Objective To investigate the degradation characteristics of the large-scale brain functional networks during aging by functional magnetic resonance imaging measurement and explore its intrinsic mechanism.Methods 40 healthy subjects including 20 elderly persons [mean aged(72.4 ±4.6)years] and 18 young persons [mean aged(23.9± 1.8) years] were enrolled in this study.All subjects underwent functional MRI scanning at blood oxygenation level-dependent contrast resting state.Four canonical resting-state networks,including the default mode network (DMN),dorsal attention network (DAN),executive control network (ECN),salience network,and visual network,were extracted by the seed zone and double regression methods.The functional connectivities in these canonical networks were compared between the young and elderly persons.Results Compared with young persons,the elderly showed the distinct and disruptive alterations in the large-scale aging-related resting brain networks.The impairment of ECN was the most serious,followed by the impairment of DAN.The salience networks and DMN showed relatively limited functional connectivity disruption.The networks associated to higher-order brain functions were impaired,while the visual network,which served as a network related to low-order brain functions,had no significant change.Conclusions The aged brain in healthy subjects is characterized by organized change in networks,and the selective impairments of large-scale brain networks were more significant in the networks associated to higher-order brain functions as compared with the networks related to low-order brain functions.

Objective To evaluate the value of low-dose spectral CT imaging combined with ASIR recon-struction in differenting peripheral lung cancer from inflammatory mass. Methods We retrospectively analyzed the imaging data of 147 cases with 165 pulmonary nodules or masses underwent enhanced CT scans with spectral imag-ing mode from June 2015 to May 2016. Spectral curves,normalized slope rates,iodine-water concentration were measured on the lesions in arteral phase images. The differences of the spectral characteristic parameters were eval-uated statistically by indepengdent samples t test. Results Among 165 pulmonary nodules or masses,including 68 inflammatory mass and 97 peripheral lung cancer. In the arterial phase,the iodine concentration,water concentra-tion and normalized spectral curves rates of peripheral lung cancer were 10.93 ± 5.12,1033.96 ± 9.74,0.998 ± 0.66,which was obviously higher than those in inflammatory mass in 5.29 ± 0.96,1028.85 ± 9.31,0.620 ± 0.16. There were significant difference between peripheral lung cancer and inflammatory mass(0.000 ,0.008 ,0.001 in P values). Conclusion The iodine concentration,water concentration and normalized spectral curves rates has high value for differential diagnosis of peripheral pung cancer and pneumonia mass in the arterial phase using low-dose spectral CT imaging combined with ASIR reconstruction.

The clinical characteristics and radiological data of 6 cases of sacral agenesis in one single family were analyzed and a literature review was performed.On magnetic resonance imaging (MRI),all of them presented with a partial absence of sacral vertebra,including associations with lumbar abnormalities (n =2) and sacral agenesis (n =2).One case presented with fourth/fifth lumbar vertebra bone fusion and fifth lumbar/first sacral vertebra bone fusion.On radiology,4 cases had concurrent scoliosis.None of them had tethered cord,diastematomyelia or meningocele.The understanding of sacral agenesis may be improved after reviewing and summarizing clinical features and radiological findings.

Objective:To explore the latent profile and characteristics of social isolation in patients with hematologic malignancy, and to analyze its related influencing factors, and to provide reference for improving social phobia disorder in different patients and implementing targeted intervention.Methods:This study was a cross-sectional survey. A convenient sampling method was used to select hematologic malignancy patients who were treated in Qilu Hospital of Shandong University from January 2022 to January 2023. General information questionnaire, the General Alienation Scale (GAS), and the Social Support Rating Scale(SSRS) were used for investigation. Latent profile was analyzed using the categories of social isolation in patients with hematologic malignancy, and univariate and multinomial logistic regression analysis were used to analyze relevant influencing factors.Results:A total of 195 survey subjects were included, of which 108 males and 87 females, aged (49.78 ± 13.52) years. The scores of GAS and SSRS were (43.21 ± 6.09) and (42.52 ± 6.77) respectively. The social isolation in patients with hematologic malignancy could be divided into 3 latent profiles, namely low-risk isolation 15.4% (30/195), medium-risk isolation 68.2%(133/195), and high-risk isolation16.4% (32/195). Multinomial Logistic regression analysis showed that age ( OR=0.941, 95% CI 0.894-0.990), percapita monthly income of families ( OR=0.050, 95% CI 0.004-0.657), primary caregivers (parents) ( OR=0.025, 95% CI 0.003-0.227), place of residence (town)( OR=0.170, 95% CI 0.039-0.749), disease type (leukemia) ( OR=15.610, 95% CI 2.973-81.979), disease type(lymphoma) ( OR=10.986, 95% CI 2.032-59.413) were the influencing factors of medium-risk isolation (all P<0.05). Age ( OR=0.933, 95% CI 0.880-0.988), percapita monthly income of families ( OR=0.029, 95% CI 0.002-0.525), primary caregivers (parents) ( OR=0.076, 95% CI 0.006-0.900), disease type (leukemia)( OR=19.257, 95% CI 2.580-143.723), disease type (lymphoma)( OR=9.952, 95% CI 1.290-76.763), social support ( OR=0.877, 95% CI 0.786-0.980) were the influencing factors of high-risk isolation (all P<0.05). Conclusions:The social isolation among patients with hematologic malignancy had apparent classification characteristics. It could be divided into three potential profiles. It is suggested that medical staff should take targeted social and psychological support based on different types of patients, improve their psychological and social outcomes, and utilize existing resources to implement intervention measures to help them adapt and return to society.

OBJECTIVE To investigate the correlation between serum vitamin D levels and clinical efficacy of nasal endoscopic surgery for patients with chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps(CRSwNP).METHODS Forty patients with CRSwNP were enrolled in this study,and were randomly divided into experimental group and control group.The experimental group were treated with VD(800 IU) plus budesonide nasal spray,and the control group was only given budesonide nasal spray for 8 weeks.Serum levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D were measured before and after the experiment.Lund-Kennedy score,SNOT-20 and VAS were recorded.RESULTS Eighty percent of patients had VD deficiency (＜50 nmol/L)before treatment.The difference of VD level between the 2 groups was statistically significant after treatment.There was no significant difference in the scores of olfactory disorder between the 2 groups.The scores of SNOT-20 and Lund-Kennedy scores between the experimental group and the control group were statistically significant.CONCLUSION In patients with CRSwNP,the serum vitamin D levels are generally low,the clinical supplement to patients with vitamin D can significantly increase the serum levels of 25-hydroxy vitamin D,improve clinical symptoms and clinical effect of comprehensive treatment.

BACKGROUND:Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic autoimmune disease.Early diagnosis is crucial for preventing disease progression and for effective treatment.Therefore,it is of significance to investigate the diagnostic characteristics and immune cell infiltration of rheumatoid arthritis. OBJECTIVE:Based on the Gene Expression Omnibus(GEO)database,to screen potential diagnostic markers of rheumatoid arthritis using machine learning algorithms and to investigate the relationship between the diagnostic characteristics of rheumatoid arthritis and immune cell infiltration in this pathology. METHODS:The gene expression datasets of synovial tissues related to rheumatoid arthritis were obtained from the GEO database.The data sets were merged using a batch effect removal method.Differential expression analysis and functional correlation analysis of genes were performed using R software.Bioinformatics analysis and three machine learning algorithms were used for the extraction of disease signature genes,and key genes related to rheumatoid arthritis were screened.Furthermore,we analyzed immune cell infiltration on all differentially expressed genes to examine the inflammatory state of rheumatoid arthritis and investigate the correlation between their diagnostic characteristics and infiltrating immune cells. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:In both rheumatoid arthritis and normal synovial tissues,we identified 179 differentially expressed genes,with 124 genes up-regulated and 55 genes down-regulated.Enrichment analysis revealed a significant correlation between rheumatoid arthritis and immune response.Three machine learning algorithms identified LRRC15 and MICB as potential biomarkers of rheumatoid arthritis.LRRC15(area under the curve=0.964,95%confidence interval:0.924-0.992)and MICB(area under the curve=0.961,95%confidence interval:0.923-0.990)demonstrated strong diagnostic performance on the validation dataset.The infiltration of 13 types of immune cells was altered,with macrophages being the most affected.In rheumatoid arthritis,the majority of proinflammatory pathways in immune cell function were activated.Immunocorrelation analysis revealed that LRRC15 and MICB had the strongest correlation with M1 macrophages.To conclude,this study identified LRRC15 and MICB as potential diagnostic markers for rheumatoid arthritis,with strong diagnostic performance and significant correlation with immune cell infiltration.Machine learning and bioinformatics analysis deepened the understanding of immune infiltration in rheumatoid arthritis and provided new ideas for the diagnosis and treatment of rheumatoid arthritis.

Objective: To analyze the prognostic value of baseline serum free light chain (sFLC) in immunoglobulin light-chain cardiac amyloidosis (AL-CA) . Methods: Thirty patients diagnosed with AL-CA from January 2012 to December 2016 at Beijing Chaoyang Hospital were included in this study to retrospectively evaluate the clinical data. The cut-off value of dFLC (involved sFLC minus uninvolved sFLC) was determined according to the receiver operator characteristic curve (ROC) and grouped, the prognoses of both groups were evaluated. Results: The onset age of all AL-CA patients was 57 years old. It occurred more commonly in men (21 cases, 70%) and the light chains of immunoglobulin composed mainly of type λ (22 cases, 73.3%) . Renal involvements occurred in 17 cases (56.7%) . The median value of difference between involved and uninvolved serum immunoglobulin free light chain levels (dFLC) was 162.9 (57.9-401.6) mg/L. More subjects in the high dFLC group had higher BNP (P=0.005) , and shorter median survival than those in the low dFLC group (15 months vs 47 months, P<0.001) . Similar results of median survival were observed when the patients were redivided by a new cut-off value of 180 mg/L for dFLC (high dFLC group: 22 months, low dFLC group: 40 months, P=0.001) , or a κ/λ ratio in which patients with κ type sFLC-ratio<3.79 and λ type sFLC-ratio≥0.06 were grouped into the low sFLC-ratio (37 months) , and the reverse the high sFLC-ratio ones (25 months, P=0.021) . In multivariate analysis, dFLC and New York Heart Association (NYHA) classification of cardiac function were two risk factors associated with all-cause mortality in patients, of them the hazard ratio for higher dFLC was 12.13 (95%CI 2.98-49.30, P<0.001) . Conclusion Measurement of the sFLC level could implicate the prognosis of AL-CA.

Mycoplasma capricolum subsp. capripneumoniae (Mccp) is the cause of contagious caprine pleuropneumonia (CCPP) in goats. Inactivated vaccines and capsular polysaccharide (CPS) indirect hemagglutination reagents are available for prevention and serological detection, but high culture costs and complex antigen quantification have been plagued by production staff. In order to solve these problems in production practice, a sugar fermentation medium with an initial pH value of 7.8, which could improve the production of two antigens simultaneously, was screened out by changing the initial pH value based on previous Mccp metabolomics analysis. Since phenol red can be identified by UV absorption spectrum and cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) can bind to anionic capsular polysaccharide, a UV spectrum measurement method for analyzing the culture stage reached by Mccp and a CTAB precipitation test for relative quantification of capsular polysaccharide antigen content in the fermentation broth were established. The UV spectrum observation method can guide the production of Mccp according to the growth curve of Mccp, which greatly reduces the monitoring time of the traditional CCU method and improves the accuracy of the original eye-observation method. The established CTAB precipitation test can complete the monitoring of CPS content within 5 hours, which greatly reduces the time required compared with the traditional differential technique, and its accuracy was verified by the phenol-sulfuric acid method. The optimized culture medium and the two correlation comparison methods established in this study can effectively reduce the production cost of Mccp and improve the production efficiency. The two assays have been used in the research at our laboratory, which provides experimental data for further improvement of the production process of CCPP inactivated vaccine and capsular polysaccharide as well as rapid quantification.
Humans ; Animals ; Goats ; Cetrimonium ; Mycoplasma ; Polysaccharides

ObjectiveTo investigate the effects of thyme herbal tea （BLX） on the proliferation of human coronavirus OC43 （HCoV-OC43） in vitro and in vivo. MethodThe chemical composition of BLX was analyzed by UPLC-MS. The cytotoxicity of BLX in HRT-18 cells and the effect of BLX treatment on the proliferation of HCoV-OC43 in cells were analyzed. Copies of viral gene were detected by real-time PCR. The effect of BLX treatment on the life cycle of HCoV-OC43 was detected by time-of-addition assay. The maximum tolerated dose of BLX and the influences of BLX on the body weight and survival time of suckling mice infected with HCoV-OC43 were determined. The expression of viral protein in the brain and lung tissue was analyzed by immunohistochemistry. ResultThere were 11 chemical components identified in BLX by UPLC-MS. BLX showed the 50% cytotoxic concentration （CC₅₀） of （13 859.56±319） mg·L^-1， the median inhibitory concentration （IC₅₀） of （1 439.09±200） mg·L^-1， and the selection index of 8.26-11.44 for HCoV-OC43 in HRT-18 cells. Compared with the cells infected with HCoV-OC43， BLX at the concentrations of 1 500， 1 000， 500 mg·L^-1 inhibited the proliferation of this virus （P<0.05， P<0.01）. BLX exhibited antiviral effect in the early stage of virus infection， and the inhibition role in the attachment stage was more significant than that in the entry stage （P<0.05）. In the suckling mice infected with HCoV-OC43， BLX at 1200 and 600 mg·kg^-1·d^-1 alleviated the symptoms， prolonged the survival period， reduced the death rate， and down-regulated the mRNA level of nucleocapsid protein in the mice. Moreover， BLX at 1 200 mg·kg^-1·d^-1 down-regulated the expression of nucleocapsid protein in the brain （P<0.01） and the lung （P<0.01）. ConclusionBLX contained multiple antiviral ingredients. It inhibited the proliferation of HCoV-OC43 both in vitro and in vivo by interference with viral attachment. This study provides theoretical reference for the treatment of acute respiratory tract infection with HCoV-OC43 and for further development and application of BLX.

Objective To understand the distribution of novel coronaviruses in the external environment of confirmed COVID-19 cases. Methods Environmental surface swab specimens such as bed rails, doorknob, closestool, hand washing sink, table, locker,ward pager, mobile phone, cup, clothes, were collected from the sentinel hospital of COVID-19, and samples were collected for the nucleic acid detection by RT-PCR. Results A total of 150 environmental samples were collected from 30 confirmed COVID-19 cases, 6 samples were determined to be novel coronaviruses postive (positive rate 4.00%). The total 14 mobile phone showed 3 novel coronaviruses positive.Among the 30 confirmed COVID-19 cases, 6 cases (positive rate 20.00%)were found novel coronaviruses in the external environment. Conclusions Novel coronaviruses exists in external environment of confirmed COVID-19 cases, which indicates the potential risk of COVID-19 infection.