Objective The poor sleep quality of epileptic patients may be partly due to the occurrence epileptiform discharges (EDs).We observed the number of interictal discharges in each sleep stage and explored the associations between EDs and sleep phases in epilepsy patients.Methods Two hundred and forty epileptic patients and 213 healthy volunteers were enrolled in the current study.For all subjects,video-electroencephalogram monitoring and 24 h-night polysomnography were conducted to detect EDs and analyze the sleep structures.Results EDs were detected in 88.7％ (213/240) of epilepsy patients with the most frequent cases from the temporal lobe.The EDs detected during waking,sleeping,or both waking and non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep stage accounted for 20.6％ (44/213),40.4％ (86/213),and 38.9％ (83/213) of the total patients,respectively.The total sleep time and time spent in REM were similar between the epileptic patients and healthy volunteers.However,epileptic patients spent a significantly longer mean sleep time in NREM Ⅰ-Ⅱ ((304 ±39) min versus (225 ±29) min,t =3.51,P =0.000) and less in NREM Ⅲ-Ⅳ ((49 ± 7) min versus (133 ± 17) min,t =2.30,P =0.000) than healthy volunteers.Furthermore,asymmetric sleep spindles and fragmentary sleep structure as well as high inversion frequency were found in epilepsy patients,respectively.Conclusion Combination of long-term video electroencephalogram with polysomnography is a useful method to analyze associations between EDs and the sleep-wake cycle.This strategy can also help identify the nature of sleep disorders in epileptic patients,which may improve the treatment efficacy.

Objective: To investigate the association between the CYP3A5 genetic polymorphism and the serum concentrations of carbamazepine (CBZ), to provide guidance for individualized drug dosing. Methods: Eighty-four epilepsy patients taking CBZ were included in this study. Their clinical data were recorded and CBZ serum concentrations were measured. The CYP3A5 6986 genetic polymorphism was assessed using a polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCRRFLP) assay. Patients were divided according to genotype into CYP3A5 expressor (CYP3A5*1/*1 genotype and CYP3A5*1/*3 genotypes) and non-expressor groups (CYP3A5*3/*3). The two groups were compared for the total dose of CBZ, dose of CBZ/kg body weight, serum drug concentration, dose-corrected serum concentration, and standardized serum concentration. Results: The total dose of CBZ and the dose of CBZ/kg body weight was higher in the CYP3A5 expressor group than the non-expressor (P = 0.043 and P = 0.014, respectively). The dose-corrected and standardized serum concentrations were lower in the CYP3A5 expressor group than the non-expressor (P = 0.001 and P < 0.001, respectively). There was however, no signifi cant difference in serum drug concentration between the two groups (P = 0.487). Conclusions: There was a close relationship between CYP3A5 genetic polymorphism and the serum concentrations of carbamazepine.

Objective:To analyze the horizontal scientific research projects from 2015 to 2019 by the provincial Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in China, and to compare the regional differences, in order to provide the suggestion on the scientific management of CDC.Methods:The horizontal scientific research projects from 2015 to 2019 were retrospectively analyzed by questionnaire survey. Multiple linear regression models were adopted to examine the trend, and variance analyses were used to test the differences in horizontal scientific research projects among the Eastern, Central, and Western regions.Results:From 2015 to 2019, provincial CDC have received RMB 124.3 million of horizontal scientific research project funds totally, of which 51.9% were funded by enterprises, and 86.9% were undertaken by provincial CDC themselves. There were no statistical significance in the change of research project funds obtained by provincial CDC ( F=0.46, P = 0.764) during this period.The number of horizontal scientific research projects undertook or participated by provincial CDC in the Eastern region were more than that of the Central and Western region ( F = 5.85, P = 0.004; F = 5.03, P = 0.008). Conclusions:The horizontal scientific research projects obtained by the provincial CDC remained stable in recent years while distribution was unbalanced in the region areas. It is suggested to innovate the management mode of scientific research projects with strengthening the trans-agency, trans-department and trans-regional cooperation.

Objective: To explore the preliminary application effect of real-time fluorescence recombinase polymerase amplification (RPA) in the detection of Candida albicans. Methods: (1) Candida albicans standard strain and negative control bacteria of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus, Acinetobacter baumannii, Escherichia coli, Candida glabrata standard strains of respectively 1 mL were collected and their DNA were extracted by yeast/bacterial genomic kit. The specificity of polymerase chain reaction (PCR), real-time fluorescent quantitative PCR, and real-time fluorescence RPA in detecting Candida albicans were analyzed. (2) One Candida albicans standard strain and one negative control bacteria of Candida glabrata standard strain were collected, resuscitated, and counted. Candida albicans was diluted 10 times to 1×10⁷ to 1×10¹ colony-forming unit (CFU)/mL. The DNA of the two bacteria were extracted as experiment (1). The sensitivity of PCR, real-time fluorescent quantitative PCR, and real-time fluorescence RPA in detecting Candida albicans were analyzed. The number of cycles for amplification curve to reach the threshold in real-time fluorescent quantitative PCR, and time of appearance of specific amplification curve in real-time fluorescence RPA were recorded and compared with the results in PCR. The detection limit and rate of the above-mentioned 3 methods in detecting Candida albicans were analyzed, and the correlation between concentration of Candida albicans in real-time fluorescence RPA and detection time was analyzed. (3) One standard strain of Candida albicans was collected, and the DNA was extracted as experiment (1) and detected by PCR, real-time fluorescent quantitative PCR, and real-time fluorescence RPA. The total detection time of the above-mentioned 3 methods was recorded, respectively. (4) The DNA of 31 clinical samples of suspected Candida albicans infection and 1 clinical sample of Candida albicans collected from cotton swab were extracted, PCR and real-time fluorescence RPA were carried out, and the positive detection rates of the above-mentioned methods were calculated. The DNA of the clinical samples with positive results in both PCR and real-time fluorescence RPA were extracted by yeast/bacterial genomic kit, chelex-100 boiling method, and repeatedly freeze-thawing with liquid nitrogen method, and real-time fluorescence RPA and PCR were carried out. The negative control bacteria was Candida glabrata in real-time fluorescence RPA, while negative control bacteria in PCR were the same as experiment (1). The positive results in PCR and real-time fluorescence RPA were observed and time for amplification curve to reach the fluorescence threshold in real-time fluorescence RPA was recorded, respectively. Data were processed with linear correlation analysis and t test. Results: (1) Three methods showed positive results in detecting standard strain of Candida albicans, and none of the 5 negative control bacteria showed positive results. (2) As the concentration of bacterial solution of Candida albicans decreased, the number of cycles for the amplification curve to reach the threshold increased in real-time fluorescent quantitative PCR, the time for appearance of specific amplification curve prolonged in real-time fluorescence RPA, and brightness of the gel strip weakened in PCR. None of the negative control bacteria in the above-mentioned 3 detection methods showed corresponding positive results. The detection limit of Candida albicans in real-time fluorescence RPA, PCR, and real-time fluorescent quantitative PCR was 1×10¹ CFU/mL. There was a significant negative correlation between the concentration of Candida albicans and the detection time in real-time fluorescence RPA (r=-0.95, P<0.01). The positive detection rates of PCR and real-time fluorescent quantitative PCR for Candida albicans of 1×10¹ to 1×10⁷ CFU/mL were 100%. The positive detection rate of real-time fluorescence RPA for Candida albicans of 1×10¹ CFU/mL was 78%, and the positive detection rate of real-time fluorescence RPA for Candida albicans of 1×10² to 1×10⁷ CFU/mL was 100%. (3) The total time of PCR, real-time fluorescent quantitative PCR, and real-time fluorescence RPA detection for Candida albicans was 133, 93, and 35 min, respectively. (4) The positive detection rate of real-time fluorescence RPA for 31 clinical samples of suspected Candida albicans infection was 32.26% (10/31), which was slightly lower than 35.48% (11/31) of PCR. Eleven clinical samples showed positive results both in real-time fluorescence RPA and PCR detection. No positive result was observed in the negative control bacteria detected both by real-time fluorescence RPA and PCR. The DNA was extracted by yeast/bacterial genomic extraction kit and chelex-100 boiling method for real-time fluorescence RPA detection. The time for the amplification curve to reach the threshold was (438±13) and (462±12) s, respectively, which was close (t=1.32, P>0.05). The DNA was extracted by repeatedly freeze-thawing with liquid nitrogen method for real-time fluorescence RPA, and the time for the amplification curve to reach the threshold in real-time fluorescence RPA was (584±15) s, which was significantly longer than that in the other 2 methods (t=7.55, 6.39, P<0.01). Conclusions Real-time fluorescence RPA has advantages of rapid detection, simple operation, high sensitivity, and good specificity in detecting Candida albicans, which is worthy of clinical application.