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Yili Zhang,1,2 Yan Chai,3 Xiaojie Pan,4 Hao Shen,1 Xu Wei,5 Yanming Xie1 1Institute of Basic Research in Clinical Medicine, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing, China; 2School of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing, China; 3Department of Epidemiology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA; 4Department of Human Nutrition and Health, Wageningen University and Health, Wageningen, The Netherlands; 5Department of Scientific Research, Wangjing Hospital, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing, China Purpose: The aim of this meta-analysis was to evaluate the efficacy of Tai chi (TC) as an adjuvant treatment for osteopenia and primary osteoporosis. Methods: We went through eight databases to identify relevant randomized controlled trials that compared TC with a control group. The primary outcome was osteoporosis-related fractures (fracture incidence). Meta-analyses and trial sequential analyses (TSA) were conducted using RevMan 5.3 and TSA 0.9. Results: Fifteen randomized controlled trials involving a total of 857 patients were included in the analyses. No trials reported primary outcome; however, bone mineral density (BMD) values differed significantly in subgroup 1 (TC vs no treatment; weighted mean difference [WMD] =0.05 g/cm2, 95% CI 0.03 to 0.07; P

Objective: To evaluate the clinical effects of one-passage, double-passage and circular canalicular intubations in repairing lacerations of canaliculus.Methods: A total of 109 eyes in 109 cases of canalicular laceration were repaired with three types of silicone intubations, among which 23 with one-passage canalicular intubation, 51 with double-passage canalicular intubation, and 35 with circular canalicular intubation. The average follow-up period was 12-15 months.Results: The wound/junction of the lacrimal canaliculi was ruptured in 5 cases (9.80%) of the double-passage group, 3 cases (8.57%) of the circular group, and 8 cases (34.78%) of the one-passage group. The rupture incidence of the one-passage group was significantly higher than that of the other two groups (X(2) equal to 9.416, P less than 0.01). During the intubation, canaliculitis was observed in 12 cases (23.53%) of the double-passage group, while only 3 cases (8.57%) in the circular group and 8 cases (34.78%) in the one-passage group. The circular group had significantly lower incidence of canaliculitis than the other two groups (X(2) equal to 6.095, P less than 0.05). After extubation 6 months after laceration repair, the lacrimal passage remained patent with canalicular irrigation in 46 cases (90.20%) in the double-passage group, 30 cases (85.71%) in the circular group and 15 cases (65.22%) in the one-passage group. Six months after surgery, the canalicular patency in the one-passage group was significantly lower than that of the other two groups (X(2) equal to 7.390, P less than 0.05).Conclusions: Circular canalicular intubation is more stable and has less surgical complications than the double-passage and one-passage canalicular intubations. It is also more effective clinically 12-15 months after laceration surgery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Overexpression of DNA-dependent protein kinase catalytic subunit (DNA-PKcs) is commonly occurred in cancers and causes radioresistance and poor prognosis. In present study, the single-chain variable antibody fragments (scFv) targeting DNA-PKcs was developed for the application of radiosensitization in vitro and in vivo. A humanized semisynthetic scFv library and the phage-display antibodies technology were employed to screen DNA-PKcs scFv antibody.Methods: DNA-PKcs epitopes were predicted and cloned. A humanized semisynthetic scFv library and the phage-display antibodies technology were employed to screen DNA-PKcs scFv antibody. DNA damage repair was analyzed by comet assay and immunofluorescence detection of gammaH2AX foci. The radiosensitization in vivo was determined on Balb/c athymic mice transplanted tumours of HeLa cells.Results: Four epitopes of DNA-PKcs have been predicted and expressed as the antigens, and a specific human anti-DNA-PKcs scFv antibody gene, anti-DPK3-scFv, was obtained by screening the phage antibody library using the DNA-PKcs peptide DPK3. The specificity of anti-DPK3-scFv was verified, in vitro. Transfection of HeLa cells with the anti-DPK3-scFv gene resulted in an increased sensitivity to IR, decreased repair capability of DNA double-strand breaks (DSB) detected by comet assay and immunofluorescence detection of gammaH2AX foci. Moreover, the kinase activity of DNA-PKcs was inhibited by anti-DPK3-scFv, which was displayed by the decreased phosphorylation levels of its target Akt/S473 and the autophosphorylation of DNA-PKcs on S2056 induced by radiation. Measurement of the growth and apoptosis rates showed that anti-DPK3-scFv enhanced the sensitivity of tumours transplanted in Balb/c athymic mice to radiation therapy.Conclusion: The antiproliferation and radiosensitizing effects of anti-DPK3-scFv via targeting DNA-PKcs make it very appealing for the development as a novel biological radiosensitizer for cancer therapeutic potential. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Six collections of ascomycetes were obtained from samples collected from dead branches and leaves of Juglansregia in Guizhou and Yunnan provinces, China. By incorporating multigene phylogenetic analysis (ITS, LSU, rpb2 , SSU, tef1-α , tub2 ) supplemented by morphological data, we establish two novel species, namely Helminthosporiumguizhouense and Nigrosporayunnanensis . In morphology, H.guizhouense can be distinguished from H.caespitosum by its narrower conidia (13-16 µm vs. 27.3-35.5 µm), and N.yunnanensis is characterized by black, globose conidia (16.2 × 14.4 µm). The phylogenetic results further substantiated them as novel taxa. The present study contributes to our comprehension of the range of fungi found in Juglansregia , thereby expanding our knowledge of the diversity of fungi within this host., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist., (Mengting Zou, Fatimah Al-Otibi, Kevin David Hyde, Yong Wang, Xue-Jun Pan.)

Aim: To evaluate the effects of antiglaucoma eye drops on corneal nerves by in vivo confocal microscopy (IVCM)., Methods: This study comprised 79 patients diagnosed with glaucoma and 16 healthy control individuals. Among the glaucoma patients, 54 were treated with medication, while 25 remained untreated. Central corneal images were evaluated by IVCM, and then ACCMetrics was used to calculate the following parameters: corneal nerve fiber density (CNFD), branch density (CNBD), fiber length (CNFL), total branch density (CTBD), fiber area (CNFA), fiber width (CNFW), and fractal dimension (CNFrD). The correlation between IVCM parameters and drugs was evaluated using non-parametric measurements of Spearman's rank correlation coefficient., Results: The CNFD was reduced in glaucoma groups compared to healthy subjects ( P <0.01). Patients using anti-glaucoma medications exhibited poorer confocal parameters compared to untreated patients. As the number of medications and usage count increased, CNFD, CNBD, CNFL, CTBD, CNFA, and CNFrD experienced a decline, while CNFW increased (all P <0.01). For the brinzolamide-therapy group, there was a significant decrease in CNFD and CNFL compared to the other monotherapy groups ( P <0.001). In the absence of medication, CNFD in males was lower than that in females ( P <0.05). Among patients under medication therapy, CNFD remained consistent between males and females., Conclusion: Antiglaucoma eye drops affect the microstructure of corneal nerves. IVCM and ACCMetrics are useful tools that could be used to evaluate the corneal nerve changes., Competing Interests: Conflicts of Interest: Zhu XY, None; Ge QS, None; Li ZY, None; Zhou LF, None; Bu QW, None; Su Y, None; Wang XJ, None; Zhou QJ, None; Pan XJ, None; Hu D, None., (International Journal of Ophthalmology Press.)

Plant JASMONATE ZIM-DOMAIN (JAZ) genes play crucial roles in regulating the biosynthesis of specialized metabolites and stressful responses. However, understanding of JAZs controlling these biological processes lags due to numerous JAZ copies. Here, we found that two leaf-specific CwJAZ4/9 genes from Curcuma wenyujin are strongly induced by methyl-jasmonate (MeJA) and negatively correlated with terpenoid biosynthesis. Yeast two-hybrid, luciferase complementation imaging and in vitro pull-down assays confirmed that CwJAZ4/9 proteins interact with CwMYC2 to form the CwJAZ4/9-CwMYC2 regulatory cascade. Furthermore, transgenic hairy roots showed that CwJAZ4/9 acts as repressors of MeJA-induced terpenoid biosynthesis by inhibiting the terpenoid pathway and jasmonate response, thus reducing terpenoid accumulation. In addition, we revealed that CwJAZ4/9 decreases salt sensitivity and sustains the growth of hairy roots under salt stress by suppressing the salt-mediated jasmonate responses. Transcriptome analysis for MeJA-mediated transgenic hairy root lines further confirmed that CwJAZ4/9 negatively regulates the terpenoid pathway genes and massively alters the expression of genes related to salt stress signaling and responses, and crosstalks of multiple phytohormones. Altogether, our results establish a genetic framework to understand how CwJAZ4/9 inhibits terpenoid biosynthesis and confers salt tolerance, which provides a potential strategy for producing high-value pharmaceutical terpenoids and improving resistant C. wenyujin varieties by a genetic approach., (© 2024 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Aims and Objectives: During the new coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak period, there was increasing presentation in the number of patients with acute primary angle closure (APAC). This study aimed to report the occurrence of APAC during the COVID-19 post-restriction period and investigate the related characteristics of these patients with APAC., Methods: This retrospective, multi-center study included consecutive patients seeking APAC treatment at two eye centers in China from December 7, 2022 to January 13, 2023 (post-restriction period) and from December 7, 2021 to January 13, 2022 (control period). Electronic medical records were reviewed, and ocular data of the affected eye(s) were analyzed for patients with unilateral or bilateral APAC. Information including COVID-19 related symptoms, medications used for COVID-19 infection, and living habits and emotions related to the COVID-19 outbreak during the post restriction period were collected using a questionnaire., Results: Overall, 189 (219 APAC eyes) and 51 (54 APAC eyes) patients with APAC were identified during the post-restriction and control periods, respectively. The patients identified during the post-restriction period were younger ( P  = 0.043) and had a longer duration from symptoms to treatment ( P  = 0.039), shorter axial length ( P  = 0.002), larger pupil diameter ( P  = 0.004), larger vertical cup disc ratio ( P  = 0.004), poorer mean deviation values ( P  = 0.003), and more glaucomatous optic neuropathy diagnoses ( P  = 0.032) compared with the patients with APAC identified during the control period. Among 151 included patients with APAC who completed the questionnaires, 130 patients with APAC were diagnosed with concurrent COVID-19 infection, of which 54 (41.5 %) had coughing and/or vomiting as the main symptoms. Of these, 89.2 % spent 0 h per day on outdoor activity; 44.6 % drank more water than usual, with 14.6 % drinking more than twice the amount of water than usual; 91.5 % used antipyretics; and 20.0 % had mood swings, including anxiety, depression, and tension, during the concurrent COVID-19 infection., Conclusion: In our study, a significant increase in the number of patients presenting with APAC with certain characteristics was observed during the COVID-19 post-restriction period. And whether COVID-19 symptoms, such as coughing and vomiting, and behavioral and psychological changes caused by COVID-19 infection contributing to the concurrence of APAC and COVID-19 recurrence require further investigation., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (© 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

Background: Gastric cancer (GC) ranks fifth in global cancer incidence and third in mortality rate among all cancer types. Circular RNAs (circRNAs) have been extensively demonstrated to regulate multiple malignant biological behaviors in GC. Emerging evidence suggests that several circRNAs derived from FNDC3B play pivotal roles in cancer. However, the role of circFNDC3B in GC remains elusive., Methods: We initially screened circFNDC3B with translation potential via bioinformatics algorithm prediction. Subsequently, Sanger sequencing, qRT-PCR, RNase R, RNA-FISH and nuclear-cytoplasmic fractionation assays were explored to assess the identification and localization of circ0003692, a circRNA derived from FNDC3B. qRT-PCR and ISH were performed to quantify expression of circ0003692 in human GC tissues and adjacent normal tissues. The protein-encoding ability of circ0003692 was investigated through dual-luciferase reporter assay and LC/MS. The biological behavior of circ0003692 in GC was confirmed via in vivo and in vitro experiments. Additionally, Co-IP and rescue experiments were performed to elucidate the interaction between the encoded protein and c-Myc., Results: We found that circ0003692 was significantly downregulated in GC tissues. Circ0003692 had the potential to encode a novel protein FNDC3B-267aa, which was downregulated in GC cells. We verified that FNDC3B-267aa, rather than circ0003692, inhibited GC migration in vitro and in vivo. Mechanistically, FNDC3B-267aa directly interacted with c-Myc and promoted proteasomal degradation of c-Myc, resulting in the downregulation of c-Myc-Snail/Slug axis., Conclusions: Our study revealed that the novel protein FNDC3B-267aa encoded by circ0003692 suppressed GC metastasis through binding to c-Myc and enhancing proteasome-mediated degradation of c-Myc. The study offers the potential applications of circ0003692 or FNDC3B-267aa as therapeutic targets for GC., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Rationale: Guidewire fracture is one of the biggest risks of percutaneous coronary intervention, twisting wire technique is very useful for retrieving the fractured wire, but the potential risks have been inadequately reported. Herein, we present a case of retrieval of guidewire fragments using the twisting wire technique that causes coronary perfusion., Patient Concerns: A 37-year-old male patient was admitted to our hospital for elective percutaneous coronary intervention of the left circumflex coronary artery., Clinical Findings: For chronic total occlusion of the distal left circumflex coronary artery, antegrade recanalization by wire escalation, and parallel wire techniques were attempted. However, we shockingly found that the BMW guidewire, anchored in the right coronary artery, spontaneously fractured from the proximal right coronary artery, and a lengthy fragment of the guidewire remained in the coronary., Diagnoses, Interventions, and Outcomes: Many attempts were made to retrieve the remnant guidewire including the twisting wire technique, which leads to the perforation of the coronary., Outcomes: Finally, percutaneous retrieving procedures were stopped in favor of surgical extraction via a small coronary arteriotomy. This procedure was successful., Lessons: To the best of our knowledge, the present case is the first reported spontaneous fracture of the guidewire. Leaving such a lengthy remnant guidewire in the artery, or leaving stenting over the wire, would impose a high risk of coronary thrombosis, perforation, and embolization. Yet, the perforation of the artery that occurred in this case, which could have had life-threatening consequences, resulted from our attempts to retrieve the guidewire using the twisting wire technique., Competing Interests: The authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose., (Copyright © 2024 the Author(s). Published by Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc.)

Background: Breast cancer is one of the most common type of cancers worldwide and remains a critical health issue. Although there are numerous treatment options for advanced metastatic breast cancer, the results are not satisfactory, particularly for triple-negative breast cancer. New treatment modalities need to be explored., Case Presentation: We present the case of a breast cancer patient with multiple metastases who achieved a good response and tolerance to the combination treatment of utidelone plus capecitabine. After being treated with 10 cycles of combined treatment, the patient is now in a good general condition with a progression-free survival time of 10 months., Conclusion: To our knowledge, this is the first report of utidelone plus capecitabine successfully treating a patient with heavily pretreated metastatic breast cancer. This combined treatment offers a new option for patients with multi-drug resistant breast cancer., Competing Interests: The authors have no funding and conflicts of interest to disclose., (Copyright © 2023 the Author(s). Published by Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc.)

Ontogenetic development of leg chaetotaxy, stylophore and striae of the dorsal integument, and variations of leg setal counts and length of idiosomal setae in Aponychus corpuzae are discussed. The following changes were observed during the ontogenetic development of A. corpuzae: the depth of the depression in stylophore increases; the dorsal striae gradually reduce in number and prominence; the length of dorsal setae sc1, c12, d12 and e1 reduce in size; adult dorsal setae much thicker than those of immature stages. There are a significant number of setae suppressed in A. corpuzae, often resulting in unique patterns and sexual dimorphism. The adult males and females of Aponychus firmianae and A. taishanicus from mainland China are redecribed, and a key to all Aponychus from mainland China is provided.

Ongoing global pandemic of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has promoted the unprecedented rapid development and large-scale rolling out of different platform-based COVID-19 vaccines worldwide. How to effectively respond to the expected scale increasing adverse events after vaccination campaign of COVID-19 vaccines is a common problem faced by the world. A lot of countries and regions around the world have arranged in advance at different levels, optimizing the original vaccine safety monitoring system from the perspectives of strengthening the foundation and capabilities, promoting internal and external cooperation, upgrading methods, as well as improving transparency and public communication, which has ensured the good and efficient operation of the system and can provide reference for the construction of relevant fields in China.

The motor learning literature has demonstrated that blocked practice facilitates better acquisition of motor skills, whereas random practice facilitates retention and transfer. The verbal learning and memory literature offers similar evidence. The purpose of this study was to investigate effects of blocked versus random practice in treatment for anomia. The study used a single site, randomized crossover design, with two replicated experimental phases (two blocked and two random) for each of 10 individuals with anomia. Each phase consisted of a cued picture-naming treatment. Individual treatment and maintenance effects, as well as weighted averages and group effects, were calculated using Tau-U based on the proportion of correctly named probes. Nine of 10 participants demonstrated treatment effects during each of the four phases. Acquisition was comparable for blocked and random practice. Maintenance effects were observed following seven blocked phases of treatment and 12 random phases of treatment across participants. For four of 10 participants the random schedule resulted in better maintenance of trained items. Although further research is needed, the present data suggest that for word retrieval treatment with multiple repetitions of the same items, a random presentation may benefit maintenance of treatment gains.

Aim: To examine the change of iris volume measured by CASIA2 anterior segment optical coherence tomography (AS-OCT) in glaucoma patients with or without type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and explore if there is a correlation between hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) level and iris volume., Methods: In a cross-sectional study, 72 patients (115 eyes) were divided into two groups: primary open angle glaucoma (POAG) group (55 eyes) and primary angle-closure glaucoma (PACG) group (60 eyes). Patients in each group were separately classified into patients with or without T2DM. Iris volume and glycosylated HbA1c level were measured and analyzed., Results: In the PACG group, diabetic patients' iris volume was significantly lower than those of non-diabetics ( P =0.02), and there was a significant correlation between iris volume and HbA1c level in the PACG group ( r =-0.26, P =0.04). However, diabetic POAG patients' iris volume was noticeably higher than those of non-diabetics ( P =0.01), and there was a significant correlation between HbA1c level and iris volume ( r =0.32, P =0.02)., Conclusion: Diabetes mellitus impact iris volume size, as seen by increased iris volume in the POAG group and decreased iris volume in the PACG group. In addition, iris volume is significantly correlated with HbA1c level in glaucoma patients. These findings imply that T2DM may compromise iris ultrastructure in glaucoma patients., (International Journal of Ophthalmology Press.)

5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) participates in plant growth and development, and can also delay senescence and cope with abiotic stress. To explore the role of 5-HT in regulating the abilities of mangrove in cold resis-tance, we examined the effects of cold acclimation and the spraying of p-chlorophenylalanine (p-CPA, 5-HT synthesis inhibitor) on leaf gas exchange parameters and CO 2 response curves (A/Ca), as well as the endogenous phytohormone content levels in the mangrove species Kandelia obovata seedlings under low temperature stress. The results showed that low temperature stress significantly reduced the contents of 5-HT, chlorophyll, endogenous auxin (IAA), gibberellin (GA), and abscisic acid (ABA). It weakened the CO 2 utilization abilities of plants and reduced net photosynthetic rate, which ultimately reduced carboxylation efficiency (CE). Under low temperature stress, exogenous p-CPA reduced the contents of photosynthetic pigments, endogenous hormones, and 5-HT in the leaves, which aggravated the damages caused by low temperature stress on photosynthesis. By enhancing cold acclimation abilities, the endogenous IAA content in the leaves could was reduced under low temperature stress, promoted the production of 5-HT, improved the contents of photosynthetic pigments, GA, and ABA, as well as enhanced photosynthetic carbon assimilation abilities, which would increase photosynthesis in the K. obovata seedlings. Under cold acclimation conditions, the spraying of p-CPA could significantly inhibit the synthesis of 5-HT, promote the production of IAA, and reduce the contents of photosynthetic pigments, GA, ABA, and CE, which would weaken the effects of cold acclimation by improving the cold resistance of mangroves. In conclusion, cold acclimation could improve the cold resistance abilities of K. obovata seedlings by regulating photosynthetic carbon assimilation capacity and the contents of endogenous phytohormone. 5-HT synthesis is one of the necessary conditions for improving the cold resistance abilities of mangroves.

From 2015 to 2019, the annual average incidence rate of scarlet fever was 7.80/100 000 in Yantai City, which showed an increasing trend since 2017 (χ 2 trend =233.59, P <0.001). The peak period of this disease was from April to July and November to January of the next year. The ratio of male to female was 1.49∶1, with a higher prevalence among cases aged 3 to 9 years (2 357/2 552, 92.36%). Children in kindergartens, primary and middle school students, and scattered children were the high risk population, with the incidence rate of 159.86/100 000, 25.57/100 000 and 26.77/100 000, respectively. The global spatial auto-correlation analysis showed that the global Moran's I index of the reported incidence rate of scarlet fever in Yantai from 2015 to 2019 was 0.28, 0.29, 0.44, 0.48, and 0.22, respectively (all P values < 0.05), suggesting that the incidence rate of scarlet fever in Yantai from 2015 to 2019 was spatial clustering. The local spatial auto-correlation analysis showed that the "high-high" clustering areas were mainly located in Laizhou City, Zhifu District, Haiyang City, Fushan District and Kaifa District, while the "low-high" clustering areas were mainly located in Haiyang City and Fushan District.

Walnut and Rosa roxburghii are important arbor and shrub fruit trees cultivated in the southwest mountainous area of China. Furthermore, those two species are compound cultivated in this area. In this study, we investigated the growth, yield, fruit quality, photosynthesis, and soil fertility of R. roxburghii in a 7-year typical 'Qianhe 7'/ 'Guinong 5' compound planting pattern in Guizhou. The results showed that compared with the monoculture, photosynthetic pigment content and photosynthetic rate of R. roxburghii leaves were significantly lower in the compound plantation. The growth and yield of R. roxburghii decreased significantly, with a 77.7% reduction of yield. Fruit quality of R. roxburghii was improved. The content of ascorbic acid (Vc), total phenol, carbohydrate, K, Ca, Mg, Fe, Mn, Zn, and other substances increased significantly. Fruit Vc and Mn content increased by 34.1% and 64.1%, respectively. The contents of total N, available N and K in the soil increased by 45.8%, 34.8% and 67.8%, respectively. The abundance of soil microorganisms and functional bacteria increased significantly, with the increase of bacteria and fungi being more than 36.0%. The increase of potassium bacteria and nitrogen fixing bacteria was 71.3% and 124.8%, respectively. However, the contents of organic matter, carbon-nitrogen ratio, total P, total K, available mineral nutrient (P, Ca, Mg, Fe, Mn, Cu, Zn) contents decreased. While the activities of soil urease and catalase were increased, the activities of other soil enzymes (sucrase, cellulase, protease, phosphatase) were significantly reduced. In summary, with continuous growth of walnuts in the walnut/ R. roxburghii compound plantation, there was obvious shade and soil fertility competition for R. roxburghii , which affected its yield, but had a improvement effect on fruit quality.

Abnormal blood pressure is common in critically ill stroke patients. However, the association between mean arterial pressure (MAP) and mortality of critically ill stroke patients remains unclear. We extracted eligible acute stroke patients from the MIMIC-III database. The patients were divided into three groups: a low MAP group (MAP ≤ 70 mmHg), a normal MAP group (70 mmHg < MAP ≤ 90 mmHg), and a high MAP group (MAP > 90 mmHg). The Cox proportional hazards model and restricted cubic splines were used to assess the association between MAP and mortality. Sensitivity analyses were conducted to investigate whether MAP had different effects on mortality in different subpopulations. A total of 2885 stroke patients were included in this study. The crude 7-day and 28-day mortality was significantly higher in the low MAP group than that in the normal MAP group. By contrast, patients in the high MAP group did not have higher crude 7-day and 28-day mortality than those in the normal MAP group. After multiple adjustments using the Cox regression model, patients with low MAP were consistently associated with higher 7-day and 28-day mortality than those with normal MAP in the following subgroups: age > 60 years, male, those with or without hypertension, those without diabetes, and those without CHD ( p < 0.05), but patients with high MAP were not necessarily associated with higher 7-day and 28-day mortality after adjustments (most p > 0.05). Using the restricted cubic splines, an approximately L-shaped relationship was established between MAP and the 7-day and 28-day mortality in acute stroke patients. The findings were robust to multiple sensitivity analyses in stroke patients. In critically ill stroke patients, a low MAP significantly increased the 7-day and 28-day mortality, while a high MAP did not, suggesting that a low MAP is more harmful than a high MAP in critically ill stroke patients.

Plant-derived monoterpene indole alkaloids (MIAs) from Uncaria rhynchophylla (UR) have huge medicinal properties in treating Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, and depression. Although many bioactive UR-MIA products have been isolated as drugs, their biosynthetic pathway remains largely unexplored. In this study, untargeted metabolome identified 79 MIA features in UR tissues (leaf, branch stem, hook stem, and stem), of which 30 MIAs were differentially accumulated among different tissues. Short time series expression analysis captured 58 pathway genes and 12 hub regulators responsible for UR-MIA biosynthesis and regulation, which were strong links with main UR-MIA features. Coexpression networks further pointed to two strictosidine synthases (UrSTR1/5) that were coregulated with multiple MIA-related genes and highly correlated with UR-MIA features (r > 0.7, P < 0.005). Both UrSTR1/5 catalyzed the formation of strictosidine with tryptamine and secologanin as substrates, highlighting the importance of key residues (UrSTR1: Glu309, Tyr155; UrSTR5: Glu295, Tyr141). Further, overexpression of UrSTR1/5 in UR hairy roots constitutively increased the biosynthesis of bioactive UR-MIAs (rhynchophylline, isorhynchophylline, corynoxeine, etc), whereas RNAi of UrSTR1/5 significantly decreased UR-MIA biosynthesis. Collectively, our work not only provides candidates for reconstituting the biosynthesis of bioactive UR-MIAs in heterologous hosts but also highlights a powerful strategy for mining natural product biosynthesis in medicinal plants., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

To evaluate the safety of the domestic 13-valent pneumococcal polysaccharide conjugate vaccine-tetanus toxoid protein (PCV13-TT) after its licensure. The adverse event following immunization (AEFI) and the vaccination data of PCV13-TT in Zhejiang province from July 2020 to October 2021 were collected from national adverse event following immunization surveillance system and Zhejiang provincial immunization information system. Descriptive epidemiological method was used for this analysis. From July 2020 to October 2021, 302 317 doses of PCV13-TT were administered in children under 6 years old in Zhejiang Province and 636 AEFI case reports were received, with a reporting rate of 21.04 per 10 000 doses. Of these AEFI cases, 97.17% were mild vaccine product-related reaction (20.54 per 10 000 doses) and 95.44% occurred in the 0-1 d after vaccination (20.08 per 10 000 doses). The most common clinical diagnoses of AEFI included fever (224 cases), redness (204 cases), and induration (190 cases), while allergic rash (11 cases) was the most common diagnosis among the abnormal reactions. In conclusion,the present results bolstered that the domestic PCV13-TT was generally well tolerated in children under 6 years old in Zhejiang Province.

Aponychus mai sp. nov. is the fourth reported species of Aponychus collected from bamboo in Baoshan City, Yunnan Province in Mainland China. We described this new species based on a larva, three deutonymphs and ten adults, and also explored the ontogenetic development, especially the discussion of the development in leg chaetotaxy.

Active metal ions often show a strong cutting effect on the chemical bonds during high-temperature thermal processes. Herein, a one-pot metal ion cutting-assisted method was adopted to design defect-rich MoS 2- x nanosheet (NS)/ZnS nanoparticle (NP) heterojunction composites on carbon nanofiber skeletons (CNF@MoS 2- x /ZnS) via a simple Ar-ambience annealing. Results show that Zn 2+ ions capture S 2- ions from MoS 2 and form into ZnS NPs, and the MoS 2 NSs lose S 2- ions and become MoS 2- x ones. As sulfur hosts for lithium-sulfur batteries (LSBs), the CNF@MoS 2- x /ZnS-S cathodes deliver a high reversible capacity of 1233 mA h g -1 at 0.1 C and keep 944 mA h g -1 at 3 C. Moreover, the cathodes also show an extremely low decay rate of 0.012% for 900 cycles at 2 C. Series of analysis indicate that the MoS 2- x NSs significantly improve the chemisorption and catalyze the kinetic process of redox reactions of lithium polysulfides, and the heterojunctions between MoS 2- x NSs and ZnS NPs further accelerate the transport of electrons and the diffusion of Li + ions. Besides, the CNF@MoS 2- x /ZnS-S LSBs also show an ultralow self-discharge rate of 1.1% in voltage. This research would give some new insights for the design of defect-rich electrode materials for high-performance energy storage devices.

Breast cancer (BC) is the most common cancer and the most frequent cause of cancer death among women worldwide. The aim of the present study was to identify the critical genes for the diagnosis and prognosis of BC. Two mRNA expression data (GSE29431 and GSE42568) were acquired from the GEO database. The determination of differently expressed genes (DEGs) between BC specimens and nontumor specimens was completed via the LIMMA package of R. GO annotation and KEGG pathway enrichment analyses were applied to explore the function of DEGs. Kaplan-Meier methods were used to determine the prognostic value of DEGs in BC using TCGA datasets. The diagnostic value of the survival-related DGEs were confirmed using ROC assays in two GEO datasets. RT-PCR was used to examine the expression of the critical genes in BC cells and normal breast cells. CCK-8 experiments were applied to explore the function of the critical genes in BC cells. In this study, we identified 31 DEGs between BC specimens and nontumor specimens. KEGG analysis revealed 31 DEGs were involved in PPAR signal path, AMPK signal path, glycerolipid metabolism, adipocytokine signaling pathway, phenylalanine metabolism, tyrosine metabolic process, and glycine, serine, and threonine metabolic process. Four DEGs including CRYAB, DEFB132, MAOA, and RBP4 were observed to be associated with clinical outcome of BC patients. Their diagnostic values were also confirmed in both GSE29431 and GSE42568 datasets. In addition, we analyzed TCGA datasets and confirmed that the results were consistent with GEO datasets. Finally, the results of RT-PCR confirmed that the expression of CRYAB and RBP4 was distinctly downregulated in BC cells. CCK-8 analysis revealed that overexpression of CRYAB and RBP4 distinctly suppressed the proliferation of BC cells. Overall, our findings suggested CRYAB and RBP4 as critical genes for the diagnosis and prognosis of BC patients. They may be used as novel biomarkers for BC patients., Competing Interests: The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest regarding the publication of this paper., (Copyright © 2022 Feng Yu et al.)

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are often used to settle down the sluggish reaction kinetics in lithium-sulfur batteries (LSBs). However, the self-aggregation of CNTs often makes them fail to effectively inhibit the shuttling effect of soluble lithium polysulfide (LiPS) intermediates. Herein, a type of ultra-stable carbon micro/nano-scale interconnected "carbon cages" has been designed by incorporating polar acid-treated carbon fibers (ACF) into three-dimensional (3D) CNT frameworks during vacuum filtration processes. Results show that the ACF-CNT composite frameworks possess a reinforced-concrete-like structure, in which the ACFs can well work as the main mechanical supporting frames for the composite electrodes, and the oxygen-containing functional groups (OFGs) formed on them as cross linker between ACFs and CNTs. Benefitted from this design, the ACF-CNT/S cathodes deliver an excellent rate capability (retain 72.6% at 4C). More impressively, the ACF-CNT/S cathodes also show an ultrahigh cycling stability (capacity decay rate of 0.001% per cycle over 350 cycles at 2C). And further optimization suggests that the suitable treatment on CFs could balance the chemical adsorption (OFGs) and physical confinement (carbon cages), leading to fast and durable electrochemical reaction dynamics. In addition, the assembled soft-pack LSBs further show a high dynamic bending stability., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Magnolia grandiflora is a widely cultivated ornamental tree in China. In June 2020, a leaf blight disease was observed on M. grandiflora in Guizhou University (26° 44' 57'' N, 106° 65' 94'' E) in Guiyang, China. The initial symptoms on leaves were expanding round necrotic lesions with a grey center and dark brown edge, and twigs were withered when the disease was serious. Of the 100 plants surveyed 65% had symptoms. To isolate the potential causal pathogen, diseased leaves were collected from an M. grandiflora tree at Guizhou University. Isolations from made form the junction between healthy and symptomatic tissue and disinfested by immersing in 75% ethanol for 30 seconds, 3% NaOCl for 2 minutes, and then washed 3 times in sterile distilled water. Symptomatic tissue was then plated on potato dextrose agar (PDA) and incubated at 25ºC with 12-hour light for 3-5 days. Three isolates (GUCC 21235.1, GUCC 21235.2 and GUCC 21235.3) were obtained. Colonies on PDA after 7 d were dark brown, pycnidia embedded in the mydelium were dark brown to black, single and separated. Conidiophores were transparent measuring 7-12.5 × 2.5-4.5 µm (mean = 9.5 × 3.6 µm, n = 30) in length. Conidia were transparent becoming brown when mature with a diaphragm, with round ends measuring, 21-27 × 10-15 µm (mean = 23.6 × 12.6 µm, n = 30). To confirm the pathogen by molecular characterization, four genes or DNA fragments, ITS, LSU, tef1 and β-tubulin, were amplified using the following primer pairs: ITS4-F/ ITS5-R (White et al., 1990), LR0R/ LR5 (Rehner & Samuels, 1994), EF1-688F/ EF1-986R (Carbone & Kohn, 1999) and Bt2a/ Bt2b (O'Donnell & Cigelnik, 1997). The sequences of four PCR fragments of GUCC 21235.1 were deposited in GenBank, and the accession numbers were MZ519778 (ITS), MZ520367 (LSU), MZ508428 (tef1) and MZ542354 (β-tubulin). Bayesian inference was performed based on a concatenated dataset of ITS, LSU, tef1 and β-tubulin gene using MrBayes 3.2.10, and the isolates GUCC 21235.1 formed a single clade with the reference isolates of Diplodia mutila (Diplodia mutila strain CBS 112553). BLASTn analysis indicated that the sequences of ITS, LSU, tef1 and β-tubulin revealed 100% (546/546 nucleotides), 99.82% (568/569 nucleotides), 100% (302/302 nucleotides), and 100% (437/437 nucleotides) similarity with that of D. mutila in GenBank (AY259093, AY928049, AY573219 and DQ458850), respectively. For confirmation of the pathogenicity of this fungus, a conidial suspension (1×105 conidia mL-1) was prepared from GUCC 21235.1, and healthy leaves of M. grandiflora trees were surface-disinfested by 75% ethanol, rinsed with sterilized distilled water and dried by absorbent paper. Small pieces of filter paper (5 mm ×5 mm), dipped with 20 µL conidial suspension (1×105 conidia mL-1) or sterilized distilled water (as control), were placed on the bottom-left of the leaves for inoculation. Then the leaves were sprayed with sterile distilled water, wrapped with a plastic film and tin foil successively to maintain high humidity in the dark dark. After 36 h, the plastic film and tin foil on the leaves was removed, and the leaves were sprayed with distilled water three times each day at natural condition (average temperature was about 25 °C, 14 h light/10 h dark). After 10 days of inoculation, the same leaf blight began to appear on the leaves inoculated with conidial suspension. No lesion was appeared on the control leaves. The fungus was re-isolated from the symptomatic tissue. Based on the morphological information and molecular characterization, the isolate GUCC 21235.1 is D. mutila. Previous reports indicated that D. mutila infects a broad host range and gives rise to a canker disease of olive, apple and jujube (Úrbez-Torres et al., 2013; Úrbez-Torres et al., 2016; Feng et al., 2019). This is the first report of leaf blight on M. grandiflora caused by D. mutila in China.

Macular corneal dystrophy (MCD) is a rare form of hereditary corneal dystrophy caused by CHST6 mutations. Owing to the genetic heterogeneity and population differences among patients with MCD, the genetic cause of MCD has not been fully elucidated, and the pathogenesis underlying the genetic mutation is still unclear. In this study, Chinese families and sporadic patients were included as subjects, and clinical and genetic analyses were performed to detect novel CHST6 mutations. In addition, the underlying pathogenic mechanisms of MCD were investigated by in vitro cell experiments. Two consanguineously married families and 10 sporadic patients with MCD were enrolled. Direct sequencing of the CHST6 gene was performed in all the patients to identify novel mutations. Wild-type and mutant overexpression cell lines were constructed to study the effects of the mutation in vitro. The expressions of endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress markers and apoptotic factors, cell senescence, and migration levels tests were performed in different overexpression cell lines. As a result, four novel mutations (R155Afs*66, S84Cfs*17, E71G, and E71Q) and 10 previously reported mutations in the CHST6 gene were identified. Among the reported mutations, the most frequent mutations detected in the patients were L21Rfs*88 (4/14) and L21H (4/14). All the novel mutations were absent in the 50 healthy controls and were predicted to alter highly conserved amino acids across the different species and considered to be "disease causing" by function prediction. The results of the in vitro cell experiment further demonstrated that the novel homozygous frameshift mutations (S84Cfs*17 and R155Afs*66) of CHST6 detected in the consanguineously married families could lead to truncated proteins with defect functions, higher ER stress and apoptotic levels, decreased cell migration, and excessive cell senescence in corneal stromal cells, thereby affecting the normal functions of corneal stromal cells. These changes might play important roles in corneal opacity, which is characteristic of corneas with MCD. Our study extended the existing spectrum of disease-causing mutations and further elucidated the underlying pathogenic mechanisms of MCD., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Objectives: To establish and discuss the significance of a clinical risk factor scoring model in predicting central compartment lymph node metastasis (CLNM) (level VI) in patients with papillary thyroid cancer (PTC)., Methods: A retrospective analysis was performed on 412 patients who underwent surgical treatment for PTC who were admitted to the Second Hospital of Hebei Medical University between July 2016 and May 2017, with the patients being divided into a CLNM group and a non-metastasis (NM) group. Risk factors such as sex, age, tumor diameter, capsular invasion, multifocality, and tumor location were recorded for scoring via maximum likelihood estimation (MLE)-based discriminant analysis. The scoring model was used for prospective analysis of CLNM in another 104 patients. Besides, the discriminant function that was developed using the risk factors based on the retrospective data derived from the 412 patients was evaluated by plugging the retrospective data in for specified variables, with a higher score indicating a greater risk of developing CLNM. Clinical diagnosis of CLNM was based on postoperative paraffin section pathology, which was adopted as the criterion to assess discriminative accuracy in the prospective and retrospective groups., Results: The discriminative accuracy of the scoring model was 71.8% in the retrospective group and 72.2% in the prospective group., Conclusions: The scoring model enables simplified, quantitative analysis of CLNM in PTC patients. The scoring model has clinical significance in that it provides a basis for the choice of operation, personalized postoperative treatment, and prognosis of PTC., Competing Interests: Conflicts of interest: None., (Copyright: © Pakistan Journal of Medical Sciences.)

Laughing gas (Nitrogen monoxide) is currently abused due to its low price and easy availability. This article discussed the clinical manifestations of a patient with subacute combined degeneration of the spinal cord caused by inhalation of laughing gas. The patient developed numbness of extremities, unstable walking, and decreased serum vitamin B(12) level. MRI of the cervical spine showed abnormal signals in the lateral and posterior cords of the cervical spinal cord (C2-6) , neuroelectrophysiological examination showed peripheral nerve damage in the extremities. After treatment with vitamin B(12) supplementation, the patient's condition gradually improved. Clinicians diagnose subacute combined degeneration of the spinal cord, especially when the patient has no gastrointestinal disease, diet, malnutrition, etc., they need to carefully inquire about the history of nitrous oxide inhalation to avoid missed diagnosis.

Developing low-cost and high-performance biosorbent for water purification continues drawing more and more attention. In this study, cellulose-chitosan composite hydrogels were fabricated via a co-dissolution and regeneration process using a molten salt hydrate (a 60 wt% aqueous solution of LiBr) as a solvent. The addition of chitosan not only introduced functionality for metal adsorption but also increased the specific surface area and improved the mechanical strength of the composite hydrogel, compared to pure cellulose hydrogel. Batch adsorption experiments indicated that the composite hydrogel with 37% cellulose and 63% chitosan exhibited an adsorption capacity of 94.3 mg/g (1.49 mmol/g) toward Cu 2+ at 23 °C, pH 5, and initial metal concentration of 1500 mg/L, which was 10 times greater than the adsorption capacity of pure cellulose hydrogel. Competitive adsorption from a mixed metals solution revealed that the cellulose-chitosan composite hydrogel exhibited selective adsorption of the metals in the order of Cu 2+  > Zn 2+  > Co 2+ . This study successfully demonstrated an innovative method to fabricate biosorbents from abundant and renewable natural polymers (cellulose and chitosan) for removing metal ions from water., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Competing Interests: Conflicts of Interest: All authors have completed the ICMJE uniform disclosure form (available at https://dx.doi.org/10.21037/tlcr-21-634). Dr. IJO has grant from Roche; he also has received consulting fee from Roche, Ono, MSD, Pfizer, Boehringer-Ingelheim, AstraZeneca and Takeda. Dr. YT reports grants from JSPS KAKENHI grant number JP18K15928 and grants from Takeda Science Foundation outside the submitted work. Dr. SW reports grant and personal fee from AstraZeneca and Boehringer Ingelheim, personal fee from Chugai Pharma, Ono Pharmaceutical, Bristol-Myers, Eli Lilly, MSD, Taiho Pharmaceutical, Pfizer, Novartis, Daiichi Sankyo. Dr. RC has received consulting fees, Payment or honoraria for lectures, presentations, speakers bureaus, manuscript writing or educational events from AZ, MSD, BMS, Roche, TAKEDA, Pfizer, janssen, Bayer, Novartis; Dr. RC has Participation on a Data Safety Monitoring Board or Advisory Board with AZ, MSD, BMS, Roche, TAKEDA, Pfizer, janssen, Bayer, Novartis; Dr. RC has received Support for attending meetings and/or travel from Roche, MSD, Takeda; Dr. RC declares stock ownership with The christie private care. Dr. KM reports medical education grant, Africa from Varian and Pfizer, Clinical trial grant from AstraZeneca and Novartis; travel and accommodations to a clinical trial meeting, 2019 from AstraZeneca; Dr. KM is an unpaid Board of Directors of Global Access to Cancer Care Foundation. Dr. JCS has grant support from National Institute of Health and the Noah’s Hope Foundation; she also has a family member that owns stock options and receives financial compensation from Vida Diagnostics. Dr. MF participated in advisory board for Astrazeneca, AbbVie and Beigene LLC. Dr. DDR reports grants from Bristol-Myers Squibb, grants from AstraZeneca, grants from Boehringer Ingelheim, from Philips, from Olink, from Celgene, from Seattle Genetics, from Roche/Genentech, from Merck/Pfizer, outside the submitted work. Dr. FC reports fees for membership of an advisory board from Roche, AstraZeneca, BMS, Pfizer, Takeda, Lilly, Bayer, Amgen, Sanofi, Pharmamar, Novocure and MSD. Dr NS obtained commercial research grants from Eli Lilly, Chugai Pharmaceutical, Taiho Pharmaceutical, Pfizer Japan, Ono Pharmaceutical, and Nippon Boehringer Ingelheim, and has received speaking honoraria from Eli Lilly, AstraZeneca, MSD Oncology, Chugai Pharmaceutical, Taiho Pharmaceutical, Pfizer Japan, Ono Pharmaceutical, Nippon Boehringer Ingelheim, and Bristol-Myers Squibb Japan. TH serves as an unpaid editorial board member of Translational Lung Cancer Research from Jan 2020 to Dec 2021. FC serves as an unpaid editorial board member of Translational Lung Cancer Research from Aug 2021 to Jul 2023. MF serves as an unpaid editorial board member of Translational Lung Cancer Research from Sep 2019 to Sep 2021. SY serves as an unpaid editorial board member of Translational Lung Cancer Research from Sep 2019 to Sep 2021. GM serves as an unpaid editorial board member of Translational Lung Cancer Research from Aug 2021 to Jul 2023. PH serves as an unpaid editorial board member of Translational Lung Cancer Research from Mar 2021 to Feb 2023. The other authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.

Vaccine hesitancy has spread worldwide recent years and resulting in increasing incidence of some well-controlled vaccine-preventable diseases, which is extremely unfavorable to the consolidation of the national immunization programme and the elimination of corresponding diseases. Based on the Complacency, Convenience and Confidence ("3Cs") model of vaccine hesitancy, combined with the practice experience of management of quality control through the whole vaccine life cycle in China, we introduce a framework of vaccine hesitancy monitoring and early warning in China to provide a reference for carrying out corresponding work. The indicator system of the framework derives from monitoring of vaccine life cycle quality management, population vaccine confidence, and service availability.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is an age-dependent, incurable mental illness that is associated with the accumulation of aggregates of amyloid-beta (Aβ) and hyperphosphorylated tau fragments (p-tau). Detailed studies on postmortem AD brains, cell lines, and mouse models of AD have shown that numerous cellular alterations, including mitochondrial deficits, synaptic disruption and glial/astrocytic activation, are involved in the disease process. Mitophagy is a cellular process by which damaged/weakened mitochondria are selectively eliminated from the cell. In AD, impairments in mitophagy trigger the gradual accumulation of defective mitochondria. This review will focus on the recent progress in understanding the molecular mechanisms and pathological role of mitophagy and its implications for AD pathogenesis. We will also discuss the novel concept of the regulation of mitophagy as a therapeutic avenue for the prevention and treatment of AD., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier B.V. and Mitochondria Research Society. All rights reserved.)

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is regarded as the most common liver disease with no approved therapeutic drug currently. Silymarin, an extract from the seeds of Silybum marianum, has been used for centuries for the treatment of various liver diseases. Although the hepatoprotective effect of silybin against NAFLD is widely accepted, the underlying mechanism and therapeutic target remain unclear. In this study, NAFLD mice caused by methionine-choline deficient (MCD) diet were orally administrated with silybin to explore the possible mechanism and target. To clarify the contribution of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor α (PPARα), PPARα antagonist GW6471 was co-administrated with silybin to NAFLD mice. Since silybin was proven as a PPARα partial agonist, the combined effect of silybin with PPARα agonist, fenofibrate, was then evaluated in NAFLD mice. Serum and liver samples were collected to analyze the pharmacological efficacy and expression of PPARα and its targets. As expected, silybin significantly protected mice from MCD-induced NAFLD. Furthermore, silybin reduced lipid accumulation via activating PPARα, inducing the expression of liver cytosolic fatty acid-binding protein, carnitine palmitoyltransferase (Cpt)-1a, Cpt-2, medium chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase and stearoyl-CoA desaturase-1, and suppressing fatty acid synthase and acetyl-CoA carboxylase α. GW6471 abolished the effect of silybin on PPARα signal and hepatoprotective effect against NAFLD. Moreover, as a partial agonist for PPARα, silybin impaired the powerful lipid-lowering effect of fenofibrate when used together. Taken together, silybin protected mice against NAFLD via activating PPARα to diminish lipid accumulation and it is not suggested to simultaneously take silybin and classical PPARα agonists for NAFLD therapy., (Copyright © 2021 China Pharmaceutical University. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Aim: To investigate the association of axial length (AL), lens thickness (LT), and lens vault (LV) with postoperative anterior chamber angle metrics after laser peripheral iridotomy (LPI)., Methods: Prospective observational study of 69 patients (97 eyes) were diagnosed as primary angle-closure suspect (PACS), primary angle closure (PAC) or primary angle-closure glaucoma (PACG). AL, LT, anterior central chamber depth (ACD), angle opening distance (AOD), trabecular iris angle (TIA), and angle recess area (ARA) were measured before and 1wk after LPI. The association between AL, LT, LV with ACD, AOD, TIA, ARA were analyzed by comparing the differences between preoperative and postoperative measurements for anterior segment biometric parameters., Results: ACD, AOD, TIA, and ARA were significantly increased after LPI (all P <0.05). Greater LT was significantly associated with greater postoperative increases in ACD, AOD, TIA, and ARA (all P <0.05). AL was not significantly associated with changes of anterior segment biometric parameters. Greater LV was significantly associated with greater postoperative increases in ACD, AOD, and TIA (all P <0.05), but was not significantly associated with changes of ARA., Conclusion: Greater baseline LT and LV measurements are associated with greater increases in anterior segment biometric parameters after laser peripheral iridotomy. AL are not associated with the change of anterior segment biometric parameters., (International Journal of Ophthalmology Press.)

SnO 2 /TiO 2 type II heterojunctions are often introduced to enhance the separation efficiency of photogenerated carriers in photoelectrochemical electrodes, while most of these heterojunctions are of core-shell structure, which often limits the synergistic effect from the two components. In this work, dissymmetric SnO 2 /TiO 2 side-by-side bi-component nanofibers (SBNFs) with tunable composition ratios have been prepared by a novel needleless electrospinning technique with two V-shape connected conductive channels (V-channel electrospinning). Results show that this V-channel electrospinning technique is more stable, controllable and tunable for the large-scale preparation of SBNF materials compared to the traditional electrospinning using two side-by-side metal needles. And these SnO 2 /TiO 2 SBNFs are dissymmetric and comprised of a tiny SnO 2 NF (tunable diameter within 20-80 nm) and a Sn-doped TiO 2 NF (diameter of ~ 250 nm) with a side-by-side structure. Moreover, the dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) based these dissymmetric SnO 2 /TiO 2 SBNFs show the maximum power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 8.3%, which is 2.59 times that of the ones based on the TiO 2 NFs. Series of analyses indicate that the enhancements in PCE could mainly be due to the improved electron transport via SnO 2 NFs and the enhanced carrier separation via dissymmetric SnO 2 /TiO 2 heterojunction interface. This research will give some new insight in the preparation of SBNFs for high-performance photoelectrochemical devices., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declared that there is no conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: In esophageal squamous carcinoma, lymphadenectomy along the left recurrent laryngeal nerve (RLN) is recommended owing to its highly metastatic potential. However, this procedure is difficult due to limited working space in the left upper mediastinum, and increases postoperative complications., Aim: To present a novel method for lymphadenectomy along the left RLN during thoracoscopic esophagectomy in the semi-prone position., Methods: The fundamental concept of this novel method is to exfoliate a bilateral pedicled nerve flap, which is a two-dimensional membrane, which includes the left RLN, lymph nodes (LNs) along the left RLN, and tracheoesophageal vessels, by suspending the esophagus to the dorsal side and pushing the trachea to the ventral side (named "bilateral exposure method"). Then, the hollow-out method is performed to transform the two-dimensional membrane to a three-dimensional structure, in which the left RLN and tracheoesophageal vessels are easily distinguished and preserved during lymphadenectomy along the left RLN. This novel method was retrospectively evaluated in 116 consecutive patients with esophageal squamous carcinoma from August 2016 to February 2018., Results: There were 58 patients in each group. No significant difference was found between the two groups in terms of age, gender, postoperative pneumonia, anastomotic fistula, and postoperative hospitalization. However, the number of dissected LNs along the left RLN in this novel method was significantly higher than that in the conventional method (4.17 ± 0.359 vs 2.93 ± 0.463, P = 0.0447). Moreover, the operative time and the rate of postoperative hoarseness in the novel method were significantly lower than those in the conventional method (306.0 ± 6.774 vs 335.2 ± 7.750, P = 0.0054; 4/58 vs 12/58, P = 0.0312)., Conclusion: This novel method for lymphadenectomy along the left RLN during thoracoscopic esophagectomy in the semi-prone position is much safer and more effective., Competing Interests: Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare., (©The Author(s) 2020. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.)

In yam (Dioscorea spp) species, bulbils at leaf axils are the most striking species-specific axillary structure and exhibit important ecological niches. Genetic regulation underlying bulbil growth remains largely unclear so far. Here, we characterize yam (Dioscorea alata L.) bulbil development using histological analysis, and perform full transcriptional profiling on key developmental stages together with phytohormone analyses. Using the stage-specific scoring algorithm, we have identified 3451 stage-specifically expressed genes that exhibit a tight link between major transcriptional changes and stages. Co-expressed gene clusters revealed an obvious over-representation of genes associated with cell division and expansion at the initiation stage of bulbils (T1). Transcriptional changes of hormone-related genes highly coincided with hormone levels, indicating that bulbil initiation and growth are coordinately controlled by multiple phytohormones. In particular, localized auxin is transiently required to trigger bulbil initiation, and be further depleted or exported from bulbils to promote growth by up-regulation of genes involved in auxinconjugation and efflux. The sharp increase in supply of sucrose and an enhanced trehalose-6-phophate pathway at T1 were observed, suggesting that sucrose probably functions as a key signal and promotes bulbil initiation. Analysis of the expression of transcription factors (TFs) predicated 149 TFs as stage-specifically expressed; several T1-specific TFs (from Aux/IAA, E2F, MYB, and bHLH families) have been shown to play key roles in triggering bulbil formation. Together, our work provides a crucial angle for in-depth understanding of the molecular programs underlying yam's unique bulbil development processes. Stage-specific gene sets can be queried to obtain key candidates regulating bulbil growth, serving as valuable resources for further functional research., (© The Author(s) 2019. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Experimental Biology. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.)

Aim: To provide statistical evidence for the use of antibiotics in ophthalmology by assessing the distribution and antibiotic sensitivity of bacterial isolates from ocular specimens with suspected microbial infections., Methods: This study applied a retrospective analysis of 3690 bacterial isolates from ocular specimens, which were obtained from the conjunctiva, cornea, aqueous humor, vitreous body, and other ocular sites of the patients at Shandong Eye Institute in northern China from January 2013 to December 2017. The parameters assessed mainly included the distribution of isolated bacteria and the results of susceptibility tests for antibiotics. In the analysis of antibiotic sensitivities, the bacteria were divided into four groups according to gram staining, and statistical methods were used to compare their antibiotic sensitivities., Results: Among the 3690 isolated bacterial strains, Staphylococcus epidermidis (2007, 54.39%) accounted for the highest proportion. As for the total isolates, their sensitivity rate to gatifloxacin was up to 90.01%, with four types of gram-stained bacteria being all highly sensitive to it, but their sensitivity rate to levofloxacin was only 51.91%. The sensitivity rate of gram-negative bacilli (G-B) to levofloxacin was 83.66%, significantly higher than the other three types of gram-stained bacteria ( P <0.05). Gram-positive cocci (G+C, 97.95%) and gram-positive bacilli (G+B, 97.54%) were more sensitive to vancomycin than gram-negative cocci (G-C, 70.59%) and G-B (68.57%; P <0.05). For fusidic acid, the sensitivity rates of G+C (89.83%) and G+B (73.37%) were significantly higher than that of G-B (29.83%; P <0.05). The gram-negative bacteria's sensitivity rate to cefuroxime was as low as 59.25%, but only G-B was less sensitive to cefuroxime (57.28%), while G-C was still highly sensitive (89.29%). The sensitivity rate of gram-positive bacteria to moxifloxacin was as high as 80.28%, but only G+C was highly sensitive to moxifloxacin (81.21%), while G+B was still less sensitive (32.00%)., Conclusion: Staphylococcus epidermidis is the predominant isolate in all ocular specimens with bacteria. Gatifloxacin is more suitable for topical prophylactic use than levofloxacin in ophthalmology when necessary. Vancomycin and fusidic acid both have better effects on gram-positive bacteria than gram-negative bacteria. More accurate antibiotic sensitivity analysis results can be obtained when a more detailed bacterial classification and more appropriate statistical methods are performed., (International Journal of Ophthalmology Press.)

Aim: To summarize the phenotypes and identify the underlying genetic cause of the fibrillin-1 ( FBN1 ) gene responsible for congenital ectopia lentis (EL) in two Chinese families in northern China., Methods: A detailed family history and clinical data from all participants were collected by clinical examination. The candidate genes were captured and sequenced by targeted next-generation sequencing, and the results were confirmed by Sanger sequencing. Haplotyping was used to confirm the mutation sequence. Real-time PCR was used to determine the FBN1 messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) levels in patients with EL and in unaffected family members., Results: The probands and other patients in the two families were affected with congenital isolated EL. A heterozygous FBN1 mutation in exon 21 (c.2420&#95;IVS20-8 delTCTGAAACAinsCGAAAG) was identified in FAMILY-1. A heterozygous FBN1 mutation in exon 14 (c.1633C>T, p.R545C) was identified in FAMILY-2. Each mutation co-segregated with the affected individuals in the family and did not exist in unaffected family members and 200 unrelated normal controls., Conclusion: The insertion-deletion mutation (c.2420 IVS20-8delTCTGAAACA insCGAAAG) in the FBN1 gene is first identified in isolated EL. The mutation (c.1633C>T) in the FBN1 gene was a known mutation in EL patient. The variable phenotypes among the patients expand the phenotypic spectrum of EL in a different ethnic background., (International Journal of Ophthalmology Press.)

Background: Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) accounts for the highest incidence rate worldwide and is responsible for the fourth leading cause of cancer-related death. Currently, serologic biomarkers for early ESCC diagnosis are needed for timely treatment., Methods: The performance of a four-autoantibody panel (i.e., anti-TP53, HRAS, CTAG1A, and NSG1) was evaluated by ELISA for the early diagnosis of ESCC with 569 retrospective serum samples. A training set comprising 129 patients with early-stage ESCC, 130 patients with esophageal benign lesion (EBL), and 150 healthy controls (HC) was used to develop an early ESCC predictive model. Data obtained from an independent validation set were used to evaluate and validate the predictive model to distinguish the early ESCC from the controls (EBL+HC). Finally, a multiplexed assay based on the Luminex xMAP technology platform was developed to enable simultaneous detection of the four-autoantibody panel using the validation set., Results: The four-autoantibody panel significantly discriminated early ESCC cases from the controls with 62.8% sensitivity at 88.9% specificity in the training set and with 58.0% sensitivity at 90.0% specificity in the independent validation set. The results of the multiplexed assay using xMAP technology for early ESCC showed a significant correlation with that of the ELISA assays with 66.0% sensitivity at 90.9% specificity., Conclusions: A four-autoantibody panel showed good performance for early ESCC diagnosis with ELISA and could be further developed into a multiplex assay using the Luminex xMAP technology., Impact: The four-autoantibody panel could be used for serologic screening for early ESCC., (©2019 American Association for Cancer Research.)

Objective: To evaluate the post-marketing safety of inactivated Enterovirus type 71 (EV-A71) vaccine (human diploid cell) . Methods: A total of 20 191 healthy children aged 6 to 59 months were invited to receive 2 doses of EV-A71 vaccine in Zhejiang Province from September 2016 to December 2017. Child caregivers were followed up on the 4(th) or 5(th) day after each EV-A71 vaccination, and the incidence of local, systemic, and other adverse events within 3 days after vaccination was recorded to assess vaccine safety. Describe the differences in adverse events among children with different characteristics. Results: A total of 32 230 doses were observed in this study, of which 20 191 and 12 039 were vaccinated for the first and the second dose, respectively; and the incidence of adverse events within 3 days was 2.045% (413 doses) and 1.611% (194 doses), respectively. After the first and the second dose, the number of systemic adverse events was the highest, 371 and 175 cases, respectively, with an incidence of 1.837% and 1.454%, respectively; the number of local adverse events was the lowest, 14 and 2 doses, respectively, with an incidence of 0.069% and 0.017%. Local adverse events occurred after vaccination were generally mild, and only 2 patients had level of 3; among the systemic adverse events, 39 patients had a fever level of 3 or higher, accounting for 8.2% of the total fever. Most of the symptoms in the local adverse events did not require treatment, only 3 cases of vaccination site rash and 2 cases of pruritus were self-purchased drugs or outpatient treatment; except for 5 cases of fever, the other symptoms were not hospitalized in the case of systemic adverse events. Conclusion: The incidence of adverse events within 3 days after vaccination with EV-A71 vaccine was low in children, mainly systemic adverse events, and the prognosis was good.

Objectives: To evaluate the safety of inactivated enterovirus A71(EV-A71) vaccines after large-scale immunization in the community. Methods: We selected EV-A71 susceptible people (healthy children) aged 6-59 months in vaccination clinics from 89 counties in Zhejiang Province between April 2016 and March 2018. All local and systematic adverse actions were collected by 30 min on-site inspection, within 3 days and 4-30 days follow-up. Chi-square test and Fisher's exact test were used to compare the difference of AEs incidence in various characteristics among two groups. Results: A total of 71 663 doses of vaccines were included for active safety analysis, which included 37 331 doses in boys and 34 332 doses in girls. Among all the doses, children aged 6 to 11 months, 12 to 23 months and 24 to 59 months were received 13 707, 32 639 and 25 317 doses respectively. The incidence of adverse reactions within 30 min, 3 days and 4-30 days were 0.33% (239 doses), 1.58% (1 133 doses) and 0.34% (244 doses) respectively. Adverse reactions within 3 days were 1 372 doses, with a incidence of 1.91%; among all the cases, 539 doses (0.75%) were grade 1, 677 doses (0.94%) were grade 2 and 156 doses (0.22%) were grade 3, no grade-4 adverse reaction was reported. The common local adverse reactions were redness, swelling and pruritus, with the incidence rates were 0.05% (39 doses), 0.02% (16 doses) and 0.02% (12 doses), respectively, while the most common systemic adverse reaction was pyrexia with an incidence of 1.19% (856 doses), followed by diarrhea and anorexia with the incidence rates were 0.15% (104 doses) and 0.13% (90 doses) respectively. Conclusion: Most adverse actions of EV-A71 vaccines were mild and moderate and majority of them were common adverse actions. No new adverse reactions were found in the study.

Purpose: Catheter-tip associated thrombosis is not uncommon in patients with implantable central venous ports; however, the prevalence and clinical impact of this complication on patient management is unclear. This study aims to identify risk factors for thrombus formation in a large population receiving serial echocardiograms (echo) following port placement., Methods: A total of 396 female breast cancer patients underwent internal jugular vein chest port placement between 2007 and 2013 and received echo studies every third month. Catheter tip position was measured from chest radiography and catheter associated thrombus was identified by echo., Results: Sixteen out of 396 patients (4%) had catheter-tip thrombus. No patients were symptomatic or prophylactically anticoagulated. Patients with thrombus were significantly younger than those without (46.4 years versus 53.4 years, respectively, p = 0.02) and had higher stage breast cancer with 75% versus 44.7% having stage III or IV cancer ( p = 0.017). Thrombus was identified after a median of 91 days. No significant difference was identified in anatomic ( p = 0.1) or measured ( p = 0.15) tip position, port laterality ( p = 0.86), or number of port lumens ( p = 0.65)., Conclusions: In this large cohort, younger patients and those with more advanced stage breast cancer were more associated with catheter-tip-related thrombus after port placement.

Aim: To summarize the phenotypes and identify the underlying genetic cause of the CRYBB1 and CRYBB2 gene responsible for congenital cataract in two Chinese families., Methods: Detailed family histories and clinical data were collected from patients during an ophthalmologic examination. Of 523 inheritable genetic vision system-related genes were captured and sequenced by targeted next-generation sequencing, and the results were confirmed by Sanger sequencing. The possible functional impacts of an amino acid substitution were performed with PolyPhen-2 and SIFT predictions., Results: The patients in the two families were affected with congenital cataract. Sixty-five (FAMILY-1) and sixty-two (FAMILY-2) single-nucleotide polymorphisms and indels were selected by recommended filtering criteria. Segregation was then analyzed by applying Sanger sequencing with the family members. A heterozygous CRYBB1 mutation in exon 4 (c.347T>C, p.L116P) was identified in sixteen patients in FAMILY-1. A heterozygous CRYBB2 mutation in exon 5 (c.355G>A, p.G119R) was identified in three patients in FAMILY-2. Each mutation co-segregated with the affected individuals and did not exist in unaffected family members and 200 unrelated normal controls. The mutation was predicted to be highly conservative and to be deleterious by both PolyPhen-2 and SIFT., Conclusion: The CRYBB1 mutation (c.347T>C) and CRYBB2 mutation (c.355G>A) are novel in patients with congenital cataract. We summarize the variable phenotypes among the patients, which expanded the phenotypic spectrum of congenital cataract in a different ethnic background.

Background: Rural settings where molecular tuberculosis diagnostics are not currently available need easy-to-use tests that do not require additional processing or equipment. While acid-fast bacilli (AFB) smear is the most common and often only tuberculosis diagnosis test performed in rural settings, it is labour intensive, has less-than-ideal sensitivity, and cannot assess tuberculosis drug susceptibility patterns., Objective: The objective of this study was to determine the feasibility of a multidrug-resistant (MDR) or extensively drug-resistant (XDR)-tuberculosis coloured agar-based culture test (tuberculosis CX-test), which can detect Mycobacterium tuberculosis growth and evaluate for drug susceptibility to isoniazid, rifampicin and a fluoroquinolone (i.e. ciprofloxacin) in approximately 14 days., Method: In this study, 101 participants were enrolled who presented to a rural health clinic in central Malawi. They were suspected of having active pulmonary tuberculosis. Participants provided demographic and clinical data and submitted sputum samples for tuberculosis testing using the AFB smear and tuberculosis CX-test., Results: The results showed a high level of concordance between the AFB smear (12 positive) and tuberculosis CX-test (13 positive); only one sample presented discordant results, with the molecular GeneXpert MTB/RIF ® test confirming the tuberculosis CX-test results. The average time to a positive tuberculosis CX-test was 10 days. Of the positive samples, the tuberculosis CX-test detected no cases of drug resistance, which was later confirmed by the GeneXpert MTB/RIF ® ., Conclusion: These findings demonstrate that the tuberculosis CX-test could be a reliable low-cost diagnostic method for active pulmonary tuberculosis in high tuberculosis burden rural areas., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no financial or personal relationships which may have inappropriately influenced them in writing this article.

The implementation of the Three Gorges Project formed a water-level-fluctuating zone, and flooding and drying affects the soil properties and water quality of the Water-Level-Fluctuating Zone. The laboratory simulation or field sampling were conducted; however, the results cannot reflect the real conditions in practice. The effects of flooding and drying on the physical and chemical properties of soil and the transformation characteristics of inorganic phosphorus were studied in order to provide a theoretical reference for soil phosphorus loss and water eutrophication in water-level-fluctuating zone of the Three Gorges Reservoir. To investigate the conversion of soil phosphorus, plastic pots with soil were suspended at different depths (0, 2, 5, and 15 m) and submerged for 30, 60, and 180 d, and exposed for 180 d. The effects of submerged depth and time on the soil physical and chemical properties and inorganic phosphorus forms were studied. The results showed that soil pH, organic matter, total phosphorus, and available phosphorus decreased and then increased subsequently during the flooding period. After exposure for 180 d, soil pH, organic matter, and total phosphorus content decreased, while available phosphorus content increased. After flooding, the ratio of various forms of inorganic phosphorus to total phosphorus was Fe-P > Al-P > Ca 8 -P > Ca 2 -P. The content of Ca 2 -P and Ca 8 -P decreased at 0 m and 2 m and decreased at 5 m and 15 m and then increased with increased flooding time. After exposure for 180 days, the content of inorganic phosphorus increased significantly, and the content of inorganic phosphorus decreased as flooding depth increased. Al-P content increased with the flooding time, but there was no obvious change with flooding depth. The content of Fe-P did not change with the time and the depth of flooding.