Objective To understand the epidemiological characteristics of scrub typhus disease and to provide a scientific basis for the prevention and control of scrub typhus disease. Methods Descriptive epidemiological methods were used to analyze the population and regional distribution of scrub typhus. Seasonal characteristics were analyzed using concentration method and circular distribution method, and incidence trend was analyzed using joinpoint regression model. Results The annual incidence rate of scrub typhus was 0.95/100 000 from 2010 to 2022. The incidence rate of male was 0.77/100 000, lower than that of female 1.12/100 000 (χ²=18.89, P<0.05). The incidence rate of the 60-74 years old group was 3.38/100,000, and the total number of cases in the age group 45-74 years was 416 (74.95%). Occupational distribution was mainly among farmers, with 448 cases (80.72%). The top three regions with the highest number of reported cases (in order: Donghai County, Ganyu District, and Guannan County) reported a total of 416 cases, accounting for 74.95%. Concentration ratio was M=0.9408, and the incidence of scrub typhus disease was strictly seasonal. Circular distribution results showed a^-=-62.3728, S=20.8960. The circular distribution results indicated that the peak day was October 19th, and the peak period was between October 7 to December 19. The average annual percentage change (AAPC) of the incidence rate from 2010 to 2022 was 13.70%, 95% CI (-8.62%~41.48%), and the incidence rate showed an upward trend (t=1.15, P=0.249). Conclusion The incidence of scrub typhus disease is strictly seasonal, and the incidence rate over the years shows an upward trend. It is necessary to strengthen monitoring and take various intervention measures to reduce the risk of scrub typhus disease.

Objective To study the requirement of exogenous phosphorus for 2-year-old and 3-year-old ginseng seedings.Methods Two-and three-year-old ginsengs were used as experimental materials.Calcium superphosphate and phosphorus-free Hoagland solution were used as fertilizer,and the concentrations of P2O5 were set to be 0 mmol·L-1,0.5 mmol·L-1,1.5 mmol·L-1,3 mmol·L-1,6 mmol·L-1,8 mmol·L-1,respectively.The effects of different concentrations of phosphorus fertilizer on agronomic indexes,photosynthetic characteristics and accumulation of ginsenosides Rg1,Rb1 and Re were studied.Results The plant height,stem diameter,root weight,leaf area,relative content of chlorophyll,net photosynthetic rate and total saponins content of different year-old panax ginseng were significantly increased by applying phosphorus at 1.5-3.0 mmol·L-1.Among them,compared with the phosphorus-free group,the root weight of second-year ginseng was increased by 16％and the saponin content was increased by 24％;the root weight of third-year ginseng was increased by 89％and the saponin content was increased by 132％.The appropriate application rate of phosphorus fertilizer(phosphorus pentoxide)during the growth of second and third year ginseng was 26.6 mg and 53.3 mg of plant,respectively.Conclusion External application of suitable concentration of phosphorus fertilizer can enhance the external morphological characteristics of ginseng,improve photosynthetic physiological properties and increase the content of active ingredients.

OBJECTIVE: To explore the genetic etiology for a fetus with Walker-Warburg syndrome(WWS). METHODS: A fetus with WWS diagnosed at Gansu Provincial Maternity and Child Health Care Hospital in June 9, 2021 was selected as the study subject. Genomic DNA was extracted from amniotic fluid sample of the fetus and peripheral blood samples from its parents. Trio-Whole exome sequencing (trio-WES) was carried out. Candidate variants were verified by Sanger sequencing. RESULTS: The fetus was found to harbor compound heterozygous variants of the POMT2 gene, namely c.471delC (p.F158Lfs*42) and c.1975C>T (p.R659W), which were respectively inherited from its father and mother. Based on the guidelines from the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics (ACMG), they were respectively rated as pathogenic (PVS1+PM2_Supporting+PP4) and likely pathogenic (PM2_Supporting+PM3+PP3_Moderate+PP4). CONCLUSION Trio-WES may be used for the prenatal diagnosis of WWS. The compound heterozygous variants of the POMT2 gene probably underlay the disorder in this fetus. Above finding has expanded the mutational spectrum of the POMT2 gene and enabled definite diagnosis and genetic counseling for the family.
Pregnancy ; Child ; Female ; Humans ; Walker-Warburg Syndrome ; Prenatal Diagnosis ; Fetus ; Genetic Counseling ; Genomics ; Mutation

Objective:To investigate the level of death anxiety and its related factors in patients with newly diagnosed cancer at different stages.Methods:A total of 266 cancer patients in a tertiary oncology hospital were se-lected and investigated at admission(Tl),discharge(T2),and 1 month after discharge(T3).They were assessed with the self-compiled general information questionnaire,Templer's Death Anxiety Scale(T-DAS),Acceptance and Action Questionnaire Second Edition(AAQ-Ⅱ.),and the Chinese version of the Meaning in Life Questionnaire(C-MLQ).The Kruskal-Wallis H test and generalized estimating equation were used to analyze the level of death anxi-ety and its influencing factors in cancer patients at different time points.Results:The Kruskal-Wallis H test showed that the total T-DAS scores and the difference in the scores of the four dimensions were statistically significant at three time points(Ps＜0.01),with the highest T1 score and the lowest T3 score.The results of generalized estima-ting equation showed that male gender(β=1.25),junior high school education(β=2.59),worker(β=1.46),farmer(β=1.67),respiratory(β=1.74),digestive system tumor(β=2.51),and AAQ-Ⅱ score(β=0.23)posi-tively predicted death anxiety in patients with cancer.Head and neck(β=-1.73),breast tumors(β=-1.84),stage Ⅰ(β=-2.58)and stage Ⅱ tumors(β=-2.11),and C-MLQ score(β=-0.15)negatively predicted death anxiety in patients with cancer.Conclusion:Death anxiety in patients with newly diagnosed cancer is highest on ad-mission and gradually relieves after discharge.

Objective:To investigate the unqualified hepatitis C virus (HCV) detection result of blood donors from the served area of blood institutions.Methods:The data related to HCV markers detected of the first and repeat blood donors were collected from the system of practice comparison for the Chinese mainland blood institutions from 2017 to 2021. The anti-HCV reactive rate and the rates of anti-HCV negative but HCV-RNA reaction and all the relationship between rates and the annual, regional and different blood donors were statistically analyzed.Results:During 2017-2021, the number of anti-HCV reactive per 100 000 blood donors decreased from 444.3 to 250.44 in the served area of 22 blood institutions ( χ2=49.677, P<0.05). The number of HCV RNA detected positive per 100 000 anti-HCV negative increased from 0.69 to 2.05 year by year, but there was no statistical significance ( χ2=0.643, P>0.05). The anti-HCV unqualified rate was significantly different among regions ( χ2=3 260.283, P<0.05). The anti-HCV unqualified rate of the first blood donors was significantly higher than that of the repeated blood donors ( F=130.993, P < 0.05). The annual number of HCV RNA detected positive per 100 000 anti-HCV negative blood samples from donors ranged from 0 to 17.28. Conclusions:The anti-HCV unqualified rate of blood donors in the served area of 22 blood institutions decreased year by year. Compared with repeated blood donors, HCV infection should be emphasized in first-time blood donors. The implementation of HCV RNA test can detect out much more HCV infections and reduce the risk of transfusion transmitted infectious HCV.

Objective    To characterize surgical outcomes of supra-cardiac total anomalous pulmonary venous connection (TAPVC), investigate risk factors for postoperative death, and explore informed LASSO machine learning methods to solve "small sample size problem" in research of rare congenital heart diseases. Methods    A retrospective analysis of 241 patients with supra-cardiac TAPVC who underwent surgical repair in Guangdong Provincial People's Hospital from 2009 to 2019 was conducted, including 179 males and 62 females with a median surgical age of 71 (33, 232) d. Detailed clinical data of the postoperative death-related factors were extracted. Univariable Cox proportional hazard models were used to initially screen potential risk factors for postoperative death. Factors with P鈮?.05 were retained. To solve the limitation of small sample size and the "P>n" problem, we proposed a novel LASSO method for conducting multivariable Cox regression analysis that was capable of bringing in findings of related studies to improve analysis power and to reduce false-negative findings. Results 聽 聽Univariable Cox analyses showed several potential clinical risk factors, among which highly significant factors (P<0.001) included: surgical weight鈮?.5 kg (HR=16.00), main pulmonary artery diameter (HR=0.78), prolonged cardiopulmonary bypass time (HR=1.21), aortic block time (HR=1.28), and postoperative ventilator-assisted time (HR=1.13/d). LASSO multivariable analysis revealed that independent risk factors for postoperative death included cardiopulmonary bypass time (aHR=1.308/30 min), age (aHR=0.898), postoperative ventilator-assisted time (aHR=1.023/d), weight鈮?.5 kg (aHR=2.545), right vertical venous return (aHR=1.977), preoperative pulmonary venous obstruction (aHR=1.633) and emergency surgery (aHR=1.383). Conclusion 聽 聽Our proposed informed LASSO method can use previous studies' results to improve the power of analysis and effectively solve the "P>n" and small sample size limitation. Cardiopulmonary bypass time, surgical age, postoperative ventilator-assisted time, weight, right vertical venous return, preoperative pulmonary venous obstruction, and emergency surgery are risk factors for postoperative death of supra-cardiac TAPVC.

Chinese materia medica is the material basis of the development of traditional Chinese medicine， but the rapid growth of the demand for Chinese materia medica resources and environmental deterioration make a large number of wild medicine resources endangered. At present， artificial cultivation of Chinese medicinal materials is the main way to alleviate the contradiction between supply and demand in the market， but the production and quality of medicinal materials are seriously affected by the lack of process control， specialization and fine management in medicinal plant cultivation. Early prediction and evaluation of the growth， yield， diseases and insect pests of medicinal plants is an important technical means to guarantee the yield and quality of Chinese medicinal materials， and effective and non-destructive process monitoring technology is the prerequisite for realizing the modernization of Chinese medicine agriculture. With the advantages of rapid， non-destructive and accurate detection， hyperspectral remote sensing has been widely used in recent years for plant growth information extraction and yield assessment， as well as monitoring crop growth and response to adversity stress， becoming an important technical tool for precision agricultural production such as quality monitoring and pest and disease prevention. Therefore， combined with hyperspectral data processing and analysis methods， the application of hyperspectral remote sensing technology in monitoring plant physiological characteristics， environmental stress， resource investigation and quality inspection of medicinal materials is systematically reviewed， and combined with the characteristics of medicinal plants， the application prospect of hyperspectral remote sensing technology in improving the monitoring ability of production process of Chinese medicinal materials， realizing real-time dynamic monitoring of medicinal materials cultivation， developing early diagnosis technology of pests and diseases for nondestructive detection， and establishing quality traceability of high-quality Chinese medicinal materials is discussed， in order to solve the related problems in precision cultivation of Chinese medicine agriculture by hyperspectral remote sensing technology， and provide new ideas and solutions for the sustainable utilization of Chinese medicine resources and the development of intelligent Chinese medicine agriculture.

Background Exposure to ambient nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) could increase the risks of small for gestational age (SGA) and large for gestational age (LGA). Nevertheless, previous published studies usually use a time period over relatively long durations as the exposure window, such as trimester-specific or gestational months, to identify adverse pregnancy outcomes related susceptible exposure windows for ambient air pollution. At present, no study has explored associations of weekly-specific ambient air NO₂ exposure around pregnancy with SGA and LGA. Objective To evaluate the associations of exposure to ambient NO₂ over the preconception and entire pregnancy period with risks of SGA and LGA, as well as to explore critical windows of NO₂ exposure by refining exposure period to specific weeks. Methods Based on a birth cohort established by the project Environmental and LifEstyle FActors iN metabolic health throughout life-course Trajectories (ELEFANT) situated in Tianjin, 10 916 singleton pregnant women whose dates of the last menstrual period and delivery were both between June 2014 and June 2016, and whose gestational age were within 24-42 completed gestational weeks were included in this study. Each pregnant woman's exposures to ambient NO₂ throughout 12 weeks before pregnancy and pregnancy period were matched with daily average NO₂ concentrations obtained from the Chinese air quality reanalysis datasets (CAQRA). Distributed lag models incorporated in Cox proportional hazard regression models were applied to explore the associations of maternal exposure to weekly ambient NO₂ throughout 12 weeks before pregnancy and pregnancy period with risks of SGA and LGA after controlling for potential confounders including maternal age, ethnicity, educational level, occupation, body mass index before pregnancy, residence, times of gravidity and parity, smoking, alcohol consumption, husband smoking, and season of conception. Hazard ratios (HRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated per 3 μg·m⁻³ increase in ambient NO₂ concentrations. Results The average levels of maternal exposure to NO₂ over the preconception, first trimester, second trimester, third trimester, and entire pregnancy periods were (39.6±10.8), (42.7±10.5), (44.8±12.7), (37.7±11.1), and (41.6±4.8) μg·m⁻³, respectively. For a 3 μg·m⁻³ increase in NO₂ over the first trimester, the risk of SGA increased by 19.0% (95%CI: 8.0%-32.0%). For a 3 μg·m⁻³ increase in NO₂ over the preconception, first trimester, and entire pregnancy, the associated risks of LGA increased by 7.0% (95%CI: 1.0%-13.0%), 37.0% (95%CI: 29.0%-46.0%) and 19.0% (95%CI: 9.0%-31.0%), respectively. For SGA, the susceptible exposure windows for NO₂ were observed during the 7^th to 12^th preconceptional weeks and the 6^th to 12^th gestational weeks, with the strongest association found at the 12^th preconceptional week, when the risk of SGA increased by 6.0% (95%CI:3.2%-8.9%) for a 3 μg·m⁻³ increase in NO₂. For LGA, the susceptible exposure windows for NO₂ were observed during the 1^st to 12^th preconceptional weeks and the 1^st to 6^th gestational weeks, with the strongest association found at the 12^th preconceptional week, when the risk of LGA increased by 6.1% (95%CI: 4.5%-7.8%) for a 3 μg·m⁻³ increase in NO₂. Conclusion Exposure to ambient NO₂ is associated with increased risks of both SGA and LGA, and the most susceptible weekly exposure windows are nested within the 12 weeks before pregnancy and early pregnancy.

Hypervirulent Klebsiella pneumoniae (HvKP) is a new variant of Klebsiella pneumoniae. It is characterized by strong virulence and easy dissemination. It mainly causes liver abscess with multiple invasive infections, including eye, lung and central nervous system, with a high fatality rate. A case of severe intracranial infection caused by HvKP was reported. The patient was a 44-year-old formerly healthy man. He had acute onset of fever, headache, and disturbance of consciousness, which rapidly progressed to intracranial hypertension and respiratory failure. Cerebrospinal fluid examination suggested purulent infection, and bacterial culture suggested Klebsiella pneumoniae, which was sensitive to other commonly used antibiotics except ampicillin. Brain magnetic resonance imaging showed multiple abnormal signals in bilateral frontal, parietal and temporal lobes, right centrum semiovale, bilateral corona radiata, basal ganglia, thalamus and insula, as well as enhancement of meningeal and ependymal membrane, and swelling of brain tissue. During hospitalization, the patient developed a blood stream infection of pan-drug-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae and was in critical condition. After aggressive treatment, the patient was cured and discharged from the hospital. After half a year follow-up, his prognosis was good and his social function was restored. The clinical data, diagnosis and treatment of the patient were reported and the literature was reviewed to provide clinical reference for the disease.

This article reported a male neonate with Smith-Lemli-Opitz syndrome (SLOS) caused by DHCR7 gene compound heterozygous variations. The patient presented with multiple malformations and feeding difficulties after birth and was transferred to the First Affiliated Hospital of Hunan Normal University (Hunan Provincial People's Hospital) from a local hospital eight days later. Physical examination found general scleredema, scalp defects, short penis, urinary tract malformation, bilateral syndactyly of the second and third toes, and low serum cholesterol. Whole-exome and Sanger sequencing indicated a compound heterozygous mutation in the DHCR7 gene, c.852C>A(p.F284L), and a de novo mutation of c.820_825del(p.N274_V275del). SLOS is rare in the Asian populations and prone to missed diagnosis and misdiagnosis with difficulty in clinical management. The possibility of SLOS should be considered for newborns with multiple malformations and low serum cholesterol.