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Abstract Among the many adverse geological disasters, the surge water disaster in karst areas causes the greatest loss to underground engineering construction, so it is necessary to carry out relevant research on the management of surge water disaster in karst pipelines. This study presents the creation of an oily epoxy resin magnetic convergence grouting material (OEMS) specifically developed to prevent water infiltration in pipelines. A self-designed visual karst pipeline grouting simulation system was used to conduct an experimental study on the diffusion and plugging behavior of magnetic slurry grouting. A model was constructed to simulate the migration of a magnetic slurry in water inrush circumstances. The model is based on the theory of slurry diffusion and the concept of magnetic adsorption. The results suggest that:(i) The best performance in grouting sealing is achieved when the ratio of new OEMS epoxy resin A liquid to B liquid is 2:1, and the blending ratio of flyash and Fe3O4 powder falls between 25 and 55%. (ii) The primary and secondary correlations among the parameters that affect the rate of change in flow rate, plugging pressure, and slurry retention rate are as follows: Hydrodynamic velocity has the greatest correlation, followed by plugging length, Fe3O4 power ratio, and flyash mixture ratio. (iii) The validity of the model is verified by comparing empirical observations with calculated theoretical values.

Abstract The present study was aimed to investigate whether Gensini score or SYNTAX score was a valuable tool to predict in-stent restenosis (ISR) in coronary artery disease (CAD) patients with drug-eluting stents (DES) implantation. A retrospective case-control study and a validating retrospective cohort study were designed. All subjects’ information was collected from the First Affiliated Hospital of Xinjiang Medical University. A total of 916 patients were enrolled in the case-control study, and 961 subjects were included in the retrospective-cohort study. In the case-control study, significant differences were observed between the ISR and non-ISR groups regarding baseline characteristics and clinical examinations, including waist circumference, systolic blood pressure, blood glucose levels, ApoA1 levels, left ventricular ejection fraction, lesion vessels, Gensini score, and SYNTAX score (all P

Abstract Giardia duodenalis is a gastrointestinal protozoan ubiquitous in nature. It is a confirmed zoonotic pathogen, and cattle are considered a source of giardiasis outbreaks in humans. This study aimed to evaluate the prevalence and multilocus genotype (MLG) of G. duodenalis in dairy cattle in Central Inner Mongolia. This study was based on the small subunit ribosomal RNA (SSU rRNA), glutamate dehydrogenase (gdh), triosephosphate isomerase (tpi), and beta-giardin (bg) genes of G. duodenalis. DNA extraction, polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and sequence analysis were performed on 505 dairy cattle fecal samples collected in 2021 from six sampling sites and four age groups in Central Inner Mongolia to determine the prevalence and MLG distribution of G. duodenalis. The PCR results of SSU rRNA revealed that the overall prevalence of G. duodenalis was 29.5% (149/505) and that the overall prevalence of the diarrhea and nondiarrhea samples was 31.5% (46/146) and 28.5% (103/359), respectively; the difference was not significant (p > 0.05). SSU rRNA sequence analysis revealed that G. duodenalis assemblage E (91.1%, 133/146) was primarily detected and that assemblage A (8.9%, 13/146) was detected in 13 samples. The G. duodenalis—positive samples were PCR amplified and sequenced for gdh, tpi, and bg, from which 38, 47, and 70 amplified sequences were obtained, respectively. A combination of G. duodenalis assemblages A and E were detected in seven samples. Multilocus genotyping yielded 25 different assemblage E MLGs, which formed six subgroups. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report regarding G. duodenalis infection in dairy cattle in Inner Mongolia, China. This study revealed that Inner Mongolian cattle pose a risk of giardiasis transmission to humans and that the distribution of local cattle G. duodenalis assemblage E MLGs is diverse. The findings of this study can bridge the knowledge gap in the molecular epidemiological investigation of giardiasis in Central Inner Mongolia.

Abstract Background Cryptosporidium is a gastrointestinal protozoan that widely exists in nature, it is an established zoonotic pathogen. Infected cattle are considered to be associated with cryptosporidiosis outbreaks in humans. In the present study, we aimed to assess the prevalence and species distribution of Cryptosporidium in dairy cattle in Central Inner Mongolia. Methods We focused on the small subunit ribosomal RNA gene (SSU rRNA) of Cryptosporidium and 60-kDa glycoprotein gene (gp60) of Cryptosporidium parvum. We collected 505 dairy cattle manure samples from 6 sampling sites in Inner Mongolia in 2021; the samples were divided into 4 groups based on age. DNA extraction, polymerase chain reaction (PCR), sequence analysis, and restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) using SspI and MboII restriction endonucleases were performed. RFLP analysis was performed to determine the prevalence and species distribution of Cryptosporidium. Results SSU rRNA PCR revealed that the overall prevalence of Cryptosporidium infection was 29.90% (151/505), with a prevalence of 37.67% (55/146) and 26.74% (96/359) in diarrheal and nondiarrheal samples, respectively; these differences were significant. The overall prevalence of Cryptosporidium infection at the 6 sampling sites ranged from 0 to 47.06% and that among the 4 age groups ranged from 18.50 to 43.81%. SSU rRNA sequence analysis and RFLP analysis revealed the presence of 4 Cryptosporidium species, namely, C. bovis (44.37%), C. andersoni (35.10%), C. ryanae (21.85%), and C. parvum (11.92%), along with a mixed infection involving two or three Cryptosporidium species. Cryptosporidium bovis or C. andersoni was the most common cause of infection in the four age groups. The subtype of C. parvum was successfully identified as IIdA via gp60 analysis; all isolates were identified as the subtype IIdA19G1. Conclusions To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of dairy cattle infected with four Cryptosporidium species in Inner Mongolia, China, along with a mixed infection involving two or three Cryptosporidium species, with C. bovis and C. andersoni as the dominant species. Moreover, this is the first study to identify C. parvum subtype IIdA19G1 in cattle in Inner Mongolia. Our study findings provide detailed information on molecular epidemiological investigation of bovine cryptosporidiosis in Inner Mongolia, suggesting that dairy cattle in this region are at risk of transmitting cryptosporidiosis to humans.

Background: The ratio of fibrinogen to γ-glutamine transferase (FGR) was used to predict long-term prognosis in patients with coronary heart disease (CHD). Methods: A total of 5638 patients with CHD who were hospitalized from January 2008 to December 2016 were retrospectively enrolled in the study. The mean follow-up time was 35.9 ± 22.5 months. The follow-up endpoints were major cardiac and cerebrovascular adverse events (MACCE). The optimal FGR cut-off value was determined and divided into high- and low-FGR groups according to the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve. Statistical methods were used to compare the differences between the two groups and their prognoses to determine whether FGR can predict prognosis in patients with CHD. The traditional predictors were incorporated into the logistic regression model to observe the correlation between these indicators and all-cause mortality (ACM) events. We compared the prediction performance of FGR and traditional predictors on the occurrence of ACM events by ROC curves. Results: The optimal cut-off value was determined via a ROC analysis (FGR = 1.22, p = 0.002), and subjects were classified into high and low FGR groups. The follow-up found that the incidence of MACCE in the high FGR group was higher than that in the low FGR group. The COX multivariate regression model showed that high FGR was independently correlated with the occurrence of MACCE. In addition, the Kaplan–Meier survival curve showed that the risk of events was significantly increased in the group with high FGR. With increases in the FGR ratio, the risk of MACCE was increased. The ROC curve revealed that the risk of ACM was statistically different between the FGR and the traditional risk factor model (p = 0.002), (Fibrinogen (p = 0.008), γ-glutamine transferase (GGT) (p = 0.004), and N-terminal pro brain natriuretic peptide (NT-ProBNP) (p = 0.024)). The comparison between other different models were not statistically significant (p > 0.05). The area under the FGR model curve was larger than that of the traditional risk factors, fibrinogen, GGT and NT-ProBNP models. Conclusions: High FGR can increase the risk of MACCE in patients with CHD; additionally, it can be used as a new biomarker for long-term prognosis in CHD patients. Clinical Trial Registration: All details of this study are registered on the website (http://www.chictr.org.cn), registration number: ChiCTR-ORC-16010153.

Our previous study has shown that the negative co-stimulatory molecule B7-H4 is constitutively expressed on human bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) and mediates their immunomodulatory effect on T cells in vitro. However, whether B7-H4 on MSCs can be responsible for their immunomodulation in vivo has not been clarified. The present study investigated the immunomodulatory role and mechanism of B7-H4 on mouse mesenchymal stem cell (MSCs) in the development of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE). Murine MSC C3H/10T1/2 (C3H10) cells were transfected with B7-H4-specific shRNA to silence B7-H4 expression (C3H10-B7H4). The effects of C3H10-B7H4 cells on splenocyte proliferation and cell cycling as well as cytokine responses were examined.We found that B7-H4 silencing mitigated the immune-inhibitory effect of C3H10 cells on PHA-stimulated splenocyte activation and proliferation as well as IL-2, IL-17 and IFN-γ responses. Female C57BL/6 mice were injected with myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein peptide (MOG35-55) to induce EAE, then infused with C3H10-B7H4, C3H10-NC (C3H10 transfected with negative control shRNA) or C3H10 cells. The pathological changes of the injured spinal cord were analyzed by hematoxylin and eosin (HE) staining, Luxol fast blue (LFB) staining and immunofluorescence. Infusion with C3H10 or C3H10-NC, but not C3H10-B7H4 cells, dramatically slowed the development of EAE, and reduced the severity and degree of inflammatory infiltrates, demyelination, and axonal damages. The plasma levels of interleukin-2 (IL-2), IL-17, interferon-gamma (IFN-γ), and IL-4 in the different groups of mice were examined. Infusion with C3H10 or C3H10-NC cells significantly decreased the plasma levels of IL-2, IL-17 and IFN-γ in EAE mice, but infusion with C3H10-B7H4 cells only slightly reduced pro-inflammatory cytokine responses in mice. Taken together, these data indicated that B7-H4 was important for the immune characteristics and immunomodulatory capacity of mouse MSCs. B7-H4 decreased Th1/Th17 responses in EAE mice. This is the first report on the role and possible mechanism of B7-H4 in the protection of MSCs against MOG-induced EAE in mice. These findings may provide a new avenue and target molecule in MSC-based therapy for autoimmune diseases in the central nervous system, such as multiple sclerosis and neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder.

Negative skin friction (NSF) has been one of the important factors in the design of pile foundation; especially, the influence of water level on the pile negative skin friction should be paid attention. In this paper, a series of model tests were carried out to analyze the bearing characteristic of the pile group influenced by groundwater level. The pile axial force and negative skin friction, settlement, and soil pore pressure were investigated. The results showed that both the water level rising and lowering cycle could increase the axial force of the pile along the upper part of the pile, yet reducing it along the lower part of the pile; both the axial force and the negative skin friction of the pile presented a feature of time effect; the value of negative skin friction was positively correlated with that of the pile head load, and the neutral plane ranged from 0.57 L to 0.64 L as the water level changed; the soil featured settling in layers, and the change of pore water pressure was accordant with the water level changing regulation.