temporomandibular joint osteoarthritis (TMJOA). Stem cell specifics for FCSCs were characterized in the presence of TNF-α. Etanercept as a TNF-α inhibitor and BAY 11-7082 as an Nf-κB inhibitor were used to study TNF-α regulation of FCSCs. Lineage tracing was performed in Gli1-CreERT⁺;Tm^fl/fl mice when etanercept (1 mg/kg, every 3 d) or isometric vehicle was subcutaneously injected to trace specific changes in FCSCs. Surgically induced TMJOA Sprague-Dawley rats were generated with BAY 11-7082 (5 mg/kg, every 3 d) or vehicle subcutaneous injection to investigate the functional role of TNF-α/Nf-κB in TMJOA. Anterior disc displacement (ADD) rabbits were used to analyze the therapeutic effect of etanercept as a TMJOA intra-articular treatment with etanercept (0.02 mg in 100 μL, every 2 wk) or isometric vehicle. In vitro, TNF-α inhibited proliferation of FCSCs and increased FCSC apoptosis. TNF-α activation interfered with osteogenic and chondrogenic differentiation of FCSCs, while etanercept could partially recover FCSC specificity from TNF-α. FCSC lineage tracing in Gli1-CreERT⁺;Tm^fl/fl mice showed that the chondrogenic capacity of Gli1⁺ cell lineage was markedly suppressed in osteoarthritis cartilage, the phenotype of which could be significantly rescued by etanercept. Specifically blocking the Nf-κB pathway could significantly weaken the regulatory effect of TNF-α on FCSC specificity in vitro and in TMJOA rats in vivo. Finally, intra-articular etanercept treatment efficiently rescued TMJ cartilage degeneration and growth retardation in ADD rabbits. Inhibition of TNF-α signaling reduced Nf-κB transcripts and recovered FCSC specificities. In vivo, etanercept treatment effectively rescued the osteoarthritis phenotype in TMJOA mice and ADD rabbits. These data suggest a novel therapeutic mechanism whereby TNF-α/Nf-κB inhibition promotes FCSC chondrogenic capacity for cartilage transformation in TMJOA.

Observation of the Mass Difference between Neutral Charm-Meson Eigenstates

A measurement of mixing and CP violation in neutral charm mesons is performed using data reconstructed in proton-proton collisions collected by the LHCb experiment from 2016 to 2018, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 5.4  fb^{-1}. A total of 30.6 million D^{0}→K_{S}^{0}π^{+}π^{-} decays are analyzed using a method optimized for the measurement of the mass difference between neutral charm-meson eigenstates. Allowing for CP violation in mixing and in the interference between mixing and decay, the mass and decay-width differences are measured to be x_{CP}=[3.97±0.46(stat)±0.29(syst)]×10^{-3} and y_{CP}=[4.59±1.20(stat)±0.85(syst)]×10^{-3}, respectively. The CP-violating parameters are measured as Δx=[-0.27±0.18(stat)±0.01(syst)]×10^{-3} and Δy=[0.20±0.36(stat)±0.13(syst)]×10^{-3}. This is the first observation of a nonzero mass difference in the D^{0} meson system, with a significance exceeding seven standard deviations. The data are consistent with CP symmetry and improve existing constraints on the associated parameters.

[Epidemiological characteristics of adenovirus infection in hospitalized children with acute respiratory tract infection in Kunming during 2019]

Objective: To investigate the epidemiology and clinical characteristics of adenovirus (ADV)-caused acute respiratory tract infection among hospitalized children in Kunming, China. Methods: Clinical and laboratory data were collected from 467 children with adenovirus infection who were hospitalized from January 1, 2019 to December 31, 2019 in 6 grade A class Ⅲ hospitals in Kunming area. The basic characteristics, epidemiology, mixed infection and adenovirus genotypes of the patients were retrospectively analyzed. The patients diagnosed with adenovirus pneumonia (AP) were divided into two groups, severe AP (SAP) group and general AP(GAP) group according to the severity of illness. Mann-Whitney U test or χ² test was used for comparison between groups, while multivariate regression was applied to analyze the risk factors of SAP. Results: Among 15 635 hospitalized children with respiratory tract infection, 467 cases were adenovirus positive, with a detection rate of 2.99%. Of the 467 patients with adenovirus infection, 284 were male and 183 female, the age was 2.4 (1.1,3.9) years, including 44 cases (9.4%) < 0.5 years, 59 cases (12.6%) of 0.5 to<1.0 years, 176 cases (37.7%) of 1.0 to <3.0 years, 150 cases (32.1%) of 3.0 to <7.0 years, and 38 cases (8.1%) of 7.0 to 14.0 years. Adenovirus infection was common in autumn and winter, and the high incidence months were October to December, which accounted for 51.6% (241/467) of the whole year cases. Co-infection was detected in 226 cases (48.4%) out of 467 patients, in which one pathogen co-infection was the most frequent form (172 cases, 76.1%). Of the 262 pathogen detected 108 (41.2%) were Mycoplasma pneumoniae. In 144 of ADV-positve cases (30.8%) were taken geno-typing was done by PCR amplification, the results showed that 74 cases (51.4%) were ADV 3, 7 subtypes and 65 cases (45.1%) of ADV 1, 2,6 subtypes. Of the 467 cases of ADV infection, 320 (68.5%) were diagnosed with pneumonia, 82 (17.6%) with upper respiratory tract infection and pharyngeal tonsillitis, and 65 (13.9%) with bronchitis, laryngeal bronchitis, and asthmatic bronchitis. Among the 320 patients with AP, 56 cases were severe and 264 cases were general. Two cases (3.6%) in severe group died. Compared with the GAP group, the age was young [17 (11,42) months vs. 24 (14,44) months, Z=2.222, P=0.026], the fever duration was long [8 (5,14) days vs. 6 (3,9) days, Z=3.380, P<0.01], and the proportions of preterm birth and having underlying diseases were high [respectively 19.6% (11/56) vs. 6.1% (16/264), 26.8% (15/56) vs. 10.2% (27/264), χ²=8.965,11.109, P<0.05] in SAP group. Referring to laboratory markers, white blood cell count, C-reactive protein, creatine kinase-MB and lactate dehydrogenase were significantly increased in SAP group as compared to GAP group(all P<0.05). Multivariate Logistic regression analysis showed that preterm birth (OR=3.284, 95%CI 1.079-9.993, P=0.036), underlying disease (OR=3.284, 95%CI 1.079-9.993, P=0.036), fever duration ≥10 d (OR=2.523,95%CI 1.195-5.328, P=0.015) and C-reactive protein ≥50 mg/L (OR=3.156, 95%CI 1.324-7.524, P=0.010) were positively correlated with the risk of SAP. Conclusions: The incidence of adenovirus infection among hospitalized children in Kunming was lower than the national level, and no outbreak occurred in 2019. Subtype 3 and 7 of ADV are the predominant strains for infection, which usually occurs in autumn and winter and mainly causes pneumonia. Premature birth, underlining diseases, long fever duration and markedly increased C-reactive protein are the risk factors for developing into severe pneumonia. This paper presents the prevalence and clinical characteristics of adenovirus infection in children at high altitude area.

A probabilistic approach to online classification of bicycle crashes

When a bicycle crash takes place, it is paramount for an emergency center to recognize the physical state of the cyclist as early as possible. However, an injured bicyclist may be incapable of making a phone call to the emergency center. In this study, we propose an online approach to classify bicycle crashes based on signals from an onboard inertial measurement unit (IMU), which can be used as a trigger function for an automatic emergency system. For this purpose, we define several bicycle crash features according to the kinematic properties of bicycle accidents. The input signals (variables) influencing the individual crash features are determined by the ANOVA method (analysis of variance). With the determined input signals, probabilistic models for each crash feature are trained on the base of logit models and 20,000 km naturalistic driving data including 20 real crashes. In addition, further crash and corner case data has been collected for the model training. A decision tree describing all probabilistic crash features is used to classify different kinematic events and crash scenarios. A series of driving tests with a crash-dummy and a crash-car are performed to verify the proposed crash classification approach, showing a sensitivity of 96.8%, a specificity of 99.6% and an accuracy of 99.5% of the trained model.

Exploring the influence mechanism of ozonation on protein fouling of ultrafiltration membranes as a result of the interfacial interaction of foulants at the membrane surface

Ozonation was widely used before ultrafiltration processes, but its effect mechanism on protein fouling is still controversial. Ozonation of bovine serum albumin (BSA) solutions was performed in the present work. The interfacial forces of BSA at the membrane surface were measured before and after ozonation. The adsorption behaviour of BSA onto the membrane surface and the fouling layer structures under different ozone dosages were also investigated. These results were combined with the membrane fouling behaviour to identify the effect of ozonation on protein fouling. The results showed that ozonation could weaken the interaction forces between the membrane and BSA effectively, but this did not have any effect on membrane fouling. In contrast, in terms of membrane fouling behaviour after pre-ozonation, the contribution of the changes in the covalent disulfide bonds between BSA molecules outweighs those of the non-covalent bonds. The number of disulfide bonds gradually increased as the O₃:DOC ratio increased from 0 to 0.3, and began to decline when the O₃:DOC ratio was further increased to 0.45 and 0.6. This could have altered the deposition rate of foulants onto the membrane surface and the structure of the fouling layers, and may have caused the membrane fouling first to be enhanced and then to decline with increasing ozone dosages.

The value of the exertional heat stroke score for the prognosis of patients with exertional heat stroke

OBJECTIVE

This study aims to evaluate the exertional heat stroke score (EHSS) system for the prognosis of exertional heat stroke (EHS) patients.

METHODS

Forty-two EHS patients who had been treated in our hospital between January 2017 and December 2019 were divided into two groups according to their prognosis, a survival group and a non-survival group. All the patients had received comprehensive EHS treatment after admission, and their EHSS parameters were collected within 24 h of admission, including body temperature, hepatorenal function, and coagulation function. A retrospective comparative evaluation was made of the effectiveness of the EHSS, the Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II (APACHE II) and the Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) in making an EHS prognosis.

RESULTS

Among 42 patients, 28 patients were treated successfully and discharged from the hospital, 5 were given a poor prognosis, and 9 died, amounting to a fatality rate of 21.42%. Univariate analysis showed that within 24 h of admission, the differences were statistically significant (p < 0.05) in the comparison of the following factors: lactate concentration, platelets, prothrombin time, fibrinogen, troponin, aspartate aminotransferase, total bilirubin, urinary creatinine, acute gastrointestinal injury, temperature, and Glasgow coma score. However, no statistically significant difference in blood pH was observed between the two groups of patients (p = 0.117). The EHSS, APACHE II, and SOFA scores of the survival group were significantly lower than those of the non-survival group (p < 0.001). The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of the EHSS, APACHE II and SOFA scores were the area under the curve (AUC) _EHSS = 0.96 (0.901, 0.990), AUC _{Apache II} = 0.895 (0.802, 0.950), and AUC _SOFA = 0.884 (0.837, 0.964), respectively. Thus, the EHSS diagnostic efficacy of the survival group was significantly higher than that of the other two scores. In addition, the sensitivity and specificity of EHSS were higher than those of the APACHE II and SOFA scores.

CONCLUSION

The EHSS has a good diagnostic efficacy for the prognosis of EHS patients and is significantly higher than that of the APACHE II and SOFA scores. This finding provides a theoretical basis for further increasing the rescue success rate of EHS patients and improving their prognostic quality of life.

Observation of New Resonances Decaying to J/ψK^{+} and J/ψϕ

The first observation of exotic states with a new quark content cc[over ¯]us[over ¯] decaying to the J/ψK^{+} final state is reported with high significance from an amplitude analysis of the B^{+}→J/ψϕK^{+} decay. The analysis is carried out using proton-proton collision data corresponding to a total integrated luminosity of 9  fb^{-1} collected by the LHCb experiment at center-of-mass energies of 7, 8, and 13 TeV. The most significant state, Z_{cs}(4000)^{+}, has a mass of 4003±6_{-14}^{+4}  MeV, a width of 131±15±26  MeV, and spin parity J^{P}=1^{+}, where the quoted uncertainties are statistical and systematic, respectively. A new 1^{+}  X(4685) state decaying to the J/ψϕ final state is also observed with high significance. In addition, the four previously reported J/ψϕ states are confirmed and two more exotic states, Z_{cs}(4220)^{+} and X(4630), are observed with significance exceeding 5 standard deviations.

AgNPs reduce reproductive capability of female mouse for their toxic effects on mouse early embryo development

Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) are widely applied in the field of personal protection for their powerful toxic effects on cells, and recently, a new type of vaginal gel with AgNPs is used to protect the female reproductive tract from microbes and viruses. However, a high risk of AgNPs to the fetus and the underlying mechanism of AgNPs to interfere in embryo development still remain unclear. Thus, this study investigated the impact of two drugs of vaginal gel with AgNPs on reproductive capability of the female mouse by animal experiment. Then, kinetics of AgNPs affecting embryo development was investigated by in vitro embryos culturing, and cell membrane potential (CMP) of zygotes was analyzed by DiBAC4(3) staining. Results indicated that one of the drugs of vaginal gel certainly injured embryo development in spite of no apparent histological change found in ovaries and uteruses of drug-treated mice. In vitro embryo culturing discovered that the toxic effect of AgNPs on embryo development presented particle sizes and dose dependent, and AgNP treatment could rapidly trigger depolarization of the cell membrane of zygotes. Moreover, AgNPs changed the gene expression pattern of Oct-4 and Cdx2 in blastocysts. All these findings suggest that AgNPs can interfere with normal cellular status including cell membrane potential, which has not been noticed in previous studies on the impact of AgNPs on mammalian embryos. Thus, findings of this study alarm us the risk of applying vaginal gel with AgNPs in individual caring and protection of the female reproductive system.

[Humanized BCMA CAR-T cell salvage therapy in two refractory multiple myeloma patients who progressed after their murine BCMA CAR-T cell therapy]

Objective: To observe the efficacy and safety of humanized anti-BCMA chimeric antigen receptor modified (BCMA CAR) -T cell therapy after disease progression with their murine BCMA CAR-T cell therapy in patients with relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma (MM) . Methods: Study participants underwent leukapheresis to collect T cells for BCMA CAR-T manufacturing. Patients were pretreated with intensive chemotherapy (fludarabine combined with cytarabine) before CAR-T therapy. Adverse events (AEs) , CAR DNA expansion, and cytokine were monitored. In vitro, transfection efficacy, specific cytotoxicity, and inflammatory response were detected when co-cultured with effector and target cells. Results: Patient (PT) 1 and 2 achieved complete remission (CR) and disease stability at 3 months post murine CAR-T therapy. However, 16 and 18 months later, they experienced progression of disease (PD) , and patient 1 presented with extramedullary disease at PD. Both of the patients received humanized CAR-T therapy and achieved partial remission (PR) and very good partial remission (VGPR) post humanized CAR-T therapy. PT1 achieved CR of the soft tissue masses at 4 months post humanized CAR-T therapy. Notably, the median peak of the BCMA CAR-T cells, copy of BCMA CAR gene, persistence of BCMA CAR-T, and the peak levels of IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, IFN-γ and TNF-α were higher in humanized CAR-T therapy than those in the murine CAR-T therapy. During the murine CAR-T therapy, both of the patients experienced grade 1 CRS and no ICANS. PT1 experienced grade 3 CRS and grade 2 ICANS during humanized CAR-T therapy, which were relieved by supportive care. Grade 2 CRS was observed for patient 2 during humanized CAR-T therapy. Humanized BCMA CAR-T cells showed a higher inflammatory response and in vitro cytotoxicity than that of murine BCMA CAR-T cells with effector/targets cells at 1∶1 over 48 hours (P<0.001) . The proportions of residual cells in humanized BCMA CAR-T and murine CAR-T were (17.38±5.18) % vs (28.27±4.58) %, (13.25±1.62) % vs (22.77±1.77) % for PT1 and PT2, respectively. Conclusions: The humanized BCMA CAR-T cell therapy was efficient and safe for patients who experienced progression of disease after the murine CAR-T therapy, especially for patients with extramedullary disease.

A first-in-human, randomized, double-blind, single- and multiple-dose, phase I study of recombinant human thymosin β4 in healthy Chinese volunteers

The study evaluated the safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics (PK) and anti‐drug antibody (ADA) of the recombinant human thymosin β4 (NL005) for single and multiple intravenous injections in healthy subjects. Seven cohorts, with 54 healthy subjects, were given a single intravenous dose of NL005 or placebo and were observed for 28 days. The cohorts received ascending doses of either 0.05, 0.25, 0.5, 2.0, 5.0, 12.5 or 25.0 μg/kg in the single‐dose trial. A total of 30 healthy subjects were randomly enrolled in the multiple‐dose trial, and 3 cohorts (0.5, 2.0 and 5.0 μg/kg) were administered once human thymosin β4 daily for 10 days and observed for 28 days. The adverse events were mild to moderate in intensity. There were no dose‐limiting toxicities or serious adverse events. The plasma concentration, maximum peak concentration (C_max) and AUC of each dose group increased with the increase in the dose. The tendency of terminal clearance in each dose group was consistent, and there was no obvious accumulation after continuous administration. Thus, the drug can be concluded to be well tolerated and safe in healthy people and suitable for use in a clinical study for the treatment of acute myocardial infarction.

[Prevalence of intestinal protozoan infections among rural children in Henan Province from 2014 to 2015]

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the prevalence and influencing factors of intestinal protozoan infections among rural children in Henan Province.

METHODS

A total of 104 survey sites were sampled from 35 counties (cities) in Henan Province using the stratified cluster sampling method to investigate the prevalence of intestinal protozoan infections among rural children from 2014 to 2015. The trophozoites and cysts of intestinal protozoa were identified using the iodine staining method and the physiological saline direct smear method (one detection for one stool sample). The prevalence of intestinal protozoan infections was compared among rural children with different characteristics, and the factors affecting intestinal protozoan infections among rural children were identified.

RESULTS

The overall prevalence of intestinal protozoan infections was 0.60% (40/6 771) among rural children in Henan Province from 2014 to 2015. There were 7 species of intestinal protozoa identified, and there was no species-specific prevalence (χ² = 37.732, P = 0.000). No significant differences were found in prevalence of intestinal protozoan infections among rural children in terms of gender (χ² = 1.793, P = 0.181), age (χ² = 1.443, P = 0.486), occupation (χ² = 0.219, P = 0.896) or ecological region (χ² = 1.700, P = 0.637). In addition, terrain (χ² = 2.311, P = 0.510), economic level (χ² = 4.322, P = 0.229), source of drinking water (χ² = 0.731, P = 0.393), eating raw vegetables (χ² = 1.134, P = 0.287) and deworming (χ² = 1.089, P = 0.297) had no remarkable effects on the prevalence of intestinal protozoan infections among rural children in Henan Province; however, the prevalence of intestinal protozoan infections varied significantly among rural children living in regions with different coverage of non-harmless toilets (χ² = 10.050, P = 0.018).

CONCLUSIONS

The prevalence of intestinal protozoan infections is low among rural children in Henan Province.

[Application of DNA origami in nanobiomedicine]

The development of DNA nanotechnology make it possible to artificially generate complex nucleic acid nanostructures with controllable sizes and shapes. DNA origami emerges as an effective and versatile approach to construct two- and three-dimensional programmable nanostructures, and represents a milestone in the development of structural DNA nanotechnology. Due to its high degree of controllable geometry, spatial addressability, easy chemical modification and good biocompatibility, DNA origami has great potentials for applications in many fields. In this review, we briefly summarize the applications of DNA origami in antigen-antibody interaction, targeted drug delivery and the synthesis of biomaterials.

TRPS1 knockdown inhibits angiogenic vascular mimicry in human triple negative breast cancer cells

PURPOSE

Vascular mimicry (VM) tubules are lumen structures comprised of malignant tumor cells without the participation of endothelial cells. VM simulates blood vessel function in tumors to deliver a sufficient blood supply for proliferation, invasion, and metastasis of malignant tumors, thereby reducing the clinical effects of anti-angiogenic treatments. The elimination or prevention of malignant tumor VM development therefore represents an urgent research goal as a therapeutic strategy to and cut off nutrients required for tumor growth. The GATA transcription factor TRPS1 is abnormally up-regulated in breast cancer, osteosarcoma, prostate cancer, and other tumor tissues, and is instrumental in regulating cell proliferation, differentiation, and tissue growth and development.

METHODS

Here, we explored the effects of TRPS1 knockdown on VM and the proteins underlying its development in triple-negative breast cancer cell line MDA-MB-231.

RESULTS

We found that TRPS1 knockdown resulted in obvious inhibition of VM development. Fluorescence microscopy of F-actin and tubulin revealed that loss of TRPS1 function resulted in disruption of cytoskeleton and microtubule formation, respectively. In addition, TRPS1-suppressed cells exhibited reduced accumulation of VM-associated proteins EphA2, MMP-2, MMP-9, VEGF, and VE-cadherin. Moreover, it is interesting to know that the capacity for migration and invasion were limited in MDA-MB-231cells after TRPS1 knockdown and that the average number of VM tubules, their length, and number of intersections were also significantly decreased.

CONCLUSIONS

Based on our results, and in light of previous studies, we thus proposed that TRPS1 suppression negatively affects vascular mimicry possibly through reduced TRPS1-mediated transcriptional regulation of VM-related protein VEGF-A.