BACKGROUND: There is little literature describing the artificial intelligence (AI)-aided diagnosis of severe pneumonia (SP) subphenotypes and the association of the subphenotypes with the ventilatory treatment efficacy. The aim of our study is to illustrate whether clinical and biological heterogeneity, such as ventilation and gas-exchange, exists among patients with SP using chest computed tomography (CT)-based AI-aided latent class analysis (LCA). METHODS: This retrospective study included 413 patients hospitalized at Xinhua Hospital diagnosed with SP from June 1, 2015 to May 30, 2020. AI quantification results of chest CT and their combination with additional clinical variables were used to develop LCA models in an SP population. The optimal subphenotypes were determined though evaluating statistical indicators of all the LCA models, and clinical implications of them such as guiding ventilation strategies were further explored by statistical methods. RESULTS: The two-class LCA model based on AI quantification results of chest CT can describe the biological characteristics of the SP population well and hence yielded the two clinical subphenotypes. Patients with subphenotype-1 had milder infections ( P <0.001) than patients with subphenotype-2 and had lower 30-day ( P <0.001) and 90-day ( P <0.001) mortality, and lower in-hospital ( P = 0.001) and 2-year ( P <0.001) mortality. Patients with subphenotype-1 showed a better match between the percentage of non-infected lung volume (used to quantify ventilation) and oxygen saturation (used to reflect gas exchange), compared with patients with subphenotype-2. There were significant differences in the matching degree of lung ventilation and gas exchange between the two subphenotypes ( P <0.001). Compared with patients with subphenotype-2, those with subphenotype-1 showed a relatively better match between CT-based AI metrics of the non-infected region and oxygenation, and their clinical outcomes were effectively improved after receiving invasive ventilation treatment. CONCLUSIONS A two-class LCA model based on AI quantification results of chest CT in the SP population particularly revealed clinical heterogeneity of lung function. Identifying the degree of match between ventilation and gas-exchange may help guide decisions about assisted ventilation.
Humans ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed/methods* ; Male ; Female ; Retrospective Studies ; Middle Aged ; Artificial Intelligence ; Aged ; Pneumonia/diagnosis* ; Latent Class Analysis ; Adult

Although polyurethane (PUR) plastics play important roles in daily life, its wastes bring serious environmental pollutions. Biological (enzymatic) degradation is considered as an environmentally friendly and low-cost method for PUR waste recycling, in which the efficient PUR-degrading strains or enzymes are crucial. In this work, a polyester PUR-degrading strain YX8-1 was isolated from the surface of PUR waste collected from a landfill. Based on colony morphology and micromorphology observation, phylogenetic analysis of 16S rDNA and gyrA gene, as well as genome sequence comparison, strain YX8-1 was identified as Bacillus altitudinis. The results of high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) showed that strain YX8-1 was able to depolymerize self-synthesized polyester PUR oligomer (PBA-PU) to produce a monomeric compound 4, 4'-methylene diphenylamine. Furthermore, strain YX8-1 was able to degrade 32% of the commercialized polyester PUR sponges within 30 days. This study thus provides a strain capable of biodegradation of PUR waste, which may facilitate the mining of related degrading enzymes.
Polyurethanes/chemistry* ; Polyesters/chemistry* ; Chromatography, Liquid ; Phylogeny ; Tandem Mass Spectrometry ; Bacteria/metabolism* ; Biodegradation, Environmental

Objective:To investigate the efficacy of intravenous combined with aerosol inhalation of polymyxin B for the treatment of pneumonia caused by multidrug-resistant Gram-negative (G -) bacteria. Methods:A observational study was conducted. The clinical data of 45 patients with pneumonia due to multidrug-resistant G - bacteria admitted to intensive care unit of Fujian Medical University Union Hospital from January to October in 2020 were analyzed. According to the different use methods of polymyxin B, 25 patients who received single intravenous drip (the first dose was 2.0 mg/kg, then 1.25 mg/kg, once every 12 hours) from January to April in 2020 were enrolled in the routine group, and 20 patients who received intravenous drip combined with aerosol inhalation (25 mg once every 12 hours, sputum in the airway was sucked and then sprayed aerosol) from May to October in 2020 were enrolled in the combination group. After the treatment course of polymyxin B, the total bacterial clearance rate, total clinical efficiency rate, recovery time of body temperature, time of bacterial clearance and the change of serum procalcitonin (PCT) level before and after treatment were compared between the two groups. Moreover, the incidence of adverse reactions during treatment in the two groups was observed. Results:The results of sputum culture in the routine group were Acinetobacter baumannii in 13 patients, Klebsiella pneumoniae in 5 patients, Pseudomonas aeruginosa in 6 patients, Enterobacter cloacae in 1 patient; the sputum culture results of the combination group showed that there were 5 patients of Acinetobacter baumannii, 9 Klebsiella pneumoniae and 6 Pseudomonas aeruginosa. There was no significant difference in the results of sputum culture between the two groups ( P > 0.05). The total bacterial clearance rate and the total clinical efficiency rate of the combination group were significantly higher than those in the routine group (total bacterial clearance rate: 70.0% vs. 40.0%, total clinical efficiency rate: 75.0% vs. 40.0%, both P < 0.05). The recovery time of body temperature and the time of bacterial clearance of the combination group were significantly shorter than those in the routine group [recovery time of body temperature (days): 6.0±3.9 vs. 10.2±7.3, time of bacterial clearance (days): 6.1±5.2 vs. 11.5±6.8, both P < 0.05]. No significant difference was found in serum PCT level before treatment between the two group. There was no significant difference in serum PCT level before and after treatment in the routine group [μg/L: 0.85 (0.44, 2.87) vs. 1.43 (0.76, 5.30), P > 0.05]. The serum PCT level after treatment in the combination group was significantly lower than that before treatment [μg/L: 0.27 (0.10, 0.70) vs. 0.91 (0.32, 3.53), P < 0.05], and it was significantly lower than that in the routine group [μg/L: 0.27 (0.10, 0.70) vs. 0.85 (0.44, 2.87), P < 0.01]. The incidence of renal toxicity of polymyxin B between the combination group and the routine group was not significantly different (5.0% vs. 4.0%, P > 0.05). Conclusions:The efficacy of intravenous combined with aerosol inhalation of polymyxin B for the treatment of pneumonia due to multidrug-resistant G - bacteria is better than that of intravenous drip of polymyxin B only. The aerosolized polymyxin B will not increase the risk of renal injury.

Objective:To explore the seizure recurrence and prognosis of epilepsy in relapse after anti-epileptic drugs (AEDs) withdrawal, and the influencing factors for these conditions.Methods:From December 2009 to August 2018, patients from the Affiliated Brain Hospital of Nanjing Medical University who relapsed after AEDs withdrawal were collected and followed up for at least 18 months. The seizure recurrence and prognosis of these patients were prospectively observed. The Kaplan-Meier method was used for survival analysis. The associated risk factors of the second relapse in the enrolled patients were analyzed by multivariate Cox analysis. The included patients were divided into good prognosis group and poor prognosis group according to whether they had achieved seizure freedom for at least one year after the first relapse. A multivariate Cox regression model was used to analyze the independent risk factors affecting their prognosis.Results:A total of 56 patients with epilepsy in relapse after AEDS withdrawal were collected. The average follow-up period was 46.23 months (18-120 months) from the initial time of seizure recurrence, and 21 patients (37.5%) had the second seizure recurrence. The relapsing risk in patients who continued to be observed without adding AEDs was higher than those who were treated immediately with drugs [9/16 vs 30.0% (12/40)], but without statistically significant difference (χ2=2.220, P=0.071). The results of univariate analysis showed that focal seizures, seizure frequency more than once per month before remission and poly-drug therapy before AEDs withdrawal were associated with high risk of the second relapse. Poly-drug therapy was an independent risk factor for the second relapse by multivariate Cox analysis ( HR=3.383, 95% CI 1.257-9.105). Of the 56 patients with epilepsy in relapse after AEDs withdrawal, 47 patients (83.9%) had a good prognosis without seizure for at least one year, and of 33 patients who were followed up for three years or more, 26 (78.8%) had no seizure for at least two years. Between the group retreated immediately after the first recurrence and the group without immediate treatment [87.5% (35/40) vs 12/16],there were no statistically significant differences on the proportions of good prognosis (χ2=2.333, P=0.258). Univariate analysis showed that the course of epilepsy>6 months before initial treatment, the frequency of seizures>1/month before remission, symptomatic epilepsy and poly-drug therapy were associated with the poor prognosis. However, none of independent risk factors was found for the poor prognosis through the multivariate analysis. Conclusions:The prognosis of patients with epilepsy in relapse after AEDs withdrawal is well, and about 2/3 patients with epilepsy in relapse after AEDs withdrawal have no more seizure recurrences. The poly-drug therapy before AEDs withdrawal may be an independent risk factor for the second seizure relapse.

Objective To investigate the application of two dimensional bar code on the quality tracking of surgical instrument. Methods Sixty cases of surgical instrument packets without sterilization in sterilization and supply center were selected.The parkets were divided into the observation group and the control group with 30 cases in each group.The observation group was applied two dimensional bar code on the surgical instrument packets.We eraluated the effect of quality tracking according to the using time that started from discorering sterilization items unqualified to tracking to the patient who use this item.The control group was applied traditional methods.Results The quality tracking time of experiment group was significantly shorter than the time of control group. The difference was statistically significant(P<0.001).The staff satisfaction of the observation group was better than that of the control group.The difference was statistically significant(P<0.001).Conclusion Applying two dimensional bar code can improve the work efficiency,the sterilization quality of surgical instrument packet and guarantee the operation safety of patients.