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The optical constants of single-crystal AlxGa1−xP and AlxGa1−xAs have been widely studied at various Al compositions but have not yet been thoroughly investigated as polycrystalline materials. Using variable-angle spectroscopic ellipsometry, we estimate and analyze the optical constants of polycrystalline Al0.25Ga0.75P and Al0.9Ga0.1As that were non-epitaxially deposited at deposition temperatures of either 250 or 420 °C, and with various dopant species, dopant concentrations, and V/III flux ratios. For wavelengths of 350–400 nm, decreasing the V/III ratio increases the refractive index of Be-doped polycrystalline Al0.25Ga0.75P. For wavelengths >500 nm, as the targeted Be dopant concentration increases for polycrystalline Al0.25Ga0.75P, the amount the extinction coefficient increases and the indirect bandgap decreases depends on the V/III ratio. Furthermore, Si-doped polycrystalline Al0.25Ga0.75P has significantly smaller extinction coefficient values than when it is Be-doped, for the same V/III ratio and targeted doping concentration, at wavelengths >500 nm. Based on our findings, we hypothesize that the dopant species, dopant concentration, and the V/III ratio dictate various types of defect concentrations, which then affect the optical constants and indirect bandgap of polycrystalline Al0.25Ga0.75P. Additionally, for wavelengths >500 nm, we find that polycrystalline Al0.25Ga0.75P and Al0.9Ga0.1As have the lowest extinction coefficient values when deposited at 420 °C, as opposed to 250 °C. Thus, we hypothesize that the deposition temperature is the most significant factor in dictating the optical constants of these polycrystalline III-Vs. Ultimately, this work demonstrates alternative methods to tune the optical constants of polycrystalline Al0.25Ga0.75P and Al0.9Ga0.1As, as opposed to tuning the Al composition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hao Cheng,1 Zhen Yu,1 Cheng-lan Yan,1 Hui-dan Yang,1 Chong Gao,2 Hong-yan Wen1 1Department of Rheumatology, Shanxi Medical University, the Second Hospital of Shanxi Medical University, Taiyuan, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of Pathology, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USACorrespondence: Hong-yan Wen, Email wenhongyan@sxmu.edu.cnBackground: Patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc) have poor prognosis without cure methods. We began, 10 years ago, to relieve active SSc using short-term intravenous high-dose methylprednisolone pulse (MP-Pulse) and then maintain remission using long-term and low-dose oral glucocorticoids (LTLD-GC).Methods: Total 46 of SSc patients with interstitial lung disease (ILD) and induration of skin during January 2006 to December 2019 were analyzed retrospectively, who were followed up for 10 years or more. The patients were treated with MP-Pulse (15 mg/kg/day, 4 days/week, for 2 weeks) with (n=21) or without (n=25) LTLD-GC (prednisone 5– 10 mg/day or methylprednisolone 4– 8 mg/day). The biographic and clinical data, including occurrence of infection or any adverse reactions, were collected at baseline, 6 months, 1 year, and annually through 10 years after treatment.Results: From baseline to 10 years, compared with MP-Pulse alone, MP-Pulse/LTLD-GC significantly reduced skin and lung fibrosis and improved lung function: Rodnan skin score (mRSS: 22.1± 12.4 to 8.16± 2.5, P< 0.001), forced vital capacity (FVC: 71.7% to 89.83%, P< 0.001), forced expiratory volume in the first second (FEV1: 75.7% to 87.88%, P< 0.001), diffusing capacity of the lung for carbon monoxide (DLCO: 63.4% to 87.73%, P< 0.001), and high-resolution chest computerized tomography scan (HRCT score: 3.96± 2.81 to 1.42± 0.83, P< 0.001). None of the 46 patients had femoral head necrosis, compression fracture, death, or life-threatening adverse events.Conclusion: These outcomes indicate that intravenous MP-Pulse combined with oral LTLD-GC could achieve significant remission and better long-term (10 years) efficacy without severe adverse effects in SSc patients with ILD and induration of skin.Keywords: glucocorticoids, low-dose, pulse, systemic sclerosis, safety

Chunyan Shao,1– 5,&ast; Ziwei Yu,1– 5,&ast; Tongwang Luo,1– 5,&ast; Bin Zhou,1– 5 Quanjiang Song,1– 5 Zhuoyue Li,1– 5 Xiaoqiang Yu,1– 5 Sheng Jiang,1– 5 Yingshan Zhou,1– 5 Wanyu Dong,1– 5 Xingdong Zhou,1– 5 Xiaodu Wang,1– 5 Houhui Song1– 5 1Key Laboratory of Applied Technology on Green-Eco-Healthy Animal Husbandry of Zhejiang Province, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, 311300, People’s Republic of China; 2Zhejiang Provincial Engineering Research Center for Animal Health Diagnostics & Advanced Technology, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, 311300, People’s Republic of China; 3Zhejiang International Science and Technology Cooperation Base for Veterinary Medicine and Health Management, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, 311300, People’s Republic of China; 4China-Australia Joint Laboratory for Animal Health Big Data Analytics, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, 311300, People’s Republic of China; 5College of Animal Science and Technology & College of Veterinary Medicine, Zhejiang A&F University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, 311300, People’s Republic of China&ast;These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Houhui Song; Xiaodu Wang, College of Animal Science and Technology & College of Veterinary Medicine, Zhejiang A&F University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, 311300, People’s Republic of China, Tel +86 15064890670 ; +86 18806537583, Email songhh@zafu.edu.cn; xdwang@zafu.edu.cnIntroduction: Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) is a highly prevalent and endemic swine pathogen that causes significant economic losses to the global swine industry. Selenium nanoparticles (SeNPs) have attracted increasing attention in the biomedical field, given their antiviral effects. This study aimed to investigate the inhibitory effect of chitosan-coated SeNPs (CS-SeNPs) on PRRSV replication.Methods: In this study, CS-SeNPs were synthesized by chemical reduction and characterized by assessing the morphology, size distribution, zeta potential, and element composition. Marc-145 cells were infected with r-PRRSV-EGFP (0.1 MOI) and inoculated with CS-SeNPs (10 μM). Subsequently, the concentrations of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and glutathione (GSH), and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) activity were measured using specific commercial assay kits. ORF5 RNA expression, viral titer, and nucleocapsid (N) protein expression were assessed using qRT-PCR, TCID50, and Western blot. ROS generation, apoptosis rates, and JNK /caspase-3/PARP protein expression were evaluated using dihydroethidium staining, flow cytometry, and Western blot.Results: The results showed that CS-SeNPs treatment significantly suppressed oxidative stress induced by r-PRRSV-EGFP infection by increasing GSH-Px activity, promoting GSH production, and inhibiting H2O2 synthesis. CS-SeNPs treatment significantly inhibited ORF5 gene expression, viral titers, and N protein of r-PRRSV-EGFP at 24 and 48 hours post-infection (hpi) in Marc-145 cells. The increase in apoptosis rates induced by r-PRRSV-EGFP infection was significantly decreased by CS-SeNPs inoculation through inhibiting ROS generation, JNK phosphorylation levels, and cleavage of caspase-3 and PARP mainly at 48 hpi.Conclusion: These results demonstrated that CS-SeNPs suppress PRRSV-induced apoptosis in Marc-145 cells via the ROS/JNK signaling pathway, thereby inhibiting PRRSV replication, which suggested the potential antiviral activity of CS-SeNPs that deserves further investigation for clinical applications.Keywords: chitosan-coated selenium nanoparticles, PRRSV, apoptosis, ROS, JNK signaling pathways

Yue Wang,1,&ast; Shuang Tan,2,&ast; Evenki Pan,3 Yutong Ma,3 Xue Wu,3 Zhe Yu,1 Kui Jiang1 1Department of Medical Oncology, the Second Affiliated Hospital of Dalian Medical University, Dalian, Liaoning, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of Gynecology, the Second Affiliated Hospital of Dalian Medical University, Dalian, Liaoning, People’s Republic of China; 3Geneseeq Research Institute, Nanjing Geneseeq Technology Inc, Nanjing, Jiangsu, People’s Republic of China&ast;These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Kui Jiang; Zhe Yu, Department of Medical Oncology, the Second Affiliated Hospital of Dalian Medical University, Dalian, Liaoning, People’s Republic of China, Tel +8617709873696 ; +8618641103913, Email jk0411@163.com; deepriveryu@outlook.comAbstract: Hormonal therapy is an important treatment option for estrogen receptor (ER)-positive patients with advanced ovarian cancer. Although ER overexpression has been previously used as an indicator for hormonal therapy, the clinical outcomes of advanced ovarian cancer patients receiving hormonal therapy remain unsatisfactory. Additional biomarkers for screening patients are needed to improve its efficacy. In this study, we reported a metastatic ovarian cancer case with estrogen receptor 1 (ESR1) gene amplification and protein overexpression, which showed sustained partial response to hormonal therapy, including letrozole and tamoxifen, and displayed an overall survival of 47 months. The response to the therapy was evaluated by imageological examinations, cancer antigen-125 (CA-125) tests, and circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) sequencing using capture-based hybrid next-generation sequencing. Our clinical data suggested that ESR1 amplification might be a potential predictor of response to hormonal therapy in ovarian cancer. The combination of tumor detection techniques including imaging, CA-125 and ctDNA would enable confirmation of tumor response with high confidence.Keywords: ESR1 amplification, ovarian cancer, hormonal therapy, letrozole, tamoxifen, circulating tumor DNA

RF fingerprinting is an emerging technology for identifying hardware-specific features of wireless transmitters and may find important applications in wireless security. In this study, the authors present a new RF fingerprinting scheme using deep neural networks. In particular, a long short-term memory based recurrent neural network is proposed and used for automatically identifying hardware-specific features and classifying transmitters. Experimental studies using identical RF transmitters showed very high detection accuracy in the presence of strong noise (signal-to-noise ratio as low as −12 dB) and demonstrated the effectiveness of the proposed scheme.

Jie Li,1,&ast; Siwen Chen,1,&ast; Hui Xue,2,&ast; Haoyi Wang,3,&ast; Tianwei Huang,4 Hongya Xie,5 Jiang He,6 Cai Ke,3 Zhaonan Yu,3 Bin Ni4 1Department of General Medical Ward, First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of Oncology Medical Ward, Hanzhong Central Hospital, Hanzhong, People’s Republic of China; 3Hangzhou D.A. Medical Laboratory, Hangzhou, People’s Republic of China; 4Department of Thoracic Surgery, First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou, People’s Republic of China; 5Department of Thoracic Surgery, Suzhou Municipal Hospital, Suzhou, People’s Republic of China; 6Department of Thoracic Surgery, Suzhou Wuzhong People’s Hospital, Suzhou, People’s Republic of China&ast;These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Bin Ni, Department of Thoracic Surgery, First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou, People’s Republic of China, Tel +86 17774015977, Email bin_ni@163.com Zhaonan Yu, Hangzhou D.A. Medical Laboratory, Hangzhou, People’s Republic of China, Tel +86 15558078770, Email yuzhaonan870213@163.comIntroduction: From an oncologic perspective, genetic detection is becoming a frontline clinical test, used to identify actionable alterations for targeted therapy, monitor molecular clonal tumor evolution, indicate disease progression and prognosis, and predict medication efficacy and resistance. From analysis of both tumor tissue and cell-free DNA from a large cohort of non-small cell lung cancer patients in East-China, we characterized the full spectrum of genomic alterations.Methods: The study comprised 3000 unpaired samples including 1351 tumor tissue DNA (tDNA) and 1649 cell-free circulating tumor DNA (cfDNA) samples, from which 67 cancer-related genes were sequenced and the genetic alteration profiles were depicted. Integrative molecular analyses identified the frequently mutated genes, uncovered co-occurring somatic alterations, described the distribution of hotspot variants, analyzed the frequency of variant alleles, and notably distinguished actionable, novel variants.Results: The most commonly affected genes were EGFR, TP53, KRAS, CDKN2A, and PIK3CA in both tDNA and cfDNA samples. EGFR and CTNNB1, PIK3CA and PTEN, ERBB2 and SMO were found to have frequent co-occurring alterations in tDNA samples, while EGFR and SMO, KRAS and PDGFRA, PIK3CA and KDR were in cfDNA samples. A large number of primary druggable variants were identified in tDNA samples, while numerous drug-resistance variants, rare actionable variants, and non-EGFR actionable variants were detected in cfDNA samples. Novel variants were enriched in KDR, KIT, TP53, ABL1, FGFR1 in tDNA samples while the majority of novel variants were distributed in PDGFRA, EGFR, KIT, ROS1, BRCA2 in cfDNA samples. Variant allele frequency in tDNA samples was significantly (P < 0.001) higher than that in cfDNA samples.Conclusion: The results revealed considerable differences in the alteration characteristics between the two kinds of specimens. To date, this study represents the largest real-world investigation of its kind, derived from the largest number of patients in East-China. It reinforced and expanded the mechanism of molecular analysis of neoplastic genetic profiles.Keywords: real world study, non-small cell lung cancer patients in East-China, tumor tissue DNA, cell-free circulating tumor DNA, next-generation-sequencing, genetic alteration

Yue Liu,1,2 Bidong Fu,2 Zichuan Yu,2 Gelin Song,2 Hong Zeng,2 Yiyang Gong,2 Yongqi Ding,2 Da Huang3 1Second Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University, Nanchang, Jiangxi Province, 330000, People’s Republic of China; 2Second College of Clinical Medicine, Nanchang University, Nanchang, Jiangxi Province, 330000, People’s Republic of China; 3Department of Thyroid Surgery, Second Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University, Nanchang, Jiangxi Province, 330000, People’s Republic of ChinaCorrespondence: Da Huang, Department of Thyroid Surgery, Second Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University, No. 1 Minde Road, Nanchang, Jiangxi, 330006, People’s Republic of China, Tel +86 13576113993, Email danmo0904@163.comPurpose: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a malignancy with high incidence, but its prognosis is not optimistic. KRBA1 is a member of the KRAB family and participates in the regulation of gene transcription. However, no studies have focused on the role of KRBA1 in HCC.Patients and Methods: In this study, we first analyzed the expression of KRBA1 in HCC using TCGA and ICGC databases and validated by Immunohistochemistry in clinical HCC samples. The Wilcoxon rank-sum test was used to determine the relationship between KRBA1 expression and clinicopathological features. Subsequently, we used Kaplan-Meier online website analysis and Cox regression model to predict the prognostic value of KRBA1 in HCC patients. Furthermore, the functions of KRBA1 were identified by enrichment analysis. TIMER and GSCALite were used to investigate the relationship between KRBA1 expression in HCC and immune infiltration and drug targets, respectively. Finally, the relationship between KRBA1 expression and m6A modification in HCC was analyzed using the TCGA and ICGA datasets.Results: The results showed that KRBA1 was upregulated in HCC and was associated with many clinicopathological features. High KRBA1 causes poor overall survival and may be an independent risk factor for HCC. KRBA1 tends to be hypermethylated and associated with poor prognosis in HCC compared with normal tissues. Enrichment analysis indicates that KRBA1 is associated with cell cycle and immune processes, and TIMER analysis shows that KRBA1 expression is associated with infiltration levels and immune characteristics of various immune cells. Silenced KRBA1 evidently reduced three chemokine expression in HCC cells. Drug sensitivity analysis showed that KRBA1 was sensitive to 39 drug small molecules. KRBA1 showed a strong positive correlation with five m6A related genes.Conclusion: KRBA1 is a prognostic biomarker associated with HCC immunity and m6a modification, serving as an effective target for the diagnosis and treatment of HCC.Keywords: KRBA1, prognosis, biomarker, immune infiltration, hepatocellular carcinoma, m6A modification

Jing Zhao, Qianqian Kong, Minghuan Wang, Hao Huang, Xirui Zhou, Yinping Guo, Yi Zhang, Lingshan Wu, Zhiyuan Yu, Xiang Luo Department of Neurology, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, People’s Republic of ChinaCorrespondence: Xiang Luo, Department of Neurology, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430030, People’s Republic of China, Tel +86 27-83663337, Email flydottjh@163.comPurpose: Excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS) and cerebral small vessel disease (CSVD) are common problems among older adults; however, their association is not clear. The present study aimed to investigate the frequency of EDS in CSVD patients and the relationship between EDS and neuroimaging markers of CSVD.Patients and Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study among 1076 community-dwelling older adults aged 55– 85 years. EDS was measured using the Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS), and EDS was defined as an ESS score greater than 10. Binary logistic regression was performed to assess the association between EDS and neuroimaging markers of CSVD.Results: Of the 1076 participants (mean age: 65.58 ± 6.46 years, 60.5% female), the prevalence of EDS was 10.0%. EDS was more frequent in participants with CSVD than in the total sample (20.0% vs 10.0%, p < 0.001). In fully adjusted models, EDS was significantly correlated with CSVD burden (OR = 1.39, 95% CI 1.16 to 1.68, p < 0.001), the severity of white matter hyperintensities (WMH) (OR = 1.33, 95% CI 1.14 to 1.54, p < 0.001), and presence of lacunes (OR = 2.47, 95% CI 1.53 to 4.00, p < 0.001) but not with the presence of cerebral microbleeds (CMBs) (OR=1.54, 95% CI 0.92 to 2.56, p = 0.099) or severity of enlarged perivascular spaces (EPVS) in basal ganglia (OR = 1.16, 95% CI 0.70 to 1.92, p = 0.564).Conclusion: We found a high frequency of EDS symptoms in CSVD individuals. Further, EDS was significantly associated with WMH, lacunes, and CSVD burden. Our findings further suggest patients with CSVD may exhibit abnormal sleep-wake patterns.Keywords: cerebral small vessel disease, daytime sleepiness, sleep disorders, white matter hyperintensities, lacunes

Yijin Chen,1,2,&ast; Hongtao Liu,2,3,&ast; Zhikang Yu,2,4 Yang Yang,1,2 Qingyan Huang,2,4 Changqing Deng,1,2 Hui Rao,2,4 Heming Wu2,4 1Department of Gastroenterology, Meizhou People’s Hospital (Huangtang Hospital), Meizhou Academy of Medical Sciences, Meizhou, People’s Republic of China; 2Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Precision Medicine and Clinical Translational Research of Hakka Population, Meizhou People’s Hospital (Huangtang Hospital), Meizhou Academy of Medical Sciences, Meizhou, People’s Republic of China; 3Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, Meizhou People’s Hospital (Huangtang Hospital), Meizhou Academy of Medical Sciences, Meizhou, People’s Republic of China; 4Center for Precision Medicine, Meizhou People’s Hospital (Huangtang Hospital), Meizhou Academy of Medical Sciences, Meizhou, People’s Republic of China&ast;These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Heming Wu, Center for Precision Medicine, Meizhou People’s Hospital (Huangtang Hospital), Meizhou Academy of Medical Sciences, No. 63 Huangtang Road, Meijiang District, Meizhou, 514031, People’s Republic of China, Tel +86 753-2131-591, Email wuheming1986@126.comBackground: Alcoholics are prone to alcoholic cirrhosis (ALC). Aldehyde dehydrogenase 2 (ALDH2) is involved in alcohol metabolism. Herein, the relationship between ALDH2 genotypes and ALC was analyzed among Hakka alcoholics in southern China.Methods: A total of 213 alcoholics and 214 non-alcoholics were included in the study. The ALDH2 gene rs671 polymorphism was analyzed, life history, disease history, and auxiliary examination results of these participants were collected.Results: The alcoholics had higher level of total serum protein, and serum globulin, lower level of serum albumin, serum albumin/globulin ratio, serum prealbumin, neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), lymphocyte-to-monocyte ratio (LMR), and platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR) than non-alcoholics. In the 213 alcoholics, 180 developed ALC. There were 206 non-ALC persons in the 214 non-alcoholics. The proportion of the ALDH2 rs671 G/G homozygous (&ast;1/&ast;1) was significantly lower in ALC patients (83.3%) than that of other groups (100.0% in non-ALC in alcoholics, 95.6% in non-ALC in non-alcoholics), while the proportion of the G/A heterozygous (&ast;1/&ast;2) was significantly higher in ALC patients (16.7%) than that of other groups (0% in non-ALC in alcoholics, 4.4% in non-ALC in non-alcoholics). Logistic regression analysis indicated that participants with low level of NLR (adjusted OR 5.543, 95% CI 2.964– 10.368, P< 0.001), LMR (adjusted OR 9.256, 95% CI 4.740– 18.076, P< 0.001), and PLR (adjusted OR 6.047, 95% CI 3.372– 10.845, P< 0.001), and ALDH2 G/A genotype (adjusted OR 6.323, 95% CI 2.477– 16.140, P< 0.001) had a significantly higher risk of ALC.Conclusion: ALDH2 polymorphism rs671 &ast;1/&ast;2 genotype is a potential risk factor for the development of ALC among Hakka alcoholics.Keywords: ALDH2, alcoholics, alcoholic liver cirrhosis, gene polymorphism, Hakka

Shirui Li,1 Zhihui Gao,1 Meihan Zhong,1 Zhujun Yu,1 Jianan Li,2 Haoran Bi1,3,4 1Department of Biostatistics, Xuzhou Medical University, Xuzhou, People’s Republic of China; 2Key Laboratory of Environment and Health, Xuzhou Medical University, Xuzhou, People’s Republic of China; 3Center for Medical Statistics and Data Analysis, Xuzhou Medical University, Xuzhou, People’s Republic of China; 4Key Laboratory of Human Genetics and Environmental Medicine, Xuzhou Medical University, Xuzhou, People’s Republic of ChinaCorrespondence: Haoran Bi, Department of Biostatistics, Xuzhou Medical University, No. 209 Tongshan Road, Xuzhou, Jiangsu, 221004, People’s Republic of China, Tel/Fax +86-0516-83262660, Email bihaoran1989@sina.com Jianan Li, Key Laboratory of Environment and Health, Xuzhou Medical University, No. 209 Tongshan Road, Xuzhou, Jiangsu, 221004, People’s Republic of China, Tel/Fax +86-0516-83262659, Email lijianan512133@163.comPurpose: The emergence of the mutant virus has exacerbated the COVID-19 epidemic, and vaccines remain an effective and viable means of resistance. As a socially influential young group, university students’ awareness and acceptance of the COVID-19 vaccine are crucial to achieving herd immunity. This study aimed to assess the awareness and acceptance of the COVID-19 vaccine among Chinese university students and identify possible factors associated with their awareness level and vaccine hesitancy.Patients and Methods: An anonymous cross-sectional survey was conducted among Chinese university students between 10 and 28 June 2021. We collected information on the demographic characteristics, awareness and acceptance of the COVID-19 vaccine, and influencing factors. Sleep disturbances and anxiety disorders were also evaluated. Multinomial logistic regression analyses were performed.Results: Among the 721 participants (aged 18 to 23 years) with a female predominance (68.9%), 40.4% of cases exhibited moderate awareness the COVID-19 vaccine, and 87.4% of cases expressed high acceptance of the vaccine. Participants’ awareness of the COVID-19 vaccine was associated with gender, ethnicity, region of residence, grade level, satisfaction with current state of pandemic control, the perceived likelihood of a COVID-19 pandemic rebound, the source number of COVID-19 information, concerns about differences in vaccine manufacturers, acceptance of current state-approved vaccines and insomnia level. Furthermore, age, preferred channels for vaccination and the acceptance of current state-approved vaccines were significantly associated with their acceptance of the vaccine.Conclusion: This study reflected Chinese university students’ high acceptance, but insufficient awareness of the COVID-19 vaccine, some students have insomnia and anxiety problems. These require the government to take measures such as individualized publicity and education, adding professional psychological counseling courses to improve the university students’ awareness of vaccines and public health events, and comprehensively promote vaccination to cope with the ever-changing situation of the COVID-19 epidemic.Keywords: university students, COVID-19 vaccine, mental health, vaccine hesitancy

Yu Luo,1,2,&ast; Heming Wu,2,3,&ast; Qingyan Huang,2,3 Hui Rao,2,3 Zhikang Yu,2,3 Zhixiong Zhong2,3 1Department of Gynaecology, Meizhou People’s Hospital (Huangtang Hospital), Meizhou Academy of Medical Sciences, Meizhou, People’s Republic of China; 2Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Precision Medicine and Clinical Translational Research of Hakka Population, Meizhou People’s Hospital (Huangtang Hospital), Meizhou Academy of Medical Sciences, Meizhou, People’s Republic of China; 3Center for Precision Medicine, Meizhou People’s Hospital (Huangtang Hospital), Meizhou Academy of Medical Sciences, Meizhou, People’s Republic of China&ast;These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Zhikang Yu; Zhixiong Zhong, Center for Precision Medicine, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Precision Medicine and Clinical Translational Research of Hakka Population, Meizhou People’s Hospital (Huangtang Hospital), Meizhou Academy of Medical Sciences, No. 63 Huangtang Road, Meijiang District, Meizhou, 514031, People’s Republic of China, Tel +753-2131-591, Email yuzhikang01@126.com; zhongzhixiong01@126.comObjective: To investigate the frequencies of BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations in Chinese Hakka patients with ovarian cancer.Methods: The protein coding regions and exon intron boundary regions of the BRCA gene were sequenced using genomic DNA isolated from the lymphocytes of patients with next-generation sequencing. The patients’ family history and clinical records were collected.Results: A total of 195 patients with ovarian cancer were included in the study, and 52 distinct variants of the BRCA gene were identified. It was found that 64 patients (64/195, 32.8%) had BRCA gene mutations, including 32 patients (50.0%) with BRCA1 mutation, 27 patients (42.2%) with BRCA2 mutation, and 5 patients (7.8%) with both mutations. Furthermore, 22 pathogenic mutations were detected in 26 patients, 2 likely pathogenic variants in 2 patients, 12 variants of uncertain significance in 20 patients, and 16 likely benign variants in 24 patients. The mutations were mainly found to occur in exons 8, 14, and 17 of BRCA1 and exons 10, 11, 14, and 15 of BRCA2. The results showed that the BRCA genes possess different mutation hotspots in different ethnic groups. In addition, recurrent mutations were noted in many patients. BRCA1 c.536 A>T, considered a founder mutation, was identified in 10 patients (15.63%, 10/64), followed by BRCA1 c.2635 G>T (6.25%, 4/64) and BRCA2 c.2566 T>C (6.25%, 4/64).Conclusion: The BRCA1 c.536 A>T could be considered to be a founder mutation in this ovarian cancer population. This recurrent BRCA1 mutation has rarely been observed in other ethnic groups. Our findings are expected to provide valuable data for clinical consultation and for designing individualized treatment for ovarian cancer.Keywords: BRCA gene, ovarian cancer, variants, Hakka population