Objective To investigate the value of early cystatin C(Cys-C)combined with prothrombin time(PT)for assessing the severity and outcome of patients with severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome(SFTS).Methods The data of 101 patients with SFTS diagnosed and treated in Chaohu Hospital of Anhui Medical University from April 2021 to August 2023 were reviewed retrospectively.The patients were assigned to non-severe group or severe group according to the severity of the disease,and assigned to survivors group or deaths group according to the treatment outcome.The clinical manifestations and early laboratory test results were compared between groups.Logistic regression model was used to analyze the factors for predicting the outcome.The receiver operating characteristic(ROC)curve was used to evaluate the ability of Cys-C and PT levels alone and in combination to distinguish survivors from deaths.Results In the early stage,the patients in severe group and deaths group showed significantly higher levels of serum Cys-C,blood urea nitrogen(BUN),creatinine(Cr),uric acid(UA),PT,activated partial thromboplastin time(APTT),creatine kinase(CK)and creatine kinase MB(CKMB)but significantly lower lymphocyte count compared to the patients in the non-severe group and survivors group(P＜0.05).Multivariate binary Logistic regression analysis showed that age(OR=1.146,95％CI:1.036-1.267),PT(OR=2.643,95％CI:1.323-5.281),and Cys-C(OR=5.039,95％CI:1.548-16.395)were independent risk factors for the outcome of SFTS patients.Serum Cys-C was valuable in distinguishing survivors from deaths,the area under the ROC curve of which was 0.831.When Cys-C,PT and age were combined,the AUC was up to 0.930.Conclusions SFTS mainly occurs in farmers and elderly people.Serum PT and Cys-C levels at early stage can effectively predict the outcome of patients with SFTS.PT and Cys-C levels are expected to be biomarkers for distinguishing survivors from deaths.

Objective:To analyze the radiographic parameters of shoulder balance that affect the postoperative satisfaction of Lenke type 1 adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS).Methods:A total of 98 patients with AIS who underwent posterior pedicle screw fusion in Xijing Hospital of Air Force Medical University from August 2017 to July 2020 were retrospectively analyzed. There were 26 males and 72 females, aged 15.2±5.3 years (range, 10-24 years). Distribution of upper instrumented vertebrae: T 2 58 cases (59%), T 3 25 cases (26%), T 4 15 cases (15%); Distribution of lower instrumented vertebrae: T 12 63 cases (64%), L 1 28 cases (29%), L 2 4 cases (4%), L 3 3 cases (3%). Clavicle angle (CA), radiographic shoulder height (RSH), and coracoid height difference (CHD), clavicle-rib cage intersection difference (CRID), T 1 tilt angle, first rib tilt angle, clavicle chest angle difference(CCAD) and Scoliosis Research Society-22 (SRS-22) scale were compared before and after operation. Binary logistic regression was used to analyze the radiographic indicators of shoulder balance that affected the postoperative satisfaction of Lenke type 1 AIS. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was drawn to determine the threshold value of the imaging index. Results:All operations were successfully completed. The operation time was 260±80 min (range, 220-320 min), and the intraoperative blood loss was 360±110 ml (range, 300-700 ml). There was no nerve, dural or vascular injury during operation. RSH, CHD, CRID, T 1 tilt angle, first rib tilt angle, and CCAD at the final follow-up were 4.0 (0, 13.9) mm, 7.0 (0, 12.9) mm, 4.0 (0, 10.0) mm, 4.8° (3.3°, 8.2°), 5.3°±3.9°, and 5.5° (3.0°, 8.9°), respectively, which were less than the preoperative 10.6 (2.0, 20.3) mm, 10.3 (2.5, 15.9) mm, 8.0 (1.0, 15.2) mm, 7.6° (3.5°, 12.2°), 7.5°±6.9°, 8.5° (3.6°, 18.3°), and the difference was statistically significant ( P<0.05). The SRS-22 function, pain, appearance, and psychological scores at the final follow-up were 4.6 (4.0, 4.9), 4.1±0.5, 4.1±0.7, and 4.2 (3.9, 4.8) points, respectively, which were greater than the preoperative scores of 4.2 (3.8, 4.6), 4.0±0.7, 3.5±0.7, and 4.0 (3.5, 4.4) points, the difference was statistically significant ( P<0.05). Binary logistic regression showed that CCAD was an independent radiographic indicator of shoulder balance that affected the satisfaction of AIS patients after orthopaedic surgery ( OR=0.826, P=0.040). ROC curve showed that the area under the curve and 95% CI was 0.726 (0.572, 0.865), and the threshold was 6.6°. Conclusion:CCAD is an independent radiographic parameter of shoulder balance that affects the postoperative satisfaction of AIS. Patients are more likely to achieve a satisfactory outcome when their postoperative CCAD is ≤6.6°, which can be used clinically as a radiographic parameter to assess the efficacy of orthopaedic spine surgery.

Significantly increasing crop yield is a major and worldwide challenge for food supply and security. It is well-known that rice cultivated at Taoyuan in Yunnan of China can produce the highest yield worldwide. Yet, the gene regulatory mechanism underpinning this ultrahigh yield has been a mystery. Here, we systematically collected the transcriptome data for seven key tissues at different developmental stages using rice cultivated both at Taoyuan as the case group and at another regular rice planting place Jinghong as the control group. We identified the top 24 candi-date high-yield genes with their network modules from these well-designed datasets by developing a novel computational systems biology method, i.e., dynamic cross-tissue (DCT) network analysis. We used one of the candidate genes, OsSPL4, whose function was previously unknown, for gene editing experimental validation of the high yield, and confirmed that OsSPL4 significantly affects panicle branching and increases the rice yield. This study, which included extensive field phenotyping, cross-tissue systems biology analyses, and functional validation, uncovered the key genes and gene regulatory networks underpinning the ultrahigh yield of rice. The DCT method could be applied to other plant or animal systems if different phenotypes under various environments with the common genome sequences of the examined sample. DCT can be downloaded from https://github.com/zt-pub/DCT.

To investigate the correlation of different types of urinary abnormalities or different proteinuria and hematuria with the pathological injury of kidney in IgA nephropathy with isolated hematuria and/or mild proteinuria.
 Methods: Patients with primary IgA nephropathy, isolated hematuria and/or mild proteinuria were enrolled in the Department of Nephrology, the Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University from January 2013 to January 2018. According to the difference of red blood cell count in urinary sediment and quantitative of 24-hour urinary protein (24 h-UP) during renal biopsy, the patients were grouped in 3 ways: a simple hematuria group, a hematuria and proteinuria group, and a simple proteinuria group; a proteinuria I group, a proteinuria II group, and a proteinuria III group; a hematuria I group, a hematuria II group, and a hematuria III group. The clinical parameters such as age, mean arterial pressure, blood urea nitrogen, serum creatinine, blood uric acid, 24 h-UP, and renal pathological damage were compared.
 Results: A total of 157 patients met the inclusion criteria, including 71 males and 86 females. The most common pathological type was focal and/or segmental glomerulosclerosis. The Lee's classification were dominated by grade III and IV, and the renal pathological injury was heavy. Immunoglobulin deposition was dominated by simple IgA deposition. The most common fluorescence intensity of IgA deposition was +++. 97 (61.78%) patients were accompanied by complement deposition and were mainly composed of simple complement C3 deposition. There were 18 patients (11.47%) in the simple hematuria group, 111 patients (70.70%) in the hematuria and proteinuria group, and 28 patients (17.83%) in the simple proteinuria group. Compared with the simple hematuria group, the proportion of patients with mild injury was lower in the simple proteinuria group, and the proportion of patients with moderate-to-severe injuries was increased (χ2=7.053, P=0.008). Compared with the hematuria and proteinuria group, the proportion of patients with mild injury was lower in the simple proteinuria group, and the proportion of patients with moderate-to-severe injury was increased (χ2=4.294, P=0.038). Compared with the proteinuria I group, the proportion of patients with mild injury was lower in the proteinuria III group, and the proportion of patients with moderate-to-severe injury was increased (χ2=5.433, P=0.020). There was no significant difference in the proportion of patients with renal pathological injury among different hematuria groups (P>0.05).
 Conclusion: The clinical manifestations of patients with IgA nephropathy with hematuria and/or mild proteinuria are inconsistent with renal pathological damage. Some patients with mild clinical manifestations have severe renal pathological damage and the renal pathological damage is more serious in simple proteinuria. The more proteinuria, the heavier the renal pathological damage.
Creatinine ; Female ; Glomerulonephritis, IGA ; Hematuria ; Humans ; Kidney ; Male ; Proteinuria