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Background. Cystatin C (Cys C) not only regulates the body’s immune defenses but also contributes to tissue degradation and destruction by causing an imbalance between protease and antiprotease in infectious diseases. Is Cys C involved in pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) infection and cavitation? We therefore conducted a retrospective study on this question to provide a basis for further studies. Methods. Cavitary PTB patients, noncavitary PTB patients, and healthy controls were recruited in our study. Serum Cys C, CRP, BUN, UA, and CR were measured in all subjects, and the Kruskal-Wallis test was used to compare medians of these clinical parameters in different groups. The Spearman rank correlation test was used to determine correlations between variables. In addition, a multivariate analysis using binary logistic regression was used to identify factors associated with PTB cavitation. Results. In our study, elevated serum Cys C levels were found in cavitary PTB patients compared to healthy controls and noncavitary patients ( p = 0.022 ). Serum Cys C levels were statistically correlated with serum BUN and CR concentrations ( r = 0.278 , p = 0.005 ; r = 0.281 , p = 0.004 ) in PTB patients. The binary logistic regression analysis showed that elevated serum Cys C levels were correlated with pulmonary cavitation in PTB patients ( OR = 1.426 , 95% CI: 1.071–1.898). Conclusion. Elevated serum levels of Cys C are associated with pulmonary cavitation in PTB patients.

A high-sucrose diet causes microbiota composition shift, and promotes the susceptibility of mice to Salmonella Typhimurium infection.

Idiopathic atrophoderma of Pasini and Pierini (IAPP) is a rare pigmented atrophic cutaneous disease. Here, we report a case of a 27-year-old woman who presented with asymptomatic brown patches on her upper back for one year. There was no prior history of swelling or induration of the lesions. Physical examination showed atrophic patches with clear boundaries, consistent with snow footprints or cliff-drop-like changes on edge. Dermoscopy revealed numerous bare linear, branched blood vessels and perifollicular brownish areas, which differs from only one previously reported IAPP. Biopsy showed perivascular mononuclear cells infiltrating the dermis and reduced elastic fibers in the upper and middle dermis. Typical clinical findings of “footprints in the snow” appearance and dermoscopy could combine for a definite diagnosis aiding in differentiating from morphea presenting with whitish structureless and hairless areas. This case report might stimulate clinicians to diagnose such a rare disease in patients with similar lesions to avoid unnecessary treatment.

Glioblastoma is a malignant CNS tumor with an extremely poor prognosis. F-box protein 11 (FBXO11) has E3 ubiquitin ligase activity and participates in the pathogenesis of multiple tumors but the role and mechanism of FBXO11 activity in glioblastoma remain unknown. In this study, FBXO11 was first observed to be downregulated in glioblastoma tissues and cell lines. 3-(4,5)-dimethylthiahiazo (-z-y1)-3,5-di- phenytetrazoliumromide (MTT) and colony formation assays and enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) demonstrated that overexpression of FBXO11 suppressed proliferation and aerobic glycolysis and induced cell cycle arrest in U251-MG and A172 cells. FBXO1 decreased cell division cycle 25 A (Cdc25A) expression through ubiquitin degradation in a coprecipitation assay. A Western blot assay validated FBXO11 suppression of PKM2 dephosphorylation and c-Myc-mediated aerobic glycolysis via reduction of Cdc25A. In addition, a rescue experiment revealed that FBXO11 suppressed proliferation and aerobic glycolysis, both of which were reversed by overexpression of Cdc25A. FBXO11 overexpression also inhibited tumorigenesis via suppressing Cdc25A expression in vivo. These findings indicate that FBXO11 suppresses cell proliferation and aerobic glycolysis in glioblastomas by mediating the ubiquitin degradation of Cdc25A thereby providing insight into mechanisms of glioblastoma tumorigenesis and identifying a new potential therapeutic strategy.

Background: The psychological status of men who have sex with men (MSM) as a vulnerable population during COVID-19 is worthy of attention. However, studies of Chinese MSM are limited. The aim of this study was to investigate the psychological status and influencing factors of MSM population and to provide a scientific basis for this group to actively respond to public health emergencies. Methods: From June to September 2020, we conducted an online survey. MSMs were recruited through collaboration with non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and peer recommendations. The variables we collected included four aspects: demographic and HIV-related characteristics; COVID-19-related knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors; COVID-19-related risk perception; epidemic exposure. The psychological status was assessed by the Psychological Questionnaire for Emergent Events of Public Health (PQEEPH), which defined the psychological status as five primary disorders: depression, neurasthenia, fear, anxiety, and hypochondria. Multivariate logistic regression was used to explore the influences of COVID-19-related factors on the psychological status. Results: We surveyed 412 MSM online during COVID-19. The five psychological status of high-risk states accounted for 16.99% (depression), 14.08% (neurasthenia), 16.75% (fear), 16.50% (anxiety), and 18.20% (hypochondria), respectively. Not being well-informed about the causes of COVID-19 (p = 0.020) and having experienced epidemic exposure (p = 0.006) were able to promote the occurrence of depression. Lack of knowledge of the curative effect of COVID-19 has a higher risk of occurrence neurasthenia (p < 0.001). Being afraid of the novel coronavirus (p < 0.001) promoted fear. The perceived prevalence of the epidemic (p = 0.003), being more susceptible to COVID-19 (p < 0.001), and not being well-informed about the causes of COVID-19 (p = 0.005) had a positive effect on anxiety. Considering that the epidemic was not effectively controlled (p = 0.017), being more susceptible to COVID-19 (p < 0.001) was a contributing factor to the hypochondria. Conclusions: The incidence of psychological disorders in Chinese MSM was higher than that in other groups during COVID-19. Factors associated with COVID-19 may cause a range of mental health problems in this population. Greater attention should be paid to the mental health status of special populations during the epidemic, and effective preventive education and intervention measures should be taken.

Background: ISO 15189:2012 is widely recommended for clinical laboratories. However, it has not been paid enough attention in medical laboratory education and experiments in clinical biochemistry courses. Methods/Approach: The teaching program of clinical biochemistry aims to improve students’ awareness and ability of quality management according to ISO 15189 technical requirements. It is a 4-stage experimental training program to teaching skills: "establish an overall testing process based on the patient's clinical indicator, clarifying principles, improve operational skills, review process and continuous improvement". The program was implemented in our college during the winter semesters of 2019 and 2020. 185 students participate in the program as an experimental group, other 172 students as control group adopt the conventional method. Participants completed an online survey after each class to evaluate the class. Results/Outcomes: The test group had significantly better examination scores not only in experimental operational skills (89.27±7.16 vs. 77.51±4.72, pConclusions: A 4-stage experimental training program based on ISO 15189 technical requirements combined with CBL in clinical biochemistry is an effective and acceptable teaching strategy for the conventional training program.

The study analyzed the current status and changing trends of PM2.5 pollution, and used Kriging spatial interpolation, spatial autocorrelation analysis, and scan statistics to explore the spatiotemporal characteristics and identify hotspots. The results showed that PM2.5 pollution during 2015–2019 displayed a downward trend year by year, with a pronounced seasonal difference of higher concentrations in winter and lower concentrations in summer. By 2019, there were still 110 cities (n = 194) failed to meet China’s annual grade II air quality standard (35 μg/m3). The spatial distribution of PM2.5 was characterized by marked heterogeneity, with a significant spatial dependence and clustering characteristics. The pollution hotspots of PM2.5 were mainly concentrated in eastern and central China, especially in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region and its surrounding area. The results of this study will assist Chinese authorities in developing strategies for preventing and controlling air pollution, especially in hotspot regions and during peak periods.

Background The application of information technology in the medical industry is growing. The traditional face-to-face doctor–patient interaction has turned into an online doctor–patient interaction, particularly in the case of an epidemic outbreak. Online doctor–patient communication has become increasingly common. Text communication can no longer meet people’s new communication needs. The appearance of emoji compensates for the challenges in online doctor–patient interactions to convey nontext information, such as facial emoji, gestures and voice tones. Objective This study aimed to explore the impact of using emoji during online doctor–patient communication on users’ perception of the medical community by considering the moderating effect of demographics. Methods An online questionnaire survey was conducted amongst 520 people from December 2021 to January 2022 by random sampling. The frequency, emoji use style and the users’ previous consultation experience score were used as the main independent variables in this study. The perceived effect of the user was adopted as the dependent variable. Wilcoxon signed-rank test and multiple regression analysis were used for data analysis. Result For the use frequency and style of emoji mentioned in this study, a significant difference exists between the preference of users who use emoji for a single time and those who use the same emoji continuously (P , with the former showing a better performance than the latter. A significant difference exists between users who use open-style emoji and users who use neutral-style emoji (P ). The emoji perception effect of open style was better than that of neutral style. Users’ preference for emoji use is not affected regardless of whether they are platform users a platform is used (P > 0.05). Men and individuals under 30 are easily influenced by the use of emoji and the characteristics of emoji use. People (users) with educational attainment not higher than high school education tend to have preferences for the frequency of emoji use. Conclusion The characteristics of emoji use affected the perceived effect of online communication with doctors. Single use of emoji and relatively open style of emoji had a positive impact on the degree of acceptance of doctors’ information. Men and people under the age of 30 showed more expressive preferences for facial features than women and people over the age of 30. Therefore, doctors should properly use emoji for patients with different characteristics to help strengthen the communication between doctors and patients. Moreover, the online medical community should design diversified emoji for patients with different characteristics to provide personalized services.

Photodynamic therapy (PDT), which uses targeted photosensitizing drugs, has been regarded as a promising method for cancer therapy. In the present study, photosensitizer red phosphorus modified P25 nanophotosensitizers (P25-RP) were generated, which were coated with platelet membrane (P25-RP@PLT) extracted from platelet rich plasma. The biocompatibility of P25-RP was demonstrated by cell counting kit-8 (CCK-8) and optical microscope assay, more than 93 % cells in the concentration of 100 μg/ml of P25-RP suspension after co-incubation for 24 h were still kept alive. The antitumor performance of P25-RP@PLT was evaluated via CCK-8 assay, flow cytometry and fluorescence staining of live/dead cells. The experiment results showed that P25-RP@PLT could ablate 55 % malignant tumor cells upon laser irradiation within 5 min, which was 10 % higher than P25-RP alone against cancer cells. Mechanistically, the cancer cell toxicity of P25-RP@PLT nanophotosensitizers was attributed to its heterojunction structure that broadens the absorption spectra, whereas PLT membrane coating technology allows for immune escape and selective adhesion capacity to cancer cells. This work provided a novel pathway on the design of novel visible-light-driven photosensitizer for cancer therapy.

This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of depression and anxiety, and associated factors, among Chinese children and adolescents aged 8-18 years who attend primary or high school.A total of 23 005 primary and high school students were recruited from February to December, 2019 for this cross-sectional study. The questionnaire included demographic information, questions assessing suicidality, resilience, depression (Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale for Children), and anxiety (Screen for Child Anxiety Related Disorders). Binary logistic regression was used to analyze the independent correlates of depression and anxiety.Overall, 13.06% of participants experienced depressive symptoms, 22.34% experienced anxiety symptoms, 26.34% experienced transient suicidal ideation, 2.23% had serious suicidal ideation, and 1.46% had a history of suicide attempts. Anxiety (odds ratio [OR], 4.935; 95% confidence interval [CI][4.442-5.485]), suicidality (OR, 2.671; 95% CI[2.203-3.237]), skipping breakfast (OR, 1.920; 95% CI[1.348-2.736]), sleep duration (OR, 0.470; 95% CI[0.398-0.556]) and self-expectations (OR, 1.924; 95% CI[1.550-2.389]) were associated with depression (all p .05). Depression (OR, 4.424; 95% CI[3.983-4.914]), female sex (OR, 1.903; 95% CI[1.759-2.060]), school-based traumatic experience(s) (OR, 1.905; 95% CI[1.747-2.077]), relationships with teachers (OR, 1.575; 95% CI[1.103-2.249]), and suicidality (OR, 1.467; 95% CI[1.218-1.766]) were associated with anxiety symptoms (all p .05).Depression and anxiety are common among school-age children and adolescents in China. Childhood school- and family-based traumatic experience(s), female sex, and lifestyle factors (eating breakfast, sleep duration, exercising, and Internet use) are significantly associated with mental health among children and adolescents. Developing interventions targeting these factors to protect students from depression and anxiety are needed.

Bi2MoO6/BiOI composites were synthesized by solvothermal method and photocatalytic performances were evaluated by degrading methylene blue (MB). Experiment results show that Bi2MoO6/0.5BiOI has the best photocatalytic efficiency for eliminating 92% MB in 2 h under the excitation of visible light. Such superior photocatalytic performance is due to the significantly enhanced ability to absorb visible light and separated efficiency of photogenerated electrons and holes.

Jiaxiu Liu,1,2 Ruibin Deng,1 Bing Lin,1 Hong Pan,1 Yuwen Gao,1 Jianghong Dai,3 Hao Liang,4 Ailong Huang,5 Xiaoni Zhong1 1School of Public Health and Management, Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, 400016, People’s Republic of China; 2School of Medical Information, Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, People’s Republic of China; 3Department of Epidemiology and Health Statistics, School of Public Health, Xinjiang Medical University, Xinjiang, People’s Republic of China; 4Department of Epidemiology and Medical Statistics, School of Public Health, Guangxi Medical University, Nanning, People’s Republic of China; 5Key Laboratory of Molecular Biology on Infectious Diseases, Ministry of Education, Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, People’s Republic of ChinaCorrespondence: Xiaoni ZhongSchool of Public Health and Management, Chongqing Medical University, 1 Yixue Road, Chongqing, 400016, People’s Republic of ChinaTel +86 13308368059Email zhongxiaoni@cqmu.edu.cnBackground: Men who have sex with multiple men (MSMM) belong to a high-risk group for HIV infection, and pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is an effective measure to prevent the infection. However, few studies on PrEP adherence by MSMM in China exist. We aimed to explore the protective motivation-related factors for PrEP adherence in an HIV-negative MSMM population in Western China and to provide a reference for future risk management and effective prevention strategies.Methods: Data were collected from a 2-year follow-up cohort study of PrEP in MSM in China. Rogers’ protective motivation theory (PMT) was used to study the PrEP adherence of MSMM, and logistic regression was performed to analyze the influencing factors of PrEP adherence.Results: A total of 496 MSMM were included in the study: 299 (60.28%) of them in the good adherence group and 197 (39.72%) in the poor adherence group. The threat assessment scores of the good and poor adherence groups were 2.15 ± 0.59 and 2.06 ± 0.47, respectively, and the response assessment scores were 2.81 ± 0.62 and 2.74 ± 0.62, respectively. Poor PrEP adherence was associated with on-demand PrEP medication (OR=0.670), students at school (OR=1.837), occasional condom use (OR=1.621), and good HIV knowledge (OR= 0.659). The higher the threat assessment score, the higher the susceptibility; and the lower the response cost, the stronger the protection motivation and the less likely MSMM were to have poor adherence.Conclusion: On-demand PrEP medication is more conducive to adherence. Preventive management should focus on MSMMs who are students at school, those who occasionally use condoms, and those with poor HIV knowledge. Improving threat perception and susceptibility, and controlling and reducing the response cost can effectively improve PrEP adherence, and the subsequent application of PMT during intervention research can provide a reference for HIV prevention in MSMM.Keywords: MSM, multiple sexual partners, PrEP, adherence, protective motivation theory, Western China

Diets impact host health in multiple ways and an unbalanced diet could contribute to the initiation or progression of a variety of diseases. Although a wealth of information exists on the connections between diet and chronic metabolic diseases such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes mellitus, etc., how diet influences enteric infectious disease still remain underexplored. The review summarizes the current findings on the link between various dietary components and diverse enteric infectious diseases. Dietary ingredients discussed include macronutrients (carbohydrates, lipids, proteins), micronutrients (vitamins, minerals), and other dietary ingredients (phytonutrients and probiotic supplements). We first describe the importance of enteric infectious diseases and the direct and indirect relationship between diet and enteric infectious diseases. Then we discuss the effects of different dietary components on the susceptibility to or progression of enteric infectious disease. Finally, we delineate current knowledge gap and highlighted future research directions. The literature review revealed that different dietary components affect host resistance to enteric infections through a variety of mechanisms. Dietary components may directly inhibit or bind to enteric pathogens, or indirectly influence enteric infections through modulating immune function and gut microbiota. Elucidating the unique repercussions of different diets on enteric infections in this review may help provide dietary guidelines or design dietary interventions to prevent or alleviate enteric infectious diseases.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has evolved into an established global pandemic. Metabolomic studies in COVID-19 patients is worth exploring for further available screening methods. In our study, we recruited a study cohort of 350 subjects comprising 248 COVID-19 patients (161 non-severe cases, 60 asymptomatic cases, and 27 severe cases) and 102 healthy controls (HCs), and herein present data with respect to their demographic features, urinary metabolome, immunological indices, and follow-up health status. We found that COVID-19 resulted in alterations of 39 urinary, mainly microbial, metabolites. Using random forest analysis, a simplified marker panel including three microbial metabolites (oxoglutaric acid, indoxyl, and phenylacetamide) was constructed (AUC=0.963, 95% CI, 0.930-0.983), which exhibited higher diagnostic performance than immune feature-based panels between COVID-19 and HC groups (P+, CD3+, and CD8+ T-cells, as well as IFN-γ, IL-2 and IL-4 levels, suggesting close interactions between microbial metabolites and host immune dysregulation in COVID-19. Taken together, our findings indicate that urinary metabolites may have promising potential for screening of COVID-19 in different application scenarios, and provide a new entry point to understand the microbial metabolites and related immune dysfunction in COVID-19.

(1) Background: Few studies have explored the heterogeneity of trajectories of stress, anxiety, and depressive symptoms during pregnancy. This study aimed to explore the trajectory groups of stress, anxiety, and depressive symptoms in women during pregnancy and the risk factors associated with those groups. (2) Methods: Data came from pregnant women recruited from January to September 2018 in four hospitals in Chongqing Province, China. A structured questionnaire was given to pregnant women, which collected basic information, including personal, family, and social information. The growth mixture model was applied to identify potential trajectory groups, and multinomial logistic regression was applied to analyze factors of trajectory groups. (3) Results: We identified three stress trajectory groups, three anxiety trajectory groups, and four depression trajectory groups. Less developed regions, inadequate family care, and inadequate social support were associated with a high risk of stress; residence, use of potentially teratogenic drugs, owning pets, family care, and social support were strongly associated with the anxiety trajectory group; family care and social support were the most critical factors for the depression trajectory group. (4) Conclusions: The trajectories of prenatal stress, anxiety, and depressive symptoms are dynamic and heterogeneous. This study may provide some critical insights into the characteristics of women in the high-risk trajectory groups for early intervention to mitigate worsening symptoms.

Trehalose is a nonreducing disaccharide that is widely distributed in various organisms. Trehalose-6-phosphate synthase (TPS) is a critical enzyme responsible for the biosynthesis of trehalose, which serves important functions in growth and development, defense, and stress resistance. Although previous studies have found that the clubroot pathogen Plasmodiophora brassicae can lead to the accumulation of trehalose in infected Arabidopsis organs, it has been proposed that much of the accumulated trehalose is derived from the pathogen. At present, there is very little evidence to verify this view. In this study, a comprehensive analysis of the TPS gene family was conducted in Brassica rapa and Plasmodiophora brassicae. A total of 14 Brassica rapa TPS genes (BrTPSs) and 3 P. brassicae TPS genes (PbTPSs) were identified, and the evolutionary characteristics, functional classification, and expression patterns were analyzed. Fourteen BrTPS genes were classified into two distinct classes according to phylogeny and gene structure. Three PbTPSs showed no significant differences in gene structure and protein conserved motifs. However, evolutionary analysis showed that the PbTPS2 gene failed to cluster with PbTPS1 and PbTPS3. Furthermore, cis-acting elements related to growth and development, defense and stress responsiveness, and hormone responsiveness were predicted in the promoter region of the BrTPS genes. Expression analysis of most BrTPS genes at five stages after P. brassicae interaction found no significant induction. Instead, the expression of the PbTPS genes of P. brassicae was upregulated, which was consistent with the period of trehalose accumulation. This study deepens our understanding of the function and evolution of BrTPSs and PbTPSs. Simultaneously, clarifying the biosynthesis of trehalose in the interaction between Brassica rapa and P. brassicae is also of great significance.

Background We assessed the utilization of HIV health services and its influencing factors on consistent condom use, HIV testing and HIV counseling among men who have sex with men (MSM) based on Andersen Behavioral Model, so as to provide a theoretical basis for future infectious disease prevention and control strategies and health services policy formulation.method This is a cross-sectional study from 2013 to 2021. A sample survey was conducted in southwest China including Chongqing, Sichuan, Xinjiang and Guangxi, and an anonymous self-administered questionnaire survey was conducted among MSM who met the requirements and were recruited. Based on Anderson Behavioral Model, the questionnaire divided the influencing factors into predisposing factor, enabling factor and need factor. There were 2908 valid questionnaires. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to explore the factors influencing the utilization of health services.Results In the survey of HIV health services, 36.49% of respondents consistently used condoms, 82.81% had HIV testing, and 65.61% had HIV counseling. It can be obtained that among the predisposing factor, older age is a factor that promotes HIV testing but is a hindrance to consistent condom use. Condom use was higher among MSM who were Ethnic Han and had an education level of "junior high or below". Among the enabling factor, not finding a sexual partner through the Internet, not having commercial sex were associated with consistent condom use. Urban and high income were enablers of HIV testing and HIV counseling. Among the need factor, improved HIV knowledge could promote HIV testing and HIV counseling among MSM.Conclusions For these groups, MSM with high-risk characteristics should be identified as a priority in the future public health services. HIV knowledge should be promoted in health education, and mental health diagnosis and treatment also should be strengthened.

The study analyzed the current status and changing trends of PM

Aim: Using the generalised additive model for location, the scale and shape (GAMLSS), the standard of height (length), weight and percentage curve of children were formulated to understand the growth law in Chongqing and to provide a reference for clinical and preventive health care work of paediatrics in West China. Methods: Data were collected from the health clinic dataset of children aged 0 - 7 years in the Department of Child Health Care of a Third-Class A hospital in Chongqing from 2010 to 2017. By applying the GAMLSS technology and taking D(μ, σ, ν, τ) as the specific distribution form, BCT as the link function, P-spline function and cubic splines function as the smoothing function, the unit value of age-specific standard deviation of height (length) and weight were obtained, and the percentile map was drawn. Results: Based on the principle of minimum AIC and SBC values, BCT distribution was chosen as the model of the link function. Fitting results of height (length) and weight parameters of boys and girls, standard deviation tables of age and percentile curves were obtained. Conclusions: This study was an exploration of using GAMLSS method to establish a reference value range in the field of children’s growth and development in China. It could supplement the relevant data of Chongqing area for Reference standard for growth and development of children under 7 years of age in China, and also provide a reference for the rational diagnosis of children’s short stature and malnutrition in Chongqing.

Additional file 1. Questionnaires for the collection of basic information and follow-up data throughout the pregnancy

Vibrio parahaemolyticus (V. parahaemolyticus) is an important foodborne pathogen, which is frequently associated with seafood consumption and commonly causes gastroenteritis. The biofilm formed by V. parahaemolyticus in the food production chain poses a continuous threat to food safety, therefore effective antibiofilm strategy is in urgent need. Sodium butyrate is widely used in food, feed, cosmetics and other industries, and could be used as a flavoring agent in food as well as a dietary supplement for health. This study aims to examine the antibiofilm effect of sodium butyrate against V. parahaemolyticus. We found that sodium butyrate could inhibit biofilm formation at subinhibitory concentrations (SICs). Microscopic images coupled with extracellular polysaccharide quantification showed that V. parahaemolyticus biofilm was loosely structured with fewer biofilm constituents when treated with sodium butyrate. XTT reduction assay illustrated that sodium butyrate interfered with the metabolic activity of cells encased inside biofilm and decreased their viability. Sodium butyrate decreased the motility and surface hydrophobicity of V. parahaemolyticus, and interfered with quorum sensing by using two reporter strains. The RT-qPCR analysis revealed that sodium butyrate down-regulated genes associated with biofilm formation. These findings suggest that sodium butyrate has the potential to be developed as a potent agent against V. parahaemolyticus biofilm in food industries.

BACKGROUND Eph receptors comprise the largest group of the receptor tyrosine kinase (RTK) family, and Eph receptors interacting with their ligand ephrins play an important role in development and tumorigenesis. EphB6, a special Eph receptor that lacks tyrosine kinase activity, was reported to be expressed in some human cancers. The clinical significance of EphB6 in gastric carcinoma has not been well investigated. METHODS In this study, we detected expression of EphB6 protein in four gastric cancer cell lines and a set of gastric carcinoma tissue specimens by using immunohistochemistry. The relationship between EphB6 protein expression and clinicopathological parameters was statistically analyzed. RESULTS EphB6 protein was differentially detected in four gastric cancer cell lines. EphB6 protein was low expressed in 52.6%, moderately expressed in 32.59%, and strongly expressed in 14.5% of gastric carcinomas. EphB6 expression was positively associated with tumor differentiation (P< 0.001, rs= 0.476), and negatively associated with lymph node metastasis (P< 0.001, rs=-0.444) and tumor stage (P= 0.001, rs=-0.269). Low EphB6 expression was detected more often in female patients (P= 0.031). No significant relationship between EphB6 expression and patient age, tumor location, or depth of tumor invasion was identified. CONCLUSION Our data indicate that EphB6 protein was decreased in gastric carcinoma compared with normal mucosa. Analytic results based on pathological parameters suggests that EphB6 protein may inhibit metastasis of gastric carcinoma and could be a potential therapeutic target for gastric carcinoma.

This study aimed to explore the prevalence and influencing factors of anxiety and depression among human immunodeficiency virus negative (HIV-negative) men who have sex with men (MSM) based on anal sex roles, so as to provide a scientific basis for the management of mental health conditions. Data were obtained from the baseline in a cohort study with a two-year follow-up period in western China. The Self-Rating Anxiety Scale and Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale were used to assess anxiety and depression symptoms, respectively. The prevalence of anxiety and depression in 1771 MSM was 26.03% and 37.83%. Among them, 182 anal sex role &ldquo, 0&rdquo, MSM who only had receptive anal sex with men reported the highest prevalence of anxiety and depression (31.32% and 46.15%), 467 anal sex role &ldquo, 1&rdquo, MSM who only had insertive anal sex with men (22.27% and 32.76%), and 1122 anal sex role &ldquo, 0.5&rdquo, MSM who engaged equally in both insertive and receptive anal sex intercourse with men (26.74% and 38.59%), respectively. Logistic regression analysis revealed that the influencing factors of anxiety include anal sex role &ldquo, /&rdquo, low educational level, female sexual partners, frequently searching partners on the Internet, sexually transmitted diseases (STD) diagnosed by doctors, and no HIV counseling. Anal sex role &ldquo, rural area, casual male partners, female partners, STD diagnosed by doctors, frequently searching partners on the Internet, no HIV counseling, no condom use, and daily alcohol use were found to be associated with depression. In conclusion, early identification and intervention of anxiety and depression symptoms in HIV-negative MSM should be carried out, especially for anal sex role &ldquo, MSM. Furthermore, key intervention and psychological counseling should be taken into consideration for MSM with a low education level, high-risk behaviors, and high-risk perceptions.

Background: This study conducted in mainland China was aimed to explore the cognition, psychological state, anxiety and depression level of college students dur