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Background: The clinical characteristics and risk factors for opportunistic infections in HIV patients with concomitant diabetes mellitus are unclear and worth studying. Explore the risk factors and construct a predictive model for opportunistic infections in HIV-DM patients. Methods: Clinical data were retrospectively collected from 1,669 HIV-DM admitted to the Public Health Clinical Center of Chengdu from December 2018 to November 2023.Based on the occurrence of opportunistic infections, the patients were divided into two groups. Comparative analyses were conducted to assess nutritional status, plasma glucose levels, comorbidities of chronic noncommunicable diseases, and immune status. We applied univariate logistic regression and LASSO regression to screen independent variables. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was performed to identify risk factors and establish a prediction model for opportunistic infections. Results: In our study population of 1,669 patients (median age was 59 years, 83.22% male), 868 developed opportunistic infections, while the remaining 801 patients did not develop opportunistic infections. Additionally, 1,598 patients survived, and 71 patients died. The opportunistic infection group had a greater median age, lower median BMI, longer median length of hospital stay and greater number of deaths. Logistic regression analysis identified nutritional risk, duration of HIV infection, HbA1c, albumin, and CD4+ T cell counts as significant risk factors and predictors of opportunistic infections. Nutritional risk (OR=2.888) and HbA1c showed positive associations (P <0.001), while duration of HIV infection, albumin, and CD4+ T cell counts demonstrated negative associations with infection risk (P <0.05). The comprehensive model evaluation, based on receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve, calibration curve, and decision curve analysis (DCA), validated the acceptable predictive performance of our model. Conclusion: This study identified nutritional risk, duration of HIV infection, HbA1c and albumin as significant risk factors and predictors of opportunistic infections in HIV-DM patients, further highlighting the importance of nutritional screening and good glucose control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Graph data is essential for modeling complex relationships among entities. Graph Neural Networks (GNNs) have demonstrated effectiveness in processing low-order undirected graph data; however, in complex directed graphs, relationships between nodes extend beyond first-order connections and encompass higher-order relationships. Additionally, the asymmetry introduced by edge directionality further complicates node interactions, presenting greater challenges for extracting node information. In this paper, We propose TWC-GNN, a novel graph neural network design, as a solution to this problem. TWC-GNN uses node degrees to define higher-order topological structures, assess node importance, and capture mutual interactions between central nodes and their adjacent counterparts. This approach improves our understanding of complex relationships within the network. Furthermore, by integrating self-attention mechanisms, TWC-GNN effectively gathers higher-order node information in addition to focusing on first-order node information. Experimental results demonstrate that the integration of topological structures and higher-order node information is crucial for the learning process of graph neural networks, particularly in directed graphs, leading to improved classification accuracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lavender species are of significant economic value being cultivated extensively worldwide for their essential oils (EOs), which include terpenes that play crucial roles in the cosmetic, personal care, and pharmaceutical industries. The terpene synthases in lavender, such as Lavandula angustifolia linalool synthase (LaLINS), limonene synthase (LaLIMS), and bergamotene synthase (LaBERS), are key enzymes in terpene biosynthesis. However, the functional mechanisms underlying these enzymes remain poorly understood. Here, we used AlphaFold2 to predict the three-dimensional structures of LaLINS, LaLIMS, and LaBERS. The hydrodynamic radii of LaLINS, LaLIMS, and LaBERS were 5.7 ± 0.2, 6.2 ± 0.3, and 5.4 ± 0.2 nm, respectively. Mutations D320A or D324A led to a complete loss of activity in LaLINS compared to the wild-type (WT) enzyme; similarly, mutations D356A or D360A abolished activity in LaLIMS, and D291A or D295A eliminated activity in LaBERS. Furthermore, the genes LaLINS , LaLIMS , and LaBERS exhibited significantly higher expression levels in leaves compared to stems and flowers, with peak expression occurring at 8:00 a.m. Our findings contribute to a deeper understanding of terpene biosynthesis in lavender and offer insights for improving essential oil production through genetic engineering. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: Our cohort study aimed to investigate the dynamic changes of lymphocyte subsets and their abilities to predict disease severity and prognosis in primary infection and unvaccinated COVID-19 patients. Methods: A total of 773 cases, including 718 primary infection and unvaccinated COVID-19 patients and 55 controls. COVID-19 patients were assigned to severe and nonsevere groups according to disease severity, as well as survival and death groups according to prognosis. Serum samples were collected to measure the numbers of total lymphocytes and lymphocyte subsets. The differences among different severity groups were analyzed. Spearman correlation was performed to assess associations between lymphocyte subsets and disease severity and prognosis. Meanwhile, receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were also analyzed to find optimal cutoff points. Results: At admission, the severe group demonstrated significantly lower total lymphocyte counts and percentages, CD3+ and CD3+CD4+ T cell counts and percentages, CD3+CD8+ T cell counts, CD19+ B cell counts and CD56+ NK cell counts and percentages than the nonsevere group. Meanwhile, compared with the survival group, the death group also had lower total lymphocyte counts and percentages, CD3+, CD3+CD4+ and CD3+CD8+ T cell counts. Additionally, differences in these parameters were also noticed within four weeks after admission. Furthermore, Spearman analysis reported that disease severity was negatively correlated with lymphocyte counts and percentages, CD3+, CD3+CD4+ and CD3+CD8+ T cell counts, CD3+ and CD3+CD4+ T cell percentages (r=− 0.166, − 0.179, − 0.173, − 0.186, − 0.127, − 0.117, − 0.149, respectively)(all P< 0.05). The prognosis of death was also negatively correlated with total lymphocyte counts and percentages, CD3+, CD3+CD4+ and CD3+CD8+ T cell counts (r=− 0.125, − 0.121, − 0.123, − 0.123, − 0.091, respectively)(all P< 0.05). Conclusion: In primary infection and unvaccinated COVID-19 patients total lymphocytes and T cell, B cell and NK cell subsets at COVID-19 onset play valuable roles in predicting disease severity and prognosis. Clinical Trial Registry: Chinese Clinical Trial Register ChiCTR2000034563. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To date, there are few reports about mpox case series in China, and scarce information is available about the in-vivo kinetics of T-cell responses in the early stage of mpox infection. This study aims to investigate the clinical difference among mpox patients with and without human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. Patients and Methods: A total of 56 patients diagnosed with mpox by Chengdu Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and hospitalized in Public Health Clinical Center of Chengdu were retrospectively included and divided into an HIV-infected group (n=23) and a non-HIV-infected group (n=33). Clinical characteristics and serum chemistry findings of mpox patients were collected in order to analyze the differences between the HIV-infected group and the non-HIV-infected group. Results: Multiple laboratory abnormalities, including elevated C-reactive protein (69.1%), hypocalcemia (50.9%), elevated CD3+CD8+T counts (47.0%) and inverted ratio of CD3+CD4+T to CD3+CD8+T (64.7%) were common in mpox cases. There were statistically significant differences (all P < 0.05) in age, serum calcium levels, CD3+CD4+T counts, the ratio of CD3+CD4+T to CD3+CD8+T, proportion with > 10 rashes, incidence of proctitis anus and time from rash growth to rash scab shedding between HIV-infected group and non-HIV-infected group. In the early stage of mpox infection, the median of CD3+CD8+T counts in the non-HIV-infected group was significantly higher than that in healthy donors (P< 0.001), and the median of CD3+CD4+T/CD3+CD8+T ratio was significantly lower (P< 0.001). The median of CD3+CD4+T counts in mpox patients co-infected with HIV significantly decreased compared to the pre-infection level (p =0.033). Conclusion: Our study indicates that mpox co-infected with HIV patients have longer lasting rash lesions and a higher incidence of proctitis anus. T-cell responses may be different between HIV-infected and non-HIV-infected individuals in the early stage of mpox infection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summarizing the clinical characteristics and the process of two times of nucleic acid turning re-positive after discharge of an imported COVID-19 case in Chengdu in order to provide experience for clinical management of such cases. A retrospective research method was used to analyze the diagnosis and treatment process, as well as the clinical symptoms and examination results 15 days after discharge of an imported COVID-19 case in Chengdu. The case was tested positive for SARSCoV-2 nucleic acid in Thailand on March 7, 2020. After arriving in Chengdu on March 10, 2020, he was sent to Chengdu Public Health Clinical Medical Center for isolation treatment. On March 11, the SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acid test of nasopharyngeal swab was suspiciously positive and the result of anal swab was positive. The case was admitted to the hospital as an asymptomatic accompanied by a decline in cellular immune function, his physical examination showed no positive signs. Then he was converted to a confirmed case after 22 days of hospitalization.After the case was discharged 15 days from the hospital, his virus nucleic acid had returned re-positive for 2 times. He was accompanied by neurological symptoms and was diagnosed as anxious and depressive when nucleic acid returned re-positive for the second time, and his symptoms resolved after treatment with psychiatric drugs.Asymptomatic patients of COVID-19 can be converted to confirmed cases. Nucleic acid returning re-positive does not mean that the patient's condition has relapsed or worsened. Patients with COVID-19 may have mental disorder, medical staff need to find it out in time and provide psychological intervention or necessary medication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]