Objective To explore diagnostic value of the serum and urine procalcitonin (PCT) detecting in the urinary system infection.Methods The serum and urine PCT levels in 45 urinary system infection patients with clear pathological diagnosis (exclude other system infections) who were outpatiented or hospitalized in the People's Hospital of Zhongshan between March and November 2016 (including 21 cases of upper urinary tract infection and 24 cases of lower urinary tract infection) and 35 healthy adults who went through physical examinations at the hospital during the same period,were measured using electrochemiluminescence immunoassay (ECLIA) on Cobase 601 Immunoassay Analyzer and analyzed to compare the differences of PCT levels in the three groups.Results The urine PCT level in upper urinary tract infection group was 0.243± 0.123 ng/ml.It was significantly lower than lower urinary tract infection group (0.486±0.232 ng/ml,t=4.11,P=0.000) and control group (0.454± 0.253 ng/ml,t=3.96,P=0.000).The serum PCT level in upper urinary tract infection group was 0.062±0.014 ng/ml.It was obviously higher than that in lower urinary tract infection group (0.043±0.020 ng/ml,t=3.56,P=0.01) and control group (0.032±0.013 ng/ml,t=7.38,P=0.000).In all groups,the urine PCT levels were significantly higher than their serum PCT levels (t =9.48,9.12,6.79,P＜ 0.01),and significant differences were observed in them.The sensitivity,specificity,positive predictive value and negative predictive value of serum PCT for diagnosing upper urinary tract infections were 81.5％,84.2％,80.6％ and 85.6％ respectively,and the urine PCT were 86.4％,80.7％,88.4 ％ and 83.1 ％ respectively.Conclusion Detection of serum and urine PCT has important accessory diagnostic value for identifying upper and lower urinary tract infections.

OBJECTIVE: To explore the clinical features of a Chinese pedigree affected with skeletal muscle sodium channelopathies due to variation of SCN4A gene. METHODS: Potential variation of the 24 exons of the SCN4A gene was screened using PCR and Sanger sequencing. RESULTS: Four family members were affected with the disease in an autosomal dominant inheritance pattern. Three patients had normekalemic periodic paralysis, while 1 showed paramyotonia congenita. Genetic analysis detected a missense variation c.2078T>C (p.Ile693Thr) in exon 13 of the SCN4A gene in the proband and other 3 affected relatives. CONCLUSION Normokalemic periodic paralysis and paramyotonia congenita can occur in different family members with skeletal muscle sodium channelopathies due to c.2078T>C(p.Ile693Thr) variation of SCN4A gene.
Channelopathies ; genetics ; Humans ; Muscle, Skeletal ; physiopathology ; Mutation ; NAV1.4 Voltage-Gated Sodium Channel ; genetics ; Pedigree

Objective To investigate the application value of single detection and combined detection of 4 kinds of inflammatory indicators of procalcitonin (PCT ) ,high sensitivity C-reactive protein(hs-CRP) ,interleu-kin-6(IL-6) and white blood cell(WBC) in diagnosing type 2 diabetes mellitus(T2DM) bloodstream by analy-zing the levels of peripheral blood PCT ,hs-CRP ,IL-6 and WBC in the T2DM bloodstream infection group and T2DM non-bloodstream infection group .Methods The clinical data in 85 patients with T2DM bloodstream in-fection (T2DM bloodstream infection group ) and contemporaneous 80 cases of T2DM non-bloodstream infec-tion(T2DM non-bloodstream infection group) in this hospital from January 2013 to July 2016 were retrospec-tively analyzed .The levels of various inflammatory indicators in peripheral blood were analyzed .The receiver operating characteristic(ROC) curve of various inflammatory indicators was drawn ,the area under the curve (AUC) and the best cut-off value were calculated .The detection schemes included 24 kinds of schemes such as the single indicator ,2-indicator ,3-indicator and 4-indicator .Results The levels of PCT ,hs-CRP ,IL-6 and WBC in the T2DM bloodstream infection group were significantly higher than those in the T 2DM non-blood-stream infection group ,the difference was statistically significant (P<0 .05) .AUC of PCT ,hs-CRP ,IL-6 and WBC were 0 .909 ,0 .818 ,0 .838 and 0 .760 respectively ,with best cut-off values of 0 .493 ng/mL ,11 .19 ng/mL ,40 .95 pg/mL and 11 .87 × 109/L respectively .The Youden index of PCT was highest (0 .65) and the ac-curacy of IL-6 was highest (83 .33％ ) in the single indicator detection scheme .The Youden index and accuracy of the scheme of PCT/hs-CRP and PCT+hs-CRP+IL-6 were highest in the combined detection scheme .Con-clusion PCT detection has the prominent value in the assisted diagnosis of T 2DM bloodstream infection .Inthe combined detection scheme ,PCT/hs-CRP and PCT+hs-CRP+IL-6 have the highest value in the assisted diagnosis in T2DM bloodstream infection .

Objective To discuss the application of blending learning based on MOOC in Histology and Embryology, so as to improve students' learning effectiveness. Methods Nursing undergraduates in class one of 2017 grade were randomly selected as experimental group (n=47) , and nursing undergraduates in class two as control group (n=48), with blending learning and traditional teaching model adopted, respec-tively. SPSS 19.0 was applied to processing the data and T test were used to compare the results of the final exam of this course and the evaluation scale of students' independent learning ability in two groups. Results The experimental scores [(24.22±5.08) vs. (18.49±4.65)], paper test scores [(52.37±6.24) vs. (47.15± 5.99)], and total score [(76.61±7.22) vs. (62.83±7.36)], which shows the scores of experimental group were statistically higher than those of the control group. According to the evaluation scale of students' inde-pendent learning ability, the self-learning ability of the experimental group was better than that of the control group, with significant differences (P<0.05). Conclusion Blending learning can be applied to the teaching of Histology and Embryology, which can effectively improve learning quality, with satisfactory teaching effects to both teachers and students.

Objective:To explore the application effect of online-offline mixed teaching mode in the teaching of histology and embryology.Methods:Two classes of students majoring in psychiatry from Batch 2020 were randomized into experimental group ( n = 100), and two classes of students majoring in general practice in 2020 grade were randomized into the control group ( n = 99). The online-offline mixed teaching mode was used in the experimental group, while a traditional teaching mode was used in the control group. The online test scores, final scores and questionnaire satisfaction of the two groups of students were evaluated on the teaching effect. All data were statistically processed by SPSS 19.0, and the comparison between groups was performed by t test. Results:The online test scores of the experimental group [(8.55±1.18) vs. (6.33±0.91)] and final scores [(85.56±3.32) vs. (72.24±2.71)] were significantly higher than those of the control group ( P < 0.05). Compared with the control group, the experimental group's satisfaction scores of the online-offline mixed teaching mode were significantly higher in students' learning interest, learning autonomy, time management ability, teamwork, interactive communication, knowledge understanding and memory ability ( P < 0.05). Conclusion:The online-offline mixed teaching mode can improve the histology and embryology teaching effect and promote the students' interest in learning and autonomous learning ability.

Molting is an important physiological phenomenon of many metamorphosis insects, during which the old and new epidermis are separated by enzymes present in the molting fluid. Various proteomic studies have discovered the presence of Bombyx mori carboxypeptidase A (Bm-CPA) in the molting fluid of silkworm, but its function remains unclear. In order to better understand the role of Bm-CPA in the molting process of silkworm, Bm-CPA was analyzed by bioinformatics analysis, real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR, antibody preparation, immunofluorescence staining, and expression in Pichia pastoris. The results showed that Bm-CPA had a conserved M14 zinc carboxypeptidase domain and glycosylation site. Its expression was regulated by ecdysone 20E, and large expression was observed in the epidermis of the upper cluster stage. Immunofluorescence staining showed that Bm-CPA was enriched in the epidermis during the molting stage, and the inhibitor of Bm-CPA led to the larval death due to the inability to molt. We also successfully obtained a large number of recombinant Bm-CPA proteins by Pichia pastoris expression in vitro. These results may facilitate further understanding the molting development process of silkworm.
Animals ; Molting/genetics* ; Bombyx/genetics* ; Carboxypeptidases A/metabolism* ; Proteomics ; Larva/metabolism* ; Fluorescent Antibody Technique ; Insect Proteins/metabolism*

Due to the critical correlation between inflammation and carcinogenesis, a therapeutic candidate with anti-inflammatory activity may find application in cancer therapy. Here, we report the therapeutic efficacy of celastrol as a promising candidate compound for treatment of pancreatic carcinoma naïve neutrophil membrane-coated poly(ethylene glycol) methyl ether--poly(lactic--glycolic acid) (PEG-PLGA) nanoparticles. Neutrophil membrane-coated nanoparticles (NNPs) are well demonstrated to overcome the blood pancreas barrier to achieve pancreas-specific drug delivery . Using tumor-bearing mice xenograft model, NNPs showed selective accumulations at the tumor site following systemic administration as compared to nanoparticles without neutrophil membrane coating. In both orthotopic and ectopic tumor models, celastrol-loaded NNPs demonstrated greatly enhanced tumor inhibition which significantly prolonged the survival of tumor bearing mice and minimizing liver metastases. Overall, these results suggest that celastrol-loaded NNPs represent a viable and effective treatment option for pancreatic carcinoma.