Objective To development and validate a predictive model for distinguishing between malignant pleural effusion(MPE)and benign pleural effusion(BPE).Methods A total of 428 patients diagnosed with pleural effusion(PE)and hospitalized at the First Hospital of Huai'an Affiliated to Nanjing Medical University from July 2020 to May 2022 were selected.The patients were divided into BPE group(211 cases)and MPE group(217 cases)according to diagnostic criteria.The basic information and clinical data of these patients were collected.Boruta method was used for univariate screening,followed by multivariate Logistic regression to construct a basic nomogram model.Bootstrap method was used for internal validation to evaluate the performance of the nomogram,including dis-crimination,accuracy,and clinical applicability.Results The model included 8 key variables:dyspnea,chest pain,general symp-toms,X-ray/CT with malignant tumor features,serum carcinoembryonic antigen,serum neuron-specific enolase,pleural lactate dehy-drogenase,and pleural carcinoembryonic antigen.Internal validation showed that the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve(AUCROC)of the model was 0.933(95%confidence interval:0.912-0.954),with good accuracy(P＞0.05).Decision curve a-nalysis(DCA)indicated that this predictive model for predicting MPE risk had a significant net benefit when the probability threshold exceeded 1%.Conclusion The constructed prediction model could effectively distinguish between MPE and BPE.

Objective To analyze the interspecies differences in virulence of different carbapenem-resistant Enterobacterales(CREb)strains and provide a theoretical basis for understanding the pathogenic mechanisms of CREb and for guiding individualized treatment strategies.Methods A total of nine CREb clinical isolates collected between 2013 and 2022 were included,representing five species:Enterobacter cloacae(E.cloacae),Enterobacter hormaechei(E.hormaechei),Enterobacter kobei(E.kobei),Enterobacter asburiae(E.asburiae),and Enterobacter chuandaensis(E.chuandaensis).Whole-genome sequencing was performed to characterize virulence gene profiles.Phenotypic assays included growth curve analysis,biofilm formation assessment,serum bactericidal assays,and Galleria mellonella infection models to evaluate virulence-related traits.Results Virulence gene analysis revealed that motility-related factors were the most abundant(16 to 20 per strain),followed by nutrition/metabolism-related factors(10 to 12 per strain),while invasion-related genes were rare,with the ibeB gene detected in only two E.asburiae strains.The strains of the same species shared similar viru-lence gene profiles,and E.chuandaensis harbored the fewest virulence genes.In vitro growth assays showed that E.hormaechei and E.cloacae had the fastest growth rates,while E.chuandaensis and E.kobei exhibited slower growth,and E.asburiae displayed the slo-west growth.Biofilm assays indicated that E.hormaechei and E.cloacae had the strongest biofilm-forming capacity,while E.kobei had the weakest.In serum bactericidal assays,E.hormaechei and E.cloacae showed high survival rates(＞70%),whereas the survival rate of E.chuandaensis was less than 1%.In the Galleria mellonella model,E.asburiae and E.cloacae exhibited marked dose-dependent virulence,whereas the remaining strains showed reduced virulence.Conclusion Different CREb species exhibit significant variation in virulence gene content and phenotypic traits.The pathogenic potential of CREb may provide fundamental data to inform strategies for prevention and treatment of CREb infection.

Objective To investigate the diagnostic efficacies of serum cytokines and peripheral blood C-reactive protein(CRP)in tu-berculosis patients with concurrent other bacterial or fungal infections.Methods A total of 101 cases of pulmonary tuberculosis from Songjiang Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine were enrolled in this study(n=101).Based on mi-crobiological culture of sputum/bronchoalveolar lavage fluid(BALF)combined with targeted next-generation sequencing(tNGS),they were divided into two groups:the infection group(n=37),comprising the patients with pulmonary tuberculosis combined with other bacterial or fungal infection,and the non-infection group(n=64),comprising the patients with pulmonary tuberculosis but without such combined infections.Additionally,45 healthy individuals undergoing physical examinations were included as the control group.Se-rum levels of cytokines,including interleukin-2(IL-2),soluble interleukin-2 receptors(sIL-2R),interleukin-6(IL-6),interferon-γ(IFN-γ)and tumor necrosis factor-α(TNF-α),were measured using chemiluminescent immunoassay.Clinical data and laboratory in-dicators,such as CRP were also collected from the patients with pulmonary tuberculosis.Mann-Whitney U test was used to screen the indicators with significant differences.Binary logistic regression analysis was performed to identify the factors associated with pulmonary tuberculosis co-infected with other bacterial and fungal infections.The diagnostic performance of these indicators was evaluated using re-ceiver operating characteristic(ROC)curves analysis.Results The levels of serum sIL-2R,IL-6,IFN-γ,and TNF-α in patients with tuberculosis were higher compared with the control group,while the IL-2 levels was lower with statistically significant differences(all P＜0.05).Compared with the non-infection group,infection group showed significantly elevated IL-2,sIL-2R,IL-6 and CRP lev-els(all P＜0.05).Binary logistic regression analysis indicated that male sex,history of previous tuberculosis,sIL-2R and CRP were all associated with bacterial or fungal co-infections in the patients with tuberculosis(all P＜0.05).ROC curve analysis indicates that com-bined detections of sIL-2R and CRP provided adequate discriminative performance for co-infection of tuberculosis complicated with oth-er bacterial or fungal co-infections,with an area under the curve(AUC)of 0.746(95%CI:0.650-0.843,P＜0.001),sensitivity of 81.1%,and specificity of 64.1%.Conclusion Male sex,history of previous tuberculosis,serum sIL-2R and CRP are independent predictive factors of other bacterial or fungal co-infections in the patients with pulmonary tuberculosis.The combined detection of sIL-2R and CRP may provide valuable information for identifying the co-infection of other bacteria or fungi.

Objective To investigate the regulatory effects and molecular mechanisms of extracellular vesicles(EVs)secreted by adri-amycin(ADR)-resistant breast cancer cells on vascular endothelial cells related to tumor microenvironment.Methods The ADR-sen-sitive breast cancer cell line(MCF-7)and its ADR-resistant counterpart(MCF-7-ADR)were established in vitro.Then,the EVs were isolated from the supernatant of cell culture using a commercial kit.The fluorescence labeling and tracking technology using PKH67 was used to validate the internalization of EVs by human umbilical vein endothelial cell(HUVEC).The effects of EVs on the proliferation,migration,and angiogenesis of HUVEC were assessed by the colony formation,scratch wound healing,and tube formation assays,re-spectively.The expression level of CD31 protein was detected by Western blot,and the levels of vascular endothelial growth factor(VEGF)in cell supernatant were determined by ELISA.The microRNA(miRNA)sequencing technology was utilized to identify the differentially expressed miRNAs in EVs secreted by ADR-resistant cells.Results Compared with the ADR-sensitive strain,the EVs secreted by the ADR-resistant strain significantly enhanced the proliferation(colony number increased by 38.7%,P=0.011),migra-tion(scratch healing rate improved by 42.3%,P=0.004),and tube formation ability(tube formation rates increased by 1.8 times and 2.3 times at 4 h and 16 h,respectively,P=0.044 and 0.010)of HUVEC.Western blot analysis showed that the expression level of CD31 in the EVs secreted by the ADR-resistant strain increased by 1.85 times compared with the ADR-sensitive strain(P=0.039).The results of ELISA showed that the expression level of VEGF increased by 2.12 times(P=0.012).The miRNA sequencing identified a differentially expressed miRNA profile.Conclusion The ADR-resistant breast cancer cells significantly enhance the proliferation,migration,and angiogenesis of vascular endothelial cells by secreting EVs rich in specific miRNA,and its mechanism may be related to the up-regulation of CD31/VEGF protein levels mediated by EVs,suggesting that the drug-resistant cells reshaping the tumor vascular microenvironment through EVs may become a new therapeutic target of chemotherapy resistance in breast cancer.

Objective To investigate the functional changes of dendritic cells(DCs)in patients at different stages of hepatitis B virus(HBV)infection and analyze the mechanisms underlying DC dysfunction.Methods Single-cell RNA sequencing dataset GSE182159 was downloaded from the GEO database and classified into healthy control(HC),immune active(IA),and immune tolerant(IT)groups based on infection stage.Peripheral blood samples were collected from 7 IA patients,7 IT patients,and 12 healthy controls.Flow cytometry was used to isolate classical dendritic cells(cDC)and plasmacytoid dendritic cells(pDC).The expression levels of transcription factors in cDC and pDC were measured by quantitative real-time PCR(qRT-PCR).Bioinformatics analyses were per-formed using R and Python package.Results The proportions of DCs in IA and IT groups were higher than that in HC group.Func-tional enrichment analysis revealed that the differentially expressed genes(DEGs)of cDCs in the IA group were primarily enriched for the processes,such as inflammatory response,MHC classⅡantigen processing and presentation,cell migration,signal transduction,metabolism,and immune response.In contrast the IT group exhibited lower enrichment intensity and a significant reduction in interfer-on responses.The DEGs of pDC in the IA group were enriched in the processes of MHC-Ⅱantigen presentation,Fc receptor signal transduction,and metabolism,whereas those in the IT group were showed enrichment only in Fc receptor signal transduction and me-tabolism with a lower intensity.Both groups exhibited reduced synthesis of typesⅠandⅡinterferons in pDC,with the IT group showing a more pronounced downregulation.Cell-cell communication analysis demonstrated enhanced interactions between myeloid cells(except pDC)and T cells in the IA group,whereas the interactions between cDC/pDC and T cells in the IT group were reduced.Transcription factor analysis revealed that STAT2,STAT3,IRF1,and IRF5 were highly expressed in the IA group but their expression exhibited low-er expression levels in the IT group.In contrast,BHLHE40 was broadly upregulated in both cDC and pDC subsets within the IT group.The qRT-PCR results were consistent with the findings from the single-cell transcription factor analysis.Conclusion The IT phase of hepatitis B infection represents a critical period for cDC dysfunction,characterized by significant suppression of MHCⅡantigen presen-tation,metabolism,and interferon responsiveness.The functional impairment of pDC precedes that of cDC,as evidenced by a marked downregulation of interferon synthesis capacity observed during the IA phase.

Objective To investigate the inhibitory effects of formononetin on sortase A(SrtA)of Staphylococcus epidermidis(S.epi-dermidis)and its biofilm formation.Methods Biofilm-producing S.epidermidis standard strain RP62A and biofilm-producing S.epider-midis clinical strains were collected.The minimal inhibitory concentration(MIC)of formononetin against S.epidermidis was investigated using the two-fold dilution method.The inhibitory effects of different concentrations of formononetin on the growth of S.epidermidis in vitro were studied by growth curve analysis using microplate reader.The cytotoxicity of formononetin was measured by cell culture.The biocompatibility of formononetin was studied by hemolysis assay.The inhibitory effect of formononetin on the activity of SrtA was deter-mined by fluorescence resonance energy transfer(FRET)assay.The effect of formononetin on the ability of S.epidermidis binding fi-bronectin was assessed by fibronectin binding assay.The effect of formononetin on the anchoring of serine-rich repeat proteins(SRRPs)in S.epidermidis was assessed by immunofluorescence staining.The effect of formononetin on the biofilm formation of S.epidermidis was measured by crystal violet staining.Results The MICs of formononetin against S.epidermidis were greater than 512 μg/mL.Compared with the control group,32 μg/mL of formononetin did not significantly affect the growth of S.epidermidis or reduce the viability of hu-man aortic endothelial cells.The hemolysis rate of human red blood cells was less than 5%.The inhibition rate of SrtA activity was ap-proximately 53.8%.The binding capacity of S.epidermidis to fibronectin was reduced by approximately 45.4%.Microscopic observation revealed a significant reduction in the anchoring of SRRP in S.epidermidis,and the formation of biofilm of S.epidermidis was inhibited by approximately 41.7%.Conclusion Formononetin inhibits the activity of SrtA in S.epidermidis,reduce its fibronectin-binding ca-pacity and biofilm formation,and thus represents a promising candidate for the prevention of S.epidermidis infections.

Objective To screen hub genes and signaling pathways associated with acute ischemic stroke(AIS)using bioinformatics methods,identify potential biomarkers,and provide new evidence for the mechanism research of AIS.Methods The gene expression dataset GSE37587 of AIS patients and healthy controls was obtained from the public database gene expression omnibus(GEO).The differentially expressed genes(DEGs,|log2 FC|≥1.2,FDR＜0.05)were screened using the limma package.The enrichment analysis of GO/KEGG was performed with the DAVID database.The weighted correlation network analysis(WGCNA)was used to construct a gene co-expression network for screening key modules.Then,a protein-protein interaction(PPI)network was constructed based on the STRING database and Cytoscape software to identify hub genes.The dataset GSE16561 was used to validate.Meanwhile,the clinical samples from 30 AIS patients and 30 healthy controls visited Zibo First Hospital from January to May 2025 were validated by the real time fluorescence quantitative PCR(qRT-PCR).The diagnostic efficacy was evaluated using the receiver operating characteristics(ROC)curve.Results A total of 653 DEGs were identified,including 252 up-regulated and 401 down-regulated genes.They were mainly enriched in biological processes such as ribosome biogenesis,endoplasmic reticulum protein processing,and oxidative phospho-rylation,as well as signaling pathways such as viral infection-related pathways and PD-L1/PD-1 checkpoint pathways in cancer.The core genes in the light green module identified by the WGCNA analysis were significantly enriched in the pathways such as mitophagy,ribosome,and endocytosis.The hub genes such as RPL34 and DDIT3 were screened from the PPI network,and their expression levels were significantly correlated with AIS.The analysis of the ROC curve showed that the areas under the ROC curve(AUCROC)of the hub genes for the diagnosis of AIS were 0.78-0.82,which had high clinical application value.Conclusion Ribosomal proteins,endoplas-mic reticulum stress-related genes,and viral infection response pathways are key molecular events in the occurrence of AIS.The genes such as RPL34 and DDIT3 are expected to be potential biomarkers for AIS,providing experimental evidence for the development of di-agnostic markers.

Objective To investigate the effects of sample transport and sorting system on the detection results of common clinical bio-chemical and immunological items carried out in our laboratory.Methods A total of 25 patients admitted to Zidong Hospital of Jiangsu Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine in June 2024 were included in this study,and four blood samples were collected from each patients using vacuum blood vessels with separation gel containing coagulant.These samples were transferred to the laboratory department through manual transport or pneumatic logistics transmission,and the manual sorting approach or intelligent blood vessel sorting system was used to encode the samples.The effects of different sample transportation methods and sorting methods on the detec-tion results of 46 clinical biochemical parameters,12 tumor markers and 5 thyroid hormone items,which were carried out in our labora-tory,were analyzed and compared.Results No significant change on hemolytic index(HI)was found through pneumatic tube system(PTS)and intelligent blood vessel sorting system(P＞0.05).The results of AST,CK-MB,α-HBDH,and LDH in clinical biochemical parameters following PTS were significantly different from those in artificial transport group(all P＜0.05).Both the results of Cyfra21-1 and NSE in immunological items in the samples after PTS transport were significantly different from those obtained by either manual transport or intelligent sorting system,with statistical significance(all P＜0.05).Conclusion PTS basically meets the requirements of clinical laboratories,but it can lead to the increase of AST,CK-MB,α-HBDH and LDH in clinical biochemistry,as well as Cyfra21-1 and NSE in immunology,which needs to be further improved,refined,and validated in order to meet the clinical requirements.

Objective To evaluate the recognition capability of AI-enabled Cellsee CS-BM1 automatic cell morphology analyzer for pe-ripheral blood smears and its roles in assisting manual classification,and explore the application value of AI system in the diagnosis network of tiered primary medical units.Methods The blood samples which triggered the re-examination rules were collected from six primary medical units,including the Laboratory Department of Shanghai Jiahui International Hospital,and so on,from March to No-vember 2023.The smears of peripheral blood were prepared and AI analyzer was used for pre-classification to evaluate its recognition performance in identifying the samples with abnormal WBC and RBC.The sensitivity,specificity,and accuracy of WBC classification by six junior and intermediate technicians,both with and without AI assistance,were analyzed.Additionally,the roles of the AI system in tiered diagnosis of primary medical units were also evaluated.Results The sensitivity,specificity,and accuracy of AI system in recognizing malignant primitive cells were 92.86％,95.16％,and 95.10％,respectively.The sensitivities of AI system in recognizing immature granulocytes,reactive lymphocytes,and nucleated RBCs were all greater than 90％.The sensitivity of AI system in identif-ying abnormal morphology of RBCs reached 99.59％,along with rapid quantitative analysis for various anomalous types of RBCs.In AI-assisted mode,the sensitivity of recognition for all cell types was improved to varying degrees by junior and intermediate technicians,and the sensitivity for recognizing malignant primitive cells,reactive lymphocytes,and immature granulocytes increased to 58.24％,53.39％,and 62.37％for junior technicians,and to 92.06％,83.24％,and 83.12％for intermediate technicians,respectively.The improvements for junior technicians were particularly significant,with increases of 12.46％,10.61％,and 3.71％for each cell type,respectively.Both groups achieved higher specificity and accuracy.Through AI pre-classification and manual review,a variety of pe-ripheral blood cell-related diseases were accurately diagnosed in the tiered healthcare practice of primary medical units,including 339 cases(11.13％)of red blood cell diseases,5 cases(0.16％)of platelet diseases,2 343 cases(76.90％)of infection-related disea-ses,and 28 cases(0.92％)of malignant hematological diseases.In addition,332 cases(10.90％)which lacked an obvious related cause or required further examinations were identified as well.Conclusion AI pre-classification has demonstrated strong cell recogni-tion capabilities and may assist technicians in improving the sensitivity,specificity,and accuracy of blood cell classification.AI could en-hance the disease-screening capabilities in the tiered diagnosis network of primary medical units,presenting a broad application prospect.

Objective To investigate the value of patient data-based real-time quality control(PBRTQC)in internal quality control(IQC)for blood cells analysis based on the data from patients.Methods The data of patients'blood cells,including white blood cell count(WBC),hemoglobin(Hb),red blood cell count(RBC),hematocrit(HCT),mean corpuscular volume(MCV),mean cor-puscular hemoglobin(MCH),mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration(MCHC),and platelet(PLT)were collected from August 1,2023 to February 26,2024,and the extracted patient data were analyzed on the AI-based real-time quality control intelligent moni-toring platform.The corresponding IQC data for this period were reviewed,and the results of PBRTQC and IQC were compared and an-alyzed.The causes of the emerging warning or alarm prompts were checked and analyzed to explore the application value of PBRTQC in the IQC process of blood cell analysis.Results It is found that when the quality control product was unstable due to overlong opening time of the reagent or improper storage conditions,and the performance changes of the operating system during the detection process,the PBRTQC intelligent monitoring platform was able to issue risk warning or alarm prompt in advance.PBRTQC may have certain limi-tations,such as the error of red blood cell count,which need to be identified.Conclusion PBRTQC is superior to IQC in blood cell analysis and may play a complementary role in IQC.Meanwhile,it is necessary to exclude the possibility that PBRTQC is significantly influenced by the patient population in medical laboratories.