Objective To investigate the effect of Dectin-1 on the release of inflammatory factors interleukin-10 (IL-10) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) in rat tracheal epithelial cells (RTECs) stimulated with heat-treated Candida glabrata (C.glabrata).Methods RTECs cultivated in vitro were randomly divided into three groups,including control group(RTECs + sterile normal saline),fungal stimulation group(RTECs + heat-treated C.glabrata),and inhibitor intervention group(RTECs + laminarin + heat-treated C.glabrata),cells were harvested after incubation for 0,2,4,6 hours respectively,cell survival rate was determined by MTT method,expression of Dectin-1 was analyzed by Western Blot,expression of IL-10 and TNF-α were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).Results Heat-treated C.glabrata destroyed cell structure and reduced cell survival rate.At the beginning of the culture (0 h),cell survival rate,expressions of Dectin-1,IL-10 and TNF-α among three groups were all not significantly different(all P＞0.05).After incubation for 2,4,6 hours,expressions of Dectin-1,IL-10 and TNF-α in fungal stimulation group and inhibitor intervention group were both significantly higher than control group;expressions of Dectin-1,IL-10,and TNF-α in inhibitor intervention group was lower than fungal stimulation group(all P＜0.05).The expressions of IL-10 in inhibitor intervention group at 0 h and 2 h was not significantly different,expressions of Dectin-1,IL-10,and TNF-α in fungal stimulation group and inhibitor intervention group at different incubation periods were significantly different(all P＜0.05).Conclusion Dectin-1 is an important receptor for RTECs to recognize the heat-treated C.glabrata,it induces the release of IL-10 and TNF-α,and mediate the occurrence of inflammation.

Objective:To determine the content of ferric oxide in calamine powder. Methods:Flame atomic absorption spectrom-etry ( FAAS) was used to determine the content of ferric oxide. The determination results were compared with those of the titration method. Results:There was a good linear relationship between the absorbance and the concentration of iron within the range of 0. 5-4μg·ml-1 , the relative standard deviation of the repeatability test was 1. 2%, the average recoveries were 100. 4% and 99. 4%, the limit of quantitation and detection was 0. 081 μg·ml-1 and 0. 024 μg·ml-1 , respectively. Conclusion:The method of FAAS is ac-curate and quick with good specificity and high sensitivity, which can be used for the determination of ferric oxide in calamine powder.

Objective:To explore the risk factors of mortality in patients with Klebsiella pneumoniae bloodstream infection, and to construct a predictive model. Methods:The clinical data of 234 patients with Klebsiella pneumoniae bloodstream infection admitted in the First Hospital of Qinhuangdao from January 2020 to December 2022 were retrospectively analyzed, including 202 cases admitted during January 2020 to June 2022 (model set), and 32 cases admitted during July to December 2022 (validation set). There were 64 cases died (fatal group) and 138 cases survived (survival group) within 28 d after admission in model set. Multivariate Logistic regression was used to analyze the risk factors of death in patients with Klebsiella pneumoniae bloodstream infection and a mortality prediction model was constructed. The constructed model was applied in validation set, and the consistency between predicted mortality and real mortality was analyzed. Results:Multivariate Logistic regression analysis showed that male sex ( OR=2.598, 95% CI 1.179-5.725, P=0.018), age≥65 years ( OR=4.420, 95% CI 2.029-9.627, P<0.001), admitted to intensive care unit (ICU) ( OR=10.299, 95% CI 4.752-22.321, P<0.001), and the empirical use of quinolones antibiotics ( OR=4.288, 95% CI 1.127-16.317, P=0.033) were independent risk factors for 28-day mortality in Klebsiella pneumoniae bloodstream infection patients. The regression equation for predicting the risk of death was -3.469+ male × 0.955+ age ≥ 65 years × 1.486+ admitted to ICU × 2.332+ empirical use of quinolone antibiotics × 1.456. The area under the ROC curve (AUC) for predicting death in the model set was 0.831, with sensitivity and specificity of 71.9% and 80.4%, respectively. The AUC for predicting death in the validation set was 0.881, with sensitivity and specificity of 91.7% and 75.0%, respectively. Conclusion:The constructed mortality prediction model in the study has good application value for the prognosis of patients with Klebsiella pneumoniae bloodstream infection.

Objective:To explore the clinical efficacy of thermal moxibustion combined with Duhuo Jisheng Decoction in the treatment of liver and kidney deficiency syndrome of knee osteoarthritis (KOA).Methods:From January 2020 to January 2021, 124 KOA patients with liver and kidney deficiency syndrome, who met the inclusion criteria, were divided into 2 groups according to the random number table method, with 62 in each group. The control group was treated with Duhuo Jisheng Decoction, and the observation group was treated with thermal moxibustion on the basis of the control group. Both groups were treated for 28 days. TCM symptom scores were performed before and after treatment, the Osteoarthritis Index of Western Ontario and McMaster University (WOMAC) was used to evaluate joint function. ELISA was used to detect serum insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1), fibroblast growth factor-2 (FGF-2), transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1), IL-1β, IL-6, TNF-α levels, and the clinical efficacy was evaluated.Results:The total effective rate was 91.9% (57/62) in the observation group and 77.4% (48/62) in the control group, and there was significant difference between two groups ( χ2=5.04, P=0.025). After treatment, the TCM symptom score and WOMAC score of the observation group were significantly lower than those of the control group ( t values were 11.33 and 12.23, respectively, all Ps<0.01). After treatment, the serum levels of IGF-1 [(15.63±2.03) ng/L vs. (12.78±1.57) ng/L, t=8.75], FGF-2 [(30.26±5.37) ng/L vs. (26.31±1.94) ng/L, t=5.45] and TGF-β1[(30.39±6.71)μg/L vs. (24.31±5.12) μg/L, t=5.67] in the observation group were significantly higher than those in the control group ( P<0.01), while the levels of IL-1β [(12.50±3.36) ng/L vs. (16.09±4.90) ng/L, t=4.76], IL-6 [(10.59±3.28) ng/L vs. (21.75 ± 4.09) ng/L, t=16.76] and TNF-α [(4.04±1.92) ng/L vs. (6.48±1.43) ng/L, t=8.03] in the observation group were significantly lower than those in the control group ( P<0.01). There was no adverse events from both groups during treatment. Conclusion:Thermal moxibustion combined with Duhuo Jisheng Ddecoction can alleviate the joint pain of KOA patients with liver and kidney deficiency syndrome, promote cartilage repair and improve the clinical curative effect.

Objective To study the impact of a Western diet-type feed on biological indicators and histopathology in APOE-/-mice.Methods Forty-eight female and 48 male APOE--mice,and 48 female and 48 male C57BL/6J mice were divided into eight breeding groups:APOE-/-breeding feed group,APOE-/-Western dietary feed group,C57BL/6J breeding feed group,and C57BL/6J Western dietary feed group(24 male and 24 female mice per group).Mice were fed the respective diets from 3 weeks until the end of the experiment at 20 weeks.After the experiment,serum was collected for measurement of biochemical indicators.Aortas were removed for oil red O staining and gross examination and the aorta root was paraffin sectioned and stained with hematoxylin and eosin.Results A Western diet did not significantly increase body weight in APOE-/-mice,but did significantly improve the blood lipid index and total cholesterol,low-density lipoprotein,and high-density lipoprotein levels,and promoted the formation of atherosclerotic plaques.Male mice were suitable for modeling gross aortic plaques while female mice were suitable for modeling aortic arch root plaques.Conclusions A Western diet can promote atherosclerosis in APOE-/-mice,increase the aortic plaque area ratio,shorten modeling time,and improve modeling uniformity.

Objective To evaluate the clinical efficacy of traditional Chinese medicine turbid phlegm obstructing lung decoction on patients with acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease(AECOPD)and its influence on laboratory indexes.Methods A total of 191 patients with AECOPD who were hospitalized in the First People's Hospital of Changde from January 2021 to December 2022 were selected.Patients were divided into observation group(96 cases)and control group(95 cases)according to their treatment intention.The control group received conventional treatment of western medicine,and the observation group received oral administration of traditional Chinese medicine turbid phlegm obstructing lung decoction for one week.TCM symptom scores,COPD assessment test(CAT),lung function,laboratory indicators and efficacy were compared between two groups.Results The total effective rate of observation group was significantly higher than that of control group(χ2=4.573,P=0.030).After treatment,TCM symptom score,CAT score,hypersensitive C-reaction protein(hsCRP)and interleukin-6(IL-6)of patients in both groups were significantly lower than before treatment,percentage of forced vital capacity to predicted value(FVC%)and percentage of forced expiratory volume in one second to predicted value(FEV1%)were significantly higher than before treatment(P<0.05),arterial partial pressure of carbon dioxide(PaCO2)of observation group was lower than before treatment,and arterial partial pressure of oxygen(PaO2)was higher than before treatment(P<0.05).The TCM symptom score,CAT score,hsCRP and IL-6 of observation group were significantly lower than those of control group,while FVC%,FEV1%and PaO2 were significantly higher than those of control group(P<0.05).Conclusion On the basis of western medicine treatment,traditional Chinese medicine turbid phlegm obstructing lung decoction can more effectively improve clinical symptoms of AECOPD patients,relieve the inflammation in the body,contribute to the recovery of lung function and improve the quality of life of patients.

OBJECTIVE To construct a risk prediction model for bloodstream infection （BSI） induced by carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae （CRKP）. METHODS Retrospective analysis was conducted for clinical data from 253 patients with BSI induced by K. pneumoniae in the First Hospital of Qinhuangdao from January 2019 to June 2022. Patients admitted from January 2019 to December 2021 were selected as the model group （n＝223）， and patients admitted from January 2022 to June 2022 were selected as the validation group （n＝30）. The model group was divided into the CRKP subgroup （n＝56） and the carbapenem- sensitive K. pneumoniae （CSKP） subgroup （n＝167） based on whether CRKP was detected or not. The univariate and multivariate Logistic analyses were performed on basic information such as gender， age and comorbid underlying diseases in two subgroups of patients； independent risk factors were screened for CRKP-induced BSI， and a risk prediction model was constructed. The established model was verified with patients in the validation group as the target. RESULTS Admissioning to intensive care unit （ICU）， use of immunosuppressants， empirical use of carbapenems and empirical use of antibiotics against Gram-positive coccus were independent risk factors of CRKP-induced BSI （ORs were 3.749， 3.074， 2.909， 9.419， 95%CIs were 1.639-8.572， 1.292- 7.312， 1.180-7.717， 2.877-30.840， P＜0.05）. Based on this， a risk prediction model was established with a P value of 0.365. The AUC of the receiver operating characteristic （ROC） curve of the model was 0.848 [95%CI （0.779， 0.916）， P＜0.001]， and the critical score was 6.5. In the validation group， the overall accuracy of the prediction under the model was 86.67%， and the AUC of ROC curve was 0.926 [95%CI （0.809， 1.000]， P＜0.001]. CONCLUSIONS Admission to ICU， use of immunosuppressants， empirical use of carbapenems and empirical use of antibiotics against Gram-positive coccus are independent risk factors of CRKP- induced BSI. The CRKP-induced BSI risk prediction model based on the above factors has good prediction accuracy.

A novel RNA virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), is responsible for the ongoing outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Population genetic analysis could be useful for investigating the origin and evolutionary dynamics of COVID-19. However, due to extensive sampling bias and existence of infection clusters during the epidemic spread, direct applications of existing approaches can lead to biased parameter estima-tions and data misinterpretation. In this study, we first present robust estimator for the time to the most recent common ancestor (TMRCA) and the mutation rate, and then apply the approach to analyze 12,909 genomic sequences of SARS-CoV-2. The mutation rate is inferred to be 8.69 × 10-4 per site per year with a 95％ confidence interval (CI) of [8.61 × 10-4, 8.77 × 10-4], and the TMRCA of the samples inferred to be Nov 28, 2019 with a 95％ CI of [Oct 20, 2019, Dec 9, 2019]. The results indicate that COVID-19 might originate earlier than and outside of Wuhan Seafood Market. We further demonstrate that genetic polymorphism patterns, including the enrichment of specific haplotypes and the temporal allele frequency trajectories generated from infection clusters, are similar to those caused by evolutionary forces such as natural selection. Our results show that population genetic methods need to be developed to efficiently detangle the effects of sampling bias and infection clusters to gain insights into the evolutionary mechanism ofSARS-CoV-2. Software for implementing VirusMuT can be downloaded at https://bigd.big.ac.cn/biocode/tools/BT007081.

The Genome Warehouse (GWH) is a public repository housing genome assembly data for a wide range of species and delivering a series of web services for genome data submission, storage, release, and sharing. As one of the core resources in the National Genomics Data Center (NGDC), part of the China National Center for Bioinformation (CNCB;https://ngdc.cncb.ac.cn), GWH accepts both full and partial (chloroplast, mitochondrion, and plasmid) genome sequences with different assembly levels, as well as an update of existing genome assemblies. For each assembly, GWH collects detailed genome-related metadata of biological project, biological sample, and genome assembly, in addition to genome sequence and annotation. To archive high-quality genome sequences and annotations, GWH is equipped with a uniform and standardized procedure for quality control. Besides basic browse and search functionalities, all released genome sequences and annotations can be visualized with JBrowse. By May 21, 2021, GWH has received 19,124 direct submissions covering a diversity of 1108 species and has released 8772 of them. Collectively, GWH serves as an important resource for genome-scale data management and provides free and publicly accessible data to support research activities throughout the world. GWH is publicly accessible at https://ngdc.cncb.ac.cn/gwh.

Objective To develop a novel electric stapler, so as to improve the automation, convenience and precision of minimally invasive surgery. Methods The clamping, firing and turning mechanism of the new electric stapler was innovatively designed to realize the electric drive of minimally invasive surgical anastomosis on the basis of traditional mechanical stapler. The motion process of electric clamping, firing and double-screw turning mechanism was analyzed in detail, and the equations for motion function of three mechanisms were solved, providing a theoretical basis for the intelligent control algorithm of electric stapler. Results The electric clamping and firing process was simulated using ADAMS software to verify the equation of motion. The prototype of the new electric stapler was made, and the anastomosis experiment and blasting pressure experiment of the in vitro small intestine tissues were carried out. The range of anastomotic blasting pressure was between 3.7 kPa and 11.67 kPa, meeting the basic requirements in clinic. Conclusions The structure of the new electric stapler can meet the requirements of electric pressing and firing in minimally invasive surgery, contributing to achieve tissue anastomosis more conveniently, quickly and effectively.