Objective:To evaluate iron metabolism disorders in sepsis patients and explore the effect of iron deficiency on mortality.Methods:Patients ( n=130) who were admitted to the emergency intensive care unit (ICU) of the First Affiliated Hospital of Dalian Medical University from September 2016 to July 2018 and met the diagnostic criteria of Sepsis 3.0 were selected, and sex- and age-matched healthy volunteers ( n=20) were enrolled as a control group. Peripheral venous blood samples were collected in sepsis patients on day 1, 3 and 7 after admission, or in the healthy volunteers upon enrollment, to detect iron metabolism-related indicators and interleukin-6 (IL-6); the Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) score was calculated upon hospital admission. Iron metabolism-related indicators were compared between the groups; the correlation of plasma iron with hemoglobin, hepcidin, ferritin, IL-6, sTFR/log ferritin and the ability of plasma iron to predict 28-day death of sepsis patients were analyzed. Results:Sepsis patients developed significant anemia on day 3 after admission; plasma iron, transferrin, iron saturation, total iron binding capacity and unsaturated iron binding capacity in the first week of admission were significantly lower than those in the control group; distribution width of red blood cells, ferritin, IL-6, hepcidin and soluble transferrin receptor were significantly higher than those in the control group. Distribution width of red blood cells, ferritin and hepcidin on day 3 and 7 after admission, and plasma iron and iron saturation on day 7 after admission were significantly higher than those on day 1. However, total iron binding capacity and unsaturated iron binding power on day 7, and sTFR/log ferritin on day 3 were significantly lower than those on day 1. Patients in the survival and non-survivor groups in the first week of admission had significant anemia on day 3 and 7, but the anemia was worse in the non-survivor group. Transferrin, total iron binding capacity, and unsaturated iron binding capacity in the non-survivor group in the first week of admission, and plasma iron in the non-survivor group on day 3 and 7, were significantly lower than those in the survival group. Ferritin, IL-6 and hepcidin in the non-survivor group in the first week of admission, and iron saturation on day 7 were significantly higher than those in the survival group. Spearman correlation analysis showed that plasma iron was negatively correlated with IL-6 ( r=-0.391, P<0.01), ferritin ( r=-0.293, P=0.001) and hepcidin ( r=-0.209, P=0.017), but not with hemoglobin ( r=0.005, P=0.958). The area under the operation curve (AUC) for plasma iron for predicting 28-day mortality in sepsis patients was 0.524 (95% CI: 0.416-0.631, P=0.656). Conclusions:Sepsis patients have significant anemia and iron metabolism disorders in the early stage, while non-survival patients are more severe. Reduced plasma iron level has no capacity to predict 28-day mortality of sepsis patients. In addition, decreased plasma iron level is not related to decreased hemoglobin, and thus iron supplementation should be cautious in sepsis patients.

Aim To investigate the effects of dopamine(DA)on insulin secretion from rat islets and the possible mechanism.Methods Pancreatic islets were obtained from the pancreatic of male SD rats by collagenase P digestion and histopaque-1077 density gradient separation.Insulin secretion experiment was used to observe the change of insulin release after DA treatments.As to study the potential mechanisms of the effects of DA,patch-clamp experiment and calcuim image technique were applied to test the depolarization-evoked Ca2+ currents,action potential duration and intracellular Ca2+ concentration.Results In 2.8 mmol·L-1 glucose,DA had no effect on insulin secretion;in 16.7 mmol·L-1 glucose,dopamine inhibited insulin secretion in a dose-dependent manner.DA inhibited the inward calcium current,shorten the action potential duration,and reduced the intracellular Ca2+ concentration.Conclusion DA inhibits insulin secretion maybe by decreasing the inward calcium current leading to shorten the action potential duration and reduce the intracellular Ca2+ concentration.

Objective To study the protein oxidative damage and its possible mechanism caused by multi-walled nanotubes(MWCNTS)in mice.Methods Totally 20 Kun-ming mice were divided randomly into 4 testing groups(n=5 for each group),with 0.1,0.2 and 0.4mg/ml MWCNTS suspension injected groups and saline injected group as control group.After 5 days exposure,the protein carbonyl content was measured by using spectrophotometric DNPH assay to reflect the degree of protein oxidative damage.Results The results showed that the protein carbonyl content in livers in 0.2 and 0.4mg/ml MWCNTS suspension injected groups were significantly higher than that in saline group(P

Objective To understand how Vibrio vulnificus hemolysin (VvhA) affects the viability of murine liver CD4+ T cells as well as its effects on the numbers of mitochondria and the expression of CD62L. Methods The primary murine liver monocytes (MNs) were isolated from C57BL/ 6 mice and then treated with recombinant VvhA (rVvhA) for 6 hours in vitro. The viability of murine liver CD4+T cells and the expression of CD62L were measured by staining with anti-mouse CD4, CD8, CD44, CD62L and cell via-bility fluorescent dye or fluorescent antibody. Moreover, the cells were simply incubated with MitoTracker or JC-1 probes to label mitochondria and mitochondrial membrane potential, which were further analyzed by using flow cytometry analysis. Results With the increase in the doses of rVvhA, the viability of murine liv-er CD4+T cells was decreased from 81. 5% to 15. 8% . The expression of CD62L on the surface of murine liver CD4+T cells was dramatically decreased. Both the murine liver na?ve and effector CD4+ T cells were sensitive to the cytotoxicity of rVvhA. Moreover, treating murine liver CD4+ T cells with rVvhA resulted in significantly decreased numbers of mitochondria and lower mitochondrial membrane potential. Conclusion The cytotoxicity of rVvhA to murine liver CD4+T cells might be achieved through inhibiting the expression of CD62L, decreasing the numbers of mitochondria and lowering mitochondrial membrane potential.

Urine is not sterile but contains a complex urinary microbiome that is established as early as infancy and gradually refines with age. There are great differences in urinary microbiome of different ages and gender. At present，the core urinary microbiome of children has not reached a consensus. The urinary microbiome plays an important role in maintaining the integrity of urothelium，reducing the overgrowth of pathogenic bacteria，and local immune function. Changes in microbial diversity and composition are associated with various diseases of the urinary system，especially in urinary tract infections. In recent years，research on the relationship between urinary microbiome composition，microbiome，and urinary tract infection in children has been deepening. Therefore，this review aims to provide an overview of the urinary microbiome and its role in urinary tract infection in children，and to summarize the methods of intervening and reshaping the urinary microbiome in children to prevent recurrent urinary tract infections.

Objective To explore the effect of Ulinastatin on the iron metabolism,severity and prognosisof septic patients.Methods A total of 98 septic patients who met the Third International Consensus Definitions for Sepsis and Septic Shock (Sepsis-3) were collected in the Emergency Intensive Care Unit of First Affiliated Hospital of Dalian Medical University from January 2017 to December 2017.Patients were randomly divided into the conventional treatment group (n=49) and Ulinastatin group (n=49).In addition,healthy volunteers matched for gender and age were selected as the control group (n=20).On days 1 (when enrolled for healthy volunteers),3 and 7 after admission peripheral venous blood was collected for routine blood test;the levels of plasma ferritin,erythropoietin (EPO),soluble transferrin receptor (sTFR),hepcidin and intedeukin-6 (IL-6) were measured using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and the sTFR/log ferritin index was calculated.SOFA score was assessed and the survival time was recorded within 28 days after admission.Results On days 1,3,and 7 after admission red cell distribution width and plasma EPO,sTFR,hepcidin,ferritin and IL-6 were significantly increased and hemoglobin and sTFR/log ferritin were significantly decreased in the conventional treatment group compared with those in the control group (all P＜0.05);on days 3 and 7 after admission plasma hepcidin,ferritin and IL-6 were significantly decreased and plasma EPO and sTFR/log ferritin were significantly increased in the Ulinastatin group compared with those in the conventional treatment group (all P＜0.05).On day 7 after admission SOFA score in the Ulinastatin group was significantly decreased compared with that in the conventional treatment group [(5.2±2.3) vs (6.4±2.7),P=0.019)].There was no significant difference in the 28-day survival rate (47％ vs 43％) and the survival time (18 d vs 9 d) after admission between the conventional treatment and Ulinastatin groups (both P＞0.05).Conclusions Iron metabolism disorder and inflammatory anemia occur in the early stage of septic patients.Ulinastatin might improve the iron metabolism disorder and the severity,but it cannot significantly improve anemia and prognosis of septic patients.

Objective To study the effectiveness of basic therapy combined with low energy laser irradiation therapy to the patients with peri-implantitis, and to clarify the effect of laser irradiation in the treatment process. Methods A total of 38 patients (50 implants) who were diagnosed with early peri-implantitis from September 2017 to March 2018 in the Department of Stomatology, Tianjin First Central Hospital were randomly divided into the laser treatment group (n=25) and the conventional treatment group (n=25). The control group received basic treatment, and the laser treatment group received basic treatment combined with low energy laser irradiation (808 nm GaAlAs semiconductor continuous laser, average output power 80 mw, energy density 4 J/cm2, facula area 0.28 cm2, 15 seconds irradiation for each implant bag). The GIgingival index (GI), plaque index (PLI), sulcus bleeding index (SBI) and probe depth (PD) were examined before and 2 weeks and 8 weeks after the treatment. Results At 2 weeks and 8 weeks after the treatments, the indexes of the two groups were both improved compared with the baseline, and the differences were statistically significant (all P<0.05). Compared with the control group, the GI was significantly decreased (P=0.018) at 2 weeks after the treatment, and the GI, PD, and SBI were significantly decreased at 8 weeks after the treatment (P<0.001, P=0.018, and P<0.001, respectively). Conclusions At an energy density of 4 J/cm2, low energy laser irradiation at a wavelength of 808 nm can accelerate tissue healing of peri-implant inflammation after basic treatments.

Objective To investigate the effect of low level laser treatment combined with periodontal therapy on interleukin-8 (IL-8), basic fibrobast growth factor (b-FGF) and interleukin-1β (IL-1β) level in gingival crevicular fluid on peri-implantitis , so as to evaluate the curative effect . Methods A total of 38 patients (50 implants) with early peri-implantitis were randomly divided into experimental group and control group, with 19 patients (25 implants) in each group. The patients in the experimental group were underwent level laser treatment combined with periodontal initial, and in the control group were only treated with periodontal initial. The implant gingival crevicular fluid was collected before the treatment (baseline), and 4 weeks and 12 weeks after the treatment. The levels of IL-8, b-FGF and IL-1βwere determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The SPSS19.0 software was used for the statistically analysis. Results The levels of IL-8, b-FGF and IL-1β of the experimental group and the control group were both improved at 4 weeks and 12 weeks after treatment comparing with that at the baseline, and the differences were statistically significant (all P<0.01). The differences in IL-8 and b-FGF levels in the gingival crevicular fluid were statistically significant at different time points for each group (all P<0.01). For the two groups, the differences in IL-1βwere not statistically significant at 4 weeks and 12 weeks after the treatment (all P>0.05). The levels of IL-8 and IL-1βof the experimental group were lower than those of the control group at 4 weeks after treatment, and the differences were statistically significant (all P<0.05). The level of b-FGF of the experimental group was higher than that of the control group at 12 weeks after the treatment, and the difference was statistically significant (P<0.05). Conclusions Low-energy laser can affect the level of cytokines in the gingival crevicular fluid on peri-implantitis. The combination of low level laser treatment and periodontal initial therapy is effective for treating peri-implantitis.

OBJECTIVE: In order to improve the accuracy of the current pulmonary nodule location detection method based on CT images, reduce the problem of missed detection or false detection, and effectively assist imaging doctors in the diagnosis of pulmonary nodules. METHODS: Propose a novel method for detecting the location of pulmonary nodules based on multiscale convolution. First, image preprocessing methods are used to eliminate the noise and artifacts in lung CT images. Second, multiple adjacent single-frame CT images are selected to be concatenate into multi-frame images, and the feature extraction is carried out through the artificial neural network model U-Net improved by multi-scale convolution to enhanced feature extraction capability for pulmonary nodules of different sizes and shapes, so as to improve the accuracy of feature extraction of pulmonary nodules. Finally, using point detection to improve the loss function of U-Net training process, the accuracy of pulmonary nodule location detection is improved. RESULTS: The accuracy of detecting pulmonary nodules equal or larger than 3 mm and smaller than 3 mm are 98.02% and 96.94% respectively. CONCLUSIONS This method can effectively improve the detection accuracy of pulmonary nodules on CT image sequence, and can better meet the diagnostic needs of pulmonary nodules.
Humans ; Lung Neoplasms/diagnostic imaging* ; Solitary Pulmonary Nodule/diagnostic imaging* ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed ; Neural Networks, Computer

Background Bipolar disorder is a severe mental disorder characterized by cycling between mania/hypomania and depression,yet its underlying pathophysiological mechanism remains unclear.Several prior studies have suggested a potential role for voltage-gated calcium channel subunit genes in the etiology of bipolar disorder,particularly in their influence on brain structure.Objective To investigate the differences in grey matter volume(GMV)for individuals with bipolar disorder compared to healthy controls,and to explore the potential influence of calcium channel voltage-dependent T-type α1 G subunit(CACNA1G)rs757415 polymorphism on GMV in bipolar disorder and clarify the specific brain regions associated with this genetic variation,thus offering a new opportunity to gain insight into the pathophysiological mechanism of bipolar disorder.Methods A cohort of 289 patients who met the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders,fourth edition(DSM-IV)criteria for bipolar disorder were selected for participation.These patients were either admitted to hospital or examined in outpatient clinic for bipolar disorder at the Mental Health Center of West China Hospital,Sichuan University between September 2013 and December 2022.Another 322 healthy individuals were concurrently recruited as a control group from Sichuan University and surrounding communities.All participants underwent brain imaging using a 3.0 T magnetic resonance scanner to acquire data on GMV.Additionally,the presence of the CACNA1G rs757415 polymorphism was validated using the imLDRTM technique.Spearman correlation analysis was utilized to investigate potential relationship between abnormal brain regions identified through GMV data and clinical characteristics of the patients.Then the genotype-by-diagnosis interaction effect for CACNA1G rs757415 on GMV was observed using the full factor method.Results The study successfully enrolled 173 patients with bipolar disorder and 207 healthy controls who completed all the necessary procedures.Analyses revealed decreased GMV for patients with bipolar disorder compared to healthy controls in the left cerebellar declive extending to cerebellar anterior/posterior lobe,fusiform gyrus,parahippocampal gyrus and inferior occipital gyrus(t=5.664,P<0.05);in the right cerebellar anterior/posterior lobe,fusiform gyrus,parahippocampal gyrus extending to lingual gyrus(t=4.583,P<0.05);in the bilateral anterior cingulate/paracingulate gyri,superior frontal gyrus and precuneus(t=7.543,P<0.05);in the left lingual gyrus and superior temporal gyrus(t=6.593,P<0.05);and in the right insula entending to central operculum(t=7.153,P<0.05).Correlation analysis indicated that the duration of bipolar disorder was positively correlated with cerebrospinal fluid volume(r=0.258,P=0.003),whereas negatively correlated with the GMV in the left cerebellar declive extending to cerebellar anterior/posterior lobe,inferior occipital gyrus and parahippocampal gyrus(r=-0.204,P=0.019),in the right cerebellar anterior lobe extending to right cerebellar posterior lobe,fusiform gyrus,parahippocampal gyrus and lingual gyrus(r=-0.238,P=0.006),in the bilateral superior frontal gyrus extending to anterior cingulate/paracingulate gyri and precuneus(r=-0.219,P=0.012),in the left lingual gyrus extending to superior temporal gyrus(r=-0.296,P=0.001),and in the right insula extending to central operculum(r=-0.257,P=0.003).A significant genotype-by-diagnosis interaction effect for CACNA1G rs757415 on GMV was observed in the right parahippocampal gyrus-fusiform gyrus-cerebellum 4-5(F=19.967,P<0.05).In the control group,individuals carrying the non-risk allele showed increased GMV in the right parahippocampal gyrus-fusiform gyrus-cerebellum 4-5 compared to those carrying the risk allele.In contrast,within the patient group,risk allele carriers exhibited increased GMV in the same brain regions when compared to non-risk allele carriers.Moreover,the GMV in the right parahippocampal gyrus-fusiform gyrus-cerebellum 4-5 of patients with bipolar disorder carrying risk alleles was increased compared to healthy controls.Conclusion CACNA1G rs757415 polymorphism may affect the GMV in the right parahippocampal gyrus,fusiform gyrus and cerebellum 4/5 of patients with bipolar disorder.