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Objective To analyze the changes in the spatial distribution characteristics of perinatal birth defects and congenital heart disease (CHD) in Huai'an City, Jiangsu Province, before and after the comprehensive newborn CHD screening program was carried out in 2018, and to provide a scientific basis for adjusting the strategy for prevention and treatment of birth defects in the region. Methods The data were obtained from the perinatal birth defects surveillance data in the Maternal and Child Health Information System of Huai'an City, Jiangsu Province, from 2016 to 2022. The incidence rates of birth defects and CHD in 2016—2018 and 2019—2022 were calculated respectively at the township-level. Global spatial autocorrelation analysis, local spatial autocorrelation analysis and Getis-Ord Gi* hotspot analysis were carried out using ArcGIS Pro 3.2 software. Results The incidence of birth defects and CHD was 8.67‰, 3.67‰ from 2016 to 2022 in Huai'an, respectively. The incidence of birth defects and CHD in 2019—2022 (13.73‰, 7.42‰) were significantly higher than those in 2016—2018 (4.68‰, 0.71‰, P＜0.001). There was no spatial aggregation of birth defects and CHD incidence rates in Huai'an City in 2016—2018; the distribution of birth defects and CHD incidence rates in Huai'an City in 2019—2022 showed a spatial positive correlation distribution, with the hotspot areas all being Licheng Street, Jinnan Township, and Taji Township in the southern part of Jinhu County. In 2019—2022 compared with 2016—2018, all four types of aggregation areas changed. Conclusion Policy adjustments are necessary according to the changes in the incidence and aggregation of birth defects and CHD in different counties. Improving the screening, diagnosis, treatment and monitoring system of CHD, is crucial for the birth defects prevention and control network in Huai'an.

ObjectiveBased on the Cathepsin B/NLRP3 pathway to explore the therapeutic effect and action mechanism of intestinal mucositis after 5-fluorouracil （5-FU） chemotherapy in colorectal carcinoma mice.MethodsTwenty-four male BALB/c mice were selected for subcutaneous inoculation of CT26 cells in the axilla of the right forelimb to construct a subcutaneous graft mouse model of colorectal carcinoma，When the tumor was grown to 100~300 mm3，the mice were randomly divided into control group （对照 group），5-FU group，5-FU+granule group （5-FU+QFG group），with 8 mice in each group. In the 对照 group，saline was administered and intraperitoneal injection，and mice in the other group received 5-FU （50 mg/kg d-1） once daily for 5 d；in the 5-FU+QFG group，1. 0 g/kg d-1） once daily for 7 d. Mice were observed daily for their diarrhea，and their body mass and tumor volume were recorded. On the 7 d and fasted for 12h after the last administration，animals were sampled and tested. The histopathological changes in the jejunum were observed by hematoxylin-eosin staining （HE）；the expression levels of diamine oxidase （DAO），D-lactic acid （D-LA），endotoxin （ET），tumor necrosis factor-α （TNF-α），interleukin-1β （IL-1β），interleukin-6（IL-6） were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay （ELISA）；cathepsin B （Cathepsin B） Positive expression in the jejunal tissue was detected by immunohistochemistry；The relative expression levels of tight junction proteins ZO-1 and Occludin mRNA in jejunum tissue were determined by real-time polymerase chain reaction （RT-qPCR），The relative expression levels of ZO-1，Occludin，Cathepsin B，NLRP3，ASC，and cleaved Caspase-1 proteins in the jejunal tissue were determined by the Western blot method.Results（1） General situation of mice：During the experimental period，QFG could significantly reduce the diarrhea symptoms caused by 5-FU chemotherapy （PP>0. 05），and had no significant synergistic effect on tumor growth inhibition by 5-FU （P>0. 05）. （2） Histopathological changes of jejunum：QFG can significantly improve the symptoms of intestinal mucosal injury such as short intestinal mucosal villi，deep crypts and inflammatory cell infiltration caused by 5-FU chemotherapy. （3） Serum DAO，D-LA，ET，and TNF-α，IL-1β，IL-6 content：Compared with the 5-FU group，QFG significantly reduced the serum content of DAO，D-LA，E-T，and pro-inflammatory cytokines，TNF-α，IL-1β，IL-6 （PPP

[ Objective ] As a kind of thermophilic and chilling-sensitive plants , low temperature severely af- fected the growth , development , geographical distribution , and yield of Jatropha curcas L.. Previous studies showed that chill-hardening at 12 ℃ significantly enhanced the chilling resistance of J . curcas . The early light-inducible protein ( ELIP ) gene in J . curcas was a highly responsive gene to low tempera- ture. The study aimed to explore the role of JcELIP in response to low temperature in J . curcas , to com- prehensively understand the structure , regulatory mechanisms , evolutionary relationships of JcELIP and its interaction with miRNAs , and to provide an important candidate gene resource for subsequent molecu- lar breeding of cold resistance J . curcas . [ Methods ] This study cloned the JcELIP gene from J . curcas by RT-PCR and conducted a comprehensive bioinformatics analysis. The expression of JcELIP gene in the roots , stems , and leaves , as well as during the chill-hardening at 12 ℃ , were analyzed by RT-qPCR. The miRNAs interacting with JcELIP was identified , and a co-expression analysis was conducted during the chill-hardening at 12 ℃. [ Results ] The results showed that the complete open reading frame ( ORF ) of JcELIP was 585 bp , encoding 194 amino acids. The size of the protein was 2.04 kD with a theoretical iso- electric point of 9.59. It was a stable hydrophobic alkaline protein , with 3 hydrophobic transmembrane helices. The tertiary structure mainly consisted of α -helices and irregular coils and possessed chlorophyll a / b binding sites. Cis -acting element prediction showed that JcELIP had hormone response elements such as abscisic acid. Evolutionary analysis showed that the JcELIP from J . curcas had the highest homology with MeELIP from Manihot esculenta . RT-qPCR analysis revealed that under normal growth conditions , there was no significant difference in the expression of JcELIP in the roots , stems , and leaves of J . cur- cas . During chill-hardening at 12 ℃ , the expression of JcELIP in the leaves was quickly up-regulated , reaching 64.8 times of the control at 48 h , indicating that JcELIP was involved in the response and adap- tation to cold stress. Based on the degradome data of J . curcas , eight miRNAs , including miR390-x , miR6476-x , and novel-m0090-3p , were identified as having regulatory effects on the expression of JcELIP . Co-expression analysis showed that the expression of JcELIP was significantly negatively regu- lated by miR390-x and novel-m0090-3p during the chill-hardening at 12 ℃. [ Conclusion ] JcELIP highly responded to low temperatures stress and interacted with miRNAs , showing that it played an important role in response to low temperature stress in J . curcas .

The phase change material Sb2Te3 (ST) has attracted considerable attention owing to its remarkable phase change speed and low thermal stability for phase change memory (PCM) applications. Many efforts have been performed to tailor the phase change properties. Unfortunately, the improvement in the thermal stability is usually accompanied by the sacrifice of the phase change speed. In this study, we co-doped of Nb and C with ST to design a highly stable and phase change speed material for practical applications. Considerably enhanced crystallization and data retention temperatures were observed in the co-doped films. In addition, no phase separation or deformation of the crystal structure were observed. Raman spectra results indicated that the typical A1g(1) and A1g(2) modes of the Sb–Te bonds were considerably enhanced because of the Nb substitution. Co-doped film-based devices were fabricated to evaluate their overall phase change properties. Improved operating speed and low device power consumption were observed in the device performance test. This study provides effective solutions for designing phase change materials for PCM applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]